Why You Should be Counting More than Calories

Many people think that the only thing that pertains to them and their nutrition/weight goals on a nutrition label is the calorie count. It is important to keep in mind that calories are important to watch, however you should also be considering the weight behind them. For example there is such a phrase as "empty calories". You may notice that the brownie you are about to devour only has 100 calories, and that doesn't seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things! But what does this brownie have in it besides calories? Does it have any significant nutrients? Vitamins? Unless it's a superhero brownie, the most significant ingredient it contains is sugar, and therefore the brownie's 100 calories will serve no purpose for your body. When foods are energy dense versus nutrient dense it means that they have way more calories per a small portion than nutrients. This means you are getting much less sustenance than you would be getting if you were to eat a nutrient-dense food. And that is the bottom line: choosing foods that are more nutrient-dense will fill your stomach more than picking foods that are more energy dense and this will give you a feeling of satiety throughout the day meaning that you will snack less and restrict your calories more making it easier to sustain your weight or lose weight!

xoxo, Keely

The Truth About Supplements

We've all heard about supplements. There is so much controversy over the merit of supplements that it may be hard for people to make a good decision about whether to start using them and/or which ones to use. The cold-hard truth is most supplements haven't actually been approved by the FDA (Federal Department of Agriculture). You will see on the label whether or not this is the case for the particular supplement that you are looking into. It's hard for people to really grasp that something sold on the shelves in the safety of their trusted grocery stores and pharmacies could potentially be dangerous, but the fact of the matter is that most supplements are only taken off the shelves when someone has a horrible reaction (like death!) to the supplement itself. By taking that brand new supplement you found at the grocery store you are potentially becoming a guinea pig in the trial run of the product and you have to keep in mind that you are taking your health into your own hands with no filter from the FDA. So before you spend all of your Christmas money on those supplements to aid in your healthy lifestyle resolution try to do more research into what kinds of food can give you the same nutrients. Contrary to what you think, we are actually easily able to get all of the nutrients that we need through our diets.

xoxo, Keely
 

Keeping Up With Your Healthy New Year's Resolutions!

It's that time of year to start making changes in our lives for the better. Many people will have resolutions involving health, yet more often than not they are not able to keep up with the resolutions they make with a hopeful vigor on an optimistic New Year's Eve. Here are some tips to consider when making resolutions concerning diet and exercise:

1. Consider why you are making this change; if it's so that you can look good in a bathing suit in Cancun over spring break, unfortunately the odds are that you are not going to have enough internal motivation to keep up with your lifestyle changes. That's what becoming healthy really is, after all- a lifestyle change. You have to want to change for the right reasons. You have to want to become healthy for YOU.
2. Remember that the key to losing weight is not through exercise- the key to LOSING weight is mainly through a well-balanced diet that restricts calories so that you are in a caloric deficit. That is the bottom line to losing weight: YOU NEED TO BE OUTPUTTING MORE CALORIES THAN YOU ARE TAKING IN. Keep this in mind before you buy that gym membership. Maybe you can take the money you were planning on using for a gym membership and put it into investing in more wholesome foods that you really do enjoy.
3. Do try to find yourself an activity that you really, really enjoy doing that will keep you active. While exercise may not be imperative in losing weight, it is essential if you want to maintain weight loss. Not to mention exercising has other amazing side-effects such as (but not limited to) lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, etc. So if you don't like the gym find another way to get moving like joining a Hula Hoop class. If you don't have enough time in your busy life to do something like that, making lifestyle changes like parking further away from your destination or using stairs instead of an elevator are also extremely easy ways to become a little more active without even realizing it!

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year, All!
xoxo, Keely
 

Holiday Hunger-3 tips to keep you happy and healthy!

If you're anything like me, you LOVE the food that is basically shoved in our faces at this time of year. I mean seriously I am waiting on a sodium-filled roast beef dinner at this very moment. How does one not put on a little fat yet still be able to enjoy the goodies all around? Well it's as I've said all along: MODERATION!!

1. Keep that box of truffles in an inconvenient place so that you only make the effort to get one when you're truly craving them and not only because  they are staring you in the face while sitting on your counter. 
2. STAY OUT of the room that has all of those holiday snacks laid out on the table.
3. Load your plate up at that holiday buffet with a little of everything you're going to want to try, that way you don't feel the need to go back up for a second helping to try more unless you're really still hungry. 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Stay happy and healthy

Xoxo, Keely

 

The secret to losing weight

If there is one thing I have learned  from the multitude of nutrition classes that I have taken it's that there really is no secret to losing weight. The bottom line of all nutrition lessons is that the only way to be healthy and become a healthy weight is to eat well and exercise. The only variations of this rule are the wholesome foods you choose  to indulge  in and the activities that you decide to enjoy. Don't fall for pills or potions tricking yourself into thinking that you can avoid the truth that health is a lifestyle and changes need to be made. The below meme is one of the saddest-yet most common-misconceptions of what eating healthy is like. Healthy does not mean truckloads of celery! It may mean cutting back on fast food  and eating more at home, or other easier changes that won't make you hate eating.