Soda

Do you drink soda?  If you do, just imagine how much healthier you would be if you just stopped drinking soda.

 

 

What a Coincidence!

I just posted about the Trek Desk a few days ago and just yesterday morning I heard this related story on NPR (National Public Radio) called "Can You Move It And Work It On A Treadmill Desk?"  by Patti Neighmond. 

 

Listen to the podcast of this story HERE.

TrekDesk.

 

Here in Nebraska, either hot and humid or icy cold weather conditions limit the amount of my comfortable outdoor walking to about only half of the year.  As I have stated in an earlier post, walking outside is one of my favorite forms of meditation, relaxation and exercise.  That being said, my busy schedule does not allow me to exercise, complete my business paperwork and still have time to watch my favorite History Channel programs....unless I could find a way to incorporate all of these tasks into one. 

Years ago, I saw a report on an evening news show about the Walkstation by Steelcase used by employees at Mutual of Omaha and I was intrigued. These employees wore their work clothes, walked miles per day at work and were able to perform the duties of their job.  Pure awesomeness.  Of course, I knew I couldn't perform eye exams while on this piece of equipment, the cost for the Walkstation was a bit pricey and I didn't like that there was only one option for the treadmill portion of this product.  My interest in this product declined and I went about my usual routine of either working out or completing business related paperwork.  Years after I saw that Walkstation report, I heard about a cheaper product called the TrekDesk (see below).  

The TrekDesk is a "wing" you purchase independent of the treadmill and can be used with the treadmill of your choice. 

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my TrekDesk.  With my TrekDesk, I can multitask exercise with television and or working on the computer.  In fact, I am writing this post while walking 2.0 miles per hour.  With this product, there is no reason to sit to watch television or sit to work on the computer. 

The TrekDesk costs $479.00 on Amazon.com at the time of this posting.  CLICK HERE to visit this listing on Amazon.com.  

Yes the treadmill is the more expensive part of this, but there is really no need to buy a brand new treadmill.  Too many people have purchased treadmills with good intentions of using them but now they just sit in the garage or basement collecting dust.  Those that use their treadmills often may be interested in upgrading to a newer product.  These people may be interested in selling their treadmill, so seek these people out.  Check out on Craigslist, post on Facebook that you are looking for a treadmill, visit a used equipment store, send out an email to friends and family or just go out and buy a new treadmill.   Just make sure you use it (almost) everyday to get your investment out of it.   I would recommend parking it right where you sit to watch the television now.   Move or throw out your current sitting chair because you won't be needing it any more.  If you are going to watch television, you are not going to sit anymore, you are going to walk while you watch.  If you are going to be surfing social media, talking on the phone or working from home, do it while you are getting some exercise.  

I find that for me any speed less than 1.5 m.p.h. is too slow and above 2.4 m.p.h. too fast to work on the computer.  I usually go for 2.0-2.2 m.p.h. and after watching television I have accumulated 2-5 miles on the treadmill.  Whatever your speed, you will be burning way more calories using the TrekDesk than you will sitting on the couch. 

CLICK HERE to view a CNN video about the TrekDesk.

Forget About Diets, Already!!!!

There will come a point in your life when you finally realize that every diet pill/program/fad/philosophy you have tried provides only short term improvements and aren't something you can maintain for the duration of your life. For many of you reading this, you just need to consider a 180 degree change in your eating, cooking and dining philosophies.

Diets are not long term solutions to your problems, rather, just eating healthy will give you the nutrients you need, keep you from feeling guilty about what you eat, will allow you to feel full after consuming less calories and will allow you a lifetime of achieving your physical goals. 

Try staying overweight while eating ultra healthy.  It is very hard to do.  Eating healthy means that you think about every meal and food that you consume and the food either is nutrient rich or nutrient poor.  For us, eating healthy meant that we adopted a plant strong menu.  If we can do it, so can you.

 



Nobody and no body are perfect.

