August Newsletter!

Bible Verse:
"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called." -1 Timothy 6:12


31 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise
“80 percent of success is showing up.” - Woody AllenHow do you find motivation to exercise when you just don’t feel like getting off your butt? I ask myself this question every now and then, and I have the feeling I’m not the only one.
How do you find motivation to exercise when you just don’t feel like getting off your butt? I ask myself this question every now and then, and I have the feeling I’m not the only one.
A few weeks ago, I wrote 4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit … and the fourth and final step was to add motivation as needed until the habit sticks. This post is to help you with that fourth step.
There are a million ways to motivate yourself to exercise, actually, but these are a few that have worked for me. And trust me; I’ve had days when I’ve struggled with exercise. Most recently, the things that have helped include finding a workout partner (one of the best motivators!), logging my exercise, reading magazines, books and websites, and rewarding myself.
How you feel after a workout. I always feel great after a good workout. It’s a high. And I let that motivate me the next time: “You know how good you’re going to feel, Leo!”
Time for you. While many people make time to take care of others (kids, spouse, other family, co-workers, boss), they don’t often make time to take care of themselves. Instead, make your “you” time a priority, and don’t miss that exercise appointment.
Calories burned. If you count calories (and it’s really one of the most effective ways to lose weight), you know that the more you exercise, the more calories you burn — and the bigger your calorie deficit.
Having fun. Exercise should be fun. If it isn’t, try a different kind of activity that you enjoy. As long as you’re moving, it’s good for you.
How you’re going to look. Imagine a slimmer, fitter you. Now let that visualization drive you.
Magazines. It motivates me to read fitness magazines. Not sure why, but it works.
Cover models. Sure, they’re genetically freaky, and probably Photo-shopped to look perfect. But for some reason, looking at how good a cover model looks helps motivate me to work harder.
Blogs. I enjoy reading blogs about people who are into running, or losing weight. It can show the ups and downs they go through, and you can learn from their experiences.
Success stories. I find the success stories of others incredibly inspirational. If a fitness website has success stories, I’ll almost always read them.
Forums. Do the monthly challenge on the Zen Habits forums, or join another forum full of like-minded or like-goaled peopled. Check in daily. It really helps.
Rewards. If you exercise for a few days, give yourself a reward! A week? Another reward. Do it often in the beginning.
Fitting into new clothes. Want to look good in a smaller size? Work out!
Being attractive. That’s always a good motivator, as I’m sure we all know. Edited to correct language.
Adrenaline rush. I get a rush when I exercise. Ride that rush to complete the workout.
Stress relief. Wound up after a long day at the office? Get out and work off that stress. It makes a world of difference.
Time for contemplation. I love, love the quiet time of exercise for thinking about things. Most of this post was written in my head as I exercised.
A workout partner. Best thing I’ve done.
An exercise class. Sign up for a class, perhaps with a friend, and you’ll be motivated to get there and work out.
A coach or trainer. Worth the money, just for the motivation.
An exercise log/graph. For some reason, writing it down is extremely important. Really. Do it for a week and you’ll see what I mean!
Your before picture. You often don’t realize how far you’ve come. Take pictures.
A 5K race or triathlon. Just sign up for one and you’ll be motivated to train.
The dread of feeling “yuck” from not exercising. I hate how I feel after not exercising. So I remind myself of that when I feel tired.
Living long enough to see your grandkids … and play with them.
The scale. It’s not motivating to weigh yourself every day, as your weight fluctuates. But if you weigh yourself once a week, you’ll be motivated to have it keep going down, instead of up. Combine the scale with the measuring tape, and measure your waist.
Reaching a goal. Set a goal for weight, or your waist measurement, or a number of days to work out, or a number of miles to run this week. Setting and tracking a goal helps motivate you to complete that goal. Make it easily achievable.
Posting it on your blog. Tell people you’re going to lose weight or exercise daily, and report to them. You’ll make it happen.
Motivational quotes. I like to print them out or put them on my computer desktop.
Books. I just bought a strength-training book as a reward. It makes me want to hit the weights!
Others commenting on how good you look. When someone notices the changes in your body, it feels good. And it makes you want to work out more.
An upcoming day at the beach, or a reunion. Enough said.

