"Avoid Unwanted Snacking
Don't cancel out all your hard work by snacking on calorie-laden foods. Here are seven easy ways to help you say no to all your guilty pleasures:
Down eight or more glasses of water a day.
Eat five to six planned, well-balanced meals a day.
Load up on fiber.
Never eat from the bag! Put your food on a plate or bowl.
In the morning, plan out what you are going to eat for the rest of the day, healthy snacks included.
Keep a food journal.
Find a weight loss partner you can consult with daily about what you've eaten.
**source: Oxygen magazine**"
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Damn it! Another Mouthwatering Recipe -Gotta try it :)
"Baked Potato Skins
* 4 large baking potatoes, baked
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* 8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 4 green onions, sliced
DIRECTIONS
Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shell (save pulp for another use). Place potatoes skins on a greased baking sheet. Combine oil, Parmesan cheese, salt, garlic powder, paprika and pepper; brush over both sides of skins. Bake at 475 degrees F for 7 minutes; turn. Bake until crisp, about 7 minutes more. Sprinkle bacon and cheddar cheese inside skins. Bake 2 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted. Top with sour cream and onions. Serve immediately."
* 4 large baking potatoes, baked
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* 8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 4 green onions, sliced
DIRECTIONS
Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shell (save pulp for another use). Place potatoes skins on a greased baking sheet. Combine oil, Parmesan cheese, salt, garlic powder, paprika and pepper; brush over both sides of skins. Bake at 475 degrees F for 7 minutes; turn. Bake until crisp, about 7 minutes more. Sprinkle bacon and cheddar cheese inside skins. Bake 2 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted. Top with sour cream and onions. Serve immediately."
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Another Tasty Recipt
Buffalo Chicken Wings
* oil for deep frying
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1/4 cup hot sauce
* 1 dash ground black pepper
* 1 dash garlic powder
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 10 chicken wings
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.
2. In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.
3. Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve."
* oil for deep frying
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1/4 cup hot sauce
* 1 dash ground black pepper
* 1 dash garlic powder
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 10 chicken wings
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.
2. In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.
3. Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve."
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Excellent Tips
4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit
I have to admit that I have my ups and downs with the exercise habit.
So I know that it’s not the easiest habit for most people, and most people’s experiences consist of starting and stopping and starting again. Which is fine — don’t beat yourself up about it. The important thing is starting again.
I’ve written before about how to build the exercise habit (and even have a guest post on it), but today I thought I’d revisit the topic for those who still have trouble.
The Main ProblemsSo why do most people have trouble making exercise a regular habit? Well, there are probably a number of factors, but here are the main ones as I see it:
Too difficult. People set out with a lot of ambition and enthusiasm, and start out with a big goal. “I’m going to go to the gym for an hour a day!” or “I’m going to run 30 minutes every day!” The problem is that the goal is too difficult to sustain for very long. You can do it for a few days, but you soon run out of energy, and it becomes a drag to do it.
Too many goals. Often we set out to do too much. We want to run, and lift weights, and eat healthy, and quit sweets, and stop drinking soda. Well, those are multiple goals, and you cannot focus on the exercise habit if you’re trying to do all the others at the same time. Or we might start with one goal, but then get caught up in another goal (to stop procrastinating, for example), and lose our focus on the first one.
Not enough motivation. It’s not a lack of discipline, it’s a lack of motivation. The most powerful motivators, in my experience, are logging your habit and public pressure. There are many others that help as well.
The 4 Simple StepsSo how do we solve those problems? Keep it simple. Here are the 4 simple steps to start the exercise habit (and keep it going). I should note that you can use these 4 steps to start any habit.
Set one easy, specific, measurable goal. There are several keys to setting this crucial goal:
Written: Write this down. Post it up. If you don’t write it down, it’s not important.
Easy: Don’t — DO NOT — set a difficult goal. Set one that is super, super easy. Five minutes of exercise a day. You can do that. Work your way to 10 minutes after a month. Then go to 15 after 2 months. You can see what I mean: make it easy to start with, so you can build your habit, then gradually increase.
