food labels

Margon lost 57 pounds

January 3, 2021 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

Margon lost 57 pounds by switching to a low carb lifestyle and working out three days a week. She is determined to break her unhealthy addiction to food.

What was your motivation? What inspired you to keep going, even when you wanted to give up?
My motivation was a desire to conquer my unhealthy addiction to food. My inspiration was other Instagram health enthusiasts.

How did you change your eating habits?
I started off doing Keto and continued to stay away from white sugar and high amounts of carbohydrates.

How often did you work out?
I work out at least three times a week.

What was your starting weight? What is your current weight?
My starting weight was 237 pounds, and my current weight is 180 pounds.

What is your height?
4’11”

When did you start your journey? How long did your transformation take?
May 2020 is when I started my journey. To date, it took six months.

Is weight loss surgery part of your journey?
No

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far?
I learned how bad some of the things that we eat are. I also learned to read the labels on EVERYTHING.

What advice do you have for women who want to lose weight?
Keep going. It’s worth it.

Instagram: @Juicy_Fruit1990

Nory lost 25 pounds and gained a healthy and fit lifestyle

October 7, 2017 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

Transformation of the Day: Nory lost 25 pounds and gained lots of lean muscle. However, for this Alpha Kappa Alpha soror the 7 year journey has been more about creating a healthy lifestyle than just losing pounds. Check out her story for a ton of great insights.

nory before and after

What was your motivation? What inspired you when you wanted to give up?
I don’t have one motivation, I have a list:

My health
My family and their issues with their health
My husband
My unborn children (if I decide to have them)
My friends and their challenges with their health
Every woman of color that is struggling to eat better because culturally it is a lot harder for us.

Over the past seven years since I changed my lifestyle, I’ve used this list to push through my fears and challenges. Making a list of motivators will make your process easier. Depending on what you are struggling with, one motivator won’t be enough. My list is a constant reminder that my journey is bigger than me and that is the reason I can’t give up. Think about your why, write it down and keep the list close to you.

How did you change your eating habits?
The first step to changing my eating habits, was realizing and accepting that my eating habits needed to change. This was the toughest part for me, especially because as I child I was taught to eat for flavor, not nutrition. After undergraduate school, two of my cousins took me under their “healthy living” wings and gave me the direction I desperately needed. Here is what I did:

I accepted myself where I was, not where I wanted to be. I looked in the mirror and decided that I was going to love myself, no matter what my body looked like.
I started reading. I discovered what was in my food, paying close attention to all the ingredients. If I didn’t know at-least one ingredient, I didn’t buy it. I googled everything. That was the biggest game changer for me.
I took my time. A lot of us want change overnight, that’s why we are always looking for quick fixes to “help” us or to “make things right”. However, quick fixes often do more harm than good, I know, because I’ve tried them. Instead, I moved at my own pace. I did not cut off foods overnight. I slowly decreased the amount of unhealthy foods and sugary drinks I put in my body, allowing my body to change one meal at the time. Slow and steady.I switched white rice with whole grains, like brown rice, quinoa and kamut. I stopped eating red meat and pork, and replaced it with chicken, fish and shellfish. I ate more vegetables, like zucchini, broccoli, butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, avocados and romaine lettuce. I ate more fruits, like watermelon, mangos, pineapples, oranges and plums. I looked for options that traveled well so I could take them to work or on the go. I ate a variety of seeds/nuts, like pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, cashews and pistachios. I also drastically cut back on sugary drinks and replaced them with water.
Consistency. In the beginning, I had more bad days than good days, but I stuck to it. It wasn’t always easy, especially when I moved in with my mom who is addicted to white rice. I did my best until my best paid off. When I started seeing results, I knew it was working. I had to keep going until I began having more good days than bad days.

What did your workout routine look like?
For the first 3 months, I just walked for 30 minutes. Slowly I felt strong enough to walk/jog for 30 minutes, before I knew it I was running for 30 minutes. Two years later, I ran my first marathon (not in 30 minutes, lol). If you are anything like me, you need to switch things up often. Make sure you do that. I’ve done yoga, running, twerk, belly dancing and, my favorite, pole dancing. If it is fun and it gets me moving, I try it. I stick to working out 4-5 times per week for no more than 1 hour. These days I am doing T25 from Shaun T (or crazy insanity guy sas I like to call him, lol) and that’s only 25 minutes. I don’t like to have to think about putting my workout together, so I let other people do that for me. Exercising is important, but food is the most important part.

