A day off and now back to work!

Life got crazy and I didn't post yesterday. Consider that your day of rest. One or two days a week should be dedicated to rest. You can still take a walk, clean house, do yard work, or any other activity that keeps you moving. It all counts! Now it is time to get back to kicking it up! First, I have a yummy recipe for breakfast. I'm trying it tomorrow. I have all the ingredients. I'm proud of myself for having these in my kitchen!

Berry yogurt, granola parfait

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sliced strawberries
• 3/4 cup blueberries
• 1 (6 ounce) container vanilla yogurt
• 1 tablespoon wheat germ
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 1/3 cup granola

Directions

1. Layer 1/4 cup strawberries, 1/4 cup blueberries, 1/3 container yogurt, 1/3 tablespoon wheat germ, 1/3 of the sliced banana, and about 2 tablespoons of granola in a large bowl. Continue to build the parfait, repeating the layers until all of the ingredients are used completely.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 520 | Total Fat: 13.5g | Cholesterol: 8mg

Challenge of the day -  After a day of rest it is time to get back to some cardio. Do an hour of power walking, running, dancing, or some other high intensity workout. Make sure you stretch before and after. That is the best part! Now go!!!!

Tip of the day - Drink plenty of water. Keeping hydrated will keep you from getting fatigued and keep you from getting headaches. I get migraines if I forget to drink water. Plain water is best but there are many sugar free flavors if that will help you drink more water. Keep water next to your all day. 

How is your week going?
Cindy

All ready for tomorrow!

I am going back to work tomorrow - ugh! - so I am going to post in the evening for tomorrow. Going to work is a challenge for me because there are so many temptations at work. Too many donuts, candy, junk food, and good food that is not healthy. I am going to need your support too.

Let's talk about snacks. This is the one that usually adds the most calories in your diet. You have to learn to snack smart. Snacks should be eaten between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and dinner, and in the evening. Shoot for about 200 calories. My favorite things to snack on are nuts (protein fills you up), fruit, crackers, cheese, rice cakes, yogurt, and peanut butter. I like peanut butter on bananas. There are hundreds of things you can snack on and when I get to sharing recipes I will suggest some snacks you might not have thought of.

Challenge for the day - Tomorrow I want you to do some basic strength exercises. Try some crunches and leg lifts for the belly. Push ups are great for women because we tend to be weak in upper body strength.  Lunges are great for your legs. Wall sits are a killer but they really work the legs muscles too. Just lean against a wall and pretend you are sitting in a chair. You will feel it. Do all of these in reps of 10 and repeat the reps 5 times.

Tip of the day - Get some basic things in your collection of workout tools. I have different DVD's according to my interests, bands (better than any machine at the gym), a jump rope just because it is fun, Wii because it is fun too, weights are sitting right next to me so I can use them while watching TV, and make sure you have good running/walking shoes. Do what you like to do and you will keep doing it. That is why I do Zumba, it is fun and I stick with it.

Good luck and keep moving!
Cindy

Good morning!

Today we are going to talk about dinner. Once we have the basics of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks down I will start posting some yummy and healthy recipes. Let's begin dinner with protein. Your meat serving should be the size of the palm of your hand.  Carbs (pasta, rice, etc.) should be the size of your fist. Don't forget lots of veggies like a salad, fresh, steamed green bean, or something on that order. The best thing about this is that you can eat as many veggies as you want. I like to drink skimmed milk with my dinner to get in my calcium and vitamin D. My new thing is a glass of wine with dinner too. Wine, in moderation, is said to have heart healthy benefits...especially red wine.

Challenge of the day - I found this website of the 5 best exercises you can do. I like all of them and they actually tell you how to do them in this article. Make sure you do all 5 of them.

http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightlifting/a/bestexercises.htm

Also try to get in some cardio today; do a walk, dance,or  run.  I have Zumba at my house at 7 P.M. if anyone is interested. Anyone, at any fitness level, can do Zumba. You can always kick it up or tone it down according to your ability. Contact me if you need directions. The first class is free so you can check it out

Tip of the day - Tell the people in your life that you are on a new path to a healthier lifestyle. Letting your friends and family know what you are doing helps keep you accountable and you are less likely to fall into old habits. Make sure that the people in your life are supportive and if they care about you that should not be a problem.

***For my local people I am planning on meeting at White Park on Sunday morning for a walk/run. White Park is nice because we can be together but all go at our own pace. The whole park is .8 miles so if you go around the park 5 times it is 4 miles. Let me know if you want to meet us there and what time would be good for you.

You are doing great!
Cindy

Monday is here!