Some days, we have the best of intentions to eat healthy and exercise but then our day ends and we haven't done either.  Other days we give in to temptation and we eat something we regretted.  Don't let those days define you and your mission towards health.  Know the difference between a  setback and failure.

Chew on this: 9 more years!

Vegetarians have longer life expectancy than meat eaters, finds study

 

Following a vegetarian diet could mean you live more than nine years longer than you might by consuming meat based diets, according to new research findings.

 

CLICK HERE to view the article that summarizes this study.

 

Thank you to M.J. for directing me to this article.  Much appreciated!

 

 

Impossible

*Casie here*

I know all most of you are thinking there is NO way my family could ever go meat and dairy free. Let me just say, I DON'T BLAME YOU. This is a HUGE mountain to climb, it seems overwhelming and nearly impossible. I totally get it. I'm just going to be honest with you. It is VERY hard in the beginning. V.E.R.Y. I will also be completely honest and tell you it WILL NOT WORK if both partners are not on the same page or at least not for very long. It will be nearly impossible. Seriously. Both you and your spouse/significant other need to be on board 100%. I can not imagine if my husband or I were not fully committed to this. It really would be so hard to keep it up, making two seperate meals, having things around that shouldn't be, watching them eating things you are not, just too hard.

Here is my advice and tips for you. Start VERY small. Maybe just try one night a week where you make a meal that is meat free. You can do that, can't you? Just use one of the recipes on here. Truthfully, the fall/winter I feel is the easiest time to be meat free. There are so many different vegetable soups that you can make, they go a long way and in the end are not very expensive. 

If you can't do a dinner, just try to do one lunch a week that you go meat free. (I also have lunch ideas for you *HERE* that will give you a good start). 

Give yourself time to learn what all the products out there are that you can substitute meat with. It took me nearly a year to be comfortable enough to start making recipes. We just had a lot of pre-made frozen meatless burgers and canned veggie soups for a LONG time. Only now am I getting comfortable. You will SLOWLY try different products and try different recipes and slowly get more comfortable with the substitutes and what all the names of the products are.

Here is another EASY tip. Use your same meals that you are eating now (and you are comfortable making) and just replace your regular meat with a meat substitute like Seitan, Tempeh, Tofu, etc... Most come pre-cooked in strips like chicken or groud like ground beef, so all you have to do is warm it through. Throw it into your dish like 10 minutes before it's done. You can seriously fake everyone out. No one will know, I guarentee it. It looks the same as hamburger or chicken and tastes the same. So, that's easy and doable. You don't have to learn any new recipies, just swap the meat out.

Try switching your dairy milk with non-dairy milk. Try all the different kinds and see which one you like the best. I L.O.V.E. almond milk. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! My favorite brand is Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Vanilla. I will NEVER go back to cow's milk. There are other options besides Almond. There is Coconut, Rice and Soy Milk. All these products also have substitutes for other 'dairy' products like sour cream, cream cheese, cheese, butter, ice cream, yogurt, etc...There are so many good items out there.

You have to start somewhere, this is at least better than doing nothing at all. You can do it!

Smoking - Quit It!

  

Any questions?



Water Intake Guide

Are you drinking enough water to satisfy your body's needs?  Probably not. 

 



Chia Seeds

We love chia seeds and consume them daily in our smoothies.  In my practice, I recommend chia seeds to my patients as a great source of omega 3 fatty acids. 





Body Scans

Here are body scans of a 250 pound female and a 120 pound female for comparison ( Source: eatsmartagesmart.com):



Soda



Movember

I was listening to TED.com* yesterday and viewed THIS VIDEO CLIP about the Movember movement.  You can find out more about Movemeber HERE.

Basically, Movember is about awareness and fund raising for prostate cancer.  Even though I shaved today, it looks like I'm going to be sporting a hideous mustache for the rest of November...at least it is for a good cause.


*Thanks to Ryan M. for recommending TED.com to me.