More Halloween Survival

Well, I know how hard the holidays are & thought I would follow up from yesterday's post with more Halloween survival tips. I have 2 articles to share with you. One is from Diet Detective & the other is from Hungry Girl. I love that both of them discuss exercise tips as part of the Halloween celebration & also both point out calories for favorite treats.. really makes you think when just 1 piece of a mini treat can really set back your calorie plan.

As an example of ways to get exercise, Hungry Girl has a game as you hand out treats. Here are the rules: "Each time a trick-or-treater comes to the door dressed in a particular costume, do the corresponding exercise after you close the door. Remember, you have to finish before the doorbell rings again, so MOVE IT! If a large group shows up, limit your exercises to just 2 to 3 at a time. Passing out is NOT an option." Now, you have to read the article to see what you have to do.. FUN!

Read both articles here & don't get up tomorrow feeling UGH from too much candy. Also, a reader comment... bring the extra left over candy to work, church, volunteer organizations or homeless shelters. Help them & help you at the same time!

http://www.hungry-girl.com/girls/biteoutdetails.php?isid=1586

https://www.dietdetective.com/content/view/1169/3/

Survive Halloween

This is holiday season. We start with Halloween & go through New Years with parties, family gatherings, friend get togethers and food everywhere. Well, let's start with Halloween. How to get through it. I saw a good article on this & it spoke to exactly what I do.. DON'T BUY CANDY TO GIVE OUT THAT YOU LIKE!!!!! PICK CANDY THAT YOU ARE NOT FOND OF OR IS JUST NOT WORTH THE CALORIES.

Another suggestion is to buy bags of mini toys that are now available at stores & the large warehouses like Costco. They also have healthier versions of give outs like pretzels or lower fat animal cookies.

You can also buy everything last minute so you are not tempted by the candy "staring" you in the face. And, on that night, keep healthier versions of treats handy for yourself. If you must indulge, keep it to ONE and move on. There is no need to eat everything in sight & feel like "you know what" the next day.

Burn More Calories-How

I have posted endlessly about the importance & benefits of resistance training (weight training). Some of the benefits are increased BMR (burn more calories at rest which leads to weight loss), decreased chance of osteoporosis, increased bone density, able to do every day activities with less struggle, more positive body image, improved blood pressure & cholesterol levels and so much more.

Be Fit and Strong had a great article about the benefits of strength training for women which can also be applied to men. Some of the things above are discussed along with many other points. They also talk about the barriers that stop people like not knowing enough, time constraints and fear of getting to bulky when it comes to women. This is huge for women & let me quote a point from the article & something I have already written about in the past:

"Fear of becoming too bulky - This is by far the biggest concern of women when it comes to strength training. Which weighs more…a pound of fat or a pound of muscle? If you said muscle, you are wrong! They’re equal. They both weigh a pound. The difference is one pound of muscle takes up about 1/2 the space of a pound of fat."

Let me also point out that fat & muscle are two separate entities!!!!! If you are overweight, don't fear lifting weights because your fat will turn to muscle.. NOT! It is impossible because they are not the same. Lifting weights will help you burn more calories to melt that fat away. As I said before, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn away!!!!

Read the full article here: http://befitandstrong.com/strength-training-benefits-for-women-way-more-than-just-a-flat-sexy-stomach/

Pumpkin Cheesecake

The holidays are upon us.. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have those traditional dishes & desserts that we all love this time of year. I am a fan of spice & molasses/ginger spice cookies. If I find recipe makeovers, I will post them or feel free to send them to me! Pumpkin recipes are also big.. I love them too & lots of healthy vitamins in pumpkin!!!!!! I even saw recipes for adding canned pumpkin (no additives) to your oatmeal along with other spices.. sounds yummy!

Well, here is a pumpkin cheesecake recipe makeover from Hungry Girl. Check it out & check out the big difference in the nutritional information.. WOW! Enjoy!

http://www.hungry-girl.com:80/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=1575

Move & Step It Up

I want to take you back to my Friday post on physical fitness guidelines. I am definitely a fan of just getting people up and moving. If it is walking, jogging, swimming, playing with the kids, dancing, gardening, kick boxing, yoga, pilates, organized sports like soccer, baseball, basketball and just many more activities. The key is just to get up & move. Once you do that, you will start feeling better & most likely may start to lose a few pounds. Once a person starts to feel good about this, they tend to start changing their eating habits & also pushing themselves a bit more in terms of exercising. Pick things you enjoy to keep you motivated so that you don't "drop out". Also, there are so many things you can do. Vary your workouts if you are a person that bores easily. Take different classes or change up from jogging to swimming to pilates etc.

