Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Throw Out Your Bathroom Scale?

I must confess.  I've weighed myself nearly every single day for about 30 years!  Lately though, I haven't even bothered.


As a health coach, I am getting concerned over the almost morbid fascination with the scale. That little piece of machinery is the cause of a lot of discouragement.

What we need to realize is that our weight can fluctuate a great deal daily and weekly.  I think a more accurate picture of where we are is taking our measurements. Also, do not wear loose, baggy clothing!  If you live in loose clothing, you will not feel a gain or a loss!

  I keep a certain pair of jeans and about twice a year I put them on and make sure they still fit properly. I don't even wear them anymore, they are my sacred "make-sure-I-can-still-button-them" jeans!


A body-fat analysis is the way to go, go to a Doctor, a trainer, or a gym and ask for one. Just remember, different places have different machines,  your body fat percentage will vary so try and have the same machine do the percentage every few months.

Another good indicator of health is the "waist-to-hip" ratio. You can 'google' it for an on-line calculator. Or take your waist and hip measurements and divide the waist number by the hip number. For women you want an .7 or less and for men you want a .9 or less in both cases. You all know me, and according to mine, I need to lose a half-inch off my belly to be in the "healthy" range as my mine is .79


It is interesting that the older I get, I have gained weight in my waist. I have my measurements from years ago and they are the same except my waist is bigger! (gasp)!

Bottom line:  weigh yourself about once a week, take those measurements, do your waist-to-hip ratio and get a body-fat analysis!

Good health and happiness to all!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Musings of a Health Coach

Have you ever tried to lose weight for a specific event? Perhaps it was a friend's wedding or a high school reunion? Do you remember the focus and the passion you applied to this project? Nothing was going to keep you from looking good on that specific day! You sailed through business lunches, family gatherings, and special occasions because you had a razor sharp focus on that one day!

What happens when you have attained that goal? Do you slip right back into old habits and gain everything back and then more? Is it hard to find your motivation in the fast pace of everyday living?

I'm here today to tell you that living healthy every day should be our focus. Isn't every day of our lives a gift to be appreciated? We may not be perfect every day, but a positive attitude towards honoring our bodies and only putting good things in them should be our goal, not for one day or a single event, but everyday for the rest of our lives!

I read something yesterday that said that if a person would replace one meal a day with a nice, healthy salad, he or she could possibly lose 30 pounds in one years time. Imagine if that person ditched the soda habit and tried to be a little more careful of sweets!

Now when I say eat one salad a day as a meal, it doesn't mean that you can load up the salad with so much stuff that you may as well have had a Quarter-Pounder!
Remember to load up on the lower carb veggies of the lettuces, celery, cucumbers, peppers, mushrooms, etc.

Put a little oil and vinegar on your salad and when I say a little oil, be careful. One tablespoon of oil is about 120 calories. I bought a little non-aerosol oil mister/sprayer. It is soooo cool. I never, ever buy the aerosol cans of cooking spray anymore. I have one with canola oil, one with olive oil and I mist my salad with it and then use my vinegar mister/sprayer and it coats my salad very well and it tastes good and saves me calories and money to boot! I picked up my oil misters in the cooking dept at Sears but I have seen them everywhere for about 10 bucks.

So, there is our goal for the week, a salad a day! That, along with the extra work-out we are trying to sneak in and kicking the soda habit, we will be well on our way to optimal health!