The Hot Mommas ~ Fit and Fabulous MISSION NINE

Choosing Healthy Replacements

On the road to healthy living we are always searching for small things that we can to do keep us on track.  It is amazing to find that all of these small things actually pay off and end up helping  us to get to a positive end result.  This week I challenge us to make healthy replacements daily.  Replace bad (or not-so-healthy) actions/choices with healthy and active ones. 

The MISSION this week is to use one of the following Replacement Options every day for one week (and hopefully beyond).  You can mix it up throughout the week. Also, if you come up with a healthy replacement idea of your own, feel free to post it to our Blog or FB page.

The CALORIE ERASER Water Replacer: Replace One High Calorie Drink with Water per day! Research has proven that those who routinely replace high calorie juices, smoothies, sodas, alcoholic drinks, coffee drinks, etc with good old water tend to be healthier and have more successful weight loss.  Taking in liquid calories is one of the most common mistakes for those seeking to be fit and lose weight. Liquid calories (from sugar and fat) are sneaky and go down quickly. Most high calorie drinks are not actually replacing any calories that we eat, just complimenting them.  This is where we run into trouble. If you can replace just one of your indulgent drinks per day with an extra glass of water, you will be on the road to success.

The Commercial CALORIE BLASTER Break: Replace television commercials with a get up and move living room exercise.  Why not get in a few extra calorie burners / body toners during the commercials?? Here are a couple living room ideas – feel free to add in your own! (NOTE: be sure your body is warm before doing these. The first commercial break should be filled with some low impact cardio):

Jumping Jacks + Push ups Do 15 Jacks. Follow by 10 Push ups.  Repeat until your show is back on!  BEGINNER: Do Wall Push Ups – hands shoulder width on wall, feet walked out slightly behind body. PRO: Do one Jack, fold forward, hop your feet back and perform one push up. Repeat.

High Knees + Chair Dips Jog in place, lifting your knees high for a count of 15.  Follow by 10 Triceps Dips off the edge of a chair. Hands on the edge of a sturdy chair. Elbows point back, hips lower down and the backs of your arms (triceps) press you back up.  Repeat! Beginner:  Move body down slowly while supporting your weight with your legs.  PRO: Walk your feet further out from your body.  OR cross one foot over the opposite knee for more resistance.

The Snack Attack HEALTHY Replacement: Replace an unhealthy snack with an energy boosting, healthy choice. Snacking is a good thing for a strong metabolism, a healthy lifestyle and weight loss. It is just the choices and the timing of the snacks that makes all the difference in success or failure.  Replace one unhealthy (low protein, high sugar or high fat) snack with something that will boost your mood, energy level and metabolism.   Choose foods such as fruit/veggies,  low fat dairy, nuts/seeds, whole grains, etc.

Here is a great link to 100 Healthy Snacks under 200 Calories:

http://www.ivillage.com/100-healthy-snacks-under-200-calories-0/4-b-291931#291946

Have a great week ladies! Make your replacements count and you will see exactly how little changes throughout the day add up to create BIG results!

Hot Mommas: Comment Here or on the Facebook Link ~ Mission Recieved and Mission Complete.

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Healthy and Fit Breakfast Cereal Recipe

Start the day with an Energy Packed, Nutritious, Power Breakfast!

Looking for a way to start the day full of energy? Need fiber, protein, calcium and potassium  in your diet?  Try this Healty and Fit Breakfast Cereal Recipe strategically developed by Registered Nurse, Jodi Loeffen.

This recipe is great for all of us working to keep our metabolism pumping strong all day, striving for healthy weight loss & working to improve dietary habits!  It is low on calories (served as a meal), high in protein, fiber and calcium. It is simple and tastes great!

Healthy and Fit Breakfast Cereal

Ingredients:

14.1 oz Box Kashi Go Lean Cereal

5 Cups Cheerios

5 Cups Wheat Chex

Box of All Bran (to add in ¼ cup servings daily)

Fat Free Milk (to add 1 cup daily)

Fruit of your choice

Instructions:

Combine Kashi, Cheerios and Chex.  Store mixture in air-tight container for freshness.  For breakfast serve up  1 ½ Cup of the mix.  Then on top add ¼ cup scoop of All Bran Cereal.  Follow with 1 Cup of non-fat milk.  Add fruit for extra fiber, nutrients and flavor. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:

Kashi/Cherios/Chex Mix

Calories: 180

Protein: 11 grams

Fiber: 8 grams

Carbs: 37 grams

Calcium: 111 mg

Cholesterol: ZERO

Sodium: 225 mg

All Bran Add On (1/4 cup)

Calories: 40

Protein: 2 grams

Fiber: 5 grams

Carbs: 12 grams

Sodium: 40 grams

Potassium: 175 mg

Fat-Free Milk Add On (1 Cup)

Calories: 80

Protein: 8 grams

Carbs: 12 grams

Calcium: 30% of daily value

Sodium: 125 mg

Potassium: 200 mg

GRAND TOTAL NUTRITION TAKE-AWAY….

** 300 calories (Great calorie count, especially for a meal that includes so much protein and nutrition!)

**21 grams of Protein (46% of your daily recommended amount ~ 46 grams per day for women 19-70yr)

**13 grams of Fiber (65% of your daily recommended amount~20 grams per day for women)

** 4 servings of Carbs (36-66% of your daily recommended amount~ 6-11 servings per day)

Bonus Breakfast Cereal Tip from Amy Bogart, RD: “The Rule of Five” ~ Always choose cereals that have NO more than 5 grams of sugar and AT LEAST 5 grams of fiber per serving!

