When I was first married (about 15 years ago now), I had an epiphany. I had bought a cookbook and discovered that cooking from scratch is a lot cheaper and many times not any more difficult than cooking from a box or premade food. It also tastes a whole lot better. Now I am not a purist. In fact, I would say that the one type of food that I buy consistently premade is bread. Pillsbury just makes better buscuits than I can. Most of the time though I make my food from scratch with real ingrediants.
Why do I do this?
The answer is simple. Cooking is fun (and not as hard as people make it out to be) and I want to stay slim and healthy. I am 35 now and keeping weight off is not as easy as it used to be for me. When I cook I control what I eat, and I know what I put into my body. I really do believe that all of the artificial ingredients in most processed food makes us fat and unhealthy. In fact, I challenge you to read labels some time. If you can’t pronounce the ingredient, you may want to consider whether or not you actually want to eat it. How have we become so conditioned to think that “yellow 40″ is a food?
Some of my favorite recipes are not only tasty but easy. I came across this meatball sandwich recipe page online the other day and all I have to say is YUM. Put these meatballs on some buns that have whole grain in them and you have yourself a meal that is delicious. Don’t forget your fruits and veggies.
Another thing my family likes is Mexican food, but the way Americans eat it borders on ridiculous. But here are some great ideas for healthy Mexican food, that will not onlymake your food healthier, but will keep all of the flavor. As a matter of fact, I have found that Salsa makes a kick butt salad dressing.
Eating healthy doesn’t have to be difficult. You just need to retrain your pallette and your ability in the kitchen. Make one small change at a time and pretty soon you will be eating well.
Filed under Healthy Eating by on Oct 23rd, 2009. Comment. 
Hi! Here Is The Best Free Resource I’ve Found On How To Get Started Burning Fat Right Away.
(just click the image and fill in the form on the next page)
Filed under General by on Feb 6th, 2009. Comment.
Best Exercises To Lose Weight Fast
Less Than An Hour A Week = Rapid, Safe Weight Loss
Wouldn’t it be great to love your body again? This easy to stick to system is guaranteed to get you the body you want… fast.
Name: Fat Burning Furnace
Author: Kalen and Rob Poulos
Price: Regular $69.97 Sale: $39.97
Main Page: http://www.fatburningfurnace.com/
How would you like to know the exact exercises to lose weight fast? Excercises that only take 45 minutes a week (not a day) and that will help you lose 26 pounds of fat in just 7 weeks?
Well this is all possible and all you have to do is learn the right techniques and The fat burning furnace can help you do just that.
This system contains some powerful information that will teach you how to lose weight quickly and easily.
You will learn why:
- Toning your muscles doesn’t work
- The ‘fat burning zone’ on cardio equipment is a mistake
- Crunches don’t burn belly fat
- Diet companies often don’t want you to succeed
Fat Burning Furnace not only covers exactly what exercises to do (less than an hour a week) to get you to the kind of body that you’ve always dreamed about, but also tells you exactly what to eat to lose weight fast. This system is ideal for someone who wants a complete system that is proven to help them lose weight.
This system combines a simple pattern of eating and moving that will be easy for you to stick to, and when it is easy to stick to, you will lose weight. But not only does it show you how to lose weight like so many other products out there, it shows you how to become a fat burning machine. This is really important becasue that is what you really want… to lose fat, not weight.
Another added benefit is that there is email support, so when you have questions, you can get them answered.
The results are impressive. One of Rob’s students dropped her body fat by 5% in just 3 weeks with the Fat Burning Furnace system and another doubled his strength and lost 2 inches from his waist in less than a month.
However, the biggest benefit to be gained from learning the techniques in the book are that they can help to make improvements throughout your life. In fact using the techniques in this book can help in relation to your health, your social life, and even your sex life.
Of all the books that are currently available online, that can help you learn about the best exercises to lose weight this is simply one of the best. So if you want to be able to learn about turning your body into a fat burning machine so you can start really loving your body and improving your health "The Fat Burning Furnace" is ideal for you.
Filed under General by on Feb 3rd, 2009. Comment.
Who wouldn’t want to lose weight eating cookies? Really? The big question is does a diet like this work? I don’t know that it would work for me. I like real food too much, and so I would opt for diet gourmet meals delivered as opposed to cookies but I can see the appeal.
What is Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet?
Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet was developed by Dr. Siegal to help his patients stay full on a restricted calorie diet. You eat 6 cookies a day, and one meal in the evening. The cookies come in 5 flavors and there are also shakes available. Both the cookies and the shakes contain a special blend of amino acids (food proteins) that keep the hunger monster away.
How much weight can you lose with Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet?
People who follow the Cookie Diet can expect to lose between 12 & 15 pounds their first month. That is a lot and very impressive. On most traditional diets weight loss is usually expected to be between 4 to 8 pounds the first month.
Who Is Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet Good For?
I’m a big believer in everybody losing weight in a way that works for them. It’s really important to pick a plan that you can stick to. If you have a very busy life, and don’t want to prepare food or don’t have time to deal with food, and if you want to most rapid weight loss possible this diet could work well for you.
Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet works well for many people because it is super easy to follow, and because the cookies do work to keep you full. The only downside is the limited variety of foods that can be eaten.
Does Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet work?
Yes, it does. The cookies and shakes control hunger and allow you to stick to plan. It is worth trying.
Filed under General by on Jan 30th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Are you thinking about taking advantage of the convience of having your diet meals delivered, but aren’t sure which service to pick? Here are my favorite picks for diet delivery – New York.
My favorite pick for a diet delivery service in New York is definitely Bistro MD.
Bistro MD is a company founded by Dr. Cederquist (a doctor specializing in weight loss), to help her patients lose weight. It specializes in gourmet meal delivery, and has really amazing food. I think that is why I like Bistro MD so much, because their food just tastes great.
Bistro MD ships their food frozen in dry ice. Your food will arrive in New York frozen solid and ready to eat. The food comes in vacuum sealed pouches so that it stays fresh and tasty. One of the best tips I’ve learned about Bistro MD food is to let it thaw in the fridge one day and then put it in a microwave container to take to work. You can also boil it from frozen in the packaging in about 10 minutes.
Click Here for a free shipping offer on Bistro MD. Just enter the code from the top of the Bistro MD page when you check out.
My second choice for diet delivery – New York is eDiets delivery.
eDiets is one of the highest traffic diet / weight loss sites on the web. They offer really good online support for their plans, and have a large menue to select food from. Their food is also chef prepared and is a little more “homestyle” than gourmet. So, if you prefer bbq chicken to terryiaki salmon this is plan will probably be a better fit for you.
One of the really cool features of eDiets delivery is that they ship all of their food fresh in special “stay fresh containers”. So the preperation really is just eat, heat, and enjoy.
Click Here for a free week with eDiets delivery.
My third choice for diet delivery – New York is Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet
Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet is a very interesting way to lose weight. Basically you eat six of Dr. Siegal’s cookies a day and a dinner that you make yourself. The reason I am including Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet in this list is because the cookies do taste good, actually keep you full, and are really easy to carry around. It’s a great program for people who are always on the go and don’t want to take the time to eat proper meals.
Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet will help you drop weight very quickly, about 12 – 15 pounds the first month, which can help give you the motivation to keep going. The cookies come in 5 flavors, and there are also shakes available.
Go to Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet
Filed under General by on Jan 30th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Do You Have The Willpower To Lose Weight?
When it comes to cookies, chocolate, and potatoe chips I possess no willpower whatsoever. I can easily eat an entire box of oreos by myself, and have in the past.
I used to beat myself up for this, but I am going to share with you the concept that has not only helped me stop binging on cookies (mostly), but also helped me make many other positive changes in my life. If you’ve ever struggled with not having enough willpower to lose weight, this article may give you the tools you need to get the weight off for good.
No Super Powers Needed.
A while back, when I was looking to make a major change in my life, I came across an article in Oprah magazine called The Willpower Myth. Here is the first paragraph:
You say you need to make a change, but you can’t—you’re weak, you have zero self-control (sound of forehead being struck). Instead of beating yourself up, you can do what researchers are discovering actually works. We have the three Rs of transformation.
This caught my attention… Big Time. So what are the three Rs of tranformation?
#1. Relating
To make a change in your life like sticking to a healthy diet to lose weight, willpower is not usually enough. The most important thing you can do according to The Willpower Myth is find someone that you can relate to who can show you how to do it. You want someone you that you can look at and say "If she can do it, I can do it."
The good thing about this is for this to work you don’t need to be good personal friends with someone. Think mentor. This relationship could be with a teacher, boss, advisor, or in my case people I have met online.
#2. Repeating
As the relationship that you have formed in step #1 begins to inspire you to make the change, the next step is repeating the actions that create the healthy eating habits that lead to weight loss. Realizing that change comes naturally to almost no one, will help get you through the tough spots at the beginning.
