Jennifer Hudson to Release New Book

Seems like Jennifer Hudson is cashing in on her weight loss success with her latest project: a personal and inspirational memoir focused on her amazing weight loss transformation after losing more than eighty pounds.  Jennifer's memoir delves into Jennifer's rise to fame from American Idol to Dreamgirls to her amazing weight loss success after joining forces with Weight Watchers and embracing a healthy lifestyle.  Her new book offers hope and inspiration to those who are struggling with their own weight issues and could use a bit of motivation to get started on their own journey towards health. 


Here's a clip of her promo-video for the new book: 

Janet Jackson Nutrisystem Commercial

I don't know what to say with this one...Janet Jackson and Nutrisystem?  Seems like an odd combination if you ask me, but hey kudos to Nutrisystem for getting Janet on board with their program-that's huge.  I've never personally been a big fan of the program due to how expensive it is and the fact the program promotes use of pre-packaged foods which spells DANGER with all the additives and preservatives contained within the foods, but hey to each their own.


For those of you who haven't seen the latest commercial, check it out below:

Documentary: Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is a MUST watch documentary and one I'm hoping to get my hands on and watch over the holiday season. The documentary chronicles the journey of Joe Cross who pretty much reaches the end of his rope and is in search of regaining his health.  At 310 pounds, he's 100 pounds overweight, suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, and is loaded up on a bunch of steroids to control his illness.  On a mission to regain his health, Joe completely gives up his junk food and goes on a 60 day juice fat where he vows to only drink fresh fruit and vegetables in hopes of achieving one goal: to completely get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle.  

Check out the clip below for the full documentary trailer:

Holiday Eating Tips

My aunt sent this to me as a forward through e-mail and I found it quite humorous that I just had to share.  If you're anything like me around this time of the year, I've had my moments where I've been a bit preoccupied with how I'm ever going to keep within my weight loss goals  with all of the holiday invitations we've accepted over the next couple of weeks.  Then again, I figured that this time of the year only comes once and as long as I'm consistent without going too over-board, I should be alright.

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS 

1.  Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls. 


2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare.. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas! 


3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat. 


4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission. 


5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello? 


6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog. 


7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again. 


8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day? 


9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards. 


10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by: 


"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" 

Source: unknown

Charles Barkley Loses with Weight Watchers

"I thought vegetables were all nasty! Weight Watchers has me eating cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and asparagus, and I really, really like it." 


Charles Barkley is the latest celebrity to sign on with Weight Watchers and has successfully lost a total of 27 Ibs after spending 10 weeks on the program.  


Weight Watchers announced a new campaign targeted towards men called, "Lose Like a Man" and is using Barkley as its new celebrity spokesperson to endorse its new program.  


After weeding out the junk and opting for more healthier alternatives such as yogurt and oatmeal, Barkley claims he has more energy and no longer feels as tired and sluggish as he did prior to losing weight.


"My body is starting to look like a person again! I've been fat for a long time." 


Article-source: www.people.com
Photo-source: Facebook-Weight Watchers page, www.time.com

I Love This Quote:

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. 


~Author Unknown

Things That Make You Go Hmmm?

I was reading through the latest copy of Oxygen magazine when I came across an ad for Bob Harper's new weight loss supplement line.  I must admit that I was a little taken aback with Bob's latest venture based on the fact that his endorsement of weight loss supplements contradicts everything and anything Bob has ever promoted about weight loss.  Mind you, Bob's not the only one to venture into the weight loss supplement industry.  Hist partner, Jillian Michael s, from the "Biggest Loser" is another one who made this transition a few years back after collaborating with QuickStart and coming out with her line of EXTREME Maximum fat burners.  Not too sure how far  her line went after facing a series of law-suits shortly after the line came out.


So what gives?   Why is it that celebrity trainers who once endorsed nutrition and exercise as the only means to healthy and sustained weight loss now endorsing quick fix diet scheme as an alternative to weight loss?  I had a good chuckle reading a quote by latest ad where he states that he's, "tired of good people getting ripped off by diet products that don't work!".  Is Bob for real?  Has he lost his mind?  From the early days of Biggest Loser, Bob and even Jillian were adamantly against any quick fix scheme that endorsed weight loss, and that included weight loss supplements.  So why the shift?  Why are they endorsing something that they've lead the public to believe goes against the grain of their soul?  

Photo-source: www.google.ca

Beyonce on Pregnancy and Diet

"I've been really conscious and I've been trying my best not to lose control because I've met so many people who say, 'My second baby, my third baby, I learned my lesson,'...I haven't been going crazy. I know that it's important that I don't lose myself."