Let's talk about lunch today. It is really important to make sure you have protein with each meal. It fills you up and helps resist grabbing something that will ruin your attempts to eat healthy. For lunch I usually grab some meat left over from the previous dinner. If that isn't available I go with cottage cheese or tuna. I try to stay away from lunch meat because it is loaded with sodium and makes you retain water. I also load up on veggies for my midday meal. I either eat a left over salad from last night's dinner (you could make one) or I love to cut up veggies and have them ready to eat. Water is my choice for my lunch beverage.

Going back to breakfast, I have some ideas for you here too. I have been making protein shakes and they are wonderful for nutrition and filling you up. I use vanilla Greek yogurt, fresh or frozen fruit, vanilla or chocolate protein power ( I use Herbalife or Biggest Loser), I add a splash of juice, and ice. But it in the blender and voila! You can also go with wheat or whole grain toast and peanut butter but make sure you add fruit of some kind. Eggs are always a good choice but I personally don't like them. If you do you can fix them anyway you like and add cheese and/or veggies. Make sure you don't forget your fruit. Remember breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Oh, and coffee, must have coffee. I drink it black so no calories there.

Challenge for the day - Today you are going do some sort of cardio for 1 hour. Remember finding one hour to be healthy so you don't end up 24 hours dead? You can find 1 hour today for your health and well-being. It is raining here today and I have my grandson so my hour is going to be my Zumba DVD's. I have to do 2 of them since they are about 1/2 an hour each. He is napping now so I will get at least one of them in and I may have to do the second one at the next nap. I know I have laundry and dishes to be done but they are just going to have to wait because I am more important...and so are you. If it is nice where you are then get out and walk or run. You can take the dog for a walk, walk with your significant other or friend, or just lose yourself in your thoughts or music. Don't all of those options sound fun? There are always DVD's if you like that route and getting outside isn't an option. Also intense housework or yard work counts as cardio (has to be deep, intense work). Not my first choice but I use that now and then when my house and yard demands it. If you are into biking, hiking, dancing, skiing, rollerblading, soccer, or any other sport like that then you are covered for cardio. No excuses here...GO!

Tip for the day - Try something new! I do that often so I don't get bored with my cardio. This is why I like Zumba because it is always new. Go outside your comfort zone and try something you would have never tried in the past. If you have physical limitations contact me and we can create a program that works for you.

Get moving!
Cindy

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life!

So you are ready to get healthy? The benefits of getting healthy are too numerous to mention. We are going to be talking about diet, exercise, sleep, and mental well-being.All of these component to heath are related. I am going to give you challenges to keep you motivated. I am on this journey with you. I have made it my life's work to find out how to be healthy but I - like you - have a hard time keeping on the right path. This blog is to help us do this together.

If you don't know me, my name is Cindy Ramirez. I am 51 years old. I teach high school English and I have been a Zumba instructor for 5 years. I chose Zumba simply because it is fun and I stick with it. It is important to find something active that you like to do. I chose to teach Zumba because it is harder for me to blow it off when I am the teacher. It is always easy to put exercise on the bottom of the priority list. I like the saying - "It is a lot easier to find time to move 1 hour a day than it is to find time to be dead 24 hours a day." YOU have got to be a top priority in your life. If you don't find time to be healthy, you will not be at your best for the rest of the important things in your life.

First thing you need to do is get a notebook that you can take everywhere with you. In this notebook you are going to record all the food you eat. I like to add any exercise I do and what my weight is when I weigh in weekly. I try not to weigh myself more than once a week because our bodies go up and down all day long. We need to get them to bounce down more than up. You will go crazy if you track it daily. This notebook helps you keep away from food that you don't want to have to admit you eat and it also helps you move more because it is satisfying to write down exercise.

Today's challenge - We will start out easy. I want you to make time for a healthy breakfast. If you skip your morning fuel you will crash and burn. We also need to understand how our bodies work. If you skip breakfast, your body thinks that you didn't have access to food and it needs to slow down to preserve the fuel that you do have. Calories will burn more slowly and you will not burn the calories you need to so you can burn off that fat that you want gone.

I also want you to do 30 minutes (is a sitcom and you can watch it while you do this) of strength training. If you need ideas message me on facebook and I will give you 100 ideas. I am under Cindy Penney Anderson Ramirez. You can also email me at cyn0508@frontier.com. I like to do one of my belly buster DVD's, yoga DVD's, Zumba toning, bands, or hand weights.

*Tip of the day - There is a website www.sparkpeople.com and it also has a free app if you have an iphone. It tracks your diet and exercise and sets mini goals for you to reach your ultimate goal. Cool program I just discovered.

Good luck and I will post another challenge tomorrow for you.
Cindy