Its New Years Eve... again. Time for a new beginning, new resolutions, new goals. That fabled fresh start. How can you make this fresh start even fresher than the starts of New Years Eve's past?By turning to one of my favorite things - and probably yours - books!While going through the lessons for the online workshop I'll be giving with Beth Andrews in January called Dreams to Realty - based on using goal setting tools to make your dreams come true - I came across my recommended reading list.The...
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
How Much Exercise Do You Need to Do to Improve Your Mood?
One of the aspects of exercise that I enjoy the most is how it improves my mood and increases my energy level. It's my experience that I need to work out at a moderate to high level for at least 30 minutes 3-4 times a week to really get that positive impact. To me, moderate to high level means that walking does not cut it anymore. I need to do the elliptical or one of the classes at my gym.An interesting article at the New York Times explores how much exercise one needs to do to improve her...
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tis the Time for Making Goals
Now that all the Christmas travel is over, things are gradually settling back into normalcy. For instance, today was the first day I'd stepped on the scales in more than two weeks. Considering those two weeks held a vacation and all the holiday eating, I was truly surprised to see I'd not gained any way. That gives me a great point at which to refocus my weight-loss efforts. Surely if I rededicate myself to daily exercise, my goal being at least one hour but preferably two, and keeping that all-important...
Monday, December 28, 2009
Fear of Success
My brilliant Weight Watchers (WW) group leader Melvin has brought up fear of success twice this year. The first time was in early spring. He mentioned that a member in his other group had lost more than 50 pounds and was struggling with her fear of success. She was very uncomfortable with all the attention and compliments her weight loss brought her, and she missed the invisibility she had had as a fat person. He asked if anybody in the room could relate, but nobody did. The woman sitting next to...
Friday, December 25, 2009
A Christmas Chuckle
For all of you who celebrate Christmas, I wish you a very Merry one today. And in the spirit of giving, I'm sharing this holiday humor with you. Just remember as you read it you can laugh, but to stay Healthy Writers in 2010, please do the exact opposite! :)Holiday Dietary Rules10. CARROT STICKS Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.9....
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Holiday Craziness and Healthy Habits
As the craziness of the holiday season draws to an end and the reason for the season comes to a head, I was reminded of how similar this time of year is to our healthy writer journey. We might be planners, and have our gifts bought and wrapped by Halloween, just like we might have a solid diet plan, exercise regime and writing discipline laid out for ourselves.Or we could be in that last minute, mile long line of shoppers paying prime dollar at the twelfth Toys R Us for the season's most popular...
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Looking for food contributor
As I listen to the waves crashing on the shore outside and dread heading back north to colder temps tomorrow, I'm working on the scheduling for Healthy Writer for the next several weeks. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a very reliable blogger when it comes to the topic of healthy cooking. Michelle does a marvelous job every other Saturday, and I'm just...lame. So, I'm looking for someone who would like to take over the alternating Saturday healthy cooking/food posts. Any takers? I would...
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Thinking about fitness at the beach
I'm a bit late posting today, but let's just chalk it up to the fact that I was mesmerized by the sound of the waves. You see, I'm at the beach on the Florida Panhandle with the hubby for a last-minute pre-Christmas vacation. I LOVE coming down here when it's cold at home. It makes me feel positive and happy and healthy. I've gone walking both days I've been here, and I don't feel the need to listen to the iPod to make the time pass. Instead, I listen to the waves, the birds, the wind in the palm...
Monday, December 21, 2009
New Year's Resolutions vs. Goals
I made variations of the same three New Year’s Resolutions for years and years. They were: 1) To Lose Weight2) To Write a Novel3) To Be More SocialI shared this with a friend once when we were talking about what our New Year’s Resolutions were going to be. Her immediate response was: how is that working for you? I wanted to take her head off, and I’m sure my verbal answer was pretty defensive. At times, I had made some progress on any one of these resolutions, especially number 3, but I never accomplished...
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Cuban Black Beans and Rice
I started the holiday season with the goal of still losing some weight during the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. I didn’t want to give up all hope that I could lose weight over the 5-6 weeks, and I also recognize that I’m likelier to maintain my loss if I have the goal of losing as opposed to maintaining. I find it easier to overeat and make unwise choices with the latter goal. It’s...
Friday, December 18, 2009
Punching Your Way to Healthy Writing
Note from Trish: I apologize for the late posting today. Anna sent me her post and photos several days ago, but I quite simply forgot to prepare the post last night. So, sorry Anna. Hope you all enjoy Anna's post nonetheless.By Anna SugdenWith the holiday season upon us, it’s a good time to be thinking about how we’re going to recover from all the indulgences (and overindulgences), as well as what...
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Soup Secrets
Trish blogged the other day on Romance Bandits and reminded me of how wonderfully warm and comforting soups are this time of year. Its cold, rainy or snowy out. We're inevitably running ragged and juggling twice as much responsibility as we normally do. Its soup time!!I love soup. But I don't eat canned soup at all. It just doesn't seem to appeal in the same way. Maybe its that savory scent that fills the kitchen that holds half the allure?Vegetable soup is a standard in our house, or as my...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Dressing the Part
I'm always looking for ways to inspire myself to keep to my exercise regimen, and I've discovered that if I dress the part of someone who is serious about exercise then I feel that I'm serious and have better results in time spent exercising. With that in mind, while Christmas shopping a few days ago I also picked up some exercise attire for myself -- three pairs of pants, two shirts, a light jacket...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Healthy Brain
I've become a big fan of Prevention magazine and the magazine's Web site. But as if I needed another reminder that past age 30, things start taking a lot more work to maintain, I saw an article today that began by mentioning that at age 30 our brains start a slow, steady decline. Hey, I'm a writer. I need all the brain power I can muster. But, luckily, there are ways to help keep our brains sharp.1....
