Tip of the Week

Happy Holiday Season everyone. 

As you know, many people celebrate, bake cookies and what not during the holidays. After all, it's part of the celebration and traditions. The calories from those homemade cookies, gingerbread houses, and all of those sweets can really add up. It's no wonder that the average American gains weight around this time. 

The only tip I can give is to enjoy the holidays. It's okay to eat that one cookie that your aunt is famous for making. It's only once a year. Just eat only one cookie, not more. Don't worry. Your craving will be satisfied. You can have those holiday foods. Just make them healthier and control the portions.  

Happy Holidays, everyone! 

Tip of the Week

Do you exercise? If so, why do you exercise? 

I read this post and it really opened my mind to a lot of things. It's a great read. I want you guys to read it and comment below your thoughts 

http://wellfesto.com/2013/11/19/10-things-i-want-my-daughter-to-know-about-working-out/

image from http://wellfesto.com/2013/11/19/10-things-i-want-my-daughter-to-know-about-working-out/

Next, name at least 3 reasons why you work out. Please try to leave out the reason "to look good in my swimsuit."  The ultimate goal of exercise is to be healthy. Once you're healthy, you will eventually be at a healthy size. 

Here are my three (I have more reasons why I workout but these are just a few). 

1. For my health.
2. To be able to do everyday things with ease (strength, flexibility). 
3. Relieve stress.

What about you? 

Elf 4 Health

I'm so excited to be part of Elle and Lindsay's Elf4Health Challenges! I participated in this last year and I'm so happy to be part of it again. Elle and Lindsay do a great job coordinating, planning and organizing everything.

Well, what exactly is this Elf4Health, you might be asking?

It's four weeks of health challenges that Elle and Lindsay posts! Every two weeks, you are assigned an "elf", who you will talk to and help each other out with the challenges.

Isn't it a cute button? I think it is! It really speaks to the theme of the challenge. Elf, holidays, get it?

Today's challenge is to Go Meatless. No meat eating for today. It's fairly easy for me because I don't eat meat! 

Oh, I forgot to introduce you guys to my elf. Her name is Danica  and she blogs at It's Progression. From talking to her, she sounds like an awesome person! She's studying to become a Certified Holistic Health Coach, which is great! I actually found her blog when she guest posted at Lindsay's blog. I've been hooked to her blog since (although I don't comment). She talks about life, exercise, eating and health. It's a great blog. Go hop over and see! 

How was your weekend?

What challenges are you going to try this week? 

Do you go meatless at least once a week? 

P.S. That is today's tip of the week. Go meatless! =) Also, my professor postponed the chemistry exam! 

Tip of the Week

Do you like croutons in your salad?

Do you like it because it gives your salad an extra crunch?

Well, maybe you should switch it for something else! Croutons aren't the best thing you can add to your salad, especially if you like adding that extra crunch. One thing I like to add are almonds or walnuts. My friend Noelle, says she likes adding apple chips to her salad. It sounds strange but it's really good. It also adds a little sweetness to your salad. It adds more fiber as well. ;)

So, the next time you eat a salad, try to make do without the croutons. Add some apple chips, almonds or walnuts. You won't regret it!

What are your favorite salad add-ins?

Tip of the Week

Stop what you are doing right now. Drop everything.

Now that I have your attention, you are probably wondering why I said that. I am assuming that most of you guys were either eating, doing homework, watching videos or whatnot. I'm also assuming that you guys are probably stressed.

That is why I said to stop what you are doing. It is really easy to get stressed, especially in our society. Stress can really affect us physically and mentally. Not to mention, stress stimulates the production of cortisol, which is essentially fat.

I dare you guys to take five minutes of every hour to just do nothing. Sit, relax, and mediate.Alternatively, do a few yoga poses and stretches to clear your mind.

Trust me. You guys will feel better after doing this.

What are your tips for relieving stress?

Tip of the Week: Start a Routine

Buenos dias, todos. Good morning, everyone. How are you guys doing today? I'm doing fine, thank you very much.
This week's tip  is something you all should think about. Do you find it hard to find time to exercise or to cook healthy meals?
Then, make exercise a routine. Exercise at a certain time each day. Once you make it a habit, it will come as second nature to you. Usually, exercising the first thing in the morning is easy to make a habit. All you have to do is lay out your workout clothes the night before. Right when you get up, change into your exercise clothes and exercise.
As for healthy meals, make it a routine to do meal preparation every week. That way, you will have healthy foods that you can grab on the go.

