It's not about Peeps and ham

Happy Easter!  No matter what our religious faith, we all look forward to Easter as major road sign of optimism: renewed life and renewed hopes.  Spring.  Clean, fresh starts.  Open the windows. Pack up the bulky winter clothes.  Look forward to feeling the warmth of the sun on bare skin.

Yet the "Easter Candy Clearance" aisles at Walmart beckon us to stock up.  After all, it's stupid to not buy good chocolate bunnies when they're half-price, right?  And jelly beans are good to have "on hand" all year long.....

STOP!!  Remember what Easter represents!  It's not about eating, nor is it about perpetuating bad habits, or wasting money on things that are downright BAD for us.

Easter is about honoring life, not shortening it.  Whether you're pigging out on ham and hot cross buns or cramming Cadbury Creme Eggs into your mouth like there's no tomorrow (and there is, you know!) stuffing massive amounts of seasonal junk down your throat does not honor life--especially not your own.

Tomorrow when you're out shopping, hold your head high and stride right past all that clearance-priced Easter candy.  It's crap.  It's poison.  It will mess you up.  Breathe deeply and feel your strength.  Use that strength to be the person you want to be.  This is a season of new beginnings!

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Tally Ho!

Learn to count calories in your head.  Keep an approximate tally running all day long.  Some people write it all down; others use electronic monitors to record their caloric intake; still others enter all their food information into a computer program.  But keeping a tally in your head will teach you to become more aware, on a subconscious level, of how much you're eating.  It will also keep you from caving in for an entire day, just because you may have a few bad moments.  Example:  you just inhaled three homemade cookies while they were cooling on the rack.  Do not kill yourself, and do not throw in the towel on the rest of the day's calorie counting.  You probably consumed 450 calories.  That's not going to blimp you out overnight.  It simply means you can eat 450 fewer calories for the remainder of the day.

Do not attempt to "work off" those 450 bad calories!  Do you usual workout, but just chalk up the 450 calories to part of your daily total and call it good.  To burn off the calories in those three cookies, you'd have to strenuously work out for an hour or more.   There's nothing wrong with that if your body is conditioned for it, but it's not a good plan for burning off a binge.
  

To eat or not to eat...

It's 11:30 a.m and the office gang just brought in a cake to celebrate someone's birthday.  Should you have a piece?

NO!!  Have coffee if that's offered, but turn down the gooey cake.  The birthday person won't be offended.  It will mean more for the others, or more for her to take home.

It's 3 p.m.  You had a light lunch at noon, and this evening you have Zumba class at the health club before you go home.

YES!!  Keep up your blood sugar by choosing something healthful (not processed) that's under 200 calories.  Fruit, yogurt and rice products all work well.  So do hard-boiled eggs.  Do not let yourself crash.

It's 5:30 p.m. on Friday.  The gang is going out for Happy Hour and half-price appetizers.  Should you eat some?

DEPENDS.  If you're going to drink modestly, it's a good idea to eat something...but not greasy buffalo wings and egg rolls.  Opt for a fresh veggie platter.  You'll discover that munching on celery while sipping chardonnay with your best buddies can be every bit as fun as mindlessly eating tortilla chips and guzzling sugary margaritas. For what you'll save in margarita and chips calories, you can even have a second glass of wine!

It's 10 p.m.  You've just caught up on your evening email.  You're tired.  You're also hungry; you had a light dinner around 5:00.  Should you eat something before you turn in?

NO!!!  You're tired and you're certainly not starving (you just ate five hours ago and have an abundant supply of reserve fuel on your body).  Just go to bed.  Your body needs rest, not food.


Do what I did.  Lost 40 pounds, shrink yourself for good, and start living life.  You have nothing to lose but $2.99 (for my book) and your extra weight.  I'm just like you.  I did it; you can too.   Go here:  www.bucketlistweightloss.com.