Specific: By specific, I mean what activity are you going to do, at what time of day, and where? Don’t just say “exercise” or “I’m going to walk”. You have to set a time and place. Make it an appointment you can’t miss.
Trigger: I recommend that you have a “trigger” right before you do your habit. For example, you might always brush your teeth right after you shower. The shower is the trigger for brushing your teeth, and because of that, you never forget to brush your teeth. Well, what will you do right before you exercise? Is it right after you wake up? Right after your coffee? Right when you get home? As soon as you take off for lunch? A trigger that you do every single day is important.
Measurable: By measurable, I mean that you should be able to say, definitely, whether you hit or miss your goal today. Examples: run for 10 minutes. Walk 1/2 a mile. Do 3 sets of 5 pushups. Each of those has a number that you can shoot for.
One goal: Stick to this one goal for at least a month. Two months if you can bear it. Don’t start up a second goal during that 30-day period. If you do, you are scrapping this goal.
Log it daily. This is the key habit. If you can log your workout, you will start to see your progress, and it will motivate you to keep going. And you have to make it a habit to log it right away. Don’t put it off, and say you’ll do it before you go to bed. As soon as you’re done working out, log it. No exceptions. And don’t make the log complicated — that will only make you resist doing the log. Just the date, time, and what you did.
Report to others. I think this is key. You can do it on your blog, on an online forum, with your spouse, or friends or family, or a workout partner, or a coach, or a group, or a class. However you set it up, make it part of the process that you have to report your daily workout to other people. It could be using an online log, or on a forum, or through email, or the phone, or just by telling your co-workers what you did this morning. But be sure that they know your goal, and that you are going to report to them, and be sure that they are expecting it every day.
Add motivation as needed. The first three steps might be enough for you to get the habit going. But if not, don’t just give up. If you miss two consecutive workouts, you need to look at why, and add a new motivation. Rewards, more public pressure, inspiration, whatever it takes. Read this article for more on this. You can add one additional motivator, and then see if it works. If you miss two more consecutive workouts at any time, add another motivator. And so on, until the exercise habit sticks.
I have to admit that I have my ups and downs with the exercise habit.
So I know that it’s not the easiest habit for most people, and most people’s experiences consist of starting and stopping and starting again. Which is fine — don’t beat yourself up about it. The important thing is starting again.
I’ve written before about how to build the exercise habit (and even have a guest post on it), but today I thought I’d revisit the topic for those who still have trouble.
The Main ProblemsSo why do most people have trouble making exercise a regular habit? Well, there are probably a number of factors, but here are the main ones as I see it:
Too difficult. People set out with a lot of ambition and enthusiasm, and start out with a big goal. “I’m going to go to the gym for an hour a day!” or “I’m going to run 30 minutes every day!” The problem is that the goal is too difficult to sustain for very long. You can do it for a few days, but you soon run out of energy, and it becomes a drag to do it.
Too many goals. Often we set out to do too much. We want to run, and lift weights, and eat healthy, and quit sweets, and stop drinking soda. Well, those are multiple goals, and you cannot focus on the exercise habit if you’re trying to do all the others at the same time. Or we might start with one goal, but then get caught up in another goal (to stop procrastinating, for example), and lose our focus on the first one.
Not enough motivation. It’s not a lack of discipline, it’s a lack of motivation. The most powerful motivators, in my experience, are logging your habit and public pressure. There are many others that help as well.
The 4 Simple StepsSo how do we solve those problems? Keep it simple. Here are the 4 simple steps to start the exercise habit (and keep it going). I should note that you can use these 4 steps to start any habit.
Set one easy, specific, measurable goal. There are several keys to setting this crucial goal:
Written: Write this down. Post it up. If you don’t write it down, it’s not important.
Easy: Don’t — DO NOT — set a difficult goal. Set one that is super, super easy. Five minutes of exercise a day. You can do that. Work your way to 10 minutes after a month. Then go to 15 after 2 months. You can see what I mean: make it easy to start with, so you can build your habit, then gradually increase.
