January Reset

Who is ready to reset their habits in January?

I know all of you have been making good choices the last few weeks but now is the time to step it up a notch to start feeling better, exercising and maybe lose some body fat.

Details:

• FREE
• Starts Jan 6th
• Ends Feb 14th
• Initial and final body fat and weight measurements will be taken in the first and last week

What will you get:

• Challenge recommendations
• Food list
• Grocery list
• Workouts
• Weekly challenges
• Support via email and blog
• Support knowing you are not alone
• Hopefully you will be feeling better at the end of the 5 weeks

If you want to join let me know so we can schedule your initial measurements for the week of Jan 6th.

Email

Blog

Facebook

Thanksgiving Facts

Thanksgiving is just one week away.  Here are some interesting stats on that great day and the food I am sure most of you will consume.

• Almost three quarters of Americans serve store bought cranberry sauce rather than homemade at Thanksgiving.

• About 200 cranberries are used to produce each can of jellied cranberry sauce.

• Instant mashed potatoes are used by food stylists as fake ice cream.

• Mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries were not foods present on the first Thanksgiving's feast table.

• The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

• In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations.

• The average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.

• The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.

• Turkey has more protein than chicken or beef.

• The average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Caloric Control Council. Surprisingly, most of these calories come from the all-day snacking in front of the TV while watching parades and sporting events.

• Americans consume over 675 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving Day

• For a calorie counter and burn estimator for your feast, check this out: http://walking.about.com/library/cal/blthanksgivingcalories.htm

Happy Halloween

Here are some candy fun facts:
-Americans purchase 600 million pounds of candy for Halloween
-More than 400 million M&Ms chocolate candies are produced in the U.S. every day.
-For candy producers, Halloween is the sweetest holiday of the year, even beating Easter, Valentine’s Day and Christmas in candy sales.
-The Snickers candy bar was named after a horse owned by the Mars family.
-California leads the nation in the number of chocolate and cocoa manufacturers, with 146, followed by Pennsylvania, with 115.
-Americans consumed 24.3lbs of candy per capita last year
-Americans are expected to spend an average of $20.29 on candy this Halloween season
-More than 35 million lbs. nearly 9 billion pieces of candy corn were produced last year.
-The Halloween season accounts for 75 percent of the annual candy corn production.
-The average American will gain 9-11 lbs between now and New Years day (don't be average)

Have a Happy Halloween!

Healthy Football Snacks, Meals and Treats

Since its Football Sunday and my Denver Broncos do not play until tonight I have some time to share with you my favorite Football Sunday snacks, meals and treats! Enjoy!

Meals:

• Chili Bar - make a large crock pot of chili and then have toppings to add to the Chili.  Some great toppings include: plain greek yogurt, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and rice
• Taco Bar - This is so simple, just brown some ground beef or ground turkey in some seasonings and add some fixings!  Great toppings include: Corn tortilla, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, hot sauce, plain greek yogurt, avocado, lime, pico, peppers, jalapeños and corn
• Chicken Wings - Just bake or Grill some un-breaded chicken wings and drumies.  You can then make a great ranch dip by adding ranch seasoning to plain greek yogurt.

Snacks:

• Homemade kale chips - they are so easy, just put some kale on a baking sheet, add coconut oil and sea salt, bake until crispy and enjoy
• Homemade sweet potato fries - similar to the kale chips, just cut up to your liking and add seasonings, coconut oil and sea salt.  Cook until crispy and enjoy
• Homemade buffalo chips - I will cut either regular or sweet potatoes, season and cook.  I then make a dip of greek yogurt and seasoning salt to dip them in.
• Potato skins - cut either regular or sweet potatoes in half, bake them with bacon and add chives
• Broccoli Salad - the dressing is vinegar, truvia, and olive oil mayo.  Then mix the dressing up and pour over broccoli, bacon and sunflower seeds.
• Potato salad - cut and boil potatoes, after they cool mix with plain greek yogurt, onions, celery, dill, mustard and sea salt

Treats:

• Black Bean Brownies - make the brownies like normal but instead of the oil and eggs use pureed black beans, I will also season with cinnamon
• Banana Ice Cream - mush up frozen bananas and peanut butter, you can even add a couple of chocolate chips for taste
• Baked Pears - cut pairs in half and bake with cinnamon 

Hope you can enjoy some of these healthy game day foods!

