Happy Memorial Day!

“Think before you eat it –

cos if you don’t, you’ll be wearing it by next week.”

Laura Dion-Jones

Pro-Health Activist, CCWC, CWC, TV & Radio Show Host,

motivational and lifestyle writer and speaker

    Memorial Day signals the unofficial beginning of summer and you know what that means . . . parties, picnics, festivals, graduations, weddings, you name it – we celebrate with food and drink – and this time of year’s no exception.

    If you’re still struggling with your weight, and who isn’t, you’re gonna wanna stick to your diet as best you can this holiday weekend.

    And if you’re not struggling – you’re surely going to want to maintain what you’ve lost . . . right?

    I’m not telling you not to have fun, but fun doesn’t always have to revolve around eating yourself sick. Does it?

    Celebrate Memorial Day this year by eating healthier – stay away from all the white starch and sugar carbs that make you fat. You know the drill by now . . . cos if you don’t, visit my website and blog and read up.

    Politely pass on the potato salad and Aunt Billie’s baked beans. Skip the bread, buns, rolls and chips – you know, those sugar-spiking empty carbs we all love – but are so bad for us.

    Eat your main protein with a fork and knife, skipping the usual white stuff.  Instead, add in tons of green salad - saving your extra carb count for more important fare like all those unbelievably scrumptious, home-made-with-love, divinely decadent desserts!

    And beware of high glycemic fruits and veggies, while you’re at it. Watermelon, pineapple, potatoes, corn (yes, on the cob), and the like, cos they will sabotage your diet if you’re highly carb sensitive like I am, and struggle with your weight.

    “Eating healthy,” means a whole different thing to you and I than it does to someone on Weight Watchers or other diets.

    Be sure to get your butt up and move this Memorial Day weekend. Take extra walks with your family, friends and the dogs. Toss some horseshoes, beanbags and Bocce balls. Keep moving as much as you can.

    The more you move, the less you’ll overeat. Trust me.

    Learn from those who have gone before you and had terrific weight loss and wellness success: you have to be determined to stick to your new, healthy eating plan no matter what.

    Otherwise, you’ll quickly backslide, your weight will escalate, and the scale will reflect it – right on your face, belly, butt, hips and thighs . . .

    Aren’t you sick of living on this yo-yo yet?

    Eat and move like your life depends on it – cos it really does.

   Come next week, you’ll be glad you’re not wearing everything you ate over the weekend!

# # #

For more information on Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones, and to watch her Monday night TV shows live and listen to Laura's Tuesday evening BlogTalk Radio Shows live . . .

please go to http://www.commit-fit.com

Have a question for Laura or her special guest on her TV and radio shows?

Call them live on TV: 312.738.1060.

Live on the Radio: 646.716.8661

If you know of any corporation, organization, company, group or individuals that are interested in having Laura present her "Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones" motivational weight loss and wellness programs, they’re highly effective presentations tailored specifically for you. Contact info below:

Laura Dion-Jones is a Pro-Health Activist, Certified Corporate Wellness Coach, Certified Wellness Coach, TV & Radio Show Host, motivational & lifestyle writer & speaker.

Through Laura's highly successful Commit To Get Fit/Elgin's Biggest Loser motivational weight loss and wellness program, Laura helped motivate over 182 Elgin area residents to lose 1800 pounds in a little over 18 months.

Here's hoping you'll be next.

Laura is available for speaking engagements, individual coaching, and corporate wellness programs.

Email Laura@commit-fit.com for further details.

E: Laura@commit-fit.com Website: www.commit-fit.com

Laura's New Blog: www.commit-fit.blogspot.com

And don't forget the pups: Snob Hounds Canine Couture: www.snobhounds.com

As with any new diet and fitness plan, be sure to check with your physician before you begin.

Governor Christie, My Friend, Georgann, and the Gastric Lap-Band

By

Laura Dion-Jones

You wear what you eat.

Far too many people think a gastric by-pass or lap-band procedure will do the trick for them – weight loss-wise – without any further effort on their part. They think the procedure will be just the paranormal pill, the magic bullet they’re looking for.

I’m here to tell you – it is not.

All my medical experts tell me that 80% of gastric by-pass/lap-band procedures fail . . . and some doctors admit that only 1/3^rd are successful, while 1/3^rd are slightly so, and the last 1/3^rd fail to work at all.

