





metabolic syndrome





It isn’t Eat, Pray Love:  It is:





EXERCISE!  It will help you sleep.


Getting Started In Exercise To Lose Weight Doesn’t Have to be so Hard!

If you want to lose weight, besides following the rules on the diet, you also have to exercise.  In the past, I gave up exercise throughout some jobs or even through college because I was “too busy.”  Busy was true, but also an excuse.  By NOT exercising, I got into a bad habit cycle.

Working too much and picking wrong food LEADS to exhaustion

Exhaustion LEADS to NOT exercising.

NOT exercising LEADS to weight gain

Weight Gain leads to illness.

Illness LEADS to not feeling good enough to exercise

And continued NO exercise leads to depression and more poor food choices and perhaps more illness.

Ya, exercise bores you, but not if you find something you like.  I actually like the things I do now.  What is worse?  Feeling like and looking like crap?





Look guys.  I have Hypothyroidism and Fibromyalgia.  At one time, I let all of that happen to me and I fell apart and got fat too.  I had to SLOWLY start moving and changing my diet and moving eventually led me to major changes.  It took awhile, but ever heard of the story of the Tortoise and the Hare?

No matter how slow you are, you will eventually get to the finish line and there is no race here, so stop worrying about your speed!


The moral of all this!  Don’t stop exercising and if you don’t exercise, then start now.  Even if you can find 15 minutes in a break to walk or take stairs, you have to do it every day.

If you are already overweight, ill, exhausted or out of shape, then you have to START to exercise.  Don’t be afraid!  Take baby steps and build up your ability.

Here is a Harvard chart, which shows how many calories can be burned throughout each type of exercise:

Some ideas for starting exercise for those completely out of shape:

1.  Find something you LIKE to do.   Get an exercise DVD, Zumba, Pilates, Dance, Yoga or anything that interests you.  Do it at home.

2.  Find a friend to join you either at home, at a gym or on a walk or hike.  This walk can start off small and you can work your time and intensity up.  Even if you can do 15 minutes to start out, that is a feat!  Always stretch first to risk soreness and injury.  Drink plenty of water before and after whatever you do.

3.  Reward your movement with some new workout clothes or shoes.

4.  Get some great new tunes and an Mp3 player to listen to while you move.

5.  Walk your dog!  Walk your neighbor’s dog!  He or she will lose some weight too.

6.  I personally do really well if I go over my email and Facebook on my IPAD, while I am on the elliptical.  Kills two birds with one stone!!

7.  Attend picked out classes at a local gym or small exercise studio of classes you might enjoy and put it in your calendar to attend every week like it is a set work time!  I have yoga and Pilates classes weekly and I never miss them unless I am sick.  I have it down as part of my schedule.  And no matter how busy I am, Tues at 6:45, Wed at 5:30, Friday at 5:30 and Sunday at 10am are booked out and I HAVE to go.  It makes me feel obliged and bad if I missed out on it.  I consider them as MY JOB.  You don’t miss your job!

8.  You have to take baby steps, but you continue to take bigger steps, but the goal is CONSISTENCY.  You know you can be consistent if you want to do it.  The question is…do you want to lose weight and be toned looking?  Then, you HAVE to exercise.

And remember:  There was a study.  Sitting kills, not just obesity!







A Moment on the Lips, A Lifetime On The Hips

Over three years ago, I began my weight-loss journey.  I call it a journey because it is a long road traveled and it is never really over, even when you reach your weight destination. Because if you ever get there, then you have to learn what to do to keep it off and that is a journey in itself.  Starting today and keep going day by day and inch along, even if it is at a snail pace.  You will eventually get there….


So, let’s say you begin with a diet or following the Skinny-Rules to lose weight ( You follow the rules and change your eating style.  You add in some exercise to make it happen even faster and to get fit and healthy (because skinny flabby is not attractive or healthy either).  Then, you are looking different and people start to notice.

