Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 30 (10 weekdays)
When it comes to your Total Health…
…are you struggling with self-discipline?
…would you do better with accountability?
…do you need a little tough love?
…could you use a support team to cheer you on and keep you honest?
Coach Heather is ready to help you take action in pursuing your Total Health. No excuses, no whining. If you know what you need to do, get support and encouragement for doing it. If you need help figuring out where to start, get information and basic action steps to start making a change.
Coming in November * HOT FOR THE HOLIDAYS! includes holiday recipes and meal plans, as well as helping you prepare for guests, family time, and traditions
Coming in December * IT’S A WRAP – THE TIME IS NOW! be a star – present yourself at your very best, from clothing to attitude to presence
Develop an efficient system for shredding all your old and unnecessary financial paperwork.
Always protect your identity. It can be a nightmare to establish a good credit rating after an identity fraud. You know those credit card offers are already pre-printed with your name and address, right? Shred ‘em.
If you receive financial data from groups or organizations you’re affiliated with (as a board member, committee member, etc.), be sure to shred that information or offer your copies back to the organization.
Make sure your shredder is conveniently located and always ready to receive (the basket needs to be emptied for recycle day!), so your paperwork won’t pile up.
The fly (or butterfly) builds up your pectoral muscles, the ones under your breasts, and they help give you that extra lift.
Using hand weights or soup cans, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Keep your back straight and your abs tight.
Put your arms out to your sides, then bend them at the elbow so your fingers point up to the ceiling, palms forward.
Squeeze your chest muscles to slowly bring your arms together in front of your chest. Your hands, forearms and elbows will meet in front of your chest.
Slowly press your arms back to the starting position.
During the whole exercise, make sure to use your pectorals, not your arms, to make the movement. Try two sets of 10-12 repetitions to start, and add reps (or weight) from there.
Soup weather is just around the corner (or already here, in some places), and that means it’s also time for savory muffins.
If you’re following the Total Health Makeover® program, you may not want to eat savory muffins with your soup – it may be too much food. It depends on the soup, the size of your bowl, and your activity level.
If you – or your family or friends – want more to eat, try one of these healthy savory muffin options.
Keep any extras in a zipper bag in your freezer. They’re good for your child’s brown bag lunch or after-school snack, and they’re good for a mid-afternoon mini-meal.
SusanMik’s Zucchini “Cheddar” Herb Muffins Green * Makes 12 muffins
(wheat-free)
Preheat oven to 350F. Oil 12 muffin cups (with vegetable oil or non-dairy margarine).
In a liquid measuring cup, mix together:
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup water mixed
1 Tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
Sift these ingredients into a large bowl:
1-3/4 cups spelt flour*
1-1/4 cups oat flour*
4 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
*can be replaced with whole wheat pastry flour if wheat sensitivity is not an issue
Add the following to the flour mixture and toss to combine:
2 eggs worth of egg replacer
1/4 cup soy margarine, melted
1/4 cup apple sauce
the soymilk-water-lemon juice mixture
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Batter will be thick. Spoon into greased/oiled muffin tins. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350F till golden. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove to a rack.
Cornbread Muffins Blue * Makes 12 muffins
1/4 cup Earth Balance, melted
1 cup corn meal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour
1/4 cup Sucanat®
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup plain soymilk
1 beaten egg
Heat oven to 400F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners (we like the unbleached ones from If You Care).
Combine in large bowl with wire whisk – corn meal, flour, Sucanat®, baking powder, and salt.
Combine in small bowl with fork – soymilk, egg, and melted margarine.
Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Spoon batter into the muffin cups. Bake 15-20 min. Use clean toothpick test. Top will be dry and probably cracked.
Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
When you get that beautiful fresh produce home from the store or farmer’s market, be sure to remove it from the plastic bag or wrap. That’s a surefire way to keep it from ripening properly and to ensure it rots faster.
Store produce in brown paper bags or cloth produce bags. Both of these draw moisture away from the produce, but keep the air moist.
Wash out your veggie drawer, dry it really well, and line it with paper towels or an old dishtowel. Again, they will draw the moisture away from the food, but help to keep the air moist. And cool, moist air is perfect for storing produce.
The next time you’re grocery shopping, pick up a package of sushi nori and use a sheet of it every day for a week.
