self-checkouts

Start ringing up your own groceries. Women who use the self-checkout lane are about half as likely to make impulse buys that could add pounds, about 7,200 calories a year.

People tend to eat half of the food they bring home within the first week regardless of how much they bought. Do you pinch pennies by stocking up on bargins, guess who will eat most of it?

In plain sight, one in three people binges when snacks like nuts or chips are kept in plain sight.

Opt for smaller containers, research indicates that bigger packages prompt people to gobble up to 42% more than they would from sensible sizes.

A tortilla wrap is a much more condensed form or carbs than regular bread and has almost twice the calories of two pieces of bread.

Well, I always thought buying the stuff was easy to do without any strategy except a food list. Now I have to use psychology as a guideline. Sometimes a gem of information can steer one in the rigth direction without much effort.

Yes, I'm back to focusing on improving my weight and forgetting the other physical ailments for now. Back then I had a one track mind with tunnel vision and only focused on the scale. It was obsessively but I was getting results a little at a time and too busy to notice my other needs. I may even try to rejoin my support group. If things don't work out too well in my favor I tend to change direction, on a hiatus, and it all comes full circle to what really matters and is best for my well being. Thanks for stopping by. Shop wisely.

basic steps

Are you ready to change? Studies show that most people go through the same basic steps, or phases, before they make a lifestyle change, such as quitting smoking. These guidelines can help you find out which phase you're in and how ready you are to change:

*PRECONTEMPLATION phase __if you are unsure whether you need to make a change__at least not in the next six months

*CONTEMPLATION phase__if you have thought about making the change in the next six months

*PREPARATION phase__if you have picked a day in the next month to start the new habit

*ACTION phase__if you've already changed a habit

*MAINTENANCE phase__if you've kept up the new habit for at least six months

article

Trying to shed extra pounds or boost the healthiness of your diet? Rather than worrying constantly about what you're eating, switching from low-carb to fat-free then back to low-carb (and collecting bottles of weight-loss pills, potions and powders), try to pinpoint mindless habits that you may indulge in every day. Something as simple as nibbling off your partner's plate, stuffing leftovers in your mouth as you clean the kitchen or having an extra glass of wine could be all it takes to pack on a couple of pounds every year. Consider this: Each taste-test nibble you take while cooking dinner costs you about 25 calories. To identify your own mindless eating patterns, keep a food journal for one week. Write down everything you eat, how much and when . Then review your journal--you might be surprised by the unhealthy patterns that crop up.

keep-it-off

After you lose the amount of weight that puts you in a safer zone for longevity, use these tricks to maintain. Thousands of successful dieters can't be wrong. A recent CDC survey of 1,958 successful and unsuccessful dieting adults reveals the tactics that worked --and the ones that didn't --for long-term weight loss.

DO: *Lift weights

*Track your calories

*Plan your meals in advance

*Exercise at least 30 minutes a day

DON'T BOTHER:

*Using over-the-counter diet products, such as weight loss shakes and pills
*Relying on meal-replacement bars
*Tracking carbohydrates
by T.D.

misc.

FACT: Stress--particularly when it is prolonged and unresolved--provokes weight-sustaining physiological changes in your body. D.P.

JOKE: "I hear exercise kills germs." "That's silly. How do you get a germ to exercise?"

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us--how we can take it, what we can do with it--and that is what really counts in the end.


If this type of posting interest you, I have many more listed since 2005 under the title of (plain) misc. Have a stress-less day. Bless all.

socializing overload

Back to my wellness wheel. I will review the categories in succession, one section at a time. Since social is on top I reviewed my standing and I have more in my life now then I have had in my whole life combined. Now that sounds like socializing overload to me! Most of it is enjoyment but why be so busy? Time to prioritize and drop four functions, later more, as I circle around the wheel, over and over again to refine my life's components. I feel free as a bird now that I don't have to be present or answer to three places I once belonged to. I'll probably save some money in the absence of such functions.

Yes, I quit my support group. I still care very much about being healthy. I just don't have to obsess about it and the weigh-in. After all I have read so much information that will get me to that point of being healthy and well. All I have to do now is utilize it all and stay informed. See me lighter, I hope.

blog reads

My entry for "thinkoffthefat" on 06-17-06 has blog reads of interest for me. They include 11 general, 10 diet and wellness, and 11 animals, all with their http:// URL link. I haven't viewed them for a while, no computer at home now.

knee pain

Help for worn-out knees? I read this the other day and it made me have a goal for knees without pain.

Being active may lessen your risk for knee osteoarthritis. People at a high risk for this problem tried out a program three times a week. The program included aerobic and strength-building exercises targeting the lower body. After four months, exercising improved the quality of their knee cartilage.