8 Easy Tips for Losing Weight
When you were a child, did you ever hear “Eat everything on your plate. Hungry children need this food.” ?
I certainly did. It never occurred to me that I was never going to help a hungry child get enough food by eating everything on my plate.
As an adult, I found a better way to help alleviate hunger. I donated food to a food pantry or soup kitchen. (And, that led to a whole new career path!)
Leaving food on my plate has no impact on whether another person a block away or around the world gets enough to eat. Donating food to a food pantry or soup kitchen will help.
Do you see that extra serving of lasagna sitting on a shelf in your refrigerator as something you don’t need? Toss it in the garbage instead of eating it. Better yet, toss it before it even gets to the refrigerator.
It’s better to throw the food away before you feed yourself something you don’t need. Eating too much food is bad for your health and well being.
Instead of eating that extra slice of apple pie, get it out of your life.
There are things you can do to prevent overeating:
Tip 1
Schedule a weekly healing reflexology or Reiki session. You will be calmer. Your life will be less stressful. The homeostasis offered by regular reflexology sessions will help make your diet experience easier.
Tip 2
Learn a new hobby: painting, knitting, boxing, walking, singing. Your choices are endless.
Tip 3
Join a gym. When you work out at the gym, you’ll feel better, meet new friends, and look better too.
Tip 4
Learn some healing skills to use on yourself, friends and family. Both Reiki and Reflexology are fun to learn and use.
Tip 5
Replace your hunger for food with water. Your body may be telling you it’s thirsty – not hungry. The moment you feel hungry or thirsty, drink something.
Water is the most important fuel you can give your body. Drink water at the first sign of fatigue. Why? Your body is about 60% water.
Tip 6
Have a water bottle you like and carry it with you everywhere.
Tip 7
There are several hydration apps to remind you to drink water throughout your day, all day. Add one to your smart phone. One example: Waterlogged.
Tip 8
Don’t like the taste of water? Add lemon, lime, sliced cucumbers, frozen berries to your water.
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www.refrexologyforthespirit.com
Thanks for reading this article.
Thurman Greco
Reiki: When Your Diet Changes Your Destiny – a Reader Request Article
A Reiki moment surfaced several years ago when a co-worker embarked on a diet. 100+ pounds overweight, when she told her husband her plans, he didn’t hesitate :
“NO. I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU IF YOU GO ON A DIET. ”
My co-worker was rewriting her destiny and he simply didn’t want to share her experience.
It was time for Reiki.
Diets are all about weight loss and spiritual offloading.
As your diet progresses, you first become more conscious of yourself and others.
Second, you become responsible for your own healing.
Third, you make changes to support your wellbeing.
Many times, when you release your past, you understand how it connects with your present situation.
Do you want to make necessary changes in your life? This moment offers three paths.
First, this moment sometimes stops the diet completely. Second, your weight loss may pause for several days. Or, third, the weight loss continues on.
Whatever happens, this is a good time to add regular Reiki sessions to your schedule.
When it comes to Reiki therapy, most of us never give it a second thought – until we need it.
Why do you need Reiki? What can it do for you? Again, the situation offers three options:
Do you know about Reiki? Have you received Reiki in the past? Do you receive sessions now?
Jump right in! Take a Reiki 1 class. Then a Reiki 2 class.
That’s how I learned Reiki. I knew I needed it but didn’t even really know what it was. I looked around for a teacher and scheduled an introductory (Reiki 1) class from Mary Ruth Van Landingham at Terra Christa in Vienna, Virginia.
For starters, Reiki offered me a spiritual support system when I needed it. Neither religion nor cult, Reiki is a destiny tool giving me much when I was open to its light touch.
Second, I found Reiki when it was time to change my old patterns and declare freedom from some baggage I’d been dragging around for years. I wanted to see beyond a limited reality.
It worked. I saw an expanded one, filled with light.
When I became a Reiki practitioner, I sent the light.
Third, you won’t read much about Reiki in diet books, but it’s there for you. It works well and smooths the transition to your new life when you rewrite your destiny.
What more can you ask for?
Thank you for reading this article.
Please forward it to your preferred social media network.
Please share this blog post with your friends.