In terms of resistance training (weight training), I feel this is a must no matter how you find time to do it. Not only does it protect the bones & help to prevent osteoporosis but the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. I KNOW THIS FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. I HAVE DONE IT WRONG SO I LEARNED FROM MY MISTAKES!

Now saying all that, I want to get to my point about those of you that really want to look muscular.. maybe like the lady in the picture above that is not too thin but looking healthy & with lean muscle. If you want this look, like I do, you are just going to have to step it up & go beyond the bare requirements. You will have to eat pretty clean & step up the workouts & the intensity of your workouts. If you want to compete, it becomes even more so... but just know that you have to work for the body you want.... it is hard work but well worth it not only for those that just feel good when they look better but for your overall health.

Day Off the "Diet"

You might find this a weird post but for those that have been following from day one with me, I do say that everything in moderation or you will drive yourself crazy. I learned the hard way that trying to never eat anything you really want can be a losing proposition for most people. The more deprived you are, the more you want it. Now saying that, I am one to eat pretty clean most of the time. BUT, I do allow those days when I just don't eat all clean & I do enjoy myself here & there. I do stay close to my clean eating program almost every day but on the weekends, I do enjoy with a cookie or two, a bagel instead of my whole grain bread and often coffee with flavoring if I am out & about or just whatever I feel I might want to eat ... my main meals are still good but I think my body likes these changes. I don't go crazy & eat everything in sight. I make choices on what I really want over other things. I have found from past experience though that this really works for me. Not only do I get to eat something I really want but my body likes the change too... and mentally, I feel like I got to eat something really fun for me.

Diet Blog had an article on this which got me going on this post. Read it here:

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/10/24/have_a_day_off_your_diet.php

Now, after saying all this, I know some people just feel they can't go off their food program at first because it will lead them to veer off for good. You know yourself better than me so if you are like that, just stick to what you are doing. Maybe as you get further on, you will be like me & feel comfortable allowing yourself some special treats when you really feel like it. Just don't make it an all the time thing.

Physical Activity Guidelines

The government is working through physical activity recommendations again, and the new guidelines may surprise you although not me. I like that they just really want to get people moving... walking, playing, swimming, bicycling... anything to move. They also break activity into children, adults, seniors, time crunched etc. I have blogged about this. Hey, if you are time crunched, 10 minutes, 3 times per day will work just as much as 30 minutes at one time per the experts. You just have to put your all in to those 10 minutes. I love that they include strength training which I feel is so important. They discuss if you can't get 150 minutes in & how children are different. They also point out that doing 150 minutes, you will see general health-risk reductions of 25 percent. Here are the first couple paragraphs of this article:

"The basic recommendations — including the core guideline that Americans should get about 150 minutes of moderately intense activity per week — have not really changed from the ones announced in 1996 by the surgeon general’s office. What is different is the emphasis on the variety of activities — including daily chores — that can reap the profound health benefits of exercise. There is no “one size fits all.” Instead, the guidelines are broken into specific recommendations for adults, children, people over 65 and others. And while sustained aerobic activities are the foundation, there are other types of activities — muscle-building and flexibility-enhancing — that are also important.

The article is very comprehensive & discusses a variety of activities, getting started & those that just can't get it all in. A good read for all. Read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/health/nutrition/23fitness.html?ref=health

Post Pregnancy Workouts

I saw a couple articles about post pregnancy weight loss & workouts & thought I would share with you. This is NOT my expertise since I have never been pregnant. I am a stepmother but have never had children of my own. BUT, I have been heavy & I have been at that point where the weight won't budge & I have/am in the time of life when weight wants to stick to you like no tomorrow. In all these cases & right now, I have had to & continue to make sacrifices & choices to not only lose weight but maintain it. I work hard every day. And no, I have not had post pregnancy problems so I can't speak to that but I am having perimenopause body challenges. You women out there will hit that at some point but not all of you so not to worry about that now!!!!

