Weight Loss - Exercise

by Thea Mangels
One of my wellness goals is weight-loss. Here are a few simple tips that I have found helpful, that you might find helpful too, if weight-loss is one of your goals also.

Exercise:

- The recommended amount of exercise is at least 30 minutes every day, but this can be broken down into chunks of 10 minutes throughout the day.
- I run or jog up any staircase I can (unless people can see me).
- When I have to stand and wait for something, I do plies (knee bends) and/or arm circles.
- A walk at your break or lunch is a great way to get in a little exercise.

If you're looking for some new ways to incorporate exercise into your life, you might like to join my July Fitness Challenge - you can find more information here. 

Visit my page: www.wellnessgirlproducts.com

*No information on this blog should be considered medical advice. You should always consider consulting a medical professional before making drastic diet or lifestyle changes. I am not a medical professional.

Weight Loss - Knowing is Step 1

by Thea Mangels
For some of us, knowing what we are actually eating is step one in changing our diet.  I got a fitness tracker as a late Christmas gift to myself, and one of the things it did was allow me to track everything I ate, and keep track of the calories in each food item. 

Before that, I had never really kept a food diary.  I knew that I had good days and bad days, in terms of my diet, but I never really understood just how GOOD and BAD they were, when compared to the 2,000 calorie per day recommendation (or 1,500 when dieting). The food tracking app was an eye opener.
 
For those of you who have not kept a food diary of any sort, I recommend it.  The information will help you see why your healthy lifestyle changes may (or may not) be working.  You may not choose to make any changes, once you know what your daily caloric intake is, but you'll be making an informed decision. 

For me, the biggest eye opener was just how enormous a cheat it was to have a hamburger or chicken sandwich at a fast food place.  It was worse than my whole day (pretty much ANY day).  I really had to consider how much I wanted that hamburger. 

I don't track all of my food anymore.  I think it was a useful exercise, but that I could have made my life revolve around balancing calorie intake and exercise.  I want a healthy life, not a health-nut life.  I don't always decide against the hamburger, but now I know how much the hamburger sets back my healthy goals, it's a balance. 

Visit my page: www.wellnessgirlproducts.com
Visit my facebook page: www.facebook.com/wellnessgirlproducts


*No information on this blog should be considered medical advice. You should always consider consulting a medical professional before

Food Friday - Potato Salad

It is the 4th of July, so I thought we could celebrate by taking one of America's favorite barbeque/picnic foods and sharing my favorite healthier version.  :)  I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2  pounds  potatoes -- 5 Russets, or 12 small red skinned
6 eggs, hard-boiled
1/2 mild onion -- chopped
1/4 cup  plain nonfat yogurt -- Greek
1/4 cup  mayonnaise
1sweet pickle -- chopped fine
2 tablespoons  brine from sweet pickles
salt
dill weed

Prep:

Boil the potatoes in salted water.
Cool.
Chop roughly
chop eggs,
and stir everything together.
Taste for balance of seasonings.


This is a recipe my mother and I put together as a joint effort.  When I make it on my own, I use less mayonnaise (almost none), and more Greek yogurt - I really like Fage fat free Greek yogurt, it's really rich and creamy. 

                                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 189 Calories; 10g Fat (46.3% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 162mg Cholesterol; 155mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat

Find Your Reason to Dance

by Thea Mangels

As you undertake your wellness journey, you may discover that there are times when your resolve is less than 100%. I know that this has happened to me quite a few times on my journey so far. What helps get me through those rough spots is knowing what’s motivating me to keep going. For me, my motivation is wellness – when I am healthy I FEEL better, all of me. I have a better outlook on life, my immune system is stronger, I have more energy, my back hurts less, my dancing improves, I feel stronger, and prettier, and better within my skin.

That’s MY motivation – my reason to dance. Your motivation is personal – each person has his or her own. It could be that you want to lower your blood pressure so that you will be around for your kid’s college graduation, or you could really want to take up swing dancing, or you have always wanted to wear a size six, or your whole family is learning healthy habits together – your motivation is inspiring your children to live into wellness. Whatever YOUR motivation is, it is the right motivation, because it is what is motivating you.

The trick is to figure out your motivation, so that when you hit a rough spot, you can remind yourself what you’re working for and stick with it.
Visit my page www.wellnessgirlproducts.com

How to Host a Wrap Party

by Thea Mangels

Step 1:

Decide that you and your girl (or guy) friends deserve to have a great time and tone tighten and smooth your bodies for just $25. 

Step 2:

Contact me to start planning your party.  You can reach me via email to wellnessgirl.itworks@gmail.com or on facebook www.facebook.com/wellnessgirlproducts or on my website (click the Contact Me link) www.wellnessgirlproducts.com. 

Step 3:

Choose your guest list.  A party can be as few as four friends, or as large as fifteen or twenty.  (For large groups, RSVPs become very important, so that we can have Wrap supplies on hand). 

Step 4:

Create an evite, facebook event, or send paper invitations.  Let all of your guests know about this exciting event you are hosting.  Communicate that they can wrap any part of their bodies from the neck down, and that the wrap is just $25 per person. 

Step 5:

The day before your party, send an email or text message to your guests, reminding them to wear comfortable clothing that will allow access to the part of the body they wish to wrap and letting them know how excited you are to see them.  (Or, share contact information with me, and I can send this email for you.)

Step 6:

On the day of the party, we'll set up together.  I will arrive at your home (or place of your choosing) early, and we will set up a "wrap room" (a private location for folks to actually have the wrap applied) with supplies like wraps, fab wrap, and scissors.  We will set up your main room with lots of water, the materials for my presentation (including some yummy samples) and a gift for one lucky guest.

Step 7:

Enjoy the party.  You and all your friends will get wrapped, chat, enjoy the samples of the wonderful It Works! products, and experience the magic of the wrap.

Visit my page: www.wellnessgirlproducts.com
Visit my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/wellnessgirlproducts 


*No information on this blog should be considered medical advice. You should always consider consulting a medical professional before making drastic diet or lifestyle changes. I am not a medical professional.

Squats

If you (like me) haven't done squats in a while (or ever), I recommend them.  I even Googled it, and found a couple of sources on how to do them right:
Squats: Why You Need Them in Your Workout, and How to do Them Right
and
How to do a Perfect Squat (video).

Here's a quote from the article above: "If you are serious about getting in shape and losing weight, or if you’re a beanpole and looking to gain muscle, you absolutely need to include squats in your routine."


Visit my page: www.wellnessgirlproducts.com
Visit my facebook page: www.facebook.com/wellnessgirlproducts 


*No information on this blog should be considered medical advice. You should always consider consulting a medical professional before 

Sleep is More Important than Food

from The Energy Project

Let's cut to the chase.

Say you decide to go on a fast, and so you effectively starve yourself for a week. At the end of seven days, how would you be feeling? You'd probably be hungry, perhaps a little weak, and almost certainly somewhat thinner. But basically you'd be fine.

Now let's say you deprive yourself of sleep for a week. Not so good. After several days, you'd be almost completely unable to function. That's why Amnesty International lists sleep deprivation as a form of torture.

Continue reading from the blog of Tony Schwartz.