It’s filled with vitamins and minerals, and extremely versatile.
Use it like you would a tortilla (except it’s a sea vegetable). So, fill it and roll it up, wrap it up, “burrito” it, or “sno cone” it.
Fill it with veggie salad, or tuna salad, or chicken salad, or egg (or eggless) salad. Fill it with brown rice and veggies, or any leftover cooked grain and veggies, or leftover stirfry or veggie saute. Fill it with salmon with cucumbers and tomatoes, or with shredded barbequed chicken, or with tofu scramble.
Don’t prepare these in advance. Instead, prepare a container of filling and a sheet of nori, and assemble it at mealtime. If you aren’t sure you’ll like the nori, line it with a leaf of romaine before filling.
Marilu calls sleep the fountain of youth. In the Total Health Makeover she says, “if someone told you that you could look younger, feel better, boost your energy level, and keep yourself healthy, wouldn’t you want to know how to do that? It’s simple, it’s cheap, and it’s as easy as getting a good night’s sleep.”
A few facts about Sleep –
We spend almost one-third of our lives asleep.
You can improve your immune system with a consistent regime of good sleep.
Sleep improves your memory.
Sleeping well will help you master all the other THM® steps.
Here’s how to assess your sleep health in THM® terms.
Beginner * Become aware of your body’s sleep patterns. Notice when your body needs sleep and also the times you sleep when you don’t really need it, and why.
Intermediate * Same as beginner, plus try to establish healthy sleeping habits, like getting to bed and waking up at the same time each day, and getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night, and getting to bed before midnight.
Advanced * Same as intermediate, plus keep a sleep journal to better track your pattern, including any roadblocks to a good night’s sleep.
Makeover Maniac * Become so obsessed with your journal that you no longer have time to sleep.
It’s the same way we feel about walking. Classic exercise. The gold standard. Always available. No excuses.
Even if all you can do is walk to the end of your driveway, you can walk.
Even if you need a walker or a cane for balance, you can walk.
Even if you have to take your kids along – in a stroller or on their bikes – you can walk.
Even if it’s raining, you can walk.
Even if it’s at the mall, you can walk.
Get outside for some classic exercise. Listen to some classic music.
We all have those moments when we’re ready to cave. We set the goal, we have the plan, we really do know what we want for ourselves.
And then… WHAM. One minute, one trigger, one word, and we start stuffing our faces – goals forgotten, plans tossed aside, knowledge ignored.
Here are six ways to stay in control and handle those cravings.
TIP 1 * Cravings last 8-11 minutes. If you have a craving, set a timer for 15 minutes and drink a glass of water. Try not to think about the craving until the timer goes off. By then it may well have passed.
TIP 2 * Distract yourself. When you think you need chocolate, or popcorn, or a cookie, go scrub the toilet or the shower. Load the dishwasher. Fold the laundry. Not at home? Answer five emails at work. Return a phone call. Schedule a meeting (that always seems to take some time, right?). Running errands and the drive through is calling? Stop at the library and check out a book. Pull into a park and take out your zipper bag of almonds (or raisins or your apple or whatever healthy thing you took along just for this moment). While you’re at the park, take a quick walk, or at least roll down the window and get some air. Distraction is the name of the game.
TIP 3 * Drink water. Drink herbal tea. Peppermint is good, but there are lots of flavors out there. We know, we hear it all the time – water isn’t going to do it. But use the water (or tea) to delay your action, to take the emotion out of the choice, to give you time to calm down (and maybe to get through those 8-11 minutes).
TIP 4 * Get moving. Get out, get up, get down. That’s outside, up off the couch, or down like boogie, or dance. Break a sweat.
TIP 5 * Brush your teeth. It works for us, and no, we don’t swallow the toothpaste. The clean mouth feeling seems to take care of the craving.
TIP 6 * Journal. This is good if your cravings are emotional. Log on here and write on the message boards or on your My Marilu journal page. Open a spiral notebook and write. Grab a post-it note or a napkin or the back of a receipt and write. You are not writing for posterity – you are writing to release the feelings, so you don’t eat them.
* short summary on pages 67-68 
* what happens to our kids on pages 1-3; bedtime stories on pages 179-181