While I’m super-proud of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s effort to finally lose weight, he really didn’t need to choose anything as drastic as the gastric lap-band procedure. He could’ve tried to break his obviously over-powering white starch and sugar carb addiction with a low carb Atkins lifestyle eating plan and daily cardio - cos that's exactly what he's still going to have to do in the long run to lose weight: pick the diet and daily cardio that work best for him and follow them for the rest of his life.

My dear friend, Georgann, doesn't want to do daily cardio nor follow a diet either. She wants to use the lap-band so that she’ll eat less.

But Georg’s problem, and I’ll venture to say Governor Christie’s problem, too, isn’t so much the quantity of food that they consume - it’s what TYPE of food they’re actually eating. And I'll just bet you my butt that s/he's gonna override the band and eat her/his daily allotment of food in candy, sweets and the rest of the carb-y crap that got them into trouble with their weight and fitness in the first place.

Some people absolutely refuse to do what it takes to break their carb addiction – no matter how much proof you provide them with – showing them that the carbs are exactly what’s making them, and keeping them fat.

If Georg and Governor Christie cut the white starch and sugar carbs to 35 gr. a day, combined with an hour of daily cardio - they would lose ALL their unhealthy weight by the end of this year.  But sadly, some want the lap-band to do it for them.

Like a lot of others who succumb to the stomach-altering surgery, my good friend is hoping that the “Magic Band” will do it all for her.

Sure, the procedure will prohibit her from eating mass quantities of food – but it will NOT teach her what to eat so that her weight will come off and stay off for good. And a small potato, a palm-size portion of protein and a dainty dab of veggies do not do it for me. I’m used to eating almost exactly what I want on my low carb lifestyle, and still losing weight.

Like everything else that’s too good to be true - the downside of the gastric lap-band procedure is if you don’t stick to the post-surgery diet like you’re supposed to – you’ll be running to the bathroom after eating the wrong food, puking your guts out - and worse. (Ask your lap-band Doc about “dumping syndrome.”)

Saying that you really have to change your mind-set about your new way of eating is a total understatement. Especially since in the end - it all falls right back in your lap anyway. So why, I wonder, bother with the surgery at all?

True and everlasting weight loss success can only be accomplished with a good, effective diet and daily cardio. Period. And Governor Christie and Georgann are about to find out . . .

Losing weight has a lot to do with willpower and everything to do with breaking a person’s horrid addiction to white starch and sugar carbs. Break that addiction, and your weight will literally fall off your bones if you combine it with daily cardio . . . Trust me. I’m living proof - and so are thousands of other people across our chronically obese country.

I can show anyone how to lose weight the natural, low carb way - just like I did, shedding 150 pounds, now keeping them off for nine years.

You just really gotta wanna.

And, the lap-band is just another diet. Period.

Georg recently told me that her weight is down another few pounds from eating an Atkins low carb diet, that she really likes it, but just cannot seem to stick to ANY diet right now. She failed to break her carb addiction, so what does she expect?

Her Doc will be putting her on the “special” lap-band eating plan for 3-6 months before surgery so she can see firsthand what eating will be like for the rest of her life.

The problem is, if G goes on the lap-band diet for the next 3-6 months before surgery – it’s just another dang diet – that she will not be able to stick to – cos she’ll still be addicted to those white starch and sugar carbs!

And, if I were G and the Gov., I’d cut my carbs down to no more than 35 gr. a day, squeeze in a few flights of stairs at work whenever they can, and do whatever it takes to break their carb addiction.

Regardless of what weight loss method you’re gonna use, you have to make sure you don’t pack on even more pounds between now & your surgery. You cannot eat with abandon thinking, “What the hell, I’m getting the lap-band in a few weeks so what’s the diff?

The diff is that the lap band is NOT gonna do it for you. The diff is, in the end, it all comes back down to y-o-u. Period.

So, suck it up, do what it takes to kick the carb addiction, cos carbs and a lack of daily cardio are really what make you fat!

You wear what you eat, no question.

# # #

For more motivational weight loss and wellness tips and advice from Laura and our expert guests, tune in to Monday night’s cable TV show, “Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones” from 7-7:30 PM CST, and then please join us on Tuesday evenings from 7-8 PM CST for “C2GF After the Show”. The shows are available to watch or listen live right from www.commit-fit.com.

Both shows are live, interactive call-in so if you have a question for Laura or her special guest – call in! We want to hear what you think! TV show: 312.738.1060. Radio show: 646.716.8661.

