Scales For You

Aunt Jemima’s Original Pancake Mix has more salt per serving than Wise Potato Chips!  This tells me that reading labels on the food we buy is very important.  Saturated fat, trans-fats, and good fats like olive oil affect our bodies in different ways.  The fats in olive oil can reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease, while trans-fats can increase it.  Good health doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, but we do have to seriously look at everything we consume.

Precision scales in the kitchen can make baking easier with less clean-up, but they can also help measure food portions to ensure that we get needed nutrients without excess calories and fats.  In this age of technology, scales have been updated and have many features that have added to their efficiency.   www.holladaypartners.com had a wide variety of scales for every need.  Check it out! 

Pain can be good or bad.  For example, if I touch a hot stove, the pain instantly tells me to remove my hand quickly and don’t touch any more hot objects.  Arthritis pain, on the other hand, may cause me to want to be inactive, but reducing the use of the afflicted joints might actually worsen the condition, increasing the pain.  A doctor can recommend how much movement I need according to our condition that is causing the pain.

Increased body weight can increase certain pain, even though the association of obesity with pain is not fully understood according to Dr. Michael Roizen.  Since it is very important to stay as active as possible and live as full a life as possible, we need to do all we can to prevent and relieve pain.  If losing weight will stop some of the pain, a good healthy diet plan is called for, along with exercise that does not further irritate the pain.  A liquid measuring scale makes cooking easier with easier clean up.  It will also weigh food portions to help manage the diet plan.  Taking extra medication sometimes causes other health problems.  If losing the excess weight can reduce the need for medication, don’t you think it’s worth the effort to cut back on that food!

Have you heard of “polypharmacy”?  It has been defined as “the  taking of five or more medications at the same time.”  Someone else added that it might be “the taking of any medication that is not needed.”  Bad medication results have been estimated as the fourth or fifth leading cause of death in hospitals.  Since doctors are so specialized, many people go to one doctor for one condition, another doctor for a different condition, and get prescriptions from both.  In addition, herbs and over-the-counter drugs are often added into the mix.  Sometimes side effects to medications being taken cause misdiagnosis, thus often adding even more prescriptions.  In addition, medicines that were not taken when prescribed are often taken at a later day because of self-diagnosis.  These medicines all interact with each other, sometimes with serious consequences.

Obesity brings on additional problems.  Carrying extra pounds causes the body’s organs (including the heart) to be overworked, increasing health risks.  If we are serious about wanting to be healthy, we need to plan and eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly.  A large capacity bathroom scale can help us get started, regardless of how much we weigh.  Documenting our weight each week will help determine our progress.  If we eliminate all unnecessary medication, eat a healthy diet, and exercise regularly, we can prevent health problems and improve our outlook on life.  A large variety of scales are available at www.holladaypartners.com at the lowest prices ever.

My mom always taught me that eating prunes would help prevent constipation.  Now new tests at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University have found that the antioxidants in prunes increase bone formation in animals.  They suggest that eating prunes could benefit people at risk of osteoporosis.  Prunes have more antioxidants than any other fruit because their dried form concentrates antioxidants.  Antioxidants help combat virtually every chronic disease, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and dementia.  What more could you want?  Another study showed that elderly people who ate more prunes, apples, vegetables, olive oil, fish and legumes had fewer wrinkles and less sun-damaged skin than those who ate lots of meat, butter and milk products.

It’s hard to come up with a reason for not losing my excess weight.  I’ve tried to think that if I lost weight, it would increase my wrinkles and make me look older.  Now eating prunes, apples, etc. will take care of that problem.  I’m about out of excuses!  I’m going to get some food scales and start measuring my food portions before they’re placed on my plate.  My will power seems to be stronger if the extra food is not on my plate.   www.holladaypartners.com has a wide selection of scales in many colors, sizes, and styles, including digital and spring scales.

The holidays are not even over–really not even officially started, but we’ve been celebrating.  As usual, it’s all about food–turkey, ham, dressing and gravy, cranberry salads and sauces, green beans, pies and cakes!  Everyone in my family has already gained weight, even the dog.  We can’t quit now, Christmas is not even here for three more days. 

We’re all going on a diet New Year’s day.  All we need is some cooking scales and some will power.  We can plan our meals ahead, measure our portions, leave off the fats, fast food, and sweets, and start an exercise program.  That sounds like a lot, but it’s really not that hard if our mindset is right.  Trying on clothes that once fit may give us a little extra incentive, and a feeling of success when we can wear them again.  Check out the scales at www.holladaypartners.com   They’re cool!  They come in many sizes, styles and colors.   We’re sure to find some that fit our decor.

