July 4th is Independence Day AND fireworks, beach BBQ’s, picnics, and cookouts. In other words food. It can be tempting to to eat all the junk that is usually a part of the food festivities. Here are 7 practical ways to eat your way through the weekend. Do you have other tips? Post them here!

#1) Fruit & Veggies Rule. Thankfully its Summer and that means fresh fruit and veggies are on the menu. Skip the dip. Nibble all you wish.

#2) Water Baby! Stick to water. If you must drink Lemonade, Iced Tea or Fruit Punch, add water to your cup. You’ll save yourself from a sugar coma.

#3) Eat Breakfast. Start the day off right. Don’t starve yourself and think you can pig out at the picnic later on. Your body needs energy throughout the day. Feed it properly.

#4) Don’t skip a workout. On vacation? Take a walk with the kids. Go running. Its fun to explore a city on your feet. Visit a local gym or yoga studio. Use this time to spice up your workout routine. You’ll feel refreshed. And besides its a great way to start the day.

#5) Balance. Don’t deprive yourself of something that you really MUST have. If you want to eat it, do so, but make sure it is worth it. It better be damn tasteful. If not, find something else! Don’t eat the whole cake, have a small slice and be content with that.

#6) Be Prepared. Does Uncle Bob always bring the loaded Potato Salad? Maybe Aunt Mary makes her to-die-for Three Berry Trifle. Plan ahead and bring something healthy to the potluck. You’ll have at least one healthy option to eat!

#7) Love. Be kind to yourself. If you fall off the food and workout wagon over the weekend. Get back up again. Today is a new day to re-prioritise and continue on with the a healthy life. Don’t beat your self up.

Do you have a healthy tip that has worked for you? Please share with the rest of us! If you have a question, also post it and I will answer it.

Happy July 4th! And take a moment to thank someone that has/is serving our country.

Photo by tonythemisfit

I love interaction. I love asking questions. I love thinking (that’s not a surprise:)). I try to ask a daily question to my Twitter followers. And I love sweets. Duh, don’t we all?!

It may come as a surprise to you, but I struggle with food. Mainly sweets. I like chocolate brownies, cake, chocolate chip cookies. See the theme? Yeah, it’s bad. We ALL know that I have the determination to do pretty much anything. But why are sweets so damn hard to “say no to”?! So with that I asked my question “what is your biggest challenge when it come eating the right food?”. Here are some of the responses I received.

Ali: “My Effin sweet tooth”

Rachel: “The bad food you could be eating instead!”

Brian: “The bad foods are so good and way too easy to get!”

Ryan: “Having the time to cook vs the cost of having fresh all the time”

Liz: “Portion control. Oh and chocolate. I swear my body begs for it daily!”

Ashley: “Portion size!”

Kate: “Peanut Butter!”

Tyler: “Fresh food spoils too quickly and leftovers get old after a day or two”

Roxy: “Peppermint Latte from Starbucks”

Jason: “Other people. For some reason people like to try & get me to eat badly”

Oliva: ” Ditto! Portion control is my downfall! I will eat the healthiest foods, just too much because I love it all!”

Nathaniel: “The time it takes to prepare fresh and healthy meals every day. It’s hard to take time for yourself!”

Luau: “Getting my family to eat the same way I do”

Julie: “Portion size!”

Zoe: “The fact I love to bake cakes!”

Any: “Time. Or lack of it.”

Jen: “Boredom, Mexican food and office snacks are my downfall. Not necessarily in that order.”

Nahlan: “All the saboteurs in my family.”

I love the responses. Some of them are SO true. How often does someone give you an “excuse” to eat something that you know you shouldn’t? They convince you that you earned it (”you just ran 200 miles in an hour” or “you went to the gym, you deserve a treat” or “you only live once”). These are awesome reasons to eat whatever what is on your spoon. Or fork.

But here is the fact of the matter. In 9 years, did you know that the number one cause of death in the USA will be obesity? Yes, you only live once, but let’s live our life healthy. And with purpose. So here is what I am going to do. I invite you to join me:)

#1) Every time I am tempted to have something “bad” I will ask myself, will this make me faster on race day?

#2) If I had a Bikini shoot tomorrow, would I be ready?

#3) If a Navy SEAL were next to me, would I eat this?

#4) I am setting an example to all around me. Will this be positive?

#5) Knowing the feeling of the satisfaction, pride & determination that I said no.

Quick note. I am NOT saying to NEVER have chocolate. I am not saying to be a size zero. It’s all about balance. It’s a lifestyle. Makes yours healthy.

Sweetie, I love you, but only on birthday’s. Or Christmas.

Photo by Chotda

Q: Do you start the week off by thinking that “this is the week I am going to not eat junk food, cut out sugar, drink more water, say no to coffee, and workout 5 days a week”?

A: Raise hands

Ok, so, why do “we” fail with our GREAT intentions? Below are some reasons WHY (weren’t you just dying to know this info? )

#1) Too many goals at one time!

#2) Start SLOW!

#3) Go SLOWLY

#4) T0 succeed you must PLAN to succeed

#5) Make excuses (hard week, stressed, I “deserve” this ________ (fill in the blank)

#6) No support

Those are just a few of the reasons why our best intentions fail. Do you want to be successful? Go ahead, raise BOTH arms!!! YES!!!!! YOU CAN!!:)

THIS WEEK DO ONE of the following things:

#1) Define YOUR weekly goal (drink more water, less soda) really think about. What do you want? Will you be able to do it?

#2) Get sweaty for 30 minutes a day! Brisk walk, stair climber, jog, just MOVE!

#3) Set your clock 15 minutes before you usually wake up (yes, that is right). You will be surprised what those 15 minutes can do for your day ahead!

#4) Make a daily choice to make healthy choices (do I really need this 5th cup of coffee? Do I really need this cookie? Do I really need to stress about “this”?).

I hope these ideas sparked your interest & you are able to use them! Please let me know! Watch this week for more ways to make YOUR life HAPPY, HEALTHY and FIT!!

Photo by lepiaf.geo

We are all familiar with the WORD diet. It is probably the first word we learned about but never spoke. We watched our families, friends and others talk about how they needed to eat healthier or eat a pint of ice cream, then regret it later. Or making sure they got in their favorite foods during the month of December so on January 1, they could start the “diet” only to fall off the commitment weeks later.

Whatever the story, we know that our diet affects us & will make us gain or lose weight.

My approach to the diet is to take the word out of our minds, habits and any feelings we have about it and replace it with the words: healthy food. It may seem basic. But if we chose “healthy food” over “diet food” we will be more successful in maintaining a healthy life style FOR LIFE.

Over the next few weeks I am going to be writing about healthy food, what changes you can make to you daily eating habits, foods, ingredants to avoid, and ways to make healthy meals, snacks. If you have a specfic question, please let me know and I will answer it for you!

To YOUR healthy, fit AND happy life!:)

Photo by Pink Sherbet