Trainer Lady Blog

MODERN-DAY DIETING BELIEFS

Here are 5 thoughts that go through our heads when we are looking at food and trying to figure out how it fits into weight loss.  Each of these beliefs just touch the surface.  I would love to continue in conversation with any of you who would like to have more information or further discussion!!  Please comment at the end!  We all learn from each other’s experiences and wisdom, and this is a forum to share.

Belief #1: I Lack Willpower

Dieting is not about willpower.  If it were about that or just wanting it badly enough, the world would be thinner.  Successful weight management is about change and beliefs.  

It’s about cultivating “skillpower.”  Good news - the skills required aren’t the classic triad of suffering, sacrifice and struggle!  Instead, the skills required are organization, planning and thoughtfulness.  (Of course, that doesn’t mean these are easy . . .)

Belief #2:  If My Weight Isn’t As Low As I Think It Should Be, I’m Not Healthy

People can be healthy, no matter what their weight or body mass index is. Health has many variables.  It is far too complex to limit it to a number on the scale.

Belief #3: Dieting Has To Be Hard  

For weight management to last, it cannot be such a difficult process that we feel like we are going to suffer - that most certainly guarantees that we won’t.

In order to effect long-term change, we need to improve the path to where we want to go.  Instead of “suffering through,” we need to focus on ways to make living with less food or fewer calories easier.  Be more thoughtful and make choices each day that will carve your path to success.  

Belief #4:  I Can Exercise Away Poor Food Choices

No doubt exercise has a powerful impact on our bodies - if it didn’t, I surely wouldn’t have a job!!!  However, when all is said and done, food choices are responsible for 70-80% of a person’s weight, and fitness covers the remaining 20-30%.  Pretty staggering, huh??

Belief #5:  Cheat Days Make Dieting Easier

Unfortunately, our modern food environment might pack a caloric potential to erase nearly an entire week of “perfect” choices in 1 cheat meal.  Not a whole cheat day - 1 meal! OK - here’s a perspective:  if you were aiming to lose 1 lb a week, 5 day’s worth of effort would go to just work off that 1 cheat meal.  Cheating also makes it easier to cheat more - enough said!  Feeling the need to cheat is probably coming from something else being wrong or overly restrictive food choices.

ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH???

Good enough for what, you may ask?  And to that, I say “good enough” for you!  For a sense of being OK with where you are.

We are all works in progress.  Part of being “good enough” is freeing our minds from guilt. 

How do you view goals and lists?  As things to absolutely get done, or things to glance at every once in a while?  How do you feel when that goal or list is or isn’t complete? Overwhelmed and defeated, “I don’t care,” or somewhere in between?

We all need the feeling that we are moving ahead -- or at least not backward in our lives.  Cultivating a sense of progress is essential to our growth.  Whether it’s at the gym, at our jobs, or in relationships, “small wins” are important to prevent our morale from crumbling. 

Progress is a relative term for each of us - not an absolute.  Measuring success in your own stage of life without comparing with others will foster a guilt-free mind and heart.  

Running is my outlet.  I can put on my music, escape life, clear my head and work out anxiety.  For the past few years, a chronic achilles problem has prevented me from running.  Disappointing - YES!  Discouraging - YES!  I have had to drastically use a different measure to prevent defeat.  My “small win” now is being able to walk my trail, and being OK with that. 

Am I running the LA Marathon like my client Kristen (you go, girl!!)?  No.  Is where I am good enough for me?  Yes. 

2014 Here We Come!!   Please read on . . . I promise I am not going to guilt you into going back to the gym, eating better, or getting more sleep (even if your body needs that - Hehe!)

Does the term “new year’s resolution” send excitement your way or a sense of dread?

Let’s explore . . . 

Most new year’s resolutions tend to focus on our flaws.  We vow to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, get organized, clean out our garage, worry less, or balance our lives.  Self-improvement is good (I know I can use some), but starting the year by putting such burdens on ourselves seem to be self-defeating.  That is probably the reason that only 8% of people keep their resolutions.

What if we focused on our strengths and talents as we usher in the new year.  What do you love to do?  What do you do best?  We are all gifted in so many ways.  Use your goodness to give to others.  Invest your goodness in the lives of people around you that are in need.   Love to cook?  Find a family that would be encouraged by a meal.  Is organizing your thing?  Help someone get their office in order.  Do you love people?  Invite someone over and encourage them in their life journey.  Love kids?  Babysit for a young couple who can’t afford a babysitter.  Jot someone a note if that’s your thing.  Put your gift of creativity to use somewhere.  

As we give, we do improve and I can guarantee that the rewards are great.  There is no room for self-defeat here, only a huge sense of satisfaction!!   Try it, you’ll like it!!

