Summer is here, I’m guessing most of you are like me and aren’t really looking forward to getting in that bikini. Yikes! Let’s lost 10 pounds in 5 weeks! Can you really do it this time? You bet you can! Even if you don’t lost 10 pounds you will be leaner and fitter then you are now. You have to train yourself to substitute poor choices with ones that will really help you to drop pounds this time! Now is the time to take inventory of your behaviors. The first step, a reality check of the eating and exercise choices you make most of the time, may be the most challenging part of making a change. But it’s crucial for achieving lasting success.

If you are pumped up and ready here are a few steps that you will need to do to lost those 10 pounds.

Step 1. Get yourself a food journal. Take three days of this week to write down everything you eat. This will help you identify your specific eating patterns and spot areas where you can improve.

Step 2. Learn to improve your diet. Do your research, find the right eating plan for you. I’m not going to get specific because everyone is different on what they want to cut out of their diets and don’t look at it as a diet think of it as eating healthier!

Step 3. One of the simplest ways to squeeze fitness into your life is to walk more. Walk everywhere and anywhere! Whether it’s getting the mail, parking farther back in the parking lot, taking out the trash instead of you husband, etc etc etc. There’s endless possibilities

Welcome to the beginning of the rest of your healthy life!

All the time people are trying to incorporate more vitamins and healthy foods into their diet. I am going to tell you 5 easy ways to get more Vitamin D. Vitamin D is the new “IT” vitamin. It has wide ranging benefits from keeping your bones and heart healthy to reducing the risk of breast and other cancers. Most people don’t get enough of this vitamin, women are supposed to aim for 800-1,000 IU’s a day.

Eat Salmon;  a 3.5 oz serving has 360 IU’s in it. Almost all cow milk in the United States is fortified with vitamin D. One 8 oz glass gives you 98 IU’s. If you have milk allergies or are vegan many brands of soy, rice and almond milks are fortified with vitamin D as well, all you have to do is check the label! Some yogurts are fortified as well. Yoplait’s original fruit flavors have around 80 IU’s per container. 3 ounces of canned tuna in oil will give you 25% of the daily minimum. Last but not least is cereal. Not all of them are fortified so again you will have to check to labels. Two cereals that I for sure know are fortified are cheerios and raisin bran and each of them have about 40 IU’s per cup. Like I said these are all easy peasy ways to get your vitamin D you are probably already eating most of these, all you have to do is check the label to see if they’re fortified!

There are 6 healthy foods out there that most of you are not getting enough of! Here’s a little info on each of these foods:

1.       Celery: when you eat at least 4 stalks a day it reduces blood pressure, not to mention it also fills you up with no calories! Fabulous!

2.       Seaweed:  is packed with amazing nutrients! They are a good source of calcium and potassium (which helps maintain healthy blood pressure). If ground up they are a good substitute for salt!

3.       Scallops: are more then 80% protein and are also a good source of potassium and magnesium.

4.       Hemp Seeds:  they are rich is omega 3 fatty acids, which reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.  They provide all the essential fatty acids that meats and proteins do so they are great for vegetarians or if you are just looking to get some more protein in you diet.

5.       Lentils: have about 16 grams of fiber in every cup. They also contain 27% more folate then spinach does! If you eat colored lentils (orange, black or red) they contain disease fighting antioxidants.

6.       Dark Meat: It is more fatty then white meat but there is a reason! The extra fat in dark meat raises your levels of cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone that makes you feel fuller longer. Which means you will be less likely to overeat in the hours following your meal. If you are worried about the cholesterol only 1/3 of the fat in a drumstick is the saturated kind. As for calories there are only 8 more then in a ounce of white meat!

I don’t know about you but I’m headed to the grocery store for some seaweed and lentils!

What’s your least favorite body part? We all have one unfortunately!  Despite all the popularity of low carb diets, keeping a food diary, or even diet pills, most people still fight bulging bellies and flabby thighs. No wonder liposuction is the third-most-requested cosmetic surgery procedure! (according to the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS)). Even the recession isn’t keeping people away from lipo! 245,000 procedures were performed last year, at an average cost of $4,000!

According to most doctors the ideal liposuction candidate is someone who works out regularly and has a healthy body fat percentage and is mostly bothered by small fat deposits in one or two specific spots (such as the dreaded “muffin top”). However, most patients who request liposuction are out of shape and turn to surgery as a shortcut to lose weight. This can cause disappointment down the road because “liposuction changes the way you gain and lose weight.” When fat is removed by liposuction, it can prompt the body to gain weight in areas that previously weren’t problem spots. In fact most doctors say they frequently sees patients return two to four years after their first procedure to request it again.

Think liposuction is still for you? Check out the risks involved and, of course make sure you consider all the side effects. If you’re not ready for the leap into liposuction, there are a few things to try to get your body headed in the right direction. Count your calories. Get out and exercise whether it be exercise videos, the gym or your bike. Make sure your fitness plan combines aerobic exercise, cross training and weight lifting.

    I was channel surfing one night and came across the TV show “The Biggest Loser”.  I have never seen it before and I have never been a fan but I was intrigued! How do people go on national television and tell the world exactly what they weigh, how much fat they have, and even stand in their skivvies in front of the world!? Anyways getting back to the point it was an episode where they were learning about snacks; what was healthy and what was not so healthy. So they were going over a bunch of stuff they could eat like fruits, veges, etc. Then one of the trainers proceeded to tell them to substitute a snack for a stick of gum. GENIUS! At first I thought the idea was completely ridiculous. I thought, “who on earth would enjoy a piece of gum as a snack!?” Then I kept thinking about it and realized it’s not really supposed to be a snack hearsay, but a substitute for a snack. Then I thought about how I pop a snack into my mouth without even thinking twice about it. Whether it is while I’m vegging out watching TV, sitting at my desk, doing it because I’m bored, etc. So why not trick my mind, mouth and tummy and throw a stick of gum there and save myself from a couple hundred calories? Thank you biggest loser!