Let's Move

My main focus of today’s blog was going to be about the www.facebook.com/letsmove which I LOVE!! We must be vigilant in getting our children out there and moving and we as adults need to as well.

Food Labels Not Really the Problem

 

However, last night the whole food label revamping reared its ugly head again. I must say again how I feel about this. Last month, January 31^st I wrote a blog about the Food Labels change that was being proposed www.timerdiet.com/blog/food-labels-needing-update-really/  

I am going to have to disagree with Mrs. Obama on this one. I see no reason whatsoever to change the food labels that we have. Ok so read the previous blog and make your own conclusion. Let’s Move on to Let’s Move!!

Daily Activity Is Important

Children must have daily activity built into their schedule as young as possible. When my kids were young (around 6 months old) we did “mommy and me” swim sessions at the YMCA. So obviously this was probably more about me at this age, but it carried on as they got a little older. When my girls were around 3 and 4 years old I got them involved in gymnastics at the YMCA and roller skating at the local skating rink. When they were 5 and 6 years old we were skiing. I didn’t go skiing for the first time until I was 20 years old. I honestly hated my first time but, I persevered and now I love it! At 6 and 7 they were in PeeWee cheerleading and from there cheerleading was their love. I guarantee that those girls worked out almost every day as cheerleaders. Those girls never got enough credit for all that they did!! (Ok soap box moment)

So why was this so important to me? Many of you don’t know but I was a teenage mother, and I was always worried that I wouldn’t be good enough. This internal fear propelled me to do whatever I could to give my daughters a “normal” childhood. I was divorced shortly after my youngest was born and child support was minimal and usually non-existent. So everything I did I did so with very modest means. I have to admit my thought process was not so much about physical fitness as it was about my kids having fun and doing things that I thought they would enjoy. Which brings me to my next observation…

 

We Want Our Kids to Have Fun

 

But, our kid’s definition of fun has changed, and not for the good as it pertains to the physical activity of our children. Kids these days define fun as computers, tablets, phones, gaming systems, and other new technology that wasn’t even around when my kids were young. So I can understand how parents are wanting to let their kids do things that are “fun” but, we as parents need to balance technological fun with physical fun. We must include psychical fun in our children’s lives. The easiest way to do this is organized activities. There may be a some fees involved, but I urge you to search out various ways to cover the costs or find locations that are not charging high fees. Here are some ideas to get the costs covered, and not just for your child but for others, too:

 

·         Car Washes

·         Selling of goods promoting the cause

·         Finding a sponsor—Many businesses would be very willing to do this

·         Find church groups that have athletic programs

·         Local YMCA

·         Local public and/or after school program

·         Have your child start a business

o   Growing and selling garden foods

o   Babysitting

o   Mowing Lawns

 

Let’s Not Forget the Obvious

 

Our children look to us as parents when deciding how to live their lives. The alternative is that they look to us as to how not to live their lives. Decide which way you want your children to look at you and their childhood. Do they see parents who care about their physical activity? What they eat, by minimizing junk foods? Get out and walk as a family, go for a hike, maybe get even more adventurous and go skiing, water skiing, gardening, picking up leaves, shoveling snow!! Do it all as a family, and your children will take notice.

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDiet

www.timerdiet.com

  

Eggs

Any kind of eggs add value to your daily diet!

Eggs were the most searched for calories in 2013 according to Google

My guess is that most people were surprised to find out that on average the egg has only 70 calories. As you may or may not know, in my book TimerDiet, I do NOT count calories, however, I do find calories interesting for comparison and contrast. What I find most interesting about the egg is that (Egg·land’s Best®-Large egg) one egg has 4g of dietary fat and 6g of protein and no carbohydrates! That makes the egg an amazing food—to me anyway! Dietary fat is important to include in your daily intake of food. The fact that there are no carbohydrates in an egg means you can add a slice of toast and a small amount of fruit and you will have a well-balanced meal.

Eggs have been beaten up in the past

I can only guess why the egg was the most searched for food in 2013 and that would be that eggs have been given a hard time in the past and blamed for the woes of many a physical condition. But, then the egg was once again praised for its qualities like having Lutein and Omega 3 fatty acids. So it is no wonder that people are confused and want to see what this food is all about. When I was a child we used to get crates of eggs and go through them in about a week’s time. We did not have a large family and there was no obesity in our family either. We used eggs to bake our bread, have for breakfast, and hard-boiled as a snack!

Somehow we have decided it takes too long to cook

In our fast paced, give it to me now world we tend to feel that taking a couple of minutes to cook in the morning will slow us down. I would like to challenge this perception, especially when you compare eating out at a restaurant to cooking at home. I love going out to a restaurant as well, but cooking at home is a very close second. It is important to pass on the knowledge or acquire it ourselves and then pass it on to the next generation. In fact I would say it is imperative. The ability to make meals for oneself and others is not a gender specific issue. When I was in middle school we had to take home economics and everyone was required to take it. Now I don’t even know if such a course exists! We are all about cutting what are deemed to be unimportant curriculum in the classroom. But, isn’t learning how to feed yourself once you get out into the real world important?

