Dieting Alone Will Lose Precious Muscle Mass

I'm sure this won't come as a surprise to any of you, but studies show that if you just diet, or reduce your calorie intake significantly, you will indeed lose weight, but that weight includes muscle mass.  The best way to lose weight, according to a recent study by Stanford University, is changing your diet to whole foods, exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, including weight training, AND get yourself a health coach.  Yes, those who spoke with a health coach once a week were able to not only lose weight, but keep it off for over 5 years (and counting).  Yes... it's a shameless plug.

Friends, I need your help!  I have a talent that I would like to use to help people find their health.  Please share my blog with ALL of your friends, I'm sure there are people out there who just need someone like me to help them get to where they want to be.  

For some exercise today do yourself a favor and build some muscle mass and do some great cardio at the same time.... go on a hike and enjoy the lovely Spring weather.

I don't have a recipe to share with you today... sorry, next time I will.  

Now Accepting Clients

To all my fans out there, thank you for reading my posts each week.  I want to do more for you than have you read a simple blog post though.  If you want someone to help you FINALLY reach your health goals then please let me help you.  My philosophy isn't crazy... eat right, move, and be happy.  I can help you break your goals up so that you can reach each goal you set for yourself.  I can also help pick your brain and help you see what you need to do to get to where you want to be.  I've posted several testimonials of people I have helped.  This is an online thing, so it doesn't matter where you are in the world.  I can still help you.  I want to help you.  Please let me.  I've set up a paypal button so you can get started ASAP.  Contact me for any questions you may have at hejoparish@gmail.com.

"Heidi has been GREAT!  I have lost 13 pounds since I started working with Heidi.  I love how she has asked me to take a look at myself to find the reasons WHY I DO and EAT the way I do, and has helped me make positive changes.  Heidi has been there to help with diet and exercise.  Heidi is great at helping me get back on track if I have had a bad week. You know the kind where everything happens and you feel the universe is against you? ;)  I love the way she teaches the HOW and the WHY, I think that has made a huge difference for me because I am given examples that I can visualize and then I can change.  Heidi has helped me learn to work on SMALL goals that lead to the BIG goal."  B. Miller 38

"I wasn't as diligent for the three months as I should have been, however this plan did make me think about what I was putting into my system.  I am much more careful about what I eat and how much I eat, which habits have carried on.  The exercise was great too; it even helped me enjoy jogging again.  During the 3 months I was involved, I lost 20 lbs and have kept it off.  Simple lifestyle changes made large health improvements in my life."  DS 33 yrs

"As a mom to five kiddos, and one of them only being 6 months old, I know how tough it can be to keep yourself healthy.  So I jumped at the opportunity to have Heidi help nudge me through this process.  Heidi’s plan is simple, fill up on healthy whole grains, fruits and veggies, and move every day.  Heidi’s reminders and check-ins helped, but what really kept me wanting to stay on track were her assignments to see why I’m doing what I’m doing and why I want or need to change.  For the past 4 months I’ve attempted to eat nutritious foods and exercise 6 times a week.  Because of all my hard work I was able to run an entire 5k, 3 months after having a baby, and I’m on track to lose my pregnancy pounds by my baby’s first birthday (I’ve already lost 15lbs and hope to lose 15 more to be at my ideal weight).  If you are looking to make a change in your life and would like someone fun to keep motivating you then I would recommend Heidi."  D.N.       Age 33

"Heidi helped me best by assisting me in every aspect of becoming more
healthy.  She gave me recipe ideas, foods to eat, amounts to have, and
exercises to do.  She was always there to encourage and support me
when it was hard and I was struggling.  I liked that she didn't just
talk the talk, but she walked the walk.  She is in shape herself, eats
healthy, and exercises.  She lives and does the things she was asking
me to do.  I liked her weekly challenges and questions.  She didn't
just want me to do it because she told me to, she wanted me to
understand why and to want to do it myself.  She wanted me to think
about the choices I was making and to educate me on a better
lifestyle.  It was hard to change some bad habits, but she stuck with
me and was always very patient and positive.  I am so grateful for the
excellent job she did as my personal trainer for 4 months.  I lost
weight, gained strength, and feel so much healthier and happier.  I
learned so much from her and appreciate everything she did for me.
She really put me on a path to a better future, for me and my family.
I highly recommend her." D.C. 40

