How Sweet It is

December 17, 2009 By

 

Sugar and alcohol, those are the two topics I get asked about the most when it comes to weight loss and fat loss.

Sugar can be as addicting as coffee or even cigarettes for some people. And just try and quit it once its got its hooks in you.

But sugar can be confusing too. Is there such a thing as "good" sugar and "bad" sugar? And is there ever a time when you need to eat sugar?

My friend Leanne Ellington from Not Your Average Boot Camp in Orlando Florida gives you the skinny on it all. Check it out.

Sarai

Filed Under: Nutrition, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Can You Drink And Lose Weight?

December 14, 2009 By

 

I’m not getting on my soap box here. I’m just telling you something you already know:

Booze leads to bad decisions. And in this case, we’re talking about bad eating decisions.

The extra calories from the cocktails is one thing. But really it’s the extra calories you chew that start to add up.

One piece of cake turns to two…

A handful of chips turns into a a bag…

The dip sitting in front of you mysteriously vanishes…into your belly…

You get the picture. 😉

Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Just be conscious of what alcohol does to your decision making.

Stay focused,

Sarai

PS – One of my favorite snacks is Prograde Cravers. I always keep one on hand at parties so I can feel like I’m having a sweet treat too.  It’s my duty as a proud Prograde Partner to share them with you 😉

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Eat Pancakes -Boost Your Metabolism

November 25, 2009 By

 

The last two weeks I’ve been talking to you about avoiding the end of the year weight gain but let’s get serious for a moment. You’re going to eat a LOT of food this Thursday. You know it. I know it. And that’s ok. I’m sure you’ve been working out just a little bit harder to prepare for it, right? 😉 And I know you’re going to get a good workout in on Thursday before you chow down, right?

Now, besides that, I also want to remind you one thing you do NOT want to do on Thursday is skip meals so you can stuff yourself with one big one. That’s a no-no.

You still need to start your day right by boosting your metabolism with a solid breakfast. So to help you out with that I’ve got a gift for you from me and my buddies over at Prograde Nutrition. It’s a delicious Protein Pancakes recipe.

Thanks to the protein in the recipe your blood sugar won’t go crazy like it can just by eating a huge stack of pancakes with sugary syrup. Nope, this recipe will fill you up, nourish your body and give your metabolism just the boost it needs.

Be sure to let me know how you like it.

2 c. whole wheat flour
1 scoop Prograde Protein
3 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 c. skim milk
3 egg whites
1/4 c. oil
2 tbsp. wheat germ
2 tbsp. cornmeal
4 tbsp. bran

Heat skillet or griddle to 375 degrees. In large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix until large lumps disappear.  Pour about 1/4 cup batter into hot skillet. Turn pancakes when edges look cooked and bubbles begin break on surface.

Filed Under: Nutrition, Recipes, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How To Avoid Being 15lbs Heavier By The End Of 2009?

November 17, 2009 By

 

It seems that the whole world has become aware of the fact that the average person gains 10-15lbs during the typical holiday season; Halloween to New Years.

But having this knowledge and actually doing something to prevent the unsightly weight gain is a different story.

So what can you do to actually go into 2010 without having “lose weight” as your annual new years goal?

I actually have lots of tips that will help you beat the end of the year 15 and today I’m going to share 4 with you that you can apply to your life all the time, not just during the holiday season.

1.) Eat Leans Proteins and Fruits and Vegetables FIRST

Just because it’s a holiday meal doesn’t mean you can’t eat any nutritious food. Make sure to load up on healthier food choices first and try to eat as much lean meat, fish, and fruits and veggies as possible at the start of each holiday event. This will leave less room for the unhealthier, higher calorie treats. At least this way you know your body is getting in some good nutrition and you are not putting yourself at excessive risk for sickness and/or other health concerns.

2.) Drink, Drink, Drink Water!

Water competes for space in your stomach and truly helps decrease appetite. For every plate you eat, try to drink at least 1-2 glasses of water. After that second plate, when you have 1 full liter of water in your stomach, I bet you might just throw in the towel!