Here is our dinner tonight as we finish the Sunday afternoon games.  Salad, pork chop, baked beans and healthy potato salad!

Time for the last week!

Welcome to the last week of our Challenge!

This week we will be focusing on finding a time to take your final measurements, some high intensity daily challenges and no gluten.

If we already have a time set to meet this week we can do your measurements then.  If we do not have a time already scheduled please let me know what works for you to come in for final measurements!

Week 5-

-Final measurements, tabatas  and no gluten

-The tabatas will be: 60 seconds of jumping jacks, 30 seconds plank (can be on the floor, from your knees or on a counter) and repeat for 5 minutes. Then 60 seconds of  lunges and 30 seconds push-ups and repeat for 5 minutes. Perform daily. 

-No gluten at all this week. 

If something has great value it will not be easy.  If losing weight and looking great were easy everyone would be happy with themselves.  You will always have obstacles, there will always be things to overcome.  When something is truly important to you it will happen or you will make the time for it to happen!

Fitness trends

I always enjoy reading articles and information at night.  Tonight I read about some of the hottest fitness trends in 2013.

Do you enjoy mud runs or parkour?  Maybe you are trying crossfit, spinning or dancing.  Here is a list of our 2013 fitness trends.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/hottest-fitness-trends-2013/story?id=20049041#

Week 4 starts tomorrow

Happy Sunday everyone.  We are getting ready to start our 4th week tomorrow and with that comes some different weekly challenges.

WEEK 4:
ARMS- 100 push ups per day, they can be done on the floor, counter top, wall or couch.  They can be broken up throughout the day also, 100 at one time would be a lot!
NO CAFFEINE ALL WEEK- that includes coffee, sodas (regular and diet), tea and energy drinks/powders/drops.  It is only a week, you can make it!

After this full week you will only have a couple of days left.  Finish strong and keep working to see positive changes this month.

Here are some fun articles I have read this week, if you have some free time check them out!

About some dangers of crossfit:
https://medium.com/p/97bcce70356d

Is our drinking water safe:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/the-arsenic-in-our-drinking-water/

New organic regulations with eggs:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/no-more-organic-eggs-zw0z1309ztri.aspx#axzz2faWl4aGT

Week 3 is starting soon!

Happy Football day to everyone.  Sorry if you are not a football fan, living in Denver it was really hard to not be obsessed with John Elway and the Denver Broncos.

I hope your decisions this past week went well, your gut is feeling better from no dairy and that it is feeling stronger from all the abdominal exercises!

This week your focus is:

-Legs!
-You will need to complete 100 squats or lunges or stairs or 100 seconds worth of a wall sit daily.
-Essentially you are just doing a 100 of something per day for your lower body.  It can be split up, 50 squats/50 stairs or 25 squats/25 stairs/25 lunges/25 seconds worth of a wall sit.  Feel Free to be creative.
-Your nutrition challenge is to eat at least 5 servings of low carb vegetables daily.  If you are curious about carbohydrate content of vegetables check out this chart....

Let me know if you have questions, need help, need ideas or are lacking in the motivation department!

Here is to a great week:

unless it involves eating bad foods and not exercising :)

Ready for week 2?

Are you ready to kick off another great week this week?

As a reminder our week 2 challenges are:
-No Dairy (Includes cows milk, cheese, yogurt)(other options include rice, almond and soy milk)
-Complete abdominal circuit, at least 1 time per day.
-Here is your abdominal circuit, you can print it or view it from a mobile device.  If you view from a device you can watch videos as well.
http://java1.fitnessbuilder.com/ipump-web/print?print=1&printjobid=1b5kegg0000k1up91jf0000000

I hope you take some time during the football games to go grocery shopping, prepare your fruits and veggies, cook up some meats and plan out your meals.

If you plan out your meals it will be much easier to make better choices throughout the week.  When we fail is when we fail to plan!

Good luck this week, let me know what questions you have!

FIrst Week

How is your first week going?  We are only a couple of days in so hopefully you are doing great and ready to continue to make good choices over these next few weeks!

As a reminder this week you should be doing at least 20-30 minutes of cardio per day.  Your cardio can be done outside or on any modality inside.  The 20-30 minutes can be consecutive or it can be broken up throughout your day.

