Week 8, Day 6

I think it's really important that anyone on a diet have good resources for information and encouragement. So I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of the resources I find useful.

ONLINE:
I'm a huge fan of Health.com. Their "mind over fatter" section is particularly helpful, but the whole site has great information, diet tips, success stories, and so much more.

Here is a great website for calculating calorie burn during exercise and daily activities: http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc/">Health Status.com It lets you calculate them on a per-minute basis and enter times for several activities before submitting. So, for instance, let's say you did an hour of leaf raking, a half hour of watching television, fifteen minutes talking on the phone, fifteen minutes washing dishes, ten minutes showering, and a half hour of housework. You type in the various times spent next to the appropriate activity, put your weight in the appropriate field, and hit "submit". It calculates that you burned 899 calories. There are a lot of ads on the site, though. Just ignore the ads, freebies, and "invitations".

I get a lot of good stuff from the MSN.com weight loss section. They have weight loss tools, videos, daily tips, workouts, and a lot more. Plus, it's all an easy click away from other nutrition and wellness information on the site.

Nubella has a great website and a good newsletter. Their site has articles like "3 Fabulous Foods for Weight Loss", "Top Cereals You Should and Shouldn't Eat", and "6 Drinks That Can Destroy Your Diet". I've gotten their newsletter for a couple of years now and find it very helpful.


BOOKS
My two favorite books, ones I consider essential on this journey, are both from the Biggest Loser. The Biggest Loser Fitness Program is a great all-'round starter book that has fitness tips from the trainers and past contestants, recipes, and a boatload of exercises that ANY person at any level of fitness can do. Some of the exercises can be done anywhere, so even people who spend their days at a desk job can do some exercises on breaks and lunch hour. The other book is The Biggest Loser Cookbook. I have a lot of cookbooks, but this one I feel is "safe". None of the recipes is very complicated, but somehow they taste like they ought to be.

Both of these books are listed here on the left sidebar. I buy a lot from Amazon, especially around Christmas time. They seem to have nearly everything! And I find that their books are nearly always less expensive than Barnes and Noble or Borders. In the interest of full disclosure, I will make a small commission off any purchase you make from Amazon after clicking on a link, whether or not you buy these books. Adam needs a car and wants very much to go to culinary school. Any commissions I make will go to his school fund. If you would like to help, please think of me each time you want to purchase something from Amazon and enter their site via the links here.

One of the readers of A New Suit recommended "You Can't Make Me Angry", by Dr. Paul O. She says it deals with co-dependence and addiction, which of course is often at the root of overeating and wrong-eating. I haven't read it yet, but I look forward to it.

YOUR TURN
So what resources do YOU have that you find most helpful? Share them with me either here or on my Facebook wall, and I'll pass them along here in a later post.


And now for the daily log: two chicken and fat-free cheese sandwiches, a plate of seasoned veggies, a cup of yogurt, and an ice cream sandwich by The Skinny Cow. My back hurts, so I didn't do any walking or biking. But I did a lot of weight work with my arms. Now...on to tomorrow!