Hello, Summer

It was a typical Ohio spring, wasn't it? Here for about a minute before the hot, mugginess of summer is upon us. Memorial Day weekend, the annual inauguration of summer - and, yes, swimsuit season has snuck up on us once again. Where are you in your quest to be healthy? Are you ready for summer?

We don't mean are you ready to bare yourself in a swimsuit. We're talking about your head. Are you ready for the summer barbeques and other fatty food-filled festivities that the summer brings? Really, what season doesn't bring those? Do you have a plan to stay in control of your eating and drinking, while maintaining the merry? Where will you fit in your daily workouts when the kids are out of school?

Just remember, becoming healthier doesn't mean missing out on all the fun. In fact, when you get healthy, life gets a whole lot more enjoyable. You feel better. You have more energy. And most importantly, you feel in control.

Eating Simply

We have so many choices to make every single day. What to eat? What to wear? Which way to drive to work? And those are just a few of the simple ones. It can be daunting at times. With so many choices, the idea of simplifying starts to sound pretty good.

So let's start with food. Why eat simply? Eating fresh, whole, unprocessed foods may not be what our bodies are used to these days, but they're what we're made to ingest and digest. Here are a few ideas about how to simplify your diet and incorporate fresh healthy, real foods.

• Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store for produce, dairy and meats. Most of the fake food literally hangs out on the shelves among the center aisles.
• Make fruits and vegetables as available and convenient as packaged snacks.  
• Replace your 100-calorie pre-packaged snacks with an apple and a handful of almonds.
• Don't fear the fats. Natural, monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados and nuts can actually improve your (good) HDL cholesterol.

We know. You've heard this before and it's probably hard to see yourself giving up those oh-so-convenient trans fats. Small, incremental changes can result in wonderful changes to your long-term health. Pretty soon, you might even start craving the simple stuff.

No Whining

We have a new mantra in our office.  Anytime one of us starts to lament about the reasons we didn’t exercise or that we ate too much, one of us holds up this sign:

It’s our little support system in a tough love way. We allow each other to state the problem, maybe even vent a little. Then we offer this not-so-subtle reminder that whining doesn’t fix anything. Because it doesn’t. We can rattle off all the excuses in the world for why we can’t find the time to exercise or to eat a healthy meal, but reasons aren’t remedies. The only remedy to an unhealthy life is to do things differently. We end up overweight, fatigued and sick when we eat too much of the wrong things and don’t move enough.

Friends, family and loved ones can prop us up greatly as we try to change our well-entrenched behaviors. It’s impossible to go it alone. We all need positive influences and role models to help us achieve our goals. And sometimes we need them to tell us what we’re doing wrong. Even if it’s something we don’t want to hear.

Is There a Method to Your Madness?

Do you ever wonder how much you have to workout in order to shed that greasy pizza you ate for dinner last night?  Do you get frustrated when your exercise routine doesn’t yield the results you want to see?

Of course you know how important it is to monitor what you eat. You know about portion control, calories in, calories out and all that. You (hopefully) exercise because it helps to balance you and burn calories. However, if you aren't seeing the results you're aiming for, then maybe it’s worth taking a look at what you're doing and how long you're spending on a particular exercise.

Here’s an example. A 130 lb. woman who does aerobics for one hour will burn about 351 calories. It’s about the same if she opts to walk briskly for an hour. If she spends an hour lifting weights, she will burn about 405 calories.

Becoming more aware of what you eat and how you expend calories will move you closer to your goals. Here’s a great activity calculator from the Calorie Control Council that will help you determine a method to your madness.