5 Ways to Stay Motivated

During the middle of every month, I always lack motivation. I start the month with a bang, and end the month strutting, but midway I cannot find the willpower to workout sometimes.

Women's Health has a new issue out for March 2013 (Jessica Alba is on the cover), and they had an article about staying motivated. What I liked about this article was that it wasn't the cliches you hear everywhere: think of what your body will look like in 4 months, etc. These were about what would happen immediately after a workout, and it got me excited to workout again!

Here were the rewards they talked about:

1. Boost Brain Productivity
2. Make Healthy Friendships at the Gym
3. Get Glowing Skin
4. Have Hotter Sex
5. Sleep Better

If you want to know more about how exercise actually helps with these, please read the article! It was really inspiring and helpful! 

Now, I need to go do the fat burning body workout they had in this issue too!

Adios!

Jo

MAGIC WEIGHT LOSS PILL?!

So I watched Dr. Oz again today...

Now I don't not like (what?) Dr. Oz. He is obviously a very intelligent person who has a lot of great credentials. I just don't get why he tell people only about quick fixes? Like whatever happened to just eating right? (Hey, I heard that it works for a lot of people).

Today, he had a coffee bean supplement. And yes, the studies are remarkable. There are no side effects, weight loss is superb, and it makes you feel full. It's all good and great, but what happens when you stop taking the pill? Also, the studies had the people do no physical activity and eat just like they would normally. And then, on the show, Dr. Oz did not even try to mention that maybe if you ate well and had regular physical activity, you could lose even more.

So in the end, Dr. Oz was promoting this supplement for a quick way to lose weight. Not helping people learn the right way to eat is what causes yo-yo dieting. I just wish Dr. Oz would just put in a disclaimer that eating right is important. I mean, it is 80% of maintenance in weight loss.

Fitting Your Health into Your Busy Day

Days like today are when I realize why many people let go of their health. I was up at 6:30 just so I can start my workout before the busy day ahead of me (and it's summer vacation). If I was in school right now, I probably would have called today my day off and just watched what I ate. So how do most Americans deal with busy days? I think the problem is time management. People don't take the time to really plan everything out. Here are my tips to help you guys out!

1. Before you go to bed at night, make sure everything is ready for the next day including your outfit, your lunch, etc.
2. Make sure you plan your day out. Every Sunday, I plan out my next week minute to minute.
3. Give yourself time to relax. If you have some "me time," you are more likely to want to do more for yourself (like exercise)
4. MAKE LISTS. My laptop is filled with sticky notes that are filled with lists. I have lists for short-term goals, long-term goals, what I need to do today, and what I need to do by next month. 
5. Avoid procrastination by setting deadlines for yourself. Even if it is to go get contact solution, make a deadline so that you actually get some before you run out!

I hope these help you. These tips help me stay organized this summer and still get workouts in at least 5 times a week!

What exactly is this Glycemic Index?

The Glycemic Index (GI) has been the "new thing" on the nutrition newsfeed now. Most of the newest weight loss books have used it to determine what you should be eating and what you should avoid. The problem is that most people don't actually understand what the GI means and how it works. Even I sometimes don't understand it completely...and I'm studying to become a dietitian! So without further ado, here is a nice straight-forward way of explaining the Glycemic Index.

1. The GI ranks carbohydrates on a scale of 0 to 100 on how fast they raise your blood sugar levels after eating.
2. If the carbohydrate has a bigger number (70+), your body digests it really fast. Therefore, it spikes up your blood sugar level really fast as well.
3. If the carbohydrate has a lower number (55 or less), you body digests it slowly which produces a gradual spike in your blood sugar level.
4. You want to eat things that have a lower GI because they help control your appetite, delay hunger, and reduce insulin levels This is really good if you're a Type 2 diabetic or diabetes runs in your family (It runs in my family so this is really important for me).
5. Low GI Foods: bran, rolled oats, whole grain/wheat, most if not all vegetables, most fruits, hummus, wheat pasta, and most if not all beans

There you have it. A sure fire way to eat carbs and know that you are being healthy. Here is a full GI foods list if you want to see more foods that have low GIs as well as High GIs. Enjoy your carbs the right way from now on everyone!

Healthy Recipe #2: Peanut Butter Smoothies!

So, I decided to make weekend blog posts recipes because they are fast and easy to write (and therefore, give me time to enjoy my days off). So for today, I am writing out my favorite kind of smoothie for breakfast or a snack before dinner. All throughout high school, I don't think I touched a stove. Then, in college, I wasn't allowed to nor have anything more than a microwave and a fridge in my room. So, I am pretty new at all these recipes and what not. But, being the science geek that I am, I just pretend I'm in Chemistry lab (yeah. I know.), so now cooking is not only really easy but also one of my favorite things to do (in my defense, my parents are both chemical engineers. It was how I was raised to think!)

Anyway, a lot of recipes for "healthy protein" smoothies call for protein powders. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a protein powder that doesn't have milk products in it unless I order it. And if I order it, then I have to pay shipping and handling (and who wants to do that?). I remembered that one of my friends used peanut butter to make smoothies and I decided to give it a try. It's pretty good too! Tastes a lot like peanut butter though so if you're not a fan, you might want to add a lot more of the fruit. 

Here's my recipe for a peanut butter smoothie:

1 Tbs. peanut butter

1/2 cup fruit of choice (think of it as a PB&J sandwich. what's your favorite jam?)

1/2 cup ice (optional - if you don't freeze the fruit, you might want to add the ice)

1/2-1 cup of almond milk (play around with it!)

Put it all in a blender and enjoy!! (while blending, make sure you dance because...well, what else are you going to do?)

Today, I made this for breakfast. My fruit was strawberries!! Yesterday, I made it for a snack before dinner (I'm kind of obsessed with this), but I used blueberries. You can really do whatever you want with this and it will come out good!! Here's a video of my blueberries one: BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE

Healthy Recipe #1: Omelettes!

My favorite breakfast is an omelette. During the school year, the dining hall has a very limited breakfast option. My friend and I would always try to get there as early as possible before class (which for us meant about a half hour before our class) and get into the omelette line. Now that I'm home for the summer, I crave a delicious omelette almost everyday. Unfortunately, I had never made an omelette in my life...until this summer. After much experimenting, I have found my favorite way to make an omelette AND it includes tomatoes (which if you know me, you know I actually cannot stand tomatoes). Here it is!

Ingredients:
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup mushrooms
1/4 cup tomatoes
3 egg whites

Procedure:
Add some extra virgin olive oil (about a teaspoon) to a skillet set to medium heat. Also add about 1/4 cup of water. Saute the spinach and mushrooms until the spinach wilts and the mushrooms start to brown. Add the tomatoes. Now, wait until the water has evaporated completely before you add the egg whites. Then, cook for about 3 minutes and you should be good to go! Sometimes, you might mess up the omelette (I know I do), so just make it scrambled!

This is a perfect way to start the day if you have the time before work. Add a fruit if you don't think it will fill you up and you should be on your way!

Happy Eating!