While you are doing your cardio take some time to think about your day and reflect on all the great things going on.  This will also be a great time to plan out your food/workout routine and just take some time for yourself.

Many people underestimate the importance of self reflection.  We need time to think about our day and our life.  If we don't think about our life, where we have been and where we are going it will be hard to grow and stay sane.

Good luck with the rest of this week and enjoy your positive changes!

Challenge Starts in the Morning

Good evening everyone!

Hope your ready for some clean eating.  I took time to grocery shop, prep food and get rid of any junk in our house over the extended weekend.

As a reminder here are the challenge details:

http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/08/challenge-details.html

Here is a grocery list and food list:

http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/08/more-challenge-details.html

Here is an example of a weeks worth of food:

http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/08/example-food-ideas-for-challenge.html

Your week 1 challenge is:

Initial measurements- I just have a couple of you left to schedule.  

Walk/run/jog/bike/elliptical 30 minutes each day, focus on relaxing and debriefing your day during the cardio activity

If you need anything, have any questions or want help let me know!  Continue to check out www.stephaniewinters.blogspot.com for more motivation and ideas!

Example food ideas for the challenge

Here are some examples of challenge friendly food days....
When it says fruits and vegetables refer to our initial food handout for ideas.  You can even take that sheet grocery shopping with you for ideas.

1.

• Egg white omelet with vegetables, side of fruit
• Protein shake 
• Tuna with olive oil mayo, celery, lettuce, tomato and pickle
• jerky
• grilled salmon with vegetables and quinoa

2.

• Oatmeal with side of deli meat
• peanut butter and celery
• lemon pepper grilled chicken breast, fruit and vegetables
• Protein shake
• grilled red meat, brown rice and vegetables

3.

• full egg omelet and side of fruit
• almonds
• Salad of sliced ham, spinach, tomatoes, slivered almonds, olive oil
• grilled peppers
• lean pork, black rice and vegetables

4.

• oatmeal with walnuts and flax seed
• banana and peanut butter
• lettuce wrap of turkey, sprouts, tomatoes
• larabar or Kit bar
• broiled tilapia, vegetables and sweet potato fries

Some other tips:

• use brown rice or quinoa pasta for spaghetti, soups and other dishes
• have large cups of water with lemon or lime for dinner 
• Sea salt is a great seasoning
• When cooking at high temps use coconut oil
• Stir fry is a great way to get protein and vegetables in that will not take a lot of time

More Challenge Details

Let me know if you still need a time for measurements! 

Recommendations for the 30 days:

1 serving of alcohol per week

No eating 2 hours within bedtime

No high fructose corn syrup (can be found in soda, BBQ, ketchup and others)

Workout every day for at least 15 minutes- even if its a walk or cleaning

Low gluten, No bread, pasta, cereal

Dairy 1 time a day max

7 servings of fruits and veggies daily

Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water per day

Eat protein at least 3x per day

In the spirit of planing ahead here is my grocery list for the first week of the challenge:

(It may look like a lot of food but it should last us a little over a week and Adam my husband eats a lot of food)

• Costco:
• organic spring mix
• organic apple slices
• Parker's farm peanut butter
• organic whole milk (for Addison)
• bananas
• organic frozen kale (for smoothies)
• organic chicken breast
• nitrite free turkey lunch meat
• nitrite free brats
• bottled water
• olive oil
• coconut oil
• sea salt
• mango salsa
• bean/corn dip
• organic gluten free corn chips
• organic eggs
• organic marinara
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower  

• Whole Foods:
• organic rice milk
• asparagus
• organic kale (for kale chips)
• Nordic Naturals Omega 3 fish oil pills
• mixed nuts
• pickles
• tuna
• celery
• sweet potatoes
• lemon
• black beans
• Turkey jerky
• brown rice noodles
• quinoa
• brown rice
• shrimp
• ground turkey

• Target:
• Mustard
• Red hot
• High Fructose corn syrup free BBQ sauce
• Rice cakes
• popcorn
• Larabars or Cliff Kit Bars
• olive oil mayo 
• Powdered peanut butter
• Vinegar
• Truvia

• Life Time Online:
• Grass fed chocolate whey protein
• Multi Vitamin
• Chromium
• Vitamin D

You will see somethings organic and somethings not organic.  I try to eat good, whole and clean foods. There are certain foods that I will only buy organic and others that I don't.  A good thing to know is the dirty dozen:

Here is also a great food list to follow:

Lastly, here is a reminder of our weekly challenges!

