Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Health Tip 101 From a Non-Health Fanatic

Several months back when I decided to lose weight and get in shape I really did not know how to begin. My diet at the time consisted of pizza (Ellios was my favorite!), Mac and Cheese (Velveeta is the best), hamburgers, hot dogs (Nathan’s of course) and all things Italian. Give me bread, rolls, croissants, and add a little butter please! My physical activity was low, well actually, it really did not exist except my cardio at the mall (which I visited every Sunday while my than fiancĂ© watched Football). The most common words of wisdom people shared when speaking to my future plans of becoming fit was “eat less and work out more”. The overwhelming amount of diet fads, cookbook literature, workout tapes, and co-worker opinions simply left me unsure of how to correctly approach implementing a healthy lifestyle.

I decided to eat better, and well, start working out.


I solicited the help of Weight Watchers and an Outdoor Conditioning Program and have since lost a total of 26.4 pounds. Weight Watchers continues to teach me foods I can and can not eat and foods I can have every once in a while. My Outdoor Conditioning class keeps me physically motivated by pushing my body to surpass the limits that I had previously set – running a minimum of five times a week has become a regular custom for me.


And throughout the process I have still been overwhelmed by the constant contradictions of how it is best to get fit and be healthy. However, some tips I have heard or read resonated within and now, every so often I would like to share with you my readers, my healthy tip from a non-health fanatic. These are tips that have worked for me and may not work for you. These are daily rituals of the sort that I incorporated into my life style because they are simple tips and easily understood. Counting calories, measuring food – that's all a bit complicated. I wanted to know the small, easy, no non-sense advise that could expedite my weight loss and would not cause me to have oily stools and surprise diarrhea!

Drink Green Tea. Why? Because the celebrities do it and you know those skinny bitches have the highest paid nutritionists and trainers advising them as to what helps facilitate weight loss!

Truthfully, all the tabloid magazines (that I am obsessed with) regularly have features on celebrity diets. Their inserts show before and after shots, and sample work out and diet menus. Green Tea is always a must have. I couldn’t bare to drink the hot Green Tea so I found the cold alternative – Crystal Light On The Go Green Tea Raspberry flavored. There are 14 packets in a box and all you need is a water bottle, water, add the mix and presto you’re no longer drinking soda, juice, or any other beverage that is high in calories and packed with sugar.

Green Tea has been a lasting fad and is regularly correlated with ‘flushing out your system’ – I knew it wouldn’t hurt incorporating it into my daily intake of fluids.

So now you’re wondering what is the real, medical conclusion as to why Green Tea is so highly recommended?

As noted in the October 22, 2007 issue of Healthy Living Made Easy First, Green Tea is full on antioxidants that
“…stimulates thermogensesis the process by which the body uses energy…Subjects who took Green Tea increased their metabolism by 34 percent…”. Antioxidants are also believed to help prevent cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

Take it or leave it folks...just a small tip that has worked for me.


*Blog References:
www.weightwatchers.com
http://www.customfitnessconcepts.com/
www.kraftfoods.com/crystallight/