I May Have Done Something Awesome

I went out of town for a weekend with friends and family with every intention of being uber-healthy and writing a fabulous blog post today about all the ways I thwarted unhealthy vacation food and pioneered my own path of virtuous nutrition the whole time, keeping my body clean and healthy and fueled for vitality.  And I so very much wish I could tell you that story today. But I can't, because I didn't do any of those things.  But, it's cool.

I didn't realize it until last night, but when I thought back on my nutritional choices over the weekend and tried to feel all bad about them, I realized I didn't have that much to feel bad about.  Yeah, I ate a bunch of sugar and fatty foods that I don't usually eat and I felt the physical impact (translation: like crap) but when I really sat down and itemized my nutrition, it just wasn't that bad overall.

Practicing what I preach is really important to me, but the whole, "all things in moderation" thing is a hard one for me to practice. My brain just doesn't work that way. I am either on or off, all or nothing, in or out.  In the spirit of not being a hypocrite, I have been working hard at moderation, and living in the middle is weird and uncomfortable and I don't like it. 

But I am always telling people that change happens when things get weird, so hopefully the amount of time I spent in the middle this weekend means that change is happening for me, too.

After I realized that my scandalous nutrition wasn't exactly front-page news, I sat down to figure out what I had done differently this time to get such a happy result.  Here's what I decided, and what may also help anyone else out there struggling with living in the middle:

1. I didn't drink.  We all know that alcohol lowers our inhibitions, and not having a mind-altering substance flowing through my veins really made a huge difference.

2. I kept moving.  While I didn't work out or run this weekend, I did stay really busy.  There wasn't a lot of down time for munching, which helped me stick to actual meals instead of vacation grazing on high-sodium stuff.

3. I drank a ton of water.  I was almost always full because I kept the water flowing.  I always feel healthier when I am well-hydrated, and apparently I make better decisions, too.

Coming home to such a happy realization was like a whole new vacation. I hope my little epiphany awakens something new in your health today, too. Go find out! Get weird!

Take THAT, Budget Myth!

Healthy eating is so important to me that when I see it changing lives and breaking down misconceptions, I literally get choked up. For real, I get goosebumps and want to cry. And I still have a frog in my throat after reading this great-news alert from Fresh From Florida.

The Florida Department of Agriculture has effectively removed the argument that fresh produce and unprocessed foods are too expensive for families on a fixed income or low food budget. Even on food stamps, you can purchase the healthy foods necessary to prepare a week's worth of meals and snacks for four people.

That's $140 a week in Florida justsoyaknow.

Their own Chef Justin, who you can frequently see on their blog, was tasked with the following:


1. Spend no more than $140.
2. Buy little to no processed foods.
3. All grains must be whole wheat.
4. Sugars and salt must be kept to a minimum.
5. Follow the USDA nutritional guidelines for recommended servings per day.
6. Have enough food for breakfast, lunch, a light snack and dinner for seven days.


Not only did he get the job done, it was under budget, proving once and for all that eating healthy is a choice we make. You don't have to eat organic, you don't have to buy expensive brands, and you don't have to be a foodie and create anything spectacular. In fact, his shopping list and recipes are included in the report so you don't even have to come up with ideas of what to do with all of it.

So there you have it! Proof that the children who go to school with Hostess cupcakes in their lunchboxes and come home to enriched macaroni product don't have to continue down that road to childhood obesity.


Thanks to the FL Department of Agriculture, we can instead get on the path of education, so when we all head to the grocery store we can do it armed with the knowledge of how to fuel our families with fresh, healthy foods that will enrich our lives.


...and not break the bank. As a cheapo miser, I like that part a lot.

So what are you waiting for? Get healthy!

Preach On, Joy McCarthy Holistic Nutritionist

Just so we're clear, this is
not a picture of Joy.

I like to talk. It is a known fact! But today I am remembering the lesson that my son's Tae Kwon Do instructor shared last night: "the more you talk, the less you learn."  So I am going to stop talking and let someone else do the honors.  I know, it's weird for me too. :)

In this case, the lovely lady I am going to direct you to is a true inspiration of holistic health and a complete wealth of knowledge related to clean eating.  I listen to her a lot because she says a lot of stuff that makes a lot of sense, and she knows more than I do.  I think hanging around people who know more than you do is a good idea...but since Joy lives in Canada, I just stalk her on the Internet instead. Luckily she makes that pretty easy via her website and Twitter feed.

