At CalorieKing we are so proud and deeply moved by our members’ successes. We often ask our community to nominate another member whose story has inspired them.

This time it is “Deba’s” turn. She had such a profound change in her thinking along with her weight loss journey that she has given speeches on the subject to students.

We are delighted she’s shared it with us:

Deba’s Story

Some of you may have noticed that I’ve lost a fair amount of weight, but not a single student has mentioned it to me. I want to share some of my story with you, showing that it’s o.k. to acknowledge and talk about this. I’ve been overweight since before I started school, and first introduced to Weight Watchers in the 5th grade. I’ve lost and gained back over 100 pounds three other times in my adult life, eventually giving up the fight close to 15 years ago. Fortunately, I never developed any serious medical problems linked to obesity. But that’s not the case for some of my friends, who because of health issues, opted to have weight loss surgery. As wrong as it sounds now, I was really angry at them for choosing surgery as a solution. Not because they were taking care of themselves, but because it forced me to wake up and do something about my own weight, or risk getting left behind. Truth be told, I didn’t want to be the only fat person left in my family and circle of friends.

Since I wasn’t willing to have surgery, and had failed at dieting many times before, I was determined to figure out what I needed to do to succeed. I really wanted to know the difference between people who diet just to lose weight and people who live a healthy lifestyle, consistently making good choices because it’s who they are at their core. That’s who I wanted to be. So I went after it. I found people like that in my life and studied them. I picked their brains trying to figure out what they had that I didn’t have. Sure enough, through observation and conversations, I figured it out. Keep in mind that everyone is different. For me, it came down to two things: self-respect and the ability to trust. Two things that were taken away from me at a very early age. Once I figured that out, I was able to move forward.

The Power of Self Respect

The self-respect piece came to me like this. Last January, I started working out with a trainer. As soon as I met him, I told myself that I was going to do whatever he asked me to do. Anything less than that would be disrespectful. Three months later another person at the gym offered to help me with my eating. I did the same thing. I immediately gave her that same level of respect. Then a light went off. I looked back through my life and realized that this was a pattern for me. Why was I so willing to give these two people, who I barely knew, respect that I wasn’t giving to myself? Improving my health and fitness wasn’t about them. It was about me, and I needed to take responsibility and start making better choices out of respect for myself. Read More »

March is National Nutrition Awareness Month and this week also kicks off National School Breakfast Awareness Week.  Breakfast is an important meal for everyone – but the role it plays in your child’s day is in the spotlight this week.

Why is Breakfast so Important?

A good breakfast – particularly one that contains whole-grains – provides the blood sugar boost necessary for formulating the memory booting neurotransmitters acetylcholine. Children in particular need this boost from breakfast to help them function well and think clearly at school.  In fact, research has shown that children who eat breakfast have better school attendance, better grades and have less trips to the school nurse than those that don’t.

In addition to the brain boost, breakfast is important in setting the stage for the meals eaten for the rest of the day. With healthy, satisfying food at breakfast, your child is less likely to head for sugary snacks or eat erratically for the rest of the day. Read More »

The MyPlate Method: An Easy Way to Eat Healthfully

March is National Nutrition Awareness Month and a great time for us to review the basics to putting together a nutritious meal.

The MyPlate Method is based on the USDA’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to help consumers make better food choices. The old visual of the food pyramid was replaced with a familiar mealtime visual to illustrate healthful choices.

While MyPlate is a good guide, remember that it is intended to show the range of choices over the course of a day.  For example, you might not fill your full with veggies for breakfast but you might replace that with an extra serve of fruit.

If you have concerns about how to customize a diet that is right for you based on preferences, nutritional needs or medical conditions, the best thing to do is see a registered dietitian or nutritionist who can help design a meal plan that is right for you. Read More »

Valentine’s Day is often associated with romantic dinners and chocolates.  If you’ve pledged to work on a healthy lifestyle, be careful not to turn your love into love handles this holiday!

If you or your Valentine are unlikely to stop at one or two and could demolish a whole box in a sitting, make this Valentine’s Day about showing your love without the calories.  Here are some CalorieKing tips to consider:

Spa Treatments

There’s nothing like taking a little time out from the every day and relaxing at a spa. Whether it is a massage for two or a gift voucher for your Valentine to enjoy “the works,” a spa gift is good for both body and mind.

A Good Book

Is your Valentine literary minded? Then the perfect gift is a book. Whether a best seller or something special about their favorite hobby, your partner can curl up and lose themselves in the pages. Read More »

Why not take the stress out of Valentine’s Day by dropping the unrealistic expectations and commercial nature of the holiday?  Let’s take a step back and remind ourselves about what the holiday is really all about, and find new ways to express our love without adding to our waistline.

What is Valentine’s Day really about?

I’ve scoured historic records and nowhere could I find that Valentine’s Day is about giving your loved one high calorie, high saturated fat candy, buying expensive gifts, or taking your loved one out to a lavish dinner.  In fact, it is even difficult to trace the origins of Valentine’s Day. But, let’s say that for as long as we all can remember, we have selected February 14th as a day to declare our affection for someone.

