Weight Loss Tips

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How to Find Your Perfect Weight and Live Five Years Longer

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Do you know your Body Mass Index? Are you skinny, overweight or obese? We know already that obesity leads to high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, etc. But what is the difference between overweight and obese? How do you know that you have already crossed that dangerous line from being overweight to becoming obese?

“Whether you want to be thick or thin is a matter of taste“ –Daniel Worona

Study (published in the medical journal The Lancet ) indicates that it is important not only to know your weight but also your body fat, because Body Mass Index is crucial. Obesity can shorten your life by about three- four years (death because of high blood pressure leading to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney and liver problems), but if you are very obese, it might be shorten by eight – ten years according to new study. apple2

I always tell my clients to watch their weight and weigh themselves frequently. I teach them not to be obsessed with their weight loss or gain but be healthy weight smart.

The first sign of gaining a couple of pounds is always your tight clothes. But it is always easier to maintain the weight you want if you know about your extra pounds as soon as you gain them. I don’t believe in a sudden extra 20 pounds gain. How can it be possible to gain 10 – 20 pounds without knowing it? Of course, it takes time, and if you are not alert, if you don’t weight yourself, don’t watch what you eat (I don’t like the word “diet”), you might get in trouble. Sometimes it can be too late, and it means you cross the line from being healthy to being at risk.

Body Mass Index is a ratio of weight to height to estimate body fat and obesity. It is better than only using your scale, even it is not very accurate for those who have a lot of muscles.

Click here to calculate your Body Mass Index, Body Fat and Activity / Calories Used

Taking your age into consideration:

Under 35:

recommended: 18 -24; overweight: 25 + ; obese: 30+

35 and over:

recommended: 19 -26; overweight: 27 + ; obese: 30+

No matter what, let us be BMI smart, if we want to live longer and be healthier.

And don’t be too skinny either: several reports say that underweight women have a lower life expectancy than people who have an average or healthy weight.

P.S. Click to listen to weight loss tips from my fabulous guests on “Feel and Look Fabulous with Irina”

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Expert

NaturalCounselor.com

Posted in Healthy Heart, High Blood Pressure Remedies, Tips to Lose Weight | No Responses »
Tags: Body Mass Index for Women, Overweight or Obese, Weight Loss Tips

How to Lose Weight, Strengthen the Heart, and Detox Naturally in Summer

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Summer is a beautiful time of the year. It can be also the healthiest time for you if you learn to take advantage of the summer weather, long days and abundance of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Summer can be the right time for natural fast weight loss, to detox naturally, to lower your high blood pressure, to get rid of urinary problems, and support your heart.

Pay attention to stress and nutrition for natural fast weight loss detox and cleanse for the summer

Listen to Podcast for Extra Tips

Here are some helpful tips for you:

I. Try to drink two-three extra glasses of water a day– it is very easy to do when it is hot outside. If you can develop this habit, you will continue drinking more water in the fall and winter.

Dehydration is one of the causes for headaches, migraines, and constipation, all of which can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease, hormones imbalance, PMS symptoms, etc.

One Extra Glass of Water to Drink and 500 calories to Burn the Easy Way

II. Start an easy exercise program. By easy I mean think about some outdoor and indoor activities you might have forgeotten you enjoy, like walking, bike riding, tennis, swimming, hiking or even dancing. If you are extra ambitious, consider camping.

Summer days are long enough, so no excuses for not having time to exercise every day. Eventually it will become your daily routine and will thus be easier to keep up with in winter. Did you know that exercise in the brings better results and is healthier for the body?

III. Try to reduce high-calorie and high fat foods by replacing them with an abundance of fruits and vegetables and foods for constipation. Eating more plant foods helps with weight loss detox to cleanse smart. Why? Because all fruits and most vegetables are laxative = rich in fiber. And foods high in fiber is what you need the most if you want to have a healthy digestive system.

Avoiding high calorie and high sugar foods can also relax you, which is very important if you want to feel and look fabulous (remember: stress and nutrition are related and needed for natural fast weight loss)

Tips on How to Read Labels and Find Hidden Sugar

Sugar and Caloric Overload Foods

Fiber Rich Foods for Headaches, Blood Pressure and Weight Loss

IV. Try to eat more detox food, for example, diuretic foods, such as cherries, pine apple, celery, parsley root, water melon, cucumbers, artichokes, watercress, all of which improve urination.

Hot weather increases sweating and reduces urination, which can lead to water retention, and sometimes to a puffy face or heavy legs. These foods will also help you reduce your blood pressure which is very important for healthy kidneys and heart. Check which fruits and vegetables are from Dirty Dozen List, and why it is better (healthier) to buy them as organic fruits and vegetables for their organic food benefits.