This recipe was developed by Jodi Loeffen (Registered Nurse), approved by Amy Bogart (Registered Dietitian) & ed/published with permission by Jennifer Jens for Fit Fancy and Free. NOTE: If you choose to share this recipe, please give proper credit.

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Hot Mommas~Fit and Fabulous MISSION FIVE

What does Healthy Mean for YOU?

To be healthy is a very broad suggestion… There are many components to our real and perceived health; and they each vary greatly from person to person. One may think being healthy is strictly a physical thing. For others it encompasses everything from emotional stability to Triglyceride levels. There are many ways to look at our overall health and there are even more ways that we can make gradual improvements daily to increase our physical, mental, social, sexual health and wellbeing. Just eating right and exercising is not enough, we must learn to look at our whole picture and recognize exactly where we can improve. Even the so called “healthy” person has areas for improvement. Why not make the best life for our bodies, minds and spirits?

1) This week’s Mission is about looking at a picture of our total health. Use the link below to determine your “Real Age”. I know it sounds a bit silly, but this test is very in-depth, uses scientifically tested questions and has been approved by medical professionals. The test combines many questions from many categories, including: physical health and medical history, social health, mental health, exercise habits, nutrition, etc. The “score” that you receive at the end, is a Real Age (as opposed to your calendar age). This is the age your body should be based upon how you answered the questions. I took this test 7 years ago and scored better today than I did at that time of my life . There are subtle things you can do on a daily basis to improve your “score” and work on your path to a Healthier Lifestyle.

http://www.realage.com/landing/entry4?cbr=GGLE10037X

In order to take this test, you will have to create an account (if you have not used this site previously). Once you issue your email and create a password, you can select “NO” to be removed from their email list (if you don’t want to receive anything additional in your inbox). If you do want to get info from them, it is all free and they will allow you to select categories of interest. NOTE: This test will take about 20-30 min to complete. It will stay on your browser screen if you need to step away.

2) The Second Part of this mission is to a write down an area for improvement. Then you need to challenge yourself to begin to making changes in your daily life that will improve your healthy living “score”. Print out the PDF attached to your Mission 5 email. Write down your Real Age “Score” and then also write your selected area(s) for improvement. Keep it visible so that you will remind yourself to stay on course.

Have a great week! Keep Active and Healthy!

_____________________________________

***Comment here that you received this Mission. THEN Comment back here once you have taken your Real Age Test & Started on your Healthy Living Improvement. The more you comment, the more Participation Points you earn + the more you help and inspire yourself and others!

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The Hot Mommas~Fit and Fabulous SLACKER FREE SNACKING

Everyone is off to a great start! I am so proud of you all for jumping in to your mission and hitting the trail to healthy living with fit and fabulous energy!  Keep those comments coming, they help you and others to stay on course.  Today’s topic is not an official mission – just an extra incentive to sticking to your plan…

Snacking happens for a variety of reasons: the need for an energy boost between meals, cravings, boredom, stress, socializing, etc…  Make a conscience effort to make our snacks purposeful.   Becoming aware of what we consume and its effect on our body and goals, really helps to ensure we make good choices.

In order to keep our metabolism pumping evenly throughout the day, a couple healthy snacks are essential.  It is much better to keep an even energy flow between meals, than to allow yourself to get hungry and overeat at meal times.  Good snack ideas include foods that are high in fiber, and include protein and low sugar and sodium.  Choose snacks that will give you sustainable energy instead of ones that fulfill a craving for the moment.  Don’t get me wrong – it is okay to splurge every now and then to enjoy life and something delightful.  After all, why are we doing this anyway? To suffer our way through another quick, failed diet – NO… we are changing our habits to make them life-long, healthy lifestyle adjustments.

How are we going to help ourselves with this idea of purposeful snacking??? SLACKER FREE SNACKING! This method is a Hot Momma trick that will keep us all on track.  Each time you pick up a snack, stop and think about why you are consuming it… is it because you are truly hungry and in need of an energy boost from a healthy option between meals?? If so, proceed. ……If not, and you decide to indulge anyway … THEN you owe yourself some cardio (ideally right then and there) the amount of seconds matches the amount of calories consumed (or about to be consumed).  For example, a Magnum Ice Cream bar = 270 calories, so that equals  4 minutes & 30 seconds of cardio (just a random example – I surely don’t know this right off the top of my head J).  This cardio can be jumping jacks, jogging or marching in place, walking the stairs, hops, walking swiftly along the hallway… whatever you choose.   It is best to do it right then – yes, right then.  Even if your indulgence is a Venti Frappaccino at Starbucks… quietly excuse yourself to the parking lot to get it done… hmmmm… makes you think – right?  

Try this a few times, and then start to realize just how expensive snacking can be…  Don’t be fooled, this “second matching cardio” does not actually burn off all of those calories – it just causes us to get some extra good out of our indulgence.  In order to burn off those 270 extra Magnum Ice Cream Bar calories, you would actually have to do about 30 EXTRA minutes of moderate exercise (for the average woman).  Interesting…

If you don’t know how many seconds you owe yourself, use this link (save it to your favorites):

http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/Foods/2500/Food.aspx

Now, in order to help yourself remember to do this – print out the Slacker Free Snacking PDF (sent via email), cut it out, stick it to your fridge, cupboard, wallet, desk, etc…  make multiple copies if needed.

Have a Fabulous Weekend!