Choices Coach: Weight Loss Menu Guide

I am excited and proud to announce that my book is finally finished!

Have you found it difficult to adhere to a diet? Are you tired of counting calories or tracking points? This is an easy meal planning guide to help you make better choices whether you are dining out or eating at home. Choices Coach takes the guesswork out of planning low-calorie meals. There are no complicated rules. All you have to do is choose meals from the menu provided. The calorie counting has already been done for you.

Here is a sample excerpt:

"I have written this book to make calorie counting less of an issue. The book can be used as a tool to plan your meals. Imagine that this book is your selected menu when dining out. The key is to plan ahead and make healthier choices. I recommend planning three meals per day plus one or two snacks. If you are trying to lose weight, then limit yourself to one snack until you reach your goal weight.  If you are working out vigorously, then definitely add the second snack to keep up your energy.

How does it work?  There is a calorie budget set for each meal of the day.  Then I have supplied several meal choices that fall within that budget."

Want to READ more?

Choices Coach: Weight Loss Menu Guide by Sara Moser

Available now on Amazon for $7.99.

KINDLE VERSION COMING SOON!

Low Calorie Eating is Now Choices Coach

My blog, lowcalorieeating.blogspot.com has been changed.  It has moved to choicescoach.blogspot.com.

Choosing The Right Yoga Pants

Yoga Pants To Flatter Every Body by choicescoach

Choosing the right pair of yoga pants is like choosing the right pair of jeans. The wrong pair will highlight everything you would rather hide.  However, the perfect fit will accentuate your assets and minimize your insecurities.

The first step is choosing high-quality, athletic fabrics that add compression. Compression will hide a world of sins. This doesn't mean buying cheap pants that are too tight and looking like a stuffed sausage. Compression has to do with the quality of the fabric and the placement of the seams so that you get that sucked-in effect.  The second step is making sure the pants pass the butt test. That means that when you bend over in your downward dog you aren't mooning the entire class or showing off your new lacy thong.  It doesn't matter what size you are.  The wrong fabric can become sheer when stretched in downward dog.  If it doesn't pass the butt test, then it shouldn't be worn to the gym. There are lots of brands to choose from, but my go to pick is Athleta.  Their pants have great quality fabrics, excellent compression, and they always pass the butt test.

The final step is choosing the right pants to flatter your body.

Straight pants Athletaathleta.gap.com

Straight pants are the most universally flattering for most body types.  They add length to short legs and minimize hips creating a long straight line.

Revelation Pant | Athletaathleta.gap.com

Flared leg pants are best for long legs.  They create curves and shape for bird legs and boyish figures too.  Stay away from this style if you have large hips.  It will only make them look bigger.

In Fusion Pant | Athletaathleta.gap.com

To minimize the appearance of large thighs choose a straight cut with a loose fit.  This will create a nice long line from the hip to the ankle without accentuating the thighs.  Stay away from large prints.  Choosing details like pockets or prints at the waistline will draw the eye up away from the thighs.

Zebra Chaturanga™ Tight | Athletaathleta.gap.com

To add shape to bird legs you can play with horizontally striped prints on the lower half.  Horizontal stripes make everything look bigger, so women with larger thighs beware.

Flare Chaturanga Tight | Athletaathleta.gap.com

Camouflage the appearance of cellulite by choosing dense, small prints in medium to darker colors. Stay away from lighter colors on bottom, because the light will pick up each dimple like a spotlight.

I hope that simplifies choosing the right yoga pants to flatter your shape.  Questions and comments from readers are always welcome.  I would love to know what your favorite brands are in active wear!

Fit > skinny,

Sara

Introducing Fitness and Fashion

Looking Fabulous for Brunch!  In the West Bottoms of Kansas City

Low Calorie Eating is officially changing over to Choices Coach. When I explain the changes that I'm making it will all make sense.  I am so excited to tell you that I am going to start blogging more about fitness and fashion. I've devoted many a blog to the subject of low-calorie eating, and I'm almost finished with my book (Coming Soon!). I will continue to write about food, but I am going to add on more information about my other great loves. It just makes sense to write about fitness, since I'm a personal trainer. Duh! I've been a little slow on this one.  Fashion, on the other hand, has been a great love in my life since I was a little girl.  It just makes sense to incorporate this part of me into my blog. More on that in a minute.

I'm a personal trainer, so why haven't I posted much about my workouts?

Like I told you in a previous post, I have lost 30 lbs. over the past year.  I didn't really blog that much, because I was too busy doing. Working out like a beast takes a lot of time and devotion. Now that I'm much closer to my goal weight I can make time to share some of my workouts with you.  I write workouts all the time for clients and for the classes that I teach at The Yards Athletic Club.  I can't wait to start sharing them with you, so we can start achieving results together.

Why fashion.....?

My love of fashion is nothing new.  It's just new to this blog.  All through high school I spent countless hours sketching fashion designs.  I constantly said I was going to be a fashion designer. Fast forward a bit. Later I studied fashion design classes at Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, MO while I was working on my masters. Once I finished school I started an online clothing boutique called Everything Chic. Several years later I became a buyer for Payless Shoe Source.  I love shoes, but I wasn't really cutout for the corporate world.  After quitting Payless, I worked for a boutique and a gym until I could figure things out (Ginger & Maryann and Body Boutique, respectively).  Thus, a trainer I became.  That's the short version.