Why Strawberries, Peaches and Cherries Can Be Dangerous for Our Health

V. Try to spend at least 10 – 15 minutes every day being with and in nature: at the beach, in the park, in the woods, in your back yard watching birds, floating clouds, your favorite flower or a tiny lizard; or maybe doing completely nothing. It will destress your mind and relax your body.

Take a Break and Relax with Butterflies

The only thing you can do is breathing, smiling and being happy.

Let us take advantage of Summer time to get healthier and happier, shall we?

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Expert

NaturalCounselor.com

Posted in Detox, Stress Relief | 1 Response »
Tags: Detox, Diuretic Foods, Headache Migraine Relief, High Blood Pressure, Summer Holistic HealthTips, Weight Loss Tips, Whole Foods

Food Meditation – Part II

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

creative-mediation-visualization-exercise-steps-for-weight-loss

creative-visualization-meditation-exercise-steps-for-weight-loss

To feel and look fabulous, we should learn to listen to our bodies. Our body will always give us advance signals that something is wrong, so we can take actions. But did you know that we can also talk to our body? If you enjoyed our first visualization exercise – Food Meditation as a Stress Relief Tool and Weight Loss Technique, you will like this exercise from Food Meditation Series: Talk to Your Body – Guided Visualization.

I would like to share with you an excerpt from The Self-Healing Cook Book by Kristina Turner.

Here is a simple exercise you can use whenever your mind feels saturated with to much new information about dieting. It can help you tune-in to your own body’s innate wisdom…and help you get clear about your next steps in self-healing.

1. Begin by sitting quietly, in a comfortable chair.

2. Relax…..let your body sink down into the chair…..giving your weight to the earth. Notice how you are breathing…and gradually let it get deeper and more even.

3. Now, in your imagination, go inside your body. Look for any place that feels uncomfortable, or in need of special, loving attention. Talk to it, like you would talk to a friend….

“Hi there, can I help? What do you need?” Listen to an answer.

4. Ask it to tell you or show you a picture of how it wants to feel.

5. Now, get a sense of a particular food that would make your body feel both calm and energized. Is there a new food it wants to try this week? Or a familiar food that would be especially vitalizing?

When you have an answer, say thanks! Open your eyes, and decide how and when you want to cook your “healing food”. Finally, savor it. Just one food, eaten in a spirit of cooperating with your body’s intuitive needs, may be the most important first step to take towards gaining greater control of your health.

I hope you enjoyed this mediation and visualization exercise and will share it with your friends a family.

If you feel you might need help with one of my Holistic Health and Nutrition Programs for Women, let me know, and let us talk…

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Expert

NaturalCounselor.com

Posted in Tips to Lose Weight | No Responses »
Tags: Diet and Nutrition, Meditation, visualization, Weight Loss Tips

How to Lose 20 Pounds a Year by Cutting 250 Calories a Day

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Are you trying to lose weight and have been frustrated by your results? You are not alone. Believe it or not, but I can show you how to lose about 20 pounds a year by cutting 250 calories a day.

It is all about approach. To get big results we need to focus on very small changes. In order to lose weight, we have to set practical goals and take one step at a time in order to achieve them.

Did you know that 3.500 calories = about 1 pound fat?! Let me show you how to save some calories if we want to lose weight.

Try to focus on cutting 200 calorie a day if you are in your 30′s and 250 calories a day if you are after 40. And by the way, this small change can save you more than 75,000 calories a year. Please don’t forget that we still need to exercise or at least to use exercise shortcuts to burn calories and feel fabulous.

Here is a list of calorie overload foods to help you lose weight one slice at a time:

Starbucks Caffé latte with non-fat milk – 160 calories

Starbucks Caffé Mocha with non-fat milk – 330 calories

Starbucks Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino without whipped cream – about 440 calories

