It's all math baby

How is your New Years Resolution of losing weight going?

Mind is going great.  Because I am good at math.  Let me teach you.

I think we make this weight loss thing WAY too complicated.

Here is what it boils down to.   

Are you ready?

If the calories in EXCEEDS the calories out you GAIN.

If the calories out EXCEEDS the calories in you lose.

See the teal & green columns?

See.  That isn't hard.

Now.

Look yourself up on this chart (from WebMD)

Gender	Age	Sedentary*	Moderately Active*	Active*
Females	19-30 31-50 51+	1800-2000 1800 1600	2000-2200 2000 1800	2400 2200 2000-2200
Males	19-30 31-50 51+	2400-2600 2200-2400 2000-2200	2600-2800 2400-2600 2200-2400	3000 2800-3000 2400-2800

 I use about 2000 calories a day.  So if I want to lose 1 pound a week I need to keep my calories at 1500 / day.  If I want to lose 2 pounds a week I eat 1000 calories a day.  The problem here is any "diet" that goes below 1200 calories a day for a woman can get dangerous.  

Which is where Take Shape for Life comes in. Our parent company Medifast has developed Medically Designed Meal Replacements.  They give your body everything it needs to thrive during a calorie reduced weight lose program.

With my clients I use the 5+1.  You eat 5 Medifast meals and one regular meal.... a Lean and Green.  It doesn't get simpler than that.  No appetite suppressants.  No extra vitamins.  Just 5 Medifast meals & 1 meal you cook.  

Done.  

And suddenly you find your calories out EXCEED your calories IN and BOOM... you are losing weight!

The beauty of TSFL is you learn portion control.  

You lean to eat small frequent meals.  

You learn the Habits of Health.

And I help you get from your fat loss stage through the purple transition and on to the dark blue which is your personal Optimal Health.

On the 5+1 Take Shape for Life I get about 1000.  And boom... there is my 2 pounds a week weight loss.  

Now... go & do your math. 

Let me know if you want my help in getting yourself healthy!  That is what I do!

Read my Getting Healthy story.
If you are interested in learning more about getting and staying healthy please contact me!

Jennifer Z. Lewis

 Certified Health Coach

Web site: teamlewis.tsfl.com

Email: teamlewishealthcoach@gmail.com
"Like" me on Facebook

Getting Healthy

You know how in the Breakfast Club movie Judd Nelson tells Molly Ringwald how in some skinny people you can see the fat person hidden inside… waiting to get out?  

For years, I have felt the opposite.  

I always struggled with the illusive 10 pounds I wanted to loose.  So many of us do.  Then I got pregnant with my first son & gained 50 lbs.  Someone told me it would all melt off while I nursed…. Wrong.  I did lose some – 30 but that left me 20 up from my original 10 I wanted to lose.  Then I got pregnant again.  And again.  3 children later I found myself technically obese.  Obese.  That reality was really really hard.

I was walking around fat but knew there was a thin person fighting to get out.  In fact sometimes I’d catch my reflection in the mirror and think… who’s that fat chick.  Only to realize with horror it was me.  

Have you been there?

I tried Atkins.  I tried South Beach.  I tried Weight watchers.  They all worked.  

For a bit.

But TSFL and my Certified Health Coach Susan LaBelle are what really did it.  I lost 35 pounds.  Now 6 months later I'm going for another 15 to reach my Optimal Health.  The difference between the others and TSFL?  The Certified Health Coach.  Not only was she there the entire weight loss time but she is STILL there.  She helps me set health goals.  Weight goals.  Exercise goals.  She is always there checking on me.  Texting me.  Emailing me. Calling me.  Stalking me.  (Just kidding)

She's been my inspiration to take the next step.  Over the holiday break I became a Certified Health Coach.  I want to be held accountable and to maintain good health.  To pay it forward.  To help those around me who are stuck.   You know who you are.... and you just can’t get a leg up on your health and weight loss. The program I support can help you... if you are truly ready to be helped (not everyone is).

We should all be in this together.  We should talk about this stuff.  We should make health a family topic and a priority.

Another layer I can bring to my new mission of Optimal Health is how to cook.  Now don't get me wrong... I'll still be making pumpkin chocolate cookies during the holidays.  But I won't binge on them anymore.  To help anyone who is interested I'm going to add a new category to this blog titled Lean and Green.  A Lean and Green recipe is just that... made up of lean protein and vegetables.   One of the key components to Optimal Health is removing all the refined & starchy carbohydrates from our daily diet.  Let me help you!  

I'll start posting some of the recipes that have gotten me to where I am now.  And the ones I cook to keep me there.  I hope you enjoy them.  And if you know anyone who could use a Certified Health Coach to help them reach their Optimal Health... let me know!

Jennifer Z. Lewis

 Certified Health Coach

Web site: teamlewis.tsfl.com

Email: teamlewishealthcoach@gmail.com
"Like" me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TeamLewisHealthCoach

Road Trip

So we have kinda a big road trip coming up in less than a week.  585 miles.  I'm trying to come up with things for the kiddos to do.  

This was one idea.  

I have it printed out on white 8 1/2 x 11 paper

It was my mom's idea (of course).... I just did the "making it" part.  Cleaver huh?  The kid will look for this stuff and either cross them out when they see them or make marks next to the pictures to keep track of how many.  

