Simple September: Getting back to basics.

I love being healthy, and I love being the bearer of healthy goodness. But sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. In this case, I am feeling some negative information overload!

Do this workout! 

Eat this superfood!

No, eat THIS superfood! It's way better!

Combat poor body image! Love yourself as you are!

But you could have flatter abs - get your butt moving, slacker!

Sometimes it feels like a competition to see who can be healthier:

"I make everything from scratch, no artificial ingredients in my kitchen!"

"I grow my own food! My family dines each night on my culinary masterpieces and my breakfast smoothie cures cancer."

"I did 100 burpees before dawn and then ran 10 miles in the snow!"

And then we have to fight corporate America, too: petitioning against GMOs, calling out companies with misleading labels, investigating the moral high ground of the local farms that raise the livestock that we eat, and lobbying for government policies to keep junk food and soda out of schools.

To be honest, even as a healthy do-gooder, it can get kind of annoying. When it starts to feel like the bossiness of Facebook and Pinterest and Twitter, all shouting commands at us to be this or feel that start to get on my nerves, I scale it back.

Get back to basics.

www.freedigitalimages.net 
Image by winnond.

Remember that sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is to tune out.

Living a healthy life doesn't have to be - and shouldn't be - a contest. It doesn't have to be anything other than getting some exercise and eating simple foods. It doesn't have to be a cute, trendy workout you found on Pinterest or a meal comprised of super foods you learned about on Facebook. A healthy life is just one in which you are well-rested, happy, physically active, and fueled with nutritious food.

It's been getting pretty loud in my world lately, so I've turned down the volume. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of food labeling, the absence of an interest by our government in a healthy population, junk food in schools, and the dangers of childhood obesity, I am going to spend the next month seeking the positive in simple health. I hope you'll join me as we rediscover how enjoyable wellness can be when we turn down the volume and just live healthy lives.

Welcome to September! A new season. Get out there and get healthy today, all by yourself. 

Vision Boards: Get out your glue!

Time to break out the scissors and glue!

Vision: it's what separates the wannabes from the "holy cow, look what I dids" in the world. I like being in the second category so I vision a lot.  I've shared with you the five attributes of a vision, and hope they've gotten you on the way to creating one of your own. Now it's time for a little arts and crafts: making your own vision board.


Don't roll your eyes!  Vision boards are seriously effective! Think about it - from the time we're children until way past when we should have started acting like adults, we doodle on paper about what we would rather be doing.  When I was a kid, I would doodle myself into nirvana,  where I was in total flow and living a life beyond my wildest expectations.  Now that I'm a bona-fide grown-up, that kind of behavior is actually helpful to my life, rather than back then when it mostly just landed me in my teacher's disapproving gaze.  Visioning was not part of the Louisiana public education system in 1986.


I truly 150% believe that we attract everything in our lives to us, either through positive or negative energy. It's true and I will fight you in the parking lot over it. But I'll admit, I was skeptical about how much of a difference going through the actual process of making a vision board would make until I did it and felt the power radiating from it.  Once you experience it, you'll never go back to just thinking about things again.


You can Google "make a vision board," and get all kinds of examples and instructions, and I encourage you to do that. But, making a vision board is really just transporting yourself back to the 5th grade and making a collage. It's really a very simple concept can can be incredibly relaxing, especially since by the end you're so pumped up about your life that you have energy for days.  


Here's what you'll need: a poster board, some glue sticks, scissors, a bunch of magazines, a bottle of water, and some alone time.  The water is just for drinking. Hydration is super important in this heat, yo.


1. First, center your mind, take some deep breaths, and relax.  Then, get to flipping. Depending on where you are with your vision, the process of looking for pictures that inspire you can take a few different paths.  Some people make a list of what they're looking for, and others just browse until something jumps out at them.  I'm a combination. I know what I'm looking for, but I'm not opposed to being surprised by what I'm attracted to.  KInd of like finding a husband.


2. Tear out every picture that you like, and then start organizing and prioritizing. This is crucial - you don't want to cast your net too wide. Remember, this will end up being a tool for focusing you energy later on, so be picky to avoid wasting your energy on something you aren't passionate about. The images, words, and symbols that you end up with should feel robust, but also be as specific as possible. If you have a goal of jumping over a hurdle, as I once did, look for a picture of someone clearing a hurdle that is as close to what your visualized experience will be. Organize however you'd like; this is your vision board, not your mother's. Forget about anyone else's dreams for you and get all self-centered about it!