What was your starting weight? What is your current weight?
I lost about 25 pounds and I’ve gained some of it back in muscle. My starting weight was 160 pounds and my current weight is 148 pounds. I lost the weight in late 2012 and have kept it off for 5 years. I’ve built a lot of lean muscle over the years. My height is 5’ 7″.

When did you start your journey? How long did your transformation take?
I began my journey in July 2010. I relapsed in 2011 and started over in March 2012. My most recent transformation is the product of all those years. Everything I’ve learned has helped me succeed. We can say that for the last 5 years, I’ve been pretty on it without major setbacks.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
Food First. We are obsessed with working out, and I get it. Working out is easy. It is a lot easier that getting to the root of our unhealthy relationship with food. It is easier than saying no to foods, saying no to drinks, easier than meal prepping, easier than cooking, easier than saying no to meals that we’ve loved our entire lives. Trust me, I know how hard it is.

Sometimes it is still hard for me.

If you want to be healthier, you must start with the food. Think about what ingredients are in the food you bring home for you and your family. Think about how you cook the food you eat, and what you can you do today to eat a little better. You might not be where you want to be, but you have the power to begin small changes to help you reach your goals.

What advice do you have for others who want to lose weight?
My advice comes in two parts:

Start where you are and don’t do too much too fast. If you drink 3 cans of soda (or pop if you are not on east coast), try to cut back to 2. If you fry 10 meals a week, try to cut back to 8 meals a week. You might not think you are doing much, but these small steps will give you the right foundation to be able to handle bigger changes later. Focus on what you can control. You might not be able to buy organic, but you can bake instead of frying.
Read your nutrition facts label. Remember when I said I started reading? Well this is what I meant. The nutrition label can be a little intense for a beginner, especially if you don’t understand the terms. This is why you must start by focusing on the ingredient list. If anything has more than 15 – 20 ingredients, look for a similar product with less ingredients. If you don’t know the ingredients look them up. If you do the research and you still want to buy it, then buy it, but at least you will be making an informed decision. I recently put together a free guide to teach you the best way to read the nutrition label, especially if you are a beginner. You can find it on my site: iamhealthyfit.com.

You are not alone, you have a whole tribe behind you and I am here to support you every step of the way. So, you have no excuse, sis. It’s time to reclaim our time and get our health in order.

Instagram: @~~iamhealthyfit~~ @norypouncil
Twitter: @_iamhealthyfit

nory before and after

5 Mistakes Vegetarians Make When It Comes to Healthy Eating

May 31, 2016 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

Countless studies have proven the benefits of a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, sparking the growing popularity of vegetarian cuisine. However, to fully realize the benefits long term you need to do a bit more than simply cutting out meat!

A well planned plant-based diet is packed with disease preventing nutrients – processed and packaged vegetarian junk-foods generally are not. We reveal how to stay healthy, create balanced meals and avoid the common mistakes health conscious vegetarian consumers make.

1. Focusing on Meat Replacement

Simply swapping the meat out of your diet and replacing it with a processed substitute will not deliver the health benefits of vegetarian living. Some food producers are out to make profit, not look after your health. They add flavour enhancers, sugars, fillers and flours to get you to buy their latest fake-meat produce. It’s important that you know the quality of the meat substitutes that you purchase and consider the ingredients.

You may see the use of deceptive labelling, like the word ‘natural’. The packaging may include images of fresh fruit, farms and smiling families to try and convey a healthy pedigree. It is vital that you check the labels carefully and lookout for added sugars, additives and chemicals (Are any of these chemicals potentially as damaging to your health than meat is? That is the question. That is why research is so important.).

Move away from just trying to replace meat and instead find textures and flavours that are satisfying without needing to look or feel exactly like a chicken, pork, fish or beef. Leftover ingredients, specifically potatoes, beans and vegetables, can be easily re-combined with ground-flax and formed into a huge variety of ground “faux-meat”, burgers and pattis to be grilled at home (lots of veggie patty recipes online). Experiment with what works for you, in terms of flavors and spices. Maybe you like it extra hot and spicy or maybe a peanut sauce is just what you need to add that ‘scrumptious’ element back. (Here’s a great recipe for vegan tacos where the “meat” is made from lentils and walnuts)

2. Not enough variety – Variety is the Spice of Life

When food is satisfying it is much easier to stay on a health conscious path. However, if you feel bored, let down or generally dissatisfied with your food, temptation can rapidly pull you down a slippery slope. Laziness is another sure fire way to lose that healthy vegetarian-glamour and trade it for a greasy too-much-take-out look!

