Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Five Ways to Cut 100 Calories from your Diet
Here are five ways to cut 100 calories out of your diet each day. Doing any one of them could keep you from gaining that typical pound or two a year. The first three tips are from from Kim Gorman, a registered dietitian with the University of Colorado's Center for Human Nutrition. The fourth one is from Starbucks, and the last one is from Hill.
1. Old: whole milk
New: 1 percent milk
Let's say you have milk with your cereal and then a glass of milk some other time during the day. Drinking 1 percent milk instead of whole milk saves you 100 calories.
2. Old: whole bagel
New: half a bagel
Give the other half of your bagel to a friend, and you'll save 100 calories. Depending on the size of the bagel, you could save even more.
3. Old: chocolate ice cream
New: chocolate yogurt or a Popsicle
Swap out the ice cream for the yogurt, and you're consuming 100 fewer calories. You'll save nearly that much if you have a Popsicle instead of the ice cream.
4. Old: latte made with whole milk
New: latte made with skim milk
Order a nonfat latte instead of a regular latte, and you'll save 90 calories.
5. Old: be a couch potato
New: take a 20-minute walk
Walk a mile every day, and you'll burn about 100 calories. Twenty minutes is an estimate of how long it takes to walk a mile; some people are slower, and others are faster. For all you pedometer wearers out there, a mile is about 2,000 steps.
It took Kassouf several years to lose 45 pounds doing the "small changes approach," but he said it's been worth the wait, because he's more likely to keep the pounds off than if he'd made big changes.
By the way, Kassouf is no longer with that girlfriend who called him a complainer, but he's still grateful to her for making him snap to it and come up with a plan for losing weight.
1. Old: whole milk
New: 1 percent milk
Let's say you have milk with your cereal and then a glass of milk some other time during the day. Drinking 1 percent milk instead of whole milk saves you 100 calories.
2. Old: whole bagel
New: half a bagel
Give the other half of your bagel to a friend, and you'll save 100 calories. Depending on the size of the bagel, you could save even more.
3. Old: chocolate ice cream
New: chocolate yogurt or a Popsicle
Swap out the ice cream for the yogurt, and you're consuming 100 fewer calories. You'll save nearly that much if you have a Popsicle instead of the ice cream.
4. Old: latte made with whole milk
New: latte made with skim milk
Order a nonfat latte instead of a regular latte, and you'll save 90 calories.
5. Old: be a couch potato
New: take a 20-minute walk
Walk a mile every day, and you'll burn about 100 calories. Twenty minutes is an estimate of how long it takes to walk a mile; some people are slower, and others are faster. For all you pedometer wearers out there, a mile is about 2,000 steps.
It took Kassouf several years to lose 45 pounds doing the "small changes approach," but he said it's been worth the wait, because he's more likely to keep the pounds off than if he'd made big changes.
By the way, Kassouf is no longer with that girlfriend who called him a complainer, but he's still grateful to her for making him snap to it and come up with a plan for losing weight.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
20 Gas and Electric savings tip
20 Gas and Electric Money Savings Tips
Did you get sticker shock when you opened your last utility bill? If you did, you're not alone. People have reported huge increases in their energy bills. My gas bill went up about 40%, so I decided to make my home more energy efficient. You would be surprised just how much you can lower your utility bills by taking a few of these simple steps.< Here are 20 quick and easy tips:Close the heating vents.