3. Then, start pasting. This is the anxiety-ridden part for me because I am a perfectionist and don't want to regret where I glued something after it's there. Maybe I need to find a picture of some "get over it" and add that to my board. Anyway, vision boards don't have to be glued on a poster. They can be tacked to bulletin boards, taped to white boards, or stuck on with magnets. But I like the symbolism of glue; it feels more permanent and meaningful.


4. Once you're done, sit back and soak it in.  Let the emotion and magnitude of your vision wash over you. Seriously, I've shed a few tears over my vision board when I was actually able to feel the power of what I was going to set out to do. Place it somewhere prominent, where you will have an opportunity to meditate on it every day. 


The most important thing to remember is that making a vision board is a personal process so don't worry too much about following the rules. Just ensure that it is about you, it's specific to your dreams, and that it represents the vision you created for your life.


Spend some time this weekend flipping through magazines and seeing what attracts your attention. If you need help, let me know; I'm glad to do it! 


Have a wonderful day! Get out there and get healthy!

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?

Champion of Change: Intention

We've come to the final champ of the Champions of Change!  I think this one is the opposite of the no-brainer: it's your brain. You have to decide to make change in your brain. You have to have intention.

So many people say they want to change their lives for the healthier, but what they really want is what every diet commercial tells them they can have: the benefits of change without really having to change.  Has that ever really happened?  Real change requires real change, plain and simple. If you don't do anything different, nothing different will happen.

What is it they say about the definition of insanity?

A good friend of mine commented the other day about intention, in a conversation we were having about - what else? - personal wellness and what it takes to maintain it in an instant gratification society.  There are so many opportunities in our daily lives to stray away from the changes we want to make and go back to unhealthy habits.  But, she said, you really have to decide to change.  That's where we came up with the image of "babysitting your brain."  Sometimes you have to sit on your own shoulder and babysit your brain to keep it from doing stupid stuff.

See, our brains are smart, but they're stubborn and pampered.  They're used to getting their own way.  Kind of like toddlers!  Toddlers are smart, but they're stubborn, pampered, and used to getting their way. And what happens when a toddler doesn't get their way?  Oh yeah. They throw a fit.  They throw themselves on the floor, kick and pound their fists, cry and scream, and carry on until we give in and give up.

Does this sound like a brain you know?

Brain: I want to sleep more.
You: No, we're getting up to exercise.
Brain: But this bed is so cozy! I don't wanna!
You: Yes, that's what we're doing today. Lying in bed made us flabby and sluggish. We're going to feel good today.
Brain: NO NO NO NO NO NO!  YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!  I DON'T LIKE THIS!

And so on.  If you are persuing your goals without intention to change, this is where you may give in: "okay, fine, but we're working out tomorrow and this time I really mean it."  Brain is happy. You not so much. Brain learns that it doesn't really have to change if it throws a big enough fit.

But if you have intention - that is the decision to make changes no matter what - then this is where you pull the brakes on your brain's temper tantrum and put it in the time-out chair until your workout is done.  You intended to make change, and you made it. And because your brain is so smart, it begins to catch on that things are going to change around here and it better start being nicer.  Before you know it, your brain becomes your partner.

Does that make sense?  You went into the situation as the grown-up, intending to be in control and sticking to your guns despite the roadblocks your brain threw in front of you. 

Intention means deciding to change. 

Try it.

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.

Raise Your Hand if You're a Not-Skinny Runner

One of the benefits of running in a group is the extra accountability, but an even greater one is the extra perspective.  A couple weeks ago, as I ran through the wee hours of the morning with a new friend, we launched into a conversation about - what else? - body image, body dysmorphia, and the societal stereotypes and expectations of women in fitness.  Chief among them was our annoyance with the perception that a woman involved in a sport should automatically display the body of a supermodel.

It's just isn't so, friends. 

Plenty of women (and men, mind you) who are physically active on a regular basis have bodies that fall far from the waif category.  I'm one of them.  I work my butt off in the gym and eat super clean, but I still have the mom bod.  It's a muscular, strong, and fit mom bod that I am proud of, but my body has always been more utilitarian than bombshell.  I'm not fishing for a compliment, it's just true! 