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Dark Side of the Holidays
By now, you have probably heard more times than you care to how much weight the average person gains over the holidays. The usual assumption is that people gain weight because they can’t resist the temptation of all the yummy foods that are everywhere this time of the year. I think some of that weight gain may be caused by the darker side of the holidays – the negative thoughts and emotions this...
Friday, December 11, 2009
Five Healthy Writer Discoveries
By Sally KilpatrickFirst and foremost, I want to thank Trish for having me here at the Healthy Writer. I have been healthier than I am right now, but I did lose thirty pounds in 2008, and I’ve kept almost all of it off. No, really—almost all of it. At any rate, I’m going to start pumping iron again in 2010, and I’m going to undo the damage and take off a little more. In the meantime, here are the top five things I’ve learned about weight loss for writers. 5. Nonni biscotti. This stuff rocks,...
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Only Have Five Minutes?
As usual, my expectations of myself in the month of December (or any month, really) were way over-the-top. Here it is the 10th and I've only gotten in three full workouts, have no gifts wrapped and haven't even started baking. I haven't scheduled a cookie party for the kids and I still have a half-dozen gifts to find as well as a few dozen cards to address.Argh - blowing it already!!! And its only going to get crazier, time tighter and stress higher as the month progresses. But I'm determined...
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
And the Biggest Loser is...
Danny. I had a feeling after last week's episode that Danny was on track to win the crown tonight, but I had no idea how close it was going to be between him and Rudy. Both men lost more than 50 percent of their body weight and more than 230 pounds each. That's amazing! There was only a five-pound difference in how much they lost, and I think Danny had a bit of an edge because he's shorter and started at a lesser weight (430 to Rudy's 442). That's not taking anything away from Danny; he has done...
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Making Veggies Their Healthiest
I've been reading the December issue of Prevention, and one of the articles was about how you should prepare several different vegetables for maximum health benefits. Lots of vegetables help fight off bad health issues, including cancer, but to get the most nutrition and disease-fighting out of them, it's important to know how you should prepare them. Raw isn't always the best option. Some examples:Broccoli -- steam it. This helps the broccoli retain nearly 70% of its Vitamin C and nearly all of...
Monday, December 7, 2009
Resisting Food Pushers
In late summer, the management of the building where I work held an ice cream social. I had just returned from a work conference during which I had eaten way too much and was trying to get my eating back under control. I planned to skip the event.Not one, not two, not three, but four people came by my office at different times to make sure I knew about the event and invite me to go downstairs with them. I was able to put off the first two by saying I was doing some work then but would try to go...
Saturday, December 5, 2009
A Quick and Healthy Meal during the Holidays
I’m sure you’ve heard before that the average person gains 7 pounds over the holidays. If you already have a weight problem, you tend to keep that new addition around permanently. While the holiday season can be a lot of fun, it’s also full of temptations and challenges to a healthy lifestyle. One of the ways you can keep yourself on the right path is to arm yourself with some very quick and easy but healthy and tasty recipes. I’ve got a great one for you!Southwest Easy-Oven ChickenIngredients:...
Friday, December 4, 2009
Call for guest bloggers
It's hard to believe we're winding down another year. Didn't 2009 just start?We're getting ready for an exciting 2010 here at Healthy Writer, and one of the things we bring you each week is a guest blog each Friday (except today). Are you a writer? Would you like to blog with us one Friday about your personal weight loss/healthy living journey? About some aspect of living a healthy life? If you or someone you know is interested, please have him or her contact me at trishmilburn AT yahoo DOT com...
Thursday, December 3, 2009
All Those Little Things Count!
‘Tis the Season of jammed schedules, overwhelming stress and cookie overload. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that people gain more weight during the months of November and December than they do the rest of the year combined. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and busy, and to skip workouts. Or in the rush from here to there, the busy shopping sprints and plethora of holiday parties, to make poor food choices. So how do we avoid working our way to a Santa-esque silhouette? In keeping with the...
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Biggest Loser, Week 12
We've made it to the final week of the show before next week's finale. It wasn't unexpected that we got a lot of retrospective in this episode, showing just how far the contestants have come. Seeing how unhappy they were at the beginning, I'll admit, caused me to choke up. We got to see their homecomings, including Danny asking his wife to renew their wedding vows and Liz telling her husband that they need to work on their marriage but that she wants it to work, for them to have a second chance...
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Starting Over, Feeling Good
Struggle is a part of most things we do to improve ourselves and our lives, and that's definitely been true for me the past couple of weeks with my weight-loss/healthy living efforts. As I have before and may have to again, I'm in a bit of a starting over spot. For the past two weeks, I've allowed myself to get away from tracking my calories and exercising/eating like I should. I have all manner of excuses (board meeting, stress in various areas, travel, Thanksgiving), but I hate that I let those...
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