Health and Nutrition That Is AboveNBeyond

We all have them, mornings on the fly that is. Each morning can be like an international airport, people coming and going. That’s so true at our house. We all get up, get ready, eat and go. Who has time for breakfast right? Well, if we can, you can!

Here are some suggestions (using the Weight Watchers point system) that should get you fueled up and ready:

1. For those who left already, Herbalife Meal Replacement shakes: How does 2 minutes sound to you? That’s about how long it takes to make it (guesstimated) Just mix, blend and serve. Grab a to-go cup and head out the door. You can have a snack around 10:00am and be good until lunch. This is what I did to loose weight as well as having a shake for lunch too. For an 8oz glass this comes to 3 or 4 points depending on how much protein powder is used.

2. For those with a little more time: You can make yourself an omelet. Just use Eggbeaters (1/2 cup), 2 slices of fat free Turkey meat, 1 slice of fat free ham (Walmart) and 1 slice of light cheese. This will net you about 5 points using the Weight Watchers points system. This suggestion is based on one person / serving. Time to prepare 5 to 7 minutes (guesstimated).

3. Pancakes: You can have 3 pancakes for 3 points. You can use any of the following: Ant Jemima’s Whole Wheat or Buttermilk, or Fiber One pancake mix. Now, be careful on the size, you don’t want to go overboard. Bigger isn’t always better. See your nutrition label for more information.

If you are one that doesn’t eat breakfast, then you are missing out on the most important meal of the day. The body needs food to loose weight and it also need food for fuel. Even on mornings that I am up late like around 9:30am I still have breakfast, though I don’t eat as much since lunch is around the corner.

As I’ve said, I also used Weight Watchers in addition to Herbalife to help with controlling my portions. One of the really neat things about Weight Watchers is that by utilizing their point system, you can really eat anything you want as long as you can live with the impact of how you use the points each day and week. See this Weight Watchers Online commercial.

You don’t have to order anything to have on hand at home or office, you can buy locally and literally eat anything you like. It’s in my opinion a very flexible system and again as long as you can make use of their point system effectively. It’s a great way to conquer the issue of portion control. I really like it and use it as part of my weight management system. A key benefit of Weight Watchers is that even after you stop being a member, you still can make use of their foods and other products as well as their point system. Kind of like the gift that keeps on giving or something like that?

Some people have a problem with counting calories. In this case, you are counting points. For example, one Yoplait White Chocolate Strawberry is worth 2 points. That’s cheap in the point system. On Monday’s and Tuesdays, I am up early and look forward to my 10am snack which usually is some Yorgurt. I can eat it without feeling guilty knowing that lunch time is just around the corner. Let’s say that your daily point limit is 28, and you just had some yogurt. You now have 26 points left for the day. That’s how easy it is. Hey, it works for me……

Now, if anyone is still having an issue with counting points, think of it as a guide to help you with your portions. It’s not so much about counting the points, but, seeing how much of a portion you can eat and still get what you need. This is a whole lot easier than counting calories and it works.

You hear sayings (or say them) all the time.  Sayings like “Oh, I’m not that bad”, “you’ll have that anywhere” or “that won’t work”.  Unfortunately, it’s sayings like these that can also “trap” you into not taking any action for yourself.  Deep down inside, there is a small seed of care waiting to be nurtured.  For some, it never sees the light of day and doesn’t sprout into anything.  For others, it can mean the difference of night and day and wow, does it ever!  Accepting denial can apply to just about any issue such as weight loss, staying in the job you’ve had for years, addictions, illnesses, and so fourth.  It isn’t always easy to break away from this way of thinking especially if one is not good at change.  You have to reach the point where you stop listening to the hype around you and start listening to yourself.

How many years have to go by before one stops accepting denial and alters course to something more positive?  Yes, I said years, it can take a long time before one reaches the point where change happens (if any at all).  Accepting denial is a powerful negative that can hold one from making changes that would be beneficial.