Thurman Greco
P.S. This post was a special request. If you have a reader request, please contact me at thurmangreco@gmail.com.
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
What are the most important meals of your day? Breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
Why?
When you eat something every three-to-four hours, you provide energy to your body. You’ll be less likely to overeat.
I begin each day with a 5-ounce serving of nonfat plain yogurt which has about 90 calories. I mix the yogurt with a 1/4 cup serving of Trader Joe’s Muesli which has about 125 calories. This mixture is delicious, nutritious, and a good breakfast because it prevents hunger until noon.
Meals don’t all have to be large. The goal is to give yourself nourishment so you’ll be less likely to overeat.
When you plan your meals so that you schedule something every 4 hours, you can choose what you’ll eat in advance. This scheduling not only prevents overeating, it minimizes your chances of grabbing a candy bar.
For lunch, I may have a nourishing smoothie or 1/2 an avocado, or sliced tomatoes.
When you plan your meals, you’ll also be able to avoid pizza, Chinese food or other fast foods.
Another choice is a meal replacement shake with a protein powder base.
This shake will ideally have 20-30 grams of protein powder and a maximum of 5 grams of carbohydrate. There are several brands and flavors on the market. Try them out until you find one with the flavor and texture you prefer.
Sample both pre-made shakes and the protein powder mix. Use unsweetened almond milk or water to make your own shake.
Thank you for reading this article. Please refer it to your preferred social media network. Share it with your friends.
Thurman Greco
Winter Solstice – 2020
December 21st is the Winter Solstice – the first day of winter. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year.
Today, we celebrate the annual rebirth of the sun.
People throughout our planet are falling ill with coronavirus. The numbers of sick and dying are so large and changing so quickly that it’s hard to keep up.
Find a few moments sometime today to reflect on our planetary need for rebirth, regeneration and renewal. Reflect for a few moments on how it will feel to live on a healthy planet where all beings experience wellness and coexist to honor and support one another.
What will it mean for wellness and healing to become real in the coming year. Expand your vision to include every living thing on earth.
Take a moment to release those things which no longer serve you. When you do this, you create space in your heart for healing, acceptance, and positivity in the new year.
Thank you for reading this meditation.
Please share this meditation with your preferred social media network. Forward it to your friends.
Thanks again
Thurman
What’re the best foods to eat on a diet?
What foods work well with losing weight?
Vegetables, that’s what! – the more the merrier.
When you finally get going on your diet, you’ll probably have a list of foods specific to your personal diet needs. However, that may not happen in your case.
This article is not about choosing your diet. Everyone has to make that decision. As soon as you decide to go on a diet, you have to decide: which diet?
That’s a personal choice that I’m not discussing now. What I’m discussing is foods that will work well for losing weight – generic diet foods.
Whatever diet you are on, a good guideline is this: Eat vegetables throughout your day.
When you first begin your diet, choose three non-starchy vegetables each day. Later on, work yourself up to five. Finally, make seven vegetables each day your new habit.
Begin with some vegetables at breakfast. A good example is scrambling veggies in your eggs: peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, for example.
At lunch, enjoy a large salad or vegetable soup.
Good snacks include hummus with your cucumber slices and bell pepper slices.
Carrots sticks and celery slices are easy at snacks and meals.
Fresh veggies are best, but you may use frozen if that’s what’s available.
Vegetables listed below should be good on most any weight-loss diet. You may find a few on this list that won’t work for you. Veggies to avoid are those served creamed, or with a cheese sauce. Breaded vegetables are not a good option. Anything in a creamy dressing is a bad choice. This also includes fried vegetables.
