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I wrote last week about the importance of not only eating breakfast, but gave some specifics on the types of food that are good choices and why. (http://www.cr8health.com/2008/03/31/break-that-fast/)

Now I want to know.

Did you make any changes to the way you prepared that important first meal of the day?

Maybe you already eat a good balanced breakfast, and no changes are necessary. Awesome!

But if you read it and saw some changes would be helpful, did you actually make those changes?

If not, why not?

You must take action if you want to lose those extra pounds.

Being a web warrior and just reading about it never changed anything.

Besides, web surfing doesn’t burn very many calories.

Here’s what I want you to do, today.

Download this handy breakfast planning worksheet and print it out.

(right click link, then choose “save target as…”)

I’ll wait a second.

Got it?

Good!

Now I want you to plan out your breakfast for an entire week. 7 days worth.

Using the guidelines in the last article, write down the food and quantity for your protein, complex carb and vegetable choices.

Now tally it up and make your shopping list.

After you’ve completed your shopping, set aside some time to cook a few days ahead.

It’s an important part of staying on the plan. If you are not prepared, you will grab what’s quick, and usually that’s not the best idea.

If steel cut oats is your choice for complex carbs, you could cook enough for 3 or 4 days. Same thing goes for most veggies.

You’ve probably heard it before - Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Set yourself up to succeed.

You have the tools.

I want to hear how it’s working for you.

Now go do it!

I’ve posted the results of the 30 day challenge at our support site. Pay us a visit and sign up to join us today! 

Read all about it here: 30 Day Challenge Results

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Most of us know that breakfast really IS the most important meal of the day.

The very name “break-fast” gives us an idea of why we shouldn’t skip this important meal - we are breaking a fast - our body needs nutrients after we sleep and have not eaten for 8-12 hours.

Pretty simple. Or is it?

For years I ate pretty much the same thing for breakfast.

A (BIG) bowl of cereal with milk
A couple slices of toast with butter and/or jelly
A glass of orange juice

Doesn’t sound too bad, right?

First of all, the serving size for cereal is 1 cup. I don’t know of anybody (I’m sure I’ll hear from you) that eats only 1 cup of cereal at a time. So in the interest of being somewhat realistic, my typical breakfast above consists of:

2 cups oat cereal
1 cup 2% milk
2 slices of bread
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon of jelly
1 cup of orange juice

Probably less than many of us can (and do) eat.

Here’s the breakdown:

Total Calories: 748
Fat: 22 grams
Protein: 21 grams

Here’s the real kicker - There are a whopping 124 grams of carbohydrate and only 7 grams of fiber!

Don’t get me wrong, morning is one of the best times to get your carbs, as your body is ready to utilize them. The challenge is keeping our blood sugar in check. This plan ain’t gonna cut it.

Looking back now, I realize the fact that I was hungry an hour or two after breakfast was because my blood sugar was going wild after eating all those simple carbs. So I ate again, and again, and again…well, you get the picture.

So what’s the alternative?

Here is one that I personally enjoy -

Omelette made with:
2 whole extra large eggs
2 extra large egg whites
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 onions
1/4 cup green pepper
1/4 cup red pepper

1 cup oatmeal
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup strawberries

So what’s the breakdown?

Total Calories: 490
Fat: 15 grams
Protein: 30 grams
Carbohydrate: 62 grams with 9 grams of fiber (a much more ideal ratio)

This breakfast meets the criteria we have talked about in the past:

Lean protein with every meal
Vegetables with every meal
Complex carbohydrates at breakfast and workout time

Meal #2 will help you feel full longer because of the blood stabilizing effect of complex carbs combined with higher protein.

This is just one of many simple changes to your nutrition that can make a huge difference in how you look and feel.

A little more work? Absolutely!

Aren’t you worth it?

This one will get you thinking…

Kudos to Joe over at the Cr8 Health & Fitness support and accountability site (http://cr8health.ning.com) for taking the 30 day challenge! Visit the site to see Joe’s progress.

It has been about two weeks, so I want to talk about strategies for reaching your goals, either weight gain or loss.

Every two weeks is a good point to evaluate progress and make changes to your plan if necessary. It is enough time to establish the current trend based on your nutrition intake and energy expenditure.

My weight over the past two weeks has been in a narrow range. Between 195.0 and 196.5 for the most part. It is safe to say that my energy intake and output have been equalized.

Since my goal is to lose bodyfat, I now know that something needs to change; either I need to take in less calories or expend more energy through exercise.

My first choice would always be to up my activity level, primarily because I don’t want to lose muscle, so the higher I can keep my calories while also losing bodyfat the better.

This is an important principle - you can only drop calories so much before you start to get diminishing returns. It is also very difficult to get all your micronutrients - your vitamins and minerals - on a calorie restricted diet.

That doesn’t mean you can go hog wild. Some calorie restraint will be necessary, we just need to continue to monitor and adjust as we go.

So my plan for the next two weeks is to increase my activity level while keeping my calories where they are.

What’s your plan?

My newsletter and blog post titled “Food Label Lies” hit a nerve.

I got feedback (boy did I ever).

Actually some was very positive, but others must have thought I was attacking them personally.

It’s not personal - it never is.