Tip of the Week

Hey hey everyone. Feliz lunes! Happy Monday to you all.

And what a better way to start off your Monday than to workout.

Yes, that's right. I said workout. Exercising and getting physical activity in is important to maintain your health. I know that there are many people that have a hard time finding time to exercise. Well, here's a little secret. You can always wake up earlier to exercise if you find it difficult to do it during the day.

I know people's lives get hectic. But, if you wake up one hour earlier in the day, you can fit in some exercise. You'll be surprised how much more time you have if you wake up earlier. If you normally wake up at 8 am, then wake up at 7 am. As long as you get in moving in the morning, it's okay. You don't have to go for a run. You can do yoga instead or walk. It's just the idea of moving that's important.

Also, I dare you to try a new fruit or vegetable this week. You never know. You might actually like it!

When do you exercise?
What's your favorite fruit or vegetable?

Tip of the Week

I found this blogpost called "1200 calories". Here is the link:

http://sophieologie.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/1200-calories/

Please take a look at the article. It is saying that 1200 is not the "magic" number. Women in our society have come to believe that we need to only consume 1200 calories in order to lose weight. We focus on cardio along with this calorie restriction. But, you know what? It's not enough for our bodies!

Calories are important but the quality of the food we eat is important too .We also need to focus more on strength training (gaining muscle tone) along with the cardio.

Take a look at the article. It may open your eyes to something new.

Tips of the Week + My Half Marathon

Hey hey everyone. How is your Monday going? Mine has been very busy, so this will be a quick post. But, don't worry. There's tips in this post about my first half-marathon.

So, I was so surprised about all the support there was at the run. There were so many people along the way cheering us on. It really gave me to motivation to keep me going. The race started bright and early at 7:30 am on Sunday. I was the second wave, starting at 7:35 am. I didn't know what time I would get. If I had known I would have gotten the time I've gotten, I would have joined the 1st wave instead.

I started off running a little fast, which was due to the excitement. I was at about an 8:30 mile pace. However, I guess it was too fast for me because I started slowing down to about a 9 minute mile pace to a 9:18 mile pace on average. My race time was 2 hours 1 minute and 48 seconds.

My uncle came to watch the race. He's been supporting me the whole time. I saw him at around the 2 or 3 mile mark and I waved to him. He also had other friends that were participating in the race too.

Around mile 8, I was starting to get tired but I kept pushing (also, I started having a few stomach issues but drinking water helped a bit). It's important to hydrate during the race! I also have to say that don't let others ahead of you make you go faster than what you can do. You don't want to overwork yourself either!

I have to say, it was a great experience. Now, I can say that I've ran a half-marathon. There were race photos taken but that won't be up for a couple days. I might post them later on, if I feel like it. I love the medals. It was a cow bell medal, because the name of the half-marathon has the word cow in it. It's funny. I kept ringing the cow bell at home, annoying my family.

Anyway, that's it for now. I have to say, it's good to start training early on so that you don't hurt yourself on the actual race day. I'm feeling a little bit sore but it's not too bad. I'm pretty proud of my time. For my gender and age group, I'm 23 out of 110. Out of the entire race, 1026 out of 3256 .

Have you set a big goal for yourself and accomplished it?
Do you have any goals right now?

Tip of the Week: Organic and GMOs

Hey hey everyone. How is your week going? This week's tip is late in the week. I've been busy all week. Homework, exams, work, being the average busy college student. The only difference is that I'm taking a lot more classes. I'm taking 6 while the average is 4 or 5 classes.  I really enjoy my classes though! I'll talk more about it in another blog post.

Anyway, here's todays tip.

"Organic" and "GMO free" doesn't necessarily mean healthy or better for you. All organic produce contains the same nutrients as the ones in the regular store. For the most part, organic produce does taste better though. If you're worried about pesticides, there are still some pesticides used in some organic produce. Look up GRAS, generally recognized as safe.

Oh, and by the way, if you claim to eat "GMO free", and yet you eat bananas, you aren't eating 100% GMO free. Bananas were genetically modified a long time ago, in the mid 1900s. The banana you eat now is different from the ones your ancestors ate. Before, the bananas used to be harder to eat. They had a huge pit with a lot of seeds. Now, we can just eat the whole thing (except for the peel). It's amazing what science can do.

