Intermittent Fasting Lately

August 22nd, 2015 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (4 Comments)

gets_easier

The post I wrote on Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss back in March of 2011 is the post that drives the most amount of traffic from search engines to this site everyday.  Given it’s been more than 4 years since that post was originally published (I’ve updated and edited it for clarity a number of times over the years) a recent email from a reader with some questions inspired me to write an update and answer some of the questions about IF that I’m frequently asked.

I do still practice IF, but I don’t really think about it anymore.  Now it’s just the normal thing I do.  Read more...

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Dear Ali: Can We Eat the Whole Box of Cookies?

November 21st, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dear Ali - (10 Comments)

My dear friend The Kegel Queen left a question on Project Weight Loss: Week 8 that required me to do a bit of leg work to answer.  I realized that some of you might have wondered something similar before too, and so I decided to turn it into a blog post.  Then I realized that I kind of liked answering questions Dear Abby Style, and maybe I want to answer more questions like this.

And so Dear Ali was born, kicking and screaming and trying to tell you what to do.  Basically, I’m going to give advice and you can take it or leave it, Nosy-Stranger-Eavesdropping-On-Your-Conversation Style.  Read more...

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Some Exercise Love

December 1st, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (1 Comments)

My energy is returning, the second trimester is nearly upon us here!  I almost feel like I’m starting to recognize myself again, larger waist circumference notwithstanding.

I’ve spent every spare moment of the last two days catching up on some long overdue housework.  I forgot how good my stairs look without a nest of dust bunnies in every corner.  All the finger smears and toothpaste splatters have been wiped from the mirrors.  The laundry is caught up, the floors have been mopped and I finally sucked the giant cob web out of the corner of our entry way (with the vacuum, people) that I’ve been staring at for weeks.  Read more...

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What Are You Really Hungry For?

October 1st, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (2 Comments)

Lasting weight loss is serious business.

If and when you lose a significant amount of weight, (and even a small amount of weight can qualify as “significant”) it will likely be a big part of your personal evolution and the life long journey you’re on to understanding and truly knowing yourself.

It’s usually not until after you’ve lost the weight or have hit a plateau that you discover losing weight is only half the battle.  Keeping the weight off is the other half.  It can be really tough to work through personal baggage and heal old wounds that may have lead you to turn to food for comfort or entertainment in the past.  In some cases it will be even harder than counting calories or finding the motivation to exercise or get active.  Read more...

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Fat is Your Friend

September 1st, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (4 Comments)

I just read a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine from June of this year concerning the changes in diet and lifestyle and long-term weight gain in women and men.

More than 120,000 healthy men and women were observed over the course of 20 years.  Their change in weight was evaluated at 4 year intervals.

The results of the study showed that within each 4-year period, study participants gained an average of just over 3 pounds.  (Ever notice how easily your weight can creep up over the years?)  With a 3 pounds gain being the average – a 4 lb weight loss at one end of the spectrum and 12 lb weight gain at the other end.  Read more...

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