Overall, this list should be adaptable to your needs:
alfalfa sprouts, artichokes, asparagus, arugula
beets, bok choy, broccoli, butternut squash
cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, celery root, collard greens, corn, cucumbers
edamame, eggplant, green beans
Italian beans
kale
lettuce of all varieties, lima beans
mushrooms, mustard greens
okra, onion
parsnips, peas, peppers (all varieties), potatoes
radishes (all varieties), rhubarb
sauerkraut, snow peas, soy beans, spaghetti squash, spinach, split peas, summer squash, sweet potatoes, Swiss chard
tomato, turnips,
wax beans, winter squash
yams, yellow squash
zucchini
Fruits are not quite as easy. Some diets don’t include many fruits. Also, diabetics need to talk to a medical professional or dietitian before eating much fruit. Skip the canned fruits, even in their own natural juices. Dried fruits and fruit chips are not a good option. Fruits that have been processed are not a good option.
apples, apricots
bananas, blackberries, blueberries
cantaloupe, cherries, clementines
grapefruit, grapes
honeydew melon
kiwi
mango
nectarines
orange
papaya, peach, pear, pineapple, plum, pomegranate
raspberries
strawberries
tangerine
watermelon
Whatever your diet, if you eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and fewer processed foods, you’ll lose weight, clean out your arteries, balance your blood pressure, and reduce your health care costs.
Whatever diet you finally choose, I hope you’ll join this blog on your journey. I’ll be sending you tips, information, and tactics to help make your weight control easier.
I’m hoping you’ll find that eating well is not difficult but IS delicious. I’m also hoping that you’ll find your diet will be easier.
Thanks,
Thurman Greco
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Stress Busting Starts Here!
Let’s face this right now. Diets are stressful.
So is everything else when you’re dieting.
Even before you settle on the diet you’re going to adopt, find your stress busters. .
The bottom line is this: choose activities to do when you feel stressed. You don’t want to eat to combat stress.
Choose your healthy coping mechanism from dancing, gardening, journaling, meditating, puzzles, reading, singing, volunteering.
If you are a member of the right gym, you’ll be able to take advantage of stress busting activities offered. These may include yoga, zumba, spinning, and dozens of other activities.
Cultivate simple things you can do at home and at work to lift your spirits. These can include midday walks and playing relaxing music.
The idea is to have activities which don’t include munching on nuts and candies.
Walking 10,000 steps daily is a good stress reducing goal.
A weekly bodywork session can only be good for you and your diet success. Of course, I recommend reflexology, reiki therapy, or mindfulness meditation.
Your options are in the hundreds. Choose the most relaxing options for you and your lifestyle.
Two effective stress-reducing habits which can help you include keeping an appointment calendar and an ongoing to-do list.
Life is filled with small stressors which can be avoided with a calendar and a list.
For example, with a to-do list at the grocery store, you won’t leave out a key ingredient for a meal. This seems like a small enough thing but if you’re stressed already, that missing item can be the one that complicates your life.
A calendar will make sure you don’t miss an appointment. Your life can be streamlined and easier if you use it to help you shop, keep up with friends and relatives, make appointments.
In reality, you’ll lose less time because you forgot something or someone.
When you include a gym membership in the mix with the calendar and the to-do list, you’ll be much more organized. You’ll be more physically fit. Your new diet will be an easier experience.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please refer it to your preferred social media network.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thurman Greco
thurmangreco@gmail.com
Losing Weight – a secret you need to know about weight loss
Losing weight can be stressful and challenging for even the best of us. Whoever said that our spiritual journeys would all be a piece of cake?
But, it doesn’t have to be as hard as you thought it would be.
For many of us, the first few pounds are a lot like a miracle! Where did they go?
They disappear – just like the guy in the diet book said they would.
Then…the pounds stop disappearing even though there’s no cheating going on. What happened?
You hit a weight-loss plateau, that’s what. It’s like your body hit the pause button.
Well, whatever it feels like, this weight loss slow-down isn’t as bad as you think.
While your body doesn’t seem to be losing weight for the moment, keep on dieting.
Why?
Things are happening! Good things!
Your body is adjusting to its new journey.
Take your wins where you can! Celebrate them.
You may experience symptoms of better health. It doesn’t take all that many missing pounds to feel different.
You may have less discomfort after a meal, for starters.
Are your knees working better? Maybe you don’t have much knee pain anymore. This is good. This is what happens when you lose a few pounds.
What about your blood pressure? You may notice that you’ve lowered some numbers. Your BP scores may be lower now.
Are you Prediabetic? Diabetic? Shedding a few pounds helps those scores, too.
Are you sleeping better? When you lose a few pounds, your sleep generally becomes more restorative.
What about your energy? You should have more energy for the things you like to do. And, admit it, you’re feeling younger, too.
