I checked on some medicel records I have hear at home,my blood type is O neg..Rh pos.I also was chreckring out my daily log of food I have kept over the last summer and fall and most of the foods alowable are fine the beans and such arent to good on my digeative system but I can eat a fue without a prob,the not allowed foods of them the cabbage,brussel sprouts and green leafy veggies as well as corn are the oly one I can eat...And the allowable foods I do well on all of them but kelp cause I never have eaten any of it..as for salt I keep it at a minimum barely caues I retain water if im not carefull with it.If I had to I could do well on a veggitarion diet for the most part,I like meat to much to totaly be without it.This is an intresting concept tho.

Today I did work out some,I mostly took my fur kid for a mostly brisk walk through the negihborhood,then I came home and rested a bit cause my knees were hot..Ice is wonderful...then I did sone housework,changed the lennin on all the beds,washed doggie beds and stuffed toys,striped down and sanitised my kitchen( a workout in it self).My prob with my back is sciatica right above where the nerve branches to right or left leg so both are effected to some degree ..meds help some but not enough..I have dr,s appointment on march 3rd at LSU but cant do anything but wait till then cause I have no confidence in the medicaid doc I have at the moment,if it gets to bad I will go to the er if I have to but I somehow manage to get by.

Got to work at 6am for a 6-point breakfast:

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/t.../brekkie-1.jpg


My weigh-in yesterday revealed an overwall weight loss of 5 pounds last week. Super happy with that and feel like I'm back on track.

Also, I think most of you know this already but CanMarie is still on her journey and is a HUGE inspiration for anyone needing a little extra kick in the pants. She now has a blog and youtube channel!

http://mynewdefinition.wordpress.com/

Good morning all! Glad to hear everyone back on track. It really is one day at a time and we can always have a "do-over" with our eating and exercising to get back on track!

Yesterday, walked 8-long blocks around my neighborhood with my tunes blasting in my ears. It was significant because I had stopped walking in my 'hood since it so painfully reminded me of the loss of my dogs this past year.

Even though they were little things, we would walk for up to 45-minutes each morning 6-7 days a week. It was their routine and even when I did not want to, they would go to the back door at 5:30 AM each morning and stare at the cupboard where the leashes & collars were kept and would start jumping like pogo sticks, in excitement. How could I say no?

Baby, my Bishon Frise, that I dearly loved, died April 19th and Jani, my cock-a-poo, on August 6th. I did not want to walk the routes, which were everywhere, for blocks at a time, that we used to walk. I believe walking kept them healthy and prevented obesity that little dogs also frequently suffer from.

After they died, I did walk sporadically at my job but not consistently. Hence, a 10-pound gain in about 7- months. I also ate more cereal and oatmeal instead of protein.

Now, I am walking at least 6-days a week and I guess that I reclaimed my neighborhood. I believe that the worst of the grief has passed and I did smile remembering each tree and bush that the cock-a-poo liked to "visit"- she kind of thought she was a boi, not a girl!

I lost another pound this past week and am spending time again cooking from scratch. For breakfast today, already prepped ingredients: torn, fresh spinach and tomatoes to put in egg whites for omlette.

I know this is long but wanted to share this because all of us have painful things happen in our life that can derail us but nothing is permanent. We can just start over on our path again and go forward.
(f)

My weight loss for the week was very good. I think I did good on my eating and great on drinking water (I having been drinking 64 oz a day). I need to do better on exercising and did slack off over the weekend when Belle was at work.

So this week I need to keep up on eating healthy and drinking my water and step it up with exercising!

Happy healthy Monday everyone!

Portions are tough. The one I always try to stick to is visualizing meat as the size of a deck of cards. I also try to make sure my plate is half vegetables. I don't eat a lot of carbs, usually. But if I have pasta, it is whole wheat. And I avoid white rice, and always make myself brown rice.

Good morning everybody!

Breakfast: raisin bran with oats, fat free Mandarin yogurt, French roast coffee.
Lunch: turkey breast on whole grain with mustard and tomatoes.
Dinner: salad.apple. Un sweet tea.
Water throughout the day.

I'm off work weds and thurs so I'll go for a walk/run both days and exercise.

Let's all have a great week!

Hi healthies! :)

Love the challenge sylvie...thank you! I have to be careful not to overdo the fruit, but I'm currently on a roll of making sure that I always eat my "apple a day"....at least one. I find apples are wonderfully filling, satisfyingly crunchy...and I know the natural fiber and pectin are good for me too. I keep one in my purse when I'm out and about...and there's a basket of them on the kitchen counter. Makes it easier to have them handy!

Excellent advice Hack....I've been trying to do the half of the plate vegetables too...and have switched to brown rice. Someone (not sure who) had posted about the boil-in-the-bag brown rice, and it's wonderful. I usually did basmati because brown took so long to cook....but with the boil-in-bag type it's just as fast as (and much healthier than) the white rice.

Have a great day everyone!

Oops! My bad! Thanks Angel! :)

I have a food scale and I measure out everything. I stick to around 4-6oz of protien a meal. Weighing your food might help control your portion sizes.

