The doors that open..

As many of you know I have taken the journey to teach Yoga.  It has been a great journey, not easy, but then if it was easy it wouldn't be worth it.  I am going tomorrow to meet with a teacher to see if her and I are a match for me to teach at her studio.  I too am starting the journey to teach at the office as well.  Things take time to build, so this is where patience comes in for me.  I have come up with the name of Raleigh Yoga Studio, for a web-site as well as a possible Yoga Studio opening in the future...God willing.

The journey for me this last 4yrs has been full of all kinds of ups and downs.  I finally feel like my life is taking the course it was suppose to.  I feel God will use me in ways I never thought this coming year. (it's all so exciting).  Thank you to all my friends and family through these transitions, I appreciate all your love and support.

Hummus with Baked Tortia Chips...YUM!!!

I LOVE this snack when I'm in the mood for something savory! It's healthy and satisfying!! Give it a try! My hummus recipe is not an exact recipe....I just go by consistency and taste, but I tried to put it into measurements for you. For extra spice add some jalapeno juice to the mix..(we will call that Sherry Hot)..Too you can put this on a sandwich as well, or dip your favorite veggies as well.

Preheat broiler.

HUMMUS

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
1/4-1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/2 clove garlic, or to taste
sun dried tomato's (not the ones packed in oil....the dry ones), about 1/4 cup or to taste
olive oil, to consistency and taste
kosher or sea salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients except olive oil in food processor and process. While processing, drizzle olive oil until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning or ingredients to taste or consistency.

TOTILLAS

Ingredients:
1 medium whole wheat tortilla, cut into 8 wedges

Spray back and front lightly with olive oil spray and sprinkle with kosher/sea salt and pepper...or leave unseasoned.
Place on baking sheet and bake under broiler until light golden brown.
Remove from oven, flip, and place back under broiler until golden brown on opposite side.

WARNING: Don't leave your oven! These will burn fast if you don't keep a close eye on them!

Then spread hummus on tortilla wedges and enjoy!!

YOGA!!!!!!

This journey the last 4wks has been wonderful...I am officially a certified 200RYT yoga instructor. I can't say it was easy (but then it wouldn't be much fun if it was easy. All the girls in class where great, Lizzy at Urban Bliss in Lake Norman Charlotte was awesome teacher. Now the journey begins...the possibilities are endless. I want to go on and get certified in teaching child's yoga as well. Who knows maybe one day I will open my own studio. I am looking forward to teaching..I still have so much to learn (do we ever really stop learning).

Until we meet again..

Shanti (peace)

Jump Start your Metabolism!!

Anyone who had a serious desire to either lose or maintain weight should focus on boosting their metabolism. There is a myth surrounding metabolism that you have no control over it, it's mostly genetic, it is what it is, and you have live with it! WRONG! You have to send your body signals that allow it to function more efficiently so you can rev your metabolism and burn more fat...even when you're doing absolutely nothing at all, like sleeping. A high metabolism will burn more fat and keep you more energized and active throughout the day. A slow, sluggish metabolism can result in a lot of unnecessary frustration when trying to lose weight. So let's give you some helpful info and steps you can implement to get your metabolism going!

1. Weight Training - I can't stress how extremely important this step is in firing up your metabolism. Your metabolism is proportional to the percentage of muscle your body carries. The more muscle you have the more fat you burn and the more calories you use for energy throughout the day. On the contrary, the less muscle you have the less fat you will burn and less calories your body will use for energy. The older people get, the more muscle they lose and the more their metabolism is compromised. Doing weight-bearing exercises is one very important way to ensure that your body maintains muscle.

2. Stop All Forms of Dieting and Starvation – Diets activate an instinctual starvation response in the body and the body's metabolism will drop significantly. Your body will start shutting down and start using as little of it's energy stores (aka calories) as possible while the body has a shortage of food.

3. Replace Steady, Consistent Cardio with Interval Training - Steady cardio is cardio like jogging and swimming that most people are familiar with, as well as cardio machines like the elliptical, etc., most people use at the gym. This type of cardio is really great for enhancing health but is not the best way to get your metabolism going because you're not challenging your body outside it's comfort zone. So if you really want to set your metabolism on fire, do interval training!

4. Never Skip Breakfast - Breakfast brings the body out of fasting...because when you think about it, you've just spent the past 7-8 hours without food (sleeping) and what you really need when you wake up is something healthy in your stomach to make sure your body does not go into it's starvation response mode.

