*image from thinnerware website*

thinnerware.

So...it's a new month!  We're almost at the end of our  year...

October's winner is Karen.  She won by only three posts...crazy!

Karen also told me about thinnerware.  I thought it would be a perfect giveaway since we've talked the entire year about just a couple of things making a difference in being more healthy and losing weight.

#1-Eat less, smaller portions

#2-Leave something on your plate

#3-Eat small, healthy snacks

#4-Walk at least 20 minutes a day

Thinnerware is a dinner set that helps you to measure your food without an additional measuring cup...it helps you to know what a serving size should be instead of what you think it ought to be.

So our contest this month will be to eat less.  Put less on your plate and then leave a little (if you can make yourself do this).  Get  your mind and your body to stop eating so much when you sit down to dinner or a snack or dessert.  Come to the weekly Move it Monday posts and post every day that you eat less than you normally eat.  Practice this month taking less food than you usually do.  The person that takes less food and eats less food the most days will be the winner.  The winner will get two sets of thinnerware (2 cups, 2 plates, 2 saucers). **this does not mean you eat less everyday of the month to the point where at the end of the month that you are eating only a crumb of food for a meal...it means that you are going to eat less every day this month than you did in the month of October.**

Next month (December) will be a big contest...get ready!

smaller. LIFE.

Halloween is coming.

And so are a bunch of other food holidays...

Sugar is around every corner.  Lurking everywhere just waiting for us to walk past so that it can jump out and scare us into having a little nibble of sugar or maybe a whole pound of sugar.  Halloween candy has been calling our name for over a month and before this week is out wal-mart's aisles will be stocked with all of the baking necessities a girl could want.  I walk past that canned pumpkin every time I go to the store for 4 months of the year.  I have a super dooper fantastic recipe for pumpkin bread...when I make it I eat almost the whole loaf with a gallon of milk.  It's that good.

Then it's Christmas and the shortbread stars that my Grandma made start to call my name.  They are a family tradition.  I love to make them.  They are very tasty.  My mouth is watering.

So...in order to help us all through the next couple of months, I've been scouring the internet.  I've been to a few sites.  I've found a few ideas for your defense against the sugar months.  I'll list them at the end of this post for your reading pleasure.  In the meantime, I'm going to list a compilation of what I found.

Hints and tips:

#1-Don't buy any candy.  I know you want to.  I know you think you'll save it for the little trick or treaters or for that candy dish on the side table at Thanksgiving.  We all know that there will come some reason to open that candy bag and consume the entire thing before any holiday gets here.  Buy the candy you need on the day of the holiday, if possible.  Your thighs will thank you.

#2-Eat healthy snacks.  This is the one place that will snag me up if I don't stock my house with something healthy to eat.  I'll end up grabbing a piece of candy.  That will last me about 5 minutes so I'll go get another one.  And now I have that weird candy taste in my mouth so I'll get another one...anyway, you get the picture.  I've posted healthy snacks here on my blog before.  Make sure you have some in your house.  Just say no to candy snacks.

#3-Eat a healthy dinner and don't skip meals.  Make a plan to create and eat a healthy dinner together.  Try to make it as colorful as possible.  A salad with all kinds of greens, a grilled chicken breast, some mixed veggies...

#4-Take a walk everyday.

#5-Brush your teeth.  When a candy craving hits you, brush your teeth.  You'll be surprised at how many things don't sound very good to eat when you've just brushed.

#6-Healthy sugar.  If you just have to have sugar make it a healthy option.  One of my faves is vanilla yogurt with strawberries. 

#7-Drink lots of water.  I have not been drinking my minimum of eight glasses of water a day.  I think it's affecting me in lots of ways.  One of them being that I eat more than I should because I think I'm hungry when I'm really super thirsty.  Today, I'm getting back to drinking more water.  I put a 16oz glass of water by my sink with a post in on it that has the number 2.  Everytime I finish that 16 oz glass I'm going to put a new number on it, next will be a 4, and then a 6.  I have to drink four of those glasses to get my water intake at it's minimum.  Now, every time I walk into my kitchen, I'll be reminded that I need to drink.

#8-Leave something on your plate.  When I'm paying attention enough to what I'm eating, I remember to leave something on my plate.  It sounds like a little thing but it will totally help you to eat less.

#9-Have only one piece.  When your kids come home from trick or treating with their boatloads of candy, don't sit down and have a feeding frenzy.  If you must have a piece, have just one and walk away, put it away.  Most times when we have a craving for something we really just need a small taste of it to satisfy ourselves.  For some reason we think in order to be satisfied we need to have a house sized version of whatever we crave...we don't.

#10-Eat pumpkin pie instead of pecan pie and brussel sprouts instead of green bean casserole.  Think about what foods you're making and consider whether or not there is a more healthy alternative.

So this almost feels like a review of the year so far!  All of the above links and some of the ones below are from Move it Monday posts!  This is it everyone!  We've got all of the knowledge to get through the holidays...let's use it and stay healthy through this last stretch of the year.  We can do it!!

How to NOT eat halloween candy:

kick your sugar addiction

avoid a sugar induced coma this halloween

avoid sugar cravings

sugar addiction

eating healthy during the holidays

healthy ideas

healthy. LIFE.

laughter.

The stress management benefits of laughter...I know I usually feel better after laughing at a difficult situation or finding a way to see the silly in an otherwise too serious circumstance.  I wondered about the health benefits of laughter and found a wide array of information here on the internet.  I discovered that you can go to a laughter yoga class...you can hire a laughter coach...and there are personal laughter advocates...

This is my favorite article on laughter, good humor, health.

I just want to laugh.  I like laughing...it's more fun to laugh when I'm with my kids and my husband...it's also easier.  Laughing at my ridiculous mistakes also feels better than completely stressing out over them.  Take the last couple of days for instance....

I say the wrong things at the wrong times...it's easier to laugh about that and it makes me feel more human.  Today I received an order that I had been waiting to receive of some envelopes that I wanted for a project I'm working on...I ordered cardstock by accident?  Who does that?!?  Apparently, I do.  After talking about it on the phone with my wonderful studio manager, Jessica, we had a good laugh about it, a little brainstorm, and everything will be just fine.  Laughing at myself helps the stress level to be sure.  I always need more laughing...it's a fun way to get fit! :)

The following comes from about.com.

• Hormones: Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), dopamine and growth hormone. It also increases the level of health-enhancing hormones like endorphins, and neurotransmitters. Laughter increases the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T cells. All this means a stronger immune system, as well as fewer physical effects of stress.

   

• Physical Release: Have you ever felt like you "have to laugh or I'll cry"? Have you experienced the cleansed feeling after a good laugh? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release.

   

• Internal Workout: A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward. It even provides a good workout for the heart.

   

• Distraction: Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions in a more beneficial way than other mere distractions.

   

• Perspective: Studies show that our response to stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a 'threat' or a 'challenge'. Humor can give us a more lighthearted perspective and help us view events as 'challenges', thereby making them less threatening and more positive.

   

• Social Benefits of Laughter: Laughter connects us with others. Also, laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you to laugh more, and realize these benefits as well. By elevating the mood of those around you, you can reduce their stress levels, and perhaps improve the quality of social interaction you experience with them, reducing your stress level even more!

   

How To Use Laughter:

Laughter is one of my all-time favorite stress management strategies because it's free, convenient, and beneficial in so many ways. You can get more laughter in your life with the following strategies:

• T.V. and Movies: There's no shortage of laughter opportunities from the entertainment, both at the theater and in the aisles of the video stores, as well as at home with T.V. comedies. While wasting your time watching something marginally funny may actually frustrate you, watching truly hilarious movies and shows is an easy way to get laughter into your life whenever you need it.

   

• Laugh With Friends: Going to a movie or comedy club with friends is a great way to get more laughter in your life. The contagious effects of laughter may mean you'll laugh more than you otherwise would have during the show, plus you'll have jokes to reference at later times. Having friends over for a party or game night is also a great setup for laughter and other good feelings.

   

• Find Humor In Your Life: Instead of complaining about life's frustrations, try to laugh about them. If something is so frustrating or depressing it's ridiculous, realize that you could 'look back on it and laugh.' Think of how it will sound as a story you could tell to your friends, and then see if you can laugh about it now. With this attitude, you may also find yourself being more lighthearted and silly, giving yourself and those around you more to laugh about. Approach life in a more mirthful way and you'll find you're less stressed about negative events, and you'll achieve the health benefits of laughter. (See this article on maintaining a sense of humor.

   

• 'Fake It Until You Make It': Just as studies show the positive effects of smiling occur whether the smile is fake or real, faked laughter also provides the benefits mentioned above. So smile more, and fake laughter; you'll still achieve positive effects, and the fake merriment may lead to real smiles and laughter.

   

• More on Having Fun: See these additional suggestions on laughing more and having fun in your life.

 Sorry about the title of this video...it really is hilarious...

sooo...it's not really Monday this week! :)

I took the day off yesterday and organized my kitchen with my kids and then we went out to eat and shopped for our menu this week.

Going out to eat made me think about how difficult it can be to eat healthy and eat out.  I love Panera Bread's Fuji Chicken Salad and the Asian Salad.  Some of my fave healthy choice places to eat out.  I always ask for the dressing on the side and put 1/2 of that little cup they give me on my salad.  I also don't eat the whole salad because it's ginormous and some of the stuff in the salad isn't as healthy as the actual greens...

I also love Just Fresh...the cobb salad there is awesome...even without the blue cheese dressing.

If you don't have a healthy choice and just have to eat at a burger chain because your kids won't have it any other way or because you're on the road and have passed 52 exits and all they have are greasy burgers and fries and you're starved...here are some tips:

(For more great tips go here )

The Big Burger Chains

winners.

Hello Friends...can we say it's still Tuesday...in California?

The winners of this month's contest are:

1st: Laura Stiller with 71 miles for the month. Awesome! Way to go, girl!

2nd: Karen

3rd: Michelle Sides

4th: Laura C.

All of these ladies each get a $30 gift certificate to their favorite place to shop.  Contact me and I'll get your gift cards sent out!  Congratulations!

NEW CONTEST:

We're almost to the end of the year and some of you have been faithful all year long to getting more fit and healthy.  I'm so impressed.  You have kept me motivated on many occassions.  Thank you!

This month, do something that keeps you fit every day.  Come to the Move it Monday blog post for the week every day and tell us what you did.  The person that posts the most days is the winner of a...you guessed it...$50 gift card.  Let the games begin.

Remember, there's a yearly contest for the Move it Monday friends...check it out here.

healthy. LIFE.