Getting back on track after vacation
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. I know mine was good. When I take a vacation, I take a vacation from everything. My diet and training routine don’t ever come into my mind. But after the vacation, it is always extremely hard to get back into the rhythm.
Since I am just returning from an overindulging weekend, I wanted to write about how I get myself back into my routine and diet.
The past 3 days have consisted of pizzas, hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, pies, and alcohol. (None of which are on my diet at all) I was curious to see how much I ate on a given day. I was taking in around 8000 calories a day, 3.5 times more than my current diet. So needless to say, I added some unwanted fat this weekend.
So what to do now? Well first, it’s Tuesday. The weekend is over. I’m back at work and my day has some structure again. The first day back from vacation is a very important day. Even though I don’t feel like working out, I know I have to get a workout in to help get back into the routine. The longer you hold off on returning to the gym, the harder it will be to start. If you get yourself into the gym on the first day, you will greatly increase your chances of sticking to your routine.
Getting back into your exercise routine isn’t even the most difficult part of returning after a vacation. Eating a healthy diet is much harder to get back into. After eating all those delicious foods that are horrible for you, who wants to eat a healthy can of tuna.
To help me get back on track, I planned to wake up 30 minutes before my usual time. I woke up and made my meals for the rest of the day. On the first day back, having everything made and ready to eat will help get back into the habit of eating a healthy diet. If you don’t have the food on hand, you’re more likely to go to a quick and unhealthy meal. This is a natural tendency since our taste buds still remember the satisfaction of that pizza. Make your meals for your first day back. This helps return to your diet.
If you’re still having trouble getting back into eating everything healthy, slowly make progress to a clean diet. For the first day back, eat 80% healthy foods and 20% junk. The next day drop something from your junk side and try and get 90% healthy food. This will help transition back into eating a completely healthy diet.
I know it’s a lot easier said than done. Remind yourself throughout the day about your workout and what you’re trying to accomplish. Why did you start training in the first place? Are you trying to fit into those special jeans? Or are you going for those pool side abs? Look at back at those goals and think about them again. When you imagine what you want to have, you will be more determined to get it.
So, get yourself back into the gym and eat the right way. It will soon be habit again. Good Luck.You can read more of Travis Petelle's articles at www.gohealthyfitness.com. Go Healthy Fitness was created to bring updated news about fitness, health, and nutrition to help those out there transform their bodies and health the way they want to.


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Drop 10 Pounds by Snacking
These magical munchies let you pig out and lose "pudge"
Shelley Levitt
Snacking when you're trying to lose weight is like having premium cable on a budget: When it's time to cut back, they're the first things to go. But swearing off between-meal eats can actually have an adverse effect on your waistline: "Studies show that people who avoid eating between meals may end up consuming more calories overall," says WH weight-loss advisor Keri Glassman, R.D., author of The Snack Factor Diet. "When you're famished, your blood sugar is low and your defenses are down, so you don't necessarily make the best choices." As a nation of snack addicts with no sign of reforming--according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002, women snack more than twice a day, at around 192 calories a pop--it's time to embrace our need to nibble. Take your eating tips from the pros, check out WH's Ultimate Meal Plan for all-day energy and weight loss success. To snack without adding bulk to your backside, fill your cupboard with foods that have built-in willpower. Here are three snacking strategies that come with a no-gorge guarantee: Just add airFoods that are pumped full of air make your stomach feel inflated without giving you a beach-ball belly. In a study published last year in the journal Appetite, Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan and the director of the Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behavior at Penn State, served visitors to her lab either crunchy cheese snacks or more aerated puffy cheese snacks. Those munching the puffier snacks consumed nearly 75 percent more by volume, but they took in 20 percent fewer calories. "When something is full of air, an equal amount looks bigger, so people tend to take in fewer calories," Rolls says. If you nosh on air-puffed snacks, you'll be able to eat more without your gut suffering the consequences--and you can stretch your snack over an entire episode of Mad Men instead of blowing it all in the first commercial break.