Some need to be done all at once. Some can be broken up throughout your day.  If you have an injury/ailment that prevents you from an activity let me know and I will give you a modification. 

Week 1- 

Initial measurements  

walk/run/jog/bike/elliptical 30 minutes each day, focus on relaxing and debriefing your day during the cardio activity

Week 2-

All about abs

no dairy at all this week and complete the AB circuit I will send out daily

Week 3-

Legs! 

100 squats or lunges or stairs or 100 seconds worth of a wall sit daily.  Eat at least 5 servings of low carb vegetables daily. 

Week 4-

Arms! 

100 push ups per day. They can be modified on a table/chair/wall and broken up throughout the day. Avoid caffeine this week, its only 1 week! 

Week 5-

Final measurements and tabatas

60 seconds jumping jacks, 30 seconds plank and repeat for 5 minutes. Then 60 seconds lunges and 30 seconds push-ups and repeat for 5 minutes. Perform daily. No gluten at all this week. 

Any questions?  Let me know.  There is still time to sign up, invite friends, family and co-workers.  It will be easier to be successful if you have support!

Challenge Details

Fall back in shape!

30 days of doing the right things. 

Recommendations for the 30 days:

1 serving of alcohol per week

No eating 2 hours within bedtime

No high fructose corn syrup (can be found in soda, BBQ, ketchup and others)

Workout every day for at least 15 minutes- even if its a walk or cleaning

Low gluten, No bread, pasta, cereal

Dairy 1 time a day max

7 servings of fruits and veggies daily

Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water per day

Eat protein at least 3x per day

Weekly challenges are back. Some need to be done all at once. Some can be broken up throughout your day.  If you have an injury/ailment that prevents you from an activity let me know and I will give you a modification. 

Week 1- 

Initial measurements  

walk/run/jog/bike/elliptical 30 minutes each day, focus on relaxing and debriefing your day during the cardio activity

Week 2-

All about abs

no dairy at all this week and complete the AB circuit I will send out daily

Week 3-

Legs! 

100 squats or lunges or stairs or 100 seconds worth of a wall sit daily.  Eat at least 5 servings of low carb vegetables daily. 

Week 4-

Arms! 

100 push ups per day. They can be modified on a table/chair/wall and broken up throughout the day. Avoid caffeine this week, its only 1 week! 

Week 5-

Final measurements and tabatas

60 seconds jumping jacks, 30 seconds plank and repeat for 5 minutes. Then 60 seconds lunges and 30 seconds push-ups and repeat for 5 minutes. Perform daily. No gluten at all this week. 

Any questions?  Let me know.  There is still time to sign up, invite friends, family and co-workers.  It will be easier to be successful if you have support!

I will post a food list and grocery ideas later this week!

September get back on track challenge!

It is that time again!  Time to start thinking about the next health challenge.

Details:

• Initial weigh ins: Start September 3rd (day after labor day)
• Final weigh ins: Start September 30th (last week of September)
• Measurements will consist of body weight and body fat
• Why? To get back on track after a summer of fun, food and drinks
• Criteria: Make better choices in September than you did all summer.  I will get you a complete, food/exercise list as well to follow.  Your biggest goal will be to just get healthier!
• Weekly challenges, yes they are back!  Every week we will have a different challenge when it comes to exercise and nutrition
• You will also have weekly, daily motivation through emails and my blog
• Who? You, friends, family, co-workers and others you think that might be interested!

 More details to come in the following weeks.  If you are interested in joining please let me know.  We can already make your appointments for the weigh ins if your ready to commit!

Stephanie.Winters@osrpt.com

New, new, new......

Happy Sunday evening all!  Here is a post with all new info to check out.

There have been a lot of new posts on OSR's blog:
www.osrpt.blogspot.com

OSR also has a new website that launched this week:
www.osrpt.com

I will also be starting a NEW health challenge in September!  Look for more info to come in the next couple of weeks!

Have a great week.

Ginger is not only for nausea

The many health and healing benefits of ginger have been known since ancient times. From China to the Middle East, the ginger plant root is used as an anti-inflammatory, a cure for ulcers and acid reflux, to relieve nausea and even to help fight certain cancers.