Closing the heating vents or radiators in an unoccupied room can save 5-10% on your heating costs.Close the fireplace flue. Don't let heat go up the chimney. Make sure the fireplace flue is closed when not in use.Turn off the pilot light. A pilot light typically costs $3-$5 per month to keep lit. If your heating system has a pilot light, turn it off during the summer.Fix that leaking faucet. A faucet leaking a single drip per second can waste 400 gallons of water a year. Besides being a tremendous environmental waste, if that water is heated it will cost you about $8 if you heat with electricity, $4 if you heat with natural gas - plus the cost of the water itself.Replace old shower heads. According to federal regulations, new shower heads can pass no more than 2.5 gallons per minute. By replacing old shower heads with new ones, a family of four can save around 15,000 gallons of water per year, which amounts to savings of over $150 and $60 for electric and gas heated water respectively.Keep the refrigerator door closed. Shut the fridge! Opening the refrigerator door accounts for $10 - $20 of a typical family's electrical bill each year based on 40-60 openings per day.Provide adequate circulation for the refrigerator. Allow at least one inch of space on each side of the refrigerator for good circulation. Poor circulation can increase electricity consumption by 10%.Keep your refrigerator cool. A 5° F difference in air temperature can impact your refrigerator electricity consumption by 20%. To reduce your refrigerator's work, keep spare refrigerators in the coolest part of the house, like the basement.Turn your computer off. You could be spending well over $100 per year on electricity by always leaving your computer on! Turn it off when it's not in use.Set your thermostat at 78° F. The breeze from a fan can provide you with the comfort of temperature that is 6° F cooler. Also, during the summer, each degree that you raise the thermostat on your cooling system typically saves 2% on your cooling bill. Energy experts recommend setting your thermostat at 78° F or higher.Keep your light fixtures clean. Dirt can absorb as much as half of the light given off by fixtures, tubes and bulbs. Keep your light fixtures clean and use less electricity.Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. Use light bulbs that produce the most light using the least amount of electricity. Energy-efficient bulbs, such as compact fluorescent bulbs, use 75% less energy than typical incandescent bulbs.Turn the lights off. Don't just leave the lights on. Lighting controls provide security lighting when you are not home - with clock timers you can turn lights in your home on and off automatically at preset times. Timers, motion sensors and photo sensors are all ways to save electricity use.Plant some trees. Deciduous trees, which lose their leaves in the winter, can help you reduce your energy costs during the summer because their foliage provides shade. And in the winter, after their leaves have fallen, the sun's warmth passes unobstructed into your home. Strategically placed shrubs and vines can also reduce the effect of the sun's heat.Leave the thermostat alone. If you must use air-conditioning, don't turn the thermostat lower thinking it will cool your home faster. It won't.Keep your thermostat cool. Keep appliances that give off heat, like stereos and televisions, away from your thermostat-the hot air will persuade your cooling system to work harder.Insulate your attic. Adding fiberglass insulation to your attic is one of the most effective and easy savings measures you can take yourself. Also, insulating air ducts or pipes can conserve up to 10% of their heat.Keep your kitchen cool. Use a fan to draw hot air out of your kitchen when cooking. The savings in your cooling costs far outweigh the electricity use of the fan.Keep your dryer clean. Don't overload your clothes dryer. And make sure you clean the lint filter after every load. An overloaded dryer and a dirty filter, which reduces airflow, make the dryer work harder. Dry loads consecutively to take advantage of heat build-up. If possible, line dry clothes.Run a full dishwasher. Cut out pre-rinsing, load dishes according to the dishwasher manufacturer's instructions, and use only recommended amounts of dish washing detergent. Only run the washer when it's full - your dishwasher uses the same amount of water regardless of how many dishes are in it. Air-dry dishes when possible.
Did you get sticker shock when you opened your last utility bill? If you did, you're not alone. People have reported huge increases in their energy bills. My gas bill went up about 40%, so I decided to make my home more energy efficient. You would be surprised just how much you can lower your utility bills by taking a few of these simple steps.< Here are 20 quick and easy tips:Close the heating vents.
Closing the heating vents or radiators in an unoccupied room can save 5-10% on your heating costs.Close the fireplace flue. Don't let heat go up the chimney. Make sure the fireplace flue is closed when not in use.Turn off the pilot light. A pilot light typically costs $3-$5 per month to keep lit. If your heating system has a pilot light, turn it off during the summer.Fix that leaking faucet. A faucet leaking a single drip per second can waste 400 gallons of water a year. Besides being a tremendous environmental waste, if that water is heated it will cost you about $8 if you heat with electricity, $4 if you heat with natural gas - plus the cost of the water itself.Replace old shower heads. According to federal regulations, new shower heads can pass no more than 2.5 gallons per minute. By replacing old shower heads with new ones, a family of four can save around 15,000 gallons of water per year, which amounts to savings of over $150 and $60 for electric and gas heated water respectively.Keep the refrigerator door closed. Shut the fridge! Opening the refrigerator door accounts for $10 - $20 of a typical family's electrical bill each year based on 40-60 openings per day.Provide adequate circulation for the refrigerator. Allow at least one inch of space on each side of the refrigerator for good circulation. Poor circulation can increase electricity consumption by 10%.Keep your refrigerator cool. A 5° F difference in air temperature can impact your refrigerator electricity consumption by 20%. To reduce your refrigerator's work, keep spare refrigerators in the coolest part of the house, like the basement.Turn your computer off. You could be spending well over $100 per year on electricity by always leaving your computer on! Turn it off when it's not in use.Set your thermostat at 78° F. The breeze from a fan can provide you with the comfort of temperature that is 6° F cooler. Also, during the summer, each degree that you raise the thermostat on your cooling system typically saves 2% on your cooling bill. Energy experts recommend setting your thermostat at 78° F or higher.Keep your light fixtures clean. Dirt can absorb as much as half of the light given off by fixtures, tubes and bulbs. Keep your light fixtures clean and use less electricity.Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. Use light bulbs that produce the most light using the least amount of electricity. Energy-efficient bulbs, such as compact fluorescent bulbs, use 75% less energy than typical incandescent bulbs.Turn the lights off. Don't just leave the lights on. Lighting controls provide security lighting when you are not home - with clock timers you can turn lights in your home on and off automatically at preset times. Timers, motion sensors and photo sensors are all ways to save electricity use.Plant some trees. Deciduous trees, which lose their leaves in the winter, can help you reduce your energy costs during the summer because their foliage provides shade. And in the winter, after their leaves have fallen, the sun's warmth passes unobstructed into your home. Strategically placed shrubs and vines can also reduce the effect of the sun's heat.Leave the thermostat alone. If you must use air-conditioning, don't turn the thermostat lower thinking it will cool your home faster. It won't.Keep your thermostat cool. Keep appliances that give off heat, like stereos and televisions, away from your thermostat-the hot air will persuade your cooling system to work harder.Insulate your attic. Adding fiberglass insulation to your attic is one of the most effective and easy savings measures you can take yourself. Also, insulating air ducts or pipes can conserve up to 10% of their heat.Keep your kitchen cool. Use a fan to draw hot air out of your kitchen when cooking. The savings in your cooling costs far outweigh the electricity use of the fan.Keep your dryer clean. Don't overload your clothes dryer. And make sure you clean the lint filter after every load. An overloaded dryer and a dirty filter, which reduces airflow, make the dryer work harder. Dry loads consecutively to take advantage of heat build-up. If possible, line dry clothes.Run a full dishwasher. Cut out pre-rinsing, load dishes according to the dishwasher manufacturer's instructions, and use only recommended amounts of dish washing detergent. Only run the washer when it's full - your dishwasher uses the same amount of water regardless of how many dishes are in it. Air-dry dishes when possible.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Avoid Emotional Eating
Many of us use food for comfort when the going gets tough in our lives. We reach for the chips or that pint of ice cream in the freezer — and before we know it, the bag or the container is empty and we've eaten ourselves into a stupor. All those calories — and did we even taste them?
Unfortunately, it can be hard to break out of the cycle of emotional eating. But doing so is important if you want to take control of your eating habits and live well.
To help yourself replace this reaction to stress with better habits, use these few simple rules:
Rule 1: Don't eat in front of the TV or computer screen. Chances are you won't enjoy the food as much anyway, because you're hardly paying attention to it — and because you're not paying attention, it's easy to eat way too much. Without the TV or other distractions, you can focus on the food itself — the colors, textures, smells, and tastes — and your meals and snacks will be even more enjoyable!
Rule 2: Organize meals with family or friends — without any distractions. Eating with others will move the attention away from the food and onto conversation with your dining companions. Don't lose focus on what you're eating, though. Put your fork down every once in a while and listen to your friends or add to the conversation!
Rule 3: Avoid using food to soothe yourself when you're feeling stressed. Instead, treat yourself to a warm, relaxing bath and let the anxiety drain out of you. Or put on your sneakers and go out for a brisk walk or jog. Either method can help refocus your mind and calm your body. Other strategies you might try include playing your favorite music, making a cup of herbal tea, or calling friends or family members to catch up. You can talk your problems out with them and listen to theirs, which may distract you from your own or help you put yours in perspective
Unfortunately, it can be hard to break out of the cycle of emotional eating. But doing so is important if you want to take control of your eating habits and live well.
To help yourself replace this reaction to stress with better habits, use these few simple rules:
Rule 1: Don't eat in front of the TV or computer screen. Chances are you won't enjoy the food as much anyway, because you're hardly paying attention to it — and because you're not paying attention, it's easy to eat way too much. Without the TV or other distractions, you can focus on the food itself — the colors, textures, smells, and tastes — and your meals and snacks will be even more enjoyable!
Rule 2: Organize meals with family or friends — without any distractions. Eating with others will move the attention away from the food and onto conversation with your dining companions. Don't lose focus on what you're eating, though. Put your fork down every once in a while and listen to your friends or add to the conversation!
Rule 3: Avoid using food to soothe yourself when you're feeling stressed. Instead, treat yourself to a warm, relaxing bath and let the anxiety drain out of you. Or put on your sneakers and go out for a brisk walk or jog. Either method can help refocus your mind and calm your body. Other strategies you might try include playing your favorite music, making a cup of herbal tea, or calling friends or family members to catch up. You can talk your problems out with them and listen to theirs, which may distract you from your own or help you put yours in perspective
Learning to Cook
These days, cooking seems to be something of a lost art. We're often so busy with work, family, and social obligations that we convince ourselves there is no time in our schedules to cook. And in this age of fast food and convenience foods, you can find ready-to-eat or microwaveable versions of almost any dish. (Too bad they're usually far inferior to the homemade versions.)