Keep repeating what you know will work and what you’ve seen your mentor do. Eventually if you repeat it enough it will become natural to you.
#3. Reframing
As you copy your mentor and keep repeating the actions that lead to positive change, you will begin to think about yourself and your abilities differently. This is a really important change., and probably the most important part of the whole process. Here is an exerpt from the article that explains it really well. It’s about a woman who wanted to break the cycle of addiction in her life.
"A counselor named Cydney Reyes came to me when I was arrested, and I’m sure I was an absolute mess," Weigand says. "I remember how good she smelled, and she had these crystal blue eyes and said, ‘Do you need some help?’ I broke down and admitted I needed a lot of help.
"I got into the program and I stayed right up under her. I wanted to know how she lived and breathed and acted. She shared her story with me, and I thought, ‘Wow, she was even worse than I was.’ She worked with me every day, and I probably sucked her dry of every piece of energy she had. I remember the moment that she gave me a hug and whispered into my ear, ‘You are such a good girl.’ That was the moment I believed I really was a good girl and I could do good things with my life. From that moment on, I never looked back."
These three Rs will give you power over your life and your weight that you never thought were possible before. Applying these principals has completely changed my life.
For more information on these concepts read the book that they come from, Change or Die by Alan Duetschman.
Filed under Motivation by on Jan 10th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Lose 5 Pounds In 10 Weeks – Even If You Hate Dieting
See How With My eDiets Reviews
When you think of the word diet what comes to mind? Being hungry, battling cravings, eating tasteless bland boring food? But what if you could lose weight and get to the size you want to be without feeling hungry and bored?
eDiets Reviews
Why eDiets gets my top ratings:
Just like you I am sick of fad, gimmicky, and starvation type diets. They may help you lose weight to begin with, but most of the time you just end up gaining all the weight back plus some. It’s time for the yo-yo to stop!
I give eDiets my best rating because it is basically the anti-diet.
eDiets includes:
- 1 on 1 access to nutritional experts
- Support from a personal fitness trainer
- Community groups with people just like you
- 1000’s of healthy recipes to make meal planning easy
- Web based – get started losing weight right away.
With eDiets there is no starving yourself. There are 1,000s of recipes, so you can eat what you like. And most importantly, you don’t have to do it alone. With any eDiets membership you get 1 on 1 support from registered dietitians as well as access to one of the most popular private weight loss forums in the world.
And although there is a lot of free information on the web about diet and exercise, I think eDiets is worth the $4.49 a week (billed at $17.96 monthly), because sometimes it is just worth it to have all your information and support in one place.
In addition to their plan based option eDiets also has an meal delivery option. This is best for people who don’t want to deal with shopping, cooking, or dishes. When you are on an eDiets meal delivery plan, you don’t need to buy anything at the grocery store. This option costs about $20 day, so it is a bit pricey, but the convienience can be worth it if you have a hard time sticking to a healthy eating plan because you are reaching for a lot of convienience foods.
eDiets is recognized as a leader in the industry.
eDiets has been recognized by Forbes as a Best of The Web site, and are rated #1 by Epicurious for best meal delivery service.
eDiets is a commercial site, and they have about 11,000 visitors a day. It is easy to navigate, but there are many ads. After navigating the site for a while, I’ve found that the ads are easy enough to ignore, and don’t lessen the overall value of the site.
eDiets is right for you if:
You want to lose about 2 pounds per week. You are looking for a program that will help you eat healthy for life and get thin and stay thin. You want an affordable option. You are looking for convenience.
eDiets may not be right for you if:
You prefer a rigid, super structured plan. You want to lose more than 2-3 pounds per week.
How to take advantage of eDiets free diet profile.
eDiets has a lot of eating plan choices. So they offer a "diet profile." This profile is free and guides you to the plan that eDiets thinks will work best for you. I’ve gone throught the profile myself, and have found it to be very accurate. But, if you don’t like what is picks then you can always pick a different option.
Overall my eDiets Reviews came up with a winner.
If you are tired of dealing with unwanted weight, and not fitting into your skinny clothes, eDiets will provide the support that you need to get into the healthy eating habits you deserve.
Everyone deserves to live in a healthy, fit body. And everyone deserves to look their best. You do too. Get started today on becoming the perosn you want to see when you look in the mirror.
I wish you success!
Heather Hughes
Filed under eDiets by on Jan 8th, 2009. 1 Comment.