Anyway, I will share an article from Shape outlining classes you can take WITH the baby. Read that at: http://www.shape.com/workouts/articles/post_pregnancy_workout.html. There are Stroller Strides & Baby Boot Camp & more. Always remember that you can just go out on your own and "stroll" with the baby.. even do lunges along the way, use the baby as weight to do shoulder presses, bicep curls etc. just by playing with the baby. That is a great workout lifting the baby.. remember to protect your back!

Diet Detective had an article on Post Pregnancy Fitness & Activity. The article stated: "Don’t expect miracles. It took you 40 weeks to stretch that body out, so you need to give it time to bounce back,” says Lisa Druxman, M.A., the creator of Stroller Strides and author of Lean Mommy (Center Street, 2007). “Most women need to adjust their expectations, because it isn't going to happen overnight and it takes discipline and time (both of which are in short supply for most new moms!). So, expect to see results in an average of three to 12 months,” says Jennifer Wider, M.D., author of The New Mom’s Survival Guide (Bantam, 2008)." Hey, this works for those that never were pregnant too. If it took you years to put that weight on, it will take time to take it off. Patience!!! Read this very comprehensive article at: http://www.dietdetective.com/content/view/3505/3/

Big "Diet" Mistakes/BMR Info

• The Hungry Girl (HG) site had 2 great questions on their site this morning. One was about the biggest diet mistakes people make... I don't like the word diet so I would call it the biggest mistakes people make on their journey to change their eating habits for life. I agree with them all but especially the two that say "being in denial" and "not reading labels". I have blogged about both of these endlessly along with the other points made in HG's answer to this question. Lots of good info here so do read it!

The other question was about how many calories a person burns a day. HG has lots of sites to click on to get more information on this. Check out all the links to HG's answer to this question. With BMR, there are also calculators that let you add in your exercise expenditure during the day to give you a better feeling of how many calories you burn per day. The ones that don't let you add in your daily exercise just tell calories you burn at rest with no added expenditure per day. As the HG answer says.. that is just a baseline. The goal if you want to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in!!!!

• Read about all of the above here:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/askhg/askhgdetails.php?isid=1577

Sculpted & Healthy in One Workout

Here is a good article from my Shape magazine "e" letter that will show you some new & maybe existing moves to work every body part. The article has pictures and explanations on how to do each move. If you don't have a body bar, just use dumbbells, weight plates or anything else that will provide resistance. At home, you can always use filled water bottles or canned food if you don't have any of the above. Look around & see what you can substitute for the body bar. This article gives some new ways to do old moves as well. Check out each one & give yourself & your body the change it likes by trying new exercises. Remember, the body adapts to a "same thing every day, every month" type of workout. Challenge yourself with something new!

Article: http://www.shape.com/workouts/routines/30639399.html?page=1

Eat Healthy/Save Money

These are tough times. With the the troubles in the financial market, we are all looking for ways to save money anywhere we can. Oxygen Women's Fitness had a couple great articles in my "e" letter that I want to share with you.

The first article is just on money saving tips for eating healthy like grow your own herbs, by in bulk, eat less processed foods and more. Read it here: http://www.oxygenmag.com/lowcost

Also, Oxygen had an article on food lists to help you save money. From their Clean Eating magazine, they have put together some shopping lists to help you buy & eat healthy without breaking your budget. Read that article here: http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/shoppinglists/

Eat This, Not That!

I am sure that many of you have heard of this book, Eat This, Not That. I even posted about it months ago. Well, a recent article on Yahoo Health from the author of this book discussed "Secrets That Restaurants Don't Want You To Know". Here is a bit from the article:

"Restaurants have one major purpose: to stuff you with as much food as they possibly can. If they do that, they achieve their primary business goal, which is to lighten your wallet. But while they’re doing that, they’re also using their best marketing tricks, craftiest numerical switcheroos, and most dastardly dietary stratagems to swap unhealthy, cheap ingredients for more expensive, wholesome ones. The result: bloated bottom lines — for their budgets, and for their customers. But we don’t want to let that happen to you, which is why we’ve spent the last two years researching all the ways restaurants try to sabotage your food choices."

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The full article has a lot more information on certain restaurants & also some links for further info on other restaurants. Check out the full article here:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/13623/secrets-that-restaurants-dont-want-you-to-know/

I will say that even reading this book, some of the swap outs are things I would not want to eat due to higher fat, sodium etc. than I prefer BUT it does arm you with good information if you are in a bind. I still say the best bet is to bring your own food with you if possible. There are lots of new types of containers & carriers that all ow you to bring food with you & keep it cold or warm!

