Jump Start Your Morning

Question: So, my question is pertaining to healthy breakfast eating choices. Every one's first response is usually oatmeal. Well, unfortunately for me, I HATE OATMEAL! For now, I pretty much eat a bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond cereal with soy milk and some fruit. But, I know that too much of any one thing can't be good. So can you please offer something better than cold cereal? ~ T.White

Answer: We have always heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day…and it is! But, this is the hardest meal for some to eat…especially me. For some reason, society has made us think that there are “breakfast foods” that we can only eat in the morning. Truth is…breakfast is what you want it to be. So, choose foods that you like and make sure you make healthy modifications. If you MUST eat breakfast foods here are a few options (food & beverage)…that aren’t oatmeal!

• Egg white omelet with veggies (bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, etc)
• Whole wheat muffins: bake them in the 12 pan; 1 muffin from the 12-pan is 1 serving.
• Whole wheat toast: use peanut butter or “I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter w/olive oil” on it.
• Fill up on your fruit during this time: it will help you to get the fiber you need for the day.
• Cottage cheese w/fruit (I don’t like cottage cheese…and you probably won’t either if you don’t like yogurt)
• Smoked salmon
• Orange juice (NOT sunny D)
• Cranberry juice: make sure to pay attention to the amount of sugar added.
• Turkey bacon unlike ground turkey is much healthier than regular pork bacon.
• One side of a whole wheat bagel
• An English muffin
• Whole grain pancakes (watch the syrup and butter you use)
• WATER, WATER, WATER

Remember: www.mypyramid.gov says make half of your grains “whole,” so if you are eating any grains be sure to check the label and make sure they are whole grains.

My Philosophy: What you eat in the morning doesn’t have to be “breakfast food,” just make sure its foods that you like and foods that will give you energy for the day.

Beat the Behind the Desk Blues

About a year ago, I started working a job that confined me to a desk (against my will). This was a major adjustment especially since I had never had a position where I was required to sit behind a desk for about 9 hours a day!

I quickly realized how easy it was to fall into a sedentary lifestyle. So here’s what I do to try to stay on the straight and narrow.

1. Get up: Walk around outside or up and down the halls. Don’t just get up from your desk when you have to use the restroom or when you need to go to the printer.
2. Have healthy snacks on hand: Keep your office area stocked with healthy snacks, this keeps you from going to the snack machines.
3. Bring your lunch: Fix your lunch the night before so there’s no question when 12:00 rolls around
4. Commit to an exercise plan: Take your gym clothes to work with you and change at work…to make sure you go work out.
5. Drink water not cokes or coffee!


These are 5 simple modifications you can make to put you on a path to healthy office habits!

** DON’T FORGET TO SEND ME YOUR QUESTIONS!**

LAST CHANCE!

Ladies! Summer is almost over (where did it go??). Did you get in shape? Did you reach your fitness goals? If not, join my Last Chance Fitness Challenge starting on August 2, 2010 in the Jackson, MS area.

If you are interested in this intense challenge that will help you reach your fitness goals please contact me via email (nhill.fitness@gmail.com) or Facebook.

I look forward to hearing from you!

P.S Don't forget to send me your fitness questions!

~NHILL

ASK KEITRA: Running vs. Walking

QUESTION:

Is running a better form of exercise than walking? I know you burn calories quicker while running as opposed to walking…but is one better than the other?

~Conversation Starter

ANSWER: There are people who absolutely LOVE running and some who absolutely HATE running. I happen to be one of those people who are on the fence…I try to do a combination of both.

In order to maintain weight one must get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise 7 days a week. To lose weight one must engage in at least 30-45 minutes vigorous activity 3-4 days per week. How do you know what’s moderate and what’s vigorous? You can use the “Talk Test.”

The Talk Test:

• Low Intensity: When you can sing a song while you’re walking without getting out of breath. This should be done during your warm up and cool down.
• Moderate intensity: You can talk while performing the activity without getting out of breath.
• Vigorous Intensity: When you cannot sing or talk during the activity.

My philosophy: In order to see results you MUST do something that strikes your interest…or you won’t stick to it. So, if you hate running try different things such as riding bikes or running small intervals at a time.

My advice: Listen to your body and figure out what’s best for YOU.

