DAY 31

DRINKING SODA
Researchers say you can measure a person’s risk of obesity by measuring his or her soda intake. Versus people who don’t drink sweetened sodas, here’s what your daily intake means:
½ can = 26 percent increased risk of being overweight or obese
½ to 1 can = 30.4 percent increased risk
1 to 2 cans = 32.8 percent increased risk
More than 2 cans = 47.2 percent increased risk

That’s a pretty remarkable set of stats. You don’t have to guzzle Double Gulps from 7-Eleven to put yourself at risk—you just need to indulge in one or two cans a day. Wow. And because high-fructose corn syrup is so cheap, food marketers keep making serving sizes bigger (even the “small” at most movie theaters is enough to drown a raccoon). That means we’re drinking more than ever and don’t even realize it: In the 1950s, the average person drank 11 gallons of soda a year. By the mid-2000s, we were drinking 46 gallons a year. A Center for Science in the Public Interest report contained this shocking sentence: “Carbonated soft drinks are the single biggest source of calories in the American diet.”

Bonus Tip: When it comes to making us fat, soda is only one of the big offenders. Other sugary drinks can add belly fat fast too. You can be slurping more than an entire day's worth of calories, sugar and fat--in just a few minutes.

Thank you to David Zinczenko of Men’s Health

I drink one soda every two weeks. I guess I am not doing too badly. At one point I was drinking 1 to 2 cans a day of Pepsi or Dr. Pepper. I really like it, but I am trying to make an effort not to drink it. Please join me!!

DAY 30

I consider myself a “live-to-eat” kind of girl. I don’t eat because I have to. I eat because I love the taste of food. Food is a pleasure for me. I have found I need to find pleasure in healthy eating too. You don’t have to eat food that tastes like cardboard. It may take a while to find those things or may take a while to prepare those foods, but your body and mind will thank you later.

Have you ever seen a beautiful skinny women walking down the street and thought to yourself, wow I wish I looked like that. The second thought is what a @#$%&. You are probably laughing right now because you know I am right. If you aren’t laughing you are a better person than I. The other thought is I bet she has never eaten a cheeseburger. The truth is she probably does eat them, but only half a cheese burger and it probably only happens once a year.

You don’t have to starve yourself. Get some whole wheat bread or buns. Get some ground turkey, season it up and pop it in a pan. Next thing you know you will have a great tasting burger. Use light mayo, mustard, pickles, low fat cheese, grilled onions, tomato, lettuce and maybe a little avocado. Get some baked fries from the frozen section and you are good to go. You can still have the foods you love just modified.

Keep up the good work everyone!!

DAY 27, 28 and 29

Well, today is the last day of January. I didn’t meet my weight goal for this month. My goal was 10 pounds, but that’s ok because I still feel good about what I have accomplished. My total weight loss for January is…..8.6 lbs. My goal for the month of February is 4-6 lbs.  I am giving it a range this time to give myself some wiggle room. I have been doing Zumba a lot more than anything. I have found it gives me the best aerobic work out and burns the most calories. In addition, I’m still doing the Wii at least twice a week. It helps record my activities and has some great strength training exercises.

My husband and I have a friendly competition going on. He holds the number one spot for the “plank”. I am only two points behind him. Watch out J It is always good to have some goals to reach for and by us competing it helps me stay motivated to beat him. I will say, I hold the number one spot for “hula hoop” and “skiing high jump”. He pretty much kicks my bootie at everything else. If you haven’t seen my husband before, you should know he is good shape and very competitive. Good luck everyone for the month of February. If you have made any new goals let me know in the comments section below!