Six Tips for a Pet-Safe Summer

Emily sunbathing

I received the below article from the ASPCA in my email inbox. If you are like me and your pets are more than animals — they are full members of the family — then remember to help them stay safe and healthy this summer. Read on:

The last days of May signal the unofficial start of summer for folks, young and old, across the country. But with these carefree months of no homework and summer Fridays comes an increased risk for illness or injury for our furry pals.

Samantha & Emily looking for squirrels!

From unpredictable weather to unusual routines, our animals are exposed to all sorts of hazards during June, July and August, and your pet is counting on you to keep him safe. Check out our top six tips for keeping your animal secure all summer long.

• Give your pet access to plenty of fresh water at all times. Even the healthiest pets can suffer from dehydration, heat stroke and sunburn if overexposed to the heat.
• Avoid lathering your pet with any insect repellent or sunscreen not intended for the four-legged kind.
• Keep your pet away from matches, citronella candles and lighter fluid, which if  eaten can irritate the stomach, lungs and central nervous system.
• Be cool near the pool. Don’t leave pets unsupervised around a pool, lake or high waters—not all dogs are expert swimmers!
• Never leave your dog, cat or any other animal friend alone in a car! The inside of a car can heat up very quickly—even with a window open.
• Be prepared! From tornadoes to floods, we’ve seen the devastation severe weather has brought to pets and their families these past few weeks. Develop an evacuation plan well ahead of time in case you’re forced from your home in an emergency.

Have a pet-safe summer!

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4 healthier brownie recipes that’ll disappear in minutes

Another great post at the Eating Well recipe blog. There are recipes for

Swirled Cheesecake Brownies

Rocky Road Brownies

Dark Fudgy Brownies

Double Chocolate Brownies

They each have healthier (not healthy, really, but healthier) ingredients than the average brownies and thus are lower in calories. Enjoy!

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5 Easy Savory Dinners

If you have pasta, beans, and a savory meat, then you can make a yummy dinner, quickly. Throw in some greens and it’s healthy too! Read the recipes here.

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Breakfast After You Exercise To Burn More Fat!

We all know the importance of eating breakfast, especially if you want to lose weight. But should you eat before or after you exercise? This post at Eating Well answers the question: eat breakfast AFTER you exercise to burn more fat. Learn why here.

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How Many Calories Are In That Cupcake?

As you know, I’m counting calories these days. It’s always a good idea to count calories periodically, even if you aren’t trying to lose weight, so you have some idea how many calories you are eating each day. The truth can be shocking sometimes!

One thing counting calories has taught me (again) is that splurging just a little bit can have big consequences. For example, this past week I went over my alotted calorie count two days because I had a little “treat” and thought “eating this one little thing won’t really matter.” One day I had two Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and another day I had a cupcake. And both days my calorie count was over by the number of calories in those treats (both of which were over 200 calories).

So when I saw this blog post at Eating Well, I wanted to share it with you. I still believe that you have to have “treats” sometimes because life is short and I like sweets! But you should know what you are getting when you eat them. Read the post to learn how to have your cake and eat it too!

P.S. BTW, as you will read, that cupcake can have up to 585 calories!

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Benefits of Working with a Health Coach

Oprah recently touted the benefits of working with a health coach. Read the beginning of the article below.

Have you ever lost weight, only to find the pounds creeping back on just a few months later? Or vowed to eat a healthier diet but found it too hard to decipher food labels or set aside time to cook? If you’re having trouble meeting a health goal, or if you’ve tried in the past and failed, you might benefit from an increasingly popular new resource—a health coach. Unlike, say, a workout buddy, “a health coach is trained to help you break your goal into manageable steps, track your progress, and identify and overcome personal roadblocks,” says Karen Lawson, MD, program director for the health coaching track at the University of Minnesota.

Read the rest of the article here.

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Counting Calories Can Be Easy

I know lots of people don’t like to count calories because it’s time consuming and, really, how can you know how many calories everything has anyway.

There’s a great book that makes it much easier. Yes, you still must take the couple of minutes to open the book and calculate the calories, but because the book is so comprehensive and pocket-sized, it is really simple.

The Calorie King

It’s called The Calorie King’s Calorie, Fat, and Carbohydrate Counter. It lists almost every food imaginable as well as lots of restaurant items. There’s also lots of great information at the beginning of the book about diet, calories, and exercise. I’ve used this book every time I want to count calories, which I try to do periodically just to remind myself of how many (or how few) calories my food has.

The really good news is that we all tend to eat a small variety of foods, so after you’ve counted calories for a couple of weeks, you are able to know your calorie counts without looking everything up in the book.

Try it – it’s worth it!

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Counting Calories – But How Many To Eat?

So the first thing you need to do if you are counting calories is know how many calories you should be eating each day. The number is based upon several factors including age, height, weight, and activity level. Also important is whether you are looking to maintain your weight or lose weight.

I reached my goal of losing those last 10 post-partum pounds a week or so ago, but have already gained two pounds back! So it’s time to count calories because I am clearly eating too much (and likely not exercising enough).

I found a great calorie calculator at Free Dieting: The Weight Loss Guide. I really like the calculator because it is simple and because it calculates calories for a maintenance diet, a fat loss diet, and an extreme fat loss diet. (Just looking at the calorie counts, I think the extreme fat loss diet might not be a great idea, but that’s not the point here.)

My calculation results? Eat 1774 calories per day for maintenance or 1419 per day for fat loss. I’m going with the 1774 and will step up my exercise.

The other thing I really like at Free Dieting is their idea about Calorie Cycling, which means that you eat a different amount of calories each day for a total weekly calorie count equal to eating the same amount every day. For example, to maintain my weight, Free Dieting suggests the following plan:

Monday: 1774

Tuesday: 1419

Wednesday: 2129

Thursday: 1774

Friday: 1597

Saturday: 1951

Sunday: 1774

I like this idea for two reasons. First, as stated at Free Dieting, calorie cycling “tricks” your body by constantly changing daily calories to help avoid weight loss plateaus. Second, if you “bust” your diet one day, you can correct it the next day! This is a great way to stick with my plan. Looking at my plan, I think I’ll switch Wednesday’s 2129 calories with Friday’s 1597 since my husband and I tend to eat out more on the weekends.

More about calorie counting tomorrow when I’ll show you a tool to make it easy.

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Running Like A Mother

Running Like A Mother

So I Ran Like A Mother and completed the 5K yesterday. I planned to walk it since I haven’t run once during my “training” for the 5K. But the atmosphere and my friend encouraging me to at least jog got the best of me and I ran (actually jogged) about half of it. It was fun! And I really like the idea of setting a good example for my daughter and making exercise a part of her daily life. I think that will be a great gift to her that will help her stay fit for life.

So that’s the good news.

The bad news (not really that bad) is that I am no longer losing weight. I reached my goal (which is a weight range) about a week ago by just adding light exercise to my daily schedule. You can see what I’ve been doing on my exercise log. Which means that it is now time to start focusing on my diet.

I don’t like to diet in the sense that I can’t have certain foods because, for me, telling myself that I can’t have something is more likely to make me want to eat it! So I count calories and call it an eating plan. I find this really works for me because I can eat anything I want so long as my daily calorie count is within my acceptable range (again, I like ranges not hard numbers). Of course, once you start counting calories you learn quickly what is high and what is low in calories and what fills you up and what leaves you wanting to eat again in an hour. Ultimately, I end up cutting out the “crap” because when I eat it, I am hungrier than when I eat healthy.

Enough of that for now. I’ll keep you posted on my eating plan and progress.Wish me luck!

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