Scarf thisPop-chips Potato, corn, and rice chips with 20 percent fewer cal­ories than traditional chips 120 calories per ounceCheetos Natural White Cheddar Puffs 150 calories per ounceQuaker Caramel Corn Quakes Rice snacks 60 calories for 7 cakesThink thickAs far as your muffin top is concerned, all calories are created equal. But your brain plays favorites. "Liquids don't seem to trigger the same response in metabolism and hunger suppression that solids do," says Susan Swithers, Ph.D., of Purdue University's Ingestive Behavior Research Center. "You're consuming calories, but your brain doesn't really register them, so you still feel hungry and can overeat without realizing it." The good news: Experts speculate that thicker liquids, such as smoothies, are recognized as food by your brain's appetite center, so they can help you get to that couldn't-eat-­another-bite feeling. Dutch researchers backed up the idea with a study pub­lished this year in the International Journal of Obe­sity. After offering unlimited amounts of chocolate in three forms--milk, custard, and a beverage with a consistency between the two--they found (in addition to, we bet, a lot of eager volunteers) that those who had the chocolate milk consumed 30 percent more calories than those who ate the pudding. The mid-consistency mixture fared somewhere in the middle.
Scarf this Jell-O sugar-free pudding cups dark chocolate and raspberry 60 calories per 3.75 ozMott's Plus Sauce cups pomegranate 50 calories per 3.9 oz Dannon Light & Fit 0% Plus, vanilla flavor50 calories per 4 oz
Spice it upSpices have a good track record as a weight-loss tool. One study showed that spiking soup with a big dose of red pepper led to consuming fewer calories in subsequent meals. Not only does the hot sensation slow you down, pepper may cause thermogenesis (your body literally heats up, burning a few extra calories in the process). Another reason to kick it up a notch: Food scientists in Taiwan report that capsaicin, the compound that gives red pepper its "pow", may prove lethal to fat cells, killing them before they can fully form. There's common sense as well as science at work here, says Judith S. Stern, Sc.D., a professor of nutrition and internal medicine at the University of California, Davis. "You simply can't eat spicy cuisine quickly."Scarf this-Trader Joe's wasabi peas 120 calories per 1/4 cup-Applegate Farms Natural Joy Sticks 100 calories per stick-One bell pepper cut into quarters and topped with spicy Pace Thick & Chunky Salsa15 calories each-Whole jalapeños stuffed with garden vegetable Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese 74 calories eachCan't stop at one? The science behind self-controlYour inability to put on the brakes when you're chomping something yummy is about more than wimpy willpower. Evidence suggests that we evolved to crave fattening food. "Our taste buds have special sets of receptors that pick up flavors associated with calorie-dense foods, and even newborn babies are born with a desire for sweet things," says Gary Beauchamp, Ph.D., director of Philadelphia's Monell Chemical Senses Center. Our hairy human ancestors were mostly herb­ivores--today they'd be called vegans--and getting enough calories was a daily struggle. To avoid starving to death, they had to learn to recognize calorie- and nutrient-dense foods by their taste and texture. As a result, we inherited a powerful hankering for anything sweet (a sure sign of energy-boosting sugar) or fatty (a guarantee of precious calories).Now that we're no longer digging up roots, picking berries, and chasing woolly mammoths, calorie-dense foods are more of a curse than a blessing. Further proof that Mother Nature is determined to foil your weight-loss plans: Fat combined with salt or sugar gives your mouth the flavor equivalent of an orgasm, so sugary, high-fat foods (like ice cream) and salty, high-fat foods (like Doritos) are especially delectable, says food scientist Mary Ellen Camire, Ph.D. Seem depressing? Chin up--evolution may have stacked the deck, but ultimately you deal the cards. Put the choice in your own hands; check out WH's 125 Best Packaged Foods, to breeze through the supermarket aisles and make savvier snacking decisions.

Emotional Eating 101: What is Emotional Eating?

