Let’s face it. Very few people in our society use food strictly as fuel for their daily activities. We eat for flavors. We eat for entertainment. We eat to alleviate boredom, fatigue, excitement or heartache. We eat to be part of a social event. We eat because advertisers spend millions of dollars seducing us into equating their food products with happiness, sex, excitement and other wonderful things. It’s no wonder that we use food to soothe and satisfy a vast array of human needs – we hunger and crave lots of things that are not food.

Hunger is an incredibly complex phenomenon that we experience in many areas of our lives. We hunger in our relationships if our emotional needs are not being met. We hunger for physical energy or for sensory stimuli if we are bored and in need of entertainment. A craving or hunger for food is not always a physical need for caloric intake brought on by low blood sugar.

To get to the root of your hunger try this quick exercise. Pause for a few minutes before you eat and think about how you know you are hungry. Write down everything you are feeling at that moment to help give you clues to what you are really hungry for. Then, brainstorm non-food related activities that deal directly with what you are feeling. For example, if you if want to eat because you’re tired, consider taking a nap. If you’re eating because you’re lonely, call a friend. If you’re eating because you’re stressed, take a bath or try some relaxation techniques.

To lose weight, we must eat less. However, if the focus is shifted away from food restriction towards getting to know our hunger cues and our real reasons for seeking food, eating less slowly becomes more natural and much easier to handle.

In less than 2 weeks I will be participating in the Beaches Jazz Tune Up 5K Walk with Slimband colleagues, patients and MySlimband members.
I am very excited about this because I feel not only is it away for myself to get more active this summer in a fun way, but I believe this event will be a good way for everyone who is struggling with the idea of exercise and physical exertion to realize it can be fun, you can do it with friends and you can fit it into a busy life.

I can’t wait to see everyone there and do this 5K walk with you! In the meantime I wanted to share some tips that I have been doing to prep for it.

Practice – You don’t have to be Perfect!
I didn’t become a fitness pro, I just used this opportunity to give my puppy some extra long walks or just do laps around a track. I never rushed, I started slow and stopped when I felt I needed to. Then I have been gradually trying to extend my walking time each day. Another tip is how about getting your phone chat time in while on a stroll or bring a friend along? When you catch up with family or friends you will be distracted and before you know it you’ve walked for 30 minutes!

Water – H2O is so Important!
I started keeping track of how many glasses of water a day I was drinking and it was pretty bad! I was at 2 glasses maybe 3 if I was lucky. So my next goal became upping that number to at least 8 per day. It wasn’t easy at first but I noticed that by drinking more water I felt “cleaner”, had less muscle cramping, didn’t feel the need to eat as much and had way more energy!

Healthy Snack – Getting that Energy!
After a long day at work I would often have no energy and feel drained! If I wanted to accomplish anything I needed a boost. Having a healthy snack about 30 minutes to an hour before my walks really gave me a kick start. Including protein in my snacks really helped too!

Bragging – Tell Everyone!
OK not because I feel like I have to toot my own horn, even though this will be a pretty awesome accomplishment, but this will create a sense accountability and motivation for myself. My friends have been asking me how the prepping for the walk is going and want to know how I do. I get a sense of encouragement and motivation to stick with the practice walks even on those days where I would rather procrastinate.

Music – Get your Groove on!
Nothing makes me want to get up and go more than a high-energy good tune. I pick a bunch of my favorites, usually the kind that make me feel like dancing, and download them to my MP3 player. While listening to the songs I try to match my walking pace to the beat of the music, not always easy mind you! But it definitely help me up the ante and keep going just a bit longer when I start to get tired… at least until the end of that song.

Try some of these tips to help you stay “on track”!

~Rian

I recently read an article by David Gilks and it really snapped me out of some misconstrued ideas or myths people may have about losing weight… especially in summer with the impending doom of swimsuit season.

I’ve summarized his weight loss myth-busters in the list below:

Myth – Starve the pounds away
This is ineffective and dangerous. It actually disrupts your metabolism and slows results.
Tip: Don’t starve yourself – instead eat healthy small meals throughout the day.

Myth – Take diet pills to boost your effort
It’s advertized as the “easy & effortless” solution but in reality diet pills are more likely to damage your health and waste your money.
Tip: Don’t pop a pill – try becoming more active day by day.

Myth – Do extra crunches to flatten your abdominals
We all want nice abs but you have to lose your overall body fat before going crazy with crunches.
Tip: focus on fat burning cardio exercise.

Myth – Eat packaged diet foods for speedy results
Just because a food advertises itself as a ‘diet’ or ‘weight loss’ aid doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Usually they are full of refined sugars and artificial flavours that aren’t good for you.
Tip: Don’t eat packaged diet foods – instead stick with nutritious whole foods.

Myth – Avoid all carbohydrates in order to slim down
Carbohydrates are not evil! The key is to stick with whole grains, oatmeal and brown rice while avoiding processed and refined carbs.
Tip: Don’t swear off all carbohydrates – instead stick with wholesome carbs.

Here are 3 easy steps to get started on the right track:

Step 1: Cut out the junk
Purge your kitchen and get rid of sugary, processed and fat-filled foods. Replace these items with healthy, fresh and nutritious options.

Step 2: Focus on whole foods
Start eating more cooked and raw vegetables, fresh fruits, whole/ancient grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy.

Step 3: Exercise
Any activity done on a regular basis will help speed up the process. Start small and work your way up to more challenging exercises. For most of us this will be the toughest one to tackle and this is where your determination has to kick in!

You can read the full article here