Let's talk GMO's! Tip # 7 Guest Blog By Allison Jorgens.

 Fitness Training for Life and Adventures

GUEST BLOG

 By: Allison Jorgens, P.H.Ec.

For more information:

Link to my website
Link to my blog
Link to purchase my books   

To purchase "Read it with a Grain of Salt" click here. 

 Tip # 7

 Genetically modified ingredients are widely used in processed foods. If you are concerned with GMO’s you have two options: 1. Buy organic, or 2. Become an avid ingredient list reader. You can find some of the ingredient names to look out for here - "Ingredients to look Out For." (the fridge guide included in this post is very helpful).

Allison Jorgens is a Professional Home Economist holding a degree in nutritional sciences. She has been working as a food label specialist for grocers and food manufactures in Canada for nearly a decade. Over the past ten years, Allison has reviewed thousands of food labels for many of Canada’s leading private-label grocery brands, large and small manufacturers, distributors, and a variety of importers. It is this wide-ranging experience in regulatory-compliance label reviews that makes her knowledge unique—and her perspective all the more shocking. As a concerned parent and advocate of leading a healthful lifestyle, Allison recommends that all consumers empower themselves with the knowledge needed to make more healthful and informed choices.


Allison sits on the board of directors of The Food Label Movement and the Ontario Home Economics Association. She is a proud member of the Ontario Home Economics Association, Ontario Home Economists in Business Association, Prince Edward Island Home Economics Association, and sits on the advisory council for Eating Disorders of York Region.  
 

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Melony Teague a freelance writer and columnist and motivator who lives in Canada with her husband and two young children.
Founder of "Secrets of Body Transformation from the Inside Out" 
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Tips for Making Informed Decisions at the Grocery Store - Tip #3

 Fitness Training for Life and Adventures

GUEST BLOG

 By: Allison Jorgens, P.H.Ec.

For more information:

Link to my website
Link to my blog
Link to purchase my books   

To purchase "Read it with a Grain of Salt" click here. 

 

Tip #3

Beware of the unassuming percent daily value for sodium. Shockingly this percent daily value is based on a number that is above the maximum amount of sodium that Health Canada recommends we consume each day; an amount that is likely to pose a risk to our health. Consider these three easy steps for reading sodium information on food labels

Allison Jorgens is a Professional Home Economist holding a degree in nutritional sciences. She has been working as a food label specialist for grocers and food manufactures in Canada for nearly a decade. Over the past ten years, Allison has reviewed thousands of food labels for many of Canada’s leading private-label grocery brands, large and small manufacturers, distributors, and a variety of importers. It is this wide-ranging experience in regulatory-compliance label reviews that makes her knowledge unique—and her perspective all the more shocking. As a concerned parent and advocate of leading a healthful lifestyle, Allison recommends that all consumers empower themselves with the knowledge needed to make more healthful and informed choices.


Allison sits on the board of directors of The Food Label Movement and the Ontario Home Economics Association. She is a proud member of the Ontario Home Economics Association, Ontario Home Economists in Business Association, Prince Edward Island Home Economics Association, and sits on the advisory council for Eating Disorders of York Region.  

Subscribe to Fitness Training for Life and Adventures

  

www.melonyteague.com 
To subscribe to my consolidated newsletter, Click here 
Melony Teague a freelance writer and columnist and motivator who lives in Canada with her husband and two young children.
Founder of "Secrets of Body Transformation from the Inside Out" 
Join me on facebook. 

Healthy Diet Habits from Igor Klibanov

Igor Klibanov has written a book and you get a sneak peak at an excerpt from the book that I thought would be helpful as we get started on our 30 Day Challenge. Igor has graciously granted me permission to bring this little snippet of his book to you, but if you want to know more about the rest of the book you can CLICK HERE

Page 15 and 16 of Unlimited Progress: How You Can Unlock Your Body's Potential. by Igor Klibanov of Fitness Solutions Plus, Toronto.