Specific: By specific, I mean what activity are you going to do, at what time of day, and where? Don’t just say “exercise” or “I’m going to walk”. You have to set a time and place. Make it an appointment you can’t miss.
Trigger: I recommend that you have a “trigger” right before you do your habit. For example, you might always brush your teeth right after you shower. The shower is the trigger for brushing your teeth, and because of that, you never forget to brush your teeth. Well, what will you do right before you exercise? Is it right after you wake up? Right after your coffee? Right when you get home? As soon as you take off for lunch? A trigger that you do every single day is important.
Measurable: By measurable, I mean that you should be able to say, definitely, whether you hit or miss your goal today. Examples: run for 10 minutes. Walk 1/2 a mile. Do 3 sets of 5 pushups. Each of those has a number that you can shoot for.
One goal: Stick to this one goal for at least a month. Two months if you can bear it. Don’t start up a second goal during that 30-day period. If you do, you are scrapping this goal.
Log it daily. This is the key habit. If you can log your workout, you will start to see your progress, and it will motivate you to keep going. And you have to make it a habit to log it right away. Don’t put it off, and say you’ll do it before you go to bed. As soon as you’re done working out, log it. No exceptions. And don’t make the log complicated — that will only make you resist doing the log. Just the date, time, and what you did.
Report to others. I think this is key. You can do it on your blog, on an online forum, with your spouse, or friends or family, or a workout partner, or a coach, or a group, or a class. However you set it up, make it part of the process that you have to report your daily workout to other people. It could be using an online log, or on a forum, or through email, or the phone, or just by telling your co-workers what you did this morning. But be sure that they know your goal, and that you are going to report to them, and be sure that they are expecting it every day.
Add motivation as needed. The first three steps might be enough for you to get the habit going. But if not, don’t just give up. If you miss two consecutive workouts, you need to look at why, and add a new motivation. Rewards, more public pressure, inspiration, whatever it takes. Read this article for more on this. You can add one additional motivator, and then see if it works. If you miss two more consecutive workouts at any time, add another motivator. And so on, until the exercise habit sticks.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Recipe I'm going to try
"Cook In Training: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup plain yogurt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
* 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks."
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup plain yogurt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
* 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks."
Monday, May 4, 2009
HATER
Hater
A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall.
They are very negative people to say the least.
Nothing is evergood enough!
When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters...
That's why you have to be careful with whom you share your blessings and your dreams, because some folk can't handle seeing you blessed...
It's dangerous to be like somebody else...
It's dangerous to be like somebody else...
If God wanted you to belike somebody else, He would have given you what He gave them! Right? You never know what people have gone through to get what theyhave...
The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but theydon't know my story...
If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you can rest assured that the water bill is higher there too!
We've all got some haters among us!
Some people envy you because you can:
a) Have a relationship with God
b) Light up a room when you walk in
c) Tell a man / woman to hit the curb (if he / she isn't about the right thing)
d) Raise your children without both parents being in the home
Haters can't stand to see you happy.
Haters will never want to see you succeed.
Most of our haters are people who are supposed to beon our side.
How do you handle your undercover haters?
You can handle these haters by:
1. Knowing who you are & who your true friends are
1. Knowing who you are & who your true friends are
2. Having a purpose to your life: Purpose does not mean having a job.
You can have a job and still be unfulfilled. A purpose is having a clear sense of
what God has called you to be. Your purpose is not defined by what others think
about you.
3. By remembering what you have is by divine prerogative and not human manipulation.
3. By remembering what you have is by divine prerogative and not human manipulation.
Fulfill your dreams! You only have one life to live...when its your time to leave this earth,
you 'want' to be able to say, 'I've lived my life and fulfilled 'my' dreams,...
Now I'm ready to go HOME! When God gives you favor, you can tell your haters, 'Don't look atme...Look at Who is in charge of me...'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