"I have struggled with being over weight, yo yo diets and depression for about 20 years now. Heidi has been a fountain of motivation and knowledge for me. She has not only helped to changed my mind set and my lifestyle but my whole family's [lifestyle].... She taught me the very basics and helped me with meal planning and recipes. She encouraged me to always do more, try something new, not just in nutrition but in exercise. She gave me tasks to do every week that helped me stay on track. Sometimes they were very hard but needed assignments. One of the greatest things Heidi did was make it personal. She not only let me share with her very private and personal things but she shared back.  People look at her and think... LUCKY YOU HAVE A GREAT METABOLISM...but she has to work at it just as hard as the rest of us.  She also taught me I can feed, not only myself, but my huge family as well and not spend a fortune. She herself has a big family and that really brought it home to me.  Most people don't think they can do it. But she helped me see I can. I lost 17 pounds in three months, which I am 41 and for me that was really great.  I am thankful for all that I have learned from Heidi.  I will continue to strive to eat healthy, feed my family healthy foods and incorporate exercise every day, all because of Heidi Parish."
 K.M. 41

Foods to Eat to Build Lean Muscle Mass

It may come as a surprise to you that greens like Kale, Broccoli, and Spinach are great food sources to build lean muscle mass.  Along with those greens, lean grass-fed beef, turkey, chicken, eggs, fish, Greek yogurt, Ezekiel bread, brown rice, whole grain cereals and pasta's are other great sources.   Good fats like avocado's and nuts are also key.

Experts agree that eating every 3-4 hours helps keep the home fires burning, or in other words, keeps your metabolism burning.  The key is to limit your sugar intake and eat real foods.  Eating prepackaged foods will not help you build lean muscle mass.  It will help you build fat mass though.  And finally... water, keep yourself hydrated throughout the day.  Water helps your cells repair themselves after your muscle building workout.

And now to build some lean muscle mass;  do 25 jumping jacks, 25 push-ups, 25 jump squats, 25 burpee's, 25 triceps dips, 25 sit ups.  Do this sequence 5 times through.

For a nice lean muscle building snack

Heidi's Muscle Smoothie (serves 1-2)

1 C Plain non-fat Greek Yogurt
1 C Spinach
1/2 Banana
1 C Strawberries (or any other kind of berry)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 C Ice
Sugar to taste (try to go without)

Put ingredients in order in a high-powered blender, blend until smooth and enjoy!

Walking is Better for You than Running

According to the American Heart Association, brisk walking reduces your risk of heart disease more efficiently than running!  Calorie for Calorie brisk walking was found to lower your risk of heart disease by 9.3%, whereas running only lowered your risk 4.5%.  High blood pressure was lowered 7.2% among brisk walkers and only 4.2% among runners.  Cholesterol levels improved 7% among walkers and 4.3% among runners.  Brisk walking is easier on the joints too!

You'll never guess what I'm going to suggest for some exercise today.  That's right!  Brisk walk for a good 30-45 minutes today and your heart will thank you!

For a yummy treat try some cinnamon sugar popcorn.

Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn (1 serving)
Air pop 1/4 C popcorn
Use a Spritzer to spray olive oil on the popcorn
Then sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar over it.

ENJOY!

Sleep As A Diet Aid

You'll love me forever for giving you this bit of info... did you know that a good nights rest (8-9 hours) can help you lose weight?  The bad news is that sleeping alone won't get you to your goal weight, but you'll reach your goal weight sooner by getting the right amount of shut eye.  You'll obviously have to exercise and eat right.

Sleeping for 8-9 hours at night helps set your hormones at the right level for fat burning and to help eliminate food cravings during the day.  If you're doing weight training like I've suggested in my past blog posts then your fat burning potential at night goes up.  More muscle burns more calories at rest.

To help you catch those zzzz's be sure to turn off your electronic devices at least an hour before bed time, break a sweat every day, keep your room cool, and do something calming before you sleep like read a book
(but not one that's too exciting, because then you'll want to stay up to see how it ends), or take a hot shower.

To help you build some muscle mass... today's challenge is to see how many push-ups (the man way) you can do in a minute.  Feel free to rest when your form goes south, but then try to pick it up again and keep going until your minute is up.

Heidi's Orange Sorbet (serves 2-4)
2 Oranges peeled
2 C Ice
1 tsp Vanilla
1-2 T Sugar
Blend with a high powered blender until smooth.
*Warning - Can give you a nasty bad brain freeze.