 Page 15
I go into this discussion for the simple point that if you are not losing fat, the calories that you take in are greater than the calories you expend. Or if you are maintaining your weight, the calories that you take in are the same as the calories that you expend.
Without going into the merits of different diets, most experts agree on the constitution of a good diet. These are the general points:
Healthy Diet Habits 
You eat 5-6 meals per day
You eat breakfast
Breakfast is the largest meal of your day
 Dinner is the smallest meal of your day
 You drink only 0-calorie drinks
 You have 1-2 servings of protein (fish, meat, seafood) with each meal
 You have 2-3 servings of vegetables with each meal
 You eat starches only around workouts
 You do not eat junk food
 You do not eat fast food
 You do not eat within 4 hours of going to bed
 You avoid caffeine within 12 hours of bedtime
 You know which foods you are sensitive to
You avoid the foods to which you are sensitive
 You read food labels

If a food label has the words “hydrogenated”, “partially hydrogenated”, “high fructose corn syrup” or “interesterified”, you don’t eat it.
That’s it. You’ll notice there is no calorie counting, no point collecting, and no carbohydrate counting. The diet component is fairly simple.
If you actually implemented all of the above habits, you would have the body that most people would be jealous of. But beware: if you implement...
Page16:
...all of these habits all at once, you are setting yourself up for failure, because you are very unlikely to maintain all those habits long-term.
Here is how I implement the above strategies with my clients. Pick only 1 of the above habits. Don’t change anything else. Simply follow that habit for as long as it is working. Once it stops working, keep that habit, and pick a new one to follow along with it. Repeat the process until all of the habits have been implemented. This may take anywhere from 16 weeks to 16 months. Is this longer than the infomercials have you believe? Yes. There are 2 distinct benefits.
By losing the weight slowly, you are ensuring that most or all of the weight you lose comes from fat, and not muscle. Often times, when you go on an extreme weight loss plan, and weight drops very quickly, it’s almost always a combination of water, fat, and muscle.
By focusing on one habit at a time, you are much more likely to maintain the habits long-term, so whatever weight you lose, you’ll keep it off.

Thank you once again to Igor for allowing me to use this excerpt of his book.
 

Now take a closer look at the Healthy Diet Habits and test yourself. How many do you already do? Which items listed would be easy for you to do? Which ones will take some effort?

My advice is to pick one thing that is easy to do and add it to your challenge for the month. All it takes is being mindful and intentional and before you know it, 30 Days will be over and you have begun to incorporate a new healthy habit into your lifestyle.

Let me know which one out of the list you are going to start doing from today. Email me or comment below.

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Melony Teague a freelance writer and columnist and motivator who lives in Canada with her husband and two young children.
Founder of "Secrets of Body Transformation from the Inside Out" 
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Get Out of Jail Card

Sometimes LIFE HAPPENS... and when you are on a 30 Day Challenge, that means you might need a reprieve from your nutritional commitment. For this reason, I have come up with a "Get out of jail" card that will help you overcome those times when you just can't help but eat something you have committed to replace on the challenge.YOU HAVE 3 of these to use during the challenge, I suggest you space them out over the weeks.

This applies to day 8 - day 30 and you can use each card ONCE!!! You have 3 cards. ONCE ONLY LADIES, if you choose to. It is kinda like a "get out of jail" card. Not that you actually are in jail if you eat something you shouldn't, but sometimes we feel like we are. Feelings of guilt are not constructive to moving on and learning from your journey, so please, if you mess up, fess up and just move on. For those of you taking the challenge seriously (and seeing amazing results, I might add) you will love this!

I realize that once you get to focusing on replacing a few things on the replacement list....you sometimes get something that is dairy and wheat free, but has a little sugar, or it is sugar and grain free, but has dairy, or it has wheat, but no dairy or sugar....you get the idea?If you have stuck to the challenge 100 % for a while and you feel you just need a little bit of flexibility to help you stay the course.NO STRESS........this "get out of jail " card will help you out there.....

OR

You go to a friend for dinner and they are serving ALL the things on your list you can't eat. What to do? Are you going to stress? No, you are going to make the best choices you can and use your "Get out of jail " card.