5. Eat 5-6 Meals Every 2-3 Hours - Eating on a schedule ensures that your body is always being fueled and your blood-sugar levels remain consistent. This means that your body's metabolism and energy levels will remain constant. The body doesn't like erratic eating times and loves working on a schedule. A schedule means consistent positive signals to the body for efficient function. When your body knows you're eating, and expects you're eating, it will use, as oppose to store, all the calories you're consuming.

6. Eat Hot Peppers (THIS IS MY FAVORITE) Such as Cayenne Pepper, or Spices Such as Cinnamon- Capsaicins are the active ingredient in pepper. Capsaicin increases body temperature. When your body's temperature goes up, so does your metabolism. This is because the body needs to produce more energy to keep the body temperature elevated. Jalapeno's has a very similar effect on the body. I LOVE Jalapeno's and put them on anything I can!

7. Drink Green Tea - Green tea has been shown to boost metabolism and aid in weight loss. Green tea also has lots of anti-oxidants that have tremendous health benefits. Try drinking a glass with every meal...but drink it hot, or warm. The colder it gets, the less potent it becomes.

8. Get at Least 6 to 8 Hours of Sleep - A lack of sleep produces a high level of the hormone, cortisol, which can get in the way of weight loss. Also, not getting enough sleep hinders results and progress you get from all of your hard efforts!! Less progress means less energy and improper recovery to make physical gains that will fire your metabolism!!

9. My favorite is Yoga - One of the key areas of focus (in yoga practice) for increased metabolic activity is the abdomen and the manipura chakra located in that area. The manipura chakra controls digestion and all organs in and around the digestive system. A strong and healthy digestive system means better immunity because the immune system virtually resides there.

Therefore, a poor digestive system and a sluggish liver are among the most easily identifiable reasons for a sluggish metabolism.

How then do you raise your metabolism when it is slows down or if it tends to be sluggish anyway? Asana (postures) and other techniques in yoga that work out your core can be very useful. Surya Namaskar (set of Yoga asanas) for example, is a system that works out the body and increases metabolic activity simply because it gets the heart pumping and the blood flowing. Practices that strengthen the core and therefore the manipura chakra include certain pranayama (controlled breathing) that are dynamic.

Now start sending your body these positive signals and get your metabolism moving!

Food combinations that are hurting your weight loss!!!!!

Here are 5 potent meal combination's that may be hurting your weight loss efforts

1. Fat and Sugar – Eating fat and sugar in the same meal is a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately a lot of tasty food such as desserts, sweetened drinks and chocolates come in this combination.

Sugar in a meal will spike a hormone called insulin. This is not necessarily a bad thing as insulin is released whenever you eat a meal. In a non sugary meal, the amount of nutrients sent into the cells are well tapered due to a limited amount of insulin released. This results in a slow and steady infusion of sugar, fat and protein into cells. An insulin spike will force the nutrients into cells at a very much faster rate. Cells are not able to use all these excess nutrients. The excess sugar is converted to fat and stored in fat cells. Fatty food is stored directly into fat cells. Some amount of protein can also be converted to fat and stored in fat cells.

2. Fat and Alcohol – Fat and alcohol is another potent fat storage combination. Unfortunately, a lot of alcohol consumption usually goes hand in hand with eating lots of fatty and greasy food.

Alcohol when consumed, will almost completely halt fat metabolism. It will also increase appetite. This has been well documented in studies and further information on this can be obtained from an earlier article entitled Effects of Alcohol on Weight Loss.

Alcohol is like rocket fuel. It takes precedence over fat as the body’s fuel of choice. Any fat that is consumed with alcohol will be stored away in fat cells of your thighs or belly. This will continue to happen until all the alcohol in your body has been metabolized.

3. Alcohol and Sugar – Alcohol and sugar is another very potent yet common beverage combination. A lot of people consume alcohol with sweetened beverages. A lot of cocktails have considerable amounts of sugar.

As mentioned earlier, alcohol takes precedence over fat and sugar as the fuel of choice in the body. Sweetened alcohol beverages contain lots of calories. In the presence of alcohol, the body has no need for the calories form sugar. The sugar is thus converted to fat and stored in fat cells in your thighs or tummy.

4. Fat, Sugar and Alcohol -Sugar, fat and alcohol would be the most potent fat storage concoction that you can find. Alcohol will halt fat metabolism and take precedence as the fuel of choice in the body. Any fat that you consume will be stored directly in your fat cells. Sugar will be converted into fat and stored in fat cells.