Christmas is lots of fun, but lots of work, too.  We had ours this weekend, in fact, we had two yesterday and two today.  That’s a little too much fun! It was exciting to watch the grandchildren (most of them are teenagers now) really participate in the fun and games we played.  Now, they’re leaving and I have to put the house back together.  I don’t have to do it all in one day though, I can take my time.

That’s the way I need to think about my excess weight.  I don’t have to lose it all in one day, one week, or even one year.  I can take my time.  As long as the scales show a decrease each week, the weight will slowly disappear.  By eating more fresh fruit and vegetable, less fried food and fast food, drinking more water and fewer colas and getting more exercise, the weight should melt away.  It sounds easy, but we all know it takes determination and will power.  A new bathroom scale will be helpful.  They come in many colors, sizes and styles to fit any decor.  Also, they are now digital and electronic, which means more accuracy and precision. 

It seems like Christmas today since this is the day my family will be here to celebrate.  We all met at my brother’s this morning for a country ham breakfast, and tonight they’ll be at my house for turkey and all the trimmings.  Tomorrow, we meet with my husband’s family and have turkey, ham and a variety of other food and tomorrow night the ladies at church meet to swap ornaments and eat finger foods.  Now tell me how I’m expected to think about healthy eating with all this going on around me, plus I’m doing all the cooking for tonight and a lot of it for tomorrow.  It seems that Americans, especially the ones in the south, celebrate every occasion with food.  No wonder obesity is at epidemic stages in our country.  Surely there’s some other tradition that we could start that would eliminate a lot of the unnecessary (and detrimental) eating of food.

I’m making another resolution–I make one every year at this time–to start cutting back on food after the holidays.  I’ve got a good weighing scale that will tell me if I’m being successful or if I’m just fooling myself.  If you need scales, you’ll find a variety in many styles, colors and sizes at  www.holladaypartners.com  

Have you ever thought about comparing budgeting your money you are spending with budgeting your food you are consuming.  A new VISA study found that American “misplace” about $3,000 in cash every year.  It may go for gadgets such as iPods, iPhones or Blackberries or just things we want for our kids.  In order to stop this “mystery spending”, we must review our purchases regularly so we can see quickly what we’re spending, then set a budget and stick to it.  This will help eliminate impulse buying and help us start to save. 

Doesn’t this sound a lot like dieting.  We “misplace” food by eating-on-the-go, snacking, eating while reading or watching television, and eating when we’re not hungry because someone else is eating or providing food.  In order to stop this “mystery eating”, we must document what we eat so we can see quickly what we’re consuming, then set a food plan and stick to it.  This will help eliminate impulse eating and we can start to lose the excess weight.  We will need scales to measure our food portions and scales to weigh ourselves in order to make this process work.  A variety of scales in many colors, sizes and styles are available at  www.holladaypartners.com   These are quality designer scales that will match any decor at the lowest prices ever.  Check them out.  You’ll be glad you did!

Potatoes go with any meal–baked, mashed, scalloped, french-fried–you name it!  There are so many different ways to fix potatoes.  However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that cubing or shredding potatoes before boiling reduces potassium and other minerals by 50 to 75 percent.  Many times we cut the potatoes into small pieces so they will cook faster, then cream them, without realizing we are losing a lot of their nutrients.  For maximum nutrition, boil potatoes whole; however, baking, roasting and microwaving will save most of the nutrients. 

By weighing our food portions on a kitchen scale, we can know exactly how much we are eating.  Otherwise, we may realize after we eat that we have eaten too much.  You will find a variety of kitchen scales at www.holladaypartners.com  They come in many styles, colors and sizes.  Choose the ones that match your decor and have the features you need.  

Over and over we’re told not to eat fat.  We see low-fat, no-fat, lite, etc. describing food products that are supposedly good for us.  It would be nearly impossible to remove all fat from our diet, and it would not be healthy.  Some fatty acids are essential nutrients, meaning the body can’t produce them from other compounds and needs to consume them in small amounts.  All other fats that the body requires are non-essential and can be produced in the body from other compounds.  Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats.

For women, a body fat of 10-12% is essential, 14-20% is considered a healthy range for athletes, 21-24% is healthy for fitness, 25-31% is considered an ‘acceptable’ range and anything above 32% is considered obese. For men, 2-4% body fat is essential, 6-13% is an athletic body fat range, 14-17% is considered a ‘fit’ range, and 18-25% is acceptable. Anything above 26% for men is considered obese.  So, how do you find out what your body fat is?  A body fat scale can take your height and weight and immediately give you the percentage of body fat in your body weight.  This information is essential to  plan your diet and exercise program to maintain a healthy body.  Check with   www.holladaypartners.com for a body fat scale at the lowest price ever.  Get started toward a healthier lifestyle today.  You’ll be glad you did!