But, however you feel after losing a few pounds, stay the course! Everyone’s body is different. Stick with your diet and don’t give up.
In time, your numbers will move again. You’ll see, it will be worth the effort.
Thanks for reading this article.
Please refer it to your preferred social media network.
Thanks
Thurman Greco
Choose Water! – But Why?
When you think about dieting, you probably don’t even think about water. Instead, you think about things you’re going to give up in order to release those unwanted pounds.
Before you even decide many details of your diet, explore what you’re going to drink…and why. You may find that you’re thinking MORE and not Less.
For starters, drink more for a successful diet. Think more ounces, and cups, in glasses, bottles, and cans.
But…more and not less of what?
For starters, drink less tea, carbonated drinks, alcohol, and 100% fruit juices. Better yet, skip anything with a calorie.
Now is the best time to eliminate carbonation. Break the diet soda pop drink habit today!
Choose water!
If you’re stuck on diet sodas, you may discover many options you never considered before. It may take several days or weeks even to try out all the new found options just waiting for you to try on grocery shelves.
As you sample the many drinks out there, avoid artificial sweeteners if you can. These artificial sweeteners haven’t been proven to support your weight loss.
As you test different products, put them in categories because there are so many choices.
Water is Your First Choice. Not all water tastes the same. You’ll have fun choosing your favorite.
For starters, put waters in two basic categories: natural spring water and purified water. Personally, I went for the purified waters to begin with. I found so many delicious spring waters that now I keep several different waters on my pantry shelves.
There are many, many infused waters to choose from.
Also on this first list, include strained homemade broth.
Your Second Choice is Water with Stevia-Sweetened Flavor Drops. These products are essentially products with liquid water enhancers added.
Decaffeinated herbal teas come in the water-with-enhancers category.
Flavored Drinks sweetened with Stevia are your third choice.
Artificially flavored sweetened beverages make up your fourth choice. This choice includes sugar-free popsicles, sugar-free gelatin and any broths with MSG.
This last category is your jettison section.
Don’t even consider diet soda pops, seltzer waters, sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juice, milkshakes, and fancy coffee drinks. Erase them from your consciousness.
Discovering your new favorite drink may take some persistence and a few trips to the super market. Don’t rush this search. This is an important discovery for you. You’re searching for a beverage to live with.
Take all the time you want.
I shopped in my super market for years and never really paid a lot of attention to what waters were sitting on the shelves.
Recently, I went to my favorite super market and looked at all the different bottled/canned waters out there. This time, I really looked at what was on the shelves. What I saw amazed me!
It seemed my new diet was opening up a whole new world for me…a world of waters!
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please share it on your favorite social media network.
Thurman Greco
But first, do the spiritual work.
You need spiritual work because your weight loss diet brings change – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual change.
Success is easier when you speak to your inner self and ground your core in the new goals you’ve set for your spiritual work.
Now is a good time to embark on this spiritual journey. Choices, problems, challenges overwhelm us daily with information and current events. Everywhere we turn, people, animals, plants, air, water, and the earth even, cry out for help. We are drowning in all the needs for healing.
Spiritual work looms large.
To understand what is swirling around you, go to your spiritual center. This is the source of your strength, grounding, and peace. Here is where you’ll find your truth, your love and the core of your focus. This is where you’ll find weight loss success in your spiritual work.
This is where you’ll realize how much easier your life will be when your physical body is no longer weighted down with extra pounds. For some of us, there are pounds and pounds of protection to release.
Guided meditations can be a positive experience for you now. I’ve relied on guided meditations for years. My three favorite guided meditation books were edited several years ago by Larry Moen. Entitled “Meditations for Awakening”, “Meditations for Transformation”, and “Meditations for Healing”, these books are available on Amazon.
For me, these guided meditations offer a link between feelings, weight loss, and wellbeing.
Forgiveness is helpful. As forgiveness heals your soul, dieting will be easier because you won’t need to hoard pounds.
When forgiveness happens, some of your protection pounds will evaporate into the ethers.
That doesn’t mean you don’t need to change your eating habits and exercise more. But it does mean that it’s easier to accomplish a weight-loss goal.
