• Change Your Base of Support. One of the easiest ways you can challenge (and therefore help improve) your balance during any standing exercise is to gradually narrow your base of support until your feet and legs are together while you perform your exercise. Bring your legs closer together while you do standing biceps curls, shoulder raises, squats or other upper body moves . Be sure to keep your abs pulled in tight and make sure you're not leaning backward as you perform your exercises. Note: You can also widen or narrow your base of support while lying on or sitting on a stability ball to perform exercises, so try this progression when you're on the ball, too!
  

• Try It on One Leg. Once you've mastered doing an exercise with a narrow base of support, you're ready for the next challenge: balancing on a single leg. Instead of standing on both legs during some of the same moves above, try it on a single leg. Start by just lifting one heel (keeping your toes on the floor) while doing your upper body moves or working up to a single leg squat. As you get better, lift that foot off the ground completely. From there, you can play around with the position of your lifted leg—holding it behind you, in front of you, to the side or, for a greater challenge, moving that leg while you balance on the other leg and perform upper body movements. Just be sure to alternate legs to keep your strength and muscle tone balanced (no pun intended) between both sides of your body.
  

• Close your eyes. Your sense of vision is a big part of the balance equation. It works hand in hand with the vestibular (inner ear) and proprioceptive systems to maintain balance and prevent falls. By staring at a single focal point (minimizing your head and eye movement), you'll balance more easily. You'll want to make sure you're in a controlled environment and that your body is planted (don't attempt this while walking or hiking or moving through space). You can start by just standing up tall and closing your eyes without moving. Over time, combine the narrow base of support with some one-leg balances while closing your eyes. You might be surprised how challenging it is to simply stand with your eyes closed, let alone stand on one foot or while doing a biceps curl. Just be sure to use your best judgment and listen to your body when trying this technique. Safety first!

• A control group imagined putting 33 coins into a washing machine.
• Another group imagined putting 30 quarters into the washer and eating three M&M's
• A third group imagined feeding three quarters into the washer and eating 30 M&M's.

• Banana with peanut butter
• Banana sliced into yogurt
• Oatmeal with fruit -- like apples, blueberries, or peaches
• Small tortilla with a few tablespoons of peanut butter and chopped strawberries. Roll it up, slice it. It works for kids and adults.
• Breakfast smoothies -- berries, ice, and milk or yogurt.

• Measure accurately. For foods and beverages, use gadgets like a measuring cup, tablespoon, teaspoon, or food scale.
• Estimate serving sizes in comparison to known objects. For example, three ounces of cooked meat, fish, or poultry is about the size of a deck of cards. Other easy measurements to eyeball include:

• • ½ cup is the size of an ice cream scoop
• • 1 cup is the size of a tennis ball
• • 1 ounce of cheese is the size of a domino

• Use smaller plates, bowls, cups, and glassware in your kitchen and measure what they hold. I pour one cup of cereal into the cereal bowl to gauge where I should fill it to.
• Serve food right onto plates and don't go back for seconds.
• Make your own single-serving packs. Snack sized ziplock bags are great for this.
• Add the milk before the coffee which allows you to see how much is actually used.
• Measure oil carefully. Don’t pour it directly into your cooking pan or over food.
• Control portions when eating out. Eat half or share the meal with a friend. If eating a salad, ask for dressing on the side. Dip your fork into the dressing and then into the salad.
• Fill up on the low-calorie or good-for-you food first. Eat a cup of low-calorie vegetable soup prior to eating a meal, or add vegetables to casseroles. Eat your salad first. I also buy a low calorie, good-for-me cereal that I pour in my bowel first, then I spice it up with the cereal of my choice to add some of the flavor I desire.
• Listen to your hunger cues. Eat when hungry and stop when satisfied or comfortably full. Try to gauge when you are 80 percent full and stop there.

• Jump rope
• Jumping jacks
• Walking/Running up and down stairs

• Celery with peanut butter
• Celery with tuna salad
• Hard boiled eggs
• Deviled eggs
• Dill pickles and cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup berries with 1/3 cup cottage cheese
• Nuts (keep raw ones in the freezer if you think you’ll overeat them)
• Sunflower seeds (get them in the shell so it will take longer to eat them)
• Other seeds (pumpkin seeds are delicious)
• Low-Carb Trail Mix
• Jerky (beef or turkey -- try to find low-sugar varieties)
• Cheese sticks, such as string cheese
• Sugar-free Jello, alone or with cottage cheese and a sprinkling of nuts
• Make sugar-free lime Jello with part coconut milk
• Pepperoni "chips" -- Zap the slices in the microwave
• Cheese with a few apple slices
• 4-ounce plain or sugar-free yogurt with berries and flax seed meal (one of my Favorites)
• Smoked salmon and cream cheese on cucumber slices
• Lettuce Roll-ups –- Roll luncheon meat, egg salad, tuna or other filling and veggies in lettuce leaves
• Lunch Meat Roll-ups –- Roll cheese or veggies in lunch meat (read the labels for carbs on the lunch meat)
• Spread bean dip, spinach dip, or other low-carb dip or spread on the lunch meat or lettuce and then roll it up
• Raw veggies and spinach dip, or other low-carb dip
• Ricotta cheese with fruit and/or nuts and/or flax seed meal
• Mushrooms with cheese spread inside (or other spreads or dips)

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