3.) Control your Portions

Try to eat only half of all the servings of unhealthy food that you choose. Half of the portions equal half the calories!

4.) Use Lower Calorie/Carbohydrate Substitutes Whenever Possible

Instead of using sugar, opt for zero calorie alternatives like splenda or stevia. They can deliver a similar taste without all of the extra sugar and calories. Even try replacing yeast with protein powder when you bake. The extra protein and reduced carbohydrates will result in a slimmer you while still providing some great tasting treats! Your goal should be to find the minimal amount of calories that can provide the same great taste that makes the holiday treats enjoyable rather than simply overdoing it because you can!

Filed Under: Fat loss, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

2 Little Known Fat Burning Facts

November 10, 2009 By

 

Prograde Protein

Carbs, carbs, carbs. That’s what everyone seems to want to talk about. How do I avoid carbs?

Well, what you should be talking about instead is, "How do I get more lean Protein into my eating plan?"

Now THAT is the right question.

You see, Protein is where it’s at. Check out these two little known facts about protein:

  1. Protein requires more calories to digest than carbs or fat. This is called the "thermic effect of food." In other words, your body uses more calories to digest protein than other nutrients. Pretty sneaky, huh?
  2. Protein provides satiety. That’s a fancy way of saying you feel fuller for longer when you eat protein 😉

Good sources of Lean Protein come from foods such as:

Fish, eggs, poultry, lean beef…

But some people have trouble eating enough protein each day. Some people would like it to be more convenient for them.

If that’s the case with you then I have VERY good news. And it’s news I’ve been waiting to tell you for some time now.

My buddies over at Prograde Nutrition have finally released their pharmaceutical quality whey protein.

You see, not all Protein powders are created equal. Prograde Protein:

– Delivers unparalleled purity through low-temperature micro-filtering

– Is naturally sweetened with Stevia

– Contains 5.3 grams of branch chained amino acids per serving

– Mixes instantly with just a spoon

– Enhances absorption and digestion via lactase and Aminogen digestive enzymes

Look, I’ve been waiting patiently for Prograde Protein to come out. But as usual, Prograde just would NOT release this product until they could get it as close to perfect as possible.

The best part is they are putting it on sale this week to celebrate it’s launch. You can get it at 10% off this week ONLY. Just go to www.BootyCampNutrition.com and you’ll find all the details. Including the coupon code to use when you order to get the 10% off your order.

But you need to hurry. For one thing, the special price ends this Friday, November 13th at 11:59pm EST. The other thing is, well, I cannot begin to tell you how highly anticipated Prograde Protein has been. There’s a very good chance they’ll be out of stock well before Friday even gets here!

So get yours NOW.

Sarai D. Jones

Filed Under: Fat loss, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Healthy Fast Food

January 26, 2009 By

 

The dream: home cooked, healthy meals – fast food, dollar menu pricing.

Ever heard of a dinner prep kitchen?

A prep kitchen is a facility where most of the prep work that goes into cooking a meal, including the shopping, is done for you. All the vegetables are sliced, diced and chopped. The meats rinsed and trimmed and all the spices and seasonings laid out. Your job is to simply log onto the website of the place you are going, and choose from an ever changing menu of dinner options. The facility I took my Elk Grove boot camp ladies to this past weekend, Dinner My Way in Elk Grove (www.dinnermyway.com)- has about 15 meals on the menu each month. Once you reserve a time to prepare your food and decide what you are going to make, all you then need to do is show up and follow the directions given at each of the meal stations to prepare healthy meals up to the point of actually cooking them.

Besides doing all the grunt work for you, another great feature of these types of facilities is that the nutrition information is usually listed right on the website so you can make healthy selections that further you along in your fat loss goals or in your resolve to eat healthier. The average at home cook time for one of these meals is about 15 minutes and the average cost per serving is a very budget friendly $3.50.