Frustrated with losing weight? Tired of the yo-yo dieting weight-loss-weight-gain cycle?If diets haven't worked for you, you may be struggling with emotional eating. It's been estimated that over 75% of overeating has emotional roots behind it.So what is emotional overeating anyway?Emotional overeaters eat to avoid or stuff down uncomfortable feelings. They eat to cope with life. They eat for reasons other than physical hunger and the nourishment of their body.Emotional over eating comes in many forms. You could be eating because you're:- angry- depressed- scared- anxious- bored- tired- hurt- lonely- discouragedSome people even eat to calm themselves down when they are overly happy or excited.Basically if you're eating in response to a difficult situation, when you're not physically hungry, then you're probably eating emotionally.Emotional eaters may feel hunger come on very quickly and they feel they need to eat NOW (whereas regular physical hunger comes on slowly and usually isn't as demanding). They may go out of their way to get food like driving to the grocery store late at night or driving long distances just to get a specific food.They usually choose sweet or salty comfort foods like chocolate, cookies, cakes, chips, pizza, cheeseburgers or other 'bad' foods. They usually eat a lot of food very fast (this kind of behavior is often called a binge).They may feel frenzied or hurried, anxious to get it all down. Alternatively, emotional overeaters may simply graze on food constantly just to get through the day.Emotional overeaters usually eat way past the normal feeling of fullness. They usually feel emotions like guilt and regret after eating and may hide their eating from others.So what's the big deal? Doesn't everyone use food to cope sometimes?Yes. To some extent it's fairly normal to eat out of our emotions occasionally. We all do it - even naturally thin eaters have days when they just need a cheeseburger or piece of chocolate for a pick-me-up.Eating out of your emotions becomes a problem when it starts to take over your life; when it starts to cause weight problems; and when food becomes your 'drug of choice' to handle any kind of difficult emotion.It's then that this behavior becomes a habit - and losing weight becomes virtually impossible. It also hurts us emotionally and psychologically. We don't gain the confidence that we can handle difficult situations since we're always numbing ourselves with food instead of tackling the problem.So what can you do?The good news is that if you are an emotional eater, now you know why diets haven't worked in the past. You haven't failed - the diets were just addressing the wrong thing - the food.The real issue is that you've developed the habit of using food to handle difficult emotions. Once you address this, then you'll quickly notice your food cravings diminishing and you'll start to lose weight.It may take some time and commitment to change - but the weight loss results are well worth it - and much more permanent than any diet.

Recipe:
Tandoori Chicken with Tomato- Cucumber Raita

Associated with India, Tandoori cooking, a high-heat process is actually a Middle Eastern invention, originally done in ceramic ovens, which have been unearthed at Babylonian archeological digs. In 1948, a fashionable, jet-setter restaurant in New Delhi installed a Tandoori oven, the media picked up the story, and the craze went around the world so fast that Tandoori cooking is now almost exclusively associated with India. Here, a hot grill produces similar results.
Makes 4 servings
ACTIVE TIME: 40 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes
EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy
1 teaspoon paprika1 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon chili powder1/4 teaspoon cumin1/4 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepperPinch of ground nutmeg4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound), trimmed of fat1 tablespoon canola oilTomato-Cucumber Raita (recipe follows)
1. Preheat grill to medium-high. 2. Combine paprika, coriander, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a large sealable plastic bag. Place each chicken breast between sheets of plastic wrap. Next, pound the chicken with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until flattened to an even thickness, about 1/4 inch. Brush the chicken with oil; place in the bag, seal and turn to coat.3. Oil the grill rack (see Cooking Tip). Grill the chicken until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve warm with Tomato-Cucumber Raita.
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 209 calories; 7 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono); 66 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrate; 27 g protein; 1 g fiber; 396 mg sodium.Nutrition bonus: Calcium (15% daily value), Vitamin A (15% dv), Vitamin C (15% dv).1/2 Carbohydrate ServingExchanges: 1/2 reduced-fat milk, 3 very lean meat
TIP: To oil a grill rack: Oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.)