Why do I call it Accepting Denial? It’s because one is accepting reasons for not making choices thus denying one self of a positive situation. One lives in denial of what could be instead of taking that first step.

One has to be careful and not be disillusioned by denial. In other words, the reasons you are accepting may seem real and really pertain to your situation, but, do they really apply? This is where you have to dig deep and I mean deep down inside yourself and get to the truth of the matter and ask that HARD question, “what do I want?”. This is not as easy as it seams and can really rock your world. How do I know this you ask? I’ve been there and decided that this would be a good subject to write about. So I ask you — Are you accepting denial? Think about it…….

I had great success in using Herbalife with my weight loss efforts. The basic plan is to use 2 Meal Replacement Shakes a day, with taking supplements 3 times a day followed by one colorful meal for supper. Herbalife has quite a good variety of different flavors of meal replacement shakes. Herbalife works and tastes great too! For me, my problem wasn’t about the products, it was on portion control and I had to find ways to help me in this area. Herbalife does have a variety of different protein snacks available too. There are different Weight Loss programs available to help you depending upon your need and affordability. Following the directions with these products is key to it’s success in helping you with your goals.

For my experience you can check out My Testimony on my weight loss journey. Everybody’s situation is different and sometimes you have to make choices to get you to achieving your goals. By controlling your portions, following Herbalife’s weight loss program and getting active, you will loose weight.

You need to stay consistent with this when working on loosing weight. You can’t just have one shake one day and skip the next. This has to be a daily effort to make it work. Being consistent with it will get you to loose weight. In addition to the fact that Herbalife works, it is also very nutritious.

There is a video on Herbalife in our Video Vault for Weight Loss, check it out.

For more information about Herbalife, check out http://herbalife.com

A lot of the times when I am running, I am also training for my next race. So, if you feel that your activity is lacking something, perhaps, you should consider kicking it up a notch and add racing to your activity. Racing an be advantageous in many ways. You can make new friends, help with your fitness goals and more. You don’t have to be a runner, to take part in racing. Biking and kayaking are other ways to get involved in racing. Not sure what to do, just google it. By adding racing to your sport or activity, you make it more fun and worthwhile to do. It then becomes more of your life than just doing it for the sense of fitness. There is also Trail Running & Racing to add even more of a spice to racing. This adds more challenges to more than just running on the pavement. Now, you don’t have to jump right into marathons or huge races. Start small, like 5k’s for running or other small courses and then build yourself up. When I started racing, I only did 5k’s for a while until I got brave to advance to 10k’s.

If you’ve never raced before and in this case, for runners, after paying your entry free, you’ll get a FREE T-Shirt or other item as suggested by the event of your choice. Usually, those who placed by age group get an award for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place finishers. Some events even have door prizes. Some races have food and refreshments at the end of the race (usually water, fruit’s & bagels).

Racing adds competitiveness to your sport and makes it a fun and exciting workout to take part in. Who said fitness had to be boring? Oh, and by the way, how old is to old to race? I was in my mid 30’s when I was a newbie to running in races.

How much of a rebellion are you part of when it comes to weight loss? Are you this bad? — Star Wars Weight Watchers:

One of the greatest benefits I get from running is the feeling of being refreshed after a good run. My favorite distance is 4 miles for the reason that after about a mile or so, I am warmed up and really starting to get into the run. Then not quite half way, I’m revved and really getting into it. With a good run, I’m burning calories, building endurance, combating stress, staying in shape, getting refreshed all at the same time. I love running, not only for the above reasons, but also, I can run anywhere at anytime even indoors and best of all it costs nothing to run. So, all my fitness efforts tend to gravitate toward running. I also have a Shwinn Letour Ten Speed bicycle that I have had since I was 19 and it is still pretty much in top notch shape. Unfortunately for it, my feet gets more of the pavement then it does. I may at some point get it back in action again. You see, if running isn’t up your alley, then something else could be right there waiting for you to focus on it. I have always had an interest in running even since high school. Though, back then, I really never pursued it an wished I did.