Find time to experiment with new foods, flavours, cooking methods, recipes and places to keep your taste buds excited about your eating choices. Adding herbs and spices is an excellent way to make things look and taste really different and at the same time add some health promoting phytochemicals into your dishes. Eating a variety of fresh produce, beans, grains, healthy fats, etc is also key to not having nutrient/vitamin deficiencies (a vegetarian multivitamin with B12 and iron is a great option too).

Learn healthy ways to add deliciousness and excitement to your food. For example, coconut cream, made with natural sweetness, tastes amazing. Taking the time to find out what works for YOU is key – listen to your body and senses.

3. Lack of Planning and Preparation

Planning for meals and snacks gives you time to think in advance about what you might like in a calm and collected way. Waiting until you are starving hungry is never the best way to make an informed decision about what to eat.

Learning to cook, by yourself or with others, is key to healthy eating. It’s unavoidable when it comes to embracing a plant-based, whole food diet. Make sure you have some quick solutions to hand at home, for example frozen homemade meals, homemade soup or tahini for a delicious hummus that can quickly and tastefully satisfy you.

Food processing takes fresh food and adds bleached grains, sugars, preservatives and other chemicals to increase the shelf life. You can cut out the chemicals and the cost, by carrying fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts as snacks or even meals. It might sound difficult at first but having some fresh fruit and a jar of homemade sugar-free date and chocolate sauce means you will look forward to your fruity indulgence. Figure our what snacks and meals will keep you away from temptation.

4. Too Few Protein Sources

Vegetarians need to eat a variety of nuts, seeds, sprouts, legumes, peas and beans with a good selection of different fruits and vegetables to ensure enough protein. There are veggie based protein powders and supplements available out there, based on protein rich foods like soy, hemp and peas. Look for the brands with the most natural ingredient lists.

Eating a wide variety of protein sources will ensure you get the essential amino acids and other nutrients you need. Scientists used to believe that a vegetarian diet did not include enough essential amino acids (protein building blocks). However, recent scientific research has definitively concluded that:

“a vegetarian diet can easily meet human dietary protein requirements as long as energy needs are met and a variety of foods are eaten”…”the consumption of plant proteins rather than animal proteins by vegetarians may contribute to their reduced risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease”. (Australian Journal of Medicine, 2013).

5. Lack of Research When it Comes to Nutrition

Don’t assume being vegetarian is by default healthy, because it isn’t. Refined sugar and refined wheat are both vegetarian and they are by far some of the worst things you could be including in your diet. Being a conscious consumer is vital to steering clear of products which adopt a healthy brand image yet contain lots of unhealthy ingredients.

The widespread use of pesticides has impacted our fruit and vegetables (reducing nutrient density) and our own health. Many people are choosing to grow their own, go organic or even find wild sources of nutrition whilst out exploring nature, like dandelion leaves.

Superfoods and juicing – both of which are excellent easy ways to add more nutrients to your day. Empower your choices and make well planned and nutritionally sound decisions about your diet by learning more about nutrition. Fresh fruits and vegetables contain a vast array of health promoting bio-active compounds and fiber and the more you add to your diet the better. You simply cannot eat too many greens!

Bottomline: Do your research and education yourself about eating a balanced, healthy plant-based diet.

Get in Balance

The American Dietetic Association clearly state that “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases”.

Health and vitality is about creating a balance of toxins and nutrients. The food you eat, the air you breathe and even the thoughts you think will either bring toxins into your body or help your body get rid of them. Give yourself the chance to thrive and get in balance with a well-planned and delicious plant-based nutritious diet.

References

Food Packaging and Labeling Could Be Incorrect

June 16, 2015 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

food labels Calorie counting is one of the most universally common means of losing weight. Diets focusing on weight loss, whether it’s Paleo or vegetarian, often times use some type of method of counting calories or portion sizes to ensure that there is a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit means you consume less calories than you burn. When this happens your body is more prone to lose weight as long as it’s getting the right mix of food. (i.e. eating 1200 calories of pure sugar a day would not be a recipe for weight loss).