This card can also be used when :

1. You have an unexpected event or something happens and your plans are completely upset and rearranged.
2. A special occasion where there are no other alternatives

This is how it works, to use your get out of jail card, you have to do this:

1. Eat a salad with vinaigrette dressing first.
2. Eat your protein and vegetables first.
3. Eat whatever you want....yes WHATEVER......
4. Abide by the "once my butt leaves the seat the meal is OVER" rule. NO going back for seconds! 
5. Report back to me.

That is it, then you have used up your one time, EAT WHATEVER, get out of jail card!

How does that sound to you? You may want to save that up for when you are really in a quandary as to what to eat, or you are at the end of the month and the budget is short. You can use it when you are invited out to dinner, or there is a special occasion.

BUT....YOU HAVE TO ABIDE BY THE RULES STIPULATED. (See rules 1 - 5 above in green)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
 For those of you on the challenge I want you to think about something. Some of you have reported in saying...."I stuck to not eating white carbs, except for eating such and such..." or you "mostly avoided such and such." Now stop and think about that for a moment, did you stick to it, or didn't you? I am not talking about the things you are working on reducing, but the things you have committed to replacing on the challenge.

If there is and "except for" in your thinking I want to encourage you towards avoiding the "almost did it" mentality in the next 3 weeks. Tighten up your micro amounts of things creeping in JUST for the next little while. I have every confidence that you can do it, if you decide to. All it takes is a decision. Check your food labels, and by that I mean ingredient list, if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it, just for now! Endeavor to be honest with yourself. Remember the goal of this challenge is to be intentional with what goes in your mouth this month, it is best to have food that is:

1. Fuel
2. Full of nutrients
3. unprocessed and unrefined 
4. Least preservatives, additives, salt and chemicals 

I will be doing it too, don't worry, so let's tighten up our standards and it will pay off. You are not alone in this, you have the support of your friends and family and of course, fellow participants.

For the full list of replacement foods on this challenge, click here.  Please note that I have added Sodium (Salt) to the list, not to replace it, but to be aware of how much you consume and to work towards reducing it if you are having too much.


Hang in there, it will get easier as the challenge goes on, I know you can all do this!

 

  

www.melonyteague.com  To subscribe to my consolidated newsletter, Click here  Melony Teague a freelance writer and columnist and motivator who lives in Canada with her husband and two young children. Founder of "Secrets of Body Transformation from the Inside Out"  Join me on facebook. 

30 Day Challenge March 1 - March 30th, 2013 FAQ's

30 Day Challenge, March 1 - March 30, 2013 FAQ's and tips!

  30 Day Challenge - Part III

In the first 30 Day challenge we focused on doing a minimum of 15 minutes of exercise or extra activity a day. In the second 30 Day challenge we replaced certain foods with healthier choices. Now in the 3rd 30 Day Challenge we are doing a combination of both, check this out:

TIPS:

1. Take it one day at a time. Seriously the first week may seem hard, but once you get through it and start feeling the difference and seeing results, you will love it, then you will be half way through and soon it will be the last day and you will be saying, "Where did those 30 days go?"
2. Tell someone that you have signed up, this helps to keep you accountable and motivated.

