Rosa Smith-Montanaro blog
Rosa Smith-Montanaro is your virtual weight loss and wellness coach. She is the author of Mind Over Platter®: Train Your Brain to Think Thin and the award-winning creator of www.MindOverPlatter.com. Rosa is a certified Success Coach with an expertise in weight management and the mind/body connection. She is also certified at the Master level in Hypnosis, Neuro Linguistics Programming (NLP), Thought Field Therapy
TM (TFT), Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Herbal Specialist and Humanistic Neuro Linguistic Psychology. Rosa teaches seminars throughout the country on the mind/body connection and how to create a life that is a reflection of your values. Rosa and her husband live in Greece and have three children. She welcomes you to blog with her and discover how you can create a healthier, happier and balanced life. Rosa can be reached at MindOverPlatter@aol.com.
Plan ahead
Part of recharging your battery means doing what is good for you. December is going to be a busy month. Plan ahead by thinking about the gatherings you will be attending and how you are create an eating plan that will allow you to enjoy the festivities and maintaining your current weight. The goal during a holiday is coasting, plan with the intention of sustaining your weight.
Back from Baltimore
Jerry and I just returned from Baltimore and spent Thanksgiving with his brother. We relaxed in his new condo on the water, it was a treat.
I followed my own advice and walked with my brother in law every morning. The colors of the fall, the water and the conversation was all spectacular. Now back to reality! It is so much easier to jump back into life when you take a few steps back and some deep breaths. If you haven't had time to just chill over the weekend, then take an evening this week to do nothing but relax. It really does work wonders for the mind, body and spirit!
So, no matter what you ate over the holiday, today is a new day. Take some time to to recharge your mind and body. What do you do to recharge?
Thanksgiving Tips
Tomorrow is the day, we give thanks, we feast, we relax and on Friday we shop,
LOL. I hope you travel safely during this holiday and enjoy the wonderful blessings that you have been given. As a way to connect with some of your favorite people, plan a walk with them after dinner and catch up. If you find gatherings draining, then plan a walk alone to regroup. Either way you will return energized and peaceful. I am off to Baltimore you won't hear from me for a few days. Have a
wonderful Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Day Survival Tips
With Thanksgiving only days away, I thought I would add some tips this week.
Planning ahead is the key to this. Think about it today, find out what you are eating on Thursday. It isn't rude or
obsessive, it is proactive,, if you are attending a family event ask what is being served so that you can bring a dish to pass. But bring something that will fit your eating plan. If the appetizers being served are rye bread / dip, chips and salsa and stuffed bread, bring an olive tray or shrimp cocktail. It is the same as being a vegetarian, they have to bring a dish to pass that may be one of the few things they can eat.
This Week's Assignment is to walk off your meal, I found a cool calculator that will tell you how much walking you have to do to burn that thanksgiving day meal:
http://walking.about.com/library/cal/blthanksgivingcalories.htm
Fat burning mode for the holidays
You will want to indulge for the holidays and there is nothing wrong with that. The problem will be how to avoid the typical 5-10 pound weight gain as a result. I have a suggestion, put your body into fat burning mode weeks before the holiday fest. Then you will have a little window of time to indulge without too much damage. The way we are focusing on accomplishing this is to workout. Exercise is an efficient and effective way to burn fat while still enjoying food! Move your body and do it on a regular basis. A general guideline is exercising 30 minutes, 3 times per week will benefit your heart, but workout 40 minutes, four times per week and you will burn long chain fatty deposits. I am inviting people to log in their workout activity on my forum
www.ThinkingThinThoughts.com. I have been adding my own activity on there, if you like the idea of reporting your activity, join me in logging it or add your comments, we can talk about it right here on this blog. I will start, I went to the gym and did 50 minutes of cardio, talk to me...
Weight Loss Charts
Since we are preparing to put you into fat burning mode prior to holiday festivities, I thought these two charts would be helpful. One will tell you how many calories, carbs and protein grams are in common foods the other one will tally them up for you once you enter the data. Try to keep your protein equal to or greater than your impact carbs. I don't count most vegetables in my calculations, mainly carbs that impact blood sugar. Give it a try and feel free to ask me questions.
Food combining chart in excel:
food%20journal%20in%20excel.xlsMeal Planning Chart:
Meal%20Planning%20Chart%20for%20general%20groups.doc
Make peace with yourself
I know this isn't weight loss orientated, but it is life focused. One year ago today my husband was involved in a serious accident. Looking back on it as traumatic as it was to experience, it has made our time together more precious. His father stayed by his side all day, we had no idea at the time that he would pass so soon. My heart aches for the family that lost their wife and mother that day. It is difficult to lose someone you love. I believe when it is our time to leave this level of existence we have three things that matter most:
Our relationship with ourselves, are we at peace with whom we have become.
Our relationship with our loved ones, have we told them we love them.
Our relationship with our creator, this is where we will find peace.
Today make time to be at peace on all three levels: your self, your loved ones and your creator.
Get rid of those leftover treats
We made it through the first in a series of food focused holidays. As you prepare for the holiday season, which promises more food fests, you want to regroup along the way. The naturally thin habit I would like to see you implement is clearing out your kitchen as soon as the event or celebration has ended. That means get all of the left over candy out. I am not suggesting that you get rid of the kid's candy, out your stash. If your kids are anything like mine, they have theirs hidden from you anyway. Which is fine by me.
Once you have cleared out temptations be sure to stock you kitchen with healthy snacks and foods to avoid getting off track. I bought bags of raw nuts all kinds and a small amount of craisens and made a trail mix. When I feel like finding my son's stash, I eat some of my mix, I also have a supply of yogurt (no sugar added). What do you need to do to help you clear out the kitchen, make a list and let me know what happens.
