Water

We all have heard how important it is to drink our daily 8 glasses of water but are we truly drinking them? Living in Colorado I have always been preached to about how important this is. There are so many health benefit to being fully hydrated. Remember that most of the time we think we are hungry we are really thirsty. One of the best ways I have found to get in my daily water is to get a cute water bottle and making sure you keep it filled next to you. You will be shocked by how much you will drink and how little you think about it.

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The first one should be sold at any sporting good store. It is made by Camelbak and should sell for about $15. Make sure yours has the straw thing, not all do.

These ones I found at Target recently.

They were so cute especially with Valentines Day coming up!

Just don't leave yours at the gym like I did last week, luckily I got it back.

What keeps you going?

Ladies I apologize for the lack of posts lately.

I haven't been feeling super great lately.

I did want to ask though what keeps you from eating the temptations that come along.

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I know for me if I plan something special into my day that I am looking forward to I am less likely to cheat. It doesn't have to be anything big or something huge in points, even a 1 point sucker, sugar free pudding or a ww fudge pop works quite well!

WW Chili

Tonight I decided I would be a good wife and cook dinner for my husband!

I made WW Chili that is only 1 point for 1 cup. A great meal considering it is 7 degrees and so cold here. Hubby just had more of it than I did, he also went back for seconds!

It really is more a vegetable soup but still it is really good. Search it on google and you will have no trouble finding it! Don't worry if you aren't fond of the separate veggie that are in it. They all mix well and none of them stand out if you hate one of them.

(I really hate celery and green peppers that are crunchy)

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Do you have any recommendations of alternative ww friendly receipts?

Meetings vs Online

I was asked if the meetings are really worth it or if following online is just as easy.

I started online and lost some weight, I then lost my motivation and climbed to my highest weight ever. I finally started going to meetings and they made such a difference. I am not sure what it is about the meetings but they really keep you on track. I found you lose weight faster when you are attending. I was terribly embarrassed/nervous the first time but I survived. Just make sure the first time that you arrive early and leave time after to set a goal weight and get some start up info from the meeting leader. You won't be disappointed, it isn't just a bunch of fat women sitting around crying.

Try it they really work!

Sneaky foods

Ladies I am sure that we have all encountered foods that are masked as healthy choices but really are much higher in points than we would have ever guessed.

Some of the biggest shockers for me were avocados, granola and tortillas. Just one cup of granola is 12 points. Tortillas are also seen as a great alternative but really they can be higher in points than we would have imagined.

I would love to hear from you what foods have shocked you?

My heart rate monitor

Wow, I am shocked by the amount of questions that I receive every time that I mention my heart rate monitor!

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It has been one of my best purchases in my quest to get fit because it makes me work so much harder and tells me when I am coasting. I don't have a preference of one over another because I only have used the one.

The biggest thing that I was looking for though was one that kept a constant heart rate, not just one that I could use to check my heart rate. I have a strap that I attach around my chest below my sports bra so that I have a constant read going to the watch. I knew that I could hold the handles on the gym machines and get a read but that wasn't what I was looking for. They are a little pricey but I am SO glad that I splurged on mine. It is the Polar RS100 but I am not sure if I would have done more research if I would have gotten this one as it is designed for running. I later found out that they have ones geared more towards losing weight than mine was. I think that those ones are more pricey though. The polar site has a comparison questionnaire that may help you do more research.

I love polar though because it links to the machines at the gym so that I can just look at the machine screen rather than my watch to know where I am at.

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The greatest thing about using one is that it is programed for your individual body.

I type in my resting heart rate, height and weight (just the first time). It gives me a much more accurate read on how many calories I have burned.

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I like to keep track of my calories burn and think for every 50 calories I have burned a point! If you are trading out these points it isn't quite the same math though. The equation I have been told is

weight * how many minute you worked out * .000807

It may be less but really how many points do you need to swap anyway? I was also told that the max number is 4 per day.

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Ladies I really hopes this helps answer any questions you have.

Activity points

I don't have a lot to talk about today but I thought I would mention exercise.

I wanted to remind you how easy it is to get activity points without thinking about it. These don't have to be earned in a gym or by making a huge effort. Yesterday we went to a local park and just threw around a lacrosse ball, nothing big just something fun to do with the hubby on a nice day. I wore my heart rate monitor so I know that I got in an hour of exercise and burned 400 calories while spending quality time with hubby.

What do you enjoy doing that burn calories?