Can you really be healthy at any size?

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January is a great time to make new healthy goals for the year ahead. Apparently, its also a great time to make lots of excuses. Each January brings articles about how all those health goals are really just a waste because - great news! - you can be healthy and a couch potato, too! Articles like this one published last week:

Big Deal: You can be fit and fat

So can we really be healthy at any size? Fit and fat? Well, that depends on your definition of healthy.

The Healthy At Any Size campaign gets a lot of attention in January. Their website says: 

"Health at Every Size is based on the simple premise that the best way to improve health is to honor your body. It supports people in adopting health habits for the sake of health and well-being (rather than weight control). Health at Every Size encourages:

• Accepting and respecting the natural diversity of body sizes and shapes.
• Eating in a flexible manner that values pleasure and honors internal cues of hunger, satiety, and appetite.
• Finding the joy in moving one’s body and becoming more physically vital."

This is absolutely wonderful! Emotional health at any size is incredibly important, and as a wellness coach I get to help people achieve it every day. Learning how to follow internal hunger cues is vital to lifelong wellness. And enjoying exercise is a big part of making it a daily habit. But, often times this campaign is misinterpreted to mean abandoning attempts to lose and manage weight, and instead only focus on self-esteem, and this is where I start to get off board.

But did you notice my key word? Emotional health at any size is the key. Because here's the thing: yes, dieting is a problem, but fat is also a problem.

Read more about the hidden dangers of obesity.

I recently conducted a wellness program with a group where health as social responsibility came up as a conversation topic more than once. As I listened to a spontaneous discussion on the role we each have as members of society to maintain a healthy weight and body, I thought of our over-burdened health care system. So many of the health issues we face each day are related to diet and lifestyle. If those things changed, and we became healthier as a society, and we had less need for health care, how would that change our nation?

I've read many, many, many success stories of people who have lost tremendous amounts of weight. I've not found any that cited doing nothing as their strategy. No, there are plenty of accounts of starting daily walking routines, learning about nutrition, counting calories and measuring portions, finding supportive networks, making determined lifestyle changes, and putting a lot of hard work into changing their bodies. 

Yes, you can be overweight and strong. And yes, you can be overweight and aerobically fit. And, yes, you can be skinny as a rail and very unhealthy. Size is not the whole picture of health, but obesity is more than just the size of your body. Despite what some fat acceptance advocates say, obesity leads to heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, fertility issues, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, some cancers, and more. It is a problem, and you can deal with that and love yourself. 

I've been overweight, and I've dealt with the intense emotional issues that come with it. I've failed I don't know how many times at managing my weight; so many times that it became my life's work to succeed at it and help others do the same. But I am on the other side now because I didn't accept an unhealthy and unfit body as my 24/7. 

It was not easy. At times, it still isn't.

But managing my weight is about more than not being fat. I loved myself (myself, not my size) when I was a size 16, but that didn't make me healthy. I love myself at a size 4, too. And, I get the absolute joy of living in a hard-won healthy body every day. One that I shaped because I had the courage to admit that there was something better out there for me.

Let January be a month of positive steps towards a healthier body - physically and emotionally. Get out there and get healthy. You can love yourself at any size, but your health might still need some work. The good news is you can totally do it.

McDonald's doesn't give a crap about your health. But I do.

Today I'm all jazzed up about fast food.  Specifically, the new "healthier" options that are offered by McDonald's.  Please, please, please don't fall for this.  Fast food is rarely, if ever, healthy and always, consistently and without a doubt, cheap food designed for maximum profit.

You deserve better than that.

I had heard recently that McDonald's was selling "oatmeal," in its stores and even saw on Twitter where someone exclaimed that their oatmeal had more sugar than a Snickers bar. I never went to find out if that was true, but then a friend sent me this article that explained the whole story.  Reading it made me angry, then sad, then resigned to the fact that if you want to eat clean and you don't want to just eat fruits, vegetables, and meat you kill on your own, reading ingredients is a way of life.

Luckily, it's easy.  Here's how you do it:

1. Pick up the item you are considering eating.
2. Flip over the package to see the list of ingredients.  Not the food label.  The actual items used to make the product.
3. Look for two main things: the length of the list and the pronouncability of the words. The list should be short, and the words should be actual foods that you would find in your kitchen.
4. Decide whether those are things you want to eat.

You can go crazy trying to decipher what some ingredients are, and that's primarily why I stopped eating processed foods. I have enough crazy in my life!  I keep it simple and eat a lot of real foods: eggs, vegetables, fruits, natural meats, and for grain products I primarily buy from Food For Life and Barbara's Bakery, both of which are found at most grocery stores.