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that sometimes I'm ashamed that I am surprised when I see not-visibly-fit people out at races, or read about the workouts of my friends on Facebook, or sit in awe at the distances run by women who don't look like they should be able to do that. I'm human, and I am just as guilty of the "SHE'S a RUNNER?!" reaction as you are.  Come on, you think it too.  


But let's evolve, friends.  Raise your hand if you're an athlete in a non-athletic body. 

My lack of bombshellness is something you will just have to come to grips with, people.  If you don't like it, kindly avert your eyes to Faces of Beauty, the section of a fabulous food blog focused on women in their most beautiful state - perfectly natural - that inspired my challenge to you. 

This is me as an athlete in a regular-person bod.  

Send me your pic, too. heather @ wellnesswithoutpity (dot) com. 

Let's see what we can do to change some perceptions, shall we?

Back to School Brain Food

It's back to school time!  Pretty soon my Facebook page will be filled with picture of my friends' kids, smiling on the front porch, backpack and lunch sack in hand.  At least, I hope they'll have a lunch sack!  Before you send your kids off to school to feed their little genius brains, stock them up with some food that will actually help them learn.

You know I love the concept of functional food.  When I was in school I would actually research what kinds of food would be best to eat before a test, following a hunch that there had to be a connection between the energy my brain had to work off of and the ability of it to function at high capacity.  It was also a good compensation for not studying.  I was a terrible student and needed all the test-taking help I could get!  My cringe-worthy PSA-style video on the same subject is probably now at the bottom of a dusty pile of VHS archives in my high school.  I still remember the manager of the local grocery store kicking me and a friend out for attempting to videotape her holding a piece of fish.  Fish is brain food, btw.

So I really enjoy putting together my son's lunch for school and include foods that are high in antioxidants like berries and spinach.  Yes, he eats the spinach. I also include mac and cheese or homemade pizza.  It makes me feel good that I'm doing something to create an environment condusive for learning, and since my child is a genius it is obviously working. HA! :)

But while I always knew that antioxidant-rich foods like dark-colored greens and fruits were healthy, I didn't really understand why that was.  This video really sums it up and drives home why a lunchable and pudding cup are more sabotage than treat for your little Einstein.

Good day!

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?

New Flash: Sugar Not Good for Kids

I read yesterday that Nestle is removing from bottles of the kid's drink BOOST the claim that it helps prevent the cold and flu.  I have to say I am SHOCKED.  I mean, the packaging of this product clearly states that it is a Kid Essential with Immunity Protection! Surely there must be a mistake.  yes I am being sarcastic.

So I went and googled the ingredients of the drink right away.  When I saw the following list for the chocolate flavor, I decided the recall should be expanded to include the warning, "FYI this product will probably eventually kill your child." 

I've highlighted the ones that I would actually feed my kid:


WATER, SUGAR, MALTODEXTRIN, FRUCTOSE, SODIUM CASEINATE (MILK), HIGH OLEIC SUNFLOWER OIL, SOYBEAN OIL, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, MEDIUM CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDES, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CALCIUM CASEINATE AND LESS THAN 0.5% OF CALCIUM PHOSPHATE TRIBASIC, CELLULOSE GEL, POTASSIUM CITRATE, SOY LECITHIN, MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE TRIBASIC, CHOLINE CHLORIDE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM CHLORIDE, CARRAGEENAN, ASCORBIC ACID, CELLULOSE GUM, TAURINE, M-INOSITOL, ALPHA TOCOPERYL ACETATE, FERROUS SULFATE, ZINC SULFATE, NIACINAMIDE, L-CARNITINE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, VITAMIN B6 HYDROCHLORIDE, THIAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE, COPPER GLUCONATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, RIBOFLAVIN, BHA/BHT (TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS), VITAMIN A PALMITATE, BETA CAROTENE, FOLIC ACID, BIOTIN, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, SODIUM SELENITE, VITAMIN K1, VITAMIN D3, VITAMIN B12.

Look, I'm no doctor, but I do have a kiddo of my own.  95% of the stuff he eats is clean, natural, from the earth, and easily accessible from stores.  My kid has never had to take antibiotics, has not been home sick from school in at least a year, and is at a healthy body weight.  I probably just jinxed all of that by posting it here but I have to think at least some of those things are linked to the quality of his nutrition. 