Turkey breast, roasted -2 oz. = 230 calories

Ham, fresh – 3.5 oz. – 222 calories

1 cup mashed potatoes – 222 calories

Pecan pie – 1/8 pie – 510 calories

Pumpkin pie – 1/8 pie – 367 calories

1 slice Cherry pie – 308 calories

1 slice Apple pie – 302 calories

2 Sugar cookies – 178 calories

premium Vanilla Ice Cream – 1/2 cup – 270 calories

1 English muffin – 150 calories

1 slice Cheese pizza – 230 calories

1 slice Pepperoni Pizza – 290 calories

2 large scrambled eggs – 200 calories

1 cup chocolate milk – 257 calories

1 slice of white bread – 60-80 calories

1 hot dog – 250 calories

4 chicken wings, skinless – 171 calories

30 small corn chips – 155 calories

20 potato chips – 210 calories

10 tortilla chips – 150 calories

6 peanut butter crackers – 205 calories

1 candy bar – 250 calories

1 slice cheesecake – 257 calories

1 slice sponge cake – 196 calories

3 brownies with nuts – 279 calories

5 chocolate chip cookies – 247 calories

4 peanut butter cookies – 245 calories

5 sugar wafers – 230 calories

1 donut – 227 calories

4 vanilla or chocolate sandwich cookies – 297 calories

½ cup chocolate pudding – 192 calories

1 cream puff – 300 calories

1 eclair – 239 calories

When you read labels looking for calories, don’t forget to check on sugar content:

1 cup Apple juice – 117 calories and 27 g of sugar (more than 6 tsp of sugar)

1 cup Orange Juice – 112 calories and 20.8 g of sugar (5 tsp of sugar)

Let us cut some calories, to feel and look fabulous, shall we?

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Expert

NaturalCounselor.com

Posted in Label Reading, Tips to Lose Weight | 4 Responses »
Tags: Calorie Overload Foods, Calories, Sugar, Weight Loss Tips

How to Easy Burn Calories with Exercise Shortcuts

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Are you still in a mood for loosing some pounds? Did you start a new habit to move around more for a successful weight loss? Have you read my tips on How to change your life one bad habit at a time? They might help.

Our bodies are supposed to move, we were designed to move, not to sit all day at the computer gaining weight and losing our vision. If we want to maintain the weight we want or lose some pounds we need to speed up our metabolism, especially if we are in our forties and older.

We do need more exercises in our lives, but studies show that using exercise shortcuts and simply moving more during the day help you burn calories, lose weight, be healthier. Did you know that if you get up from your sit more often you can burn more than 300 calories which can help you lose more than 30 pounds a year? Don’t forget that simply ironing or washing your car will help you burn around 80 calories in 30 min.

Here are some ideas, some of simple steps from the government’s Small Steps campaign (www.smallsteps.gov) for you to start moving towards a healthier You one step at a time. Pick 6-7 you think you can do right now and let us start moving:

* Join an exercise group.

* Do yard work.

* Work around the house.

* Take dog to the park.

* Wash the car by hand.

* Run when running errands.

* Take wheels off luggage.

* Dance to music.

* Take stairs instead of the escalator.

* Carry your groceries instead of pushing a cart.

* Walk briskly through the mall and shop ’til you drop … pounds.

* Do sit-ups in front of the TV.

* Bicycle to the store instead of driving.

* Ask a friend to exercise with you.

* Exercise with a video if the weather is bad.

* Bike to the barbershop or beauty salon instead of driving.

* If you find it difficult to be active after work, try it before work.

* Take a walk or do desk exercises instead of a cigarette or coffee break.

* Take small trips on foot to get your body moving.

* Play with your kids 30 minutes a day.

* Keep a pair of comfortable walking or running shoes in your car and office.

* Choose activities you enjoy & you’ll be more likely to stick with them.

* Stretch before bed to give you more energy when you wake.

* Explore new physical activities.

* Stay active in winter. Play with your kids.

* You can break up your physical activity into 10-15 minute sessions throughout the day—it’s the daily total that matters. Aim for at least 30 minutes for adults, 60 minutes for children.

* Be active–Walk the dog, don’t just watch the dog walk.

* Walk to work.

* Walk during lunch hour.

* Replace Sunday drive with Sunday walk. Go for a half-hour walk instead of watching TV.

* Make a Saturday morning walk a group habit.

* Walk briskly in the mall.

* Park farther from destination and walk.

* Walk instead of sitting around. Take your dog on longer walks.

* Walk to a co-worker’s desk instead of emailing or calling them.

* When walking, go up the hills instead of around them.

[smartads]

So let us start moving instead of sitting if we want to feel and look fabulous, shall we?

P.S. Listen to my interview with Carole Carson, author of “From Fat to Fit to get more tips and ideas on ho to be fit and healthy at any age.

P.P.S. Listen to the tips on how to improve our vision naturally -with eye exercises, diet, supplements.

Breathe,smile and be happy.

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Expert

NaturalCounselor.com

Posted in Feel Sexy, Tips to Lose Weight | No Responses »
Tags: Easy Calorie Burning Tips, Exercise shortcuts, Weight Loss Tips

Comforting Recipes with Fat Dissolving Vegetables

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Are you still keeping your New Year Resolutions? Did you try to change some of your eating habits and incorporate more weight loss recipes into your menu plan?

