Eating Better Made Easy

In the January issue of Better Homes & Gardens they had a great article entitled "Healthy You". It offered valuable information about healthy living, losing weight, and the benefits of exercise. Taking my cues from that, I've summarized a bit of the article regarding eating better. So many of us strive to eat better and live healthier lives, but sometimes we don't know where to start. It's intimidating to think of making big changes and altering what is probably a pretty comfortable routine. With that said, here are some small (and easy) changes to help you start eating better today!

Smaller Plates - Using smaller dinnerware is a simple way to control portion sizes. Your plate will look plentiful, so you won't feel deprived even though you're eating less!

Leave Something Behind - Leave a little bit of your food on your plate at the end of each meal. So many of us finish everything on our plates - whether we're hungry for it or not. Leaving a bit of food puts you back in control (instead of the food controlling you).

Eat Breakfast - Skipping meals sets you up for overeating later. Breakfast, especially, is such an important meal. It revs your metabolism and will curb bingeing as the day wears on.

Add More Fruits/Veggies - You probably could have guessed this one on your own, but filling up on fruits and vegetables when hungry reduces your tendency to overeat less-nutritious foods. So fill 1/2 to 3/4 of your plate with fresh vegetables and fruit and then fill the remainder with whatever else you would enjoy!

Fill Up With Fiber - Foods with fiber fill you up faster, leave you feeling full longer, and are a great weight-loss tool. Vegetables and legumes are naturally rich in fiber so make sure to enjoy some of them throughout your day.

H20 - Make sure (especially in this cold, winter weather) to stay hydrated. So often, we mistake thirst for hunger and wind up eating when we're really in need of a tall glass of water. Plus, a few extra glasses of water will help to keep your skin hydrated during this chilly weather.

These simple tricks provide you with a great foundation for healthy eating. Start by incorporating just a few into your routine, and I bet you'll see a difference!

Happy (and healthy) Eating!

For more information about Cailen Ascher Design or my upcoming book, Well-Designed Living, visit www.CailenAscher.bravehost.com or email CailenAscher@gmail.com.

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Week by Week

In order to steadily keep my business, Cailen Ascher Design, moving forward, I recently developed a week by week schedule to help me accomplish all the tasks I typically need to do in a month's time. I'm hoping this week by week approach will help me to be more efficient and declutter my mind and workspace!

This is the outline of the schedule:

Week 1 - distribute advertising to local establishments, send mailings
Week 2 - research week - read design books, magazines & websites, do Interior Design Institute work
Week 3 - work on my book and organize, declutter, and consolidate my workspace
Week 4 - develop, print, and organize advertising and mailings

By giving myself a one week time frame to accomplish each of these tasks, it will keep me moving forward without depleting my energy. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by all that is before me, I'll be concentrated on that week's tasks, and not ping-pong all over the place trying to get everything accomplished at once. Obviously, not all of these tasks take a full week's time, but that allows for flexibility within the week. Also, as you can see, week 1's task is contingent upon completing week 4's...this will hold me accountable to getting things done on time!

For anyone else who is starting a new business or taking on a big project - why not try making a week by week outline. It will get you moving, keep you on task, and by the week's end, you'll feel like you've really made progress and accomplished something!

For more information about Cailen Ascher Design or my upcoming book, Well-Designed Living, visit www.CailenAscher.bravehost.com or email CailenAscher@gmail.com.

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In the Spotlight

Cailen Ascher Design is currently being featured in the "Business Spotlight" on www.MyHunterdon.com. Check it out today to find out more about Cailen Ascher Design's mission to bring the elements of well-designed living into her clients' homes.

The direct link is: http://www.myhunterdon.com/businesses/businesses.php.
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Flat Belly Here We Come...

So, we're officially 2 weeks into the "Flat Belly Diet", and it's going quite smoothly! My mom is down 6 pounds, and my dad is down almost 15! (Yes, already...15 lbs!!!) They're both so pleased with their results and the effortlessness of the program. We're all really enjoying the "diet" - though I really hesitate to call it that. It's not a diet because there's really nothing restrictive about it. I prefer to think of it as a lifestyle.

The food is really very good (and we love to cook, so it's especially fun for us because we're constantly trying new "Flat Belly" recipes). The best thing is that you never feel deprived because you have a meal or snack every 4 hours. Eating at regular intervals throughout the day keeps you feeling satisfied - never allowing you to get super-crazy-hungry. Also, it keeps your metabolism running at a steady pace. If you don't eat at regular times, and allow yourself to get really hungry, your metabolism slows as it goes into starvation mode because it's not sure when you'll eat again. So, even though you might feel like you're strengthing your willpower muscles by skipping meals, avoid the temptation. In actuality, you're slowing your metabolism (a.k.a. fat-burner), to a crawl. Eating revs it up -like filling an empty tank with gas.

One of our personal favorite "Flat Belly" snacks that we came up with ourselves:

1 caramel rice cake (50 calories)
1 tablespoon natural, organic peanut butter (100 calories) spread over rice cake
1 tablespoon semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (50 calories) sprinkled over top

Both the peanut butter and chocolate chips are MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids), which the "Flat Belly" program recommends you to eat at every meal and snack. This treat is easy to make and completely delicious! Try it sometime, and let me know what you think.

As you can see, with peanut butter and chocolate chips (not to mention avocados, nuts & seeds, healthy oils, and olives) it's pretty hard to feel like you're "on a diet". All of these foods are rich and MUFAs, are delicious, good for you, and leave you feeling satisfied longer. Not bad, not bad at all...

For more information about Cailen Ascher Design or my upcoming book, Well-Designed Living, visit www.CailenAscher.bravehost.com or email CailenAscher@gmail.com.

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