--Jan Manning

Live for the moment--the next moment

You felt so good, so relieved, so carefree, and so caught up in the present that you decided to overindulge on food and alcohol  to make it even better.  Life's just too damn short to deny ourselves such simple and sublime pleasures, right?  Go ahead and have one more margarita, and throw down some tortillas and guacamole while you're at it.  What the heck!  You only live once, and right now is all that counts, right?

Wrong.  Living for the moment may sound good if you're an old hippie, but this mindset has consequences.  EVERY SINGLE THING YOU DO in any single moment has consequences--sometimes good, sometimes not.  Spend one moment eating too much, and you'll spend the next moment regretting it.

There's nothing wrong with fully enjoying life in the present.  Just think at least one moment ahead.  You do, after all, have an obligation to live as healthy and productive a life as possible, and that requires some advance planning.  So keep your sight focused in front of you to the future, rather than blindly turning it inward to the present.  All of your actions have consequences.   Is eating half a pineapple upside-down cake really worth the far-reaching price you will pay?

Next time you're tempted to throw caution to the wind and "eat for the moment," remember the moments that will inevitably follow close behind. If you truly want to celebrate something special, celebrate staying the course during times of temptation.  You will always be so glad that you did!

What's in my fridge

Back in the days of diets (ugh!), my refrigerator and cupboards were bare, except for the "diet foods."  It was awful.  A houseful of cottage cheese, canned tuna and kale just didn't cut it when I was craving kettle chips.  Yet I figured it was better to not have the evil edibles in my presence, so I wouldn't be tempted.

When I finally got skinny my own way (NOT by dieting, but by following Bucket List Weight Loss), my fridge is always full of good stuff that I can--and want--to eat any time I get hungry.   Now, you might not like what I have on hand--and it's not necessary, because when you do Bucket List Weight Loss, you'll come up with your own list.  But here's what awaits me next time my stomach says, "I think I need some fuel."

• Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat (to which I might add some sweetener and/or blueberries)
• brown rice
• cooked chicken
• hard-boiled eggs
• grapes
• almond milk (great in coffee!)
• grapefruit (got it from the 4-H kids, otherwise wouldn't be there)
• lean pork, cooked in the crockpot yesterday
• edamame in the freezer
• fresh lemons for hot lemon-water tea
• hummus
• spinach

It may not be an impressive list, but I love the flavors and textures of all these things (sometimes all mixed together with some creative seasonings).

Make your own list by discovering which foods your body likes--they should be easy to digest, filling, satisfying in texture, and pleasing in taste.  No processed foods.  Nothing that comes with sugar and salt added. (Do you own seasoning.) You will happily discover your appetite decreases, your cravings go south, and your fat starts to melt.  And you'll no longer be searching for a bag of Doritos to get you through the day.

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What did you eat four hours ago?

Gut check time.

• How does your digestive system feel right now?  
• Got gas?
• Got "hunger pangs"?
• Constipated?
• Quiet and comfortable?

Okay.  Now think about what you ate four hours ago.  Even if you had a snack twenty minutes ago, think first about what you ate four hours back.  How would you describe it?  Fibrous vegetable?  Starchy white food?  Sweet?  Protein-rich?

Now name the specific food:  Broccoli?  Baked potato with skin?  Chocolate cake?  Chicken?

The way your gut feels right now is largely the result of what you ate four hours ago.  Any food you've put into it since then has probably intensified the feeling of what already started.

If your gut feels good, then the food you ate four hours ago is okay for you.  If it doesn't feel that great, think about eliminating that food for a few days.  Then eat it again....the same amount...and see if you get the same reaction.  If you do, stop eating it.  Your system can't handle it, and it doesn't need it.  For example, not everyone does well on superfoods like oatmeal and sweet potatoes.  You can always reap those same nutritional benefits from other sources.

The result of eliminating the troublesome food item:  your cravings will stop, you'll have more energy, your appetite will diminish and you will lose weight.