What I want to share with you today is her blog, which I received yesterday in my email. It is a great explanation of one of my favorite topics: how food works. What it does. And, of course, how we can work with it to do awesome things for our health.

I read this and thought you needed to read it to.  So, since I promised I wasn't going to talk today, I give you...

Joy McCarthy, Holistic Nutritionist and Wellness Muse (I added that last part).

Take it away, Joy!

The Diet Soda Dance

Over the weekend I heard a news report about new research showing that drinking diet soda every day increases your chance of a stroke by 61%. And when I sat down to Google it, I naturally found this article urging caution about taking the results too seriously because there hasn't been enough work to establish a true link between the two.


Of course we should keep drinking diet soda! A refreshing and filling beverage with no calories? Bring it on! Oh wait...you meant water? Never mind.


In reading the article debunking the research, these quotes jumped out at me: 


"In my 20 years of clinical practice, patients who consume diet soda tend to have more of a sweet tooth; to get more sweet cravings; to eat more foods with added sugar; and to like and eat more processed food than patients who avoid both regular and diet soda," said Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.


"Any way you slice it, soda drinking is not healthy and should be done sparingly," said Dr. Peter McCullough, consultant cardiologist and chief academic and scientific officer for St. John Providence Health System and the Providence Park Heart Institute in Southfield, Mich.


"The study highlights the increasingly negative information we are getting about the consumption of non-caloric sweetened beverages," said Dr. Jana Klauer, a New York City-based private practice physician specializing in weight control and nutrition. "People drink them to save calories and enjoy a sweet taste, but diet soda hasn't lead to weight loss and now appears to be causing more problems than it solves."


So, here's my take on it: sure, the research may be flawed. And, there are plenty of corporate interests invested in making sure we know that.  I still say that drinking something that can clean car battery corrosion is still a toxic idea. 


I used to be hooked on Coke Zero. I'd drink it all the time and every day at 3:00, I wanted one. And I had one. Eventually, it was the only unhealthy thing in my diet. I ate really clean super nutrition, but drank diet soda. So, I stopped. It wasn't that easy; as with most processed and artificially flavored frankenfood, I had withdraw problems. But every time I drank diet soda I felt like I was corroding my body, and I stopped. It's been over four years since I've had even a drop.


It can be done! Read the writing on the wall - this stuff is bad for you. It may not be proven yet, but read the statements above. Do you really need proof?


If so, just watch Wall-E.

The Mind Slip that Blew My Mind

The strangest things have been happening this week. Strange, wonderful, destiny-type things that have really thrown me for a loop and made me take stock of what this year really has in store for my wellness, inside and out.  And just so you know, it's a whole bunch of fantastic.

And the strangest just happened - for the third time this week, I accidentally typed the word, "love" instead of what I meant to type.  And as someone who thinks everything is a sign of wonderful things to come, this has even me a little freaked out.

Although, it shouldn't be that unexpected. I've been putting my consistency, data, accountability, and intention into hyper mode lately to bring some revolutionary changes in not only my fitness but my life in general. So why am I surprised when it works? 

I've been exercising and eating well consistently.
I've been recording my wellness data.
I've been implementing challenging, new forms of accountability.
And I've been very intentionally looking for, creating, and sending positive energy.

It's been landing on my doorstep in droves, and apparently all of his happy mumbo-jumbo is even working its way into my subconscience. Love is finally pouring from my fingertips.

Here's the lesson in all of this: create an environment where wellness success can grow, and it will. Are you creating an environment for success?  Here are a few ways to tell:

1. Do you surround yourself with positive people who encourage you to achieve your wellness goals?
2. Do you practice positive self-talk to yourself? Your brain and your body listen and learn quickly, so be nice!
3. Do you make the choices necessary to yeild positive outcomes? Health is a choice.
4. Do you work consistently, with intention, use accountability, and respond to data relative to your goals?

If your answers are yes, buckle your seatbelt. Congratulations! You're about to have an awesome weekend.

And if they are no...what's the hold up?

