Saying you're too overweight to exercise is like saying you're too skinny to eat.

    Your body needs exercise just the way your body needs food. No matter how overweight you are, you can do something to start the process of losing fat, strengthening your bones, and relieving your joints of the load that they're carrying.
    Start small: Walk 5 minutes day, and increase by 1 or 2 minutes every few days. Soon, you'll be fit enough to walk an hour a day. You can even start small with resistance training. Doing simple exercises with soup cans or books will stimulate your muscles in new ways-and begin the process of kick-starting your metabolism so your body can burn fat.

If you want to live longer, start today. Your family-and your younger body-will thank you.

It's too expensive to eat healthy EXCUSE.

According to the grocery breakdown data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, here’s where our grocery dollars are going per person:

Processed Foods & Sweets – $66.87
Meats – $62.78
Fruits and Vegetables – $42.63
Grains & Baked Goods – $42.05
Beverages – $32.41
Dairy Products – $30.95
Other Foods – $14.31

In doing some basic addition that comes to $155.64 for junk and $136.36 for meats, fruits, vegetables, and dairy.
It seems to me, if you slashed your spending on junk and instead put all of that money towards good, nutritious foods, the “good stuff” wouldn't seem so expensive.  In fact, if the average two-person family just doubled their meat, vegetable, fruit, and dairy and cut out all junk, they’d actually save $40 per month.  This is a simple argument, but the point is valid: if you cut out the crap, the good stuff really shouldn't have much of an effect on your budget.
I think the root of the problem is, in an attempt to eat better, people spend more on good stuff without cutting out the junk, thus the appearance that healthy food causes them to blow through their budget.

Time Management....

This is by far one of the hardest parts of my day! I struggle to stay on task. In my mind if I can do 10 things at one time then I'm getting more out of my time. Right!....
WRONG!
Multitasking doesn't make us as productive as we think! Our quality of work actually decreases and it can actually be wasting time instead of creating new time.
The simple reason multitasking doesn't work is because we can't actually focus on more then one thing at a time, our mind just thinks we can!

So imagine you are on the phone with someone and you are following up with a question from customer at the same time. Both of these tasks take communication, you can't talk to someone and write a focused well explained email at the same time, it's to conflicting. Your mind will get overloaded at this point. Now say you are writing an email and listening to someone at the same time. This task is a bit easier, but the person you are listening to will fade in and out. You simply can't focus on both tasks at once.

Another downside is the stress levels of dealing with multiple things at once. You feel overwhelmed  drained, and under appreciated. At the end of the day you don't feel like you really accomplished anything.

How do you stop multitasking??? Here are some ideas "m trying out to help me improve my time management skills:

• Plan your day in blocks. Set time aside for phone calls, emails, cleaning, etc...
• Keep a journal of what interrupts you the most. After one week look over your data and adjust what you need to in order to limit or take away these interruptions.
• Learn to focus on ONE task at a time. If you find your mind wondering take a 15 second break, breath and tell yourself "I'm in this meeting I need to focus on what I'm learning here!"

This is only a very small piece of time management! I hope this helps you have a more successful day!

10 ideas to stay fit with the Family!

So it's getting colder out and winter is soon shutting our windows and doors. So what do we do inside to stay active with our families?? 60 minutes of staying active a day right! So here's a few ideas to help you and your family keep moving!

1. How about a game of TWISTER! Get all tangled up, laugh, and have a good time!
2. Can you find it??? Try a Scavenger hunt! Hide things around the house and set the timer! 
3. Bowl-a-rama! Set up water bottles (with a tiny bit of water or pasta for weight) and use a small rubber ball or make it silly and use and apple and go bowling in the living room! STRIKE!
4. Dim the lights, Shut the blinds, and hand everyone a flashlight and get dancing! That's right turn on some disco music and you be the disco ball!!!
5. HOPSCOTCH! You remember that game right?? So get out the masking tape and make a hopscotch pattern on the floor! You can also use the masking tape to make a balance beam, don't fall down!!!
6. Read a book then play it out (like charades)!! 
7. Do the kids miss throwing ball?? Use marshmallows instead! Get out a bucket and toss them in or play hot potato with the marshmallows! Small or large!
8. Have a relay race. Have the kids (and you) get out all their winter coat stuff) Have a race to see who can put all the warm clothes on and then off! Don't forget hat gloves scarf.....
9. Grab a straw and a ping pong ball and start huffing and puffing! See who can blow the ping pong ball across the floor (or table) first. (make it harder and try getting it in a cup that is laying on its side!)
10. Try so morning yoga with the kids! Before breakfast do a few moves to get their bodies awake and ready for the day (mountain pose, archer pose, bowing pose, tree pose, jumping jack pose, etc)!

