Welcome to Volume 5 of my training tips!
Recap of Last Training Tips Blog Post:
1. Compliment yourself!
2. Cut back or cut out soda, coffee and other caffeinated drinks.
3. Stretch, especially in the morning.
4. Add cinnamon to your food.
Tips to Consider:
I found a great article online http://darrenhardy.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/weight_loss_tip.html on how to cut 100, 300 or 500 calories from your daily diet:
1. Dodge dining-out disasters: Even your seemingly healthy grilled swordfish and vegetables can pack more calories and fat than a stick of butter. Pasta dishes are notorious: Oil is used throughout the cooking process and added to sauces and cooked noodles. Stick with steamed veggies and grilled, poached or broiled lean protein (like poultry and fish), and ask the chef to prepare your dishes without oil. Or just cook meals at home instead of eating out!
2. Careful With That Cappuccino: A large white-chocolate mocha with whipped cream from Starbucks logs in at 630 calories (the whip alone has 100!). Get your sweet fix with two shots of sugar-free vanilla syrup in a medium cappuccino with soy or fat-free milk and kick 500 empty calories to the curb.
3. Dress Down: Order salad dressing on the side and dip into it sparingly with your fork between bites — you'll cut back to about 2 tablespoons (roughly 175 calories).
4. Lighten Up At Happy Hour: If it tastes sweet or has a salty rim, it's usually bad news (cosmos, lemon drops, and appletinis). Most cocktails have 2 to 5 ounces of liquor. Add in 5 ounces of sugary syrups or mixers like cola, grenadine, and Midori and you can down more than 700 calories in just one drink. Stay away from Margaritaville (and below 100 calories) by pairing your liquor with diet or club soda. Or go for a bottle of light beer or a 5-ounce glass of chardonnay, which contain around 125 calories each.
5. Be Tricky In The Kitchen: For leaner cuisine — and to save 115 calories — swap out that tablespoon of olive oil for canola or olive oil cooking spray. Sauté vegetables and fish with 1/4 cup of broth rather than 1 tablespoon of butter and trim 100 more. Replace the quarter cup of heavy cream in Alfredo and cheese sauces with the same amount of skim milk mixed with 2 tablespoons of flour — bam, another 150.
6. Switch Dishes: The larger the serving dish, the more you're likely to consume, according to recent research in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Downsize your ice cream bowl and serve that fettuccine on a 9-inch appetizer plate instead of a standard 11-inch dish — you can save up to 300 calories in a day.
7. Skip The Sweet Beverages: American women get up to 300 more calories a day now than they did 30 years ago. At least half of those come from sweetened beverages like soda and fruit juice. A 20-ounce bottle of Arizona Iced Tea has 240 calories — about as much as a small meal. Ditch the sports drinks, fruit punch,and Slurpees and get your produce nutrients from whole fruit instead of juice — a 1-pint carton of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice has 220 calories. An orange? About 35.
8. Pare Down Your PMS Picks: Forgo the cup of Ben & Jerry's for the same amount of low-fat ice cream. Slow-Churned Dreyer's Grand Light Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough has only 260 calories per cup. The B&J version? 540 calories. If you just can't live without, mix 2 tablespoons into a cup of the skinnier stuff and you'll still save 250 calories.
9. Buy Skinnier Bread: The calorie content in different brands can vary as wildly as Anna Nicole's "before" and "after" shots. For example, Milton's Healthy Whole Grain packs 90 calories a slice, while Sara Lee Delightful Wheat weighs in at just 45. Switch brands and you cut your sandwich calories by 90. Better yet, wrap your cold cuts in lettuce — a big leaf of romaine has only 10 calories.
10. Trade Up Your Toppings: Swap the half-cup of guacamole on your burrito for an equal amount of salsa and spare yourself 150 calories. Get the same savings by using salsa in place of the sour cream on your baked potato and the mayo on your wrap. Other tricks of the topping trade: Swap Gorgonzola for grated Parmesan, dip vegetables into hummus instead of ranch dressing, and sprinkle salads with lightly toasted pecans rather than oil-soaked croutons.
11. Turn Off The Tube: We know Laguna Beach reruns can be just as tempting as tiramisu, but too many hours in front of your plasma screen can wreak havoc on your waistline. Researchers from Georgia State University found that people took in up to 130 more calories on days when they ate in front of the TV than on days when they left the remote alone. Move away from the T.V.
12. Spritz Up Your Vino: Mix 3 ounces of club soda with 3 ounces of wine and your drink will have about 60 calories. If you usually have two glasses of Shiraz, substituting the bubbly stuff will save you about 120 calories. An added bonus: Research shows that moderate drinking (one drink daily for women) may increase levels of leptin, a natural hormone that curbs the appetite for sweets.