Body Image-Improve it!

So many of us have a negative image of our body or face or just certain body parts. I posted about being heavy as a kid & how I felt about myself then & how people treating me as a "fat kid/teen" has stayed with me even to this day. I still can look in the mirror & see that fat kid. Some of you may find that hard to believe since I have worked hard to whip myself into shape but I have body image insecurities just like the rest of you. In fact, I think it keeps me progressing because I always see something I want to fix.

But, what I want to offer up is an article from Diet Blog about body image & how you can take steps to improve your own so you do not sabotage yourself. How you feel about yourself can & does effect how you relate to others.. family & friends. The article writes about understanding who you compare yourself to, what the underlying causes are for your negative self talk and more. Read the article here & help yourself feel better about YOU & keep you on the path to better relationships & weight loss goals.

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/10/17/can_you_improve_your_body_image.php

Snooze Alarm-NOT! Exercise!

Listen, we all have those mornings when we just want to keep hitting the snooze alarm & skip the workout all together. Or we have those late in the day blahs and exhaustion from a long work day & we start to talk ourselves out of exercising. Don't do that!!!!

Like you, I have those days when I just want to stay in bed BUT, I don't. Usually if I get up & get to it, I feel so much better once I get going.... and I feel even better once I have accomplished a great workout. My body AND mind appreciate it! I think we are too easy to talk ourselves out of exercise... leading to those extra pounds that creep on every year.

This morn was one of those really tired mornings for me but I did not let it stop me. I modified my workout to meet my tired body. That does not mean I just walked at the slowest pace possible. I still pushed myself but allowed for the fact that it was not "all there". I did more treadmill hill walking than jogging, I lifted a bit lighter and rested in between sets for 30 seconds or so rather than my normal "move from one exercise to the next without rest".

OK, if you are on 3 hours sleep & beyond pooped, I can understand that, but if you are just talking yourself out of exercising when you really can do "something".. don't fool yourself. Get up, do something & feel good after for that accomplishment!

Stability Ball Exercises

It is always good to have new ways to do the same exercises to keep the body guessing & challenged. Using the stability ball to do this is a great way to not only work a specific body part but also work the core & glutes at the same time. For example, in this picture, you see a chest press but by using the stability ball, you also work the core to stabilize your body and if it was me, squeeze the glutes at the same time!!!!!! You can do many exercises using the stability ball like lying triceps extensions with dumbbells, weighed ball or weight plates; chest flyes; shoulder presses or lateral raises or reverse flyes for rear delts; preacher curls and the list goes on! Check out this article from Oxygen Women's Fitness for pictures of a few ways to change up your workout routine.

http://oxygenmag.com/main.php?page=1&id=334

Healthy Snacks & Cheese!

I saw 2 good articles for today. One on fitting cheese into your food program and another on healthy snacks.

First, healthy snacks. I feel it is important to fit in small snacks during the day to keep the body fueled so you don't end up so hungry that you eat anything. Diet Blog had a short & sweet article with suggestions for snacking like popcorn, oatmeal, fruit, dark chocolate (portion control!) and more. Read the article here: http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/10/14/snacks_that_make_you_feel_good.php

Second, fitting cheese in your food program. Diet Detective also wrote a short & informational article on this. We all know cheese can be high in fat, calories & saturated fat but it also has needed protein & calcium (and tastes good!) so we really need to concentrate on making good choices and PORTION CONTROL! Read here about different cheeses & their calorie and fat content. This can help you make better choices.. and as always, be label reader! Here is the link: http://www.dietdetective.com/content/view/208/83/

Protein Bar Recipe

I saw this great recipe for a Peanut Butter Fudge Bar in Clean Eating magazine. For those of you that already eat clean or eat healthy, you should have all 4 ingredients in your home. That is right, only 4 ingredients!!!! Well, 5 including water. They will end up looking like the bar above except a full bar, not a half bar... similar to a Trioplex bar which is the picture above. Feel free to vary the ingredients per your taste. For example, I would use vanilla protein powder for my taste buds & would add Splenda as needed. I might use less flax meal & peanut butter because I use a power peanut butter that has flax & protein in it already. I adjusted my nutritional information to my recipe & got close to the one below. Feel free to eat half at a time because these can be pretty filling. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 scoops chocolate protein powder
• 2/3 cup flax meal
• 4 tbsp natural protein powder, unsalted
• 1/4 cup water
• Stevia or any other sweetener of your choice, to taste

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl & stir. If sweetener is desired, add in your favorite sweetener. It may seem like there is not enough water, but keep stirring & it will eventually become a sticky blob of dough. Add 1 tbsp of water at a time if needed.

