Hello July!!!! My goodness, I have seen the temperature rise and rise and rise these past couple weeks. Of course, the ice cream trucks of the world are booming with business. But before you run out your front door like a kid, think about all of the tasty, diet friendly frozen-treats you can make at home! This recipe from EatingWell Magazine is fantastic and takes advantage of fresh summer fruit. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Makes about 10 (3-ounce) freezer pops

ACTIVE TIME: 10 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 6 hours 10 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

3 3/4 cups chopped seedless watermelon
2 tablespoons lime juice
1-2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Puree watermelon, lime juice and sugar to taste in a food processor or blender until smooth.
2. Divide blueberries among freezer-pop molds. Top with the watermelon mixture. Insert the sticks and freeze until completely firm, about 6 hours. Dip the molds briefly in hot water before unmolding.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 29 calories; 0 g fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrate; 0 g protein; 1 g fiber; 1 mg sodium; 79 mg potassium.

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With summer in full swing, it’s nice to get out of the house to enjoy a nice meal with your family and friends. My three (yes, three!) sisters visited me last week and we enjoyed several picnics, one in Mt. Tabor park (pictured left). Now, you might automatically start thinking about pasta salad and potato chips, but you can really do a lot more for your taste buds when enjoying the outdoors!

Picnic food can be simple or extravagant. I personally enjoy keeping it on the simple side so I can appreciate my surroundings and company.  By simple I mean fresh and easy to prepare! I go to the market, preferably a farmers market, and buy in season fruit, a loaf of fresh artisan bread, salad mix, a couple wedges of fancy cheese, and a rotisserie chicken. All of these foods burst with flavor and fill you up more than you might think.  Go heavier on the fruit and salad, keep your cheese sampling light, and you have a very balanced and healthy meal! On top of that, you can really take advantage of the location and take a walk or hike in the area for some exercise.

What are your favorite picnic spots and foods? Have you had one yet this year?

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Exercise is an important part of getting healthier and losing weight. It speeds up weight loss and is a great confidence booster. But some of us may have trouble getting motivated to start a fitness program, or may not be seeing big results. Well what if you could get fit in minutes - not hours a week?

An article in The New York Times summarizes the results of a study completed at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. Two groups of healthy students completed different exercise programs. The first group rode a stationary bike for 90 - 120 minutes at a sustainable pace. The second group rode in high intensity intervals for 20 - 30 seconds, for four to six sets. Each group completed their exercises 3 times a week.

After two weeks both groups showed the same increase in endurance and had the same increase in their volume of mitochondria (cells in muscles that create energy). In addition, those that performed the high intensity intervals burned more calories longer after their workout than the other group. That’s right, the group that exercised for six minutes a week did just as good, and better in some cases, than the group that exercised for several hours a week.

So if you are currently slaving away at the gym and seeing minimal results, try high intensity interval training on the machines, or try it at home with a fitness video such as 30 Day Shred, by Jillian Michaels.  Just remember that the key to success with interval training is really pushing yourself as hard as you possibly can. You will be uncomfortable, but the results will be worth it!

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Unfortunately, it seems you are going to have to make a choice. Although one drink a day has been deemed heart healthy, that doesn’t translate well when you are trying to lose weight. We understand by now that weight loss comes down to calories in vs calories out. But alcohol is metabolized differently than other foods and drinks.

Where normal foods and beverages take time to be broken down and digested in your stomach, alcohol moves to the front of the line and is metabolized first. This means that the liver must first work to process the alcohol, and the carbohydrates and fats are then transformed to stored body fat. Ugh.

Of course after you have enjoyed a drink….or two….or three…..your inhibitions seem to melt away. This may help to relax you, but it makes it a lot harder to stick your weight loss plan!

So next time you are jonesin’ for a drink, think twice and chose wisely.

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It’s easy to overlook your state of mind when trying to get healthy. You exercise, you are eating on plan, yet you feel more stressed than ever! If you take time out every day to meditate, you will not only relieve stress, but you can use it to reaffirm your weight loss goals.  Check out these tips from GoodLife Zen on how to mediate.

1. Posture
Whether you sit on a chair or cross-legged on the floor, make sure that your spine is upright with head up. If you are slumped your mind will drift. Mind and body are intertwined. If your body is well-balanced, your mind will also be in balance. To straighten up, imagine that your head is touching the sky.

2. Eyes

Try and keep you eyes open. Open eyes allow you to be more present. Just lower your eyes and let your gaze be sort. If you close your eyes you will be more likely to drift away on thoughts and stories. However, it’s important to do what is comfortable for you. Some people find closing their eyes much more effective. It’s good to experiment and see what feels best for you.

3. Focus

In ordinary consciousness we are hardly ever present. For example, sometimes we drive the car on autopilot while being preoccupied with thoughts. Suddenly we arrive at our destination and don’t remember anything about the drive!

So, meditation is a wonderful way of waking up to our life. Otherwise we miss most of our experiences because we are somewhere else in our mind! Let’s take a look at what focus is. In ordinary life, we tend to equate focus with concentration. That’s like using the mind like a concentrated beam of light. But in meditation, that kind of mind isn’t helpful. It’s too sharp and edgy. To focus in meditation means to pay soft attention to whatever you place in the centre of awareness. I suggest using the breath as a focus. It’s like a natural door that connects ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. Zen Master Toni Packer says: “Attention comes from nowhere. It has no cause. It belongs to no one.”