So if you think you don't have the time, and you can get takeout any day of the week, why should you cook? Not only is it healthier for you, but…
It's cheaper. Americans now spend about half their food budget at restaurants every year, while delicious meals with fresh ingredients can be prepared at home for much less than you'd be paying outside.
You're in control. I've said it before and you've heard it many times over — the only way to know for sure what's in your food, and how much fat, salt, and sugar it contains, is to make it yourself.
It lets you be creative. When you cook, you get to create something new at every meal. Once you've got a recipe down, you can experiment with it to find your own flavorful spin. And many people underestimate the sense of accomplishment they'll feel by creating something delicious out of a pile of ingredients — until they actually do it.
If time is limited, there are plenty of "quick and easy" recipes on the Living Well site and in cookbooks — with such recipes you can get dinner on the table in well under an hour. If you've never cooked before, there are plenty of simple recipes geared toward beginners; you could also consider signing up for a class at your local YMCA, community center, or culinary school. Or ask a member of your family who cooks to teach you some of the family recipes — he or she will probably be delighted to pass on the knowledge. Whatever it takes, just get cooking — once you start, takeout will never taste the same!
So if you think you don't have the time, and you can get takeout any day of the week, why should you cook? Not only is it healthier for you, but…
It's cheaper. Americans now spend about half their food budget at restaurants every year, while delicious meals with fresh ingredients can be prepared at home for much less than you'd be paying outside.
You're in control. I've said it before and you've heard it many times over — the only way to know for sure what's in your food, and how much fat, salt, and sugar it contains, is to make it yourself.
It lets you be creative. When you cook, you get to create something new at every meal. Once you've got a recipe down, you can experiment with it to find your own flavorful spin. And many people underestimate the sense of accomplishment they'll feel by creating something delicious out of a pile of ingredients — until they actually do it.
If time is limited, there are plenty of "quick and easy" recipes on the Living Well site and in cookbooks — with such recipes you can get dinner on the table in well under an hour. If you've never cooked before, there are plenty of simple recipes geared toward beginners; you could also consider signing up for a class at your local YMCA, community center, or culinary school. Or ask a member of your family who cooks to teach you some of the family recipes — he or she will probably be delighted to pass on the knowledge. Whatever it takes, just get cooking — once you start, takeout will never taste the same!
Start Simple
My philosophy is simple: Make small changes every week, build on these changes over time, and you will see big results in your nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle goals. You might think that this type of plan is too slow-paced or not difficult enough for you (leading a healthier life should be overwhelming and burdensome, shouldn't it?!), but you'd be wrong! Making small changes and adding to them every week ensures your success because you are able to maintain them over time. Not sure? Just look at what Safowler1964, a Healthy Living With Ellie member, posted on the Message Boards:
"This is the best! I love Ellie, and she has helped motivate me so much! I've been a yoyo-ER for years — I'm 43 and have been overweight since my 20-somethings. I've been watching Ellie for over a year, which encouraged me to get off my duff and get moving! I jumped at the chance to do this plan. Ellie is great and a great motivator for small changes that DO add up big. Since I started making small changes 14 weeks ago (first with the book, now with the site), I have gone from an extra-extra-large top to a large, adjusted my belt loop three times, and gone from a size 13 pair of jeans to a size 11!"
Starting small and working your way up to multiple changes is the way to go. No need to stress about doing everything at once — take a deep breath (or two), make a plan, and take some small steps in the right direction. You can do it!
"This is the best! I love Ellie, and she has helped motivate me so much! I've been a yoyo-ER for years — I'm 43 and have been overweight since my 20-somethings. I've been watching Ellie for over a year, which encouraged me to get off my duff and get moving! I jumped at the chance to do this plan. Ellie is great and a great motivator for small changes that DO add up big. Since I started making small changes 14 weeks ago (first with the book, now with the site), I have gone from an extra-extra-large top to a large, adjusted my belt loop three times, and gone from a size 13 pair of jeans to a size 11!"
Starting small and working your way up to multiple changes is the way to go. No need to stress about doing everything at once — take a deep breath (or two), make a plan, and take some small steps in the right direction. You can do it!
Sensible Substitions
Make Sensible SubstitutionsA great way to cut calories is to make smart substitutions. There's nothing sensible about swapping French fries for a loaded baked potato stuffed with bacon, cheese, butter and sour cream. In order for substituting to save calories, you have to make wise choices. Opt for the grilled chicken sandwich with Dijon mustard on a whole wheat bun instead of a fried chicken sandwich with mayonnaise. Instead of the fettuccine Alfredo, go for angel hair with marinara. Draw on your nutrition knowledge to make the healthiest choices.
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