Divide the mixture in 4 equal portions & place in separate pieces of plastic wrap, shaping them into rectangular shaped bars.

Store the bars in the fridge or freezer. Eat chilled, frozen or even right at room temperature!

Nutritional Information - Makes 4 bars:

Calories-284; Total Fat-15g; Saturated Fat-2g; Monounsaturated Fat-4g; Polyunsaturated Fat-2g; Carbs-11.5g; Fiber-6.5g; Sugars-2g; Protein-29g; Sodium-58mg; Cholesterol-25mg

Walking Stairs

I got a reader question from yesterday's post asking me if walking stairs in a 2 story house will work as a fat loss exercise. ABSOLUTELY!!!! I even do this. You can also walk up every step to work yourself harder & really work the legs & butt. You can do lunges utilizing a step from the stairs in your house too. Either step up onto one and back or step up on to one & stay there & do a stationary lunge. Just be careful to have your workout shoes on to have the proper support & so you don't slip. If you are concerned about slipping, use the handrails LIGHTLY. In addition, you can use stairs anywhere for a little extra workout. If you are out & about, take the stairs rather than the escalator or elevator & do that every other step too if you have flats or sneakers on. Anywhere you go gives you the opportunity to burn a few extra calories.

Thx for the question!

Fat Loss Exercises

Oxygen Women's Fitness had this great article on how to bust through the fat loss problems. Now, it is hard work but to get results, you do have to work for it!!!! Face the reality of this please! If you want to lose weight & get healthier, you are going to have to make some sacrifices & put some effort into it.

Check out the first paragraph of this article: "You don’t have time to mess around; an important event is looming and you want to burn off those extra pounds. So, after you freak out, tighten up the diet and add these phenomenal fat-burning exercises to get you looking fine in no time. Commitment is key; to achieve desired results, you need to get your cardiovascular system pumping, five days a week without fail."

The article goes on to outline some great fat burning routines such as bleacher jogging/walking, high intensity workouts and more. Read the article but also pay attention to to the last paragraph that states: "Visit your doctor before attempting to incorporate any of these exercises into your plan. These exercises and any others you do to maximum intensity are not for the first-time athlete. Begin slowly and be patient with yourself. It takes more than a day to scale Kilimanjaro!"

Read the article here: http://oxygenmag.com/main.php?page=9&id=540

Jumping Jacks-10 Calories/Minute

Do any of you watch the biggest loser? I have watched it since season 1 and love the inspirational stories of people changing their lives, getting healthier, getting off medications, changing their careers after learning to like themselves and more. This season, a trainer tip from Jillian, one of the trainers, discussed doing something during every commercial break. I have even posted about this.. how you can do abs or marching or high leg lifts or just anything that gets you moving during commercial breaks.

Jillian mentioned that you can burn 10 calories per minute doing jumping jacks. If you did that every commercial break during their show, you could potentially burn 300 calories just during that show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come on, how easy is that!!!!! Get up & do something.. anything during those commercial breaks & burn some extra calories!!!!!!!!

You Can Be Too Thin!

With all the images on TV and in the movies of these very thin actresses, we really need to pay more attention to being too thin as well as to being overweight. If you have been watching anything on TV lately, you see how these young actresses AND actors are getting increasing thinner & thinner.. especially on some of these reality hit shows. Also remember that they look 10 pound heavier on TV so that means they are even thinner in person then they look on TV!!!!! This is crazy!

Diet Blog had a very good article on the dangers of being too thin & the dangers of your BMI being too low... VERY REAL DANGERS like thin bones, anemia, hair loss and more. I want all of you to read this & think twice before heading down this path. Don't mimic this craziness on TV.

Read the article: http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/10/07/underweight_or_slightly_overweight_which_is_worse.php

Butt Lifters!!!!

The butt or glutes... we all want to lift & tighten them.. men and women!!!! Fitness magazine had a good article on some beginner, intermediate & advanced exercises that will help you lift & tighten!

