Protein Cookies?!

Ingredients:
Protein Blend (Soy Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Isolate), Maltitol Sweetened Chocolate Chips (Maltitol, Cocoa, Vanilla), Maltitol, Brown Sugar, Sugar, Unsalted Butter, Eggs, White Wheat Flour, Honey, Water, Vanilla Extract, Baking Soda, Salt, Sucralose, Potassium Sorbate.

I saw these "protein cookies" inside of the gas station recently. As I glanced at the ingredients, I asked myself a question involving 3 words, "WHY PEOPLE,WHY?" People will do anything to market junk foods masked as healthy foods. They are putting sugar alcohols in many "sugar free" items. Malitol is one of the common sugar alcohols and it ferments in the intestines and causes bloating, gas, or diarrhea. Consuming these cookies will also encourage sweet cravings, slow weight loss efforts and mess up your blood sugar levels. The above nonsense is nothing more than low-end, processed proteins, sugar , artificial sweeteners and preservatives!

1 Yr In FL (Bootcamp Celebration)

Thanks to everyone for showing love and being optimistic about health, fitness and life! Sorry if we did not get you in a photo, you still made our night.

Food Compulsions/Addictions Part 3

So how can you get rid of food compulsions/addictions forever? Well the good news is that you can! But my question to you is, "do you really want it bad enough?" If you want anything in life bad enough you will do what it takes to attain it and keep it. Especially if it is in your best interest and includes benefits. The benefits include, but are not limited to long life, zest for life, energy, passion, beauty, confidence, strength, peace, clarity, trim physique and much, much more. Those things all sound great, but you still may be wondering, "what exactly do I have to do?"
1.Make a resolute statement that being healthy and in your best shape is your desire and takes priority above any junk food that was ever created.

2.Do a 30-day raw produce detox to rid your body of the toxins that the junk has caused. After completion put the value on your health and not the junk by not allowing them back into your bodies.

3.Read books and/or online resources that support your new healthy goals. (I guarantee that your subconscious will try to sway you from your goals many times/day, so why not put thoughts and words into brain that promotes your goals.)

~Specific, practical techniques that can be used when you experience cravings.
*Ask yourself, "what would a healthy person do right now?"
*Ask yourself, "Is this fuel for my precious body or a fall back into my old habits?"
*Sing a song that makes you happy immediately when a craving hits. (It is a great distractor)
*Practice becoming repulsed by junk foods. Pretend that they are covered with maggots. (The visual helps bcs really they will clog your arteries and cells, just like a maggot covers something rotted.)

~Please find solace in knowing that you will work hard using techniques in the beginning, but as you stick to your guns you will have created new healthy habits. Once you make a healthy lifestyle into a habit, then it is more natural and less forced. So do know that it gets so much easier with time.

Food Compulsion/Addiction Part 2

I want to paraphrase a few powerful points in "The end of overeating" that are key.

#1 Cues: Activity in the brain is stimulated not only by food itself, but also by cues suggesting that food is nearby. This signal becomes a trigger of desire. Examples of this can be billboards, commercials, passing by restaurants, someone bringing doughnuts into the office or even someone mentioning eating out.

#2 Reward: Feeling like you have worked hard on eating healthy day after day and now you deserve a treat is a slippery slope. The act of putting the junk in your mouth triggers to many chemicals in the brain, which will cause the cravings and treat frequencies to get worse and worse. The regret that follows just makes this a viscous cycle.

#3 Habit: Over time, the act of eating highly rewarding food creates an automatic response. Once a script becomes imprinted in the brain, the behavior it dictates becomes so routine that we can respond before we're even conscious of a stimulus. Habits are learned slowly, but once they are in place, they are by their very nature difficult to break.

~Now that you know the who, what, why, how and where of food compulsions/addictions, join me next time to discover how to shatter their hold over you and destroy them FOREVER!

Food Compulsion/Addiction Part 1

David A. Kessler, M.D., author of "The end of overeating" wrote the following: "Highly palatable" foods -- those containing fat, sugar and salt -- stimulate the brain to release dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure center, he found. In time, the brain gets wired so that dopamine pathways light up at the mere suggestion of the food, such as driving past a fast-food restaurant, and the urge to eat the food grows insistent. Once the food is eaten, the brain releases opioids, which bring emotional relief. Together, dopamine and opioids create a pathway that can activate every time a person is reminded about the particular food. This happens regardless of whether the person is hungry.