Article-source: www.thehollywoodreporter.com


Photo-source: www.google.com

Diet in Review: The P.I.N.K. Diet Method

I was catching up on PVR'd Dr. Phil episodes this evening, when I came across a show Mr. Phil himself did on the new P.I.N K. diet method.  The show piqued my interest as Dr. Phil touted the program as being a revolutionary weight loss program and one to put an end to dieting forever.  For those of us who have struggled with FAILED previous weight loss methods and programs, Dr. Phil claims that this is the one program that guarantee success and will help one reach their weight loss goals in no time.  "Weight loss program to put an end to dieting and guarantees results?"  Excited to learn more about what this program had to offer compared to any other popular weight loss method, I watched on?  And as I watched on, my patience grew thin as I eagerly waited to learn just what this program had to offer, but unfortunately reached the end of the show without being much more informed than I was when I first tuned in.  So I got on the web, did a bit of digging and came across a bit more information to help me fully understand the program in it's entirety.   

According to the little information I came across on the programs website, the P.I.N.K. method diet is a program that is mainly based on a system that combines nutrition and exercise as a proven method for weight loss.  


The nutrition program is split up into 4 phases or what they refer to a "4 diets in 1 concept" and is broken down as follows:

1. PINK Reset: is a  short-term detoxifying diet designed to jump-start your metabolism.  One can expect to see super-fast results before moving on to the next phases of the program. 

2. PINK Primary:  During this phase, high-energy foods are reintroduced to one's diet as a way to fuel physical activity for phase 1 of the fitness program.  You pretty much stay in this phase until you are 5-10 pounds from your goal and then you move on.

3. The 7-Day Shred:  This is a seven-day programwhich incorporates nutrient rich “Shred Soup” in order to blast away those last few stubborn pounds and prevent you from hitting weight-loss plateaus (nutrient rich shred soup-my eye-brows our literally raised). 

4. PINK Preservation: This is the maintenance program that you follow once you complete the entire program.  It is in this phase that you work towards making the program a lifestyle change.

As for the exercise component of the program, 3 different exercises are introduced as a part of the P.I.N.K. diet:

Phase 1:  Is the beginners phase of the program and lays the foundation to build a strong base and gradually increase endurance in preparation for phases 2 and 3. 


Phase 2:  The intensity of the exercises are revved up, and cardio is introduced as a way to improve your endurance and muscle tone. 

Phase 3:  In phase 3, your strength and endurance is challenged even further in order to help you achieve maximum calorie burn. 

My personal thoughts on the program:

• First things first, I'm a little weary about any program that puts a whole bunch of dollars behind marketing and endorsing itself without giving you much to go by as far as what its program entails.  A major critique in watching the programs endorsement on Dr. Phil is that the program focused way too much on the exercise component of the program.  There was hardly much to go by as far as what the diets in the 4 phases contain.  
• Phased diet programs???  Such programs literally make me want to cringe, especially having tried programs such as the Atkins and South Beach diet where you literally cut out whole food groups for weeks at a time and then reintroduce them as you progress further into the programs.  I don't think any realistic and sensible program should force you to cut out anything in order to achieve your weight loss goals..
• Results-the P.I.N.K diet definitely guarantees results, but at what cost?  From watching Dr. Phil and following the weight loss success stories of participants who had followed the diet, results are not all that different from anyone on any other diet program.  If you compare this program to that of Weight Watchers (which I'm currently doing now) you can expect to lose the same amount of weight, in the same amount of time on both programs; however, the only difference is that while following Weight Watchers you don't cut out anything for the duration of the program + you get an extra weekly allowance to splurge in which ever way you like...yeah, Weight Watchers is a definite winner in that regards.  Why torture yourself in the early beginnings of a program just to lose weight? 

All in all, the P.I.N.K. diet, in my humble opinion, is another one of the weight loss gimmicks that guarantees fast results in a short amount of time.  There's no difference between this program and programs like Atkins, South Beach and the latest Dukan diet (I've been meaning to do a review on this one) where you cut out whole food groups until you reach goal and then slowly re-introduce them back-talk about unnecessary suffering all in the name of weight loss.  From someone who has tried every last weight loss program out there including Atkins and Southbeach, what one needs to keep in mind while following these programs is that if you don't stick to them in the long-term, you can bank on gaining all the weight you lost + a good 10-20 pounds extra (trust me I know).  

Just because I'm not a fan of the program, doesn't mean that some of you might not be either.  In all fairness, I've posted up the programs website link for those of you who might be interested in learning more about the program.  Check out:www.pinkmethod.com

Article source: www.pinkmethod.com