Category: Wake Up Wednesdays

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exercise healthy eating salt stress Wake Up Wednesdays weight

What affects your weight?

Happy Almost Friday!  I thought it appropriate to unveil what I’ve learned about what affects weight while I’m in gym mode and can say that I take my own advice.  There are so many factors to take into account that affect one’s weight.  I could write forever on it but I thought I’d keep it short and sweet, with of course links to do more research if you wish 🙂

 
Eating Healthy Foods: The goal here is to eat everything in moderation.  I’ve read in many places that fruits and vegetables should be the larger portions of what you are eating.  Some say stay away from meats, while others say if you eat meat make sure its lean. Dairy should also be limited. (Skinny Bitch goes into greater detail) Also do a little research as to where your food comes from as not all foods are made equally.
 
Exercise: Across the board, I’ve read that exercise is a MUST. A minimum of 30 minutes a day of an activity that brings your heart rate up.  It can also be broken up into chunks throughout the day if you don’t have one 30 minute chunk of time to dedicate to YOURSELF.
 
Stress:  Stress has a negative affect on your weight.  If you eat to de-stress than you may gain weight.  The opposite can also happen if you do not eat properly…dropping too much weight is unhealthy.  Find healthy ways to de-stress, exercise works wonders 🙂
 
Sleep:  Interrupted sleep and lack of enough hours of sleep can affect weight…get the why’s here: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/lose-weight-while-sleeping
 
Salt: Higher intake of salt causes the body to retain water.  Always take a look at the ingredients and check out the sodium count.
 
 Alcohol:  Alcohol should be consumed in moderation, example a glass of wine for women and two glass for men (I think this should be the other way around but I don’t write this stuff lol) Some alcoholic beverages are HIGH in calories, which can lead to weight gain.
There are a lot of things as you can see that affect your weight, either positively or negatively.  Jump start a healthy weight by eating right and exercising.  Take a look at the links below, Happy Reading 🙂
Until then
djrelat7
 
References:
Skinny Bitch
Webmd – Healthy Weight
 
http://www.webmd.com
healthcentral.com
 
 The Top 10 Steps to De-Stress
 
shape.com 
 
How Cold Weather Affects Your Weight
 
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Fasting Health Guru Ms. Pillowz Wake Up Wednesdays

There’s Something about Fasting

Thank you all for your feedback from my first post! Sorry, for the delay in getting out the follow up post. I’ve been travelling a lot for my job. 🙂
I was asked to write about fasting this month. There is so much that I can say on it, that I may even talk about it again in a later post.
Let’s start by defining fasting. According to the Medical Free Dictionary, “Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy for many conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.” More information can be found here: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=fasting
There are so many types of fasts out there. As mentioned above, there are religious fasts like Ramadan or Lent. There is the water fast, where you only drink water. This is typically not recommended in anything that I’ve read. There are also juice fasts and time related fasts. I’ve even seen fasts to require you to take pills. I don’t really consider these types to be fasts at all.
Why do people fast? People fast for spiritual or religious reasons, weight loss, detoxification, or other medical reasons. When I fasted, I did it to detox and to jump start a healthier eating regimine. You can read all about my fasts on my blog, BigDivaHq.com. All of the related posts are grouped here: http://bigdivahq.com/tag/master-cleanse/
Once, I read a comment on some website where the commenter thought that fasting was a hoax. She believed that the body had its own natural system to release waste and that fasting was totally unnecessary. I do agree that the body has its natural waste release system, but I also believe that with pollution we inhale, heavy unhealthy items that we eat, unnatural chemicals and harmful products that we put on our bodies daily take a toll on our natural waste system.
I also believe that disease is a product of harmful waste that has built up in the body. With such a heavy burden our bodies have: to totally cleanse all the things that we put in it and on it, systems start breaking down or the body doesn’t do as thorough a job as it should.
The good thing is that our bodies are amazing healing vessels. Giving your body a break from certain types of foods or food altogether allows for it to focus on clearing out what is still there. Granted, I am by no means a doctor, however I’ve thoroughly researched the subject before I embarked on my first fast and since then, I’ve done 3 more.
Before I go, one thing that I want you to understand about fasting is that it should not be used as a quick weight loss strategy. Yes, you will lose weight, but once you start eating again, you will gain the weight back. You can, however, use the fast as a spring board to better food choices and a healthier overall routine.
I haven’t done a fast since the winter. I feel like the Master Cleanser no longer suits my needs. In speaking with a friend who is a health and holistic nutrition specialist, I was advised to be careful of the type of fasts that I choose. She told me to do a fast of only fruit and vegetables so that my body can be bathed in nutrients. (How refreshing does that sound? lol) I think that I will give it a try the next time. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. 😉
Feel free to ask any questions or post comments about your own experiences! Thanks for reading!
—
Be blessed and be a blessing today and everyday!
Categories
Fasting Health Guru Ms. Pillowz Wake Up Wednesdays

