10 Tips for success of weight loss

 Weight loss tip 1:

Decide how much weight you need to lose - Most people start their weight loss journey by claiming to be xyz kilos overweight. This isn't a healthy way to project or aim for weight loss. Calculate your desired weight against your height by using reliable methods like the BMI, and set a healthy weight loss target. This is often half the battle won.



Weight loss tip 2:

Time management - This is quite often overlooked. Decide which part of your day will be dedicated to exercise, when in the week you will stock up on groceries, and when you will do the cooking - all within your current work and home life routine. If you don't do this now, your days will be rushed and unplanned, and you won't be able to sustain your weight loss efforts.

Weight loss tip 3:

Stock your kitchen - Keep your house well-stocked with fruits, vegetables, healthy meats, grains, cereals, spices, and flavourers. Follow our tricks to healthy cooking, cooking vegetables for the week, and low-fat cooking posts to understand how best you can stock your kitchen with healthy and delicious ingredients. All of this will go into helping the next step - cooking healthy meals at home.

Weight loss tip 4:

Eat healthy homecooked meals - Whether it's you who's cooking, a family member, or house help, ensure that every one practises healthy cooking methods, and ingredients. Ask any person who's lost weight the healthy way, and you will always hear about how healthy homecooked meals were a big reason behind it. Use less oil, low salt, fresh produce, and you'll start seeing results in no time.

Weight loss tip 5 :

Start a cardio + weights workout - A healthy weight loss programme is incomplete without a good exercise routine, and weight training mixed with cardio is the best way to lose weight. Of course, variations and forms exist, but any workout that stresses on muscle tone and increased heart rate will always help you lose weight and keep it off. You can either start a home workout today, or rely on gyms for fitness training.

Weight loss tip 6:

Alter your snacking habits - At Health Me Up, we have several healthy snacking ideas for you. Set those French fries aside, skip that aerated drink, and ban those unhealthy deep fried samosas. Explore the healthy snack world and you will find several appetisers, party snacks, movie snacks and meal accompaniments that'll satisfy every craving of yours.

Weight loss tip 7:

Have at least one active hobby - It isn't sufficient to rely on just 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Moving from bed to office chair, and back to bed, isn't a healthy way to live. Buy a motion sensor gaming console that lets you enjoy social games with friends and family, plan weekend trips, clean your house once a week, dance, play sports, the list is endless. Get out of the coffee shop and dining table rut, and you'll have fun along with the healthy weight loss.

Weight loss tip 8:

Find a solution to combat stress - As we pointed out in our post about stress and weight loss, stress is always detrimental to healthy weight loss in the long run. Find ways to combat stress and you'll soon realise that your diet and exercise aren't sabotaged anymore, and that you truly do see results. Look at yoga, meditation, deep breathing exercises, or simple hobbies like reading to fight stress.

Weight loss tip 9:

Drink plenty of water - You've known that your body relies heavily on water for all important bodily functions, and yet you skimp on drinking adequate quantities of water every day. Well, it's time to stop that. Check out some exciting ways to make water interesting and you'll be packing it away in no time. Do not forget to carry a water bottle to your workout, and take a few sips after every 2-3 minutes of exercise.

Weight loss tip 10:

Plan healthy vacations - Why go all the way with healthy weight loss, when one tiny vacation will just come along and topple it all? Healthy vacations aren't impossible. Take a look at how you can eat smart on a holiday, and then at bodyweight workouts that you can carry with you wherever you go, to understand how to holiday right. Above all, remember that these are lifelong habits that'll help you stay fit forever and not short term weight loss quickfixes.

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Aesthetically Healthy Snacky

Yes, even my snacks are aesthetically pleasing :)  Healthy snack time... Vanilla Cremé Muscle Milk with cinnamon and fresh mint, fat-free cottage cheese with cracked pepper and lime juice, with celery and cucumber for dipping, and a pear. Nom-Nom-Nom!!  

