Carb Confusion

May 5, 2017April 26, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

~Ditch the Diet~

Today we are going to be talking about the most controversial of macronutrients – carbohydrates.

As we have been discussing recently, there are three macronutrients: Carbohydrate, Fat, Protein. Macronutrients are nutrients that provide calories (or energy) for our bodies.

No other nutrient causes so much confusion or controversy as carbs.

Carbohydrates are the macronutrient that our bodies need in the LARGEST amounts. Believe it or not, you can be successful eating hundreds of grams of carbs a day, as well as eating fewer grams per day.

According to the Dietary Reference Intakes published by the USDA, 45% – 65% of calories should come from carbohydrate. (Carbohydrate provides 4 calories per gram.)

Why do we need this amount of carbohydrate?

Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of fuel and easily used by the body for energy. They can be stored in the muscles and liver to be used later for energy. All of the tissues and cells in our body can use glucose for energy.

Carbohydrates are needed for the central nervous system, the kidneys, the brain, the muscles (including the heart) to function properly.

Carbohydrates are important in intestinal health and waste elimination.

Which foods are carbohydrates?

They are mainly found in starchy foods like grain and potatoes, as well as fruits, milk, and yogurt. Other foods like vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and cottage cheese contain carbohydrates, but in lesser amounts.

I will be talking in more details about fiber and “good” carbs vs “bad” carbs in another Ditch the Diet post.

Keep in mind that losing weight and being healthy are so much more than just choosing a “diet plan” and following it.

Are you interested in learning more about ditching dieting for good? You can read more about it by clicking HERE.

I would love for you to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all three. I would also love to follow you on Instagram and Twitter as well, so let me know your username in the comment section below!

No Gym No Problem

No Gym? No Problem! #18

May 1, 2017April 19, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

Lean Arms Workout – Rhomboids, Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps, and Chest

Here is another great low impact toning workout by Fitness Blender. You’ll need dumbells for this workout routine. It is a workout of 8 Exercises, One Minute Each done Twice Through. Calorie burn info and printable routine found by clicking HERE

(If you like to workout to music you’ll need to provide your own)

Remember to keep proper form and warm up before and stretch after you exercise!

Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!

I would love for you to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

No Gym No Problem

No Gym? No Problem! #16

April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

You may not realize it, but flexibility is just as important for you as strength and cardio! Sometimes I am so sore from a previous intense workout that I need to focus for a few days on flexibility and stretching. This is a quick 7-minute flexibility workout by Spotebi.

Remember to keep proper form and warm up before and always stretch after you exercise!

Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!

I’d love for you to follow me on Instagram Lookingjoligood and on Facebook Lookin Joli Good

No Gym No Problem

No Gym? No Problem! #12

March 20, 2017March 3, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

Remember to keep good proper form and warm up before and stretch after you exercise!

Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!

I’d love for you to follow me on Instagram Lookingjoligood and on Facebook Lookin Joli Good

No Gym No Problem

No Gym? No Problem! #11

March 13, 2017March 3, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood4 Comments

We all will need this core workout to work off all the pie we will eat celebrating pi day tomorrow, haha!

This workout only take 15 minutes! Do you have 15 minutes to improve your heath and wellness? Yes, You Do! No Excuses, Just do it! Remember to keep good form, warm up before, and stretch after you exercise!

Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!

I’d love for you to follow me on Instagram Lookingjoligood and on Facebook Lookin Joli Good

No Gym No Problem

No Gym? No Problem! #5

January 30, 2017January 7, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

I am always looking for a good inner thigh workout! This is a great one! Best of all, you can achieve this in just a few minutes each day, with no equipment needed, No Gym? No Problem!

Take a few minutes minutes and improve your day! Your heath and wellness is worth it! Remember to keep good proper form, warm up before, and stretch after you exercise! No excuses, Just do it!

Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!

Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits · Health/ Fitness

Ditch the Diet #1

January 27, 2017January 30, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a series called Ditch the Diet! These posts will be about tips and tricks and things that have helped me to be successful at living a healthy life without having to be a slave to a diet.