Things I Thought I Knew

If I knew then what I know now.... man I could have saved myself a lot of heartache!  Haven't you said that a few times in your life?  Lately it seems like time has been tapping me on the shoulder, inviting me to look back with a bemused expression and shake my head at the stuff I used to think I was so smart about. Today, a trip down memory lane to reminisce about how stupid I once was...and wonder what I am being stupid about now.

Things I used to 100% know were 100% right (but weren't)

1. A cheat meal is a good idea.  Some people can get away with this, but not me. I used to give myself a "cheat day," and then I wised up and realized that if I feel like I need to cheat on my nutrition plan, something is not balanced. Cheat days only cheat me.  Balanced, clean, non-erratic nutrition is worth the hassle.

2. I can catch up on my sleep....someday.  I used to think sleep was just a "nice to have." Now I know it is non-negotiable. Sure, I feel like a lightweight crawling under the covers at 9:15 every night, but my training, mental clarity, and metabolism are infinitely better as a result. Plus, being yelled at by an emergency room doc because I've run myself into the ground again is no picnic. Sleep is easier. 

3. A calorie is a calorie.  I've lost weight eating candy and junk, and it can work temporarily. Then I lost it again the right way and it's stayed off. Processed food is garbage and will make you feel like garbage when you eat it.  Thanks to some wisdom and the tough love of a universe that kept giving me one more chance, I know better now. Eat real food in appropriate portions and watch your life improve dramatically!

4. Thin = fit.  I used to think that if I could just get into a smaller size, that would mean I was fit.  Or, that even if I was able to accomplish feats of strength, I wasn't truly fit if I wasn't a size 2.  Oh, youth. Now I can not only appreciate (a little) more the *ahem* "curves" of my body, I have met women who can out-run, out-lift, out-everything me...and they are no skinny minnies.  I also know some skinny minnies who can't walk a block. Body composition is important to health, but it isn't the holy grail I used to think it was.  And thank God for that, am I right ladies?

I'm thinking about these things lately because my life is changing. I'm reminded of what I used to think was 100% certain, and forced to think about what else I am assuming is certain and may not be.  I'm glad to see these lessons now because it means I am part of a cycle in which change is embraced and rewarded.  Which is a good thing because I am about to throw down with some change.

...and I can't wait to find out what else I've been wrong about. :)

Good day!

Welcome to Spring Training!

It's time for spring training!  No baseballs required, though.  This is all about you and the most important fitness tool in your whole body: your stubborn little noggin. I've compiled a reading list for spring training your brain for a fit and fabulous summer!
A couple of things happened last week that got my brain moving in the direction of brushing up on knowing stuff: 1) a friend asked me for advice on nutrition for strength training, and 2) I went through some pictures from 2009 and noticed that I was much leaner back then.  A lot has changed in my training goals and priorities since then, requiring more carbs in my diet, so it wasn't a stumper to figure out why that happened. But it still happened and I still noticed.

I also got the wonderful news last week that I've decreased my body fat since the last time I measured it in November - woo hoo! And with the leaned-out-me pictures still on my mind, that got me in the mood to do some more fat loss.  So over the weekend I re-read Leigh Peele's sobering and highly informative e-book, The Fat-Loss Troubleshoot.

And that got me to thinking about the other books I rely on to keep me honest (and informed) about nutrition and how to make sure it works for you.  Remember, you can't out-train a bad diet so nutrition is absolutely the most important factor to consider when getting healthy. Exercise is proactive, not reactive. Do not exercise to compensate for bad nutrition! I will not feel sorry for you if you eat crap and wonder why you aren't getting anywhere in your fitness goals!

Anyway. The books.

1. The Fat-Loss Troubleshoot by Leigh Peele. Honest, informative, and technical. It takes the emotion and "it's not fair," out of figuring out how your body uses food, which you know is right up my alley.

2. The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler, Alwyn Cosgrove, and Cassandra Forsythe, PhD, RD. They also have a version for men. It's a great combination of information on training and eating for function.

3. YOU: On a Diet by Dr. Oz and that other guy.  Dr. Oz is a cheese-ball but this book saved my life. It is what got me started on clean eating back in the day and I still refer to it all the time. Buy two copies and give one to a friend.

4. Breaking Free from Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth. An oldie but goodie. Wow, this book changed my life in so many ways. 