Smiles!

I wanted to share one of my favorite quick tips for cheese lovers:


If you LOVE cheese like I do then you know that cheese often packs a lot of fat and calories along with its calcium. I have found that the little Laughing Cow cheese wedges are a GREAT alternative for chedder and higher fat cheeses!

For example, one of my favorite mid-morning snacks is 5 reduced fat Triscuits and a wedge of Laughing Cow garlic and herb cheese. It's only 3 points on WW and is NUMMY!

You can also use the wedges as a cheesy spread on sandwiches, wraps, and even thrown into pasta to make it cheesy!

I used to use them as sandwich spreads instead of mayo. Yummy! :-D I forgot about those. Thanks!!

Breakfast: 6PP

6oz Fage non-fat greek yogurt
1TBS peanut butter
10g honey
1/2tbs cinnamon

and water!!

:-D

Good Afternoon Ruff,

Thank you and I did have half of a cup of coffee yesterday and still went to bed early :)

You are a great person and I am thankful for your friendship. Have fun at work today!

Zimmeh

Good Afternoon everyone,

I went grocery shopping yesterday with my roommate and we normally buy junk food. Instead of buying junk food, we bought Clementines, Greek yogurt and olives. I wore my new Shape Ups to the grocery store and actually loved them. After dinner tonight, I am going to put them on and hit the sidewalk again :) I am going to push myself to lose the rest of my weight!

Have a great day and let's do this!

Zimmeh

Current Research
 

Study regarding diet, salt, calorie intake and risk of stroke
January 2012 special issue of the Lancet Neurology.

In general, the 2 biggest threats to health and risk of stroke are overeating and excess salt, author Graeme J. Hankey, from Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, writes.

He writes that between 1970 and 2008, the incidence of stroke in high-income countries fell by 42%, probably as a result of increased public awareness about the dangers of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cigarette smoking.

But in poorer countries, the incidence of stroke increased by more than 100% during this period. This rise coincided with food and lifestyle changes associated with industrialization and urbanization.

In his review, Dr. Hankey examines the evidence linking nutrition and diet to the risk of stroke. He searched PubMed articles published in English from 1970 to October 2011, using a variety of search terms.

Dr. Hankey's review also revealed the following effects of individual foods and beverages on the risk of stroke:

Fish: 3 servings a day associated with a 6% lower risk of stroke
*Fruits and vegetables: >5 servings a day associated with a 26% lower risk of stroke
*Meat: Each daily serving associated with a 24% increased risk of stroke
*Reduced-fat milk: associated with a lower risk of stroke vs full-fat milk
*Chocolate: High consumption associated with a 29% lower risk of stroke
*Coffee: 3 to 4 cups per day associated with a 17% lower risk of stroke
*Tea: ≥3 cups per day associated with a 21% lower risk of stroke
*Sugar-sweetened beverages: high intake associated with increased obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and coronary heart disease
*Whole grains: high intake associated with a 21% lower incidence of cardiovascular events
*Rice: intake not associated with risk of stroke

"In the USA, modest, population-wide reductions in dietary salt of up to 3 g per day…are projected to reduce the annual number of new cases of stroke by 32,000 to 66,000, similar to the benefits of population-wide reductions in tobacco use, obesity, and cholesterol levels," he writes.

The National Stroke Association provides a comprehensive discussion for patients about stroke prevention.

Study Highlights
On the basis of a literature review, the reviewer noted the following findings:

**Although folic acid supplementation does not prevent stroke in populations with high folate intake, deficiency in regions of low folate intake may be a causal and treatable risk factor for stroke.
**Vitamin D deficiency is associated with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, but to date, supplementation has not been shown to prevent cardiovascular events. Randomized trials are underway.
**Salt supplementation by 5 g per day is linked to a 23% increase in stroke risk.
Lowering salt consumption by 2 g per day is associated with a 20% decrease in cardiovascular events, and lower salt intake is also linked to blood pressure reduction.
**Calcium supplementation exceeding 0.5 g per day is linked to a 31% increase in the risk for myocardial infarction, does not prevent stroke, and may actually increase stroke risk.
**High intake of plant n-3 polyunsaturated fats is associated with a reduced risk for stroke.
**Marine n-3 polyunsaturated fat supplementation lowers cardiovascular events and death by 8%, but in a randomized trial, it did not reduce stroke risk.
**High intake of carbohydrates with high glycemic index and glycemic load is associated with increased blood glucose levels, body weight, and stroke mortality.
**High fiber intake is linked to lower blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.
**High protein intake is not associated with stroke risk.
**High intake of an unhealthy diet was linked to an increased risk for stroke and a population-attributable risk for stroke of 19%.
**In women, a prudent diet or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)–style diet is associated with a lower risk for stroke, and a Western diet is linked with a higher risk for stroke.
**In women, the Mediterranean diet is associated with lower risks for stroke, cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality.

Lancet Neurology, Volume 11, Issue 1, Pages 66 - 81, January 2012
doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(11)70265-4