Motivation Monday: How to get your diet back on track After an Indulgent Weekend

This WILL be happening today.

I hope you had a great July 4th weekend. I was supposed to be on a Mediterranean cruise right now but had to postpone it to a later date. Instead I spent a relaxing weekend at a friend's lake house. It was a weekend of indulgence for which I am trying to balance out today with diet and exercise.

I had a green smoothie for breakfast the last two days made of simply kale, a banana, fresh peaches from Ham's Orchard, water and a splash of coconut water. It's delicious. Here are more smoothie recipes. I like to eat fiber-rich foods like watermelon or cauliflower after an indulgent weekend. It's filling without providing too many calories. Try this Buffalo Cauliflower Bites recipe from Mind Over Munch. Amazeballs!

Here's some diet and fitness news to help kickstart your week and get you back on track if you overdid it this weekend.

 Diet And Fitness News You Need To Know 
If you ate or drank too much this weekend don't worry. Eat a produce-heavy diet, drink plenty of water and exercise the next few days. Consume too much salt? Again, load up on water. Drink too much booze? Drink coconut water, Emergen-C (I love both of these) or some other electrolyte replacement beverage and eat a potassium-rich food like a banana. Here are more ways to help you fix bad diet decisions.

It's scientifically proven that exercise improves your life. It sharpens your memory, speeds your metabolism, helps you sleep better and reduces stress. Need more evidence? Read the rest from a recent study by Cleveland State University here.

Heading to the beach this summer? A) Don't forget sunscreen! B) Take a few minutes to exercise. From sand lunges and beach crawling to simple jogging or skipping, here are the best exercises to do at the beach.

SO, it turns there is such a thing as a negative calorie food. Sorta. It's ice. Think about it. Ice requires heat from your body AKA calories to warm it and burn it. Of course, there's a diet book to go with this.

You should drink coffee before you workout. It improves circulation and increases muscle fuel. Find out the other reasons why coffee is the BOMB here.

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Monday Motivation: When In Doubt Work Out

TRUTH!

I hope you had a great weekend and are looking forward to enjoying a long holiday weekend. I found this "When In Doubt Work Out" pillow and couldn't help but smile. It's pretty solid advice. 

Think of exercise as a reward, not punishment. That approach will change your life. 

Here's some healthy living news to help you win your week:

• Looking for a quickie? Workout that is. Here is a slew of 15-minute workouts that burn fat, featuring yours truly. 
• Even if you exercise, sitting all day can still kill you. Well that's a Debbie Downer. 
• So if you're stuck at your desk, here are exercises you can do at your desk featuring a heavy dose of squats, chair crunches, calf raises, desk pushups, tricep dips and bicep curls. 
• Check out these diet myths that can hurt your weight loss efforts. For example, calories don't matter if it's a healthy food. Or you can eat whatever your want if you exercise. Both of these are WRONG. You can't outrun the fork. I gained weight when I was training for marathons because I would eat that extra cookie. Or six. 

Make it a great week!

15 Weird Diet Tricks That Work

Earlier this year, we shared the 25 best diet tips of all time.  I stumbled across an article recently detailing weird weight loss tricks that work from Allure.

I found  this t-shirt online and couldn't help but smile.

There are some of the usual suspects like eat off small plates (a proven weight loss winner) and give up the guilt. The latter is a diet gamechanger. Turns out the stress induced by the guilt of overeating can cause you to eat more. Just enjoy an indulgent meal and move on. That has saved me in more ways than one.

Some of the other suggestions are fascinating and smart:

• When eating out, sit at the end of a table away from the center where the bread and chips are normally placed. Easy, simple and genius. 
• Sleeping in a chilly bedroom can help rev up your metabolism. It forces your body to heat itself up and, in turn, you will burn calories keeping yourself warm. 
• Researchers have found that drinking one to two glasses of wine a day helps keep your weight down. Why? Well researchers can't exactly explain but they have found that women tend to eat fewer calories when drinking wine and burn more calories after drinking than men do. The key? It's moderate wine consumption.
• Check your allergy meds, these can be a sneaky cause of unexplained weight gain because H1-type antihistamines like Claritin or Allegra block the histamine's in the immune which play a role in appetite and metabolizing fat. 

Read the rest here.

One More

I would add perhaps my most effective one: put your fork down between bites. It forces you to eat slower which allows your brain to signal your stomach you're full. It works. Promise.

The Monday Morning Detox Edition of Motivation Monday

I hope you had an amazing weekend.  Mine was educational, fun and enlightening, courtesy of Reward Style's 2014 Conference.  What a great time mingling with a slew of smart girls (and a handful of brilliant guys) who are revolutionizing the way we consume and monetize new media.

I met women and men from around the world and learned about some fabulous new lines like UK-based River Island and that gorgeous bag (only $150! buy it here) in the photo above.  The online publishers ranged in age from 19-44 who are all dreaming, hustling and owning new media.  It's inspiring and exciting to be a part of something that's representing a fundamental shift in the way consumers digest information and shop online. 