Dopamine drives desire through a survival-based capacity known as "attentional bias." Defined as "the exaggerated amount of attention that is paid to highly rewarding stimuli at the expense of other (neutral) stimuli," attentional bias allows us to pick out what matters most so we can pursue it. It gives rewarding foods their prominence in our minds. The more rewarding the food, the greater the attention we direct toward it and the more vigorously we pursue it.

~Find out next time how the food and restaurant industry uses the combination of fat,sugar and salt to keep you hooked. I will conclude this series by letting you know exactly what you can do to stop being addicted to foods along with any other addiction.

Some Of The Consequences Of Obesity

This is a video of 1 person's struggle with obesity. My heart went out to her listening to it and I will be contacting her to offer support if she is willing to take action and let go of all those excuses. I am the wrong person to invite to a pity party, but I can kick your butt in gear if you listen and act! To the girl on the video if you are watching, here is my 1st piece of advice to you:"CHANGE your username from Happyfatgirl to Happyhealthygirl".

Father's Role In Daughter's Weight

Happy Fathers Day!!!!! If you are a mom, take good care of your hubby today (as it should be always:). Anyway, fathers play a very important role in their daughter's life. Your role as a dad will have an affect on everything from when she loses her virginity to her self-esteem. I had to do a speech to teen girls at a high school recently, and during my research discovered many ways a father can prevent his daughter from having eating disorders. Although the suggestions can help with preventing eating orders, they also will help in other areas as well.The following are great tips that dad can start implementing immediately:
~ Show your daughter love and affection
~ Listen to your daughter
~ Do not criticize her body
~ Compliment your daughter
~ Encourage her strengths
~Volunteer at her school
~ Be active in her day-to-day life
~ Give rules and boundaries
~ Respect and love her mom
~ Be an example
~ Have at least 2 meals/wk together as a family at the table with no distractions
~ Have faith and integrity

Bucket List #309283 (Karaoke)

1 Year And Still Fit w/Paola

How can I lose weight and keep it off? How can I stick to my diet (eating plan)? How can I make eating and fitness part of my lifestyle forever? What if I want to cheat once in a while? Here's Paola's perspective!

How Important Is Willpower?

....Not important at all!

Willpower

–noun
control of one's impulses and actions; self-control.

Weight loss doesn't require willpower. In order to stick to your weight-loss fitness and eating goals you must do 2 things.

1. NEVER entertain the the thought that tells you to do the opposite of your goals. The more you consider it, the more you start to go downhill.

2. Immediately put your thoughts and emotions on something else.

Ask yourself this... Which is the strongest? Emotions or Reason? Emotions will ALWAYS have the final say!

RECAP: You are wasting your time and setting yourself up for failure if you constantly just use "willpower" to be strong as you use all your senses (taste,smell,see,touch, feel) in your head to ponder that chocolate cake, and going through a mental tug-of war. When all you have to do is zap the thought down immediately and think about the 1st day you met your spouse or your 1st airplane ride. You want to think of things that will get your emotions activated.

6.10 Bootcamp Preview

Bootcamp Baby!!!

Fast Food & 911 Call

Funny Friday

Raw Un-Cooking w/ Bethany Pt 2

Who:Bethany Tait ~Raw Food Practitioner
What: Raw Recipe
Why:A fun way to incorporate simple,healthy meals made of raw produce into your eating.

Raw Un-Cooking w/ Bethany Pt 1

Confession Time With Amy

which is a silicone belt that goes around the top of the stomach. She has been struggling with obesity and all the woes that are attached to it for years. She is now at a point in her life where "enough is enough" and she is ready to take action and re-design her life! She plans to use my for pillars for your "best body now" to reach her goals. 1.Fitness (In her case bootcamp); Food(She will start with a 30-Raw Detox); Supplements (To optimize results) and Mindset (A daily mechanism to handle fear and self-sabotage).