Good people who notice changes in you say nice things and compliment you on your efforts and results.  Not-good-people will find ways to discourage what you are doing and what you have done.  You will hear comments that range…..Here are a few……and most of these are said by overweight people who have tried diets and give up too easily and have no willpower over their carb addiction.

  • “You have gone too far.”
  • “You don’t look good.”
  • “Oh, you will gain it back.  Everyone does! ”  (not if you stick to the rules and don’t go back to your old bad habits)
  • “You are anorexic.”
  • “It is unhealthy” (like fat or diabetes is healthy!)
  • “You are too old to be so skinny!”
  • “You have an unhealthy relationship to food.”
  • “You can’t keep eating like that!”
  • “You can’t stay on a diet forever!”  (it isn’t a diet, it is a lifestyle change because the way you eat before was wrong learning or you wouldn’t have gotten larger!)

So, I have heard all of these, but my BMI is 22.  (normal is between 18.5 and 24.5 and I am 22. I would prefer 21, but my body seems to like 22.  I exercise regularly (Pilates 4 days a week, yoga one day a week and elliptical about 5 hours a week).  My Lindora consultant told me that because I work out so much, my muscle is more dense.  She took my measurements the other day and they were the same as when my BMI was 19.  I have been BMI of 22 for a year now and still look good, so I guess this is where I need to be.

I eat between 50 and 100g of carbs per day and I follow the rules.  My deserts consist of things that are low-carb like my One Minute cake recipe from Jorge Cruz.  (I will put it up on my next blog again, but I have it on Skinny-Rules from earlier on.  I enjoy my eating style and I look hot doing it (so I am told!  :))

So, anyone can say anything or try to guilt me into eating or drinking their calorific food or drink item to make them feel better about doing it, but I worked too hard and care too much about myself to let someone SABOTAGE me.

You have to love yourself and learn to say, “NO!”  That is a hard word to say if you are not used to it and many women are trained to be obliging to people.  If you care about yourself at all and have any self-esteem, you have to learn to say no to saboteurs and to bad food.

A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips!




And you know what?  If friends are not supportive because you are doing what they can’t do and they are jealous–then they are not your real friends and you need some new ones!









SO, what do we do?


Dr. Mercola’s Leptin Resistance Summary


  • Avoid, sugar, fructose, grains, and processed foods
    • No-to-low sugar and grain carbs
    • Low-to-moderate amount of protein 







Some Things You Can Do to Assist In Your Diet

Want to lose weight, well there are 7 strategies you have to do to psychologically and physically set yourself up to lose weight!


1.   Organize Your Home: A disorganized home can interfere with achieving your health and fitness goals. Assess the mess in your home by going through every room and decide what needs to be dealt with (purge too), and then figure out a way to keep it organized permanently.

2. Shop Healthy: Stop buying junk foods and replace them with high-quality nutritious foods.  You’ll ultimately save on those doctor bills because you will get healthier. Cut costs by creating a weekly meal plan for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, as well as snacks, and then tally up the ingredients you’ll need and prepare a shopping list.

3. Cook and Prepare Meals in Advance:  If a busy schedule is keeping you from making homemade meals, knowing that there is already something healthy in the fridge or freezer that you can simply reheat will help you resist fast food or other unhealthy dining options. Cook a few meals in advance each week to serve midweek or later. Soups, casseroles, and stews made with lean protein and plenty of vegetables and they can be frozen and used later on.  I cook things on Sunday and have them throughout the week.

4.  Take Time to Eat at Each Mealtime: Taking the time to savor your meals can actually aid your weight-loss. When you sit down to enjoy what you’re eating, thinking about every bite, you’ll feel more satisfied and eat less. Mealtime is also designed to give you a break from your hectic schedule and allow you to catch up on what’s happening in the lives of your family and/or friends. This is also good role modeling for your children.

5.  Healthy Snacks:  Regular mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacking can be a challenge, particularly when you’re on the go. But with some planning and preparation, you can put together a healthy assortment of snacks to help curb your hunger and prevent cravings. Bring a bag containing healthy options like part-skim mozzarella cheese sticks, chopped veggies, low-carb protein bars or shakes, measured out nuts or nut butter, hard-boiled eggs, and/or lean deli meats.