Calorie counting is surprisingly easy as most American food manufacturers have to include in-depth nutritional analysis on food labels. As a person eats their meals throughout the day they can write down the nutritional information of food and tally it all up to learn how many calories they’ve consumed. Much of this information is now available online as well since it’s been cataloged and collected. Though this method works well for many, sometimes people find themselves hungry, not seeing the results they were looking for or even losing weight when they are only trying to maintain weight or gain muscle.

The reason for this may be because of inaccurate food labels and packaging.

How Truthful Are Food Labels?

It is both surprising and worrying that food labels could be inaccurate at times. There are two main ways labels are inaccurate:

The Product Is Marketed as Healthier Than It Is

This first inaccuracy isn’t so much of a lie as it is a trick to get people to buy a product. Certain terms like “natural” and “made with real fruit” are used to convince consumers to buy the product, believing that they are buying something that is healthy. In reality there are no rules as to what the product says as long as it is in some way true. For example, an energy bar that is filled with chemical additives and heavily processed ingredients could still be labeled as “natural” just because an ingredient used in it is whole almonds. Similarly a fruit leather being sold as a healthy product “made with real fruit” could in reality only contain 1% of whole fruit.

Don’t trust the bright, bold labels on foods claiming that it is healthy. Turn it over and read the ingredient list.

The Calorie Count is Higher or Lower Than It Should Be

The calorie count listed on food labels can also be inaccurate- either being higher or lower than it should. This is obviously quite a problem for someone relying on calorie counting

A study done by the American Dietetic Association showed that restaurant meals were roughly 18% higher in calories than stated and popular frozen dinners from grocery stores were 8% higher. When they added free side dishes into account, the average restaurant diner ate roughly 245% more calories than what the menu says.

High fiber foods, nuts and meats may actually be lower in calories than food labels estimate. In a Times article highlighting research done on the subject, scientists found that the energy expended trying to digest these foods isn’t taken into account on nutrition labels. Upwards of 25% of the calories in one serving of almonds may be used during digestion and thus not contributed towards overall consumed calorie count. Similarly, foods high in insoluble fiber may not be used by the body at all but execrated. In that case quite a high percentage of the calories isn’t used.

Aside from these two issues, labels may also not list potential allergens, containments and sometimes not include all of the ingredients. The latter being unfortunately common in supplements.

Knowing that your food labels may not be accurate makes calorie counting and elimination diets difficult. It is important to carefully read labels and if there is a term you are uncertain of, take a moment to look it up on your phone. If you have allergies, such as gluten intolerance, it is extremely important to scour the label and if it isn’t clear whether the food has gluten, pass it by. If you are calorie counting and eat a lot of foods high in carbohydrates or low in fiber, the food label is probably pretty close to being accurate.

If you are on a low carb or Paleo style diet you may not be getting enough calories if you are just going by the labels. Increase the amount by 100 to 200 grams and see how you do. If you hit a plateau or begin to gain weight you will know you were eating enough before. You may instead find that you continue to lose weight while also feeling more satiated because you were eating fewer calories than you thought.

The best way of knowing exactly what you are eating is to eat as much whole foods, unprocessed, unpackaged as possible. A diet rich in whole foods will give you nutrients, vitamins and minerals you could never get from just eating processed meals. Additionally, if you do slightly overeat you aren’t likely to get the same ill effects.

Anissa lost 160 pounds with surgery

March 9, 2015 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

Update Oct 2015 – Anissa lost the weight and now she’s raising funds to remove a significant amount of loose skin.- I had the gastric bypass March 17, 2009. In four months, I had lost up to 186 pounds but I wasn’t healthy. I wasn’t eating and I was real depressed. I still didn’t like the new me at a lighter weight and hell I’d lost a whole person. At the time, I thought that once I lost the weight the opposite sex would be interested in me. However, over time I had to realize that I had to like and love me before the rest of the world could.

anissa gofundme These days I have found who I truly am. I have found my worth and I know that I’m overly blessed to have gone through my struggles to get to this point in my life. I took a body fat test and found out that I have 144 pounds of lean body muscle and 54 pounds of body fat – 198 pounds total (down from 360 pounds). I am so proud of the accomplishment that I have made, but there is only one thing that is holding me back. It is a constant memory of how bad I abused my body, i.e. the extra skin that I have hanging from my arms, stomach, and thighs.