Now recent research has shown that ginger can also help reduce exercise-related muscle pain.

A study from University of Georgia and Georgia College and State University took seventy-four student volunteers and had them perform a series of eccentric muscle exercises.

They then split the volunteers into three groups. One group was given raw ginger, one group received heated ginger and the third group received a fake ginger placebo for the following 11 days.

Results showed that the heat-treated ginger group experienced a 23% reduction in pain intensity, while the raw ginger group had a 25% reduction in muscle pain.

Ginger contains powerful antioxidants that counteract free radicals produced by nitric oxide which promote tissue damage and inflammation as well as reduce the production of pro-inflammatory compounds in the joints.

All this research indicates that ginger may possess the same analgesic properties as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but without the side effects.

Happy Tuesday Evening

A statement that could not be more true!  Eat good foods and your body will repay you by looking lean and mean!  Plus you will feel a lot better and minimize your risk for a multitude of different diseases.

Wait, so fat dose not turn into fat?! How long will it take everyone to understand to limit their carbohydrates and sugar to lean up.  Don't worry about eating your good fats!

Love, love, love this.  People are always frustrated when they don't succeed or get unmotivated.  You will not hit goals over night and it will not be easy to stay there.  It can happen!

More allergy info

As I was winding down from the big 4th of July weekend and my daughters birthday party I started to read this:

http://grist.org/article/nothing-to-sneeze-at-climate-change-is-making-your-allergies-worse/

I thought it was too fitting since at her party I had to pass out allergy pills to some family members while I was sneeze free!

I completely attribute my lack of allergies to probiotics, minimizing gluten/dairy/sugar and minimizing apples/peanuts.

You can read why I did that here:
http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2012/03/allergies-bothering-you.html
http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-allergy-tips.html

p.s. Like the fruit dish I made for Addison's Elmo themed Birthday party?!

Have a great Holiday!

Happy Tuesday night to you all!

I hope you have a great long weekend filled with friends and family.  I know choices will not be perfect.  There will be temptations and a lot of excuses.  Just remember.......

Do you Tri?

Here in an interesting write up on triathletes over 40!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-20/men-over-40-should-think-twice-before-running-triathlons.html

Nice Reads

I like to put up from time to time articles I am reading.  Here are some recent ones!

http://occupymonsanto360.org/blog/splenda-downgraded-to-a-caution-rating-after-study-finds-it-causes-cancer/

http://tomnikkola.com/are-amino-acids-the-next-big-thing-in-nutrition/

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/small-grains-big-nutrition/?ref=health

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-best-summer-foods-for-weight-loss

ENJOY!

Current Fitness Trends

It is always interesting to see what people are doing out there!  IHRSA (International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association) recently released the top trends in fitness.  http://www.ihrsa.org

1. More people working out in health clubs/facilities
2. Specific Programming for Baby Boomers
3. Youth Programming
4. Social Exercise
5. Small Group Training
6. Technology
7. Convenient options
8. Corporate Wellness Benefits
9. Body Weight Exercise
10. Physician Prescribed Exercise

Here are the top 10 activities in Health Clubs

1. Free Weights
2. Treadmills
3. Resistance Machines
4. Ellipticals
5. Stretching
6. Abdominal Machines
7. Stationary Cycling
8. Low Impact Aerobics
9. Yoga
10. Satir Climbers

More allergy tips!

Last year I had a post on allergies, tips and supplements.  Since I usually am quite the allergy sufferer I wanted to share some more info on seasonal allergies and some ways to avoid or at least limit them.

