You Are Worth It - Links for Inspiration

(Part 1 is here)

If you read my post from a few days back and are interested in trying some new things for yourself, thought I'd share some of what I'm looking at. Before I do, however, I want to tell you that my 2 secret weapons are unfortunately, not really available to share; they are my teen daughters, Pepper and Sunshine.

Pepper has been quite regularly sharing in my body weight strength training, including being the person to hold my feet for my curl-ups and being the person who convinced me that I can plank!  She has also cooked a ton of delicious and nourishing food this summer! Sunshine has been very encouraging of my running, in particular, and saved me this very night. She came in when I was in the toughest part of my run and so "Way to go, Mom. You have this." How I needed that!

I can't give them to you but please do find a couple secret weapons of your own! Meanwhile, here are some links to what I've been loving lately:

Food and Recipes:

Totes "Tortilla" Soup
Triple Almond Scones - oh. my. goodness. Just do it.
Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimchurri
Paleo On the Go Restaurant Tips - so helpful on the road
The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook ($3 on Kindle; not much of a gamble)
Eating Well Quick Mediterranean Recipes

Fitness:

Workouts

Nerd Fitness Beginner Body Weight Workout
Kenda's Trail Runner's Strength Training Workout (also mostly bodyweight)
Navy PRT training information
Hotel Work Out - this has helped so much this summer. I do mine on the front lawn of the hotel. I'm that awesome.
The Strong Knees Workout

Help for Working out!

Fitbit (how I love thee). We've been in a relationship 6 years. Any fitness tracker, really.
Tempo Magic - makes it easy to build a playlist for your workout.
Simply Yoga
Fight Song by Rachel Platten - makes me WANT to run!
Shake it Off by Taylor Swift
All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor

General Helpful Information:

Beginner's Guide to Paleo 
Weight Watchers International
Fooducate's Scanner App - get your nutrition info into a tracker instantly
Calm is an app that helps you do just that

If you try any of these things out, let me know how they worked for you. Now put down that phone and put on your trainers!

You are WORTH It.

I am back on the losing train again, Woo, WOOOOOOOO.

This is typical of my journey. Work hard, not get a lot of results, get discouraged, gain a couple of pounds, come back to it and bam! Something works.  I have not given up in about 10 years of this battle due in large part to the encouragement of those around me like my dear friends Gina, Anna, Colleen, Will, Christine and my indefatigable Weight Watchers leader, Carolyn.

I had a long conversation with my internist about my weight loss journey a couple of months ago. He said that, with my family history of extreme obesity and terminal diabetes, the cards were stacked against me. He also said that I must not give up my efforts. Even if I am maintaining my weight or losing at my typical glacial pace, I am still staving off the health problems that will inevitably come if I begin gaining weight. He pointed out that though I am yet significantly overweight, all my insides are healthy. My cholesterol reading is in the normal range, but could be a lower number; otherwise, I'm in great shape. I exercise more than most "normal weight" people. I have no known health risks outside obesity. He credits that health to my having waged this weight loss battle almost continuously since 2005. Hearing this, I made a decision then and there that I will fight with renewed vigor.

When school got out, I determined to use my time flexibility to build in more exercise and research eating styles that might support me. Clearly it is not just a numbers game for me. Once again, I was drawn to a modified paleo approach to eating. (Here's a good synopsis of it if you're interested). I also set up a spreadsheet to track my intentionality in this quest to "level up my life."  It's not pretty but it's functional and here if you'd like to see it.

These two changes--additional exercise and modified paleo eating--  have made a difference for me! Since our last day of school, June 8th, I have lost 7.4 pounds. It was apparently enough to  push me down a size; my pants, loose at the end of school,  were literally falling off me at at last weekend's ball tournament. What's more, I feel more toned and am so much stronger. I have a fitter frame, suddenly, and I can feel it on the inside! I have not had a weight this low since 2010, and I will soon blow those "lows" right off the charts.  Next time I will post a few awesome resources for you.

This was a lot of personal detail and I have said it all to underline one thing: We must never give up on ourselves. I am worth it; You are worth it. If people around you aren't saying that to you, call me up. I will say it.  (1-512-983-1390) You have time to spend on your health. (Yes, you do.) You have a right to surround yourself with support. You can make choices that are better for you. Small changes can really add up and you can make those changes because you are worth it. 

Here it is again: You are worth it. You are more than a number on a scale. You deserve a life worth living. You deserve a healthy future. You matter.

Please let me hear from you and how you are waging your battle for greater healthfulness. We are stronger together.

Liquids, Protein and a New Way Forward

Good Monday, friends!

