More Happy Health

“You can workout until the cows come home, but if your diet sucks, so will your results.” – Angie Strader

I’ve had an epiphany! Exercise alone doesn’t work.  Exercise and kinda eating right doesn’t work well.  Exercise and a healthful diet works.   Hence the reason I am back on Jenny Craig as well as my morning Chocolate Shakeology and Beachbody Insanity.

One staple to any diet, and written in stone on the Jenny Craig diet, is a garden or spinach salad at least once a day – more if you’d like.  Making a salad for every meal is a pain.  To keep it easy, I used to buy one of those salad in a bag kits – REALLY expensive – and not really that fresh.  So, I decided to make one big salad a week and keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator so I can take out a portion at a time and get on with my life.

Here’s my method for making one really big salad for the week:

What you’ll need:

Green Bags

Food processor (not required, but sure helps – thanks Mom!)

Lettuce knife (slices lettuce without browning)

Salad spinner (please wash your greens!)

Big airtight container

Veggies I use:

Green leaf lettuce, Spinach, Carrott, Radish, Celery, Brocolli, Snap peas, Cucumber, Green onions, Red onions (I didn’t have any today)

You have to have Green Bags!  If you don’t – get them!  I recently discovered a time saving tip too:  take your Green Bags and your eco-friendly shopping bags with you to the market.  Put the veggies that you would normally bag in the store directly into the green bags.  I was using the plastic produce bags (which I hated doing) and then transferring everything to the Green Bags when I got home.  Then it occurred to me that I could save that time and do it right at the store.

I clean and dry all my produce before putting it in the processor one layer at a time.  Tip: for celery, a damp paper towel is all you need to wipe it off.  Don’t peel your carrots as the skin is packed with nutrients.

Use a plastic lettuce knife to cut the lettuce into thin strips.  The lettuce knife prevents the leafs from turning brown and spoiling faster.

Rinse your greens in a salad spinner and then spin it fast enough to get all of the water off of the leaves.  Residual moisture will make your salad soggy and spoil much faster.  BUT do rinse your lettuce and spinach!

Dump everything into a big airtight container that has enough room to shake it all up.  I put it in (no dressing), put the lid on, seal it and then shake, shake, shake.

Isn’t that beautiful?  Look at all of that colorful goodness! Yum!

Last tip: Put your salad serving in a big bowl or plate so that when you drizzle the salad dressing, it spreads evenly over the whole salad and doesn’t just sit on top.  I hate it when I eat the first few bites and get all the dressing and the bottom is dry.  Bleh!

One last tip: While I make my salad, I steam a bunch of broccoli or cauliflower for the rest of the week.  I let this one get a little too done.  It’s best to slightly under cook it so that when you warm it later, it will cook the rest of the way.

That’s it!  Takes about 20 minutes to prepare a big ol’ salad for the rest of the week that is cost effective and healthy!

I would love to hear if this helped you and please share your favorite tips and tricks to saving money and time in a healthy kitchen.

Is there an important reunion coming up in 2010?

Do you know that the #1 reason people do not attend reunions is because of their weight?

That is not going to happen to you this year!  You are going to take control now so you can be excited for those fun summer reunions.

This is not a quick fix crash diet campaign.  This is a lifestyle program intended to create lifelong changes that get you to your best you by the summer and beyond!

This is also going to be a simple plan to follow.  Life is complex enough already, so let’s keep it simple.  We will make small changes and reap big rewards.

This is also a peer support and accountability program.  Those that commit to the program by RSVP are encouraged to post comments on the program wall.  Use the wall to post questions to the others, celebrate successes in your plan, offer suggestions for things that work for you and create healthy competition.

Each 30 days I will give you a few lifestyle changes to incorporate into your daily routine.  These steps may be more challenging for some and easier for others.  Feel free to adjust the plan according to your current health and fitness level, but make sure you are pushing yourself beyond your current comfort level!

