nutrition

good food bad food how to stay fit over 50

Good food? Bad food?

Be careful what you tell yourself about what you’re eating.

Have you ever told yourself you can’t eat something because it’s “bad”? Meaning it’s a food you should not eat? Or not on your “diet”? When you tell yourself that something is bad and you shouldn’t eat it, what happens when you do? You feel terrible don’t you?

We make ourselves so miserable when we tell ourselves we can’t have something. When you do eat something you’ve told yourself is “bad”, you can feel discouraged or disappointed in yourself. At least that’s what ALWAYS happens to me. Then I proceed to decide screw it and overindulge and then I truly will feel like crap.

You may have read it here before or heard me say it online but here it is again: The body “hears” everything you think and say. When you say something is a bad food, the body responds to it as a bad food through how you feel both physically and mentally.

Fact of the matter is some foods are more nutritious for us than other foods. Doesn’t that sound MUCH better than good or bad foods? The best game plan and the one I personally follow is to choose and eat more nutritious foods first. (For a good, common sense nutrition program, I recommend this: 2B Mindset. Easy to follow and simply MAKES SENSE.)

Notice I am not telling myself I can or cannot have something. I am “choosing” to fuel my body with nutritious foods leaving wiggle room for a less nutritious food possibly later. The majority of the time? I never eat the less nutritious food because I’m content from eating the nutritious foods first.

So how does this look in real life? Here’s an example from lunch yesterday:

All nutritious foods right? I eat the eggs (protein) with my salad (carbs & fat). Plums, still nutritious, I eat after if I’m still hungry. Generally I am not because my lunch is balanced protein/carb/fat.

Yesterday after I ate this lunch at the gym, someone came in with chocolate chip cookies. Yes you can bet I took 2. How can anyone turn down fresh baked chocolate chip cookies? But I was content because I CHOSE to eat the more nutritious foods first SAVING the less nutritious foods for later.

Never once did I tell myself the chocolate chip cookies were “bad” foods. If you can teach yourself to think this way throughout the day, drink the water your body needs, and exercise whether it’s in the yard, taking a walk or going to the gym, you will save yourself a LOT of time feeling guilty. For me at 59, ain’t no one got time to feel guilty.

p.s. Need a push? Join me for my online fitness classes. You can join me live or at a time more convenient for you. My favorite workout Tabata is a metabolism booster and the perfect compliment to eating nutritious. Join me here: Online Fitness Classes with Denise Includes:

  • 8 live classes weekly with bonus classes.
  • All classes recorded so you can pick and choose your workout.
  • Weight/measurement tracking.
  • Recipes. Tips. Motivation.

If you need a boost, this is it. Join me here: Online Fitness Classes with Denise

What The Heck Is Clean Eating Anyway?

Is one of your goals to eat healthier? Have you been told to eat clean but not quite sure what that means? You’re not alone.  Many people are not quite sure what eating clean means so this week, I’m going to quickly explain it the philosophy behind it.

Rule of thumb for eating clean is to eat REAL food as close to it’s original form as possible.  As an example choose to eat an orange versus orange juice.  To take it a step further, chicken, sweet potato and vegetables versus a packaged chicken pot pie or chicken dinner purchased from a fast food restaurant.

Next if possible, avoid processed foods completely because you don’t know what is keeping the food on the shelf or in the freezer “fresh”.  You can probably assume it’s being chemically modified one way or another. Take a look at the ingredients label to see how many “ingredients” you are not able to pronounce.  If you can’t say them. Don’t eat them.  It’s okay to eat frozen food as in one ingredient food such as frozen broccoli where you see one ingredient – broccoli.

Finally, think K.I.S.S.  Keep it simple silly and don’t try to change everything at the same time. The first thing I eliminated from my diet were sodas followed by white sugar.  Below is a quick list of items to avoid as you make your way through your clean eating journey.

Foods to slowly eliminate or use sparingly:

  • White sugar.
  • White flour.
  • Processed foods.
  • Artificial ingredients.

The best part?  Not only will your food taste better when you prepare them yourself, you will know exactly what you are eating.  You CAN do this!

To your health,

Denise

p.s. Not going to the gym? Join me for my online fitness classes and exercise from the comfort of your home while being motivated at the same time. Designed for women over 50 by a women over 50. More info here: Online Fitness Classes.)

How To Get Back On Track.

How was summer?  Did you enjoy a vacation or two?  How about those picnics and barbeques?  They were fun right?  So have you slipped out of your shorts and tried to get into a pair of jeans and they’re a wee bit tighter than the last time you wore them? Don’t worry! It happens to all of us at one time or another.




Summer has us more active but also knocks us out of our routine especially when it comes to what we are eating and drinking.  Then when we try to put on clothes we have not worn in a few months, we realize just how far off track we may have gotten.

It’s okay. It happened. Let it go. Don’t beat yourself up.  Focus on getting back on track.  Decide right this moment that you are going to move back to eating clean.  Below are a few more tips to help you ease back into a healthy lifestyle this fall:

Stay hydrated.  Surprisingly, when it is hot it quite easy to get off track with drinking our water which results in our becoming dehydrated.  Make drinking water throughout the day a priority.  For me I have gone back to carrying a gallon of water with me no matter where I go. Whether I am in the office or at the gym, that jug of water is with me.  Seeing it visually go down or NOT go down is enough to push me to drink the water my body needs.  Don’t add artificial sweeteners to your water.  If you really need flavor, opt for a slice of fruit.

Cleanse your system.  No I’m not talking about a juice cleanse or anything like it.  What I am talking about is removing the processed, packaged foods, and snacks that may have found their way into your diet.  Focus on eating whole, real foods like vegetables, fruits and lean meats.  It’s time to be picky about what gets in your body.

Rest.  Summer fun that leads into nights, may have robbed us of the sleep our bodies need.  Not only do we feel exhausted, when we are tired we may not make the best decisions as far as eating and exercise.  Shoot for 8 hours of sleep every night.

Exercise. Fall is the PERFECT time to get back on track with your exercise routine.  Grab your sneakers and favorite workout clothes, put them on and head out the door.  Remember if you are starting back take it easy in the beginning.  The most important thing is that you get up and get moving.

Have a wonderful week!

To your health,

Denise