So attention residents of reality: use your (whole grain) noodle! Don't feed your kids crap unless you want them to feel like crap. 

Rant done. Thank you for your time. :)

This is a joke, right?

You know, sometimes I think the world is just messing with me.

Yesterday, as I was standing in the line at Wal-Mart trying to keep from slowly going insane, someone pressed the fast-forward button. An abandonded cart sat nearby, and I swear when I looked at it I thought someone must had planted it there.


But no. It was real. A few minutes after I snapped this picture, the owner returned and pushed it away.

Yes, that would be a ginormous tub of cheese-puffs, four bottles of Hershey's chocolate, a box of Blue Bonnet butter, two packages of Chips Ahoy cookies, two gallons of whole milk, and a liter of soda. What you can't see behind the milk is the two packages of balogna and - I swear to God - pixie stix. I mean, come on! This HAS to be a joke, right? No one is actually buying this stuff, taking it home, and eating it.

Okay.  Yes, I judge people's shopping carts before I can stop myself.  I'll admit it. But rarely do people make it this easy for me to jump into my holier-than-thou routine. I have to applaud this woman for her determination, though. It is obvious that she is hell-bent on ignoring every piece of evidence, research, experiential knowledge, and societal pressure in existence in her quest to be the poster child for why the rest of the world hates America.

Either that or she is planning one heck of a sorority Hell Night.

Your Elliptical is Lying to You

Hey, pssst! Come here.  I gotta tell you something.  You know that little screen on your elliptical machine, the one that tells you how many calories you burned?  It's a lie.  It's all a lie! 

I've always known that those little calories-burned estimators on treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc. were inaccurate.  Even if you type in your weight and your age and whatnot, it's just an estimate based on a lot of assumptions.  But still, it feels really good to see  "YOU BURNED 450 CALORIES!" on the little screen at the end of a sweaty workout, doesn't it?  Yeah, I like it too. 

It's kind of like getting a sympathy compliment on a really bad haircut.  You know it's not true, but it still feels nice to hear it.

That's why I was kinda bummed out to learn when I plugged in my handy little GoWearFit after a workout that I was only burning half of what I estimated.  I knew I wasn't exactly a furnace, but it was a numbing reality check to see that for the time I put in, the burn was less than thrilling.

So - what I've learned about myself from my GoWearFit this week:  it really does take an hour of hard cardio a day to burn enough calories to maintain my weight.  Sorry folks.

I guess an hour a day keeps the pounds away!  So....what are you doing still reading this?  Get moving! :)

Good day!

The Leftovers Mom

I read once that a major contributor to the weight that women gain (or haven't lost) after having kids is due to eating food off of their kids' plates, and I believe it.  I am a victim of it myself!  After reading The Fat Loss Troubleshoot and getting a black and white reminder that I need to weigh, not just measure but WEIGH IN GRAMS, my food to get an accurate picture of calories in versus calories out, I am realizing just how much of a habit this has become for me.

My kid eats healthy food.  I mean, its not like his leftovers are Cocoa Krispies and chicken nuggets.  But, as I've said before, even healthy food has calories.  Even tomatoes have to be burned into fuel and that means they have calories. I keep a food journal, but do you think I write down those blueberries I tossed in my mouth before putting some on his plate?  What's a few blueberries, right? And that spoonful of his oatmeal to make sure it isn't too hot? Pshaw!  Scooping up his uneaten broccoli at dinner to prove a point about how they are sooooo goooood that I just want to eat it allllll day long...well, veggies are "free," right?

Not right.

The more I read about people whose fat loss is sabotaged by these seemingly harmless nibbles, the more I started to do the math in my head and realized that I am likely eating on average 300-500 more calories in an entire day than I realize.  Uh oh. Damn it!

So I pulled that digital kitchen scale out of the cabinet and got to work.  I usually only weigh meat and cheese because they are more calorie dense than fruits and vegetables, and figure I don't need to worry about produce as much.  I was very relieved to find that for the most part, my guesstimated portions were right on the money or close to it, and now that I have nixed the kiddo-plate-nibbles, my actual consumption and my http://www.fitday.com/ profile are a little more in agreement.