There’s Something about Fasting

Thank you all for your feedback from my first post! Sorry, for the delay in getting out the follow up post. I’ve been travelling a lot for my job. 🙂
I was asked to write about fasting this month. There is so much that I can say on it, that I may even talk about it again in a later post.
Let’s start by defining fasting. According to the Medical Free Dictionary, “Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy for many conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.” More information can be found here: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=fasting
There are so many types of fasts out there. As mentioned above, there are religious fasts like Ramadan or Lent. There is the water fast, where you only drink water. This is typically not recommended in anything that I’ve read. There are also juice fasts and time related fasts. I’ve even seen fasts to require you to take pills. I don’t really consider these types to be fasts at all.
Why do people fast? People fast for spiritual or religious reasons, weight loss, detoxification, or other medical reasons. When I fasted, I did it to detox and to jump start a healthier eating regimine. You can read all about my fasts on my blog, BigDivaHq.com. All of the related posts are grouped here: http://bigdivahq.com/tag/master-cleanse/
Once, I read a comment on some website where the commenter thought that fasting was a hoax. She believed that the body had its own natural system to release waste and that fasting was totally unnecessary. I do agree that the body has its natural waste release system, but I also believe that with pollution we inhale, heavy unhealthy items that we eat, unnatural chemicals and harmful products that we put on our bodies daily take a toll on our natural waste system.
I also believe that disease is a product of harmful waste that has built up in the body. With such a heavy burden our bodies have: to totally cleanse all the things that we put in it and on it, systems start breaking down or the body doesn’t do as thorough a job as it should.
The good thing is that our bodies are amazing healing vessels. Giving your body a break from certain types of foods or food altogether allows for it to focus on clearing out what is still there. Granted, I am by no means a doctor, however I’ve thoroughly researched the subject before I embarked on my first fast and since then, I’ve done 3 more.
Before I go, one thing that I want you to understand about fasting is that it should not be used as a quick weight loss strategy. Yes, you will lose weight, but once you start eating again, you will gain the weight back. You can, however, use the fast as a spring board to better food choices and a healthier overall routine.
I haven’t done a fast since the winter. I feel like the Master Cleanser no longer suits my needs. In speaking with a friend who is a health and holistic nutrition specialist, I was advised to be careful of the type of fasts that I choose. She told me to do a fast of only fruit and vegetables so that my body can be bathed in nutrients. (How refreshing does that sound? lol) I think that I will give it a try the next time. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. 😉
Feel free to ask any questions or post comments about your own experiences! Thanks for reading!
—
Be blessed and be a blessing today and everyday!
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BigDivaHq.com einsten lip therapy lip therapy Ms. Pillowz Random Thoughts Wake Up Wednesdays

Are your lips kiss-alicious?

Happy Wednesday to all you beautiful people…I hope your day went as splendid as mine did…I have to admit though it didn’t start off as grand as it ended….

This winter season the cold has done a number on both my skin and my lips.  Particularly my lips.  I have this bad habit of biting my lips and this winter they just HURT. Luckily I went to the Shecky’s Girl’s Night Out Event in December and discovered an amazing product in my Goodie Bag that SMACKED THE HURT AWAY!  Blistex has nothing on einstein lip therapy.  It has Vitamin A+ E, restores moisture and has cooling lip relief that lets you know its working THE MAGIC.  It leaves your lips looking kiss-alicious! It isn’t glossy so its good for the ladies and the gents.  I haven’t seen them in any of the regular drug stores so let me know if you find it other than online.  Last I heard they run about 6 bucks but its lasted me all winter…I was kind of sad this morning because its almost finished and winter seems to want to hold on a little longer.

Remember to always take care of you!  Stay Tuned for next week’s Wake Up Wednesday blog where our Health Guru, Ms. Pillowz, gives us the 411 on fasting!  In the meantime take a moment to read her latest blog Much Ado About Goals at BigDivaHq.com as we’ll be revisiting goals next week!

Until then
djrelat7
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Wake Up Wednesdays

Research takes time…sometimes more than we think….

Good morning!  I hope that we are all well on this wonderful Wednesday morning.  Its a lovely morning to take a moment out of the day just for YOU.  I’ve taken mine this early morning because I’m not sure when I’ll have it until later this week.  The kids are coming!  RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!  No, I’m joking, I love my nieces and nephew to death.  Its just taking them in large doses that usually gets to me by hour 3. 

So as you can see I’m doing well in not procrastinating in my writing.  I just wanted to let you know that there are tons of good things in the works for the blog. I’m super excited for all the upcoming guest bloggers and returning ones.  Yes, we’ll hear a bit from Ms. Pillowz, our Health Guru, who’ll be discussing the general topic of FASTING, so stay tuned for that.  If you have any questions for her please send them to ‘Want to reach me’ section on the left panel of the blog.