ASK KEITRA: Margarita vs. Bud Light

Question:
My question is about beer…do the same rules apply for let's say...a margarita vs a beer? ~Anonymous

Answer:
Before even researching the nutritional value of the 2 drinks, my natural inclination is that margarita has more sugar and other contents than a beer.

I researched a Margarita and a Bud Light. Here’s what I found:

Nutritional Content	Margarita	Bud Light (4.2% alcohol)
Size	3.3 fl oz	7.1 fl oz
Calories	153 g	65g
Fat	0 g	0 g
Sodium	583 mg	0 g
Sugar	4.3 g	0 g
Carbs	7 g	3.9g

This shows that a Margarita half the size of a beer has 2 times the calories found in a Bud Light. Often margaritas have a lower alcohol content (to keep you buying more). So, if you drink 3 margaritas you have consumed 1749 mg of sodium (we only need 2400 a day) and 459 calories.

If you have to make a choice, I would say that a Bud Light is the better choice. I repeat A Bud Light. These empty calories can also add up and before you know it you will have enough calories to make a meal, but no nutrients.

BOTTOM LINE: Chose carefully where you want to use your calories

Recommended website: www.calorieking.com
This tells you the nutritional value of just about any food or beverage.

TURKEY vs. BEEF

I recently decided to switch from ground beef to ground turkey. My first dish to try was spaghetti. I bought the ground turkey from Wal-Mart, but it wasn’t until I got home that I read the nutrition label. To say the least I was shocked because I had just become the victim of the next health fad.

The ground turkey nutrition label read 230 calories with 160 of those coming from fat!! WOWZERS! After reading this I was baffled and needed a better understanding because I always thought turkey was “healthier” than beef.

I began to research and found the secret! You MUST read nutrition labels. Ground turkey often contains skin and fat (something they don’t tell you on the label). So, if you just pick up a package of ground turkey thinking that you’re about to healthy…STOP and read the label.

Typically, I use lean ground beef or extra lean (when I can find it). Lean ground beef usually has about a 30% fat and extra lean has about 15% fat. If you’re like me and sometimes prefer the flavor of ground beef, GO FOR IT! If ground turkey is your forte’ I would strongly encourage you to read the label and make sure you get lean ground turkey.

What it all boils down to: Read nutrition labels and don’t fall into the “healthy foods” trap as I did. Ground beef and ground turkey are only as healthy as you make them.

HELPFUL HINT:

Eat This, Not That books are my favorite resource points when I’m struggling to figure out whether or not something is healthy.

ASK KEITRA

QUESTION: Does regularly consuming alcoholic beverages cause you to gain weight?
~Conversation Starter

ANSWER: Alcoholic beverages are full of empty calories. I always like to say, “I would rather eat my calories than drink them.” Many drinks are mixed with beverages such as fruit juice, sprite, coke, etc. All of these flavorings contain large amounts of sugar, which means they have no nutritional value. The high sugar content does not contribute to weight reduction and may hinder the weight loss process. Now, this does not mean that you have to cut out all alcoholic beverages…just be moderate. Consuming alcohol in excess can cause weight gain (hints the term “beer belly”).

If having a few drinks here and there is your thing, be mindful of how much you consume and figure out when and where you can afford to consume more calories.

Bottom line:
• Moderation is key
• Don’t drink your calories away

Visit: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/low-calorie-cocktails
for an article entitled “5 ways to keep from overloading on calories when you have an alcoholic drink.”

ASK KEITRA

QUESTION: I know how to diet to lose weight fast, but I'm not sure how to exercise in a way to maximize my weight loss. Any suggestions? ~Conversation Starter

ANSWER: Take a look at how you eat and see if there is anything unhealthy that you can live without. In order to do this, buy a journal and write down every single thing you eat (even a piece of gum) for a whole week. At the end of that week grade yourself and make modifications from there. Often, we are eating things that we may think are healthy, but are high in fat, sugar, and sodium. I encourage you to read the labels on foods before purchasing them because marketing makes it easy for the producer to print “healthy” on something just to catch the eye of the consumer.

I would encourage you to NOT diet to lose weight fast because this is only a temporary quick fix, not a lifelong habit.