6. Prioritize Consistent Exercise:  I have classes and incorporate them into my weekly calendar.  I think of it as like going to my second job.  I just do it. Regular exercise can help keep your metabolism revved so you lose weight faster. In addition, exercise can also help prevent the onset of diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, by reducing belly fat, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides.  Get at least 20 minutes of either cardio conditioning or core-strengthening exercise on most days of the week. But you should also aim to move more every day. The smallest movements add up and will improve your weight-loss results.

7.  Get Sleep!  You can never be truly healthy if you don’t get enough quality sleep. Recent studies show that people who sleep less tend to weigh more. Being sleep-deprived can also increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems. Also, if you are groggy throughout the day, you are more likely to snack and therefore, mess up your diet. If you continue to have trouble sleeping, see your doctor about assistance.  Try taking herbal supplements and turn off the electronics a good 30-60 minutes before bed.  The light from these items can affect your sleep.


Happy Thanksgiving and Here is Your Exercise/Food Chart to Keep Skinny

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  Remember, it is about family and fun.  It doesn’t have to be about BAD food, it can be about good food.

3 helpful blogs to help you through the holiday food issues:

1. What I recommend to eat and what I will be eating.

2. How not to pig out at Thanksgiving.

3. How people sabotage at holiday dinners.

BUT if you do pig out, here is a chart to help you exercise off that pie and whatever other carbliicous things you ate.


A thought… If you skipped the pie, the marshmellow/sweet potato casserole, the bread (roll and stuffing) and the cranberry sauce, you will save yourself almost half of the calories from your meal and most of the carbs.  Your pancreas will thank you too for not having to work so hard and send out so much insulin to deal with all of that sugar!

If there are no vegetables that aren’t smothered in cream, then eat those (or eat those and wipe away the breaded onion) and eat the turkey and maybe just a little of the potato and gravy and you will be doing a lot better.

Worse case scenario, I will not be eating pie unless it is made with Splenda, but if you do, only have half of a slice.  Bring it down to 30g of carbs vs. 60 or 70g grams with a big slice.  And you could  do some exericse to burn off some of those carbs!

Happy Gobble Gobble!

Housekeeping and Chores Can Help You Lose Weight as Much as Exercise Can


You can lose weight by walking, hiking, doing an exercise class, job, run, bike, weight lifting….but you can also lose weight by doing things around the house–killing two birds with one stone.


Examples of simple ways to lose 150 calories, or 300 if you just double the times…..

Chores will provide a 150-calorie burn when you:

  • Shovel snow by hand or sweep for 22 minutes
  • Spade your garden for 26 minutes
  • Push a power lawn mower for 30 minutes
  • Rake leaves for 33 minutes

Beautify your home as you burn calories by:

  • Painting the house for 27 minutes
  • Doing home repairs for 29 minutes
  • Washing windows for 30 minutes

Indoor chores might be tedious, but they do burn calories:

  • Scrub the floor for 30 minutes
  • Dust or vacuum for 53 minutes
  • Iron clothes for 58 minutes


Abdominal Fat is Dangerous! Save Your Health!

I have worked with people who feel that it is not a big deal if they are heavy.  They say they feel fine.  That “feeling fine” could be short-lived….

Researchers about 10 years ago began to notice that high blood sugar and cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and even certain cancers mostly occurred in people who were overweight or obese and who were mostly sedentary.  These problems were eventually called Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X.

Further research showed that even people with increased waist size who were not obese were also prone to metabolic syndrome. At this point, the focus of metabolic syndrome research shifted to visceral fat and how different fat locations in our body can make a big difference in metabolic disease.

In fact, excessive visceral fat may be more dangerous and lead to more chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels than obesity.