But to be sure, I went a little overboard with the ziplocks this week and measured every single morsel. To the gram.  It's always good to get a refresher on reality.

And in the meantime, I am making smaller portions for my picky prince.  Hey, no sense in all that good food going to waist.

Good day! :)

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!

My Crummy Ideas

You know when you get to the end of a box of cereal and all you have left are the crumbs?  What do you do with those crumbs?  Throw them out, right? Well, if you're me, you carefully sift them through a colandar and save them in a ziplock...because they are a great source of homemade breadcrumbs!

It all started back when my brother and I were trying to perfect my black bean and turkey burger recipe. They were way too mushy, and I knew I needed breadcrumbs but just could not bring myself to use commercial breadcrumbs made with inferior ingredients.  Then one day, as I was tossing out an empty box of flax flakes (to which I add pure raisins for my own version of raisin bran), I saw the crumbs. 

Eureka!

I sifted the larger cereal pieces and put the finer crumbs into a ziplock, stashing them in the pantry with a small flutter of excitement at my breakthrough.  The next time I made a batch of turkey black bean burgers, I stirred in a quarter cup of my crumbs.  Perfect!  I felt very smug and bragged to my brother about my discovery. 

He wasn't outwardly impressed.  He, a gourmet-foodie with far more culinary talent than I, thinks my cooking and eating ways are nutso.  But as a 6-foot tall twenty-something soccer player he also has the metabolism to justify that opinion.

Anyway, a couple days ago my darling little boy sweetly asked if it would be too much trouble for me to make him some oatmeal for breakfast.  Okay, it didn't go quite like that but regardless, I stirred in some of my magic flax breadcrumbs into his oatmeal, too.  He scarfed it down in minutes as I stood by, beaming. *cue the angels singing and bestowing me with "Miss Healthy Well-Balanced Meals" sash and tiara*

The next day, applesauce waffles....with a little crunch.

So the next time you start to toss out those crumbs, think again - they're a great way to add some healthy fiber to recipes that may (or may not) call for breadcrumbs.  Just don't tell my brother. :)

Not Only Are You Poor, You're Also Fat

Okay we've all seen the People of Wal-Mart, and maybe sometimes we are the people of Wal-Mart. Hey, I change into robot-emblazoned men's pajama shorts when I get home from work. I won't judge you.

But this headline yesterday made me think there may be a little more than a social stigma attached to being a regular at discount grocery stores - the rising level of obesity among customers at economy grocery stores versus higher-end stores such as Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and the like. In fact, results from a small study cited in the article shows that the percentage of food shoppers who are obese is almost 10 times higher at low-cost grocery stores compared with upscale markets.

And since I shop at both, I guess that puts me at moderate risk for both obesity and fashion-related crimes.

This informal study, which was only conducted in the Seattle area, reaches the conclusion that poverty is a main contributor to the problem of obesity, since people who are stretching their grocery dollar are more likely to buy food with the most calories per penny, and these are likely to be processed foods like pizzas, pastries, white flour products, and other convenience foods.

But I'm a Wal-Mart shopper.  I loathe being there, but I go because I am a cheap bastard and I buy a lot of high-dollar food.  But each time I go, I completely skip the part between the eggs, milk, meats, and produce.  I manage to fill my buggy with fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, and clean ingredients for breadmaking every time.  The difference here is education - I suspect that the People of Wal-Mart who are trapped in the cycle of buying cheap, processed, unhealthy food are plagued by poverty, but also by lack of education regarding how to make healthier choices. 

It is possible to shop at Wal-Mart and buy healthy food. 

I do it all the time.

Here are some great tips for saving cash on healthy groceries no matter where you shop.

Good day! :)

What's In Your Cardio Wallet?

Never, ever, ever, ever pass up the opportunity to do extra cardio.  Trust me.  They don't come often, but when they do, pounce on them like a tabloid on Heidi Whateverhernameis (or vice verse).  You will never regret it, and will almost always regret not doing it.

I get up really insanely early to work out, and sometimes by Friday I am just pooped.  So when what alarm goes off at *ahem* 3:40 am, it is really easy for me to agree with that little voice in my head that promises I will just do extra cardio before Pilates at lunch and I can sleep another 30 minutes.  And I have good intentions.  But then someone wanders into my office, or I get sidetracked on a project, or I just plain don't make it in time, and I don't get the cardio in.  Then I am left with no cardio.  That sucks.