FAQ

1. Q: How do I know if I am healthy enough to participate? A: Check with your physician or health care provider that you are clear to participate. I am not a doctor and advice on this site is not meant to take the place of your doctor's advice. If you have any pre-existing medical concerns, please speak with your doctor.
2. Q: What am I required to do about my progress? A:You will be required to report back to me if you have any assignments or homework to do. Email me.
3. Q: How does this challenge work for accountability? A: This challenge is based on an honesty system and it pays to be honest with yourself and with me. If you mess up, it's okay, but just let me know so that we can work through the challenges together. I am not looking for perfection, but a willingness to grow and learn. Just don't give up. Being accountable to me and to your fellow participants will be a major factor in helping you achieve success when the going gets tough.
4. What happens if I want to quit? A: If you quit you will be required to email me with the reasons as to why you cannot continue. Why? Well, for starters I care about you and so do your fellow participants. I want to know how I can help you or help avoid challenges for other participants too. Perhaps we can find a way to help you around your obstacles and it can only make you stronger or help you learn more about yourself. The second reason is that I have found that participants who feel like they have failed just go all quiet and avoid contact, this is not a constructive way to deal with the challenge. Other participants may be able to derive value from your feedback and it is likely that you will find out that you are not alone in your struggles and find the support you need. This Challenge is hear for you, take advantage of it and it's benefits, however big or small.
5. Q:What will be reported on this blog? A:Your general progress will be reported on this blog and any feedback that you do not want shared should be clearly labelled as private. I will respect your wishes. Your first name and city will be listed on this blog.
6. Q:If I chose to replace sugar, can I drink Alcohol? A: No you shouldn't drink alcohol if you chose to replace sugar, alcohol is high in sugar. The best choice is club soda with a wedge of lime or lemon and if you like you could also have sparkling water. For a special occasion try the following Mock Mojito instead: Click here
7. Q: If I am replacing sugar can I have carbs? A: Carbohydrates are converted to sugar and starches in your blood and it is accepted that a bowl of white rice is as good as a chocolate bar in your system when it gets into the blood steam.  Try to avoid processed white carbs and choose unrefined quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, seeds and coconut flour instead if you can. Beware of glucose-fructose and maltodextrin.
8. Q: I have been sick and I could not exercise for a few days, do I need to quite the challenge? A: No, not at all, the purpose of this challenge it to create healthy habits and make you more mindful of making good choices. If you have been sick, you need to listen to what your body is telling you and rest.As soon as you are feeling better, get back at it. The only thing I ask is that you let me know so I can cheer you on through the tough times! 
9. Q:What happens if I cheat? A: Nothing, own it, and move on. You are doing this challenge for yourself and you are the one to take responsibility for your choices. If you slip up, move on and learn from your mistakes. No biggie! Just stay honest with yourself and accountable to yourself and to me.

If you have any more questions please feel free to email me.

Tamari drizzled Roast Chicken breast medallions with Acorn squash, steamed cauliflower with home made pasta sauce.

  

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Melony Teague a freelance writer and columnist and motivator who lives in Canada with her husband and two young children.
Founder of "Secrets of Body Transformation from the Inside Out" 
Join me on facebook. 

GEARING UP FOR SUCCESS

WELCOME

30 Day Challenge Part III

I am excited to announce that so far we have an international contingent for PART III of our 30 Day Challenge. Welcome aboard!

If you have not signed up yet, it is not too late, you can do so my emailing me and giving me your name and city. That's all, easy as that.

START March 1, 2013

 

Are you ready to get started?

As you prepare yourself to get started on the 30 Day Challenge Part III I would like to give you some tips to maximize your experience.

TIP # 1
Reduce your coffee intake to only 2 cups a day. Start now.

TIP #2
Make sure you have alternatives on hand such as Green Tea, Flavored Green Tea, Peppermint Tea, herbal Tea and black tea. Pick a flavour that you like. My favorite tea is Green tea with blackcurrant and Vanilla.

TIP # 3
Start getting rid of foods that you will not be eating on the challenge, throw out those cheap and nasty valentines chocolates that look pretty, but taste like hydrogenated fats. Out of sight, out of mind is best! Set yourself up for success, get rid of those things that are not nutritionally beneficial for you. Start looking at food as fuel and not attached to an emotionally satisfying thing.

Tip # 4
Increase your water and tea intake a few days before we start.

Tip #5
Investigate exercise options that you can do on the challenge, dust off those dumbbells, pump up that exercise ball, dig out your walking or running shoes. You are going to need them. Download a fun playlist, set yourself up for success. Don't wait until day 1 to say, "Okay, now what am I going to do?"

Tip # 6
Get your mind in the right place, get excited about the change you will see, about the journey of self discovery you are about to embark on. Think about how wonderful it is going to be to get to the end of the challenge and feel so good about it all. You can do this, I know you can.

  

www.melonyteague.com 
To subscribe to my consolidated newsletter, Click here 
Melony Teague a freelance writer and columnist who lives in Canada with her husband and two young children.
Founder of "Secrets of Body Transformation from the Inside Out" 
Join me on facebook.