Having an active life is about 1/3rd part of the pie that helps with weight management to burn calories as well as to help with other areas such as stress and fitness. If you take the active slice out of the pie, and only concentrate nutrition and weight management, loosing weight an be more of a challenge. I know, who has time to be active right? Well, you make time for what is important to you. Believe me, if you want it, you’ll do it.

Let’s say that you are making a real hard effort in eating right including planning your meals accordingly, ensuring proper nutrition and striving to manage your weight for what ever your goals are. Wouldn’t you like to take advantage of anything at your disposal to achieve your goals? This is why if you add “getting active” to your agenda, it will help you in your efforts and you may just enjoy it like I do. If you are not sure what you want to do, then why not check out a new resource available right here on AboveNbeyond4u.com called NEWU. It’s a section to get you motivated into embracing the new you.

Well, for me, my preference is undoubtedly H30 Fitness Drink for more than just one reason. While I used to sell Herbalife, this is how I found this drink and when ever possible, I still use this drink. Now, I do have a second favorite fitness drink which is Poweraide Zero. When I don’t have H30, I use this. Now for those who have a head problem with “second best”, hey, they are both great drinks! Now for the facts on these two great drinks:

Poweraide Zero

Electrolytes:  55mg Sodium / 35mg Potassium

Advantage:  Zero Calories & available locally

H30 Fitness Drink

Electrolytes:  100mg Sodium / 100mg Potassium

Advantage:  Portable (Packettes or cannister)

Now, I admit that I am partial to both of these great fitness drinks, so of course, they are my top two favorites. If electrolytes are your main concern, then H30 is the way to go.  Whenever possible, I go with H30.  It’s rather neat, all I need is a bottle of water and a packet of H30.  This is cool especially if I am away somewhere.

Regardless which Fitness Drink is your favorite and it does not have to be these two, you need to make sure that you are getting enough electrolytes with your drink of choice.  If you are not, then your choice is not worth it.  Electrolytes are critical in your choice of fitness drinks to help guard against dehydration.

Before I “got active”, I always just grabbed a soda or any drink readily available.  As I got more active and learned more, I later changed my choices to fitness drinks or energy drinks, which ever applied to the given situation.

See also:  Dehydration, Realities, Do’s Don’ts and What you should know about soda

Just launched today, January 14th, 2010, a new section to bring about the New You.  Check it out and good luck!

Any comments, feel free to express them.  See section — NEWU

In the previous article, I touched on ideas to help you cut the budget to get the weight off. By focusing on those suggestions, you can create your own momentum to loosing weight. It is not written that you need to spend lots of money to loose lots of weight. Though, weight loss companies don’t what you to realize that. Again, Yes, I used Herbalife and loved it and am thankful that I found it. But, when money matters, there are weighs to win the battle of the bulge. You can’t let money be the dictator when it comes to your health. Here are more suggestions:

1. Yogurt – Yoplait is worth about 2 Weight Watchers points, I just love the White Chocolate Strawberry. Yeah, and I never used to like Yogurt too!
2. Progresso soups – Some have the point value right on the can.
3. Zero Calorie Products – While you do have to understand that zero calories doesn’t guarantee that it’s healthy, it does help with your efforts on weight loss, thus not taking in calories.
4. Recipe Changes – Change your recipes using applesauce in place of some oils or butters. You may have to experiment with this to taste.
5. Recipe ideas – There are a variety of books available with weight loss recipes that are quite tasty. Check out Borders, Amazon and other stores.

Sometimes you have to change your menu and way of eating to get the job done. If there is something in your life that you are not controlling, be careful, it may be controlling you. Food that is or what is making you eat more than you need? If you really want to loose weight, you’ll start making the right choices to get there and realizing that it will take time.