Most of the ladies in my Elk Grove Booty Boot Camp had never heard of places like this, or they had, but really didn’t understand how it worked. so I took them on a field trip to see first hand what it is all about. It was a huge hit! All of the women from my busy moms to the single 20-somethings in my boot camp saw a place in their eating plan where an option like this could fill a gap that might have before been filled with unhealthy choices that somehow got them extra burpies in boot camp each week 😉 .

Check out the video I made of our field trip, and then check out a dinner prep kitchen near you.

Stay focused

Sarai D. Jones

Filed Under: Fat loss, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Choose Wisely When Eating Out

January 17, 2009 By

 

It’s the weekend and I know that means a lot of you are going to be going out to eat. But keep your food guard up. Saturday and Sunday are the two biggest reasons people find themselves plateauing in their fat loss efforts. In fact whenever a client comes to me to tell me they are no longer making progress I ask them how’s your diet? 9 out of 10 times this is the answer: "I do great during the week, but the weekends are not that good". This causes a vicious cycle that can be very discouraging. But I’m going to give you some tips on how to stay on track even when you are eating out this, or any weekend.

  • Stick with foods that are prepared in a healthy way. Grilled, steamed, baked and broiled are the words you should be looking for on the menu.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask how something is prepared. Lot’s of healthy sounding foods are often served layered in heavy creams or butter sauces.
  • If you are going to eat a pasta dish, chose red sauce over cream based sauce. Another thing to be aware of is the huge serving sizes of most pasta dishes. Box up what you don’t want to eat right away to avoid getting too much of this starchy carb.
  • Skip the all you can eat buffet. Enough said
  • Slow down. Put your fork down between bites and take a sip of water after each mouthful. You’ll be able to feel yourself getting satisfied before the point of over stuffing.
  • Watch the alcohol. Not only is it loaded with calories, you are also more likely to be freer with your food selections and portion sizes.
  • Order everything on the side. When it comes to ordering salads and baked potatoes, get all the extra sauces and creams on the side. Then only use about half of it and you’ll be on track with your portions.
  • Do not allow the breadbasket on your table until your meal has come. It is all to easy to fill yourself up on basket after basket of bread without realizing how much you’ve eaten. When the bread is brought to your table with the food, limit yourself to one piece.
  • You are more likely to stick with all of the above tips if you follow this one: Never go out when you’re starving! Not only will you inhale the bread, chips and other goodies they bring your way, but you are also less likely to stick to your resolve to order healthy.

The bottom line is; you must have a plan as to what you are going to eat and stick with it. If I know I am going to be eating at a chain restaurant, I will take a look at the nutritional info online before I go so I can decide what I’m going to have. Then, I don’t even bother to look at the menu when I get there. I know it will only tempt me. Eating out and losing weight can go together. You just need to be smart about your choices and have a plan.

Stay focused,

Sarai Jones

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , ,

Belly Fat Blasting Breakfast

January 16, 2009 By

 

If you want to burn the fat off your belly you need to burn THIS into your brain first.

Eat breakfast.

Look, you can make fat loss as difficult as you like. You can make it out to be super complicated if you so choose.

But one of the easiest things you can do to start melting the fat off your frame is to start eating a breakfast that boosts your metabolism and sets the tone for fat loss all day long.

Now, there’s a very good chance you’re shaking your head in agreement with me, but saying something like, "That’s great. I know that. But what the heck do I eat?"

Glad you asked 😉

Here are three simple fat fighting breakfasts from Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter:

1- Cottage cheese mixed with real fruit

2- Hard boiled egg and plain yogurt mixed with real fruit

3- 2 pieces of fruit and a scrambled egg wrap

Seriously, would that be so hard? Don’t you think you can manage that in the morning?

Well, if you can’t Jayson, who is the Head of R & D at Prograde Nutrition, has another suggestion. You can use a nutritious meal replacement shake like Prograde Lean.

Those of you in my boot camp know I love it. It taste so good! In fact, I know Prograde spent 6 months developing Prograde Lean just to get the taste right.