So, I’m asking for help!! I am asking for $1 to go to my gofundme account. This will go to saving up for the surgery to complete the journey. I’m asking only $1, but if you feel led to give more then I’m overly honored and grateful. You can find me on Facebook: anissaboston, Instagram at @boston79ak, and gofundme.com/cuttingthefat.

Mar 2015 – Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Anissa lost 160 pounds with gastric bypass surgery and by changing her lifestyle. Eating clean, working out and learning how to shop for healthy food were huge factors on her journey. Here is what she shared with us…

anissa before and after

My weight loss motivation was my children. I didn’t want them have to experience the life of obesity as a life long experience as I did. Who inspired me was a young lady named Cierra Murphy. I knew her when she was in high school and as she graduated and went on to college she took her life back.

I had lost my job and all I had were food stamps coming in so I took a class that the county posted and they taught how to shop the perimeter of the store and how to read labels. So, I stated to read labels when I shopped. If enriched or unbleached was the first word in the ingredients, I didn’t buy it. Eventually I cut out bread and ate more veggies. I introduced kale into my life too. I ate in for each meal, having a protein and vegetables.

For exercise, I walked at least two miles daily. I would walk to the gym which was about a mile going and coming and work out. Then I added Shawn T’s Focus T25 program. When I found employment, my job was my exercise because I was wrapping pallets by hand and standing. With work, I was walking daily at least 8 miles on top of the focus T25 in the morning.

My starting weight was 360 pounds and my current weight is 200 pounds with a body fat percentage of 27.18%. I’m 5’5″ tall. My transformation is on still going today but it will be seven years total on St . Patrick’s day of 2015 since I had the gastric bypass surgery and 17 months of eating clean as a lifestyle. To take everyday as a new day. If you can get to 12 pm with eating clean, then tomorrow push your self to get 12:15 pm. Don’t stop keep pushing. Know in your heart that you can do all things. Get past yourself and push pass your pain.

Instagram: @boston79ak

anissa weight loss

The Basics of Weight Loss

January 9, 2014 by Ajima Jackson 9 Comments

Certain things never change and how to effectively lose weight and keep it off is one of those areas of life. Here are the basics of weight loss that can work for almost anyone*.

Eat Real Food

If you can do nothing else but eat real food, you are more likely to begin to lose weight and see your health improve. The simplest rule of thumb about dieting is if it has been packaged, processed, sealed, doused with chemicals or otherwise prepared by a machine – don’t eat it/avoid it. If you don’t have time to cook every day, find time to cook once a week and prepare your meals in advance. If you can’t eat the most real, natural foods…eat the best quality food that is available to you. Read the labels to know what is in your food. Check out our Clean Foods List and get started today!

Don’t Starve

Restricting calories and starvation diets are two very different things. Don’t’ starve yourself because not only is it unhealthy, it’s a great way to gain weight. Surprised? The body has a self–preservation setting to prevent starvation that will cause it to hoard fat and make fat from whatever it gets if it is not getting nutrition on a regular basis. Starving can also slow down your metabolism.

No Fad Diets

Anything that promises you huge weight loss in a week is not the way to lose weight. You may drop more than 1 pound per week, but it will come flying back on (plus some) because losing more than a pound not only puts your body and mind into survival mode, but it means you aren’t creating a lifestyle change that will support keeping it off. If you can’t see doing the diet as a lifestyle for the long term, you run the risk of gaining all the weight you lose right back.

Allow for Cheating

Cheating happens for a number of reasons but mostly because we all happen to live in real life. Don’t beat yourself up about it, but get back to your weight loss plan as soon as you can. You can cheat the cheating by pre-planning how you will do it. If the Donut shop is your downfall, pick the donuts you can cheat with. It can be surprisingly effective to give yourself permission to cheat with rules as a way to stay on your diet better. Also, don’t do cheat days and cheat the whole day. Try cheat meals twice a month or cheat snacks once in a while.