I apologize for the "radio silence." On March 26th in the midst of a very busy day, I became very ill and was in terrible pain. I soon learned it was an attack of diverticulitis, not entirely unprecedented since I knew I was susceptible to it, but unexpected nonetheless. Long story shortened, I spent the next week on a clear liquid diet and am just finishing the course of two antibiotics and a "bland" diet. I feel great now, but it certainly did throw a wrench in the works.

One thing became abundantly clear to me: I do have will power. I have often accused myself of not having it because I struggle so to stay "in the box" with my eating plan. I can't have that excuse any more; it simply isn't true. In fact, I did learn a few things during the week of clear liquids:

1. Drinking a lot of fluids really does help that "full factor."  During the entire week, I was only "stomach hungry" once.
2. I am capable of following my plan 100% when I know there is a good reason for it.
3. There is a good reason for my plan! Despite my "fit but fat" status, research shows that otherwise healthy people who are obese still have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and early death.
4. I need to just put my big girl pants on and do whatever it takes to get this excess weight off once and for all.

Today I am cleared for both exercise and "normal" diet. What this means is that today I go back to my "physical readiness training" program of exercise. The long break made my feet feel better and since my cardiologist took me off warfarin after a nasty drug interaction with my antibiotics, I get my ibuprofen back too! It's been a long year of exercise without ibuprofen. It's a brand new day!

Food plan wise, I am going to try a protein week quick start, followed by a few weeks of getting most of my calories from protein and vegetables and strictly avoiding refined carbs (noodles, sugar) while still enjoying fruit in a limited way.  I realize this is a departure from my normal "whole foods, restricted calories" plan, but I got some advice from my doctor who thought this might be a good way to shake up my metabolism. It is pretty clear now that a regular "whole eating" plan is simply not going to work. This is not a "Paleo" plan nor a "Low-Carb" plan in the traditional sense. It's closest to a modified Dukan diet. I hope it works.

There are risks, of course. One risk is a lack of potassium; I am mitigating that by including enough higher potassium foods every day to make sure I get by full dose of this heart-guarding nutrient. I have a list of best foods (including sweet potatoes and beet greens). Another risk is ketosis; that's why I am only staying on the strictest form of low-carb for one week and then will be adding in more and more foods with carbs over the next many weeks, so that I will only be completely avoiding foods with refined flour and sugar. Naturally occurring sugars will be part of my plan. I will be writing more about this in weeks to come; sorry if it's a bit murky here.

That's the weight loss forecast from here. What's new in your world of "fight the fat?"

Food Safety and other Tips, Tricks and Inspiration

It seems that there is always some food-borne illness in the news lately.  I have really been enjoying Food Safety's Newsletter  which helps me stay on top the issues.  In a similar vein, here another tip,  7 foods that experts think you should avoid.

Are we tricking ourselves with restrictive diets?  Decide for yourself; here is NPR's take on the popular Paleo diet.  Here is a review by US News;  it appears to be unbiased and based on nutrition science. I pondered this plan for a while but I thought it would be difficult to maintain for a lifetime. 

Since it's the season of parties, cookies, and other deliciousness,I thought we could use a little inspiration to stay on track.  Check out this mama on the move!

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Hopping off the Crazy Maker

Do you know what drives me crazy?

People who give me unsolicited weight loss advice like, "Just cut back on starchy foods" or "You probably aren't getting enough exercise," or my all time favorite, "It's just calories in, calories out."

Duh.

Come on people, I am a weight-loss expert!!   I have devoted years of my life to the study of weight loss:  What helps, what hurts, what can get in the way.  Am I getting enough sleep?  How's my balance of carbs to protien?  What role does blood sugar play?  How much exercise is "enough?"  What can I do to speed up my metabolism?  Etc., etc., etc. 

If it were simple, we'd all be skinny.  I know this because I was skinny most of my life and I did not earn it.  It came naturally to me then as apparently, being fat now comes naturally.  I know there are skinny people out there who work at it every day, but I have to say, their numbers are few. 

I would like to set the record straight on this one thing:  I think you'd be hard pressed to find many adults who consistently eat as healthfully as I do.  I am a very healthy eater.  And I get a lot of exercise, usually far more than my recommended 30 minutes per day.  And aside from that, I am about ten times healthier than I ever was when I was skinny.  I joke that when I was a skinny single girl, I lived on Frosted Flakes and Blue Bell Ice Cream.  And it is not that far from the truth. 

I know people just mean well.  I do know that.  And I am truly grateful that people care about my well being.  But if you really want to help me, please come over and go for a walk with me, or watch my kids while I swim, or come to my house for supper instead of suggesting a restaurant.  Because I am not going to be trying your Paleo diet or your Eat Clean diet or your Dukan diet.  I am going to stick to my regimen of healthy foods and exercise and I am going to trust that if I keep fighting, I will eventually prevail. 

(By the way, if you are newer to this process than I am and you would like to know about the considerable research on any of these points, give me a shout!)