Ok, so there are 4 options for a Belly Fat Blasting Breakfast. Enjoy! And stay tuned for some more great ideas and videos.

Stay focused,

Sarai D. Jones

P.S. This is the website to get the Prograde Lean www.BootyCampNutrition.com You’ll love it

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

This Is Getting Out Of Hand!

January 9, 2009 By

 

So did you check out the new season of biggest loser this week?

It is a real wake up call that the obesity epidemic is getting out of hand. If you watched the show you know that they have the biggest man and women ever to be on the show. Nearly 400lbs for him and about 370lbs for her.

Wow! I know it’s a show filled with very large people but this season is really like no other!

I was thinking about how and why this is happening to us Americans and one thing that instantly jumped to mind is portion sizes.

Over the past few decades, portion sizes of everything from muffins to sandwiches have grown considerably. From 1977 to 1997, hamburgers expanded by 23%; a plate of Mexican food got 27%
bigger (see above picture); soft drinks increased by 52%; snacks (potato chips, pretzels, crackers) grew 60%.

It’s no wonder that season after season a major TV network can find plenty of severely overweight people to fill its show and "entertain" us.

Take a look at these examples of how much our portion sizes have changed.

This is getting ridiculous!

Well it all stops here. Did you know that just by reducing your portions of the exact same foods you eat now you could begin to lose massive amounts of weight? It’s true. Now think of what will happen when you start making healthier choices as well.

Here are some tips to get you started in the right direction:

  • Use smaller plates and bowls. There’s a proven link between the perceived
    size of food and appetite.
  • Order an appetizer as your meal or order from the lunch menu at dinner time.
  • Pay attention to what you’re eating. You’ll munch away more calories than you realize when you mindlessly stare at the television.
  • Learn how to read food labels. You need to mindful of not only the grams and calories, but you need to pay attention to exactly how many servings are in a package. A lot of products we often eat as one serving are really 2 or more.

The Reality:
You are going to be eating less so don’t be surprised if you feel a little hungry in the beginning. This will pass. Try drinking more water and loading up on fiber filled veggies to help you feel more full until your body adjust.

Start using these tips today. Let’s keep you off the biggest loser!

Stay focused

Sarai D. Jones

Filed Under: Fat loss, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fat Fighting Kung Fu Pills?

January 6, 2009 By

 

So another new year is upon us. Untold numbers of people are "resolving" to win the battle of the bulge this year.

Some people are actually laying out a solid plan based on exercise and nutrition.

Others are going to go on yet another fad diet.

Even worse, lots and lots of soon to be disheartened folks will be turning to the latest miracle pill they’ve seen on TV or the Internet.

It’s sad really.

The marketing for these pills gets cranked up to full blast now that it’s January. These far less than reputable companies know how desperate people are. And they certainly know how much greater that desperation becomes in January.

Look, you and I know better. We know that the only way you’re going to Kung Fu that fat off your belly, butt, hips and thighs is to eat right and exercise.

Know what else is sad?

Once people come to grips with the fact they’ve been ripped off over and over by these "miracle" diet pill companies, oftentimes they’ll refuse to listen to reason about nutritional products that have actual benefits.

For instance, did you know that Essential Fatty Acid products help promote fat loss through the stabilization of blood sugar levels?

And that they may also help regulate mood, improve heart health and decrease joint pain?

If people are looking for a pill to take – one that is actually based on research – they should strongly consider adding an Essential Fatty Acids product to their diet.

I’m asked all the time what I use and it’s Prograde’s EFA Icon (you can read more about it here: Prograde Icon

Again, I know you’re to smart to fall for the gimmicks, but if you know of anyone trying a diet pill this January, please tell them to get real. They’ll be better off for it.

Stay focused,

Sarai Jones

PS – Again, if you’re looking to add a great Essential Fatty Acid product to your diet be sure to check out Prograde’s EFA Icon. It’s the best out there. Prograde Icon

Filed Under: Fat loss, Nutrition Tagged With: , , ,
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