If you know of any corporation, organization, company, group or individuals that are interested in having Laura present her "Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones" motivational weight loss and wellness programs, they’re highly effective presentations tailored specifically for you. Contact info below:

Laura Dion-Jones is a Pro-Health Activist, Certified Corporate Wellness Coach, Certified Wellness Coach, TV & Radio Show Host, motivational & lifestyle writer & speaker.

Through Laura's highly successful Commit To Get Fit/Elgin's Biggest Loser motivational weight loss and wellness program, Laura helped motivate over 182 Elgin area residents to lose 1800 pounds in a little over 18 months. Here's hoping you'll be next.

Laura is available for speaking engagements, individual coaching, and corporate wellness programs.

Email Laura@commit-fit.com for further details.

E: Laura@commit-fit.com Website: www.commit-fit.com

Laura's New Blog: www.commit-fit.blogspot.com

And don't forget the pups: Snob Hounds Canine Couture: www.snobhounds.com

As with any new diet and fitness plan, be sure to check with your physician before you begin.

Upcoming Show: The Healthy Low Carb Lifestyle

"Those who can, do.     Those who can't should do it anyway.

Because those who think they cannot lose weight -  Should think again, you most certainly can.

But you have to MOVE daily.     Your life depends on all of it."

Laura Dion-Jones

Daily movement is far more important than you realize - even and especially if you have arthritis.

Just like fruit, when you sit in one spot - you rot.

Join us tonight, May 6th from 7-7:30 PM CST, on Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones, on CAN-TV for this week's special guest, Kathy Regganie, Reiki Master Teacher and Craniosacral Therapist, who will tell us about Movement Wellness and why that's so important for us as we Commit to Get Fit - and get older!!

Kathy generously shares her professional wellness lifestyle advice with us, so be sure to tune in.

Call 312-738-1060 to get your questions about Movement Wellness and cardio lifestyle issues answered!!!

Then, tune in each Tuesday evening at 7-8 PM CST for an hour of more motivational weight loss tips and helpful info from our special expert guests. 
Blog Talk Radio call in number is: 646-716-8661.
Call us! We want to hear what you have to say. And please tell all your friends to tune in, too.

Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones is an on going weight loss series to help you find the secret to your own true and everlasting weight loss once and for all.

# # #
For more information on Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones, and to watch her Monday night TV shows live and listen to Laura's Tuesday evening BlogTalk Radio Shows live . . .
please go to http://www.commit-fit.com

Have a question for Laura or her special guest on her TV and radio shows?
Call them live on TV: 312.738.1060.
Live on the Radio: 646.716.8661

If you know of any corporation, organization, company, group or individuals that are interested in having Laura present her "Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones" motivational weight loss and wellness programs, they're highly effective presentations tailored specifically for you. Contact info below:

Laura Dion-Jones is a Pro-Health Activist, Certified Corporate Wellness Coach, Certified Wellness Coach, TV & Radio Show Host, motivational & lifestyle writer & speaker.

Through Laura's highly successful Commit To Get Fit/Elgin's Biggest Loser motivational weight loss and wellness program, Laura helped motivate over 182 Elgin area residents to lose 1800 pounds in a little over 18 months.

Here's hoping you'll be next.

Laura is available for speaking engagements, individual coaching, and corporate wellness programs.
Email Laura@commit-fit.com for further details.

E: Laura@commit-fit.com Website: www.commit-fit.com
Laura's New Blog: www.commit-fit.blogspot.com
And don't forget the pups: Snob Hounds Canine Couture: www.snobhounds.com

As with any new diet and fitness plan, be sure to check with your physician before you begin.


 
 

Teach Your Kid to Swim This Summer

By:

Laura Dion-Jones

“Those who can, do. Those who can’t should do it anyway.”

Laura Dion-Jones

Pro Health Activist, CCWC, CWC, PhD in Obesity, Motivational Weight Loss Speaker, Author, Writer,

TV-Radio Show Host

Now that summer’s right around the corner and Speedo-worthiness weather is soon upon us, one of the smartest things you can do besides knocking off some of that excess weight you’ve been lugging around for a while is to make sure your kid, kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, neighbors and you know how to swim as soon as they are able to walk, if not sooner.