Count Calories and Read Food Labels

Read the labels on everything you eat and drink. Make sure you are aware of the calories you consume and what ingredients are making up those calories. One thing to pay very close attention to is the amount of servings per container. A product that may advertise that it only has 100 calories may have 4 servings included. If you drink or eat the whole thing, that is 400 calories. It pays to spend some time on the Internet looking up the local restaurants you go to, including the quick cheat stops, to find out the calorie content of their menu items. We have no excuse because we can look up calories and menus on our cell phones in an instant. More info on counting calories and how much food you should eat.

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Home Delivery Diet Food Companies – Pros and Cons

October 17, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 1 Comment

diet food delivery meals It seems that with weight loss plans like Nutrisystem® or The Fresh Diet® we have been bombarded by the value that delivery diet meals can give us. They are convenient and face it, in today’s world, who doesn’t want fresh low calorie meals they don’t have to worry about preparing? They are popular in America because many of us feel we don’t have time to cook meals to specific calorie counts, especially when we have to take care of the house and cook for a family, which can be a challenge in and of itself. However, we understand that every family dynamic is unique so I’ve have taken the time to give you some pros and cons of these programs so you can make an educated choice.

Pros for home diet food delivery services

Convenience: This is of course the number one pro and the first most important reason people buy into these plans. They are nutritional “no brainers and at your door for the week, as long as you choose. This has another hidden benefit which is purely psychological and that is—when you have something you don’t have to think about—your brain thinks it’s easy and you become accustomed to it.
Cuts shopping time: If you are cooking for a family, then with these plans you are shopping for one less person and that can add up to a lot. Add in snacks that you will avoid and that’s even more savings. You have your neat and tidy menu all tied up for the week and you can stay on track with your eating plan! That means less time in the supermarket and if you are single—you’ve got it made in the shade!
Cooking time is cut in half: Or eliminated altogether depending on your home dynamic. You can have more time to yourself and spend less time on the utilitarian activities.
Variety: You will appreciate the variety in the meal options you have access to, especially when you don’t have to do the cooking.
Nutrition info: All the nutrition info is available to you ahead of time so that you can pick the foods that work with your weight loss goals.

Cons of home diet food delivery

Not planet friendly: There is a lot of potential tree killing that can go into all that packaging and if it is all meant to be microwaved—you may lose weight but you may also lose nutrients in the midst.
Cost: A lot of these services are not light on the wallet. The cost can be a few hundred a month that you didn’t count on. It’s not affordable for everyone, but you really do have to compare the cost to your current food costs to know for sure. You may find out that you could save some money with prepared meals.
What’s inside? You MUST take a look at the nutrition label for any prepackaged or pre-prepared food because many are full of preservatives and flavorings as well as artificial colors. A lot of these meal delivery plans do strive to keep their ingredients natural and healthy, so there are options.
How focused on nutrition are they really? They may only be focused on calorie count and portion instead of having any nutritional value—again—read the label.
Schedule: For some companies, drop off times my not be convenient. You don’t want to be stuck in traffic or working overtime just to come home to a bunch of expensive rotten food waiting at the door.
Habit: When you stop the diet—you may have become too accustomed to the packaged stuff and run right on off the plan into junk food land. Prepare yourself for what you will do for meals after you stop using a plan like this so your weight doesn’t rebound.

Bottomline: If you wish to try the packaged variety of diet plan, make sure you do your research. Not all diet meal delivery plans are created equal. One great way to decide if a plan is for you is to see if you can do one month as a trial, taste the food and read the labels. You should go to see the diet delivery plan specialist in person if there is a store near you. This is because you can generally get a taste-test there, like at a Jenny Craig®. If you do it online then choose one with a minimum time limit or minimum purchase. If it doesn’t work for you then you haven’t been contracted into a long-term affair.

Fact: 1 Pound of Fat equals 3,500 Calories

October 15, 2013 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

Weight Loss Motivation for the Day

1 Pound of Fat equals 3,500 Calories! We also know that 500 calories burned per day for 7 days equals 3,500 Calories!

GET THE Math and how it can help you?

