Acorn Squash and Weight Maintenance Info.

I'm seriously on a roll with these vegetable recipes lately, no? Last night I cooked an acorn squash in the oven. After reading many of the comments on my blog I noticed many of you really LOVE acorn/butter/winter squash! I could not agree with you more. This was such a simple dish that was so delicious, Nick begged for more. Nutritionally speaking, squash is a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, some B vitamins, and fiber!

After cutting it in half, I scrapped out the seeds (I pretended like I was carving a pumpkin, but it was much easier!).

And this is what they looked like after 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

After scrapping out the squash, I mixed in 2T Smart Balance margarine, and 2 t Splenda brown sugar. Nick asked for a little bit of syrup (what?! weirdo).

Weight Maintenance Information

So yesterday was my first official day of my new job. It wasn't really a full day, just a meeting and a review of the plan for the month. I didn't get to workout in the morning, like I usually do, therefore I had to workout later in the afternoon, which was really strange. Andrea of Andrea's Wellness Notes posted about this yesterday, and she provided some great tips to use in order to make afternoon workouts better/easier. But now I just need more motivation to actually get moving in the afternoon and evenings, does anyone have any tips?

On that note, I'd like to share with you an article I read yesterday, which focused on weight loss and weight maintenance and whether counting calories or exercising is more important. The article was called Exercise Vs. Counting Calories. Here are some highlights:

On "Addictive" Foods: Some foods are more "addictive" than others because they have a bigger effect on the brain chemicals that control the "reward" circuits in our brains. From a neurobiological point of view, sweets, fats and salty foods make us want to eat more of the same, as Dr. David S. Kessler, the former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, makes clear in his book "The End of Overeating." This makes sense, right? Thinking back to my childhood and listening to my brother, I can understand why we always prefer the Taco Bell bean burrito over our mom's "recreated" version. I've read that you shouldn't combine a lot of different flavors in your foods, but instead keep them simple, so as not to initiate that "addictive" response. Simple foods can be some of the best foods.

On Exercise and Appetite, the Positive Side of Things: Exercise can suppress appetite, says Dr. George Blackburn, because it triggers not only the chemical dopamine, which governs the brain's reward system, but also endorphins, those feel-good brain chemicals. These substances act on the hunger and satiety areas of the brains for as long as four hours afterward. "You don't need cigarettes or drugs or food, all those things in the pleasure areas of the brain, because exercise has already activated them," says Blackburn.

Question: Do you feel like your appetite is suppressed after you workout? I actually feel hungrier, but could this just be a "placebo effect??"

On Exercise and Appetite, Where there May be a Problem: Psychologically, as opposed to biochemically, some experts theorize that exercise might lead people to believe they can reward themselves with treats afterward or that they may be tempted to be less active for the rest of the day. And some studies, says Evans, do suggest that if you exercise, say, for 40 minutes a day, you will "then compensate by decreasing how active you are at other times of the day, leaving total energy expenditure unchanged" or that you might reward yourself with food.

Question: Do you find that you allow yourself to be lazier on days you workout? Do you over-compensate by treating yourself with snacks/desserts? I think a lot of people do this. It's mind over matter in this case. As I've learned more about how weight maintenance works, I've become much better at NOT rewarding myself with food and on keeping up my active lifestyle even on days I workout (in other words, not sitting all day long).

I hope everyone has a great day today. Check out my post tomorrow, which I hope will contain my latest Big Loser review (I'm actually looking forward to watching and reviewing the show again.) Thanks for reading!