It's a Holiday Weekend

Click this link for some things to look out for and stay away from this weekend.

Fattening Foods of Summer Slideshow

The Key to Weight Loss? Write It Down

A new study shows that staying motivated to lose weight is the key to success. And the easiest way to do that is to keep a food diary. The formula for successful weight loss may be in your head. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior has found that knowing what motivates you, and staying motivated, is key to successfully losing weight. And a paper and pen may be the most powerful tools for doing just that. Read more …

Tips for Eating Out Without Over Doing It

If you're trying to manage your calorie intake, eating out can be extremely challenging.

Research in the past has shown that those who eat out regularly have higher intakes of fat, salt and calories. This makes sense given the choices available in most restaurants these days.

Ted's post, Do You Spend too Much on Food? stated, "Americans spent on average 37% of their food budget on eating out in 2009." That's a lot of eating out!

A recent survey, carried out by the CDC, looked at Read More ….

Yoga May Help Fight Depression

Yoga May Help Fight Depression

Putting Foods Off-Limits Can Sabotage Your Diet

Do you ever notice that as soon as you decide a certain food is "off-limits", it's the food you crave more than any other? For me, it's cake- specifically, yellow cake with lots of white icing. My husband's birthday is coming up, and I always make his favorite cake (which happens to be yellow cake with white icing.) He's content to eat one or two pieces, and then be done with it. I tell myself that I shouldn't eat any of it, because the less I have, the less I'll want. But as soon as I do that, I find myself thinking about how good it would taste, and usually I end up caving in and indulging more than I should. A new study shows
Read more ...

Mama’s Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

2 T canola oil
1 large onion, diced
1 yellow or red pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch green onions, sliced, green part reserved for garnish
1 lb. turkey smoked sausage
3 (15 oz) cans of kidney beans
1 ( 14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 T oregano, dried flakes
1 t thyme, fresh or pinch dried
1 bay leaf, whole
1 pinch salt
1 t black pepper
1 c Instant brown rice
1 c water

Directions

Slice sausage in half lengthwise and then in half again. Cut crosswise to dice. Heat oil in a large dutch oven or heavy saucepan. Once hot, add onions, diced pepper, garlic, and white parts of green onion. Cook until tender. Add sausage. Cook just until browned. Add spices, beans, and tomatoes. Stir to combine. Add rice, stir to combine and cook for 1 minute to coat the rice. Add water. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer. Cover and continue to cook for 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove bay leaf before serving and finish with hot sauce and sliced green onions. Makes 12 hearty one-cup servings.
Vegetarian smoked sausage (found in the refrigerated health food section of most supermarkets) makes a great substitute for the turkey sausage.
Number of Servings: 12

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 12
• Amount Per Serving (1 Cup)
• Calories: 221.7

• Total Fat: 4.3 g
• Cholesterol: 5.8 mg
• Sodium: 146.6 mg
• Total Carbs: 37.8 g
• Dietary Fiber: 9.1 g
• Protein: 8.9 g

Jillian Answers 10 Questions

Getting Healthy When You Have Diabetes

More people who are carrying a few extra pounds are being diagnosed with diabetes and required to take medication as part of their treatment. And while these people generally know they should lose weight and more conscientiously, they may not realize that time is of the essence.The bottom line is, if you're one of these people, you could die before you get around to getting on a diet.The sobering facts are that people with diabetes Click to read more…

Why Run? | Active.com

Whether you have taken up running to lose weight, to improve fitness, to relieve stress, to compete, or just to kill time, you'll find that the benefits are many.

No doubt you're looking for "the best way" to run, and we can point you in the right direction. Keep in mind, though, that there are few universal truths to running. Everything depends on the individual, and techniques that some runners swear by might not be right for you. Experiment, find what makes you comfortable. It's not terribly complicated: the only hard and fast rule to running is that you simply keep putting one foot ahead of the other. Read more...

In Case You Didn't Know, Yoga Is the Secret to Longevity

In Case You Didn't Know, Yoga Is the Secret to Longevity: "
I've become a big fan of the OnSugar blog Yoga Off the Mat, but I think this most recent post is my favorite.My great friend / yoga colleague Cindy Storman told me a wonderful story recently. I just had to share this with everyone.I've known Cindy for almost a decade now, and she has not aged a bit. Good genes and longevity run in her family.So picture Cindy, at her Great Aunt Esther's 100th birthday party. Since her Aunt Esther is in such great shape, both physically and mentally, she wanted to mark this milestone, and a huge party was thrown in her honor. Over 100 of her family and friends joined for the celebration.

