"The Skinny"
on Weight Loss!

July 2009

Welcome to "The Skinny", our new monthly newsletter! We received excellent feedback about our first four issues and hope you continue to enjoy our monthly e-zine! Our goal is to provide you with tips, tricks, and techniques you can use to help you achieve your wellness goals!

If you like this e-zine, please do a friend (and me) a big favor and share! If a friend did forward this to you, and if you like what you read, please subscribe.

If you have comments, ideas for future issues, or any kind of feedback, I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this e-zine and tell me what you think! You can also reach me through my contact page.

• Plan the meal out in your mind before going to the restaurant. You might not be familiar with their menu, but you’ll be able to guess the basic choices. Go through step by step, from wine and appetizer to dessert, visualizing how you want the evening to go. When you sit down and look at the menu, remember your plan.

• Order an appetizer as your meal. Add a small salad with the dressing on the side.

• Split a meal with your dining companion. Save money and have room for dessert. If no one wants to share a meal with you, put half to two-thirds in a “to-go box” for the next day.

• Eat S-L-O-W-L-Y and savor your food. Put down your fork between bites. Chew well. Remember that it takes approximately 20 minutes for you stomach to register that you’ve eaten enough. Assess how you feel and stop eating when you’re no longer hungry.

• Eat with intention! Be a good listener and focus on your companions instead of your food.

Click here to enjoy more Dining Out Tips!

One of the most important components of dining out is portion control! Whether you're dining in a restaurant or at a friend's house, you will need to make some important decisions about proper portions. As in all things, practice makes perfect, and educating yourself about portions at home can help you make those important judgments when you're eating away from home.

If you're the type of person (and you know you're out there) who simply isn't going to go to the trouble of weighing and measuring, but who needs to practice portion control, check out this fun, innovative invention. It's called a "Portion Pal" and it's easy to use. It comes with a set of 5 color-coded discs that can be used to easily measure your food. For less than the price of a single meal, you can take the guess work out of your diet.

Check out Portion Pal today!

50 Plus Fitness Walking

You do not have to be 50 to benefit from this fun, informative site devoted entirely to walking! My Canadian friends, Geoff and Yoko, provide walking tips, tips to help you find the proper shoes, tips to care for your feet, walking programs, and much more. You can even share your walking and hiking stories on their site. Check it out today and share it with your friends!

The first thing you’ll want to do is plan ahead. To “Go Green” you need to shop carefully. Don’t get caught hungry or you’ll go for the “easy” meal instead of the healthy meal. Check out your weekly grocery ads and make your shopping list and menu at the same time. Incorporate quick and easy weight loss tips into your meal planning.

Use local, seasonal produce. This will help cut down on shipping costs and decrease our dependence on oil. In addition, you can feel good about supporting local farmers, the local economy, and eating the freshest produce available. Local produce may cost a little more but it will last longer and be better for your family. Try a vegetable that you’ve never had before and ask for healthy cooking tips.

If you can’t find a big selection of locally grown produce, tell your grocery stores that you want to “Go Green” and ask them to carry more locally produced fruits and vegetables. Most are happy to oblige. Get a supply of easy to find reusable tote bags and keep them in your car for that spur of the moment stop at the grocery store or produce stand.

Be aware of packaging. Notice the plastic and cardboard that is used with your favorite products. Wal-Mart is one of the first chains to begin replacing their packaging with corn-based packaging for fruits, herbs, berries, and vegetables. Plan vegetarian meals for your family twice a week. As they get used to the idea and see how delicious the meals can be, add more vegetarian days. The commercial meat industry plays a big part in our environmental problems. This industry requires a lot of energy and may be a factor in climate changes due to greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the increased demand for meat, consider also the rising cost of shipping, production, and feeding the cattle. One study showed that it takes 4.8 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef. Consider whether that grain should be used to feed hungry people instead of hungry cattle.

Plant protein tends to be cheaper than meat protein. Use beans to enhance your meals. There are many healthy recipes available.

Drink tap water. Purchase a reusable neoprene bottle and fill it up at home. Americans throw away 70 million plastic water bottles each day! A very small percentage is actually recycled. In most cases the bottled water isn’t any more pure than the tap water. If you don’t like the taste of tap water, purchase a filter such as Brita, or use fresh lemon or lime. Imagine the shipping costs for something as heavy as water. Turn on your faucet!

