The 3 Rs of Serving Sizes

Resistance: I understand how many calories I need, but I’m not sure how many calories I’m taking in.

Response: Studies show that we underestimate our caloric intake by 25%. You must become familiar with portion control and serving sizes.

According to the USDA, one serving equals:

 one slice of whole-grain bread
 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta
 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes
 three to four small crackers
 one small pancake or waffle
 two medium-sized cookies
 1/2 cup cooked vegetables
 1 cup (four leaves) lettuce
 one small baked potato
 3/4 cup vegetable juice
 one medium apple
 1/2 grapefruit or mango
 1/2 cup berries
 1 cup yogurt or milk
 1 1/2 ounces of cheddar cheese
 one chicken breast
 one medium pork chop
 1/4 pound hamburger patty

Reward:

• Accuracy in understanding your caloric and dietary intake.
• Control over your diet and weight.

Know Your Numbers!

To With-U STRIP (Spare Tire Reduction Incentive Program) Challenge Contestants:

Well Done Strippers! One week down - 7 to go!

So far, the following teams are at 80% of their POG's completed:
Bacon Strippers, Belly Jelly's, Chew the Phat, CSI, Keep it Simple, Markey's Angels, Paula Deen Fanclub, The Flabless Five.

Remember a drawing will be held next week after weigh-in for ALL teams 80% or higher - don't miss out on this opportunity.

First weigh-in this SAT, Jan. 30- 10am-1pm at RUNNERS HIGH or upload your photo by midnight Monday.

Can't wait to see who the first round winners will be!


Week 2: Know Your Numbers
Next week, the focus is on being informed by getting to know your numbers. Become familiar with how many: how many calories you need each day, how many cals do you need (or not need) to lose weight, and how many ounces, pieces etc. of this or that make up a serving size.

How many calories should I consume to lose weight?

• Burn more calories than you consume.
• For a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week, daily intake should be reduced by 500 to 1,000 calories.
• If you plan to reduce your daily caloric intake to much less than 1200 calories per day, you should consult with a dietician or nutritionist.
• Login to WITH-U and check out the "Calories and You" e-learning course for additional helpful info.

Stay tuned for more diet and exercise tips for healthy weight loss and positive lifestyle changes!

Planning Key to Positive Change

Planning – to me this is one of the KEY components of weight loss/weight maintenance and overall healthy living.

Planning saves you money and calories. Oh, and it makes your life a whole lot easier – less stressful, more organized and is more likely to included a balanced meal. But newsflash – this doesn’t happen on its own – it all starts With-U:

1. Figure out what you like to eat – ask your family.

2. Create a menu plan – using healthy cooking books or some of the following sites online for low-cal/healthy menus:
http://www.cookinglight.com/
http://lowcaloriecooking.about.com/
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/low-calorie

3. Create a shopping list for the week or even an entire month.

4. Look for items on sale and stock up in anticipation of the monthly menu.

5. Don’t deviate from the menu and buy “extra snacks” or “just in case”! You know what I’m talking about.

Then start saving and losing! These small changes in your routine will start to make healthy living a no-brainer. And BIG BONUS, Strippers – you won’t feel bloated because you’ve eaten junk because you didn’t have a plan.

Check out these articles on the effectiveness of making small behavior modifications:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14567154?dopt=Abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15672889?dopt=Abstract

And this amazing “Good Morning America” piece on a Texas mom who planned every meal for a year!
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/mom-plans-meals-entire-year/story?id=9618348

More Prizes Added to STRIP Challenge!

More prizes added to STRIP Health Challenge! Runner's High will donate the following fabulous prizes:
All participants at the weigh in on Saturday will receive a $10 discount off anything in the store
At each weigh in, there will be a fishbowl for a raffle using the red tickets for a prize of merchandise appropriate for ...the winner at a value of $40
At the end of the challenge--
1st place winning team: Each team member will get a $50 gift card for the store· 2nd place winning team: Each team member will get a $25 gift card for the store.

Thank you, Runner's High! Guys, don't wait--Challenge starts Saturday! Register today: http://www.with-u.us/public/wellnesschallenge/wellnesschallenge.html

Welcome to STRIP... the Movie

Whether you're already signed up for our 8-week health challenge, STRIP (Spare Tire Reduction Incentive Program), or you're still sitting on the fence -- check out our new video! First Weigh-in Jan. 16! More at http://www.with-u.us/public/wellnesschallenge/wellnesschallenge.html

I'm In, Are you?

With my recent temporary setback of “still no running”, I’ve had to adjust my strategy to come up with a new temporary carrot to help keep me on track. So, I gathered 2 of my peeps (who also happen to be trainers) and some cronies and we have a quorum. So, my team and I are in for the next With-U challenge (Spare Tire Reduction Incentive Program... STRIP) – are you? No, I won’t win my own prize money – but I’ll be my own winner because I’ll get to stay on track during the next few months I’m unable to follow my normal routine.

So far we have 14 teams for the annual challenge. The next incentive program starts Saturday. It’s so easy to help you stay the course. We have one team that still needs 3 people but obviously would love to get more teams on board. This is the best way to help you stay on track throughout the year, or even to kick things up a notch this first part of the year. You can sign up as an individual ,and we’ll assign you to a team or find some of your own “peeps!”

Several folks have recruited people from work or families.

THREE more days until the kick off – are you in? (Saturday, Jan. 16, 10 am to 1 pm, Runners High in Irvine)

Traci N is coming up with our team name – last night she tossed out Bacon Strippers – hmmm! Yum!

If you did not do the HHC, then you can sign up for the challenge at www.withu.org. If you did the challenge, please send Jeannine an email and she’ll provide you with a direct link to Paypal. For one incentive it’s $40, for all 4 2010 Challenges, just $100.

Let’s STRIP together With-U!

More Press! And A New Challenge!

Hi, guys! Check out the OC Register story on the $1,500 prize-winners of our Holiday Health Challenge: http://www.ocregister.com/news/-226944--.html.

The five members of the Pink Ponies lost a cumulative total of 100.4 pounds!You can join them in getting in shape for 2010 with our upcoming STRIP (Spare Tire Reduction Incentive Program) Challenge, beginning with our kick-off weigh-in on Jan. 16, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., at Runner's High in Irvine. http://www.with-u.us for more information and to register!

With-U is Tweeting!

With-U Friends--Now you can follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/WellnessWithU!

Many thanks to Lauri Young and all her great work in helping establish With-U’s online presence. To read more about Lauri and her work, visit http://www.lauriy.wordpress.com.

Stay tuned for upcoming news about our Holiday Health Challenge stand-outs.