The calories from this combination can easily pile up

5. Fat and Sugar Just Before You Sleep -Off course sleep cannot be categorized as a meal but it is related to the topic discussed. A lot of people have the tendency to consume desserts after dinner. The insulin spike from the sugar causes excess calories to be stored in fat cell. This combination becomes more potent when one sleeps. This is because a person’s metabolic rate slows down quite a bit when sleeping. When awake, at least the body burns some of the excess calories. Unfortunately, this does not happen so much at night.

Fat, Sugar and Alcohol Just Before You Sleep

Most of the alcohol binging occurs at night and it all ends with one dropping in bed to sleep. This is the worst possible combination and the most potent for storing fat. As discussed earlier, the slower metabolic rate when sleeping does not help to burn excess calories that otherwise could have been burnt if the person was awake and carrying out day to day activities.

There you have it. The worst possible combination's that will work against your weight loss goals.

Steps You Can Take to Reduce Fat Storage if You Have to Consume These Food

Fat is a very important nutrient and I would not advocate a low fat diet. Instead, you would be advised to be careful not to take fatty and very sweet foods together. Have a dessert earlier in the day, if you really must have it. Have a meal richer in protein if you are going to drink considerable amounts of alcohol. Avoid cocktails and sweetened alcoholic beverages.

Change your Thinking and your Language....

Tips for being Lean not Skinny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(1) FIRST. Above all else, do not starve yourself.

ANY very low calorie diet can work in the beginning, but that’s exactly where the danger is - there’s a false sense of success achieved with rapid weight loss.

Rapid bodyweight loss almost never lasts. The thing is, in this day and age, you already know that. But you so desperately WANT to BELIEVE in the promise of the quick fix, that you ignore your own logic and act on emotion.

Never starve yourself. It’s better to burn more calories with exercise and activity than it is to cut more calories.

When you’re active and burning calories, you can eat much more, providing you with more vitamins, minerals,fiber, essential fatty acids and essential amino acids.

Proper nutrition = optimum health.
Starve yourself = inadequate nutrition = poor health

(2) SECOND, you must make strength training a part of your lifelong exercise program.

You must do resistance training. This is the stimulus and signal to your body to keep the lean muscle when you are on a moderately reduced calorie fat loss program.

Weight training is NOT just for bodybuilders. There is simply no substitute for strength training in keeping your muscle, stoking your metabolism, getting you lean, making you biologically young and keeping you healthy.

Yes - do your cardio too. But don’t do just cardio and think that’s enough. It’s NOT. Cardio + weight training are the TWO exercise elements that when done in combination will produce the fastest healthy fat loss results you can get, while maintaining all your muscle.

DON’T DO THIS

Almost all “skinny fat” people do two things:

1. Starve themselves on very, very low calorie diets
2. Refuse to lift weights

(3) THIRD, you have to change your language.

Words are so powerful aren’t they? Just a change in vocabulary can instantly change a feeling and begin to change your behaviors.

If we stopped trying to be “skinny” and stopped “dying to be thin” (what a terrible metaphor), and instead we focused on “being healthy” “being lean” what a difference it would make.

What if you focused on “improving your nutrition” instead of “going on a diet?” what kind of difference do you think that would make? Just the sound of that - “nutrition” - how does it make you feel compared to “diet?” THINK about that. What associations come along with each word?

What if you added to your goal list a desire to look and be “athletic.” How would that change your perspective? Is the rail-thin, protruding bones waif-model look “athletic???”

DO THIS!

* Always include “being healthy” in your goals, not just reaching a certain weight or dress size.
* Always include “being LEAN” in your goals, never just losing bodyweight.
* Always focus on “improving nutrition” not “dieting.”

(4) FOURTH, measure your body composition.This is very important!!!
You must become aware of the difference between body fat and bodyweight and you must understand body fat percentage and body fat testing.

That doesn’t mean don’t use your scale and ignore what the mirror shows you and how your clothes fit, it means doing all of the above.

Always measure your body composition (skinfold caliper or other method), and understand what your losing - is it weight or fat? Is it just water weight? Could it be lean muscle you’re losing?

A single measurement will tell you.

Burn The Fat, KEEP The Muscle

Everything described here about what you should do and what you should not do is the same approach that *natural* bodybuilders and fitness competitors have always used.

These athletes CANNOT afford to lose an ounce of muscle, so they train hard and eat sometimes as many as 6 clean-natural-food meals a day to stoke the metabolism and feed the muscle.