13. Camouflage Your Candy: A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that office workers who kept candy within reach in a clear dish ate three times as much as those who kept it farther away in an opaque container. That's a 150-calorie difference. If you've gotta have a Godiva stash, make sure it's out of sight and that you have to work (at least a little) to get to it.
14. Bulk Up: Eating low-cal, fiber-rich foods before a meal — think fruits, vegetables, and broth-based soups — can help reduce your total calorie intake. A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that women who ate a 100-calorie salad before their meal consumed 12 percent less — 107 fewer calories — overall (salad included) than those who skipped the leafy appetizer. Make your first course a cup of veggie soup or 2 cups of mixed salad with reduced-fat cheese and fat-free dressing.
Until my next posting,
Jen
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Volume 4 - Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Training Tips
Welcome to Volume 4 of my training tips!
Welcome to our newest team member, Jill Mueller, Kristine and Kelly's mom!
Recap of Last Training Tips Blog Post:
1. Increase your walks to 45 minutes twice a week and don't forget to stretch 5 minutes after you start and again after your walk.
2. Try to get 8 hours of sleep each night.
3. Do not eat at least 2 hours before you go to bed.
4. Reduce your salt consumption - stay away from the salt shaker!
Tips for the Next Week:
1. When you look in the mirror, don't dwell on the negative. It makes a difference for weight management and for exercise motivation. We often dwell on the negative and aren't surprised when we fail. Instead, compliment yourself. Tell yourself you are an athlete. You are strong. You can walk X miles or X minutes. Tell yourself you have will-power, you can do it. This tip is from Self Magazine.
2. Cut back on soda, coffee and other caffeinated drinks. Caffeine stimulates hunger and makes it harder to stick with your food plan. Caffeine speeds up the colon motility and makes the kidneys increase urine production, both of which can make for an unpleasant time out on the walking trail. It also removes more water from your system than you add, so you will get dehydrated faster if drinking caffeine. If you love caffeine, cut back to 1-2 drinks a day and avoid it before walks where there are no restrooms.
3. Remember the importance of stretching - especially in the morning. Inactivity during sleep slows circulation, trapping inflammatory substances in blood and reducing the flow of healing oxygen and nutrients to the area," reports Carol Hartigan, M.D., assistant clinical professor of rehabilitation medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. To get your blood moving again when you wake up, stretch your spine before you get out of bed: Carefully roll onto your hands and knees and alternately arch and round your back. This is from Self Magazine.
4. Add cinnamon to your food. Recent studies suggest that adding as little as ¼ tsp of cinnamon per day to your diet will lower cholesterol and enhance the effectiveness of insulin in people with diabetes, resulting in reduced blood sugar levels. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, cinnamon is also known for its warming qualities and the aroma is thought to enhance cognitive thinking and increase metabolism. Eat it on toast (don't add sugar), in oatmeal, pancake batter, add to peanut butter and spread on celery sticks, add to yogurt, add in tea, etc.
General Training Tips:
1. Beginning March 1st, we will be starting a training program provided by the Avon Walk and created by Prevention Magazine - until then, please get in the habit of walking if you have not already. Walk messages to people, park at the back of the grocery store parking lot, go shopping and walk around the mall a few extra times. In addition, please have your shoes and clothing by then as it is important to train in the clothing and shoes we will be wearing for the actual walk. Please go back and read my posts that describe the type of clothing and shoes needed and where to get them if you need ideas!
Until next time,
Jen
Welcome to our newest team member, Jill Mueller, Kristine and Kelly's mom!
Recap of Last Training Tips Blog Post:
1. Increase your walks to 45 minutes twice a week and don't forget to stretch 5 minutes after you start and again after your walk.
2. Try to get 8 hours of sleep each night.
3. Do not eat at least 2 hours before you go to bed.
4. Reduce your salt consumption - stay away from the salt shaker!
Tips for the Next Week:
1. When you look in the mirror, don't dwell on the negative. It makes a difference for weight management and for exercise motivation. We often dwell on the negative and aren't surprised when we fail. Instead, compliment yourself. Tell yourself you are an athlete. You are strong. You can walk X miles or X minutes. Tell yourself you have will-power, you can do it. This tip is from Self Magazine.
2. Cut back on soda, coffee and other caffeinated drinks. Caffeine stimulates hunger and makes it harder to stick with your food plan. Caffeine speeds up the colon motility and makes the kidneys increase urine production, both of which can make for an unpleasant time out on the walking trail. It also removes more water from your system than you add, so you will get dehydrated faster if drinking caffeine. If you love caffeine, cut back to 1-2 drinks a day and avoid it before walks where there are no restrooms.