Your BMI could actually still be normal but if you have excessive visceral fat, as measure by waist size greater than 40 ins in men and 35 ins in women you have the same increased risk factors as someone overweight or obese. 

abdominal fat


What To Do About This Type of Fat:

Studies investigating abdominal fat and aerobic exercise have shown that exercising can effectively target this fat area and reduce waist size better than using weight loss alone.

In fact regular aerobic exercise just 30 to 45 mins per day, where you actually sweat, has seen some very positive outcomes.

Supplements that target the satiety, the term used to describe our hunger for food, have become an effective tool for weight loss.  We know certain foods depending on their flavors, such as sweet, salty, and sour, can activate appetite centers in the brain in various ways.  This is also depends on the type for the food fat, carbohydrates, and protein all cause different reactions.

One of the major reasons attributed to high protein diet’s effectiveness is the ability of protein to reduce our appetite and make us feel full.

Therefore, my Skinny-Rules, which involves only 50 to 100g of carbohydrates per day and around four ounces of Protein consumed every 3-4 hours, six times a day–is enough to help you lose weight…but to lose that extra belly weight, you need to start MOVING!  You have to exercise.  Even if it is just 30 minutes a day.  Walk the dog, walk briskly around the mall…but you have to move.  Start with just 10-15 minutes and work your way up.  Just 30 minutes a day, at least 3-4 days per week, will help you look your best as you are losing weight.

And if you suffer from fatigue or any illness, then try to take it slowly and do slow walking or swimming.  Even chair exercises you find on Youtube can help you.  But, don’t give in to your pain, fatigue or fat.  Do something about it, even if it is baby steps every day.


11 Ways To Deal With Cravings When On A Diet!


11 Ways to get you through cravings:
1.  You have to set a goal.





Royalty-Free Stock<br />
Photography by Rubberball Oh, you have kids?




6. Throw out the bad food or give it away.

If it is there, you are gonna eat it!


Drink every time you are hungry, to help stop cravings.




9.  Find a distraction.


10.  Find ways to de-stress.




Middle Age Midsection Spread! Why and How to Fix It!


I had the midsection spread.  I had women asking me when my baby was due and I was NOT pregnant!  That is so devastating.  I changed my diet right after that!  I will discuss how this happens and how to fix it.

What caused the midection spread:

Muscle loss, lower metabolism,  and an increase in white fat all play a part in causing waist lines to grow as we age.  Also people exercise less and add stress-eating to their routines, and it becomes much easier to gain weight compared to when we were young and could drink and eat more crap.

But, once we turn 40, our metabolic rate  (ability to burn calories) drops.  We lose muscle tone. We get stressed out and eat more calories than we need, despite needing to eat less calories and work out.

I have also written about how the new ways that wheat is grown and processed is bad for people’s midsections, hence the book written by a medical doctor, called “The Wheat Belly.”  I do think that once I cut wheat MOSTLY out of my diet and tried to stay away from products primarily made with it or from it, then my midsection decreased substantially.  And if I eat wheat products, my stomach distends hugely.

How to fix the spread:

We just cannot eat the way she did in her our 20s and 30s and we need to make a change in our lifestyle and steer away from foods rich in carbs and calories, and also stay away from the stress-eating time period between 3 p.m. and 12 a.m., when energy levels drop (and women in particular tend to overeat).

But is it ever possible to remain the same weight you once were in your 20s? Yes, but exercise is key.  I weigh what I weighed in my 20s right now since I changed my eating style and added more exercise.  Consume less calories, less sugar, less carbs.  More protein, more vegetables, more salad, more portion control, eat less, more often (6 times a day).


Palm of the hand-sized protein choices 6 times a day, 2 small servings of fruits per day (a cup), 4 small servings of vegetables a day (avoid starches), salads twice a day, drink water all day.  No (low) sugar products.  Keep carbs within 50g to 100g per day.  I personally avoid wheat products and rice now.  A piece of toast is allowed once or twice a week.  Exercise at least 15- 20 min. per day or a few hours a week.  Always eat breakfast and every 3-4 hours–another protein!  And seriously, watch those  carbilicious wheat products, and if you must some–go for Gluten-free.