I hope that more people who were focused only on being skinny will begin to focus on the right thing:

It’s not about being “skinny.” It’s about being “lean” and being “healthy.” I know this first hand..I have been very "skinny" I much be very "lean" you feel better inside and out.

 
The problem with eating foods that are high in sugar and empty calories is that you never seem satisfied, which leads to eating more crummy food. Of course this a lot of times leads to guilt and the “throw in the towel” negative self talk and . . . . well you know the rest of story.
How exciting to know there are foods that actually suppress your appetite and help you stay on the path. That’s why I really liked an article by Team Beachbody:  Appetite-Suppressing Foods to Conquer Your Cravings
By Whitney Provost

1.Oatmeal. This hot cereal is high in fiber and low on the glycemic index, which means it fills you up and takes a long time to digest. Research has shown that diets high in slow-burning carbohydrates like oatmeal suppress the hunger hormone grehlin more effectively than diets high in fat. In fact, when you eat oatmeal for breakfast, you may find that your appetite is lower at lunchtime. Steel-cut or rolled oats are digested more slowly than the “instant” variety, so it’s worth taking a few extra minutes in the morning to prepare your breakfast the old-fashioned way.
2.Apples. Not only are apples nutritious, but what sets them apart from other fruits is pectin, a soluble fiber that helps regulate blood sugar, keeps you full, and sustains your energy. One medium apple with skin contains 4 grams of fiber, which is more than you’d get in an average slice of whole wheat bread. Add an apple and some cinnamon to your morning oatmeal for an appetite-suppressing breakfast.

3.Pine nuts. These edible pine-tree seeds contain more protein than any other nut or seed, and their oil stimulates two appetite-suppressing hormones (cholecystokinin [CKK] and glucagon-like peptide-1) that tell your brain you’re not hungry. Blend pine nuts with basil, garlic, and a little olive oil to make pesto, or sprinkle them on your salad or oatmeal for a delicious, nutty crunch.
4.Salad. The fiber in typical salad vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, spinach, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, and peppers is very filling and helps slow the release of glucose into your bloodstream. Studies have shown that when people start a meal with a small salad, they eat significantly fewer calories in the meal itself. Just watch out for the high-fat dressings (or worse, fat-free dressings that are high in sugar). Try having the dressing on the side and dipping your fork into it for easy portion control, or simply add a dash of balsamic vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice for a tasty, super-low-calorie option. Bonus tip: Try to eat a vegetable at every meal to keep your appetite at bay all day long.
5.Olive oil and other unsaturated fats. Researchers at the University of California at Irvine found that unsaturated fat causes the intestines to release a compound (oleoylethanolamide) that has been shown to reduce appetite and stimulate weight loss. Some great choices for unsaturated fat include avocados, olives and olive oil, almonds, salmon, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts, and sesame seeds. These foods are high in calories, so enjoy them in moderation while regulating your appetite.
6.Flax seeds. Flax is one of the best plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids. The seeds are also very high in protein and fiber, making them excellent for appetite control. Sprinkle ground flax seeds over oatmeal, salads, or yogurt (this is my favorite), or add them to smoothies to help stabilize your blood sugar and turn off the hunger hormones.
7.Beans. The fiber in beans increases CCK, a digestive hormone that’s a natural appetite suppressant. A research study at the University of California at Davis found that men who ate a high-fiber meal containing beans had CCK levels that were two times higher than when they ate a low-fiber meal. Beans also keep your blood sugar steady, which helps stave off hunger.
8.Whey protein. New studies suggest that whey protein stimulates the hormones that increase the feeling of being full. In one study, researchers at the University of Surrey in England found that people who consumed whey protein felt fuller and more satisfied with less food. Whey also stabilizes blood sugar, and that can help control food urges. Make a drink with Whey Protein Powder to calm your appetite any time of the day.
9.Spicy foods (if you know me this is my favorite). Capsaicin, the ingredient that gives peppers their heat, can also help control your raging appetite. A recent study published in Clinical Nutrition suggests that capsaicin-rich foods may help you eat fewer calories and support weight loss by suppressing your appetite and making you feel fuller. You can add hot pepper sauce to tomato juice, stir-fry peppers with other vegetables, or throw some peppers and salsa in an omelette. Other spicy ingredients may have similar effects, so try adding hot mustard and curry spices to your salads and meats. I love to roast jalapeno peppers they really do curb your appetite.