Eliminate or limit sodas, even the diet ones. You’ll save on aluminum and get healthier in the process. Pack your lunch at home and take it to work with you. Buy a reusable lunch bag or box to save plastic and paper. Take silverware from home and replace it each night. You will save money and calories in addition to making an environmental impact. Research shows that 1.8 million tons of takeout containers and utensils end up in landfills. Avoid fast food restaurants for the same reasons.

Try out your farming skills. If you’ve never grown anything before, start small. Grow herbs to flavor your food while using less sodium. If you don’t have a big yard, plant in pots on your patio or deck. Cherry tomatoes, peppers, and even squash can be easily grown in pots and enjoyed all summer!

There are many more ways to “Go Green” with your diet and environment. We often become overwhelmed when we need to make changes, but start small and you’ll find it very easy to Go Green. Small modifications to our daily routines really do add up to big changes in our environment!

Bow Ties w/ Tomatoes, Feta, and Balsamic Dressing
(shared by my friend and neighbor, Pat, who is not only a great cook, but also a great gardener)
Serves 4

6 ounces uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup seedless green grapes, halved
1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
2 T. white balsamic vinegar
2 T. chopped shallots
2 t. capers
1 t. Dijon mustard
1/2 t. minced garlic
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
4 t. extra-virgin olive oil
1 (4-ounce) package crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese

Cook pasta, drain, set aside. Combine cooked pasta, tomatoes,grapes, and basil in a large bowl.

Combine vinegar and next 6 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil to vinegar mixture, stirring constantly with the whisk. Drizzle over the pasta mixture, toss well to coat. Add cheese and toss to combine.

Weight Loss Secrets Revealed: 7 Things That Will Lead to Success!

I can hardly remember a time when I wasn't worried about my weight. I was never really "fat" but definitely overweight! I was the classic "yo-yo" dieter, always gaining and losing the same 20 pounds. The older I got, the easier the weight came on and I found myself losing and gaining as much as 50 pounds instead of 20!

I tried every diet on the market and every diet pill that I could get a prescription for. They all worked--temporarily. Eventually, the weight crept back because I didn't change my habits for more than a few months at a time.

Even though I had tried the program before, I decided to give Weight Watchers another chance. This time I joined with friends and we were all excited about the potential to like the way we looked!

I was determined to be the "poster child" for Weight Watchers and I jumped in totally. I tracked all my food, writing down everything I ate and drank. I kept track of my exercise too. I attended meetings, bought the cookbooks, and read the magazine.

I don't know why this time was different but it was. Everything worked the way it was supposed to and the success I experienced motivated me to stick with the plan for the long run.

I learned to love vegetables and fruit. I learned to value quality over quantity. I learned to crave cold water. I even looked forward to the exercise because I knew it would hasten my weight loss. After about 14 months, I lost 85 pounds! My friends had lost weight too and we all celebrated our new looks by shopping instead of eating!

Keeping the weight off will be a new challenge. I know it won't be easy but I'm not being cocky about it. I have learned some good strategies and I've changed many of my old habits. Wish me luck!

Editor's Note Jane generously agreed to share her story but wasn't comfortable putting her picture on the world wide web. Thanks, Jane, for your inspiring story. Keep up the good work and keep us posted on your continued success!

I would love to include a "Subscriber's Success Story" each month. If you would like to be featured here or if you know someone who would, please reply to this email or use my contact page. Pictures aren't imperative, but they sure are inspiring!

• The term "orthorexics" refers to people with an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. The term was first proposed in 1996 by American physician Steven Bratman.
  
  
• Four of the top ten causes of death today are chronic diseases with well-established links to diet: corony heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer.
  
  
• When meat and dairy products were strictly rationed during the war, the rate of heart disease temporarily plummeted!
  
  
• Our current epidemic of obesity and diabetes began in the 1970s when American's began binging on carbohydrates to avoid fats!
  
  
• One of the very best diet motivators is to track your food and exercise. Keeping a food and exercise journal may actually double the number of pounds that a dieter loses according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. If writing down every calorie you eat is too labor-intensive, don't despair! Recording your food and the approximate amounts is just as effective as long as you record everything you eat. It's no surprise that those tastes and bites add up! For a convenient way to record this information, see our Easy Weight Loss Tips' 30-Day Food & Exercise Log!

Thank you for subscribing, and I hope you enjoyed this issue of "The Skinny" on Weight Loss! Please join us again next month for more weight loss fun!

Remember, if you have comments, ideas for future issues, or any kind of feedback, I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this e-zine and tell me what you think! You can also reach me through my contact page.

For comprehensive information about weight loss and wellness, please visit, Easy Weight Loss Tips!