Read! Learn! Apply! And..

good day. :)

Sustainability and Fitness? Why not?

Yesterday I talked at you about doing a gut-check on whether my fitness goals are achieved through sustainable activities that are developed based on my own personal success and failure lessons.  Today, I want to talk at you again about how we can make sure they are!

"Sustainability" is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, usually by a soft and gentle but kinda condescending voice telling us what new wonderful thing a big evil corporation is doing to be more energy efficient and convince us that they've cared about natural resources for years and years.  And that's cool.  But it can also be applied to our own lives and goals. 

For me, having sustainable fitness goals just means two things: being able to keep doing them without injury and learning from my successes and failures.  Ultimately, only my own actions are going to get me to my goal, right?  So I try to consult what I know about my typical actions before making any goals just so we're on the same page. 

Goals are temporary, but the things we do to reach them can be based in behaviors that are permanent.  So first off, I want my goal to be sustainable by making sure that I am doing things I can do forever: exercising on a regular basis, eating clean, and getting enough recovery time.  The mode of exercise may change, but the habit of getting regular exercise should not. What I eat will change, but the quality of my nutrition should not. The sleep thing is pretty non-negotiable. I need more.

Second, I want my goals to be sustainable by accepting my personal truths, which is a fancy way of what's gonna happen and what's not.  Taking an honest assessment of what's worked and what hasn't in the past helps me tweak my expectations and goals for greater success the next time around.  Call me superstitious, but if I've done something the same way three times to rave reviews, you can bet I'll do it again. The reverse is harder to accept but also true: if it hasn't worked at least twice, chuck it.  It doesn't matter if so-and-so loves it or your best friend swears by it. If it hasn't worked for you, it's out. 

For example, if you haven't successfully gotten to a morning exercise class in two months, register for one that you will realistically get to, even if all of your friends go to a different one. If you loathe running, don't sign up for a race, even if so-and-so keeps telling you how running is the best exercise to do.  This isn't about negative thinking about what you can't or won't do, it's about being realistic about what will work for YOU and what you will do!

In my world, its time to make some spring goals.  Join me in applying these ideas to your goals, too!  I hope you find them helpful and that your fitness goals are not only achieveable, but achieved.

Good day!

Hard Work = Success? Mostly!

Do you ever find yourself wondering why you're working so dang hard and not getting anywhere?  I do. Here's why: hard work doesn't translate to success. 

Nope, sorry!  Being a hard worker is admirable, but unless you're busting your butt on a good plan, it's just nice to know.  I get that reminder at least every few months when I ask myself why I'm so tuckered out but have only inched toward my health goals.  It's not that I'm not working hard enough, it's that what I am working so hard on isn't a good plan to begin with.

I'm notorious for maxing out on my energy every single day. I'm a real martyr that way, I love ending the day feeling like I sucked out every bit of life it had to offer.  What I'm not good at is recovering from all of that work.  So I end the day exhausted, then I wake up uber early to get a strong start on doing it all again, then I end the next day exhausted, and the cycle continues until I hit the wall, crash and burn, and wake up to my husband telling me he told me so.  That is not a good plan.

I'm also really good at forgetting that what works for one person isn't necessarily going to work for me.  Namely, splurge food moderation. Eating decadent food in moderation is a very sound way for 99.99999% of people to get well-balanced nutrition and have satisfaction in their diet. But I'm not that kinda girl. I try to give in and indulge in rich foods from time to time, but I suck at it every single time. It's not a good plan.

I'm also impatient.  When I set a goal and begin working on it, I want to see results immediately. Who doesn't?  But that makes it easy to fall into the trap of a get-slim-quick plan like fasting, crash dieting, or excessive cardio.  I do not do this, just so you know, and want you and everyone you know to stay far, far away from anything that sounds too good to be true.  Not a good plan.

So what is a good plan, then?  It's different for everyone. But when I feel like I'm spinning my wheels, I stop in my tracks and ask myself these questions:

1. Is what I am doing healthy in the long run? Translation: can it be sustained? Can I still be doing this in six months without turning into an angry and manic she-devil?

2. Am I staying true to my personal truths? Translation: am I expecting someone else's tried-and-true to work for me? Or am I applying my own experiential knowledge and learning from my own mistakes and successes?

