Lose Weight and Keep it Off

You’ve heard that you need to move more to lose weight. That’s great, but now you’ve found out there are two types of exercise: cardio and strength training. Just which type of exercise is better for weight loss? I wish I could give you one simple answer. The truth is I can’t. Well, I can but it’s not going to be one that you like: both are great for weight loss. Neither is better than the other because they both do different jobs. Here’s a look at the two to help you understand why you should make both part of your weight loss plan. Cardio for Calorie Burning The benefit of cardio is that you get out there and burn the calories off right there and then. You don’t burn as many as you would think—so a 30 minute run doesn’t make up for the pizza the night before—but it is still good for weight loss. Cardio involves any type of aerobic exercise, where you get your heart going and your lungs working. There are different intensities that you can work at depending on your ...

There are so many diet plans out there. We can follow Weight Watchers, Slimming World, the Atkins Diet, the Paleo Diet and so many more. It’s actually difficult to keep track of them. Some of the diets have one thing in common: they’re low-carb diets. I want to point out that they’re low-carb and not no-carb . This is important because carbs are still an essential part of our diets. We need them. But you could benefit from reducing the amount of carbs you eat. Especially the types of carbs you eat. Me saying that may surprise some people. After all, I advocate on a healthy and balanced diet, but this does support a low-carb diet plan. The key is in the balanced part of the phrase. There’s nothing wrong with eating a carby meal now and then. Hell, I love pasta dishes and bread is a firm favorite in our house. The difference is we also focus on high-protein and high-fiber meals a lot of the time. We’ll look at low-carb meals because they can help and here’s why: ...

Your weight loss excuses are holding you back. You know it’s the truth, but you can’t seem to stop making them. Did you know that September is a lot like January? It’s a time for people to start making resolutions because they know the holiday season will be here before they know it. The problem with resolutions is they tend to get broke because of all the excuses. We don’t have time There’s more important stuff to focus on Life is just too damn difficult Whatever our excuses are, they’re holding us back. So, I want us all to make a commitment to stop making weight loss excuses. I want us to start finding a way around the excuses—push ourselves to take steps forward. What can we do? Well, here are a few ways around those excuses. Look at the Things We Can Do The excuses are always negative. They give us a reason not to do something. So, it’s time to look at the positives: what can we do? Every time you think of an excuse to go off track or not really ...

I see a lot of people in Weight Watchers groups sharing food pics to help with their weight loss efforts. It likely happens in many weight loss groups, because it certainly happens on personal Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages. Does it really help with weight loss? Personally I think it does. Here’s why: It keeps you on track When you share food pics, you’re more on track with your weight loss plan. You have others to be held accountable to, and you want to show that you’re following whatever plan it is you’re following. You know that when you take a pic and show it on social media others will see. There’s always judgment—as much as we don’t want it—and you want to make sure you show your focus. So, in short, sharing food pics helps with weight loss because it keeps you on track. You get support on bad days When you stop sharing your food pics, people worry. They want to know where you are and find out why you’ve stopped. It usually tells them...

Sometimes you just want something quick and easy to eat. You don’t want to spend hours at the stove chopping, preparing and then cooking. This chicken and roasted vegetable recipe couldn’t be easier! You just chop it up, pop it in the oven and wait. It’s a high-protein and high-fiber meal, low in calories and perfect for the paleo, Atkins, and Weight Watchers diets. Ingredients: Two chicken breasts One small red onion Two handfuls of spinach Four carrots Two handfuls of chopped mushrooms Really, you can choose the amount of veg you want to put on, but this is a guide for a meal that serves two. Method: Preheat the oven to 220C. Wrap the chicken in foil and place in the oven. Leave for 20 minutes. Chop the vegetables. Place them on a baking tray and brush over with olive oil. After the chicken has been in for 20 minutes, add the vegetables to the oven. Cook for another 30 minutes. This should allow the chicken to cook all the way through...

I know you’re a busy person. I’m a busy person. I run a business, look after two children (plus a husband, who is more of a child than an adult), and have lots of activities that I love to do. Fitting exercise into a busy day just seems impossible, right? Well, I’m here to tell you that you can fit exercise into your busy day. It doesn’t mean taking hours out to get set up and do it all. Here are my tips to make it happen to help with your weight loss when you're as busy as a bee. Split Your Exercise Into Chunks Stop trying to fit a whole 30-60 minute session in one go. Sure, there are times you’ll be able to do this and you may block a set of time out some days of the week. But on the days that you can’t do this, just split your sessions into smaller chunks. 10 minutes at a time is much easier to manage. You can even try 15 minutes at a time. Start your day with a boost or finish it off with a small 10 minute workout. You’ll soon wonder how you couldn’t...

The kids went back to school here in Canada yesterday. With it being Monkey’s first day, I didn’t quite do everything that I wanted. We sort of had a morning of getting grocery shopping done and enjoying the time with just Peanut. This second day is the chance for us to get back on track. In fact, the kids being back to school is perfect for your weight loss journey. This is the time to focus and get back on track, and here’s why. You Get Your Routine Back Having the kids at home all the time is hard. The summer is full of “mom, can we do this?” or “dad, I’m bored.” It’s a time for treats, snacks and lots of meals out. At least, it always seems like that, doesn’t it? When the kids are at school, there’s a routine. You get up for breakfast, have a strict day of work with your lunches and snacks planned out, and then your dinner is organized to make sure the kids get a good night’s sleep. Okay, so it doesn’t always work out how you’d like but there is a gen...