Spring has sprung!  With the warmer weather and sunshine, one thing comes to mind – swim suit season!  Yep, it’s that dreaded time of the year when you step on the scale and realize the winter coat of weight must be shed!  Here are a few quick tips to get you back on track and ready to flaunt, not hide, that new bathing suit!

Keep a LOG – Logging your workouts and food intake will help keep you accountable.  Do it the old-fashioned way with pen and paper, or try a free web-based log program such as www.myfitnesspal.com, www.mypyramid.org, or www.livestrong.com. If you have to log eating that candy bar, you will think twice about the choices you are making.

Set REALISTIC goals – Yes, we would all like to lose 10 lbs. by tomorrow, but it’s not realistic, and setting yourself up to fail from the beginning is not going to help keep you motivated!  With regular exercise and healthy diet, you can expect a weight loss of one-half – two pounds. per week.  And goals don’t always have to be weight driven!  Make a goal to simply start making healthier choices daily or walking 10,000 steps per day.

Find an EXPERT – With so much information from TV, radio, websites … it’s hard to know what good and reliable information is. With the help of an expert, you can achieve your goal in a healthy and efficient manor by gaining knowledge and support from a trained professional.

Find a WORKOUT BUDDY – Working toward a goal  always is more fun when doing it with a friend or family member!  Working together to help keep each other motivated and accountable will help on those days that you just don’t want to work out!  Knowing that someone is waiting for you at the gym will have you thinking twice about rolling over and hitting the snooze button!

DEDICATE 30 days - Habits take about 30 days to establish.  Buckle down for the next four weeks and literally write in your calendar the time you are allotting each day to workout.  Treat it like a doctor’s appointment or important meeting, you wouldn’t cancel these appointments to watch TV, go to lunch with friends, etc., so don’t do it for your workout either!

REWARD yourself – As you achieve the smaller goals leading to your big goal, make sure you are rewarding yourself along the way!  Maybe a massage or new bathing suit, something not revolving around food would be best!

Keep moving FORWARD – Not the best food choices yesterday?  Make today a new day, don’t throw in the towel because of one little hiccup – you can do it, get back on track and move forward.  Don’t let one day or one week turn into every day and every week of bad choices.

ENVISION reaching your goals!  Think about how great you’re going to feel and look, how much more energy you’re going to have and how confident you will be by the pool this summer!  Mentally envisioning these changes will help to keep you motivated!

Vitamin D is a nutrient found in some foods that is needed for health and to maintain strong bones. It does so by helping the body absorb calcium (one of bone's main building blocks) from food and supplements. People who get too little vitamin D may develop soft, thin, and brittle bones, a condition known as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.
Vitamin D is important to the body in many other ways as well. Muscles need it to move, for example, nerves need it to carry messages between the brain and every body part, and the immune system needs vitamin D to fight off invading bacteria and viruses. Together with calcium, vitamin D also helps protect older adults from osteoporosis. Vitamin D is found in cells throughout the body.

What foods provide vitamin D?
Very few foods naturally have vitamin D. Fortified foods provide most of the vitamin D in American diets.
Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel are among the best sources.
Beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks provide small amounts.
Mushrooms provide some vitamin D. In some mushrooms that are newly available in stores, the vitamin D content is being boosted by exposing these mushrooms to ultraviolet light.
Almost all of the U.S. milk supply is fortified with 400 IU of vitamin D per quart. But foods made from milk, like cheese and ice cream, are usually not fortified.
Vitamin D is added to many breakfast cereals and to some brands of orange juice, yogurt, margarine, and soy beverages; check the labels.
Strive to get recommended amounts of vitamin D by eating a variety of foods with plenty of fortified milk and fatty fish.

What happens if I don't get enough vitamin D?
People can become deficient in vitamin D because they don't consume enough or absorb enough from food, their exposure to sunlight is limited, or their kidneys cannot convert vitamin D to its active form in the body. In children, vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, where the bones become soft and bend. It's a rare disease but still occurs, especially among African American infants and children. In adults, vitamin D deficiency leads to osteomalacia, causing bone pain and muscle weakness.

Exercise Tip:

Staying motivated to exercise can be a challenge for many!  Motivation is one of the keys to exercising on a consistent basis.  Here are some tips to help keep you motivated:

• Find something you enjoy doing
• Set goals
• Find a workout buddy
• Reward yourself
• Chart your progress
• Train for an event
• Listen to music
• Schedule your workouts
• Invest in a personal trainer
• Abandon the all-or-nothing approach

Nutrition Tip:

A total diet approach does not exclude your favorite foods, but encourages moderation and portion control. Here are tips for maintaining appropriate portion sizes:

1 Order the regular or child-size portion. Mega-sized servings are probably more than you need. For a lighter meal, order a healthy appetizer in place of a main course.
2 Be size-wise about muffins, bagels, croissants and biscuits. A jumbo muffin has more than twice the fat and calories of a regular size.
3 Hunger may drive you to eat too much bread before your meal arrives. Hold on the bread or chips until your meal is served or not at all.
4 Tempted by sweet desserts? Order one dessert with enough forks for everyone at the table to have a bite. Split your order. Share an extra large sandwich or main course with a friend or take half home for another meal.
----- Source: eatright.org

Moving Forward through Menopause
Held at Brunswick Library
Wednesday, May 11
7–8 p.m.

Making Time for Menopause
Instructed by Dr. William Hahn, Jr., Southwest General obstetrics/gynecology
Held at Strongsville Library
Thursday, June 2
7–8 p.m.

To sign up for all or any of these free talks, contact Shannon Finkovich at
440-816-5395 or sfinkovich@swgeneral.com