The following is an facebook post quoting my 6-year old grandaughter - “Daddy, if you don’t go for a mountain bike ride, your face will turn square.”  “What??  Why would my face turn square?”  “Cuz you will be out of shape!”

Besides making me laugh, it got me thinking . . . 

How many of our minds are in that square shape - the out of shape thinking that “the holidays are coming so I am too busy to eat right, exercise, and get my sleep?”

A square is a box - our thoughts are boxed in when we tell ourselves that taking care of ourselves will happen in January “when things calm down.”  How many of us just “make it” through the holiday season and are exhausted at the end?  How much of that is due to us not taking care of ourselves, and how fun is that?

Let’s journey together to get our minds (and bodies) in better shape by thinking outside the box now before the box closes in on us!

Choose nutritious food 80% of the time.  The 20% will take care of itself.  NO “all-or- nothing” approach to eating.

Keep some kind of healthy filling snack and water with you always (see recipe below).  Life is busy, and a fast food drive-thru isn’t the best choice when you are hungry.

Just move - whatever you are doing, move more quickly than usual.  Every step and movement counts!  Your body will love it.  

Treat yourself with the same love you are extending to others.  Balance the time between baking and cooking and cleaning for loved ones with some “you” time.  YES  - 

There is time.  The box says there isn’t!  Find what refreshes you and just do it!

Avoid the “just one more thing tonight” mentality when it is getting late.  Go to bed and sleep.  It will be easier tomorrow anyway because you will be refreshed. 

Let’s evaluate the thoughts in our holiday box - - toss out the old ones that are harmful to us - - and get our minds in better shape.  Our bodies will follow and thank us.

Chocolate Cranberry Bars

1 cup almonds

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup dried cranberries

5 medjool dates (or prunes)

1/3 cup pepitas

1/2 cup cacoa powder

2 tablespoons boiling water

Place almonds and oats in food processor and blend until a course crumb.

Add cacao powder, cranberries, and dates and blend again.

While blending, add the boiling water slowly until the mixture becomes well-incorporated.

Press the dough into a oiled 8X8 pan.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before slicing into 12 bars.

YOUR MOM WAS RIGHT!  That is, if she told you to stand up straight.  Nearing a birthday this Friday, I am very aware that gravity is not kind to us as we age.

A recent visit to my chiropractor reminded me that kyphosis (shoulder rounding) is happening and may lead to lordosis (sway back) which pulls on my glutes and hamstrings and down my legs it goes.  Not a pretty picture!

As I have been very aware of my posture this week, I am practicing some tips . . .

- press your shoulder blades into the back of your seat while driving.  Press harder at red lights

- look straight ahead rather than down while walking, running, mowing the lawn, shopping, etc.

- how's your posture right now as you are sitting at your computer???

- rather than focusing on keeping your shoulders back, elongate your ribcage and neck

- no slouching on your couch or chair while watching TV, reading, or just visiting

Take a week-long challenge with me to "stand proud" and practice these tips.  None of us want to be more stooped-over than we need to be when we are old!

Harmful Additives

 Citizens for Health has declared April 11, 2013, “Read Your Labels Day.”  Let’s join them!!  On this day, Americans are encouraged to read the labels on products in their kitchens and the grocery store and scout out the “Top 10 Ingredients to Avoid.” Here’s the list of top 10 additives to watch out for:

#1: High fructose corn syrup
#2: Aspartame
#3: Hydrolyzed protein
#4: Autolyzed yeast
#5: Monosodium glutamate
#6: Potassium bromate
#7: BHA and BHT
#9: Trans fat
#10: Artificial colors

“Harmful food additives can contribute to many serious medical conditions that include diabetes, obesity and heart disease,” notes Harvard M.D., Dr. Eva Selhub. “Eliminating these ‘top 10’ additives from your diet is an excellent start to healthier eating.”

For more detailed information about each of these 10 ingredients to avoid, including why to avoid them and what they’re used for, check out FoodIdentityTheft.com, a nonprofit organization dedicated to informing consumers about food-safety issues.

SLEEP??  WHO HAS LOTS OF TIME FOR THAT??  We so underestimate the power of sleep and the part it plays in our health.  Lack of sleep can wreck havoc with our hormones, our motivation, our concentration, our ability to burn fats, our insulin levels, and the restoration of our entire body's systems.   Here are some tips towards high-quality sleep:

- Eliminate electronics from your room and your routine for 1 hour before bed.  The blue light on ANY electronic interrupts your natural hormone levels and alerts it to stay awake instead of going to sleep.  

- Use blackout curtain to make the room dark.

- Develop a good pre-sleep routine that your body will get used to.

- Optimize your body's sleeping temperature by taking a hot shower before bed and turning down the thermostat.  We naturally sleep better in a cooler room.

Happy zzzz's make for healthier, happy people!!