When you think about going on a diet, it usually implies a starting and an ending point, right?

The word diet has such negative feelings that go along with it. We immediately start thinking about all the deprivation, suffering, cravings, and hunger that are associated with dieting.

A strict plan will probably not get you where you want to be, and if it does, you probably won’t be able to stick to it long term. Keep in mind that this is not a quick fix approach. It will require time and patience. (Some people have a medical reason that they definitely have to be on a strict diet: colitis, Crohn’s, diabetes, celiac disease, kidney disease, food allergies.)

Most diets include lists of what you can and cannot eat. Most diets want you to change years of habits overnight setting you up to fail from the start. With all those cards stacked against you from the beginning, of course, it is overwhelming! It also requires an enormous amount of discipline.

Losing weight and being healthy are so much more than just choosing a “diet plan” and following it.

Think to yourself, why do you do the things that you do? Most everything we do is because of habit. Even what and when we eat is usually based on habits. Habits are hard to change!

Instead of changing everything at once, I am suggesting that you change one small habit at a time. Instead of struggling all week to deny yourself and ending up being upset with yourself for any failings, think about making one small manageable change a week. Focus on that one change and once it feels easy and natural move on to the next change.

Changing old habits for new healthier ones one at a time. Over time, you are more likely to feel healthier, lose weight and keep it off for good.

Getting started is as simple as beginning to apply healthy habits to your life one at a time. One day at a time, one choice at a time, and one tip at a time. Making small changes easy will make you more likely to add these healthy habits into your life making them part of your lifestyle.

One year from today, you may just find that you have lost excess weight, kept it off and didn’t have to go on a diet to do so.

Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits · Health/ Fitness

Top Ways to Ditch Dieting For Good

January 13, 2017January 31, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood4 Comments

It’s Not About Dieting It’s About A Healthy Lifestyle

1) Find healthy foods you love:

Since I have changed my eating habits I have found so many foods that I thought I hated but I actually now love. Eggplant, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Roasted cauliflower, Baked Kale chips, Sweet potatoes, Mushrooms just to name a few. These are all things that I never would have eaten 18 months ago, yet they are now part of my every day diet…I still hate cooked peppers, I don’t think that will ever change.

2) Get a routine:

Make it easier on yourself to make better choices. Have your fridge stocked with fresh fruits and veggies. Set regular meal times and don’t let yourself graze or snack. Keep yourself accountable with a food and fitness journal. Make a plan and stick to it! It is not about perfection it is about consistency.

3) Do exercises you enjoy:

I don’t like to run. So you know what, I don’t do it! There are sooooo many other way to get in a great cardio workout without having to pound the pavement. The more time I have spent doing different types of physical actives, the more I have discovered the things that I love and things that I don’t enjoy.

I hate lunges, but I love squats. I hate pushups but I love doing plank. I love jumping jacks and cardio kick boxing. I really enjoy lifting weights and strengthen training. Find what you enjoy and do it!

4) Always have a goal:

The scale is not the only place to have goals. There are so many other ways to stay motived and push yourself. Recently I have been pushing myself to increase my reps as well as up the weights. It is so satisfying to reach a goal and set a new one!

5) Indulge:

You know I love sweets! If you are going to a special event, like a birthday party or a friends BBQ, let yourself indulge within reason. Denying yourself can lead to unwanted binges. Instead try to be strict with your diet leading up to the event. Do not, I repeat DO NOT make yourself feel guilty about it later on. Occasionally enjoying a sweet treat or special meal is an absolutely necessary part of a feasible healthy lifestyle. This is a lifestyle we are ditching the “diet.”

6) Don’t focus on denial:

How true is it that all you want is what you can’t have! If you want a french fry, have a fry or two. You don’t need to eat an entire large fry, but a fry or two might be just the thing to keep you from derailing your entire healthy plan.

Remember, It’s Not About Dieting It’s About Lifestyle!

After a few weeks you won’t even have to think about these changes. Making a lifestyle change is worth the time and hard work it takes. Long lasting results are so much more satisfying than short ended quick results from a fad diet.