People tell me all the time that they don't have time to eat healthy or figure out what's healthy and what's not. That's insane. It takes absolutely no time and very little energy at all to realize that eating produce and lean meats is healthier than processed foods.  They just don't want to.

And that's fine.  Just don't go around believing that just because a company tells you their product is healthy that it actually is.  Read the ingredients and decide for yourself.

McDonald's doesn't care about your health.  I do. Listen to me instead. :)

Good day!

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!

Lessons from the Real Deal

Jack LaLanne, fitness guru and one of my personal heroes, died this week, leaving a legacy that should serve as an inspiration for anyone who wants to live a healthy life.  He lived a life of headlines, achieving feats of strength that make P90X look like Jazzercize. But he also left behind some lessons for the rest of us chumps. I've narrowed them down to four keys that anyone can apply for a healthier life.


1. Even the greats start somewhere. Until the age of 15, Jack LaLanne described himself as a sugarholic, addicted to junk food and headed down a path to obesity.  A lecture on nutrition and exercise served as a turning point in his life; he decided to focus on his diet and exercise habits, studied bodybuilding and weightlifting, and changed that path. It's a reminder to me that everyone starts somewhere and builds up.  You can start today.

2. Expect the impossible to happen. At the age of 61, Jack LaLanne swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge 20 feet underwater handcuffed, shackled, and towing a 2,000 pound boat. He swam, handcuffed, from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, CA. Towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida filled with 77 people for over a mile in less than 1 hour.  Seriously people, that's crazy!  But he did them, and he did it because he believed he could and he trained himself to be able to.  You can do crazy stuff too.

3. Keep your wits about you. I love catchy little sayings, and Jack LaLanne was full of them.  Some of the quips we say and hear every day are attributed to him, and show the positive, no-nonsense approach he took to being healthy. Some of my favorites:

• Anything in life is possible and you can make it happen.
• Your waistline is your lifeline.
• Exercise is King, nutrition is Queen, put them together and you’ve got a kingdom.
• People don’t die of old age, they die of inactivity.
• First we inspire them, then we perspire them.
• If man makes it, don’t eat it.
• It’s not what you do some of the time that counts, it’s what you do all of the time that counts.
• Eat right and you can’t go wrong.

4. Eat clean. Just eat clean!  I like to say that you can't out-train a bad diet, and I think that Jack would totally high-five me on that one. I can't say it enough: stop eating junk. Please, seriously, it is by far the most important thing you can do TODAY for your health.

Take a lesson from the original - pick your favorite and apply it to your life today. Like, now. :)

What's not in my suitcase

So yesterday I packed up my suitcase for 2011. I'm ready to go!  I've got all of my positive people, influences, data, and energy that I'll need next year. But there are some things that didn't make the cut.  Here's what I am leaving behind in 2010:

1. Competitiveness. I am competitive, and not always in a good way.  I want (and sometimes need) to feel like I am the best at everything, and if I suspect that someone is taking my title from me, I get stressed out and anxious.  There are times when being competitive has served me well and helped me achieve goals I wasn't sure I would reach, but I've felt this year like being so focused on being the absolute best has been a detriment to me. I've learned that sharing the spotlight is fun, and I've been warmed by the glow of others. It was weird at first but over time I've gotten more comfortable. I want to leave the nasty side of my competitive spirit in 2010.

2. Jealousy. When you compete, you're constantly sizing up the competition. And when they're better than you, well, jealousy is not far behind.  But I loathe feeling jealous and I want to stop. The intense feelings of happiness that I've experienced this year by taking a back seat has convinced me that there is no more room for jealousy in my suitcase. It's out.

3. Negative self-talk. Body image haunts so many women, and I'm one of them. It's hard sometimes to look in the mirror, see my imperfections, and not feel driven to change them.  But I'm learning that if I want my body to be a partner with me in wellness, I need to be nicer to it. I would never say to a friend what I have said to myself; why would my body want to work with me if I treat it like garbage?  So I am going to leave negative self-talk in 2010.

4. Doubt. I did things in 2010 that I wasn't sure I could do...and they were easy. I did my first triathlon, and I completed my first half-marathon.  Looking back, it seems silly to have doubted that I could achieve those things. I don't see a need for doubt in 2011.

I grew up in 2010. It was an amazing year of growth and the emotional transformation has been immense.  Saying goodbye to these things that used to be part of each day isn't just a symbolic exercise for me...it's a tear-jerking realization that as I snap closed my 2011 suitcase, I truly have everything I need and nothing - NOTHING - can stop me.