Scroll down to see lots of my favorite healthy recipes for dinner, you won't be disappointed!  Including:

Nater's Faux Pho Recipe
Nater's Snappy Red-Snapper Curry

Nater's Passive-Aggressive Portobello Chicken 

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Nater's Faux Pho Recipe

This is my healthy recipe for Pho, a Vietnamese dish, pronounced "Fuh" ... ya know, like when your headphones are in at the gym and someone sneaks up and scares you and you scream "FU...!!"  Realizing where you are before you finish your near profanity.  WHAT THE PHO?!  The Faux part is of recipe is not because of lack of cultural authenticity, but rather due in part to my blonde hair and blue eyes... I'm obviously not Vietnamese, but still can make some mean pho!  There are many recipes out there, but this is my personal spin on the dish.

This is a super simple recipe, rounding up the ingredients is the only real effort involved.  Don't let the list of ingredients intimidate you, you will have a lot already in your cupboard and I grabbed everything else at Harmon's in less than 10 minutes.  Every time I cook I am either cooking so that I can eat the meal a few days, or am cooking for friends and family.  As long as I'm going to the effort, might as well make it worth my while.

Here what you'll need if ya wanna play:

4 Large Chicken Breasts

4 Cans of Low Sodium Chicken Broth (14oz)

3 Cups Bean Sprouts

2 Garlic Cloves

3 oz of Fresh Ginger Root, size of two fingers roughly

1 Lime

1 Sweet Onion (Yellow)

2 Jalapenos

Small bundle of Green Onion

Small bundle of fresh Mint

Small bundle of fresh Basil

1/8 Cup Sriracha (Hot Chili Sauce)

1/4 Cup low sodium Soy Sauce

1 tsp Ground Cloves

1 tbs Granulated Sugar

Fresh Cracked Pepper

1 package of Rice Noodles

The first step is to cook the chicken.  I buy huge bags of frozen Costco chicken as a staple, so the lazy way is to throw the four large frozen chicken breasts into a crock pot with one can of broth and one can of water.  Slow cooking them lets you shred the chicken much easier.  If not you can boil the chicken and cut it up after it is fully cooked, but I recommend the crotch pot... I mean crock.

Once the chicken is cooked in the crock pot, pull out the chicken to cool.  Keep the liquid, strain it, and add it to a large pot.  Then in the large pot add the other three cans of broth with one more can full of water.  Then turn to high heat and boil the hell out of it.  

Start another pot of boiling water for the rice noodles.  

While the broth is reaching boil chop the yellow onion in half, laying the center down and then cut long ways.  Throw em in the pot!  Then chop the two jalapenos so you have round nickel size pieces.  Throw em in the pot!  Smash and mince the two garlic gloves, and cut the skin off the ginger root, smash and mince as well.  Throw em in the pot!  Chop the green onion bundle, and all the basil leaves and most the mint leaves.  Throw em in the pot!  Rinse the bean sprouts.  Throw em in the pot!  Juice one lime, measure out 1/8 cup of sriracha, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1tps ground cloves, 1 tbs sugar, and a pinch of pepper.  Throw it in the pot!  Let the concoction boil for a few minutes and then take to low heat to simmer for about fifteen minutes.  Shred the chicken, (two furious forks usually do the trick for me) and add it in.  What the pho?!  You're almost there.

While the brew simmers, add the rice noodles to boiling water and let cook for 8-10 minutes.  Keep gently stirring the noodles, as well as the pot of pho.  After ten minutes take the rice noodles off the heat, strain, and stop the cooking process with running cold water over them in the strainer.  

The pho brew should be smelling pretty awesome, and cooked down a little bit by now.  You can at this point add the noodles to the pho, but I strongly recommend adding them to your bowl separately.  I fill the bowl about 1/3 the way with the rice noodles, and then ladle the piping hot pho over them.  You can garnish with a sprig of the mint or basil, and serve with extra sriracha on the side... because as Marilyn once stated - 'Some like it HOT!'

This recipe is healthy as it it largely based around protein and vegetables, as long as you go with low sodium soy sauce and chicken broth and don't go crazy on the rice noodles you will will be on track!  Enjoy.