More often than not, if I'm worn out but not getting anywhere, I've violated one or both of those rules. When I re-center myself on sustainable activities that are developed based on my own personal success and failure lessons, things get better right away.

Which is awsome, cause I like things to happen right away.

Some things never change. :)
 

Good day!

Half-Marathon: The Second Time's the Charm!

Ya know, it's amazing how much better you can run when you don't have a sinus infection and haven't just heard that your grandmother died. Those are the conditions under which I ran my first half in October, and it s-u-c-k-e-d.  I wasn't there mentally at all and my physical presence was only in the most literal sense.  When I crossed the finish line of that race, it was from sheer determination and because my sister shamed me into it. I was out for the count and felt like crap.

The second time was better to infinity and beyond!  The race was yesterday and not only did I feel great, the weather was phenomenal, the people were super-super, and my energy and health were right there with me.  I had the wonderful experience of running most of the race with a friend who was doing her first half (go Edie!), and saw so many other friends along the route including getting to "meet" one of my favorite local tweeps, @AHealthyJD, who was volunteering at a junction point.  It was so great to see her there and shout out a hello!  The feeling of community was definitely in high gear yesterday, and it made a big difference for me.

The run was flat, fast, and gorgeous. I felt like I was gliding over the pavement and sailed into the last bit of the race with energy to spare. I had a good strategy this time:

1. I wore compression socks, which did wonders for my sore calf muscles. I highly recommend them! I wore CEP brand socks and bought them at Capital City Runners. I am so not a bright pink girl, but my socks were the brightest pink you can find.  My eyes still hurt from looking at them.

2. I popped two Advil at mile 2 to prevent calf muscle inflammation later in my run. I have no clue if it did anything worthwhile but I'll probably do it again cause I'm superstitious that way.

3. I had a Lara bar in my fuel belt, broken into four pieces. I ate a piece and drank a bit of water at miles 6, 8, 10, and 12.  I don't eat Gu because of the artificial sugars and additives. 

4. I gave my husband a banana, a Lara bar, and a bottle of water to hold at the finish line in hopes of avoiding the blood sugar plummet I had at my last half.  It felt so good to have some good clean calories right away! 

My run was out of this world and I had a great race. Uber kudos to Gulf Winds Track Club for organizing the event, TroubleAfoot for covering it, friends at Boot Camps to Go and Tallahassee Society of Association Executives for cheering me on from the sidelines, and all of the great people on Twitter who made my day so wonderful with cheers and well wishes. 

Oh, I finished the race in 2:07:07, which is 11 minutes faster than my last half and three minutes faster than my goal time. woo hoo! I'm inching closer to the benchmark of completing a half in fewer than two hours...which is the point at which I'll consider doing a full marathon. Is NYC in my future?

In the meantime, I'm still grinning. And, yeah...thinking of a new goal. 

Any ideas?

Injury Prevention: Not just for muscles anymore

I've got a half marathon coming up on Sunday, and I've got a sore achilles tendon. So I've been resting a lot this week, which has made me feel kind of ornery and blobby. I don't like resting.


I also have a wonderful friend who sent me this helpful article on preventing common running injuries. It has some good examples of exercises you can do every day to strengthen the muscles that usually get hurt while running to prevent getting sidelined. I've already started doing some of them and I hope they work!


And thinking about muscle injury prevention made me start thinking about goal injury prevention, and the things I can do every day to protect my goals just like I should protect my muscles.  The same things that happen to our muscles - strain, overuse, or just bad form - can jeopardize our goals, so I came up with these strategies to keep myself in check:


1. Stretch, don't strain! Stretch goals motivate me because I like to challenge myself to do more. But creating too many unrealistic goals is just a good way to make sure you get a lot of things done just half-way and don't ever really achieve anything great for yourself. I have a tendency to make unrealistic goals in the hopes that they will motivate me to be more amazing, but really they just make me mediocre. I say go for a stretch goal! A stretch goal. Singular.


2. Don't overtrain!  Just like muscles, goals need a rest sometimes.  It can be liberating to go for a period of time without a goal, even. I usually last about five minutes in that environment, but I think it is important to give your brain and your body a rest. Once you've achieved a goal, just live in that success for a while before jumping right back into something new. A friend of mine once called it, "goal fatigue." Give your goals some more time in the spotlight before replacing them with something bigger and better!


