Effortless Weight Loss Tricks

October 2, 2012 | By

If you’ve ever tried to diet and exercise your way to a healthier body, you know that results don’t always come as quickly as we’d like.  Naturally, we don’t recommend giving up and becoming a professional couch potato, but we all deserve a little break now and then. Here are a few (easy!) things you can do to speed up the weight loss process with minimal effort:

Take the stairs
Stair climbing is a great leg and glute work out. Instead of waiting for the elevator, take the stairs to your office or apartment for a quick and easy burst of cardio.

Split your Dinner
Dying to visit that trendy restaurant but don’t want to break the bank? Head to dinner with a pal and split an entrée and dessert. You’ll get to indulge in something delicious with only half the calories and half the price tag!

Walk the Dog
Take your dog, a friend’s dog, or even a dog from the shelter for a walk in the park. Quality time with a furry friend will boost your mood, and it’s a fun way to get a little extra activity.

Drink Water
Drinking water throughout the day helps to curb cravings while keeping your metabolism steady. Try drinking a glass of water before eating a meal and you’ll find yourself eating less without having to fight the temptation!

Spice it Up
Studies suggest that eating spicy foods can actually burn calories and speed up metabolism. Next time you’re craving take-out, opt for Thai or Mexican and indulge in some tasty heat!

Filed Under: Fitness, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Lose Weight By Accident: Take These 3 Steps Towards Change

July 16, 2012 | By

By Jamie G. Dougherty

Weight loss is all about changing your thoughts, actions and feelings around your body and your food.  Sometimes it happens by accident and sometimes it’s a serious pain in the patootie! Before starting on any new eating routine or life change, it’s imperative to set yourself up for success.  Yes, tossing out the balance bars and frozen snickers certainly helps, but I’m talking about digging a little deeper. Here are my 3 life-altering action steps to take before making any new life change.  Use these whenever you want to change your thoughts about your body, your food, or how you engage in any new and exciting endeavor.  With these easy 3 all lined up and ready to go, you are certain to rock the casbah!3

Find community and a mentor

You don’t have to do this whole foody/body change thang alone.  Community is the quickest way to make sure you stay focused and supported throughout your new (or current) endeavor.  Build a group around you that will party with you during the highs and pick you up and dust you off in the lows. After giving yourself permission to not do it alone, find someone who inspires you, enthralls you and makes you say, “Damn, I want to be like that!” And then…connect.  Reinventing the wheel is no fun and honestly, unnecessary.  Find someone you admire, who rocks your world and get their energy in regular doses.

Trust your own pace

Stop the cranky comparisons right now.  Everyone is on their own path so trust your pace and the speed at which you progress.  Some people move fast while others take more time.  Either way, we all end up in the same place so you might as well trust your intuition and enjoy the ride.

Success is NOW

You are doing wonderfully now.  Not when you kick Diet Coke to the curb forever (though that will be awesome!), but when you finally believe your are worthy and deserving, or when you’ve got your dream body.  N.O.W.  Everything you do now is making way for the desires and dreams that lie before you.  Appreciate each moment so you can fully connect with your purpose which keeps you gently on task for all you want to create.

Good stuff, right?  So here’s how you are going to get started! In the comments below tell me, what do you wish you had known before taking on new change?  Which life altering action spoke to you most and how will you incorporate it?

Jamie G. Dougherty, founder of JamieLiving.com, empowers busy women to break through food barriers to see their bodies and life bloom! If you feel hungry, stuck and unsatisfied with your food and body be sure to visit Jamie’s website to get her FREE 5-Step Guide to Fabulous.  Seriously ladies, get ready for Jamie to rock your world!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Food + Drink, Good + Happy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Lose Weight By Accident: Eat With Sticks

June 25, 2012 | By

Here at Spa Week, we love bettering our bodies and minds everyday, and what better way to do so than without even thinking about it! As our wildly popular Lose Weight by Accident column has taken off in the past year, so too have the voices of wisdom behind it. With that, we are so pleased to introduce to you our newest LWBA contirubutor, Tanya McCausland. Tanya founded her own health and culinary coaching business, Home Cooked Healing, designed to offer personlized counseling on a variety of levels, to help people make better and smart desisions about food and their health. We are so excited to hear all of her proven and practical tips and tricks for losing weight by accident!

One of Tanya’s favorite tips she shares with her clients who are looking to trim their waistline’s is to eat with sticks…

By Tanya McCausland

No, I’m not talking about roasting marshmallows or hot dogs on a camping trip.Today’s tip is all about ditching your fork and knife and reaching for the very portable, and sometimes unwieldy, chopsticks. You can use these sticks at home, on the road or at a restaurant.

Your brain and stomach have a bit of a delayed communication – from the minute you start eating, it takes your brain 20 minutes to register that your stomach is full and you can step back from the bread bowl. Since chopsticks require some skill, you’ll slow down significantly while you carefully master plate-to-mouth transfer.

Think this doesn’t work for master chopstick handlers? Think again! Eating with chopsticks means taking smaller mouthfuls, which tend to get chewed better and are more easily digested. Sure, you can pick up huge gobs of food with chopsticks but it feels (and looks) ridiculous. Chopstick-eating is a dainty practice!

Then, there’s the sauce. Sauce is good, but too much of a good thing can lead to lots of extra pounds. Chopsticks take care of this problem too! You get just enough sauce to add flavor but the excess stays on your plate.

Pack a nice set of bamboo chopsticks in your purse and start using them for lunches at work or eating out. You’ll find that you’ll eat less without even giving it much thought. (Plus, they make for a great conversation piece). Feeling a bit unwieldy with the sticks? Pick up of one of these for a little assistance.

Have you used chopsticks to eat meals with besides sushi? Tell me how it’s working for you in the comments below!

Tanya McCausland is a Health and Culinary Coach in Alameda, CA and the founder of Home Cooked Healing. She inspires, encourages and motivates her clients to create a life of health and balance through delicious food and simple lifestyle changes. She believes that our kitchens have the ability to heal – we just have to stock our pantries with real food and not be afraid to wield a wooden spoon every so often!

 

Filed Under: Food + Drink Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,