Snacks.

Here is another tip I got in an email from Joann.

Healthy snacking between meals can be a good habit if you choose the right foods. So here are some tips to help:

• Snacks can curb your appetite so you don’t overeat later

• Healthy snacks give you added nutrients that you might miss in your meals

• Snacks can supply you with enough energy for your daily activities

• Preparing snacks in advance will help you make healthy choices when you feel hungry

• Wash and cut fruits and vegetables and pack them into small snack-sized plastic bags

• Easily grab a healthy portioned snack by pre-packing individual servings of crackers, pretzels, cereal, popcorn, nuts, and seeds

Try to choose whole, natural foods instead of processed snacks. Select a variety from the main food groups, and watch your portion sizes!

Snacks have been one of the things that I think have helped me alot over the last 4-5 months. It keeps your metabolism up to have your body not go into famine mode when it gets hungry. Instead it keeps processing instead of shutting down. Two of my favorite snacks are:

1. Triscuits and medium cheddar cheese sliced super thin.

2. Fresh strawberries and vanilla yogurt. Yum.

What are some of your favorite healthy snacks? Tell us in the comments.

To win this month:

February Contest:

Post help, advice, recipes, exercises...anything that helps you to stay motivated to make the changes that you need to make to have a more healthy lifestyle...put them in the comments each week. I'll pick the top ten comments/help and you will all get to vote on your fave. If you haven't particpated yet, it's not too late. Decide to make a change for yourself and give into a healthier lifestyle. Click here to see details about the contest for the whole year.

The winner will get:

Your favorite magazine subscription and $75 to your favorite shop. You want to have things around you that give you positive feelings and reminders about the awesome choices that you are making...so I want to help!

healthy. LIFE.

WPPI.

"Changes must be realistic and should not make you feel like you are depriving yourself."

I'm in Las Vegas at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International [WPPI] convention this week. Even though I'm away and even though you have to pay $10 a day to use the spa in this hotel I still went and got some exercise.

I walked the strip for almost an hour with Kelly and got a sprint and jog in there.

For breakfast I've just ordered the fruit bowl (so fresh and delicious!) and some toast. Even while you're out of town and there isn't a gym you can still stick with your healthier lifestyle. Remember, you just need to get in twenty minutes of walking (which I've heard I'm going to get just walking to the convention--about 10 times over) and just don't eat everything on your plate...and try to keep those plates small.

You can do it! If you're here in Vegas tell us in the comments what you're doing to stick with your healthy life plans and if you're not, tell us what you do when YOU travel.

travel. LIFE.

fave tips.

So all of you ahve been leaving some really awesome comments on Move it Monday. I love so many of them. So I'm going to post some of my faves...there are more (but it's really late...)

1. Wear red lipstick. Do 15 pushups a day. Wear skirts more. -Laura

2. Go to be early. -Deb

3. Brush your teeth when you are hungry. -Laura

4. Do a dance workout. -Gwendolyn

5. Have healthy things to eat in your fridge. -Kim L.

6. Have a friend who helps you. Kayleen T.

7. Have a walking buddy. Laura

8. Put a Victoria's Secret catalog over the screen of your tv on you treadmill to motivate you. -Nichole Mc

9. Remember to breathe while exercising and during the day. -Deb

10. Info on how to hold your body when you walk. -Kayleen T.

Thanks, Everyone!

***Some help for you this month...recipes that keep it healthy. Below are some links for recipes that will be healthy for you:

www.eatingwell.com

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/over-100-quick-and-easy-healthy-foods.html

http://www.healthy-quick-meals.com/

CONTEST WINNER:  Kayleen T.

February Contest:

Post help, advice, recipes, exercises...anything that helps you to stay motivated to make the changes that you need to make to have a more healthy lifestyle...put them in the comments each week.  I'll pick the top ten comments/help and you will all get to vote on your fave.  If you haven't particpated yet, it's not too late.  Decide to make a change for yourself and give into a healthier lifestyle.  Click here to see details about the contest for the whole year.

The winner will get:

Your favorite magazine subscription and $75 to your favorite shop.  You want to have things around you that give you positive feelings and reminders about the awesome choices that you are making...so I want to help!

healthy. LIFE.

walking. self portrait.

I can't say enough about the importance of getting a little exercise everyday. There are so many benefits! Not only do you feel great because you got out of the house and felt the air brush across your face, got your heart rate up a little, and felt your muscles move your mind was cleared and opened for ideas.

Ideas. That's probably one of my favorite things about walking. I LOVE ideas and when I take a walk I come home so full of them I have to rush to get them all written before I lose them. (I'm thinking about getting myself one of those tiny recorders that doctors have in the movies and walking with it. I'm sure I'll look quite the sight.)

It's wonderful to go out in the brisk morning air of February and walk around a dirt trail or around my neighborhood, free from the confines of the walls of my house, free of noise, free of requests for backpacks and homework being signed. I love my home and I love my family...and I love my walks.

Get out and take that walk today. Realize that you're doing it not just for your health but for your brain and your creativity. That makes it even more worth it!

What makes you feel healthy in your body, mind, and spirit?

happy. LIFE.

6 ways.

So sorry everyone! I had different plans for Move it Monday today but my computer isn't cooperating and the day has just sped by too quickly. So I'm going to post some tips that I was just sent by my wellness coordinator otherwise known as my health insurance company :).

Six Tips to Help Keep You on Track

1 – Focus on positive self-talk. Congratulate yourself every time you take a step toward better health and accomplishing your goals.

2 – Avoid beating yourself up if you should fall back or stumble. Set backs are a part of success so pick yourself up and start again.

3 – Stick to your goals by considering it a promise to yourself, not a test of your willpower.

4 – Avoid situations that put you in temptation’s path; create a positive environment for success at work and at home.

5 – Keep a sticky note in a prominent place to remind yourself of your goals.

6 – Be realistic. Make sure your goals are realistic ones that can fit into your lifestyle. Make changes as easy and convenient as possible.

Keep moving everyone!  After being so sick last week I was so grateful to be able to get out and walk again this morning! 

How are you doing?  Any great exercises, recipes, or other fun stuff?

fit. LIFE.