My mission is to cut through the garbage, not to offend, but to wake people up and get them to take a look at the habits that may be contributing to less than optimal health.

Some people think we go too far with the “healthy stuff.” That’s ok. We try to eat whole and unprocessed foods, as close to their natural state as possible. I think the evidence is clear this is a healthier way to eat than getting everything out of a box, bag or carton.

When my family goes to dinner or a party at someone else’s house, we eat (and drink) what our host has graciously provided. Granted, if there are “better” choices, we gravitate toward those.

As I said in the first letter, our friends and family are very kind in trying to accomodate our “weirdness”.

We do NOT take that for granted.

The title of this letter is ”You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know”. 

If you don’t have the info, you can’t make an informed choice. Simple as that.

Now you know.

Our friends mean well, they really do.

Most of them respect the fact that we eat try to make healthy food choices, for ourselves and our kids.

We really appreciate it, it is very kind of them.

Last Friday one of Nancy’s good friends was so proud of herself. She brought her kids over for a visit, and as a treat for the kids (we normally only have water and sometimes milk) she brought some ****** **** Berry Punch.

She was so proud of herself for bringing a “healthy” choice.

Nancy didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth.

It was junk, just total garbage.

But is sounded so good.

I mean, look at what it says on the FRONT label:

“All Natural”

“Premium”

It’s go to be good, right!

Not so fast!

I am about to give you the super secret, known only to a few select operatives in the whole world (ok, not really - but you would think so)

You have to look at the label on the BACK!

This is where you have to take some responsibility for what you are eating.

The food companies number one priority is NOT your health - it’s to get you to buy their product.

They will do it by any (legal) means necessary.

Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s moral or ethical - words to live by.

Anyway, let’s look at the BACK label.

Here are the ingredients:

Pure Filtered Water, Sweeteners (high fructose corn syrup, sugar), Grape juice from concentrate, less than 1% of: Pear and Strawberry juices from concentrate, Natural flavors, Citric acid (provides tartness)

Remember the FRONT label - “All Natural”

I have been thinking for two days how something with high fructose corn syrup (as the second ingredient no less) is able to be listed as “All Natural”

If I squeeze a kernel of corn, is that what comes out, high fructose corn syrup? I don’t think so, bubba.

The stuff has no reedeming qualities whatsover. I think the evidence shows that is one of the key “bad players” in the obesity epedimic. It is used because it is cheap, bottom line.

Let’s look at the Nutrition Label.

At the very top: 5% Fruit Juice - yep, that’s it. Your “All Natural, Premium” product is 5% juice, 95% garbage.

No Fat

No Protein

A whopping 31 grams of sugar. That’s like shoveling 8 teaspoons of sugar down little Johnny’s throat. In fact it’s more sugar than in a Snickers bar, for crying out loud.

I think Johnny’s going to be bouncing off the walls.

He will drink water, I assure you. It may take time, but it will pay off.

If you want to make a real impact toward better health, you have to take responsibility.

It takes a little longer to read labels, I understand.

But once you get into the habit, it becomes easier and easier.

Don’t be fooled by fancy slogans and pretty words.

Next time you shop, just pick one item that you think is good for you. Turn the box around and take a look at the label.

You might be surprised by what you find.

It WILL be the first step to a lifetime of healthier choices.

It’s up to you.

Thanks to Zach Even-Esh over at  Underground Strength Coach for this one.

It is a great reminder that YOU are capable of great things.

You are capable of pushing beyond what you THINK are your limits.

Don’t give up.

Don’t EVER give up!

I wanted to share a note I received last week. I really appreciate getting these, for a number of reasons. It’s nice to know you have positively impacted someone’s life, and that she is on the way to reaching her goals and living healthy.  I want to point out that my client did the work it took - there are no shortcuts.

Is it possible we could help you too?

Hi Dean,

Just a quick update…  When I started dieting several years ago I was at a *size 26* & 265 lbs.

When I started working with you & Cr8 Health & Fitness I was wearing a size 20.

Today, I am wearing a *size16* and @ 180lbs!  I am weighing myself on a
medical stand-up scale now, same as yours instead of the floor scales.

Can’t wait to get to the next level _Size 14_!!!

Thank you,
MC

A few days ago I wrote about our new support group over at http://cr8health.ning.com/?xgi=kLAe1u

If you haven’t joined yet, I would encourage you to get on board.

Our offer is to provide the support and accountability necessary to help you achieve your results.

But you have to take action, you can’t just sit behind the keyboard - web surfing is not exercise.

I put a simple challenge on the site. I’ll quote it here:

“Many of you are here because you want to lose weight. This is what I want you to do. Every day for the next 30 days I want you to weigh yourself first thing in the morning, before you eat. Then I want you to post it on your personal blog on this forum. Are you up to the challenge?”

Not too hard, right?

Know how many people took the challenge? Zero. Exactly no one!

How much effort does this challenge require?

If you can’t take 2 minutes a day to do something this simple, I have a hard time believing you will train for 30-45 minutes three times a week. As a matter of fact I KNOW that won’t happen. And this is the minimum required for good results.

Ask yourself why you didn’t take the challenge.

Now ask yourself if you are reaching your goals.

It might help if you actually did something.