That's why I like to treat cardio like a bank account and make deposits whenever I can.  There is probably no scientific basis for this behavior whatsoever, but I figure calories burned are calories burned, right?  So if I have the opportunity to "bank" some calories for a rainy day, I take it.  Because inevitably, when I slack on cardio Wednesday because I figure I have a long bike ride ahead of me on Saturday, it will rain on Saturday.  But I will still have calories to burn, so I will be facing my elliptical.  And I really don't like doing my elliptical on a Saturday when I could be cycling. 

No offense to ellipticals, but they're more of a 4:00-am-watching-a-P90X-infomercial kinda thing.

So on a day like today, when I accidentally slept late and only got 45 minutes of cardio (and no weights, ACK!) I am glad that on Friday I had a random hour in the middle of my day with nothing to do and snatched that puppy up and banked it with some sprint intervals!  And today at lunch, I'll replace my little withdrawl with some elliptical time. Sure, I already worked out and don't *need* to do it again, but you never know what will happen tomorrow.  I might be waylayed by a surprise meeting, or my kid could be sick, or I could win the lottery and spend the day signing important papers and stuff.  I need to be prepared for anything.

Be reasonable - I mean, there is only so much physical activity one body can handle in a day and you should never exercise if you are truly exhausted - and make sure you are fueling those workouts appropriately.  But, be proactive.  Look for opportunities to "bank" some quality cardio for a rainy day (or in my case, when the alarm doesn't go off) and then when it does rain, you can curl up with a book and enjoy it! 

Good day!

A Little Bit 'o Faith

Have you seen my Zen?  I lost it. I had it, like, two weeks ago.  I was floating through my days, happy as a clam, feeling strong and well-fueled and smug about how nicely my little life was going, and then....it was gone.

Well, some of it remained.  Just enough to remind me that the rest wasn't there.  LOL  And then, I got an email from a friend who was going through the same thing.  She's been on a quest to get in shape for a while,but hasn't yet hit that spot where enough things are going well that she's motivated to keep it up.  You know what I mean: that mental zone where you actually look forward to plyometrics because you can see the physical results of doing them, and you feel so much better from fueling yourself with good food, and you're getting proper rest and everything is just great. 

Instead, she was in "why-haven't-I-lost-weight-I've-been-doing-this-for-three-days," mode.  We've all been there. Our instant-gratification lifestyle has programmed us to believe that weightloss can and should be as quick and easy as downing a protein shake.  So it's hard to be patient while we wait for our hard work to reveal itself in results, and it is hard to have faith that the zen will happen.  But it will.  It takes patience and faith, but if you are putting in the hard work, it will happen.

I promise.

Okay I'll be honest - I don't know if I will ever look forward to plyometrics. But I do know that whenever I am consistent with clean eating and regular, disciplined, challenging workouts...in this euphoric natural-high state of happiness just finds me.  And it is sooooo worth the wait.

Have a little faith. It's happening right now.

Training Season for Tastebuds

One of the common themes in most news from the media about the sources of our national obesity problem is the amount of salt and sugar in the foods we eat. In fact, American processed food has become so salty that one researcher predicted that if things continue on the way they are, the food we eat 15 years from now will be like brine! The amount of sodium in packaged foods can be alarming, and the fact that there are about 25 different names for sugar is a pretty good indication that we're eating way too much of it.

So it is not suprising that one of the first things mourned by people looking to change their ways is sugar. I hear the same complaints over and over: "Coffee tastes weird without a packet of Splenda." Suggest to a Southerner that she not drink sweet tea and be prepared for mutiny. For real, one of my co-workers almost hit me with a stapler when I implied that her ginormous styrofoam cup of sugar water may be part of the reason her clean eating hasn't taken off. Liquid calories are still calories, and liquid sugar is like calories that haven't taken their Ritalin. You can eat fruit, vegetables, and whole grains all day long but if you top it off with an innocent "treat" of some sugar, you will erase all of that good work. I know, it isn't fair. Get over it.