GET MOVING! 

Who doesn't love pumpkin in the fall!

Did you know that pumpkin is an extremely good source of vitamins A and C, essential for maintaining good eyesight and a healthy immune system, high in potassium, manganese, copper and one of the B vitamins, riboflavin, considerable amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, iron, folate, vitamins E and B6, niacin, thiamin and pantothenic acid — and is low in salt, cholesterol and saturated fat.

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-pumpkin-quesadilla/

3 Benefits of Honey vs Sugar

Remember Honey and Sugar have almost the same calories in them. So when you think why change to honey if I'm adding the same calories...this is why! I hope this helps you make the better choice!

1. Sugar is made up of two molecules bonded together, when we eat sugar our body has to use it's own enzymes to break down the sugar before we can use the sugar's energy.
The bees add a special enzyme to the nectar to make the honey into two simple sugars which our body can adsorb directly. So the Glycemic Index of the honey is less, which is better for our blood sugar levels!

2. Table Sugar lacks vitamins and minerals, so your body has to use it's nutrients to metabolize the sugar. Which is why eating to much sugar for long periods of time can cause malnutrition.
Honey Contains natural vitamins and minerals which helps your body absorb the bad cholesterol.

3. Honey also have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, which sugar does not.

Veggie Chicken Burger

So one day I was trying to use some of my "end of the road" veggies up, and I came up with this awesome recipe that my family and I love! Let me know how you like it!


1 pound of lean ground Chicken
1/4 to 1/2 of very small chopped avocado
1/2 of a large sweet red pepper chopped very small
1/4 of a large red onion chopped very small
1 to 2 tbsp of olive oil
1 to 2 tsp of seasoning salt

Mix and patty up the Chicken into 4 4oz patties, cook on the grill until done, serve on romaine lettuce or with  whole wheat hamburger buns. Add light cheese and whatever you LOVE on your burger! ENJOY!

How often do you have your "treat" ??

So I learned a hard lesson this past week. I restrain myself and my family and we eat so perfect for a good 4 weeks....so I've taught my family that they don't need the willpower I have it for them, but when all my willpower is gone no one is there to help me fight against my cravings. So I fall down...and I fall hard! So after way to much Ice Cream and a few to many s'mores I have come to realize I need to "treat" myself a little more often and not take so much control of how my family eats. If they slip, I can't use all my energy talking them down. Hard lesson, but I'm glad I've learned it! I see the next 4 weeks being much more productive and a lot less stressful! What are you learning on your journey?

Do you love fries??? Me too...try these

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-curry-parsnip-fries/

5 Breakfast Ideas for Busy Lifestyles

It's hard to eat healthy when you have a busy lifestyle! Breakfast is so important! After you have fasted through the night your body will be glad to have a healthy meal!

Oats: Many varieties! (rolled oats, steel cut oats, etc...) A quick cook oat will save you lots of time! You can add nuts, fruit, cinnamon, vanilla extract, nut butter, honey or whatever you want!

Quinoa: Great source of protein! It's similar to oats, you can add whatever you want!

Fresh Fruit: A fruit salad is a great breakfast! Be creative try new things!

Eggs: You can do anything with eggs! Make a sandwich, add spices, and veggies...endless ideas!

Shakeology Shake: Shakeology is by far the quickest healthiest breakfast you can have! It's very filling! You can add anything to it! I love almond milk and a tbsp of PB2! Lots of ice! Yummy! (let me know if you want more info on Shakeology!)

Enjoy your breakfast! Find something that works for you and stick to it!

Memorize it!

You can clean your eating habits up so much by just cooking your food different. If change is hard for you and you're wanting to start small...start here! Change how you cook and we can work on changing what you cook later!

Clean, Comfort Chicken Dumplings! At about 145 calories a serving!!!

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-chicken-dumplings/

Quinoa and Black Bean Lettuce Wraps

                                                

http://keepyourdietreal.com/food/appetizerssnacks/quinoa-and-black-bean-lettuce-wraps/

So what are you made of?

Recipe: rip (washed) kale into bite sized pieces (no big stems) coat with olive oil (about 2 tbsp) and salt to taste bake ate 350 for 8-10 min. or until CRISPY but not brown.

This Tastes so good! I love them! So low calorie and so good for you! EAT AWAY! And throw away that bag of chips! You won't need them! ENJOY!

What does your plate look like!?