Knowing the amount of calories you eat and what you burn in terms of activity can be very helpful when you are losing weight. It’s not 100% of the weight loss equation. There are many other factors that impact weight loss, but this basic information can help you understand what weight loss goals are realistic and which ones are not. For example, I heard Ruben Studdard this morning on the Tom Joyner Morning show say that on the new season of “The Biggest Loser” they worked out 7 hours a day. Yes, that is what people on reality shows are doing to achieve the extreme weight loss you see, losing tons of weight in one week. In a recent article, for US Weekly, he says that he will have to workout 2 hours a day to continue his weight loss after the show. Huge calorie deficits are difficult to achieve if you aren’t working out for hours a day or drastically changing your eating habits.

calorie deficit 3500 calories

April Challenge Day 1 – Things you should know about reading food labels

April 1, 2013 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

Ladies, one of the main things you will want to use a guide to find out just how processed your food is during our April Challenge is Food Labels. This month we are committed to eating more REAL food and cutting out highly processed food and junk food, so these labels are KEY.

US food labeling requirements mandate that manufacturers give us certain information about the ingredients and nutritional value of foods, but sometimes we don’t pay attention. It’s very easy to see from the numbers, percentages and lists of ingredients that some foods have very little nutritional value and may be contributing to our weight gain. If you really, really want to know if your food is REAL, the food label is the place to look.

Here are some points you can look out for:

Fat Free/Sugar Free – Don’t believe the claims on the label or the front of the box without thinking about how all of the ingredients can contribute to making a food “fatty”. If a fat free item has a lot of sugar grams listed in the nutrition info, that sugar can be converted to fat in your body. That is the case with “fat-free candy”. LOL! I wish I could just chow down on some gummy, fat free candy as if it’s carrot sticks. Nope.
“Only 100 calories per serving!” – Make sure you know just how much of a food makes up a serving by checking the food label. You may see that a food is just “XXX calories” but what they don’t like to tell you on the front of the package is that you have to multiply that number by the number of servings. For example, if a bag of chips has 210 calories per serving and there are 4 servings in the bag…you can quickly eat 840 calories in your mid-day snack. Wow! It’s my experience that most of the time, the serving size is very small compared to what most people eat as a serving. A digital kitchen scale can help in this regard so you know exactly how much you are consuming.
Calorie Counts – I like to think of the calorie counts on food labels as a deterrent to me eating heavy, calorie laden foods. You can’t deny the truth that is a label that telling you that if you eat that pint of ice cream (4 servings at 400 cals per serving) that you will eat 1200 calories. For some, that is their whole calorie intake for the day! Make sure you are checking calorie counts and considering what lower calorie options you could have instead. You may also find that cooking more allows you to better control calories from things like butter, oil, corn syrup, trans-fats, etc.

Green smoothie book Kindle — Great Green Smoothies you can use to replace sugary drinks

Liquid Calories: Food labels on liquids like juice and soda are also very telling. Calories in liquid form have been shown to be a major factor in the rising epidemic levels of obesity in this country. Since there is usually not much fiber in processed sugary drinks, you don’t feel full and there is no protein to balance out the carbs. Your body can experience a sugar high as your blood sugar elevates. Sports drinks, commercial pasteurized or from concentrate juice, sweet tea, soda, coffee drinks, energy drinks…all have little nutritional value when compared to real food options like water, fresh juice and green smoothies. Oh, and don’t think that artificially sweetened is the way to go to avoid calories. It’s thought that some sweeteners can cause bloating, nerve issues and increase your sugar cravings.
Fats, Cholesterol and Sodium – Everyone focuses on calories, sugar and carbs when they are watching their weight, but many forget about fat, sodium and cholesterol. Watch for this content and limit it as much as you can. There are of course good fats, but you want to look out for saturated and trans-fat as well as cholesterol. Also, too much sodium is going to weak havoc on your body’s need to retain water and can affect your blood pressure in a negative way.
Here is a great tip on carbs and sugar from Joy Bauer: “Low-quality carbs that shouldn’t take up much space in your daily diet (unless they’re naturally occurring, such as those in unsweetened fruit and dairy products). The USDA recommends limiting “added sugars” from packaged foods and sugar/honey/jelly packets to no more than 40 g per day, the equivalent of 10 teaspoons. But less is best!”
How do you know what kind of sugar is in a food? – There are so many names for sugars in term of ingredients. Here is a good rule to go by: Look for Syrup, sweetener, and ingredients that end in “ose”. Here are a few examples, but there are many more: corn sweetener, corn syrup, cane juice, high-fructose corn syrup, lactose and glucose.

food labels

Margon lost 57 pounds

Nory lost 25 pounds and gained a healthy and fit lifestyle