1. Tree pollen is the highest in the morning, a lot of the reason allergies are bad in the morning and get better as the day goes on.  Avoid opening your windows in the morning or keeping them open all night if tree pollen usually triggers you.
2. Clean or change your furnace filters regularly.  This will help with limiting the pollen, dust and mold from circulating throughout your home.  You can also put in a HEPA air filter to help suck up lingering allergens.
3. Visit www.weather.com to check the pollen count that day.  If pollen is really high try to do more indoor activities.
4. Buy some good sunglasses.  They can block airborne allergens from blowing into your eyes.
5. PROBIOTICS!  You can get these through supplements, yogurt, drinks and more.  The probiotic Lactobacillus (L. caasei) has shown to reduce allergy symptoms when taken regularly.
6. Omega 3 fatty acids, EPA to be exact. They reduce inflammation which allergies cause and can be found in foods like salmon.
7. Lower your stress!  If our bodies are already filled with stress hormones it will be hard to fight off pollutants.  Do some activities you enjoy or rest up to limit your stress.
8. Workout when pollen counts are lower.  If you cant do that, try working out indoors.
9. Take your shoes and coats off at the door.  This will limit the amount of pollen you drag in and around the house.
10. Eat organic!  This will limit the toxins and un-necessary pollutants in your body.
11. Shower daily to remove pollens from your hair, nails and skin.  Make sure to open a window or turn the bathroom fan on to keep mold from growing, which can be another allergy trigger.
12. If all else fails, take an antihistamine.  Its better to stay on top of your allergies and not waiting until you have an attack to take meds.  Zyrtec is the most potent over the counter med.  After you take a med for sometime you can build up a tolerance to it.  Try to rotate your meds to maximize effectiveness.  Most generics are the same as the name brand.  Make sure to read the packages though to make sure.  If the antihistamine makes you drowsy take it before bedtime to help you sleep.

Food triggers:

A lot of pollens collect on the foods we eat.  If you suffer from allergies avoiding certain foods will help limit your exposure and help you get through allergy season!

If tree pollens trigger your allergies avoid:

• almonds
• apples
• celery
• cherries
• hazelnuts
• pears
• parsley

If grass pollens trigger your allergies avoid:

• melons
• oranges
• tomatoes

If weed pollens trigger your allergies avoid:

• carrots
• celery
• fennel
• parsley
• pepper
• sunflower

If ragweed pollens trigger your allergies avoid:

• bananas
• cantaloupe
• cucumbers
• honeydew
• watermelon
• zucchini

Summer Party Tips

It is that time of year where you will have a graduation party, or 6 this weekend, get together next weekend and a wedding the weekend after that.

How can you stay on track, eat well and still have a good time?  Is it even possible?

Well sure it is, it will take some will power, some saying NO, some limiting of portions, but I promise you will feel better come labor day weekend if you follow these tips!

• Pre Eat!
• Have a high protein, low carb snack or meal before you go, that way you don't have to eat while you are there or at least you will not be starving when you get there.
• Pick alcohol or desserts
• If your looking for a way to limit calories and still taste the good things let yourself have some, but either alcohol or desserts, not both.
• Bring healthy proteins and vegetables
• If it is a potluck bring a protein packed dish to share!  That way you will have something to eat and actually know what is in it.
• Pack healthy snacks
• If your not sure what is on the menu pack some jerky, nuts and/or protein powder.  They will keep all day and help you feel full if you avoid the buffet line.
• Only take 1 plate
• This will make you pick and choose between options so if you don't pick healthy things at least you didn't eat 4 servings.
• Only eat what is on your plate
• You can consume a ton of extra calories by just picking at things while you talk with others in the kitchen.  Limit your eating to what is on your plate so you are at least conscious about what you are putting in your mouth.
• Leave some food on your plate
• A easy way to limit calories is to leave some food on your plate, share a plate of food with someone else or put food on your plate and don't let it touch.  You can fit a ton of food even on just one plate.
• Limit alcohol if your around food
• We all know that after a few drinks the food just keeps entering your mouth.  If your going to enjoy your alcohol do it away from foods you can continue to snack on.
• Dress up
• If your wearing a little black dress you wont want to eat too much for fear your bloat up.  If you wear baggy clothing its easier to eat, and eat, and eat.
• Help with clean up
• It will keep your hands busy and away from continuing to eat.  You might even burn some calories! 
• Use the event as your "cheat"
• Eat really good in the weeks, days and hours leading up to the event.  It will also help shrink your stomach so you can only eat so bad!
• Gum
• It can really be your friend at events.  It keeps a great taste in your mouth and some foods just do not taste the same after gum.
• Focus on friends and the event, not the food
• When dining in a group people tend to eat 44% more calories than they would if they were dining alone.  Try to focus on conversations and the company versus the food/drink being consumed.
• Workout
• If you know it will be bad and there is no way around it, get a good workout in at least before the event. 