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Nater's Not-So-Devilish Eggs

When I am in 'healthy mode' I eat so many chicken breasts and egg whites that I swear I wake up clucking in my sleep!  It's suppose to be REM cycle, not a HEN cycle.  There are lots of healthy chicken respires out there, namely 'Nate's Passive Aggressive Portobello Chicken,' but I get bored of the egg whites.  I have fewer egg white solutions, and let's face it my A.D.D. kicks in and then I want to kick a chick, or pound some poultry eventually...  

You better have these goods if you wanna play:

You need Large eggs

FAT-FREE cottage cheese

Yellow Mustard

Paprika 

Here's is a scrumptious quick solutions for egg whites, with less than one carb, 7.3 grams protein, and ZERO fat per egg!  Throw how ever many eggs you want into already boiling water - don't break them all as this is egg boiling 101, not egg drop soup people.  Fifteen minutes at boil is my perfectly poached protein poultry plan for you.  Let cool as you be cool.  Slice longways, and discard yolks.  Yes, throw them away and your cholesterol, calorie count, and myself will thank you, kthxbye.  For every one egg, mix one teaspoon of plain yellow mustard, two tablespoons of FAT-FREE cottage cheese (Smith/Kroger has a green and white cottage cheese that is a staple in my fridge), fill the halved egg whites with the yellow concoction, and garnish with Paprika (or fresh crack black pepper if you find yourself without).  Call them hor d'oeuvres, and eat them while wearing your pearls and favorite sweater set or khakis and pastel polo... and get yo CLUCK on!!

Per Egg (Two halves) :

Fat Zero 

Protein 7.3 grams

Carbs  >1

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Diet & Exercise Tips for this Monster Monday

Two tips, tricks, tidbits... what have you.  

So healthy food doesn't have to be so horrible.  Almost everyone loves Ranch dressing aka 'white trash gravy.'  "Healthy" people have great intentions with salads and veggies but then kill those good intentions with salad dressing.  Regular salad dressing is horrible for you as it is dense in calories and fat, and I'm not even going recommend "fat free" that tastes curdled moldy and been in direct sun all day dressing.  (Although Fat Free Kraft Catalina tastes just like the regular one).  Some times I'll just squeeze a few lemons on my salad and it tastes great, no added calories OR guilt.  But your diet tip of the day is to buy Fat Free Cottage Cheese and a packet of ranch seasoning powder, carefully sprinkle it in and stuurr-it-up until you reach your desired taste - careful kids a little goes a long way!  Fat free cottage cheese is a good source of protein and only 70 calories per half cup.  Use it on your salad, or I love it with sliced bell peppers, celery, broccoli, carrots, or on thick slices of tomato with basil and fresh cracked pepper.

Cardio can be a real drag, but its essential when our diets are less than perfect.  It's also a great way to get our heart rates up and get into a fat burning mode.  When I first started my cardio I hated it, dreading those 'steps to nowhere.'  Now I love cardio (I know right?) and actually have to limit my cardio since I am trying to get weight and mass at this stage.  We all know music makes the time go by faster on the treadmill and elliptical, but we've known that since our seven favorite seven dwarfs sung to us 'Whistle while you Work...out?'  Here's my tip, most us of have smart phones nowadays and I advise you charge up your iTunes account and download music videos with strong beats or put a YouTube or Vevo app on your phone.  Videos give us something to watch AND listen to, faster beats make for keeping our tempo and spirits up, wickie-wickie-REMIX!  My problem is I get the occasional over the shoulder glance and smile from other gym patrons, then I realized "Oh-ma hell, I've been singing out loud... AGAIN."  For those of us with the A.D.D. lifestyle not only listening to the music, but watchin the videos keeps our eyes off the time, which at times seem like a soviet missile countdown... Huston there is no problem here.  Also, after setting your cardio timer on the machine try throwing a small gym towel over the digital clock so that you aren't tempted to watch the clock in misery.  Its good to mix up cardio, running outside (weather permitting), treadmill, elliptical, or bike.  To be honest I don't do the bike unless its a spin class, bikes are 'casual cardio' for me otherwise.  I love to run but get shin splints, (if you get shin splints tape around your arches and they will go away) and unless I remember to tape my high arches I just do the elliptical with a fast paced level 14, for at least 45 minutes. 

I leave you with these words as I have shenanigans with my name on them to attend to!

Be good,

Nater

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