I was fortunate to be born in Coral Gables, the Florida coastal community just below South Beach, and lived with my grandparents who had an in-ground pool in their yard. I have a picture of me taken when I was about 9 months old splashing around in the water near the pool’s edge totally unattended – as in no floaties, no inner-tube, no noodle and no mom holding me up. I’m sure she was mere inches from the picture’s edge, but the point is, my mom and Grandparents made sure that with all the water surrounding us, I was totally comfortable in it and could float and swim before I could barely walk. Consequently, I’ve been like a Mermaid, more comfortable in water than on land, ever since.

As the years go by, it amazes me how many people I meet, adults, youngsters and everyone in between, who cannot swim - and worst of all – some are deathly afraid of the water to the point of petrification. This is not a good thing. The water truly is your friend and there’s nothing, nothing, nothing to be afraid of. You just have to know how to handle yourself in and around her.

I always try to help these aqua-phobes become a bit more comfortable with our liquid environment when we’re in any water, boating or swimming situation. It’s far more dangerous being that terrified of the water than learning to respect it and your own limits within it.

Not too long ago, I had the pleasant experience of talking to a popular, African American Reverend when he and I were standing in line next to each other in our health club’s grille.

He had just been in the news days before at an opening of some Westside kids club and he, along with another official, took an inaugural plunge into the brand spanking new pool – in the deep end, of course.

It was apparent to me that none of the other officials standing on the sidelines realized the Rev didn’t know how to swim, because by the time anyone else noticed, he struggled his way to the edge, thrashing and grabbing at the water with his fingers spread wide open.

I instantly spotted his uncomfortable-ness with the situation and his inability to even tread water. The more frantically he paddled, the slower he sank. Miraculously, before drowning, he made it to the pool’s rim and weakly smiled, keeping a stiff upper lip.

The former YMCA life guard and Junior Leader in me demurely drew the episode to the Rev’s attention pointing out what he should do if he ever found himself shipwrecked or in a similar situation again - so he could at least stay afloat long enough for help to arrive without panicking or wearing himself out with fear, anxiety and worse.

What was my advice to him? “Cup your hands and fingers together like little paddles,” I demonstrated. “Then trace a slow, wide figure-eight pattern with your cupped hands just below the surface of the water, almost right in front of you, but down around your waist, like, at eleven and two o’clock.”

Meanwhile, you should also move your legs in a gentle bicycle motion to keep your head and shoulders above the water.

By concentrating on the movement of your feet and hands and counting slowly from one to four, over and over again, it will help you to relax and take your mind off the sheer terror of the thing. Pretty soon, each component will coordinate with the other and hopefully by then, someone will see you and come to your rescue.

When I teased the Rev that he looked like he was going down for the count as he jerkily tried to make it for the pool’s edge, he laughed and said, “You know, I ain’t built for no swimmin’.”

“You may be right, but just in case you ever find yourself in another over-your-head situation, I sure hope my swimming words of wisdom snap back to you. At least you won’t look like you’re drowning.

And just because you’re a man of God, don’t wait for Him to sail down from the Heavens to save you. With all due respect, Rev, you’ll be waiting a long, long time.”

Those who can – do. Those who cannot swim should learn to do so anyway. Your life depends on it.

# # #

For more information on Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones, and to watch her Monday night TV shows live and listen to Laura's Tuesday evening BlogTalk Radio Shows live . . .

please go to http://www.commit-fit.com

Have a question for Laura or her special guest on her TV and radio shows?

Call them live on TV: 312.738.1060.

Live on the Radio: 646.716.8661

If you know of any corporation, organization, company, group or individuals that are interested in having Laura present her "Commit To Get Fit With Laura Dion-Jones" motivational weight loss and wellness programs, they’re highly effective presentations tailored specifically for you. Contact info below:

Laura Dion-Jones is a Pro-Health Activist, Certified Corporate Wellness Coach, Certified Wellness Coach, TV & Radio Show Host, motivational & lifestyle writer & speaker.

Through Laura's highly successful Commit To Get Fit/Elgin's Biggest Loser motivational weight loss and wellness program, Laura helped motivate over 182 Elgin area residents to lose 1800 pounds in a little over 18 months.

Here's hoping you'll be next.

Laura is available for speaking engagements, individual coaching, and corporate wellness programs.

Email Laura@commit-fit.com for further details.

E: Laura@commit-fit.com Website: www.commit-fit.com

Laura's New Blog: www.commit-fit.blogspot.com

And don't forget the pups: Snob Hounds Canine Couture: www.snobhounds.com

As with any new diet and fitness plan, be sure to check with your physician before you begin.