You and your health and wellness are worth it!

If you want to read more about the benefits of lifestyle vs dieting check out my flab to fab post about Balance.

Flab to FAB

Give Yourself Permission To Enjoy Food

December 16, 2016December 16, 2016 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

When I decided to make a drastic dietary change in my life, I knew I didn’t want to be on a “diet”. I wanted to make a lifestyle change that would last forever. I LOVE to eat. I go to bed thinking about breakfast and wake up looking forward to all the wonderful things that I am going to eat during the day.

I have given myself permission to enjoy food.

Being able enjoy a special meal with friends and family or have a piece of birthday cake at a party is all part of enjoying life. I allow myself to go on vacation and fully enjoy foods at restaurants that I will not be visiting again for a long time (or possibly ever). It makes the whole balanced healthy diet attainable for a lifetime, not just to reach a specific goal. I don’t want what I don’t allow myself to eat to hold me back from living my life.

Once again it is all about BALANCE.

My diet is balanced and not overly restrictive. It doesn’t just consist of spinach, kale, and celery. (although, I do enjoy eating those things.) Every once in a while I will let myself have a bowl of ice cream or M&M Chocolate Chip cookies. I enjoy every spoonful and every bite, and I do not make myself feel bad about it. The key is to not eat the entire pint of ice cream or the whole plate of cookies.

Eating healthy is not a chore, it takes thought and preparation, but it isn’t a chore.

Since reaching my final goal weight I follow the 80/20% rule. Eighty percent of what I eat is healthy, and I let myself splurge the other 20% of the time.

I love to eat and I love to exercise, but all diet and no exercise is not right, just as all exercise and not eating a healthy diet is also not best.

Trust me I have tried to only exercise and not eat healthy! For 5 years I diligently worked out so hard, 5 days a week, 1- 1.5 hours each day. During those 5 years I sweat a lot, I got a lot stronger, and I always ate whatever I wanted to. It wasn’t until I improved my diet that I finally started to feel amazing and see all the awesome results I had been trying to achieve with exercise only.

Giving myself permission to enjoy the food I eat and not make myself feel bad about indulging once in a while has helped me to be successful in the long run…being truly healthy is a marathon, not a 500 meter race.

What about you? Have you been on a journey from flab to FAB? Have you made any major lifestyle and diet changes? What do you do to keep yourself on track and accountable?

If you would like to read more about my journey from flab to FAB, you can do so by clicking HERE.

No Gym No Problem

No Gym? No Problem! #48

December 5, 2016January 7, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

Usually around this time of year with the holidays and colder weather it is tough to stay motivated to workout and eat right. You know I love my girl Jessica Smith! She is so encouraging and has some really great workouts. I love to use weights and build my muscle’s strength. When using the weights, do whatever works for you.You can either use one set of smaller and larger weights like Jessica does, or just a set of smaller weights, or if you feel more comfortable just your own body weight.

Do you have 30 minutes to improve your health and wellness? Yes, You Do! No Excuses, Just do it! Remember to keep good proper form, warm up before, and stretch after you exercise!

Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!

Looking Joli Good

Kindness is beautiful!

Tag: weightloss

Carb Confusion

~Ditch the Diet~

No Gym? No Problem! #18

Lean Arms Workout – Rhomboids, Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps, and Chest

No Gym? No Problem! #16

No Gym? No Problem! #12

No Gym? No Problem! #11

No Gym? No Problem! #5

Ditch the Diet #1

Top Ways to Ditch Dieting For Good

It’s Not About Dieting It’s About A Healthy Lifestyle

Remember, It’s Not About Dieting It’s About Lifestyle!

You and your health and wellness are worth it!

Give Yourself Permission To Enjoy Food

No Gym? No Problem! #48

~Ditch the Diet~

Share this:

Lean Arms Workout – Rhomboids, Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps, and Chest

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

It’s Not About Dieting It’s About A Healthy Lifestyle

Remember, It’s Not About Dieting It’s About Lifestyle!

You and your health and wellness are worth it!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: