My Diet, Health and Fitness

It’s funny how there are “seasons” in retail. I can remember starting my holiday promotional planning in June, and putting up my holiday displays while I was still snacking on Halloween candy. And of course, with December out of the way we’re well into “Diet, health and exercise” season. I went into Borders this weekend and the sheer number of self-help, diet and exercise books was mind-blowing. The covers are every pastel shade imaginable - blue for trust, orange to denote “cheap or easy”, and so on. Each book with their guru of choice posing on the cover, whether leaning back and looking relaxed or in an “action” pose to promote improvement or fitness. It’s funny how, once the chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps hit the shelves, these good intentions will all be relegated to the back of the store while everyone tries to forget their healthy New Year’s resolutions.

I hope that fitness and exercise season, for you and I , lasts all year long this year. Happy Monday

OK, I saw this and my first thought was - This is EVIL. Here I am, trying to be good, trying to lose weight and eat healthy in the morning… and then someone comes along with pancakes in a can. A CAN. This is why we are the greatest (and fattest) nation in the world… because we’re too lazy to even whip the eggs, milk, flour and baking soda ourselves. Just point, click and BAM! Instant pancakes, probably with the awesome fake maple syrup that’s been attaching itself to the back shelf of your pantry. I especially like the fact, pointed out about a dozen times, that it’s organic - ORGANIC you fools! Organic means healthy! EAT THESE PANCAKES!!

What’s worse - the product itself, or the fact that I’m drooling right now?
Click Here to see the Organic Batter Blaster

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Well, I wasn’t going to post my New Year’s Resolutions. But then I stumbled on this article via Digg where the author posts his six New Year’s healthy resolutions, so I decided that I would match them with my own. Here are my resolutions - what are yours?

1. I will love myself enough to get dressed every single day. Just because I work from home, there is no reason not to have shoes on my feet, a smile on my face and be ready to greet the day! What - you don’t think that has anything to do with health? Let me guarantee you that your attitude is as important as anything else you can do for your body - a good, positive attitude will lead you to a more positive outlook and healthy actions!

2. I will take my vitamins. This is a toughie for me, because I am so absent minded! Some tricks I’m using include moving the chewables on to my desk next to my computer (I’m guaranteed to spot them and pick one up at SOME point.) Vitamins I’m taking at this point include - a C supplement, a vitamin for Women’s balanced health, a Fish Oil supplement, and HTP-5 for mood and seratonin production. I have never had an easy time getting to sleep or staying asleep, and this helps me to do so. It also reduces my migraines - they are almost nonexistent at this point!

3. Blessing my heart with healthy movement. I will move every day even if it’s only for 15 minutes. I’m not going to set up huge goals I can’t possibly meet - instead I’m going to be excited and tell myself “Good Job” every day for the exercise I can do. Whether it’s walking, or climbing the stairs a few times - it’s all good.

4. Hydrating my body - I am HORRIBLE at drinking my water. I don’t believe that I need to drink tons of water, but I am chronically dehydrated since I prefer drinking coffee! One way I’m going to work on this is by switching out caffeinated coffe for decaf green tea, both hot and iced. I may even get a new water bottle to help me drink more.

5. Watching my portion sizes! I have a weird view of what a “portion” really is. I put way too much on my plate, and too often! I got some new dishes for Christmas which are smaller and I am trying to remember that my protein should be the size of a deck of cards, half the plate should be veggies (salad or similar) and only one quarter should hold starch. It’s tough but I’m improving - go me!

Want to read Dr. Weil’s New Year’s Healthy Resolutions? Check them out at
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02898/Six-New-Years-Resolutions.html

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I think one of the hardest realizations I have had during the last few weeks was just how mean I am to myself. I’m not kidding! It seems as I look around, that I was continually looking for new ways to deprive myself. Because I didn’t deserve “nice things” - things like a healthy weight, or a clean home, or even just those moments of peace in the morning when you have a cup of coffee and watch the sun rise. No, every day was a mad dash, a scramble as I browbeat myself with internal dialogue that wasn’t loving. “Your house is a MESS… you’re a failure… nobody likes you… you will never get this place straightened up and you will never lose weight!”

Not very nice, is it? I was nasty to myself. When I went shopping, I always cut my things off the list “to save money” so I never had new clothes, or little creature comforts. I wasn’t living, I was barely existing. And the few times I did something nice for myself, if something went wrong later I would blame myself and say I had been selfish. What nonsense!

What it’s about is learning to love yourself, just as you are. Finding ways to say “I am a good person, and I deserve to feel good when I get up in the morning. My knees don’t need to hurt from carrying extra weight. I deserve to have good food - YUMMY food - nutritious food, not just crappy fast food. I deserve to have vitamins here in the house and to take them every day.”

It’s going to be something I will have to work at every day, but at least now I know what I’ve been doing. And I don’t hate myself any more. I like myself - and I think I can find ways to learn to love myself too.

Yesterday I realized something interesting. One of my goals is to try to do 30 minutes of cardio exercise (even just a walk) 6 days a week, and 30 minutes of strength training one day a week. From everything I’ve read, the more muscles you build, the more calories you burn - even when you’re not actively exercising. I know this will “slow down” my perceived weight loss, but my clothes are sure starting to fit better.

Anyway, yesterday Chris (yup, the one mentioned in the domain name) and I went for a walk. Let it be known that going outside to walk in December in Ohio is two things - cold, and wet. Anyway, our plan was to walk “out” 15 minutes, turn around and walk “back”. 30 minutes, right? Well what was interesting was that I had NO IDEA how far I could walk in 15 minutes. We started out,a nd I don’t know why, but I was thinking, “Well, we will make it about to the street corner and then it’s gonna be time to turn around.”

Not even close. We just kept going… and going… and going! We walked WAY further than I’d ever have thought, and at a pretty brisk pace too. We talked, shivered, and commiserated as we avoided puddles and frustrated dogs (we live in a rural area where about every other house has a big dog leashed up outside). When we got back I was so proud of how far we went and how much exercise we got. I can’t wait to try it again - though hopefully not in the rain:)

I just ran into an article via Digg which proved, once again, that sometimes our parents know best. The fact is that eating slowly (chew each bite and don’t eat in front of the TV) lets your brain “catch up” to how much you’ve consumed. The end result? You will eat less! I tried it, and yes, it does work. If I eat slowly, talk at the table, and pay attention to the taste of the food I not only enjoy my meal more, but I also eat quite a bit less. My other trick that seems to be working? New dishes for Christmas - SMALLER ones. Check out Big Lots or Value City for smaller sized dishes, which make the amount of food you place on them look bigger. It’s funny how I eat a “plateful” of food, feel satisfied, but turns out with the new dishes I’m eating about 25% less and not noticing the difference at all.

BTW - down to 245 pounds Only 45 to go!

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