My mother-in-law has raised six boys and has always looked great. Here's her words of wisdom to get healthy and stay in shape:
"If you take it off slowly, you won’t gain it back immediately as you do with crash diets. A loss of 2 – 4 pounds a month doesn’t sound like much, but 3 pounds a month for a year is 36 pounds. I don’t think any of you young women have that much to lose! A journey of 1000 miles begins with one step at a time. ;)
The way I lost the weight that year was by writing down everything I ate so I could count the calories. I don’t do starvation diets. I ate my usual 3 meals a day, but for between meal snacks I ate only fruit…no processed fruit snacks…only real fruit. I stopped eating fattening sauces and dressings, butter, potato chips, and soda. If I felt a craving for chocolate, I ate a chocolate kiss or I stopped at Mrs. Cavanaugh’s and got a couple of the good chocolates to satisfy the craving. If you’re going to eat chocolate, make it the good stuff! Maybe that could be a Friday reward for every week that you eat healthy.
The way I lost the weight that year was by writing down everything I ate so I could count the calories. I don’t do starvation diets. I ate my usual 3 meals a day, but for between meal snacks I ate only fruit…no processed fruit snacks…only real fruit. I stopped eating fattening sauces and dressings, butter, potato chips, and soda. If I felt a craving for chocolate, I ate a chocolate kiss or I stopped at Mrs. Cavanaugh’s and got a couple of the good chocolates to satisfy the craving. If you’re going to eat chocolate, make it the good stuff! Maybe that could be a Friday reward for every week that you eat healthy.
I didn’t make homemade desserts or rolls because I knew I would eat way too much of them. But I didn’t give up bread, potatoes, bananas, or avocados as so many diets recommend. If you feel too deprived, you won’t stay with it. My rule is if it’s real food, it’s ok to eat it…just don’t fatten it up with all the extras like butter and whipped cream. I never felt deprived – I felt very much in control of myself.
When I was wearing the body bugg a few years ago, I noticed that I burned tons of calories mopping or vacuuming the floor or cleaning the windows. I got just as good a workout as I ever did at the gym. Anything that requires movement is exercise. I get a good feeling about having a clean house and a good workout at the same time. I love to go outside on a nice day and clean the windows. Nothing brightens up the house so much as sparkling windows. In the old days, when Dad or the boys would complain that they had to go all the way down stairs to get a towel from the laundry room, I told them it was good exercise. Every thing we DO is exercise…sitting on our fanny only makes it bigger. (I am watching mine grow minute by minute!) I’m also on a soapbox about all the TV commercials that talk about “taking the work out” of cooking, cleaning or whatever it may be. While taking the work out, they are helping us gain a layer of fat around our middles! WORK is not a four letter word, no matter if it does look like it."
When I was wearing the body bugg a few years ago, I noticed that I burned tons of calories mopping or vacuuming the floor or cleaning the windows. I got just as good a workout as I ever did at the gym. Anything that requires movement is exercise. I get a good feeling about having a clean house and a good workout at the same time. I love to go outside on a nice day and clean the windows. Nothing brightens up the house so much as sparkling windows. In the old days, when Dad or the boys would complain that they had to go all the way down stairs to get a towel from the laundry room, I told them it was good exercise. Every thing we DO is exercise…sitting on our fanny only makes it bigger. (I am watching mine grow minute by minute!) I’m also on a soapbox about all the TV commercials that talk about “taking the work out” of cooking, cleaning or whatever it may be. While taking the work out, they are helping us gain a layer of fat around our middles! WORK is not a four letter word, no matter if it does look like it."
Thanks for the tips, Mom! Let's all get to Work!
0 comments:
Post a Comment