It'll be one of the many tools I use to get through the 9 hour drive spread over 2 days with 3 kids 7 & under.  

Do you have any ideas?

Please share w/ me.

Pretty please.

Mother Daughter Luncheon

I like my mom.

I love my mom too... she is my mom after all.  But I LIKE my mom. Do you get the difference?

So I invited my mom over for a special mother-daughter luncheon.  What's the difference between a luncheon and lunch you say?  A luncheon is fancy.  My mom deserves fancy.

MENU

Salmon Cakes over seasonal greens w/ lemon vinaigrette

Artisan Bread

Chocolate Nirvana Cake

Here is my menu & planning.  For a meal like this I had to do some planning and spread some stuff out over a few days.  I do have a family and household to run afterall.

I started on wednesday by making the bread dough & refrigerate it.  I used a basic no-knead Artisan bread recipe.

No Knead Artisan Bread

Get a big container. 

Add 3 C lukewarm water, 1 1/2 T yeast, 1 T salt.  Mix.

Add 6 1/2 C flour all at once.  Stir.  Sit on counter w/ lid on but cracked for 2 hours.  Refriderate.  That is it!  This makes 4 small loaves.

About 3 hours before you want to eat it, pull out about a grapefruit size ball of dough.  Flour, shape into a ball and sit for 1 hour or so.  Preheat oven w/ stone in it to 450.  Dust stone w/ cornmeal, slide dough on to it.  Put a pan w/ 1C HOT water on the rack under the stone and bake for 30m.  Cool on a rack for 30m.  Enjoy! (you can use 1/2 whole wheat flour if you want)

This was the final loave.  Can you smell it?

On thursday I make the Flourless Chocolate cake.  This was the first step in the Chocolate Nirvana Cake. This recipe is from Karen Krasne's Extraordinary Cakes Cookbook.  This is the finished fully assembled cake.  Yum!

Composting

I try to do good.  I buy organic milk, fruits and veggies.  We recycle.  We use low VOC paint. 

Nothing too out there.... mostly mainstream type stuff.

We've talked about composting for years.... but that is where it stopped.  Just talk. 

Thank goodness we live in Portland Oregon, one of the most sustainable cities in the country.  A front runner in most sustainable technologies, building codes, etc.

Those who live in the city limits have been forced to slow the speed in which we toss every tiny thing into the garbage.  We've always had weekly garbage pick up along with recycle bin pick up and by-weekly yard debris pick up. 

As of October 31st we were given a choice of moving to either every other week garbage pick up or 1 time a month garbage pick up.  Once again.... that is going from weekly pick up to bi weekly or monthy.  Big change.

We were issued a compost bin and told to divert all food scrapes to it rather than the garbage.  Then empty the compost bin into the yard debris bin which moved to weekly pick up.  So this is it.  Not exactly pretty.  Doesn't go with my "decor".

I decided if we were going to "do this" lets... "DO this".  So I went on line and found this:

And I bought bio degradable bags to line it with.  Because the alterative is just too gross for me.  My husband thought it looked like a tiny garbage can sitting on our counter.  I guess he's right... but it is better than the plastic one for sure.

Overall I'm super happy with this change.  I wish we had made it earlier.  I am glad we are doing it now.  I was worried we wouldn't be able to cram 2 weeks of trash into 1 garbage can but we did it!  I'm proud of us.  We have 3 kids, one still in diapers and during those first 2 weeks we had a birthday party w/ presents.  Not too bad.

The best part is that it has changed the way we think.  Before I throw anything away I first think... can this be recycled?  Can it be composted?  Can it be broken down so SOME of it can be recycled or composted?  

Influences....

My mom is a great great woman. She has and continues to leave me with little gems of wisdom.

Way back (yes WAY back) when I was in high school I remember her telling me, "you should be a better person because of those you hang around and they should be better for knowing you."

I've thought about this over and over and over and over. This is one of those little gems that is applicable your entire life.

Look around your life. Do you make a positive impression on those you spend time with? Family and friends? Neighbors and colleagues? Husbands and kids? Do you raise them up or knock them down?

Do they make a positive impression on you? Family and friends? Neighbors and colleagues? Husbands and kids? Do they raise you up or knock you down?

If you answer no... to either question, perhaps it is time for a change?

Give it back

It is important to make an impact, leave a fingerprint on society if you will. As a mother one of the largest ways to do that is to devote ourselves to our children. For me that takes 95% of my energy. And I'm thrilled about that. I am thilled that a large part of my contribution to this world are my boys.

I think God want more from us.

I read a book about raising boys once that stressed the importance to be an advocate for all children. If you are volunteering at your kids school and you see someone elses kid get bullied, fall and get hurt, or whatever it is your obligation to step in and help that child.

My mom did that. I vividly remember 3rd grade. We were reading a book and my mom was the volunteer who helped a small group "discuss it". There was one boy who the teachers warned her about. She shouldn't expect anything. He was a "bad seed". She ignored those teachers and conducted our small group as though we were all future PhD's. Do you know what? That bad seed kid did the best. He rose to her expectation of him... just as he had fallen to his teachers expectations of him.

Right now in East Africa children are dying. It is estimated that 29,000 children have died in the last 90 DAYS from famine in Somalia alone. They are not my children. They are not your children. But they are someones children. Help them. They aren't asking for much. $5 is all. Have you bought your Grande Soy Chai Latte yet?

http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5/