Teach the next generation

If you have children I encourage you to have them learn how to cook, how to read a recipe (the difference between a large egg and an extra-large egg), how to properly crack an egg (in a separate bowl…), how to use the oven and the stove. Have them make breakfast for the family on the weekend!! Make a homemade quiche or frittata. Show them how to boil eggs!  Learning the value, flexibility, and usefulness of the egg is a great way to start.

 

Bon appétit mon ami!!! 

 

By Sherri Sue Fisher

author of TimerDiet

www.timerdiet.com/timer-diet-concepts

 

"Google Trends - Top Charts." Google Trends - Top Charts. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014

100 Days Until Memorial Day

Valentine’s Day is Over

With Valentine’s Day being over, the Olympics are wrapping up in a week, and summer is really just around the corner, how do you want to look on Memorial Day? We are not talking about looking like a Sports Illustrated model; that would be nice, but for most of us not probable—me included!! I personally would love to have a sunny glow; but I know unless it comes from a bottle that is not going to happen. I do know that my body is going to pretty much look like it did last summer and that is not a bad thing. Since I have maintained my weight for several years, my main dread of the summer is the beauty upkeep that comes with having to show off all that skin! Yikes!

You Have 100 Days from Today until Memorial Day

How do you want to start your summer this year? Do you want more muscle? Maybe, to be ready to take on some summer activities you have always thought about? Or maybe you would like to lose a few unwanted lbs? All of the above achievements are within your control!! I am not a proponent of fast weight loss—I prefer steady as you go—weight loss. So to say that you could lose 15 pounds is not an over estimation. It is very doable. However, you want to make sure that the way you lose weight is sustainable for the long-haul and incorporates daily activity that you can also maintain. Deciding you are going to start your weight loss by drinking green shakes every day and a high intensity work out for an hour a day is a recipe not only for disaster, it is a recipe for failure.

Define Your Goals and Make a Solid Plan

In TimerDiet, Chapter 4—Before You Start; the focus is on all of the things you need to address before you begin your weight loss journey. Waking up one morning and deciding today is the day I am going to drop 25 pounds normally does not work. You want to think about how much you really want to lose, what size you will be, what foods you should and should not have in your home, what types of foods you like, what foods go together to make tasty meals that you won’t feel like you are “dieting”, and so much more. If you look at the table of contents you will see that the chapter about what you need to do Before You Start is almost as long as the following chapter How to Do It!

I Don’t Mean to Tease You!

There really is so much that goes into what you need to do before you lose weight that there is no way to go through it in the blog and be sure I have covered everything successfully. However, I can tell you that when I began my journey 5 years ago today. I did everything I go through in two weeks and was ready to begin my weight loss journey on March 1, 2009. I lost 20 pounds by my birthday on June 23^rd 2009; and I have never looked back. The day after Valentine’s Day back in 2009, I said to myself enough is enough and I wanted a different me by summer and that is exactly what I did; I created a new me!

You can, too!!

Sherri Sue Fisher

www.timerdiet.com

 

Breakfast--Think Outside the Box

Think Outside the Box—Not Just the Cereal Box

When you think of breakfast you most likely think of cereal, I used to as well. Then I realized I felt so much better when I ate a more balanced breakfast that included dietary fat, protein, and carbohydrates. It wasn’t until much later that I actually looked at the labels of the cereal box (with a little more knowledge of what the label meant only to find out that the carbohydrate ratio was completely out of whack with the dietary fat and protein. In fact my favorite cereal had virtually no dietary fat and minimal protein, meaning that I was eating carbs for breakfast!

Carbs are Not Bad—BUT!!

Carbohydrates are not bad, but really they must be part of a well-balanced diet. They are not the diet. Somehow in our quest to eat “healthy” we have traded cereal for fruit. Which is what? Right! Carbohydrates. Do not forget the nutrients of the foods you are eating. They are made of either dietary fat, protein, and/or carbohydrates. There is no way around it. They are one of or some combination of these three nutrients. That simple knowledge will bode you well when you think about what to eat.

Eggs for Breakfast is Good—BUT!!

I want you to think even more outside the box!! Eggs for breakfast is an easy switch and I do have them about 75% of the time for breakfast. But, sometimes I just eat whatever for breakfast. Like left over fish, steak, chicken, enchiladas.  Really!! If I know I am not going to be around to eat my leftovers for lunch or dinner, and I am in the mood I will have grilled grouper with cilantro couscous from the night before. Or maby steak with potatoes au gratin. Or even a salad with leftover grilled chicken. Anything that is well-balanced makes a great choice for breakfast.  So if your mainstay is a bagel and cream cheese; add some salmon, and capers and now you have a well-balanced breakfast!!

Above all Enjoy Breakfast!

I hope these ideas help you in making better choices for breakfast. Not every day will be a bacon and eggs day, but do what you can to avoid the overdone carb breakfast!! Always remember to eat just until satisfied and not one bite more. You will feel so much better!!

 Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDiet

www.timerdiet.com