Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

If you are trying to eat properly & live a healthy lifestyle, chances are that you don't want an INSANE amount of pesticides entering your body in the process, right? I'm sure that most of you on here are aware of the importance of buying organic produce & meats these days. I'm a huge stickler for this in my household. I also know how overwhelming & expensive it can be so I've decided to share two lists from an app I have on my phone with you. The Dirty Dozen list (produce to buy organic versions of) & the Clean Fifteen (produce with the least amount of pesticides so you can purchase the cheaper option). Dr. Oz recommended the app one day on his show & I use it often when shopping on a budget.

DIRTY DOZEN (buy organic versions of these)

Allow me to introduce myself to all of you fabulous fitness friends on here! My name is Jackie & I am a busy mom of 2 AMAZING girls. I am passionate about health, fitness & overall well being. My fanatical routine that I currently possess has not been that way for long, though. It will be 2 years, next month, from when my journey began. Allow me to share.

My youngest daughter was turning 5 & for her birthday, she wanted to go to Build a Bear! My in laws made the drive over to our place & we all headed out. Before heading into the store, someone was nice enough to take a family picture of all of us. The day was GREAT! As soon as we got home, I rushed to the computer to upload the pictures from the day. THERE IT WAS. The picture that changed my life. It is my now famous "before" picture.

Just a quick post on a topic so often confused by many people. I often hear....I have gained some weight since I started weight training but muscle weighs more than fat. Okay..let's get a handle on that. A pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat. A pound is a pound no matter what. Keep in mind that a pound of muscle is much smaller in size than a pound of fat which is very voluminous. So get out there and lift some weights and tighten up the flab. You can do it.

Lately, I've been hearing a lot of talk in the news about how people burn more calories when it's cold outside. Is it me, or is this a ridiculous thing to report when it's like 10 degrees outside?

Imagine someone going outside in this freezing cold weather, and risk getting frost bit just for the sake of burning more calories? I'd rather stay warm… this cold weather is just too much to handle. I still don't know how people jump in the water in extreme cold or how people run outside in the extreme cold. I give you a lot of credit if you're able to!

Help I’m Stuck!... Well while having people’s hands get stuck together is one of my favorite hypnosis demonstrations that would not be a practical way of writing this blog. So while I am not physically stuck right now I have been busy working with many clients on keeping them from getting stuck and abandoning their New Year’s Resolutions.

Statistically only about 45% of Americans still make a New Year’s Resolution and of those, about 29% have already abandoned the resolution all together and in 10 days that number will jump to 36%. Even more surprising is that by the end of the calendar year only 8% of people will have been successful in keeping their New Year’s Resolutions.