sweets – Jenna Jamieson, Author

Make exercise your positive!

By Jenna Jamieson | October 3, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

People often feel guilty when they eat lots of junk food or fatty foods over the weekend or skip a workout during the week so some people try to make up for this by punishing themselves with an extra long workout at the gym to compensate for missed days or junk food consumption. There are a few problems with this though. Punishing yourself with an extra hard workout to make up for poor eating habits and missed workouts is like a consequence. Further, remember that pushing yourself too hard and forcing an extra long, strenuous cardio workout is a great way to cause an injury or unnecessary discomfort in your joints and muscles. Rather than using negative reinforcement, try positive reinforcement (which studies show is so much more successful and beneficial). For example, if you workout 5 consecutive days during the week, reward yourself with a small treat, shopping spree, etc during the weekend rather than punishing yourself because you ate a lot of carbohydrates all weekend and therefore need to make yourself get through an intense, two hour long workout.

Further, if you allow yourself to use exercise as a “punishment” your brain begins to associate exercise as a negative consequence for guilty or poor choices that you make. Don’t do this! You don’t want your brain to begin to feel as though exercise is a punishment. Otherwise, this impacts your reality and feelings toward working out and exercise.

The solution is to try to maintain a routine and workout accordingly. Did you slip up over the weekend and eat too much junk food, fatty foods, carbohydrates, or sweets? Take a short walk or bike ride over the weekend mid-day or early evening to help balance it out so you don’t feel guilty or pressure to force a long workout in at the gym. Use positive reinforcement and goals so that you can practice moderation. Lastly, remember that exercise and fitness releases positive endorphins, improves your mood (by the end of the workout!), relieves stress, and I could go on and on. The take all is that the benefits of exercise are astounding so don’t forget that what you gain from working out and the results you will see over time should be positives that keep you going back for more! 😉

~jj

Yummy, yummy to my dessert tummy!

By Jenna Jamieson | September 2, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

We all have a sweet tooth of some kind for some type of dessert. You may not be a cake eater, but you might like pies, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, brownies, candy, or some other type of sweet indulgence. I often hear people say they have cut sugar from their diet and my first question is why?! The most common response is to lose weight for a specific event or occasion (i.e. wedding, swimsuit season, class reunion, etc). It really doesn’t make much sense to me because you lose the weight for the event or occasion and then gain it right back so it isn’t done to maintain a healthy weight and sustain it over time. Removing sugar from your diet as a “cleanse” or way to lose weight is almost like a punishment to yourself (and possibly others) because your mood changes, you crave sugar, and once the period of time, event, or occasion ends you tend to overindulge yourself with sugar until you feel sick and sometimes even guilty.

What’s my point or better yet what’s my solution? Build dessert into your meal and calorie count for the day. For example, if you know you will be eating dessert after dinner, base your total calories and portions for that meal prior to dessert. If you usually eat 650 calories at dinner, but know that you will be eating dessert cut your calories at dinner to 400 and then allow yourself a 250 calorie dessert. This helps reduce your portions prior to dessert so that you don’t over consume by adding an additional 250 calories to your typical 650 calorie dinner. If you don’t cut calories and portion out your meal to consider dessert, think about how many calories you would eat if you have your usual 650 calorie dinner and decide to add on a 250 calorie dessert. You would have a total of 900 calories for one meal, which is almost half of what a woman’s total daily caloric intake should be!

My final point? Be cognizant of how many calories you are putting in your mouth, be well informed about how many calories you SHOULD be eating based on your gender and age, and lastly remember that portion control is just as important as what you choose to put in your mouth! So eat nutritious and eat within boundaries! Below is a general calorie count for men and women based on age and activity level. Please realize it is a little bit different for every person based on their fitness level, health and medical history, etc. Also, remember that as we age our metabolism tends to slow down decreasing the amount of success we see in burning calories when we workout. In other words, as you age it may take more effort and a longer workout to burn the number of calories you once burned at a younger age. Don’t feel discouraged though, no matter what, if you are working out you are definitely doing your mind and body a favor and making me proud (because you are helping me change the dynamics and statistics in America which will take time to do)! Oh, and just so you got the moral out of the story: Don’t cut out sugar, enjoy a dessert on occasion, key words being on occasion! You will feel better, do much better, and see more success if you maintain your diet by eating in moderation rather than cutting food groups. That saying “everything in moderation” that you are always told and hear is actually true! 😉

GENDER

CALORIES (Moderately Active)

CALORIES (Active)

FEMALES

19-30 years old

31-50 years old

51+ years old

2,000 -2,200

1,800-2,000

1,600-1,800

2,400

2,200

2,000-2,200

MALES

19-30 years old

31-50 years old

51+ years old

2,400-2,600

2,200-2,400

2,000-2,200

2,800

2,600-2,800

2,400-2,600

(Courtesy of http://www.choosemyplate.gov)

~jj

Replace + Reduce > Rationalizing

By Jenna Jamieson | July 29, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

All too often I hear people say, “I worked out earlier, so it means I can eat this cake and cookies now” or “I ate fruit at breakfast and a side of vegetables at lunch so I can cheat at dinner” or the best one is “I ate clean all week, so it means I can eat whatever I want this weekend” but rationalizing your choices when it comes to your health is not a good compromise or balance. Try replacing rather than rationalizing to reduce your calories and your chances for heart disease (which I will add is the number one killer of Americans yet can be reduced by the choices we make).