Wedding season is coming upon us!  One of my oldest and dearest friends is getting married MAY 1st!  I’m super excited and have decided over the last few months to start looking into ‘all things wedding like’ for my self for the future and for any of you lovely ladies and gents out there who might in the beginning processes, about to be or are looking forward to it.  So stay tuned for ‘all things wedding like’!

Short Story Saturdays will start soon as well.  This section will be super creative and range widely from stories, poems, photos…etc.

I’m doing research now on all the things that affect weight so that will be coming up on a Wake Up Wednesday.  It was, in my head, a quick piece, to find out some info and share it with you guys but its turned out to be a bigger topic than I initially projected.  Research takes time to get what you want to know together.  So don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today!  On that happy note I’m off to do just that!

Oh and remember to take time out of the day for just YOU.  Meditate, take a walk, read a book, get a massage, or enjoy that glass of wine that has been calling your name since Monday morning.  Whatever you decide to do, do something you like and do it for YOU!

Until then, 
djrelat7
Categories
Wake Up Wednesdays

Research takes time…sometimes more than we think….

Good morning!  I hope that we are all well on this wonderful Wednesday morning.  Its a lovely morning to take a moment out of the day just for YOU.  I’ve taken mine this early morning because I’m not sure when I’ll have it until later this week.  The kids are coming!  RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!  No, I’m joking, I love my nieces and nephew to death.  Its just taking them in large doses that usually gets to me by hour 3. 

So as you can see I’m doing well in not procrastinating in my writing.  I just wanted to let you know that there are tons of good things in the works for the blog. I’m super excited for all the upcoming guest bloggers and returning ones.  Yes, we’ll hear a bit from Ms. Pillowz, our Health Guru, who’ll be discussing the general topic of FASTING, so stay tuned for that.  If you have any questions for her please send them to ‘Want to reach me’ section on the left panel of the blog.

Wedding season is coming upon us!  One of my oldest and dearest friends is getting married MAY 1st!  I’m super excited and have decided over the last few months to start looking into ‘all things wedding like’ for my self for the future and for any of you lovely ladies and gents out there who might in the beginning processes, about to be or are looking forward to it.  So stay tuned for ‘all things wedding like’!

Short Story Saturdays will start soon as well.  This section will be super creative and range widely from stories, poems, photos…etc.

I’m doing research now on all the things that affect weight so that will be coming up on a Wake Up Wednesday.  It was, in my head, a quick piece, to find out some info and share it with you guys but its turned out to be a bigger topic than I initially projected.  Research takes time to get what you want to know together.  So don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today!  On that happy note I’m off to do just that!

Oh and remember to take time out of the day for just YOU.  Meditate, take a walk, read a book, get a massage, or enjoy that glass of wine that has been calling your name since Monday morning.  Whatever you decide to do, do something you like and do it for YOU!

Until then, 
djrelat7
Categories
BMR calorie intake Wake Up Wednesdays

Are you taking in the right amount of calories?

A few weeks ago I started a food journal with one week’s worth of what I was eating.  I found out that my calorie intake was not as high as I thought it would be.  However I really had no idea as to what my calorie intake should be.  I did some research and what I found out might surprise you or prove to you that you’re on the right track.

First off let me say that there are so many different sites that make an attempt to answer this question with charts, graphs and obscure answers.  In my search I looked for information that took me through the step by step process of how they reached their numbers.  I found one site in particular that did just that.

To figure out your personal calorie intake, or as I learned, your BMR (basal metabolic rate) you do a simple calculation.  It is different for men and women.

For Women: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years) and  For Men: 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

Step two of the calculation requires you to take into account how active you are.

So I took the equation for women and I added in light activity and found out that my total calorie intake should be much more than what i’m currently taking in.  Now the equation does not take into account certain things, like muscle mass or excess fat, but either way I’m off about 600 calories.

Do you know how many calories you are taking in on a daily basis?  To keep track of the calories I was taking in when I wrote them in the journal, I used the Calorie Count Website.  Here you just type in the food you are consuming and it gives you the calorie count per serving.  For items that vary, like a banana, a drop down menu appears to give you the possible choices involving a banana.  Is it a medium or small sized bananas?  Knowing how many calories are in the foods you eat, might make you double think what you put into your body and what you buy at the grocery store.  Also when buying groceries take a look at the calories on packaged goods.  One of my favorite treats was Marie Calendar’s Chicken Pot Pie.  I never paid attention to all the little numbers on the box.  It didn’t matter to me as long as it tasted good and filled my tummy.  I read that the larger box, which was 2 servings, was over 1000 calories.  1000 CALORIES.  I always ate the entire pie.  I mean really how do you stop yourself from eating something yummy half way through???  If you’re like me than stick to buying things that you can easily break out into a single serving.  Today its an easy task to find single serving products. 🙂

My result from my calorie intake calculation makes me believe that there are definitely other factors that affect ones weight.  Stay tuned to find out what I learn….in the meantime find out yours at http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/a/blcalintake.htm.

Until next time
djrelat7