Tag: health

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#TransformationTuesday #TuesdayTip Walking Your Way to Better Health

A little while ago I posted a photo of myself and my transformation. 40 pounds lost and working on losing another 30.

Of course, a large part of that is diet and anyone that tells you that you can lose weight without eating healthier has a bridge to sell you (will kids even understand that saying today?).

Exercise, while important for losing weight, is also important for improving your overall health. It’s not good to be sedentary and even the smallest amount of movement will benefit you.

When I took the first step in my transformation, it was literally a first step: walking my way to health. It’s a great form of exercise and little by little I built up to how much I walk. Today I usually do about five miles a day (if not more) over the course of the day. How do I do that? Walking everywhere I can and having my Fitbit buddies challenge me to new goals.

My favorite place to walk is the beach, of course, but anywhere will do and it doesn’t take much. Just 15 minutes a day has been shown to improve your overall health.

If you’d like to get started, here are some links with good articles on the benefits of walking!

The Benefits of Walking by Real Simple
Benefits of Walking by Arthritis.org
Trim Your Waistline, Improve Your Health by Mayo Clinic
This is Your Body on Walking by Prevention Magazine (I personally love this magazine!)
3 New Walking Workouts to Blast Fat by Prevention

Another hint for those who work in an office and sit all day: Buy a cheap kitchen timer and set it to go off every half an hour. Get up, walk around, move, squat, lift, do anything! Be Mobile. You will feel the difference in your body once this becomes a regular habit.

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#ThrowbackThursday My First 5K #fitness #health #thisgirlcan

If you had asked me a year ago whether I thought I’d ever be able to run a 5K again, I would have been doubtful. Actually in my youth, I’d run multiple 10Ks, but that was before excess weight pulled me down.

Today’s Throwback is to two weeks ago when I was able to do a 5K on the treadmill. I didn’t break any land speed records, but like I told my hubby when I did 3.5 miles on Sunday, it’s about just being in the race and not how fast I finish.

Anything is possible. I sometimes lose sight of one of the things my mom always told me: Anything can be yours if you’re willing to work hard for it.

For the last year I’ve been working hard at improving my fitness and health. I’m going to keep on working hard at it. I also hope I can inspire any of you who doubt you can do it to take that first step toward a better life.
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#TransformationTuesday Losing & Gaining & Working At It

It’s been a year since I started my lifestyle change. I’ve had a little setback the past two months, but am working on getting back on my change. Carbs being my downfall, so I have to scale back to not having any for a little while to get my equilibrium back.

Despite the setback, I am still working out and feeling better. I thought that today I would share a before and after. The first photo on the right is of me taken on one of the off-site sets for CNN ESPAÑOL right here in NYC in the Time Warner building. I was a guest on the morning show and talking about romances. The photo on the right is one I snapped at a recent conference. I’m 40 pounds lighter and happy with my cute little black dress (courtesy of OG Surf & Skate) and my new haircut, which I managed to make look almost like what it did after I left the hairdresser.

If you have your own transformation story, please take a moment to share it!
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#TuesdayTip Jumpstart Your Day with Breakfast

There are lots of reasons that breakfast is an important way to start your day. For starters, your body’s metabolism has been in a resting state since the night before and you want to jumpstart that metabolism and get it going. That in turn will burn more calories which can help you maintain/lose weight. Plus, it will help avoid snacking on foods that are high in fat and sugar.

Breakfast will also help you reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

Here are some articles for you to check out on why breakfast is so important:

I started skipping breakfast and you know what I found? I was snacking more during the day and at night and losing weight was harder. So today, I’m back to eating breakfast and starting my day with a healthy bowl of oatmeal! I’ll let you know what difference it makes in my life soon!
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#FitnessFriday Abs Workout from Popsugar

It’s almost summer and with it, concerns about how you look, especially your abs. More importantly, strengthening your core is something you need to do for health reasons, but what if you don’t go to the gym and have lots of equipment.

Well, you don’t need a gym or equipment for a lot of workouts, like this one from Popsugar. Even better, it’s only 10 minutes long and who doesn’t have 10 minutes to improve their health?

I also like what I think is an alternative to the burpees everyone is always going on about (see minute 1 of the slide back and forth). I have issues with my big toes (seriously, I do) and that move back onto them in the burpee is painful.

If you have a Swiss ball, do a similar move that’s called a prone jacknife to help with those lower abs.

Click here if you can’t see the Popsugar video and please visit their site at www.popsugar.com. They have lots of awesome workouts, fashion, recipes and tips for you!

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#TipTuesday The Carb Dilemma

I’m a carboholic. I admit that and falling off the carb wagon is really really bad for me. Case in point, this week. It started off last weekend with a conference, built over the week in anticipation of Easter and crescendoed on Easter Sunday. Cakes. Bread. Chocolate. Pastries. As much as I kept to eating well for most meals and not only continued with my workouts, but intensified them, the addition of carbs set me back massively on my weight loss plans.

I’m sad about it, but taking steps to rectify the problem by watching my carbs and trying to limit myself to complex carbs in small quantities. What’s the difference between simple and complex? In a nutshell, complex carbs are those that are naturally occurring in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. While they break down into simple sugars eventually, they also contain fiber and other healthy ingredients.

Simple carbs are things like refined sugar, white bread, etc. which even if they have naturally occurring sugars, lack the beneficial fiber and nutrients that come with complex carbs. You can find a more detailed and scientific explanation about the different carbs in this article by Fitday.

So what foods are complex carbs? Here’s just a few:

    Oats
    Fruits
    Carrots
    Potatoes
    Sweet Potatoes
    Peas
    Barley
    Brown Rice
    Beans
    Lentils
    Corn

You can get more info on additional complex carbs and a carb calendar at MyFit.Ca.

I hope this was a helpful Tuesday Tip. You can click there to visit another good article on things to do to lose weight!
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#WriteWed Conferences and Craziness

I feel like the year is just flying by! It’s already mid-March and I’ve got the awesome Liberty States Fiction Writers Create Something Magical Conference this weekend. I’m excited to be doing a workshop there and the book fair on Saturday, which is open to the general public. If you’ll be in the Woodbridge, NJ area, I’d love to see you there! The signing is from 4 to 6 pm and you can check out what other authors will be there by clicking here.

What other craziness? Well, I’ve been busy writing my story for the SUMMER HEAT box set and also working on a new project. I’ll have news for you soon on that one! Good news that I’m very excited about.

In the meantime, I’ve been working out and trying to get more fit. Writing (and working at a law firm) are both such sedentary tasks, but I’ve been up and about and on my way to 45 pounds lost. I’d love to lose another 25 to 30 by the time that San Diego and the RWA National Conference rolls around. I’ll be doing a workshop there and also participating in the Literacy Signing. Woo hoo! Very excited about that one as well.

Hope you are all having a fabulous Wednesday!

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