During the party, she was sitting in a chair with her tiara on. Her many children, grandchildren, great gran children, and the children of their children all gathered around her. They began to share stories about her through the years... all on film.At one point, Cindy asked her Auntie, 'What do you think the secret to your longevity is?'Esther thought for a moment, and then said 'Oh, it's the yoga, it's definitely the yoga.'

Cindy was shocked. Cindy has taught yoga for more than ten years, and had never heard her Auntie mention yoga to her. Auntie continued to explain wisely how you have to do one side, and then the other. And you have to do it reeeaaal slow. And you have to have a good yoga teacher, 'like my Cindy over here.' (This made Cindy smile.)Then Cindy asked, 'So, exactly how long have you been doing yoga? 'Aunt Esther replied 'Oh... about 6 months now.'I love this story. You are never too old to start a yoga practice!

Simple Diet Changes, Big Rewards

Here are 10 simple changes to help you lose weight now.

Purge your cupboards of junk food; buy bags of organic fruits and veggies; switch to low-fat and low-sodium products; scout labels and load up on diet foods. Sound familiar? If you’ve ever gotten frustrated with the dozens of changes required to jump-start a new diet plan, you’ve got company. No wonder you’re likely to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

Instead, you could simplify the whole dropping pounds experience. Here’s a look at 10 small dietary changes to kick start your program. No clean sweeps of the pantry or newfangled foods to buy. Just easy, breezy diet changes that pay off big so you can whittle your way to a healthier diet—and maybe drop a pant size along the way. Read More…

New Fitness Room

Keith Hinrichs and I picked up our first two bikes for the new church fitness room. I have a few more pieces of equipment on the way. I'm going to hook up a TV in this room as well so people can play workout videos. I'm excited to offer this option to our Christ First groups and congregation.
If you have a piece of equipment that you would like to share with St. John UCC please drop me an e-mail.

Dieters Underestimate What They're Eating

Dieters Underestimate What They're Eating

It’s time to look at going organic.

Not too sure that organic produce is worth the extra dough? Read this article.

Kevin’s Crusty Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 1/2-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or Half White and Half Wheat)

Directions

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl.
Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cup flour.
Attach bowl and dough hook, turn to speed 2 and mix 1 minute.
Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to dough hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 2 minutes.
Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top.
Cover, let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).
Punch dough down.
Brush 14 inch pizza pan with oil.
Press dough across bottom of pan forming collar around edge to hold filling Top with fillings and bake at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Number of Servings: 4

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 4
• Calories: 369.9
• Total Fat: 2.2 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 290.7 mg
• Total Carbs: 77.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
• Protein: 10.5 g

Wine, Liquor, Beer and Dieting

New Group Forming

Kirsten and I have had so much interest about our Christ First groups that we will be starting our third group on May 26th. Wednesday evenings. Please pass this info along to those you know who may be interested in joining this new group. For more info contact Kevin Eckert at Skorkeper@gmail.com

How it’s Done

The link below brings you to an article about what it takes to lose weight. The formula is simple the execution is hard. Journal everything and move your butt.
I lost 50 lbs without those fad diets - seriously

Health=Less $ for Doctors

I read an article today about how doctors are less likely to tell people they need to lose weight. It's a matter of $ in my opinion. If the doctor tells people that there health would get better, all around, if they lose weight then they would make less money. It's sad doctors don't bother to tell patients how to get healthy.
Doctor Still Not Giving Much Healthy Eating Advice To Their Adult Obese Patients

New Restaurants Added

So I’ve been to just about every fast food chain website known to man. They are great websites and I managed to locate a few more menus. Click on the restaurants button to the left to see what is available.

Free Books

So its just after midnight and I was working on the website. I wanted to add some more resources and I came across Google books. They have a bunch of books that are viewable online for free. Check out the Netzers book Kirsten and I recommend.

New Button

I added this button to the list of Helpful Websites on the left hand side. I also found the nutrition facts for Long John Silvers and added them to this link. Let me know if I can add any other fast food chains to this list.