Goodbye 2010.  You were awesome.

But I have to go.

A Little Perspective for Thursday

Liposuction and diet pills.

Just sayin'.

A little perspective for your workout today.

:)

Fingers Crossed for Fall

Not me, just so we're clear.

I don't want to jinx anything, but this morning when I opened my door to head out for my boxing workout, it didn't feel like a sauna. 

That was weird.  Really weird.

It felt...nice.  Almost cool.  Okay, cool for a southerner.

And then when I dropped my son off at school, it was breezy.  I wasn't sweating.  It is August, right?

I am hoping against hope that fall is on the way.  Running inside on a treadmill is messing with my head, man, and I can't wait for some lower temperatures to coax me out onto the pavement.  That back-to-school feeling is in the air and I for one am ready to start seeing some jack-o-lanterns on my morning run.

And, I am hoping for nice, non-humid, weather for my friend Edie, who is competing in her first triathlon this weekend!  GO GIRL!  You are going to be great!

Fingers crossed for fall!  I'm guessing this is just a tease on Mother Nature's part, but I'll take it.

What's your favorite outdoor workout for cooler weather?

This is how to finish a race

It's the weekend, and you know what that means: its a race to the finish between you and your head games.  So, when it's Saturday night and that second (or third or fourth) glass of wine is making it really hard to remember why you decided to stop eating brownies, I want you to think about this video and how you want to start Monday morning.

(hint: that would be without a food hangover)

The good people at Triumph Triathlon (on Twitter @triumphtri) posted it on Twitter this morning and reminded me that Friday is the starting gun on the big race between me and my metabolism.  Thanks guys! I have a plan to make it to Monday, do you?

Stalking the UPS Man

I am so so so so so so so SOOOOOOO excited!  My GoWear Fit is arriving today, which I know because my minute-by-minute tracking of the package on Amazon.com tells me that as of 5:29 am today, it is on the truck and scheduled for delivery.  I can't believe I didn't take the day off so I could play with it right away. 

OMG I AM SO EXCITED!

GoWear Fit is a nifty little gadget that monitors (within some relative range of error of course, which I will ultimately ignore) all of your body's functions throughout the day.  Well, all the ones that I wonder about anyway.  So throughout the course of a day, it will measure your approximate calorie burn, changes in heart rate, and even your sleep patterns. At the end of the day, you can plug it into your computer and upload the data to determine your overall calorie burn throughout the day and whether you need more or less activity, how to better time your nutrition, and if your sleep quality is adequate for your goals.  I've been skeptically researching its value and accuracy since I first learned of it back in December, but after reading enough reviews and convincing myself that I deserve something pretty, I decided that the GoWear Fit will be the perfect addition to my obsessive-compulsive lifestyle. 

I've already informed my husband that I am going to be out of pocket for a while as I charge it up, install the software, and figure out how it works exactly, which ironically, I will need my husband to "help" me do (read: do for me as I impatiently stand by).  But it's okay, I think he is ready for a break from listening to me go on and on about how excited I am about it and updating him on the progress of the UPS man as he brings my little darling closer to me. I wonder if I could call the UPS man and ask what time he is going to be at my house.  Would that be creepy?  

Anyway, for all of you know-me-in-real-life types who are asking, "Heather, isn't this the LAST thing that a neurotic, fitness-obsessed, control-freaky data-analyzing over-achiever (not that there's anything wrong with that) like you needs?  Won't it just make you even crazier? Won't this just send you over the edge into a pit of potentially-flawed information that will ultimately drive you insane?"

I thought about that. And, it is a risk I am willing to take in the name of science.

Be sure to get your hopes up!

People, come on. It is NOT that hard.

You know, sometimes I get so mad when I see what some people eat these days that I just want to cry, especially when they do so while making excuse after excuse for why it just isn't realistic to eat healthier. It seems like these days everyone is on the childhood obesity bandwagon, but not nearly as many people are doing what it will take to change the health of our country and reverse the dangerous trend we are in: eat healthier.

Just freaking do it, people. It is NOT that hard. Stop buying crap and stop feeding it to your kids! Stop talking about it, stop blaming food manufacturers or marketing companies or the school system and just EAT HEALTHIER FOOD.

DO IT!!!

Each week, new studies come out with the shocking (not) news that Americans are fat and are immediately followed with editorials and blogs about how yeah, we're fat and all, but its just not realistic to think that we wouldn't be what with all the salt and sugar that is packed into our foods. It's not our fault, it's the food's fault for making us fat.

