#TuesdayTip Eating Fat to Lose Fat #Fitness #Health

I hit another milestone today – 40 pounds lost. It took me a long time between the holidays (no pounds gained luckily) and the dreaded plateau.

Anyone who has tried to lose weight has hit a plateau and sometimes they are tough to break through. I tried lowering and raising my calorie counts. Exercising more. Even exercising a little less. Those stubborn 3 or so pounds just would not leave me.

I spoke to my trainer and we talked about my diet and it turned out that in my quest to eat healthier I had seriously eliminated fat from my diet. Both good and bad fats. He said to me, “You need to eat fat to lose fat.”

As you can imagine, I was surprised, but I took his words to heart because he has really helped me improve my overall health and fitness.

So I added back some healthy fats. Avocado. Nuts. Low fat dairy. Coconut oil. Olive oil. Eggs.

What happened? Well, those stubborn pounds disappeared in just a few days. WOO HOO.

So today’s Tuesday Tip is: Eat more healthy fats.

If you want more information on this concept and healthy fats, you can visit these links:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/557726-eat-fat-to-burn-fat/

http://www.coachcalorie.com/eat-fat-to-lose-fat/

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/how-eating-more-fat-helps-you-lose-more-weight.html

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/tips/why-non-fat-isnt-the-answer/

Just a last word of warning: Watch out for foods that claim to be low fat, but just seem too good to be true. Oftentimes there is a lot of added sugar and salt or artificial ingredients to make up for the “lower fat.”
EatFat

Tuesday Tip – Happiness, Stress and Weight

scaleWe’ve been talking about a lot of things for the New Year – Resilience, Happiness and Stress just to name a few. For me one thing that’s inherently tied to all three of those is my weight and not in a good way.

I know that I eat when I’m unhappy or stressed out. I know when it began – when my mom got sick and died. Back then the only thing that seemed to provide any comfort was food and so a pattern was born.

Of course understanding that and doing something about it are two different things. So when things got a little crazy last year, my weight ballooned. Again.

This year I’m doing something about it as well as about Happiness and Stress. So far so good. Choosing to be upbeat has helped. Taking some of those stress-busting steps has helped, especially two of them – prepping the night before and getting up ten minutes earlier.

Now I’m dealing with the weight thing, something which you know we’ve dealt with in the past.

My daughter gifted me with a copy of EAT THIS, NOT THAT for Christmas and I’m busy reading through it. I’ll let you know any good tips from there.

Some tips I have seen in the bombardment of New Year Resolution articles that I’ve tried and are good:

1. For snacking try a handful of almonds (about 12). Low in fat and high in fiber, they help stave off hunger.

2. Make sure to have breakfast. I’ve been starting with a cup of Quaker Oat Meal and I’m finding that I’m less hungry at lunch and also at dinner.

3. Have an orange at lunch or as a dessert. Citrus is apparently another great hunger fighter.

4. Exercise each day. A 20 minute walk will make a difference in how you feel. Try to include strength training. Building muscle will help with your metabolism.

5. Eat more slowly. It takes your brain some time to catch up and send the signal that you’re full. If you eat too fast (which I always do), you may be overeating.

6. Go Green! Use Avocado slices on your sandwich instead of mayo or butter. It’s a great vegetable fat and tasty too. Not an avocado fan? Switch to mustard instead.

7. Brown bag your lunch. Not only will you be saving money in these tough economic times, you will be better able to control what you are eating.

8. Try to eat more veggies. If you can, start your meal by eating the veggies. They have less calories for their volume and can help you eat less of the fattening stuff. Not a veggie person? Try V8 or tomato juice.

9. Cut back on carbs. If you keep them in moderation, you’ll notice an immediate change in belly fat and will likely have less cravings. When eating carbs, make sure they are high in fiber, low in refined sugars and have no trans fats.

10. Finally, remind yourself that it’s more stressful to be heavy and have health issues than it is to change your eating habits.

Hope you found these 10 tips helpful! If you’ve got some of your own to share, please let us know by posting a comment.