Week 36, Monday, Diet with Dianna

Scripture Verse for today:

James 1: 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

Triumphs in my choices will produce many blessings.

Tips for Successful Weight Loss

1. Minimize or avoid the following three white foods – salt, sugar and processed flour. Cut back on the sodium and other additives and preservatives, reduce the amount of sugared goods you eat and the amount of sugar you add to your tea and coffee, and stay away from those breads, pastas and cakes that load the fat on to your body and see how easy it is to lose weight and get fit.
2. Exercise moderately four days a week. You don’t have to go all out and strain yourself; it’s enough even if you walk for an hour or so whenever you find time. If you’re working out for a longer period of time or for more than four days a week, you must rest your aching and sore muscles and joints on at least one day of the week if you want to avoid injuries.
3. Ensure that you get at least six hours of sleep every night. A sound sleep is your body’s natural healing mechanism and when you deprive yourself of this, you’re not doing your health any favors.

EXERCISE AT HOME FOR FREE!

If you don’t have a lot of spending money for exercise equipment, try these things that are probably just lying around your house! Who needs expensive gym equipment or membership fees? Try these crafty ideas for homemade exercise equipment:

1. Take two large men's tube socks, fill each sock with one or two pounds of beans, or rice, or 1 lb. soup cans. Tie the tops of the socks to each other. Now you have a nice 2 to 4 lb. weight. Use like a kettlebell or dumbbell.
2. My husband carries around a small computer bag and it weighs about 10 pounds. Because computer bags usually have handles, these can be great for exercises like bicep curls, lateral raises or one-armed rows. Small duffel bags with handles can be filled with books and used for lower body exercises like squats, lunges and dead-lifts.
3. Stairs...if you live in a two story house then you have a built in stair master. During your exercise routine, climb your stairs in sets of three, two times. This should get your heart rate pumping and your leg muscles burning. Be careful!
4. If you don’t have stairs in your house then you probably have a curb next to the street or a step to enter your house. This is your stair workout: 20—30 reps of stepping up and back down, alternating your feet, for 3 sets of 25 to 40.
5. Bungee cords. Who doesn't have some of these in their garage or trunk of your car? They make great resistant bands for your work out routines.  Hook them together and then pull and release. 3 sets of 12. They are good for your arms and legs. Double up by using two sets of bungee cords for the leg exercises!

Recipe—Supercharged Cleansing Meal Replacement

If you haven’t been feeling quite like yourself lately, you might try replacing one meal about once a week with a green detox juice drink to get back on track. It is power packed with natural antioxidants and fiber.

If you lack a good juicer, you can use a blender. Vegetables are often hard to digest but the blender does it for you! Plus you get the benefit of extra fiber. Consistency is sometimes a problem, but you can fix that as you become more accustomed to your blender.

If you cannot find fresh kale at your grocer, you may substitute it with either cabbage or collard greens (since they are in the same family). Fresher taste better and older taste bitter. Wash all leaves just prior to blending.

Walnut Apple Green Cleansing Juice
Makes approx. 20 oz.

1 small handful walnuts

1 large seeded green apple

1 stalk celery

½ cucumber, peeled

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

3 medium kale leaves

10 seedless green grapes

Filtered water (until desired consistency)