Hmmm. I'm an American and I'm not fat. Weird. I eat food all day long. I buy my food at the grocery store with all the fat people. It's so strange that I manage to maintain a healthy body while its unrealistic for other people with access to the same resources to do it.

This morning I heard a report about the rising levels of salt and sugar in processed foods, which featured a mother expressing how her kids "wouldn't" eat Shredded Wheat, so she compromises with frosted Shredded Wheat. Shredded Wheat covered in sugar. Is healthy. For her kids.

How about we compromise in a different way, mom? How about 1/2 shredded wheat and 1/2 frosted this week. Then next week add fewer frosted pieces. Then add some strawberries the next week for sweetness. Then omit the frosted pieces altogether. Give your kids some credit, mom. They deserve better than lazy "compromises" when it comes to the bodies they will live in for the rest of their lives. They may throw a fit today about how you're the meanest mom in the world and they're never going to eat again; my kid does that too, right before I remind him that I am #1 Mom in Charge and I love him too much to let him eat that crap for breakfast. He gets over it. We move on.

I don't think I am just being dramatic - a report released this week shows that American kids are too fat to serve in the military. More and more children are entering the first grade pounds overweight, indicated by a Journal of the American Medical Association's report that 16.9% of American children are obese. Not overweight. OBESE.

I shop at the same grocery store as the fat people. I just buy different food. I don't feel angry about it, I don't feel cheated, I don't feel restricted, and I don't feel like I am being punished.

Quite the opposite, actually. I feel happy. I feel like I'm ahead of the pack. I feel free. I feel like every day is a reward, because my body and I are working as a team.

I did feel angry, cheated, restricted, and punished when I was overweight, though.

Weird.

About-Face

I'm a little bit known for being a motormouth.

I just blab all day long to anyone who will listen about whatever is on my mind, completely oblivious to the non-verbal "please stop" cues from people around me until its too late and I have already said too much. I embarrass my husband at parties, reveal waaaaay too much information, and typically work under the (usually false) assumption that everyone is on the edge of their seats to hear the thrilling conclusion to my story of the time my...well, never mind. That's not the point.

Usually this is fine, except on mornings like today, when I end up making this big statement, and then taking it back a few hours later. For example, this morning while I was standing around at the gym putting of doing more jump squats, I announced to the general population that I was contemplating taking a break from running for a while. I've been forcing it the last few weeks, and my runs have been pretty...crappy. At first I thought it was my old shoes, so I got new ones. I thought I needed a new route, so I ran one. I considered a new, peppier playlist, so I downloaded one. But no, I just wasn't that into running. So I took a break for a week and figured I'd enjoy it more after a few days off.

I didn't.

In fact, I wasn't even looking forward to running. I was just plain old burned out, finding myself craving long bike rides and not minding being on the elliptical instead of out in the fresh air soaking in endorphins. When I entered my third week of not wanting to run, I started to feel bothered...and a little guilty. I've worked hard at running for a long time, and I've just recently started to get better at it. Plus, let's get our priorities straight here, I really like how running makes my legs look. My gut was telling me that I needed a real break, longer than a week. But I'll admit that I was afraid of what that might mean. After all, there's a fine line between a running break and a running lapse, and an even finer line between a running lapse and me turning into Bitch Supreme.

But then I heard myself say it: "I think I am going to take a little break from running." It was out there. And once the words were out I the little panic voice in my head immediately wanted to go for a run. But, I didn't. I promised myself three weeks off, and if I wasn't ready to run by then I would check myself in for psychotherapy.

It was a little scandalous, not running. It felt a little like a vacation, having given myself permission to purposely ignore what has been a fundamental part of my workout for years. I did different cardio instead; I watched "Sober House" on the elliptical. That was interesting.

And then, a few hours later, I clicked on a link someone tweeted to see live coverage of the women running the Boston Marathon. I was pretty captivated. Not only did these women make running a marathon look effortless, they made my piddly little 3-mile morning runs seem like a trip to the mailbox. I watched their legs stretch ahead of them and then propel them forward, over and over and over and over, and became hypnotized by it. And then it clicked. I wasn't tired of running 3 miles a day, I was done running 3 miles a day. I wasn't tired of running, I was bored with it. I do need a break, but not a break from running. I need a break from running like a robot.

So half-marathon training it is. The beatings will continue until morale improves? Yeah, that's kind of how I roll. I'll take my three weeks off, and then it is game on. Thanksgiving Day, my first 15k.

Gulp. Anyone know of a good Couch to 15k podcast? :)