Eating Healthy, Losing Weight

 

 

 

 

Billions of dollars are spent on diet pills and dieting gimmicks in the U.S. every year. The diet industry is one of the fastest growing businesses today. But do they work? Probably not. The single most important thing to remember when dieting is also the most efficient way to lose weight: Burn more calories than you take in.

The simple fact is fad diets don’t work. You might end up losing weight at first, but keeping it off is the difficult part. Focusing on permanent and realistic life changes is much more effective. Eating less fatty foods and opting for more fruits and vegetables will take the weight off and keep it off as long as you make this a lifelong practice.

Exercise and diet go hand in hand. Exercise burns calories. And you don’t need expensive exercise equipment or to join a gym in order to get an aerobic, fat-burning workout. I walk 3 miles just about everyday and I can tell you it really works. To me, walking does double duty. While walking I meditate on issues in my life and often find myself coming to some valuable conclusions. Listening to music or audio books is also beneficial. On rainy or snowy days I pop in a walking DVD (Leslie Sansone has some easy, excellent ones) and workout in my living room. For the price of a good pair of walking shoes and a couple of DVD’s you get a great workout.

Exercise in the morning whenever possible. It’s alot cooler in the Summer and you also get your routine out of the way. Often, by the evening, I’m just too tired to go walking, but still feel obligated to do so. Who wants to be guilted into exercising? It’s supposed to fun, not a chore.

Exercise releases endorphins - “feel good” hormones produced by the pituitary gland in the brain. Endorphins relieve stress. That’s why you feel so good after a workout. Endorphins release a natural “high” similar to a drug high without the side effects. And you don’t have to exercise for long periods of time. Researchers have found you only need 20 to 30 minutes of moderate to intense exercise to produce the greatest increase of endorphins.

Also think about the health factor. Eating right prevents health problems such as heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and now researchers say some forms of cancer can be prevented by eating healthy. Eating healthy and exercising regularly is the simples, least expensive and most beneficial way to lose weight and stay healthy.

***This post and all others (including new posts not published here) can be read on my new blogging website: http://www.mylovesleftovers.com thanks for checking it out!

To Ink or Not to Ink…

I was scheduled to go for a job interview the other day. My youngest son delicately advised me to be sure I wore long sleeves to cover my tattoos. He informed me I’d look more “professional”.This seemed unnessary to me because I never even think about my tattoos. I’ve had them so long they’ve become a part of me. Just as I don’t think about the scar on my lip from a fall as a toddler, I don’t give a second thought to my tattoos. I’d never consider covering my lip, so why would it occur to me to cover my tattoos?

My son’s comment, however, got me thinking. Are tattoos becoming more mainstream and accepted? How about tattoos in the workplace? When I worked at WalMart as a cashier I received alot of comments about my tattoos. Most of them favorable. People often asked me where I had them done, what the initials stood for and what the celtic symbols meant. Women in particular often told me how much they admired my “tats”. It was never an issue at WalMart, a company considered to be ultra-conservative. In fact, WalMart only requires employees to cover tattoos if they’re offensive.

Employers still continue to turn down prospective employees because of their tattoos. Many workers are required to cover up their tattoos on the job. Although many employees are beginning to challenge the legality of appearance policies, companies usually end up winning. Companies can continue to impose these policies as long as they don’t discriminate. But employers must implement policies uniformly for both men and women to avoid gender discrimination.

When you consider that approximately half of all people in their 20’s have at least one tattoo/and or an untraditional body piercing you know there will come a point when employers will have to become more open minded about hiring employees with tattoos. Or maybe we’ll just have to wait until these 20 somethings become managers and lighten things up on body art. 

So, no, I did not cover my tattoos for my interview. I confess I did tug at my shirt a few times to attempt to cover them with my short sleeve shirt. After a few tugs, my perspective employer said, “You know, you don’t have to worry about your tattoos. I know you have them, they don’t bother me and I respect your right to express yourself.” Of course I was fortunate to interview with such a free thinking employer and I ended up getting the job despite the tats.