3. Use good form! As you'll remember, effective goals are SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Action-based, Realistic, and Time-bound. Apply these criteria to any goals you make and it is really hard to go wrong.  This also applies to the environment you create for your goals to live in. Are you creating environments where you can thrive, or expecting your goal to rise above unrealistic circumstances? Are you going into each situation with a clear head and focused on a successful outcome or just hoping for the best?  


2011 is a year of excellence, I can feel it. My goals are coming true and yours can too! Just make sure to protect them, strengthen them, and keep them safe from injury.


Your brain is a pretty powerful muscle, too. Use it!


Good day

Superbowl Super Psych

The Superbowl is on Sunday which means two things:
1. 2011 is going by WAY too fast, and
2. Dip.

If you're going to a Superbowl party and don't have the metabolism of a 26 year-old running back, here are some ideas for how to make sure you score a nutritional touchdown:

Workout that morning!  I am running a half marathon on Sunday, but that's just me.  And no, that doesn't give me license to eat my body weight in chili cheese fries during the game.  Exercise will set your mind in a healthy, happy zone that will make you want to be healthier all day.  Remember, exercise is proactive, not reactive!

Read before you buy.  There are plenty of products out there that give you that "I'm being bad" feeling of junk food but don't junk up your body.  You can have chips, dips, and all manner of tailgating food without eating trans fats and preservatives.  I even saw healthified cheetos the other day! These products are usually hidden in a special "natural" section of the grocery store, though, which kind of makes me wonder why anyone shops in the unnatural section....but that's a different blog for a different day.

Don't assume that healthier means healthy. Just because something has better ingredients that doesn't mean it has fewer calories.  Even healthy food has calories and unless you are actually playing in the Superbowl, I am guessing you need to keep them in the 1,700- 2,500 range.  Monday does exist, after all.

Eat to live, don't live to eat.  The Superbowl is awesome, I love it!  But it is possible to watch the game without eating.  I know that might sound weird but I've done it before and lived to tell the story.  You can, too!  Drink a bottle of water for every sports cliche you hear during the game and I promise, you won't even have time to eat.

Make your Superbowl Sunday a winner!  Focus on the fun of the game instead of the food and you'll score a win-win.

(Hint: that was your first cliche)

How to Not Eat Crap

The new USDA Dietary Guidelines have been released, and what a shock, they're advising us to all stop eating so much junk.  Specifically, salt and sugar. I'm sure that next week Taco Bell, McDonald's, and all the others will unveil brand new menu items that are lower in salt and sugar, revealing what we've known all along but didn't want to admit:

It IS possible to eat healthy after all!  Whaaat?  I know, freaky! 

I know that for a lot of people, decreasing salt and sugar in food is scary because it means sacrificing taste.  And in a way, it does.  Food does taste different without salt and sugar. I think it tastes better, but that's probably because I've been doing it for so long that I've forgotten what crappy food tastes like until I eat it and feel sick. It was a serious adjustment at first. Salt was no biggie but sugar...woah. Sugar addiction is no joke and quitting it is HARD.  For real hard. Like, super difficult to the max. I am so not kidding.

But its really important and totally worth it.  Here's how to do it:

Stop eating processed foods.

I know, there should be more there.  There should be some kind of plan, right?  I could make one, but I'd just be fooling you.  The only way to cut your dependance on salt and sugar is to stop eating it.  It will suck really really bad at first.  Then it will be a little less sucky. Then it will become something you're glad you did. And after a few weeks, you will be building your soapbox and preaching on street corners about how you changed your life through clean eating. Or you'll start a blog, whatever.

The point is that the government has it right on this one - we need to eat better and the only way to do that is to eat better.  Here's the good news - your taste buds are like the honor society of your body. They're fast learners and they do their homework every single day!  They'll pick up really fast on the new and improved routine, they'll remember how great they felt when you fed them healthier food, and they'll begin to crave it after just a couple weeks.  So stop doubting them. They're smarter than you think.

Oh, and about those Taco Bell and McDonald's ads telling you about how suddenly their food is so healthy...they're just saying that so you'll buy it. 

Good day!