I am not suggesting that you don’t allow yourself to eat sweets or desserts, but getting into the habit of rationalizing your choices is a sure way to lose track of your fitness goals and see a decrease in your progress. Instead, eat in moderation and remember that replacing with fruits and veggies rather than rationalizing with junk food will boost your energy level and make you feel much better. Consider replacing at least one food item at each meal to reduce the fat content, sodium, and carb load that is almost always higher than it should be. Replace unhealthy sides such as mashed potatoes for a baked potato or make mashed potatoes that are 1/2 cauliflower and 1/2 potato and use Greek yogurt, low fat milk, and unsalted butter to get the creamy consistency you want. Replace onion rings or french fries for healthy veggies such as grilled onions or roasted potatoes. Further, at breakfast, replace potatoes and bacon in an omelette for veggies such as spinach (leafy greens are great for you!) and mushrooms. At lunch, replace BBQ potato chips for plain tortilla chips or unsalted almonds and a BLT or chicken quesadilla for a turkey, spinach, and cheese wrap. Small healthy choices at each meal may not seem that important, but small steps can help make a big difference in the overall progress you see. Three small healthy choices (one at each meal) is a great way to work on making progress over time.

Remember that when you eat like crap, you often feel like crap so don’t use your weekend as an excuse to give up on your goals. Instead eat for success because no diet does what healthy eating will do for your life. It will change your mood, stress, and energy level! Eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to eat less, just eat right! 🙂

~jj

Small pieces to the health puzzle…

By Jenna Jamieson | February 22, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

Need a few quick tips to keep you going through your workouts? Here are a few things I continuously keep on my radar to ensure I can get through my workouts without feeling tired or bored.

1. Get yours zzz’s. Sleeping is vital to ensure you feel refreshed. It helps get you through the whole day, and that includes your workout! Try to get 7-8 full hours of sleep each night.

2. Stretch. Just do it. Even if you are short on time, stretch before and after your workout. If you don’t think it will help, read last week’s post and it’ll help convince you! 🙂

3. Eat more fiber. Your body will thank you now and later. I promise!

4. Drink water, and plenty of it. What is plenty? At least 64 ounces each day! That’s eight 8 oz. glasses. It’s easy. Spread it out throughout the day…before meals, with meals, and between meals. Trust me, it’s worth it. Drinking plenty of water also helps give you a full feeling in your stomach, typically causing you to eat less.

5. Make your meals rather than eating out or on the run. You eat less healthy food when you eat on the fly. You tell me you don’t have time to make food? Pre-plan and pre-make food ahead of time. Fruits and veggies can easily be sliced and put in a container with water and lemon juice to keep them fresh, sandwiches can be pre-made, whole wheat crackers are an easy throw in. No excuses!!

6. Find a way to control your stress. I cannot emphasize this one enough. Stress is not good for your mind or body. What’s my way to destress? Working out and exercising, of course! 🙂

7. Drink…water, not lots of sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages. Bummer, right? Not necessarily. I am not saying give them up, just don’t over do it. Everything in moderation!

8. Try to limit how often you let your sweet tooth win AND find sweets that are “healthy” sweets. I sound crazy, right?! Not exactly. For example, eat a slice of whole wheat bread with Nutella or cinnamon sugar, chocolate mousse pudding, strawberries dipped in dark chocolate, etc. rather than a huge bowl of cookie dough ice cream or chocolate cake.

9. Exercise regularly. Not when you want to lose weight or because swimsuit season is coming. Those are great motivators, but exercising and maintaining your health is a continuous process. You can’t “diet” for a month, decide to go off the diet, and then back to your previous eating habits and expect to keep your results. You have to watch what you eat all the time. You don’t have to restrict your diet of all sugars or all carbs, but eat in moderation instead. You also can’t decide that you want to lose 20 pounds and then decide it’s time to start walking everyday or going to the gym. Exercise is a life long commitment. Why? Because exercise and eating properly keep your body happy and healthy. I promise.

These are little things I try to remember. Not things I just occasionally think about, but truly have engraved into my brain. Things that are in my phone and on my bulletin board, so they can’t escape my mind. When I am struggling during a workout, I think about what it’s doing for me. When I am not drinking plenty of water, I remember, it is what helps get me through my workouts and keeps me focused. When I want something sweet, I may go ahead and let myself eat something sweet, other times I don’t eat anything sweet at all. Try limiting yourself to having sweets a certain number of times each week. You don’t want your body and mind to become accustomed to getting something sweet after every meal or whenever you feel like it.

~jj