In order to lose some weight, we need to speed up our metabolism by adding more fiber rich foods, cleansing spices, cleansing herbs and fat dissolving vegetables, such as onions, green onions, celery, shitake mushrooms, horseradish, turnip, turmeric, etc. into our diet.

Here are some recipes for you to try:

*Warm Black Bean, Arugula and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked black beans (soaked overnight and cooked till tender)

2 cups arugula

2 carrots, grated

1 /2 cup grated goat cheese

2 onions, chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/6 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp green onions chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp ghee

1 tsp horseradish, grated

Immunity Boosting Spices Mix

1 tbsp parsley, chopped, per serving

Directions:

Saute onions and carrots in olive oil for 10 min., add turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt, ghee, stir thoroughly. Mix with arugula, top with grated goat cheese. Garnish with parsley.

[smartads]

*Comforting Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 onions chopped

2 carrots chopped

1 turnip cubed

1 small potato, chopped

1 cup shitake mushrooms soaked

1 celery stock chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp ghee

sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp dill, minced (per serving)

Immunity Boosting Spices Mix

Directions:

For vegetable broth: mix ½ onion, a carrot, a celery stack, a potato, a turnip, in 4 cups of water approximately for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, sauté the rest of onions and carrots in olive oil, for 5 minutes, add shitake mushrooms, chopped and cook for 5 more minutes; add ghee and set aside. When vegetable broth is ready, add sautéed vegetables, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with sour cream and chopped dill on top.

Bon Appetit!

Breathe, smile and be happy

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Expert

NaturalCounselor.com

Posted in Benefits of Whole Foods, Healthy Recipes, Tips to Lose Weight | 4 Responses »
Tags: Comforting Food, Fat Dissolving Vegetables, Soups, Weight Loss Tips

Cooking as a Weight Loss Technique and Cold and Flu Remedy

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Have you ever thought about the age of the food you eat? For example, how old was that carrot from your stew they served you in the restaurant the other day? Was it a week old, a month or even older?

Studies show we need more home cooking meals to boost our immune system if we want to stay healthy during cold and flu season. Why?

Well, did you notice how challenging our life is nowadays? Everything is about speed, including unregulated cell growth called cancer and overgrowth, which we call obesity. We are always either on the phone or on the run…No time to eat and sleep…and of course, tremendously overstressed because our nervous system cannot handle so much stress. As a result, we suffer from hormonal imbalances which speed up our body, mind and spirit.

Because we are always in a hurry, we eat most of the meals out, in restaurants, delis, fast food chains; buy lots of junk for snacks or precooked meals full of preservatives in grocery stores for dinners at home. Lack of home made meals causes weight gain, high blood pressure, inflammation which weaken our immune system. We suffer from fatigue, catch colds and viruses (you obviously don’t want it when swine flu is around), get allergies, are more susceptible to certain cancers.

Here is four reasons to start cooking at home if you want lose weight, have more energy, not to catch colds in the Fall.

Home cooking will help:

1. avoid foods that can make us even more stressed out or sick:

white foods ( sugar, white flour, cake, pasta, milk), artificial sweeteners and preservatives, cheese, red meat, processed foods, bacon, salami, lunch meats, hot dogs, fast food, soft drinks, butter, margarine, non-free range poultry and eggs,etc.

They all are high in sugar, fat (including saturated fat), sodium and calories which lead to developing high blood pressure, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke, premature aging, diabetes, weight gain;

2. control sugar, fat, calorie and salt intake by reading labels and find hidden sugar and calories (especially if we buy canned food), and using healthier substitutes and alternatives;

3. manage our own portion size for a successful weight loss – studies show that people always underestimate how much calories they consume per serving;

4. buy local or organic, eat fresh produce and with the seasons as often as possible in order to stay healthy and protect environment.

As we can see, making your own meals at home is very beneficial for our health, because it helps control the amount of salt, fat, sugar we consume as well our portion size and fresh/ local//organic produce choice.

So let us be home cooking smart = cook healthy and delicious meals ourselves in order to feel and look fabulous, shall we?

P.S. It is also the right time when you might need help with one of my Holistic Health and Wellness Programs for Women including “Balancing Act”. Contact me and let us discuss which one might be a good match for you

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Expert

NaturalCounselor.com

Posted in Detox, Healthy Recipes | No Responses »
Tags: Cold and Flu Season, Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor. Women's Health Programs, Home Cooking, Mindful Eating, Weight Loss Tips