Welcome back to Carol’s Corner. I started this once already and had some technical problems and lost what I had, thank God I hadn’t gotten very far yet. Feeling more refreshed and got some sleep. Now let’s see if I can stop having all the weird technical problems I seem to be having. My picture today was taken alongside our house by our porch. Thought it made a nice backdrop. I thought I had lost these shorts, but discovered they were between two other pieces of clothes and I didn’t see them. I had looked in the same spot a number of times. That’s one of the drawbacks of owning a Victorian era home, there are no such thing as walk in closets, so sometimes things get squished together and you just don’t see them. I love the whole outfit, especially the ruffle blouse with the beautiful color combination. It matches my cute canvas shoes perfectly.

My husband kind of blurred this hand pic, but you can see how pretty the jewelry is I made. I have many outfits in this color hue that I can wear it with.

This view is much clearer. You can see how the jewelry just sparkles in the light.

For tonight I am going to use something one of my member’s sent me. It’s from health.com and is titled,” Daily Tricks To Wake Up Slimmer, simple changes to your daily routine to shed 5,10 or 20-plus pounds without dieting”.

DAILY DO’S

So we get it: You want to lose the jiggle, but don’t want to blacklist your favorite eats, count every single calorie or overdose on gym hours. The great news is, you can drop,weight without dieting: Experts say making small change-ups to your day is one of the best ways to lose.

The author grilled health and fitness pros for the tweaks that will help your shape the most. Road test a few, and you could shed 5 pounds( this week!), 10 or even 20-plus pounds without a whole lot of effort.

POWER UP PB

Buy natural varieties of peanut butter and pour off the oil sitting on top. Each serving will have 20 fewer calories and 2-3 less grams of fat. It’s a small difference that will add up to a couple of pounds per year.

POP TO IT

Skimping on fiber will make you gain weight. Forget the pretzels and go for a bag of low-fat popcorn. It has five times the fiber and only 90 calories for six cups, so it’s filling and satisfying.

A recent study found that when women doubled their daily fiber intake from 12-24 grams,their bodies absorbed 90 calories less per day. You could lose almost 10 pounds in a year!

DANCE YOUR BUTT OFF

Kick up your heels and go dancing with your girlfriends–or have a solo dance session at home. Fast tempo dances are not only a blest to do, but in an hour you’ll torch 400-500 calories. That’s equivalent to light jogging on a treadmill and way more fun.( I can attest to that, we go dancing every week. I’m gonna have dance withdrawal on our vacation.)

SWITCH THINGS UP

At the gym, lift one heavier set of weights than you’re used to. And on your walk or run add backward walking and sideways shuffling in one-minute burst.

You’ll challenge your muscles in new ways,(does this sound like Leslie talking? Work them at a variety of angles, and improve your balance. These things will tone you up and burn extra calories.

NIX NIGHTTIME EATING

Cutting out after dinner snacking is a quick way to help you shed five pounds in a week. At night, we’re usually scarfing down junky foods in front of the TV- and it’s easy to consume a meals worth of calories, plus belly-bloating sodium.

If you’re typically hungry before bed, it might mean you’re eating dinner too early, so push it back. Snack on fruit at 3pm, then at 5, have a snack bar. At 7:30 you’ll be ready for dinner , and you’ll be eating late enough to stay full for the rest of the. evening.

BE A CRUNCH MONSTER

Fill up your plate with crunchy, chewy foods like carrots, apples, and whole grains. They take more time to chew, and their fiber makes your body work harder to digest them-so you’ll burn more calories during your meal.

Eating this way can increase your total calorie burn by 5% throughout the day!

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Just focus on cooking wholesome food; you’ll eat well and could even lose five pounds in a week. For breakfast, have yogurt and some fruit, for lunch eat a soup and a winter salad with tuna and walnuts; at dinner fill your plate with 3 to 4 ounces of fish or chicken, a couple of veggies and a piece of fruit. And feel free to use a bit of butter or olive oil-you don’t have to deprive yourself.

BEAT BOOZE BLOAT

Downsize you wine glass to cut calories. Wine glasses today are giant goblets, so it’s easy to pour six ounces or 1 1/2 servings without noticing. That means those two glasses a night might be closer to three(almost half a bottle!),adding up to 300 calories.

Instead of drinking this way every day, have a regular-size 4 ounce glass a couple times a week. You could drop more than 20 pounds this year.

PLAY HARD

Slip exercise into everyday life, and make it fun. Head outside and do fun activities that you enjoy, whatever season that may be. You can even stage a pillow fight in your living room. That burns 82 calories in 20 minutes, plus you’ll laugh the entire time.

TRY UPSIDE-DOWN

Season and butter the bottom of foods. For example butter the bottom of toast , and salt the bottom of potato rounds. This sounds weird, but it really helps with weight loss . When you eat foods this way , the flavor hits your tongue right away, and you actually taste more of it. Ultimately, that means you cut out at least half of the belly-bloating salt or butter.

DINE IN SLOW-MO

Make sure you’re the last person to start eating and the last one to finish. When you do this, it helps you slow down and chew your food your food properly instead of inhaling what’s on your plate-and more. Eat this way and you’ll take in fewer calories at your meals.

DRESS THE PART

Make a few changes to your party outfit, and you’ll beat the temptation to overindulge. At a cocktail party , carry a clutch instead of a purse. With a cocktail in one hand and a purse in the other, you won’t be able to reach for too many hors d’oeuvres.

And wear a form-fitting dress- it’ll be your biggest reminder to not revisit the food table for seconds.

GO BY THE NUMBERS

Stop eating when you’re at a 5 or 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 ( where 1 is famished and 10 is Thanksgiving full). When you stop at 5 or 6, chances are 20 minutes later, you’ll feel like a 7or 8.

This tactic is great for parties or vacations- and could save you lots of calories per meal.

So there you have it. Sometimes it’s just the simple little things that we can do every day, that can add up to big savings in the weight loss game. I hope you found many of these tips to be useful to you in your daily quest to shed pounds. So for now stay motivated, stay focused and get up and move. Till next time, God Bless.