I guess that's it for now.

What's your opinion on organic/GMOs?
What's your favorite subject at school?

Tip of the Week: Choose Healthier Alternatives

You've probably heard this before. Choose 100% whole wheat bread instead of white bread. Substitute non-fat plain greek yogurt in place of sour cream. Use whole wheat flour in your baked goods. Use non-hydrogenated margarine instead of butter. Oh yea, by the way, most companies removed hydrogenated fat from their margarine (by the way, the human body naturally has trans fat). 

And, then, you hear about already packaged foods. Which crackers should I choose? What if I want some chocolate? Which should I choose?

Well, here's an analysis of two kinds of Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. One is Justin's Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. The other is the Reese's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. Here are the nutritional labels for both. 

Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

It's surprising how both of these are still pretty high in sugar. Even the "healthier" alternative has more saturated fat. Then again, the nutritional stats are pretty much equal. The organic brand does have a little less sugar, which is good. It has 5 grams less sugar. There is more cholesterol in the Reese's brand.

What most people are worried about here is the ingredients list. Are there preservatives? Are there ingredients that I can't even pronounce? Where did that come from? How did they make it? 

What I noticed is that Reese's has PGPR and TBHQ as preservatives. PGPR is Polyglycerol polyricinoleate. TBHQ is tert-Butylhydroquinone. Doing some research, it shows that TBHQ negatively affects the body. Apparently,  the FDA states that "the total antioxidant content of a food containing the additive will not exceed 0.02 percent of the oil or fat content of the food, including the essential (volatile) oil content of the food." (Click on the link for the source)

Tasting these two products, the Reese's was definitely sweeter. It was actually too sweet for my taste. I couldn't really taste the "dark chocolate" it claimed to have. The Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup did have the dark chocolate taste. It was more satisfying too. 

It's really up to you what you prefer. It's better to practice moderation. Eat this one in a while and eat that once in a while. But, if you prefer to eat more natural foods, make your own or try the Justin's brand.

Tip of the Week

Hi Everyone. It's Labor Day today. Happy Labor Day. The only thing is that it's raining here today.

So, this week's tip can apply to today as well as your outlook in eating.

Many people host barbecues during the Labor Day weekend. There's hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, desserts, drinks and what not. You can, however, make some of these foods healthier. Here's how.

• When choosing hamburger or hot dog buns, buy the 100% whole grain ones. 
• Try making your own hamburgers with lean ground beef. You can even use chicken or turkey instead. Veggie burgers are another great thing to make too. 
• When making potato salad, try substituting some mayo with non-fat plain greek yogurt. You can also make your own mayo! You can use that instead of buying them from the store (which has preservatives!). 
• Serve fruit as dessert! If you just have to have some other kind of dessert, make homemade whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. 
• Adults, limit yourself to just one drink (that is, if you do drink). 
• Serve water and iced tea at the barbecue. If kids don't like those, then at least choose 100% apple juice or orange juice. Make sure no extra sugar is added. 

It's that simple. You don't have to totally give up your favorite barbecue foods. You just have to make healthier choices when it comes to which kind you actually buy. Remember, don't overindulge! 

Have a great Labor Day. 

Tip of the Week: Eat Breakfast!

You're running late and you're in a hurry. You debate whether you should eat breakfast or just go straight out the door. 

Even in a situation like this, you should eat breakfast! Eating breakfast jumpstarts your metabolism for the day and provides you with the energy and nutrients to start off your day. If your stomach can't handle food in the morning, eat something little or make a smoothie. Something is better than nothing. 

Here are easy, healthy and quick breakfast ideas. Enjoy!

1. Homemade baked breakfast bars. Bake a whole batch and eat them throughout the week!
2. Breakfast burritos. You can pre-make these and store them in the fridge. In the morning, just take one out and microwave it. Just be sure to use whole-wheat or whole-grain tortillas when making them. 
3. Oatmeal. Top it off with nutter butter and fresh fruit!
4. Nutter butter and Banana sandwich. 
5. Leftovers from the night before. You don't always have to eat traditional breakfast food.
6. Cereal and milk. Be sure to check the nutrition information!
7. Hard boiled eggs. Eat this with a grain, such as oatmeal or cereal.

These are just a few breakfast ideas. 

What is your favorite go-to breakfast? 