I also encourage lifting weights. Many women are scared to lift weights because they think they will bulk up and start looking like a man, but this will not happen. Women do not produce enough testosterone to create bulky muscles. Those women that do bulk up are either naturally built that way or they are taking some type of muscle enhancer. Lifting weights helps you burn fat faster and it also creates lean muscle. Start out by doing very light weighs with high repetitions. For example, start out doing 2 sets of 15 bicep curls with 5 pound dumbbells and gradually increase your weight (every 2-4 weeks).

Remember: You MUST burn more calories than you consume to lose weight.

ASK KEITRA

Question: I need tips on how to lose weight. My goal is to lose between 5 and 8 pounds.

Answer: As a young lady in your early twenties who is relatively active with a genetically small build, dropping 5-8 pounds should be rather simple. BUT, in order to lose weight, three (3) things MUST be in place in order to achieve maximum results. These three things go hand in hand and they all work together to promote weight loss.

1. Healthy mindset: This is one of the most important components of weight loss because if you have not made up in your mind to accomplish the goal…it will never happen
2. Healthy Eating Habits: I suggest journaling as a way to hold yourself accountable. I have never been a fan of the word diet; but I am a fan of lifestyle change. Find what works best for YOUR body, because what works for someone else may not work for you. Lastly, minimize your snack, sugar, caffeine and fried food consumption and INCREASE your fruit, vegetable, and water consumption.
3. Physical Activity: A person your age should do at LEAST 30 minutes of moderate exercise everyday to maintain weight, but to lose weight you must do at least 60 minutes of vigorous exercise at LEAST 3 days per week.
   

Other suggestions I have are to find things you like to do to help you stay dedicated, push yourself (not too far though), and find someone to exercise with you. Lastly, healthy weight loss is between 1.5 and 2 pounds per week; so realistically speaking it should take you about a month to drop the pounds.

I hope this answer has been helpful. Please feel free to share, ask more questions, etc.!

Websites I recommend:
www.sparkpeople.com
www.livestrong.com
www.mypyramid.gov


~NHill

GOT QUESTIONS? ASK ME!

Ok, ladies and gents! People tend to ask me many different questions about how to eat healthy, how to lose weight, what exercises to do, etc. So, I have decided to answer those questions and post them for everyone to see. By posting and answering these questions, I hope to create dialogue while helping you achieve achieve your health and fitness goals. So we’ll call it… “Ask Keitra.”

I will post the questions anonymously...if you request. You can send the questions to either nhill.fitness@gmail.com or shoot me a message on Facebook.

~NHill

THE SHAKE WEIGHT… Effective or NOT?

So, we’ve all seen the Shake Weight on TV promising that if you just stand and shake this little dumbbell looking instrument for 6 minutes a day, you are destined for great arms.



As I sat enjoying the 4th of July Barbeque at my boyfriend’s family home, my eyes caught a glimpse of a partially opened box. As I looked closer, I saw what appeared to be a shake weight sitting in the partially opened box. I immediately examined the contents of the box. As I opened the brochure to found about 4-5 different ways that the Shake Weight can be used along with one dumbbell.



I took the weight out of the box and begin looking at it as if it’s a foreign object. Soon after, I ask my boyfriend’s sister “where’s the on/off button” her response is “there’s not one.” THAT WAS DECEPTION #1 for me. I don’t know about you, but the commercials on TV make it look like you simply hold the weight and it shakes itself…that’s not the case. You have to shake it yourself...go figure.

I proceed to shake the weight and try to perform some of exercises shown on the box. Needless to say…I was not impressed. Obviously, my boyfriend’s sister wasn’t either, which probably explains why it was still in the box virtually untouched.




So, is the SHAKE WEIGHT worth the special $19.95 (or $39.95 in some cases)?

I have said it before…I’m an old school exercise kind of gal. I like to stick to the basics. In my opinion, you can get the same results from simply doing bicep curls, triceps extensions, or any arm exercise for that matter with a set of regular dumbbells. You can also get the same effects at a MUCH CHEAPER PRICE by filling a 2 liter coke bottle with water and performing the exercises shown on the Shake Weight. As you have probably gathered by now...I do not think the shake weight is worth spending 20 hard earned dollars for...most definitely not 40 bucks. You can purchase a set of dumbells for much cheaper and get better results.