Forgiveness can be a path all its own. Begin by forgiving everything past, everything present, and everything future.
Forgive everything and everybody – including people and events you’ve forgotten. Simply forgive everyone. Forgive everyone who even possibly needs forgiveness.
The idea is to clear everything up between you and everyone, now and forever.
Release people to their own lives – now and in peace.
And, last but not least, forgive yourself!
Write a daily forgiveness mantra.
You may find inspiration in some forgiveness prayers by Dr. Catherine Ponder. I didn’t copy them here because I couldn’t find out for sure whether they are copyrighted.
– – – – – – – – –
- Please join me for future weight loss posts.
When you read them, some things will resonate with you. Others will not. But, whether you use some of the guidelines or none, one thing is for sure. You will, day by day, leave the past behind.
Diets are not always easy. But anything worthwhile can have its challenges.
Each of us, on a diet or not, is on a spiritual journey. Each of us is travelling separately. But, we are all together.
It’s time to change old patterns, seek freedoms found in forgiveness, and see beyond the past into an expanded now.
Thank you for reading this blog post. Please share it on your preferred social media network.
Thurman Greco
https://www.thurmangreco.com
Is it a Cold, the Flu, or Coronavirus?
For months we’ve all been reading and hearing about a resurgence of the coronavirus combined with the flu. So…what does this mean?
Every year I hear the same question at the beginning of flu season: HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER IT’S A COLD OR THE FLU? This season, the question is a little different: HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER IT’S A COLD OR THE FLU OR CORONAVIRUS?
There are some real differences.
Fever is rare with a cold. Fever is common with the flu. It’s usually high and lasts three or four days.
Headaches are rare with a cold but common with the flu.
Cold sufferers may have slight aches and pains. Flu sufferers have definite aches and pains which may be severe.
Extreme fatigue and/or weakness is just not a factor with a cold. Exhaustion is common with the flu – especially at the onset of the illness.
Sore throat, stuffy nose, and sneezing are common with a cold. A person suffering with a cold may have mild symptoms to include a hacking cough. With the flu, these symptoms can become severe.
With colds, treatment includes antihistamines, decongestants. With the flu, the patient needs to consult with a physician about any needed medication.
Coronavirus complicates things.
Many people experience fever as the first symptom of Coronavirus.
The second symptom is often a combination of a cough and muscle pain.
Nausea and vomiting make up the third tier.
These symptoms are usually followed by diarrhea.
And, that’s not all. Some people experience a loss of taste or smell.
And, some people experience deeply reddish-blue toes (chillblains).
Others have headache and dizziness.
The bottom line here is that coronavirus has many symptoms while colds and flu
are much less complicated.
If you suspect coronavirus, go get tested. Waiting around while you try to decide you are sick and contagious or not is not good for you and it’s not good for those around you.
There are several tools at your disposal which can help you early on.
A thermometer is essential. Take your temperature daily.
When I’m out in the community, my temperature is the key to getting into the office where I have an appointment.
The no-touch forehead fever thermometer gun has become ubiquitous on receptionists’ desks wherever I go.
There’s no reason why you shouldn’t take your temperature every morning. Your temperature can accompany your blood pressure reading. You can keep your thermometer gun beside your blood pressure cuff.
Then, you only need one other item: a pulse oximeter. A pulse oximeter estimates the amount of oxygen in your blood.
If you have coronavirus, your pulse oximeter will register a lower oxygen level in your body. This is because with coronavirus, your lungs are inflamed. (Actually, with coronavirus, inflammation is all over your body).
So, if you are concerned about your health because you may become exposed to coronavirus, you can help yourself with your temperature, your blood pressure, and your oxygen level.
If you feel ill, you will help your healthcare professional with these three scores.
For those who aren’t really familiar with an oximeter, it is the little plastic clip placed on your finger when you get your blood pressure measured.
These devices are not that expensive, are easy to use, and you can find an explanatory chart which will explain the meaning of the score.
Whatever you decide, prevention is important. Wash your hands often, wear a mask always when you leave your home, use hand sanitizer and don’t go anywhere around other people if you can help it.
Thanks for reading this blog post. If you liked this article, please forward it to your favorite social media networks.
Thanks again,
Thurman Greco