The Plan:

1. Commit to the challenge by joining the Facebook Group Reunion Readiness Health and Fitness Program.  If you can’t find it, send me an email at angie@morehappyhealth.com for a group invite.
2. If you haven’t done so in the last 12 months – schedule a physical with your doctor
3. So we have a starting measure, send me the following information (trust me, I will not judge and I promise to keep this info confidential!):
   1. Your height
   2. Current weight
   3. Chest, waist, hips, thighs and bicep measurements
   4. Your 30-day goal for how many INCHES you want to lose – notice the goal is on inches lost and not weight lost.  I won’t be asking you for your weight again for several months.  I even suggest you ask a loved one to hide the scale from you for now.  The goal of this challenge is to become more fit, which includes building muscle and losing fat.  Muscle weighs more than fat, yet is takes up less space.  Read more here: War of Muscle Vs. Fat
   5. Schedule at least 3 days a week to workout.  Put the days on your calendar right away.  The type of fitness program you choose is up to you.  Be sure you incorporate aerobic activity and weight resistance training into your routine.  If you like to workout at home, checkout the various home fitness programs I offer through Beachbody here:  www.beachbodycoach.com/HAPPYCOACH
   6. Get a pedometer and set a goal to get at least 6,000 steps in a day for the first 30 days.  The eventual goal will be 10,000 a day.
   7. Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and two small snacks (about 100 – 150 calories) between meals.  You may find this to be the most challenging part the whole plan.  Here are a few suggestions for you: You Have to Eat, So Plan Ahead.
   8. Make healthy food choices by adding more veggies and fruits to your meals and reduce the white stuff like potatoes, pasta, and bread.
   9. Practice portion control.  Learn to know when you are full and when to push the plate away.  Read more here:  Take a Break and Evaluate
   10. Drink eight glasses of water a day (more if you are working up a heavy sweat during your workouts). Goal here is to stay hydrated.
   11. Get your vitamins.  No matter how well we eat, we really cannot get all of the nutrients we need through food alone.  At a minimum, you should take a high quality daily multi-vitamin.  Your doctor can help you determine other supplements you may need.

There you go – 10 things for you to do this first 30 days.  These are the bare minimum necessities for creating a healthy and fit lifestyle.

Bonus step: if you would like me to be your official free fitness coach and receive email updates and more information about health and fitness, register here for FREE:   http://bit.ly/CoachReg

Keep me posted on your progress throughout the month!  I will be doing the same steps as you as I have my own goals for my 25-year high school reunion this year.  I am here to help and encourage you along the way!

Let’s make 2010 the year of positive change!

Cold weather and loose fitting clothes could equal added inches.  With the cold weather, we tend to bundle up in cozy sweat pants and those comfy and stylish velour tracksuits, both of which have elastic waistbands and stretchy fabric.  When you wear clothing like that, you will not notice when the inches and pounds start creeping up.  Think about how you feel when you sit down in a pair of snug-fitting jeans.  If you eat a big meal while wearing those same jeans, you are going to begin to feel uncomfortable because of the pressure around your waist and belly.  The awareness of feeling uncomfortable will help trigger in your brain to quit eating.  That trigger will not happen if you were wearing a pair of elastic waist stretchy pants.

Keep this in mind as you bundle up this winter – its fine to have those casual comfy days now and then, however, if you are trying to keep the weight off, stick to the fitted clothing and be aware of the fit and feel of your clothing.  Oh – and as a reminder, wash those jeans regularly… jeans tend to stretch out with wear and it could be a shock to put them back on after their monthly wash only to find the “shrank” in the wash!

About six weeks ago I took a severe fall while rollerblading. The fall was so bad that I bruised a kidney and hurt both of my wrists. Since that time, I have tried to exercise a few times, but I got frustrated because the pain in my left wrist was so severe that I stopped. It has been a long six weeks for me!

After my fall, I got mad and felt sorry for myself. As soon as my kidney healed, I should have started back to a modified fitness program or at least started walking. Instead, I pouted and did nothing. I also took a couple of last-minute vacations and ate anything and everything I wanted. The scale reflects my overindulgence!

I am making a rebound now and have begun to exercise again. I realized that my wrist will not allow me to do any pull-ups or push-up, so I had to stop P90X for now and started back on my Total Gym, elliptical trainer and Turbo Jam. With the exception of the Total Gym, these activities do not require me to use my wrist in a way that hurts. As for the Total Gym, I can modify rotation and movements to allow me to get a great workout without bearing or pulling my full body weight.

I am so excited to get back to my daily fitness fix! I find that I am much more centered and confident with myself when I am on a good fitness routine. I feel that men and women who work out regularly exude a certain level of confidence and radiate a natural and alluring glow.

I am finally having x-rays of my wrist this week so we will see what the problem is. I hope that it is just a strain or pulled something or other, but in the meantime, you will find me on my elliptical, Total Gym or kickin’ and booty shakin’ with Turbo Jam.

Here’s to good health and happiness all over again!