Intentional Health: Tracking Progress!

One of my favorite bosses once said something that stuck with me: you can manage what you can measure. He was talking about marketing campaigns, but it applies to so much more. Since this week is all about intentional wellness, what better way is there to intentionally live healthy than to collect and track data?  For today we're going to let the answer be, "none!" :)

There are plenty of ways that we could get all compulsive about our health, micromanaging it down to the point where we're so stressed that we forget that being healthier is supposed to make us happier. I don't recommend that. Instead, let's focus on two of the biggies: what goes in and what goes out. I'm talking about calories, just so we're clear.

First, the calories that go in. For years I collected stacks of little spiral notebooks where I had logged my meals, and then I found http://www.fitday.com/ and started logging my meals online. Way easier. Keeping a food journal is not only a proven technique for permanent weight loss management, but it provides both data and accountability, two of the other tools in my healthy tool chest.  When I find myself out of synch, I check the log and look for clues. Have I been eating the same thing for too long? Have I been eating out more often? Or even worse, are there are few days in a row when I *gulp* haven't written anything down? If you're accurate in your log, you should have the data you need to solve the mystery and get back on track. I'll also refer back to it to see what I'm doing right. When I want to go back to a place where I remember feeling better, I flip (or click) back to that date and check to see what my fuel was like back then. I'll give you a hint: it's usually spinach.  Planning and logging your food is a great way to use intention to have a healthy day.

Second, the calories that come out. Yesterday I gave you the formula for determining how many calories you need to take in and/or burn to lose or maintain weight, but my favorite tool for tracking this is my GoWearFit.  I seriously love this thing. I bought it a year ago and while I haven't been wearing it since I've been pregnant, I am planning to pop that sucker on the second this baby is out. Not only does it track your calorie burn and provide tons of awesome data for you to manage it, it also reveals your sleep patterns, breaks down your macronutrients, and more. Once you enter in your meals, it tells you whether you're on a weight gain or loss trend. Seriously, it cannot be easier.  Get one.

Living intentionally well simply means doing something every day to move closer to health. Recording the actions you take to do just that.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and get healthy!

My Favorite (Healthy) Things

Oprah's not the only one who can have favorite things, yo.  And even though I will go to my grave arguing that "My Favorite Things" is not a Christmas song, I will jump on the bandwagon and use it as a catchy phrase.  I know, I'm part of the problem.

Anyway, if you're shopping for healthy-minded folks (including yourself) this holiday season, here are some of my must-haves for a healthy 2011. 

1. A good kitchen scale. Being healthy means being accountable to yourself for what goes in your body.  I weigh pretty much every stinkin thing that I eat because my metabolism is just that stubborn and I am just that much of a pain in the butt. Without my digital kitchen scale I would be a take-no-prisoners manic nutcase and that is no lie.  I like mine (see pic) because it folds up and fits in my purse. Yes I take it places with me.  This is wellness without pity, people. Not wellness when you feel like it. 

2. Good fitness shoes.  After years of buying running shoes because they were cute in the store, because I had a coupon, or because they were orange, I finally went and got fitted for shoes like a grown-up.  I went to Capital City Runners where they have this pad you stand on that shows on a screen how you pronate, where your weight is balanced in your feet, etc. and a treadmill hooked up to a video camera so they can evaluate your running stride. I don't know if all of the technical mumbo-jumbo actually resulted in a scientific reason to get different shoes, but I do really love the shoes I bought as a result and have been injury and fatigue-free since, even though they are not orange.  Good shoes cannot be beat! 

3. GoWearFit. You know how much I love my little enabler.  I love it even more since I bought the display piece that shows my calorie burn in real time.  The GoWearFit is more than just a neat-o fitness gadget, it's data gold.  In the six months that I've worn mine, it has earned its $200 price tag time and time again - not only do I get an intense satisfaction from seeing the data attached to my workouts, it provides a calm peace of mind in that I have taken out 99% of the guess-work related to maintaining and improving my fitness.  I only estimate 99% so I don't piss off God.  He has been known to smite me when I get too cheeky.

4. YOU: On a Diet by Dr. Oz and that other guy. There have been like three versions of this book printed since I first read it eons ago, but the fundamentals don't change - eat clean, eat clean every day, and eat clean.  Seriously, eating clean, unprocessed, healthy foods (note: not all clean food is healthy, just eat the healthy ones) is the #1 most important all-time best thing you can do for your health.  This book explains in layman's terms, and with corny jokes and illustrations, how and why.  Buy it for yourself, buy it for a friend, buy it for your office.  And then actually read it, and then actually do it.

Okay, that's enough. We don't want to get greedy! I hope you have a fabulously healthy day!

See you soon!

Turkey Trot Success!

Well let me tell you, there's nothing quite so thrilling as peeing in the woods to make a Turkey Trot memorable.  Thanks, gents, for making your arrival known to me before we became much better acquainted!


I set a goal going into the 15k Trot of 1:33, and by my watch I finished at 1:33:16. Not bad considering I spent about a minute and a half de-tangling myself from a sticker bush and finding a nice big oak tree to pee behind around mile three! I don't know what this thing is with having to go during races, but I am so over it. Not cool, bladder. It was funny the first time but we're not doing that again.  Please make a note of it.  


Thank you.


Anyway, Thanksgiving was a low-key affair for me. As you know, I am not a big fan of the eating holidays; they're just mine fields for overdoing it in the name of sentimentality.  So I kept all of my Turkey Tips in mind and made it a really healthy day: a nice long run and lots of clean eats including a big Thanksgiving salad full of spinach, turkey, unsweetened dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts. I planned on making my healthy pumpkin pie, but decided to skip it.  My husband doesn't really care for pie, I could live without it, and I didn't want a whole pie sitting around, so I considered it a sign from the Turkey Gods that I just was not meant to gain a pound this Thanksgiving. Thank you, Turkey Gods!  I was rewarded with a nice calorie deficit this morning according to my GoWear Fit. A deficit of 29 calories, but hey I am so counting that as a victory.  Take THAT Thanksgiving!


And now Christmas is rushing towards us like a steam engine.  That means it's time to kick things into high gear!  Over the next month, I'll be here with tips, workouts, recipes, and more to help make your holiday a healthy one.  Starting off - my Black Friday workout at Boot Camps to Go.  


I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  Now wake up!  Naptime is over! 


The holidays are here!