Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

Anyone up to the challenge or at the very least investigating the different methods of losing weight know well that there are hundreds of different diets and variations.  High protein, high carb, low carb, balanced, Mediterranean, pills, points systems, calorie counting, see food diet (wait that one makes you gain weight)... the list goes on and on.

Today, I'd like to think people are more health savvy and realize that diets do not really work for the long term goals of living a healthy life. It takes a lifestyle change. What does that really mean?  "Lifestyle change" sounds so scary and burdensome!  It really isn't.  Only your brains addiction to sugar makes you feel that way.

I eat very clean now but when I read about a vegan challenge last month, I thought I should give it a try. I want to see how I feel without meat or dairy for a week. The challenge begins tomorrow and will last seven days.

I will still get all the protein requirements. As you may recall, my trainer wants me to have a lot of protein, especially when I''m training hard. This vegan challenge has gotten me to examine my diet and I think I came up with a good plan for the week. Basically, the big thing I'll be missing is turkey and Greek yogurt. All the other food is pretty much the same. The plan I came up with will have me consuming the pea protein powder, lots of quinoa, beans, spinach, etc.

Happy Monday, fitness friends! I just finished cleaning up from dinner & I was compelled to get on here & post. For the last two years, I have fallen into the trap of making more than one meal for me & my family. My youngest had mastered the crinkling of her nose at the sight of quinoa when I would offer it to her. WELL...tonight I made a healthy pasta primavera dish for my crew & it was a HUGE hit! I MADE ONE HEALTHY MEAL FOR DINNER TONIGHT! I am over-the-moon excited! I will try my best to keep this up! I am noticing that my youngest daughter is gravitating towards healthy options because it is now her only choice! I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment seeing her be lead by example. On days when I have felt like giving up, I remember who is watching. 

A while back, I wrote about the dangers of aspartame. This time, I wanted to focus on why I feel it's dangerous, on a more personal level.

Recently, I found a stash of Equal, Sweet and Low and Splenda packets. My sister had so many of these packets around and she brought them everywhere. I had already thrown out several hundred packets a while ago, so it surprised me how many she really hard. Just take a look at the picture above… the bag is filled with these packets. The problem is that my sister drank so much Diet Pepsi and Diet 7-Up that I think it may have made her depression even worse.

My personal trainer likes to mix up the work out every few weeks. This week, he has me using the free weights, which is more challenging than using the Cybex Smith Machine.

All the exercises are done on a weight bench. I'm doing exercises for all the muscle groups. The most challenging one for me was where I had to step up to the bench while holding onto weights. You have to make sure you have the proper balance for this exercise. I did this exercise before and it always had me confused. He taught me how to do it properly and I think I'll do better on this one than I did in the past.