Tip of the Week: Meal Planning

Buenos Dias, todos! Feliz lunes. I know. It's the beginning of the week, but be happy. =)

So, today's tip of the week is to do meal planning. Here are a few ways why meal planning can be beneficial:

1. You don't have to worry about what you'll have to make for dinner.
2. It's flexible. You don't always have to follow the meal plan you make. Things do come up. 
3. You can make a grocery list of the foods you are going to eat for the week. That way, you don't have to spend as much while you are grocery shopping. 

So, here's a template I created that can help you with meal planning. If you don't want to plan for a whole day's worth of meals, start with dinner. That way, leftovers from dinner can be your lunch the next day. I also added workouts you may be doing that day as well as the calorie count, for those that are counting calories.

I hope this helps you guys in your journey to become healthy (or continuing to be healthy). 

Do you guys meal plan? 

Have you set any weekly goals?

Tip of the Week

It's important to calculate your maximal heart rate. It can help with knowing what intensity you are exercising in, whether it's for cardiovascular healthy or for weight loss. Here is how you calculate it.

image from: http://www.triathlontrainingisfun.com/heart-rate-training-tip-4-understanding-intensities-and-zones/

Step 1: Subtract your age from 220. That will be your Maximal heart rate.

For example, a person is 20 years old.

220-20= 200

This person's maximal heart rate is 200 beats per minute (bpm)

Step 2: If you want to be in the moderate exercise zone, your heart rate should be about 50-70% of your maximal heart rate.

Let's take the heart rate from the previous example.

50% of 200 is 100 bpm.                  0.5 x 200 bpm=100 bpm
70% of 200 is 140 bpm.                  0.7 x 200 bpm= 140 bpm

So, the target heart rate would be between 100-140 bpm for moderate exercise.

Vigorous intensity would be about 70-85% of the maximal heart rate.


I hope this helps!

Do you measure your heart rate while exercising?
Do you guys have a heart rate monitor watch?

I do and it works wonders so that I know what my heart rate really is. It helps that it can tell me approximately how man calories I burned!

Tip of the Week: Getting in physical activity when you have a desk job

Happy Tuesday everyone!

This week's tip is something that everyone can incorporate into their life. I know that most people work or study. They are glued to their desk most of the day. It's hard to get in physical activity when you're always sitting down, studying or working.

Well, here are a few tips to burn a few extra calories and get some physical activity in.

• Make a standing desk. You burn more calories standing than sitting. If you are willing to, you can create a desk tall enough so that you can walk on a treadmill while working/studying. 
• Have some hand weights around your desk. You can take a mini break and do some bicep curls or shoulder presses or whatever exercise you want. 
• Switch your chair for a stability ball. You'll have to work your core to stay still! 
• Drink more water. That way, you'll have to get up and walk to the bathroom more often. Also, it's nice just to take mini walk breaks. 
• Instead of sending a quick email to a co-worker, just walk to their desk. Things can be talked out faster than typing. Also, it's good to get some physical activity in. 
• Go for a walk during your lunch break. Then, eat after. 

Incorporate these into your routine little by little and you'll be surprised on how this can impact your health. 

Do you have any tips on getting in more physical activity? 

What's your favorite exercise?

Tip of the Week and my weekend

Remember I said that I was going to change the Tip of the Day to Tip of the Week? Well, it's finally starting! From now on, I will be posting a tip of the week every Monday along with whatever I want to talk about (mainly my weekend).

So, what is this weeks tip?

Try fitting in exercise whenever you can! If you're watching TV, challenge yourself to do push-ups, squats, lunges, burpees, mountain climbers or any other exercise during commercials. What's even better is if you create a circuit with all of the exercises while watching TV! It's a great way to get exercise in and you'll lose the time since you're watching your favorite TV show.


Now, my weekend time.

This weekend was actually pretty relaxing. I did some food prep and I ran 10 miles yesterday. Yes, I ran 10 miles yesterday and my legs are sore today. I hope that doing yoga today will help relieve some of the soreness. I ran 10 miles in 1 hr 35 min. If I keep up that pace, then I can run a half marathon in 2 hrs and 5 minutes (well, around that time). I'm so excited! The first couple miles were like torture but then after that, I suddenly had the energy to run. My knees started giving up on me a little bit around 8 miles but I pushed it through.

That's really it! I'll talk to you guys next time.

How do you fit workouts in?
What's your favorite TV show? (Mines are Switched at Birth, Life Unexpected. House, and Full House)