Home

Tip of the Day...

Learn to enjoy your meals. Don't sit in front of the television while eating your meals, or work while eating lunch. Learn to savor every bite you eat, and stopping when you feel emotionally satisfied with what you ate. By taking pleasure in what we are doing, and enjoying our food, our body tells us when to stop eating.

I've always been an emotional eater. Now, I like to savor every bite I eat. Taking pleasure not only in eating, but in life, we will be able to set our own limits. You feel fuller faster because you are satisfied. Enjoying your food will help you develop a new outlook on eating. Food becomes your friend, not your enemy.

Food was meant to be enjoyed, not sucked into our bodies to heal all problems (including emotional problems). Learn what your likes and dislikes are. Take pleasure in the moment.

WORKING OUT FOR YOUR MIND, BODY & SOUL

Working out has never been so easy. That is when you start putting your mind and body to it. If you're like me, there is not enough time in the day to do everything you would like to do, including working out. I think that excuse is more out of laziness then it is anything else.

There are exercises that you can fit into your daily life. Try these:

PILATES & ABS WORKOUT

Tae Bo...The best investment you will ever make (just as long as you actually work out with the video). I bought the tapes 2 months ago, and finally forced myself to go through the basic video. And you know what? I enjoyed working out with Billy Blanks. Just when I thought I was going to quit, Billy Blanks starts saying, "Don't give up. We've got another rep to go." And it was actually encouraging. Granted, I've just started working out again, so I know that I need to go at the pace my body tells me to go. Of course I'm a few steps behind those models and Billy, but I don't care, my heart is racing, I'm sweating, and I'm having fun doing it.

I've heard stories of women who've lost 45 pounds in two months working out with their Tae Bo tapes every morning. I don't doubt that it's true. I'm just happy that all of the major points on my body that are hard to get into shape (like my hips, thighs and that jiggly fat under my arms) are aching today.

Make sure that your exercise routine not only includes 5-6 days of aerobic exercise, but that you incorporate at least 3 days of weight training into your exercise schedule (with a day off in between). Turning fat into muscle will help get rid of the jigglies and to help you burn 35 more calories with each workout.

Check the web for how many calories you need to consume to be a certain weight. I've learned that a moderately active woman who weighs 120 pounds needs to eat 2,020 calories to maintain her weight. (That's a lot of eating to me...but this is all about changing your lifestyle for the better). You need to burn 3,500 calories each week (from your normal diet) in order to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. That means if you eat 2,020 calories, you should try to burn 500 calories (or more) a day (taking into account that you have at least one day of rest).

Kate Dillon. Plus-size model.

TRANSFORMING YOUR LIFE: MIND, BODY & SOUL

STRESS...If you're a workaholic like myself, you probably endure a lot of stress. I just took off for a 4 day weekend in the Bahamas 2 weeks ago to get away from the stress I was enduring at the office. My goal was to have a stress free weekend. And I had a stress free weekend. My appetite picked up. It seemed that all I did was eat, sleep and sit in the hot tub. But guess what? I lost over 5 pounds, and I can bearly keep my pants from falling down.

How is that? Because I allowed myself to not stress out about anything. Even though my companion was in so much pain from a toothache, I did not stress out over how we were going to take care of the pain and the emergency situation it called for down in the Bahamas where they have no hospital.

Me, being the control freak that I am, got everything taken care of so that he was pain free for at least part of our vacation, and I did not stress or fret about the entire situation (like I normally would at home).

My body needed that mental stress break.

When I returned home I learned from a doctor that the reason why I gained weight over these past 6 years was mostly because of severe stress. The doctor warned me about how stress could affect my life. It caused me to gain weight by slowing down my metabolism and causing facial breakouts and ailments that take a while to get rid of. Keeping up the level of stress for a few more years down the line could result in colon cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as diabetes.

I'm not a big eater, so a doctor finally pinpointing what was wrong with me has helped. Hey, I've lost 5 pounds already by monitoring my stress levels. I've always realized that when I'm happy and stress free I've always managed to miraculously lose weight (because my metabolism has sped up).

Monitoring stress levels is only a third of what it takes to lose weight. Working out and Monitoring what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat is the other 2/3rds of it. The key to losing weight is that you are doing this for yourself b/c you care enough about yourself to do it. Make yourself happy by doing the things you want to do. Don't do things that could harm you like not taking care of your body. Do what it takes...DO IT FOR YOURSELF because you care enough about yourself to make it happen.

LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST

Sometimes I forget to stop and smell the flowers because I am too busy and my thoughts are elsewhere. But there is a price to pay for not enjoying life. When I awoke in the middle of the night to a stress headache, I knew I had to do something about it. And that was to break free from that tyrannical hold that stress has over me.

I buy myself the most beautiful flowers every week from a street vendor. The $3 does not break the bank, and it's a simple luxury to have sitting on my desk when it gets rough in the office.

Oprah has taught me this month to have GRATITUDE. Pay someone with kindness before they do. Most of all be thankful for everything that is in your life...the good, the bad, and the ugly. Why the bad and ugly? Because the bad and the ugly helps teach you about life.

I have a lot of things to be thankful for. I am grateful that I have wonderful friends and family, that I finally get paid my net worth, and that I work in a great environment. I am thankful that I am still able to act and sing and haven't forgotten how to.

Thanksgiving is a time to be Grateful for the things in your life. But don't celebrate your gratefulness once a year, celebrate it everyday. Good things will come to those who are grateful of the gifts that God has already given to them.