Most people come away from conferences or rallies inspired to change.  That momentum usually wears off in a week or so.  But there are common characteristics among successful people who don't let that momentum stop: hustle, perseverance and genuine curiosity to keep improving.

That's the theme of today's Motivation Monday:  Hustle.  We can all dream.  Grand dreams are what make life fun.  But those dreams are rarely achieved without hustling your ass off to succeed.  The accomplishment and pride that come from that hustle make life worth living.

The Downside?
Mama did some drinking and eating.  I was on a good path lately but, as the nature of conferences, my diet was not what I would endorse: too many processed carbs aka white food, too much sodium and maybe one too many glasses of Ruinart Saturday night which led to a grease-filled Sunday at Village Burger Bar and Fernando's.

Monday's Detox Routine
Produce.  Lots of it.

Breakfast: tons of water and a green juice with kale, celery, cucumber and apple.

Lunch: a produce-laden salad featuring spinach, broccoli, red peppers, some beans with some blueberries and strawberries.

Dinner: my Kale, Lentil, Sweet Potato soup.  I make a big batch and freeze it in individual containers making it a perfect option to pop into the microwave on nights like this when I am pressed for time.  I am going to the Mavs/Spurs game Monday night so I will eat this right before I leave for the AAC.

Kale, Lentil & Sweet Potato Soup - even my daughter loves it! 

Broth-based soups, full of vegetables are a great way to end the day on a lower-calorie note.

Here are three more detox soup recipes that help you do just that.

Have a Great Week!
I hope you a wonderful week, eat well, exercise, hustle your ass off and are proud of yourself on Friday night.

For healthy & delicious recipes, fashionable posts and more, follow me on Pinterest.

Are Some of Us Born to Loathe Exercise?

Forget love.  Do you have a hate relationship with exercise?  It might not be your fault.

Running the Jerusalem Half-Marathon in 2009

Apparently some of us are simply hardwired to loathe exercise.   Researchers at the University of Missouri bred pairs of rats that voluntarily spent a lot of time running on wheels in their cages and compared their baby rats with the offspring of rats that didn't seem to enjoy running.

The rats of "active parents" were likelier to exercise.  When scientists examined their brains, they found that the running rats' Nucleus Accumbens lit up while exercising.  WTH are Nucleus Accumbens?  Well, it's part of the brain that is associated with pleasure and enjoyment.

All of this is published in the Journal of Physiology and is better explained in Parade.

So are are you destined to hate exercise?  Not so much.  The lead researcher in the study, Missouri biomedical professor Frank Booth, Ph.D., indicated that no matter what deck of gene cards you're handed "people can decide to exercise".

Taking a barre class at exhale spa

C'est Vrai.  I personally believe I am one of the folks hardwired to love exercise.  As far back as I can remember, I loved running, riding bikes and horses.  That has translated into a lifestyle as an adult that enjoys participating in these activities as well as working out at the gym, taking classes and more.

Hardwired to exercise or not, it's one of the few things you can do that can instantly lift your mood.  Don't believe me?  Go for a walk for thirty minutes.  I dare you to tell me you don't feel better.

As I have gotten older, exercise isn't so much about looking better.  It's about feeling better.  This approach to exercise can work for you, too.  It's the one thing you can do to set the tone for the day and improve your outlook automatically.

Monday Motivation: Ditch the Junk Food & Adopt the Paris Diet

I hope you had a great weekend.  I hope you have an even greater week.

If you haven't heard, I'm trying to stick to an editorial calendar.  By going public with it, I'm hoping it has that "hold me accountable" effect.

From junk food truly jacking with your system to Parisian diet recipes (yes, please), here are some things I hope will help get you through the week:

Exercise Helps You Live Longer

There is no reason not to exercise.  Really.  Now there is solid proof it helps you live longer.  You CAN find the time to exercise for 30 minutes a day, even if it's just walking, dancing or hula hooping.  Do it.  Stop making excuses.

Junk Sucks
So junk food makes you lazy.  I could have told you that!  When I was 200 pounds and lived on M&M's & Diet Mountain Dew, I was always tired.  Now, here's science to support that.

Light French Recipes

Light French Recipes: A Parisian Diet Cookbook

Okay, I am ALL in on this....a LIGHT French recipe book: Light French Recipes: A Parisian Diet Cookbook. (Available May 13th.  Pre-order it here.)  Yes!

One can argue that those who love the Mediterranean side of France don't need this.  True.  For those of you who love northern French fare and are looking to lighten it, this is a Godsend.  To learn more about dieting with Parisian chic, check out Dr. Jean-Michel Cohen's other book, The Parisian Diet.  This book isn't about deprivation.  It's about delighting in food that's so beautifully prepared and of such high quality that you won't crave crap (like M&M's & Diet Mountain Dew).  Details on this and my other favorite French books below.

The Takeaway

Whatever you're planning right now, stop talking about it.  Start doing it.  Or at least start putting the ball in motion to begin your next big endeavor.  You'll feel better about being productive.  Promise.

Have a great week!

Buy The Parisian Diet & My Fave French Books Here: