HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Here is a big SHOUT OUT  for the holiday!  I am sure a lot of you are on vacation, preparing for vacation, or are returning from vacation.  Yea!  

Just remember, we are OSB and we have a mission.  If you party-it-up you will have a consequence.  If you overindulge just come back ready to cut back and/or work out.  

So go and have a Happy 4th of July!

Weigh in style

So we all know that we shouldn't compare our weight to others ... but we all do it anyway, especially to celebrities. Now there is a scale that makes comparing ourselves easier!

Introducing the Celebrity Scale!

Step on and see which celebrity, musician, sweets or animal you weigh! Fancy screen-printed box included.

Celebrity Scales

Colour ways

blue / white

white / yellow

weight example

+ postage colour ways

• Blue / White White / Yellow
• quantity
• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
• postage
• Ireland Europe Rest of World

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Musical Scales

Colour ways

blue / white

white / yellow

weight example

+ postage

• colour ways
• Blue / White White / Yellow
• quantity
• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
• postage
• Ireland Europe Rest of World

LOL This is a REAL product! I love that the featured celebs are the same as the ones listed under musical scales. Hope this brightens everyone's Monday!

Bone Boosting Foods to keep on hand -

Calcium is much more easily absorbed when eaten with food.  So here are some items to keep in your kitchen to guarantee  optimal intake of this essential mineral. This will help us all fight the statistic that over 50% of females over the age of 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.

YOGURT

The healthiest is plan low-fat yogurt then you add flavor with fresh or frozen fruit. Yoplait Light is even fortified with Vitamin D. 

NUTRITIONAL DRINK MIX

Carnation Instant Breakfast with low fat milk provides a speedy breakfast and 500 mg. of calcium.

SOY MILK

Soy beverages provide excellent sources of Vitamin D and Calcium.

SINGLE-SERVING CHEESE

This is an easy way to add protein and calcium to your lunch or snack.  

ALMONDS

A handful of almonds can contribute to daily calcium.  Plus, almonds as a snack can combat hunger.  

MINERAL WATERS

Add a bottle of mineral water to your meal.  This type of water can contain up to 150mg calcium and it has no calories.

Its Wednesday?

This just in....

ITS WEDNESDAY LADIES!!!!!!!!!!

time for roll call.

OSB official day to weigh in and let us know about your progress.

Mindless Eating ...

Hey everyone! Hope you had a fantastic weekend! Ours was great. It was our first one on WeightWatchers. I'm surprised at how much (and yet how little) I can eat with my points. Did that make any sense? HA HA. Anyway, my brother-in-law linked me to this interesting article that I found interesting. I might as well have written it myself! Enjoy:

"Mindless Eating" - Why Do We Continue to Eat When We Are Full?

I was doing some research online today and stumbled across a description of a book that made good sense to me: Mindless Eating. I haven't ordered the book yet, but I liked the parts that I've read so far. Food psychologist, Dr. Brian Wansink examines why we eat more than we should even when full. I'm the sort of person who can eat a full bag of chips, a bowl of candy, and basically anything placed in front of me. If it isn't near me I'm good, but if food is within reach for extended periods of time I will eat it all! Dr. Wansink has my eating-style nailed down to a "t"!

[If you put this plate of nachos in front of me, I will continue to devour it until the plate is empty! I don't care how big the plate is. My hand will continue to grab chips on autopilot until nothing is left. "My name is Rusty and yes, I am a mindless eater". The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.]

Having Symptoms of Mindless Eating Without Realizing It

I am a full-blown mindless eater, no doubt about it! It is dangerous for me to go to restaurants that serve big portions. I have to finish the plate. There is something deep inside me that won't let me leave food on a plate. You may or may not be a hardcore mindless eater like me, but most people exhibit mindless eating behaviors without knowing it. Dr. Wansink conducted a bunch of interesting studies showing just how common this problem is.

The Mindless Eating - Stale Popcorn Study

Two groups of theater patrons were given free containers of stale popcorn. One group was given a large container and one group was given an extra-large container (both too big too consume). Each group's containers were collected after the movie and they were told this: "Some people tonight were given medium-size buckets of popcorn, and others, like yourself, were given these large-size buckets. We have found that the average person who is given a large-size container eats more than if they are given a medium-size container. Do you think you ate more because you had the larger size?"

The Group Given the Larger Bucket Ate 53% More Popcorn

When they were told that they most likely ate more due to the fact that the container was larger, most of the people denied that it applied to them…saying "Things like that don’t trick me," or "I’m pretty good at knowing when I’m full." When they weighed the popcorn, they found that those with the largest bucket ate 53% more popcorn. Wansink stated…"Most people eat mindlessly, based on the size of the container and other cues—not the taste of the popcorn or how hungry or full they are."

The Mindless Eating - Chocolate Candy Dish Study

Dr. Wansink performed this fun study on desk-bound secretaries and chocolate candy. On week one, he placed the candy dish on the corner of the secretary's desk. During week 2, the candy dish was placed in the top left-hand desk drawer. During week 3, he placed the candy dish six feet from the desk. When the candy was on the desk, the secretaries ate 9 pieces on average per day…when in the desk, 6 pieces on average…six feet from the desk, 4 pieces on average.

"The More Hassle It Is to Eat, the Less We Eat"

Dr. Wansink had this to say about the candy dish study "The basic principle is convenience…When we talked to the secretaries after the study, many of them mentioned that having six feet between them and the candy gave them enough time to think twice whether they really wanted it. It gave them time to talk themselves out of having another chocolate."

By the Age of 5 We Typically Eat Whatever is In Front of Us

Professor Wansink has observed that a 3 year old will stop eating when they are full, regardless of how much food is placed in front of them. By the age of 5, however, a child will eat whatever is placed in front of them…"If they are given a lot, they will eat a lot". Serving size plays a huge role on how much we eat.

Habits Are Harder to Change Than Your Environment

In my opinion it is easier to not have the big portions of food in front of you in the first place. One of the tips that Dr. Wansink gives is to dish up your plate for dinner and then put the remaining food in the fridge before eating…don't have the food out so that you can go back for seconds and thirds. Also, it makes sense to not have high calorie snacks in front of you when you are watching TV or watching a movie.

A Good Restaurant Strategy to Insure You Eat Less

A couple of days ago, I walked to get pizza and a beer with my girlfriend (a mile away, trying to get my daily walking in). What we decided to do was order a dinner salad and a small personal pizza and split them both. We had just a little salad and a few slices of pizza and a beer. Going forward, we have decided that at many restaurants we will each order a dinner salad and split one of the main courses. It is a way to insure that we don't eat 2,000 calorie dinners at the places that serve massive portions. Give it a try!

Note: Please comment on whether you think you are a "mindless eater" or not. I am a full-blown mindless eater, and here to support you!

Click HERE for the actual article.

Vitamin D deficiency

Everyone, watch out for new information about Vitamin D deficiency in American Females.  (Wait, this is unheard of in an industrialized nation.)   

What we know now is 1.  American women have an increase to osteoporosis and an increase in Vitamin D deficiency.   2.  The over use of sunscreen is causing the Vitamin D deficiency. (Our body uses the sunshine to make vitamin D.) 3.  There is a decrease in intake of cow milk which provides the perfect amount of Vit. D and Calcium for growing children and women.  4.  There is an increase in consumption of carbonated beverages which robs the bones of the stores of calcium.

Even the American Dermatology Association should be coming out with recommendations or guidelines to encourage the daily exposure of sun to obtain the Vitamin D necessary on a daily basis. They may even go so far as to recommend 3 - 10 minutes of 80% of total skin surface area to sunshine without the use of sunscreen everyday.  Wow!!

Okay ladies, lets grab a tall glass of milk and go sunbathe!

Happy Wednesday & Happy Roll Call!

Good Morning OSBers!

This is our official weigh in day!

Please leave a comment and let us know how you've done the last week!

Thanks again to all our weekly contributors!

Fat and Fabulous!

Grr! I have been trying all day to get a video to embed here, and it won't work! lol

There was a very interesting story on Good Morning America this morning. I wondered what everyone's opinion was on it.

Click HERE for the video:
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7840817

And click HERE for the actual article:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7823614&page=1

What to do with a can of Coke

After reading Monday's wonderful post I came across a short article in Bicycle magazine, July 2009, that I want to share.

It discusses the versatility of a 12 oz can of Coke.

  

Drink it.  Even though it is not an ideal energy drink it will provide you with 39 grams of carbohydrate.  Of course, it is recommended to dilute the soda to half its strength with water and never chug it.  Due to gastric distress.  Yuck!

Pour it.  The article goes into great detail on its use in dissolving rust and corrosion that builds up in the seat post.  Yuck!

Shoot it.  After using the coke for one of the above items the article recommends sitting the empty can on a stump and shooting it with a BB gun to improve balance and reaction time on the bike.  Ha!

Good reasons not to drink Coke, pop or soda.

Roll Call!

Happy Roll Call Wednesday everyone!

Time to step both feet on the scales and spill the beans in the comment section!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Soda ... POP!

As I arrived at work today and looked at my calendar, I realized that I have been 100% soda free for 12 weeks now!

I am really proud of myself for sticking with it this long. I wouldn't say that I was really a soda addict, but I certainly enjoyed drinking a can/glass/bottle several times a week.

The trick for me was to gradually stop. When we started our diet last year, we switched to only diet soda. This really limited us when were at restaurants, because usually they only have Coke or Pepsi in diet form. It was also about this time that I started forcing myself not to drink caffeine after about 7 at night, to see how it was affecting my sleep patterns.

Several months later, I decided that it wasn't really necessary for me to drink soda during the day while I was at work. So I made a deal with myself to only drink soda on the weekends.

Then in March, I participated in a "Biggest Loser" type contest at work. My team decided that we were going to avoid soda during the entire 8 week contest.

Well, that ended in May, and here I am in June and still not drinking soda! As a treat, and to break up the monotony of water, I drink Crystal Light. Also, I've love diet lemonade with extra ice. Mmmm! That is a summertime favorite for me!

Has anyone else given up soda? How did you do it? Oh, and do you call it Soda, Pop, or Coke? It's always fun to hear what everyone was raised to call it.

Facts about your tap

I picked up this information recently while reading the insert in my water bill.

Bottled and tap water are both safe and healthy.  The differences are in the price and quality testing.  You pay about $2 for a bottle of water ( many water bottling companies use municipal tap water), but less than a penny for a gallon of clean, quality tap water.  Bottled water is a food product and regulated by the FDA.  It test the water on a quarterly basis.  Our city tests its tap water 12x a day, which exceeds the EPA requirement of every 4 hours.  

Wow!  I thought those short statements said a lot.  I know that our water also has the recommended amount of Fluoride added to it.  I want my family to have clean, safe water to drink and I certainly do not want to pay someone to stick an empty plastic bottle under a tap in Arkansas and truck it to my city.

So, CHEERS, to a full glass of earth juice!

Roll Call Wednesday!!

Getting a late start today, sorry!

Its roll call Wednesday at the OSB.

Come and share in the comments section your success or .... hiccup for the last week!

To be a part of the OSB simply follow this blog!

WHAT NOT TO EAT

In our quest to maintain health, loose weight or gain strength throughout our life, there are some things we should never put in our mouth.  We all know not to bite into electrical cords.  We know we should not to swallow pennies or taste money.  And the ever present urban myth about watermelon sprouting from our ears, nose and mouth if we swallow the seeds. However, no one ever told us that a McDonald's Hamburger would last FOREVER!    

The hamburger on the left is 12 years old and still looks as good as the fresh on on the right.  I thought Supersize Me was a great movie but this picture is priceless.

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/09/12-year-old-mcdonalds-hamburger-still-looking-good.html

ROLL CALL!!!

Good Morning OSB!!

Thank God for the short work, but the long weekend before was tough on the calorie count!

Its time to weigh in!   Come one and all, step up the scale and let us know how your week has been.  Did you stay true to your diet over the weekend?