I know it can seem insurmountable to consider life without sugar. As a former sugarholic, I've been there. I can clearly remember thinking it was completely unrealistic to think that I could live the rest of my life without added sugar. But I do. I get plenty of sweetness through fruits, vegetables, and the occasional drizzle of honey and by and large have lessened my sweet tooth to the point where baked goods are actually a little nauseating to me. I know. It's weird. I never expected that.

It ain't easy, but it does happen. You can retrain your tastebuds to recognize and appreciate foods in their natural, unsalted, unsweetened state. All it takes is some time and nerves of steel. Before long, what was once as bland and watered-down as a rice cake (don't eat rice cakes) will simply be food. It won't be a reward, it won't be a companion, it won't be anything other than wonderful, healthy, nourishment for your body that you will eat and then move on from. And isn't that what food is for anyway?

Some tips to get yourself over the first few days/weeks/homicidal thoughts of living the unsweetened life:

1. Stop expecting food to soothe, reward, vindicate, justify, or erase feelings. Food doesn't give a crap about you or your problems and isn't going to fix anything. Stop expecting it to do anything other than interact with your body in the only way it knows how. It doesn't know that you had a bad day and those calories weren't supposed to count.

2. Don't set yourself up for failure: change your behavior as well. If you know that every time you go to XYZ Restaurant you want to order the huge ginormous dessert, don't go there. I used to get a piece of 60% cacao chocolate almost every time I went to the grocery store, to the point where I became like some Pavlovian dog as I neared the end of my grocery shopping, knowing that I was going to have that chocolate. It was becoming a problem, as I didn't have a need for that much chocolate in my nutrition plan (unless I was seriously PMSing in which case back off) and I didn't like the habit I was forming. But instead of just trying to use self-control to not buy the chocolate, I changed my total behavior at the store. I shopped at a different store for a few trips and was sure to be either on my phone or otherwise engaged when I neared checkout so I would be distracted from it. It worked. After just a couple of trips, the habit was broken and I was no longer self-sabotaging.

3. Avoid sugar alternatives. Fake sugar is not acceptable in a cleaneating environment, and it will not help you get over a sugar habit. Quite the opposite, actually, as research points to evidence that man-made sweeteners actually trigger your brain to crave more of it. No, the point here is to alleviate your dependency on sweetness althogether. We are learning to eat food in its natural state, not a hyped-up version of it.

4. Be patient. Sugar is a tricky little devil. It's been said that sugar withdrawl can be even harder than quitting smoking, so be patient with yourself and the amount of time it will take for your tastebuds to get with the program. It can take days or even a couple of weeks for your body to adjust, but it will. I promise. Eventually, you will look at those big frosted brownies in the bakery case and think, "ugh, I used to eat that whole thing?!"

I know that seems crazy but it is possible if you are willing to put in the time, patience, and forward-thinking that it takes to give your tastebuds a fighting chance. They deserve it!

Are you struggling with sugar withdrawls? Have a unique challenge or question for how to make the conversion? Let me know how I can help; I've been there!

No Time to Get Healthy? Yeah, no one cares.

Reality check: your body doesn't care if you "don't have time" to get healthy. It's going to keep getting slower, softer, and fatter as you age, and a measly thirty-minute jaunt around the neighborhood each morning ain't gonna do anything about it.

So put down that latte and think again sister.

It's no secret to women that one of the great rewards of enduring years of hormonal swings, childbirth, breastfeeding, and monthly trials of feeling as if your life is being squeezed in a vice is being told to pedal faster: our metabolisms also start to slow down, adding a sucker-punch to the reality of living in a country where women are overtly judged by their appearance, the maintenance of which is biologically sabotaged. Except in cases of Helen Mirren, whose aging process appears to have been permanently frozen. She's 63. Yeah.

Cynical lately? Nah, just realistic. Research has recently shown that, contrary to popular advice and belief, it takes more than the usual American output of physical activity to gain any ground in the battle of the bulge. For years we have been prodded into physical activity, lured by the promise that just three moderate 10-minute spurts of activity each day could be enough to keep heart disease at bay. But it turns out that while taking the stairs is a great idea, it's not going to make up for all those mini quiches you had at Bunco.

One of the most frequent reasons for people to avoid facing the reality that becoming and staying healthy requires effort is that they do not have time. I can understand, we're all busy. But as many times as I hear someone say they "can't" make time to exercise, I see another story of someone who manages to do it despite greater odds. We can do it. We do have time. The truth is, we make time for what we really want to do.