.....Why now?

Now that I have lost so much weight I realize how much an influence fashion has on feeling good. A workout can change your mood, and so can your outfit.  Your clothing can also tell a lot about how you feel about yourself and your body.  No matter where you are towards reaching your goals you can dress in clothes that flatter and fit your body.

Choices Coach will be about all three of my passions: fashion, fitness, and food.  My goal is to coach better choices in all three areas to complete the overall picture of looking and feeling your best. Subscribe by e-mail, and never miss a post.

Fit > skinny,

Sara  

P.S. Check back Tuesday! The post will be about choosing the right yoga pants to flatter your shape.

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Under 200 Calories

One of my favorite things about the holidays is pumpkin desserts.  I indulged in my mom's delicious, homemade, gluten-free pumpkin cake roll over Thanksgiving.  I have no idea how many calories that was, but it was worth working out a little harder from now until Christmas.  Since I can't eat that everyday, I became inspired to turn my morning oatmeal into a pumpkin pie spiced, low-cal confection.  It's no pumpkin cake roll, but it's still pretty darn good.

Ingredients

1 Plain Instant Oatmeal Packet
1 Tbsp. Country Pumpkin Butter (I used Dickinson's brand.)
1 tsp. White Chocolate Morsels
1/4 cup water, boiling
Pumpkin Pie Spice, season to taste ( I used 2 dashes.)
2 Tbsp. Whipped Topping (optional)

Directions

Mix the pumpkin pie spice and oats.  Then add the pumpkin butter and white chocolate morsels.  Add most of the boiling water and mix.  The boiling water will melt the white chocolate.  Mix until it's creamy.  I like my oatmeal to be the consistency of cookie batter.  If you don't like it that way, then add more boiling water.  If you accidentally add too much water you can cook it for 20-30 seconds in the microwave, and it will thicken up.  Let the mixture sit for a minute so that the oats have time to absorb the water.  Top with the whipped topping, and enjoy!

Total Calories 195

• Fat 6g
• Carbs 32.5g
• Fiber 3g
• Sugar 12g
• Protein 5g

Thankful I've Lost 30 Pounds

Thanksgiving is a time to feast and reflect on what you are thankful for, and I am thankful that I have lost 30 lbs. over the past year......Oh yeah, I'm thankful for my family, my friends, my safety, my shelter, and all of the other important things in life, too.  Let's get back to what this blog is really about though, weight loss/management.

How did a person that is a low-cal blogger/personal trainer/health coach even have 30 lbs. to lose in the first place?

Well, let me explain that before you decide that I have lost all credibility.  Life happened.  Stress overtook me.  I suppose I let it overtake me or, rather, consume me.  I kind of gave up on myself for awhile.  My wake up call was a picture.  It's always a picture.  My face looked fatter.  I didn't recognize myself anymore.  There were a lot of tears.  There was a lot of self-loathing and shame. When I was almost done feeling sorry for myself I decided to do something about it.  Over the past year I have recorded my calories on the Lose It! app.  I can't say that I did it religiously, but I can definitely tell you that when I stopped tracking I hit weight loss plateaus.  I also increased my workouts tremendously.  On average, I worked out 6-8 hours per week.  At this point, I may have lost your interest.  You may be thinking, "Eight hours!?  Ain't nobody got time for that!!!!"  I can't resist an opportunity to quote Sweet Brown.  Please stay with me, folks.

Does it help that I am a personal trainer? Of course.  Does it help that I work at a gym part-time, as well?  Of course.  Does that mean that you can't do the same?  No.  However, it may be more realistic to shoot for 5-6 hours per week.  Think of the time that you spend on leisurely activities like watching TV, reading, etc.  You get 24 hours in a day.  Let's do the math for a super busy schedule:

 8 hours sleep
 1 hour shower & get ready
 10 hours work/juggling kids
 2 hours traffic
 2 hours food prep/eating
+1 hour TV or Workout (How about combining both?)
 24 hours

Sounds exhausting.  It's hard.  I get it.  What's also hard is living in an unhealthy body.  It doesn't have to be an hour per day everyday.  It could be split up however you please.  I tend to workout 2-3 hours on both Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1 hour on Saturday or Sunday, and 30-50 minutes on Mondays and Wednesdays.  I always take a minimum of one day off for recovery.  If you haven't been exercising at all, then focus on trying to exercise 30 minutes per day.  Even just 30 minutes a day can dramatically improve your overall health, and impact/prevent diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

I am still working out at least 6 hours a week, and I am now 5-10 lbs. away from my goal weight.  I haven't blogged in quite some time, but I'm back.  You have goals.  I have goals.  I want to help.  Let's embark on this journey together.  Over the next several weeks I am going to be adding some exciting changes to my blog.  I'm going to be changing the look, logo, and name.  I will be adding fitness tips, workouts, and motivation.  In addition, over the next couple months I intend to finish my book that I have been teasing for years.  I'll let you know when it's finished.

I'd love to hear from you about your fitness/weight loss journey.  What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

choicescoach.com