Another crazy Saturday morning!  My lack of hunger this morning definitely threw me for a loop — by 2:00 PM, I was STARVING and out of snacks!

Lunch was eaten at work and thus on-the-go:

I packed a Sesame Goji Pro Bar, which I really enjoyed! In fact, I liked all the Pro Bars I’ve tried so far.  Some people might be turned off by how calorie-dense they are (400 calories), but I just split them into two portions.  Today I ate 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 in the afternoon.  Ta-da! Two snacks in 1!

My lunch was a cold rice and bean mix:

I had 3/4 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup chick peas, and a bunch of steamed asparagus.  Since the mix sat in my fridge over night, the asparagus-flavor infused the whole thing, and it was divine!

As mentioned, by the time I got home I was ready to chew off my arm.  Not a pleasant feeling — I quickly threw together my go-to snack:

Chobani, Kashi Heart to Heart, and blueberries. 

New Additions to the FAQ Page

Leslie commented earlier that I should add the following question to my FAQ page: "What about some pointers for those of us who are less fit but want to start eating healthier and moving more?"

This question really got me thinking, so I’ve added a whole new subsection to the FAQ page.  Here it is:

About Healthy Living

What are your tips for people who looking to adopt healthier habits?

What’s the most important food change you think someone can make?

What’s the most important fitness change you think someone can make?

What’s the key to healthy living success?

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What are your tips for people who looking to adopt healthier habits?

The biggest piece of advice I could give anyone is start slow.  The worst thing you can do is try to overhaul your fitness and eating habits overnight.  It took years to develop your "bad" habits; it will take more than a few days to break them. 

Let’s say you’re starting from healthy eating ground zero — fast food, frozen dinners, no vegetables.  Trying to figure out how to cook all your meals, eat more produce, and manage your own snacks could be overwhelming!  Instead of a complete diet overhaul, just focus on improving one meal (like breakfast) for two weeks.   Or try replacing one of your snacks with a piece of fruit. 

Same thing goes for exercise — instead of attempting to go from couch potato to marathon runner in three months, just commit to doing 30 minutes of exercise three times a week. 

In summary, choose goals that are quantifiable and attainable, and then work your way up from there!

The other piece of advice I would give to healthy living "newbies" is to take what you see on blogs and read in magazines with a grain of salt.  What works for one person might not work for you.  It’s important to listen to your own body and figure out what YOU need.   Also, do not demand perfection from yourself.  Part of healthy living is eating chocolate cake, having a few glasses of wine, and watching TV instead of going for a run — balance is very important, and it helps prevent you from getting burnt out.

What’s the most important food change you think someone can make?

In my opinion, the most important thing a person can do is READ LABELS.  And I don’t mean just the nutritional information — I mean the actual ingredient list.  I’m a big believer in eating whole, unprocessed, natural foods as possible given your lifestyle.  You literally are what you eat, and do you want to be a bunch of chemicals?  I think not!

If you don’t recognize an ingredient on the list, GOOGLE IT!  I look up ingredients all the time.  Being an educated label-reader is a must.

What’s the most important fitness change you think someone can make?

It’s important to find a healthy activity that YOU like to do.  Some people like running; some people hate it.  Some people love yoga; some people hate it.  There is truly an activity out there for everyone, so if one particular workout makes you miserable, explore other options! 

What’s the key to healthy living success?

The key to healthy living is having the right mental attitude.  You can eat perfectly and exercise regularly, but if you are miserable on the inside, it really doesn’t matter, does it?   Speaking from personal experience, I know it is possible to "train" yourself to be more positive and happy.  You can CHOOSE to have a better mental attitude.

One little thing you can do to improve your mental attitude is stop fat talking!  For more info, visit my End Fat Talk page.