The bridge above is a basic exercise but you can make it harder by holding weights or weight plates on your hips. You can also put your feet on an exercise ball or a BOSU Balance Trainer (either side) with or without added weight.

The donkey kick & prone hip extension can be made more difficult with light ankle weights or holding a dumbbell between your feet.

There are 6 other exercise that are good butt boosters too & if they get too easy, find ways to challenge yourself!!!!

Here is the article: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/butt/exercises/butt-workout-moves-beginners/

Misrepresenting Nutrition Info!

We have all read and heard about restaurants putting incorrect nutritional information on their menus in terms of the healthier items. In many cases, these restaurants have misstated the nutritional information by A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, Diet Detective has an article about Applebee's misstating their Weight Watchers items by a tremendous amount. You must read this article! I also urge you to beware at other restaurants as well. Be diligent & if you think something tastes like it has butter when you requested none or it is not supposed to have butter, send it back. I have done this plenty! Also, be aware that many restaurants but butter or margarine on meat & chicken when they cook it to make it taste better. Ask questions so that you get what is best for you!!!!!

Read the article here: http://www.nypost.com/seven/09282008/news/nationalnews/weight_botchers_menu_at____131118.htm

Pancake Recipe Makeover

Pancakes are a favorite of many & for some bring back memories of childhood & breakfast with the family. I love pancakes & I love blueberries so it is always nice to get a recipe makeover for a comforting food like this. Hungry Girl, once again, has a good alternative. As always, you can make substitutions as needed or wanted but just remember to recalculate the nutritional information so you can track it correctly. This is where many people tend to make their mistakes. They do not really pay attention to portion size or what is actually in the make up of their food.

Check out the full recipe & a comparison to Denny's pancakes at this link:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=1038

Treadmill-Up the Intensity

Treadmills are a very popular piece of cardio equipment at the gym. So, do you just get on and walk along not really pushing yourself. Maybe you try to jog but really don't push yourself. Hey, if you can carry on a conversation easily than you are not working hard enough. Of course you need to warm up first but then get to work.

There are many things you can do on the treadmill. You can walk, jog, hill walk, hill jog, run, do intervals, walk backwards, walk sideways etc. I mentioned some of these things for the Stepmill in yesterday's post. And like the Stepmill, that hill stuff will work your butt & legs! As always, when you are trying new things or pushing to new limits, be careful & pay attention to what you are doing.

For me, I warm up for 3-5 minutes & then get to my workout. I do all of the above things mentioned across various workouts. I keep the cardio workout changing to keep my body guessing. I will say intervals are very tough so be careful & if you are new to them, do not do them on consecutive days.

Don't just go to the gym & go thru the motions. Work yourself, especially if your time is limited!

Stepmill-Works Cardio,Butt,Legs

Have you seen this piece of equipment at the gym? It is called the Stepmill and it is an awesome workout! It is revolving stairs. And by awesome, I mean hard but very very effective! Not only does the Stepmill give you a tough cardio workout but it works your butt, legs and more. I would start out slowly to get the feel of it & judge how well you can handle it. Hold on to the handrails lightly because it can be easy to miss the step if you are not paying attention!!!! Do not get caught up in a TV show & stop paying attention to your workout or you might find yourself falling off the steps!!

Now, saying that, I want to tell you how I use it. I do the standard walking the steps at different speeds but I also do some variations.

• I work my legs & butt even more by taking every other step (slow down & watch what you are doing!!!!).
• I also take every other step but with a kick back of the leg with the foot not on the step. Again, slow down & be careful!
• Another variation is to turn to the side (ie: your side is to the front of the machine) and cross over the legs as you step working the inner thighs too. Again, slow down and pay attention!

This is a very hard workout so I can't emphasize enough that you need to pay attention when you are on this machine & start slowly & work towards improving your performance as you get used to it. Good luck!

Recipe Makeover

I know many of you are always looking for ways to make your fun foods healthier. Hungry Girl does this a lot. Some, I feel, are better than others, but you can always modify to meet your needs. If you do, just be sure to adjust calories, fat, carbs, protein etc. I am going to provide the link to this recipe makeover for onion rings. I love onion rings & always good to have a healthy version. You can substitute a different cereal, if you prefer, or even add some protein powder to the mix. Just adjust your nutritional count so you know what you are working with per the calories, fat, etc.

Here is the link: http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=905