3. Remember the importance of stretching - especially in the morning. Inactivity during sleep slows circulation, trapping inflammatory substances in blood and reducing the flow of healing oxygen and nutrients to the area," reports Carol Hartigan, M.D., assistant clinical professor of rehabilitation medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. To get your blood moving again when you wake up, stretch your spine before you get out of bed: Carefully roll onto your hands and knees and alternately arch and round your back. This is from Self Magazine.
4. Add cinnamon to your food. Recent studies suggest that adding as little as ¼ tsp of cinnamon per day to your diet will lower cholesterol and enhance the effectiveness of insulin in people with diabetes, resulting in reduced blood sugar levels. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, cinnamon is also known for its warming qualities and the aroma is thought to enhance cognitive thinking and increase metabolism. Eat it on toast (don't add sugar), in oatmeal, pancake batter, add to peanut butter and spread on celery sticks, add to yogurt, add in tea, etc.
General Training Tips:
1. Beginning March 1st, we will be starting a training program provided by the Avon Walk and created by Prevention Magazine - until then, please get in the habit of walking if you have not already. Walk messages to people, park at the back of the grocery store parking lot, go shopping and walk around the mall a few extra times. In addition, please have your shoes and clothing by then as it is important to train in the clothing and shoes we will be wearing for the actual walk. Please go back and read my posts that describe the type of clothing and shoes needed and where to get them if you need ideas!
Until next time,
Jen
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Kind of Odd Fundraising Ideas
For those of us running out of 'typical' fundraising ideas, we may want to try some of the following more unusual ideas. Or maybe not. I'm not saying that I'm going to do ANY of these, but maybe they will help spark your imagination!
· Murder Mystery Party Fundraiser: http://www.stepbystepfundraising.com/murder-mystery-party-fundraiser/
· Trivia Night Fundraiser: http://stepbystepfundraising.com/trivia-night-fundraiser/
· Squeegee fundraiser – Approach some local fast food restaurants with drive-thru service – McDonalds, Coffee Time, Burger King, etc. – to see if they would let you set up a squeegee fundraiser in their drive-thru area. Leading up to the event, approach hardware stores and gas station to ask if they would be willing to donate buckets, squeegees and windshield washer fluid to your cause. For the event you will need volunteers at either end of the drive-thru – one to collect donations and give the donor a token to indicate that he or she has given to your cause, and 2 more at the opposite end to collect the token and squeegee the windshield.
· Burger fundraiser – Ask any of the big chain restaurants - McDonalds, Pizza Hut or Burger King –if they will help your cause. Most of the larger fast food restaurants, like McDonalds, offer fundraising benefits, which means the restaurant will donate a certain portion of the day's sales to a fundraising event. To set this up you need to go speak directly with the owner or manager of your local fast food restaurant to see if they offer fundraising benefits. If they do, agree on a day and time – it's typically a few hours (for example from 2pm to 4pm). In the past, fundraising organizers have reported making $500 to $1000 worth of charity profits from just a few hours of sales at a McDonald's restaurant.
· Fundraising Raffle
A raffle is a great fundraising activity! To give yours a twist, sell lollipops with numbers printed on the sticks instead of standard raffle tickets. The sticks themselves can be difficult to write on, so use sticky file labels folded around the sticks to make tags. It would be a good idea to have lots of volunteers and participants to print the numbers. Assign people numbers 1-99, 100-199, etc, or smaller amounts for young children. The person with the winning stick in this fundraising activity gets the prize!
Tip: If you don’t have the money to purchase a prize, ask a local business to donate an item or a gift certificate to raffle off. You’ll be surprised how willing people are to help with fundraising activities. You can even have group members bring baked goods to raffle off!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Join us at the Expo
Hi everyone. My mom and I signed up to attend the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer EXPO at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL. For those of you in the Chicago area, we'd love to see you there! Here's the info:
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer EXPO |
Location:
College of DuPage, Student Resource Center 2800ABCG
425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
Get a jump on the walk at our one-day EXPO! Bring your friends and join the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer community for an informative day to get you ready for a wonderful weekend.
- Attend an informational meeting and learn about the event weekend
- Get tips on training and receive week-by-week training plans
- Learn how to fundraise and find out where your funds go from local beneficiaries
- Register to walk, crew or volunteer
If you have any questions please email info.chicago@avonwalk.org.
Date: Saturday, March 8, 2008
Time: 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM
If you'd like to attend this event you can RSVP online.
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