And the more important truth is, we don't have time to not have time.

It is estimated that within the next 15 years, over half of our population will be obese. Children are getting fatter and fatter each year. Each season of The Biggest Loser features contestants who are breaking records of size, weight, and health issues. When are we going to face the reality that nature is going to take its course regardless of whether we have time to address it?

Long ago, I read an article about life in Sweden. Someone I knew was moving there and I was curious about their culture. One thing stood out - the physical activity of its citizens. I remember being tickled by the admission of one man that he would be embarassed if his friends saw him riding in a car because he would be considered "lazy," and also saddened that we do not share the same cultural habit.

We don't have time to not have time. The world does not care that we are busy. Please, get some exercise today, REAL exercise.

Sweat.

Work hard.

Challenge yourself.

And set your alarm to do it again tomorrow. It's time to stop not having time.

Stuck Between Reality and Reality

Yeah so I just printed out the triathlon training schedule recommended by my track club, and.....yeah.

I am surprised that I am so surprised that the triathlon training program doesn't say, "just keep doing what you've been doing!" No, this is going to require me to actually adjust my life. And I just got it to start behaving again!

But seriously. It's eight weeks. I can change my routine for 8 short weeks. Actually, the training program is 12 weeks long but I only have 8 weeks until I don my wet suit and run into the lake so....yeah. Even better. :)

I am a creature of habit. I like to get up at some insane hour when the rest of the world is slacking - ooops, I meant sleeping - and get a head start on being awesome. I like my morning sweat-a-thon. I cross-train so it's different each day, but it happens on my schedule and I like it. If I were not simultaneously typing and chewing at this moment, I would have my arms crossed in front of my chest, brow furrowed, and lower lip poked out to indicate that I am not happy about this change of circumstances and planning to hold my breath until it changes.

But I know I'll be much more prepared for the triathlon if I follow a program designed by someone who has actually done one before than if I just go about it my way like I usually do. Believe it or not, I am learning, albeit slowly, that I don't actually know everything! But we don't really need to dwell on that pesky little dose of reality, do we? No.

Anyway, the training program has me alternating endurance days with strength days, and some long runs and bike rides that I am a little intimidated by. I have a lot of questions, for example, why do I have to run for 75 minutes if the race only has a 5k? Why do I have to train on Sunday? I don't like to train on Sunday. I like to watch HGTV in my pajamas on Sunday. I suspect that most of my questions will be best answered with, "don't ask questions. Just shut up and do it. You have DVR. Deal."

So I'm stuck between reality and reality. The first reality is, I have a full-time job, a full-time kid, and a full-time husband. All three of them have expectations of me being present for a good portion of the day. I already spend a lot of time working out, and I'll admit I have a good bit of mental security tied up in those workouts. They work for me, they soothe me. I get lots of good cardio, I have time to get in all of my weight training, and I have this nice little routine that is comfortable and works for me and makes me happy and nice to other people. Is that so wrong???

So while I was sulking/figuring out what to move around so I can get all of my training in, I went to get my salad from the office kitchen, where a co-worker was sitting eating his lunch. I asked how he was, and he told me he was getting used to eating off of smaller plates. We talked about change, and how sometimes you have to show yourself the tough love through that initial grumpiness of change until your body gets with the program and becomes less grumpy. I got my salad from the fridge and went back to my office.

And I realized...I needed to show myself the tough love through this initial grumpiness of change until my body got with the program and became less grumpy. I preach all day long to people about change, how change is hard, how to change, how to engrain permanent change...and now its time to heed my own advice and, well, change.

Because the other reality is that I want to do well in this triathlon and in order to do that, I need to actually participate in triathlon training, which means singing from someone else's song sheet for a while. I can suck it up, I can change, I can be flexible. Okay, I that last one is mostly wishful thinking. I don't really want to be flexible.

On the bright side, there is one piece of information in the notes of the plan that give me some confidence: "This is a recommended plan. Adjust to meet your needs." Oh, don't worry. I'm going to make that my screen saver.

So I'll sing from their song sheet for the next two months, and you know, I think the change will be good for me. But I hope they don't mind if I sing the harmony.