I hope you learned a thing or two and are ready to make good choices this summer!

Top 5

Here is a reminder of my top 5 posts in the last year.

Metabolic Efficiency - This was a post I wrote about a continuing education seminar I went to last fall.

Spring into summer challenge -  This includes all the details about our last challenge.  If your looking for some weight loss tips or some motivation this summer check it out.

Grocery List - If you are curious what a grocery list of mine might look like, check it out!

Healthy Lifestyle Recommendations - These are based on our January challenge.

Food list, prep and recipes - If I were to get ready for a week of healthy eating, here is some prep and guidelines I will follow.

BONUS:
If your looking for even more information and things to check out read some others!
Good reads

Have a great evening and here is something to think about!

Personal Results

Now that the challenge is over I am able to share with all of you my personal results.

I lost:

8lbs

3% body fat

4 inches (and we only measured 3 sites)

Here are my PRE, MID and POST photos

I would say I was most impressed with my abdominals this time around.  After having Addison it has been a goal of mine to get them back.  I think they are finally coming around!

Those results were with life, work and a trip to Vegas!

Now my lovely husband Adam

He lost:

5lbs

2.3% body fat 

4 inches (and we only measured 3 sites)

Adam before and after

His main goal this time was to get faster, get stronger and reduce insulin intake.  He accomplished all of that in these short 6 weeks, and a trip to Vegas.

It is so much easier to eat better and be active if you have support.  Who is your support?  Are they helping or hurting you?  As much as we want to try and do things on our own, its really tough.  

Find some support, be held accountable, set goals, set rewards and don't let anything stop you.  It will never be the perfect time, it will never be easy and it wont come in a magic pill.

Some little advice when it comes to nutrition:

Final Results are in!

Yes, it is a little late but all final measurements are completed and our final results are in!  With just over 50 starting and just under 40 completing final measurements I consider that a success.  Everyone who completed final measurements had success in some way.  Weight, body fat and inches are some great measurements but there are a lot of things we can consider a success.  Eating differently, trying new foods and being active are some other great successes!

Congrats to Dave W for being our overall winner for % of body fat lost!

Here are our top 5 % body fat finishers:
Dave W
Cody A
Adam W
Mary G
Carol R

Here are our top 5 weight loss finishers:
Dave W
Steph W
Carol R
Adam W
Fotini D

Congrats to everyone who started, finished and made some changes.  That is what these are all about, seeing some success, trying new things and being more active.

Remember, I am here for other questions, needs or ideas down the road.  There will of course be another challenge in the fall so look for that!

Have a great summer and try to keep your positive changes going!

I will be posting my results this weekend, I am just have to finish writing all my successes! :)

Final Results......

I am just finishing some final measurements over the next couple of days and will have final results posted soon!

With my vacation and the holiday it was difficult to fin everyone in last week.

As soon as I have the last couple of participants I will post results including mine!

Have a great week, hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend and stay tuned......

Almost done

We are almost done, I am starting measurements in the morning and excited to see how everyone did!

I just got back from a nice trip in Vegas, its cold out there!  Thought I would share some photos from my trip!  Adam and I stuck to the challenge as best as we could.  Luckily everyday involved workouts and lots of activity!

Nice Gondola Ride

 All challenge friendly, we even split a glass of champagne

Adam in his tournament

Relaxing after my workout

Adam's team won it all

At Lake Mead

VIP Party

Went for a nice ride, it had some pick up

Happy Mid week!

Good evening everyone.  How is you week 5 going?  I hope fantastic!

I am really enjoying these nice spring days and looking forward to a wonderful summer.  I will be out of town Friday-Tuesday but will update things as I can.

Make sure to stick to your progress and know the end is near!

Think about times that work for you to weigh out next week.  If there is a certain day/time you have in mind please let me know.

Hopefully this will not be your excuse when we do your final measurements next week.

When I am short on time and low on groceries here is a good go to breakfast, morning snack and lunch for me!  Protein shake, apple/peanut butter, rice flat bread with ground turkey hot sauce and a side salad (not pictured).

My view, Adam grilling burgers, swing set in the back, dogs running around, my MacBook working away, baby monitor so I can spy on Addison sleeping and a beautiful evening.

As a reminder, if you need additional help along the way........MOG Class schedule.  $60 a month gets you all of the above, its a great deal!