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Showing posts from December, 2013

10 Resolutions for a Healthy New Year

Hi friends! How were your holidays?  Very good here.  I did a recap of our Christmas day celebration on Honey We're Home if you want to take a peek.  Healthwise, I'm proud to say that I stuck to a good workout routine that definitely helped me not feel too bad about enjoying all the extra food I ate in the last couple of weeks.  I am ready to kick off the new year strong and was thinking about things we can do daily to change our health for the better today. I'm not talking about general goals like, "lose weight", I'm talking specific actions that you can incorporate into your daily routine that hopefully become a habit and add up to some pretty big changes at the end of 2014.   1. Control Portion Sizes   Sometimes we eat too much just because the sizes served to us in restaurants are so big that we forget what a realistic portion size looks like.   Drink sizes are huge, refrigerators are huge.  Have you looked at a fridge from the 50s and laughe...

Are You Drinking Enough Water?

One thing I noticed after the Thanksgiving break was that I was drinking less water because I wasn't working out and I got out of the habit of keeping my water cup full at home.  I felt like my skin was looking dull and icky, so this week, I got back on my normal water routine.   It helps so much to have a large bottle or cup that you like to drink from near you so you remember to drink water throughout the day.  I like the insulated cups the best so they don't sweat and create a puddle on your furniture.  The one pictured on my desk is from Wal-Mart and holds 20 oz. of water.  I drink about 3 of these a day, so about 60 oz. of water.   It used to be recommended that people drink 8, 8 ounce glasses of water a day = total 64 ounces.  But now, t he Institute of Medicine sets general guidelines for total water intake and recommends that women consume a total of 91 ounces (that’s about 2.7 liters) per day – from all food and beverages combined . But, depen...

Healthy Beef Burritos

I've often talked about one of my go-to healthy meals, Tex Mex to go , and sometimes I mix it up and make it into a healthy beef burrito.  It's super easy and delicious! I like to make a big batch, so I start with 2 packages of Laura's lean ground round or sirloin (4% fat).  Lean beef still has plenty of flavor, try it if you typically go with something fattier.  I'd be surprised if your family even notices the difference. Then, I add two packages of low sodium taco seasoning and mix with 1.5 cups of water and bring it to a simmer until the meat has absorbed all the seasoning.  Meanwhile, I heat up a large can of low-fat refried beans.   For me, the key to a delicious burrito is fresh pico de gallo (salsa), which is very easy to assemble.  I make it the same way I make guacamole, just without the avocados.   Just dice up tomato, white onion, jalapeno (deseeded for milder flavor) and cilantro and toss it all together with a squeeze of lime. When th...

Healthy Hair

About a year and a half ago, I accidentally (and stupidly) fried my hair in an effort to save money and do an at-home Keratin treatment.  The Keratin treatment was supposed to turn my naturally-a-little-frizzy hair into smooth, shiny locks.  The box clearly stated NOT to use it on bleached hair (which I have), but I thought it would be okay.  Wrong!  After you put the treatment on your hair, you are supposed to comb it through very straight.  As I started combing my hair, it starting coming out in big chunks.  I quickly washed the product out of my hair, but the damage was done.  It continued to break for months after that, I had to chop it, and I've been working on growing it back out, healthy, ever since. Of course, it looked nice chopped when it was just styled from my awesome hairdresser.  But, I have a major cowlick and could never get it to stay side swept like that.  I really don't mind the shorter length, I  just want it to be he...

Protein IQ

How was your Thanksgiving?  I was home the whole week with my son and we also had house guests, so I didn't get in any exercise.  My body is craving a good workout, so this week it's back at it!  I can hardly believe we're in December already and it's just 3 weeks until Christmas!  Let's make these 3 weeks count so we can finish the year strong .  And so we don't add on additional weight that we have to work to lose in the new year.  You with me?  If you can't make it to the gym and/or just don't have time to workout, you can still accomplish so much by watching what you eat.  I love this visual example of how much protein, veggies, and starches should be on our plates. Via Lauren Conrad And this list of proteins is pretty helpful too.  I aim for about 90 grams of lean protein a day when I'm trying to gain muscle and get lean.  I used to count and measure all my food but now I'm pretty good at estimating it.  If you want an easy way...