4. The breath

Paying attention to the breath is a great way to anchor yourself in the present moment.
Notice your breath streaming in and out. There’s no need to regulate the breath – just let it be natural.

5. Counting you breath

If you are having difficulties settling, you can try counting the breath – which is an ancient meditation practice. On your outbreath, silently count “one”, then “two”, and up to “four”. Then return to “one”. Whenever you notice your thoughts have strayed far away or you find yourself counting “thirtythree”, simply return to “one”. In this way, “one” is like coming home to the present moment. It’s good to return without a backward glance.

6. Thoughts

When you notice thoughts, gently let them go by returning yous focus to the breath. Don’t try and stop thoughts; this will just make you feel agitated. Imagine that they are unwelcome visitors at your door: Acknowledge their presence and politely ask them to leave. Then shine the soft light of your attention on your breath.

7. Emotions

It’s difficult to settle into meditation if you are struggling with strong emotions. This is because some emotions tend to breed stories in the mind. Especially anger, shame and fear create stories that repeat over and over in the mind. Anger and shame make us keep looking at past events of the past. Fear looks at the future with stories that start with, “What if…”

The way to deal with strong emotions in meditation is to focus on the body feelings that accompany the emotion. For example, this could be the tight band of fear around the chest or the hot roiling of anger in the belly. Let go of the stories and refocus on your body. In this way you are honouring your emotions but not becoming entangled in stories.

8. Silence

Silence is healing. I know that there are is a lot of ‘meditation music’ around, but nothing beats simple silence. Otherwise the music or sounds on the tape just drown out the chatter in your mind. When we sit in silence we actually get to experience what our mind is doing. There is steadiness and calmness that comes from sitting in silence. In time outer and inner silence meet and you come to rest in the moment.

9. Length

Start with 10 minutes and only sit longer if you feel that that is too short. Don’t force yourself to meditate longer if you are not ready to do that. In time you might like to extend your meditation to 25 minutes. That’s a length that allows you to settle your mind without causing too much stress on your body. Most importantly, shrug off any ‘shoulds’. Some people enjoy sitting for an hour at a time. Others find that they can’t sit longer than 10 minutes. Do what feels right for you!

10. Place

It’s lovely to create a special place to sit. You can even make a shrine or an altar that you can face when you sit in meditation. You might like to place a candle on your altar and objects that have meaning to you. It’s lovely to find objects for your altar as you walk. Maybe you find stones, or seashells, or flowers that speak to you.

11. Enjoyment

Most of all it’s important to enjoy meditation. You might like to try sitting with a hint of a smile. Be kind to yourself. Start sitting just a little each day. It’s helpful to establish a daily habit.

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This chart from Eating Well magazine takes all of the guess work out of how long to marinate and grill your food! It has everything from salmon, tofu, to pork chops!

Grilling is a great way to take advantage of the nice weather and keep your kitchen cool. There are tons of recipes for great marinades and spice rubs to make sure that even though you are eating healthy, you are eating great tasting food.

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It’s my pleasure to announce and introduce to you Hope, who is on the Jenny Craig program. She will be blogging her progress several times a week to update you on what’s going on in her world, and how she is doing on JC! Hope has a great story to tell, and is well on her way to meeting her half-way goal of 50 pounds lost, for her 39th birthday this August! You can look for her first post later today!

I’ve been doing pilates for several years now, and it still the best ab toning and strengthening method I’ve found. Pilates also strengthens the other muscles in your core, including your back! This video, by SparkPeople, is a fantastic 12 minute ab workout for those that are looking to try something new and challenging. If the exercises are too difficult even after modification, just go at your own pace, focusing on great posture. You’ll have super strong abs in no time!

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I don’t know about you, but I know I should try to eat more fish. It’s a great source of protein and is great when the temperature really starts to rise.  I really like fish and chips, but I’ve also discovered how tasty grilled fish is! Give this recipe a try, it sounds fantastic. don’t worry if you don’t have the sesame oil, it will still be good without it (but it definitely adds something special). So next time you’d like to try something new but Jenny Craig approved, give this recipe a try!

I think few believe few people would argue with the statement that fresh fruits and vegetables should be included in any healthy diet. Even on Jenny Craig, you are taught to volumize your meals with low calorie veggies to help you curb hunger!

But, you hear people complain a lot about prices, these days especially.  In general people tend to think that fresh and healthy foods are more expensive than unhealthy options. While this may be true in some situations, many people have access to fresh and local produce that is much cheaper than regular grocery store choices.

Farmer’s Markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA’s) provide you with more options! If you buy in-season produce at farmer’s markets, you will likely find items that are less expensive and tastier. With CSA’s, you typically pay a flat fee up front and receive produce on a weekly basis from one farm. I just signed up for a CSA program with Heavenly Harvest Farm, and for about $16 a week I will get enough fruits and veggies for my husband and I! The program I chose has a “build your own box” option where I get to choose which items I get each week. However, most CSA’s have preselected items based on what was harvested that week. This is a great way to try new fruits and vegetables that you might typically overlook in the store.

The map below shows farms and farm markets across the country. Check out Local Harvest to view the interactive map to see what is available in your area, you might be surprised!

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