Unfortunately (and you might not want to hear this), we, primarily women, have commercialized the day and made it about who receives the best gift or was treated most romantically. Sort of loses its meaning when you think about it.

Put the real meaning back into February 14th!  Celebrating this Valentine’s Day differently can be good for your heart:

•        Release the gifting obligation. Less pressure in any area of your life reduces stress – and that’s good for your heart

•        Eliminating expectations reduces anxiety – and that’s good for your heart

•        Anger because your mate didn’t get you ‘the best gift’ can raise your blood pressure – and that’s bad for your heart.  Removing that anger or resentment is good for your heart.

•        Giving of yourself makes you happy – and that’s good for your heart Read More »

It’s Valentine’s Day and hearts are the topic. Everyone knows exercise is good for your heart so I won’t put you sleep with yet another reading of the heart-healthy benefits of exercise. Instead, with love in the air, the topic is how better fitness equates with a better sex life. (And it has nothing to do with appearance.)

The research continually piles up supporting how exercise enhances our enjoyment of sex. But, before highlighting the research, doesn’t it just make intuitive sense? Exercise improves anything we do that is physical in life: yard work, sports, shopping, and yes, sex.

The physical movements required in intercourse are of a nature and duration that they typically require appreciable levels of core strength and general fitness. And better fitness from exercise means better blood flow – to the muscles, organs, and all extremeties.

Now for a look at some of the research. (As reported by Marion Webb of ACE – the American Council on Exercise.) Read More »

CalorieKing has pulled together a listing of some of the most popular candy available for Valentine’s Day.  If you receive some chocolates – don’t panic!  Consult our guide and remember your portion control.  Spread out your enjoyment of your holiday candy over several days and make sure you figure the calories in to your daily plan.  It’s that simple!

Copyright 2012 by Allan Borushek

Read More »

If your idea of a perfect Valentine’s Day is a quiet, romantic meal at home then these recipe makeovers are for you.  You can cook an entire meal – including dessert – and not feel guilty.

Here are some classics.  For more, visit our Valentine’s Day recipe guide.

Stuffed Mushrooms

An elegant appetizer – mushrooms filled with ricotta, shallots, cucumber and tomato.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low-fat ricotta cheese or cottage cheese

1 cucumber finely chopped

1 tomato finely chopped

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp fresh dill or chives chopped

8 large mushroom caps (approx. 3.5 oz each)

1/2 cup spring onions, finely chopped

Directions:

In a bowl, mix ricotta, onion, cucumber, tomato and pepper.

Sprinkle mushroom caps with lemon juice and fill with the mixture.

Garnish with dill or chives. Serve immediately or bake in a moderate oven for a few minutes.

Read More »

Here’s a special guide pulled from our CalorieKing Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter to help you navigate Super Bowl Foods. Print out a copy and pin it to your refrigerator for quick access!

Copyright 2012, Allan Borushek and CalorieKing

Read More »

The pro athletes we see playing in the Super Bowl are capable of pushing their bodies to the limit.  Clearly these guys are “in shape.”  They train year round to endure the rigors of a pro season.

Perhaps we can be fooled into thinking their level of fitness – or any pro athlete in the sport of your choice – is what we need to aspire to when we start adding exercise into our daily routine.

Just get started!ily routine.

Not so! We simply need to get moving.

Everybody wants to get fit, but do we all have the same definition of fitness? Not likely.

To break it down, let’s take a few steps back from our individual goals, and simply accept the fact that we are all the same species – humans.

For humans to be fit, we need optimal functioning of two major systems related to activity:

- The Cardiovascular System – Heart, lungs, blood, veins, arteries
- The Musculoskeletal System (MS) – Bones, muscles, joints

Most people do lots of cardio to get fit, but the repetitive motions can give a pounding to bones and joints that is too much.

Cardio may save your life but resistance training makes it worth living.
Put another way, having a health heart and lungs isn’t all that great when it hurts to move.

We do cardio/aerobics to work the cardiovascular system, and resistance/weight training to work the musculoskeletal system. Too much of one, and not enough of the other, and we are out of balance.

Spending time on each method of training ensures that we can have solid, effective movements, and the stamina to do them repeatedly.

All of us, regardless of age, gender, or goals will need to train both the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system appropriately to be fit..

But what exactly does it mean to be fit? I’ll give you a working definition I came up with years ago and have been using for a while:

Fitness is the ability to do whatever activities you like without having to worry about your body.

Now that you know the two major body systems involved in an effective fitness program for humans, you can begin to tailor your fitness plan to your specific goals at a  level that is comfortable for you.

Jonathan Ross, Fitness Expert

www.AionFitness.com

www.AbsRevealed.com

www.FamilyFitPlan.com

www.facebook.com/EverydayFitnessJonathanRoss