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Body Image Balance

I guess I assumed that thin, in-shape people feel really good about their bodies.
But it seems that everyone has a chink in their body image somewhere.

I was working out with a lady – she’s very attractive, skinny, and fit. She wanted to learn a new leg routine to help build her glute muscles. She said, “My gosh, I have no butt. I look like a boy.”

The conviction she said this with surprised me. She’s so fit without an ounce of body fat that I would never have guessed she had any issue with her body.

Later that same day, I was training a client. She is overweight, but she is such a beautiful lady. She’s been struggling with her diet. I told her, “I really want you to get on track because you are so beautiful. Do you realize how gorgeous you are?”

She shook her head and looked down, “No.”

Somehow in knowing we have areas to work on, we still have to strike a balance with confidence. We can’t let the “chink” so blind us that all we see in the mirror is our flaw. All of us have beautiful things about us.

So in working on your body, work on your body image too. Don’t concentrate so much on the “bad” that you lose sight of all the good things you have going for you.

Anywhere, Anytime Ab Set

Have a few minutes? Get in a quick abdominal set, no mat required. Here are four exercises you can do circuit-style.

1. Plank oblique crunch. Get on your toes and hands, arms straight beneath your shoulders. Your body should be long like a board. Tuck your abs in tight, keeping your butt from lifting up or sagging down. Now pull your left knee toward your right armpit. Return to starting position and repeat action with the other side, pulling right knee toward left armpit. Continue alternating for 20 reps.

2. Lower ab crunch. Sit on a chair and wrap your hands around the seat edge. Keep your knees bent and pull them up toward your chest into a tight abdominal contraction. Lower and repeat for 20 reps.

3. Standing side crunch. Stand on your right foot. Extend your left arm overhead and extend your left leg out until your left toe barely touches the floor. Now pull your left shoulder/elbow down while lifting your left hip/knee. Extend arm and leg back to starting position. Continue crunching the side for 20 reps. Repeat on the other side.

4. Standing crossover crunch. Stand on your right foot. Extend your right arm and left leg. Pull your right shoulder/elbow toward your left knee/hip. You’ll contract your abs on a diagonal line. Extend arm and leg back to starting position. Continue crunching diagonally across the middle for 20 reps. Repeat with the other side.

Tips for Getting on Track

Different people deal with making lifestyle changes differently. For some, taking one step at a time is what works, such as starting a walking program. Someone else may decide to cut out all sweets as his/her first step.

For me, I have to take the plunge. I need the complete change of direction with no dabbling in old behaviors. Kind of like leaving Sodom and Gomorrah without looking back. Total commitment and no deviation keep me on track best.

You have to know what will work for you. You may need to start with one thing and get that in place before moving on. Or you may need to totally restructure your lifestyle from the start.

Whatever your style is, start moving forward today. Here are some tips for getting on the healthy lifestyle track:

1. Clean out your home/office. Get rid of all temptation foods. Replace them with healthy alternatives.
2. Eat homemade. For most of your meals, eat at home or take your own home cooked food with you. It’s very difficult to get low fat, low sodium meals at restaurants (not to mention the huge portions).
3. Exercise daily. Even if you’re short on time, exercise. Not only is exercise good for your body, but it also affects your mind. You will feel stronger and more in control when you exercise.
4. Journal. Keep a small notebook with you and write down everything you eat. Add up the calories and look over your food choices. There is no greater accountability than this.
5. Weigh weekly. Commit to weigh at the same time and same day every week. Report your weight to a trusted friend.

Don’t wait any longer. Start making healthy changes today!

Shift in Momentum

I know what it’s like to lose weight and regain it. I did that at least six times before embracing healthy changes as my way of life.

I hear stories of many clients who did well with weight loss only to stall and slip until they were back into their old habits. And back to putting on the pounds.

What I hear is, “I know what to do, I just can’t seem to get started.”

What I think happens is a total shift in momentum. When we are living healthy, eating right, exercising, and feeling good and strong, there is a wonderful momentum that builds and helps us move forward.

As soon as we start having cheat days, eating whatever, skipping exercise, quitting our journal and planning ahead, there is a tremendous shift in our momentum. Before we know it, we are speeding back into old behaviors and patterns. Now the momentum has shifted, and that power and drive is pushing us in the wrong direction.

And how hard it is to turn it around!

I once heard that a ship needs five miles to turn around. You can imagine how hard the rudder pushes against the water to turn and redirect that massive ship.

In your own life, making the turn will take a lot of internal fortitude. You need to be prepared for that amount of effort. But, hey, can you hang on for five miles? Before you know it, you’ll have made the turn and will start building momentum again in the right direction.

Tasty Oatmeal Pancakes

I love pancakes. I rarely make them because the typical pancake mix is high in calories and carbohydrates, and low in fiber. So I went looking for an alternative.

I found a way to make a healthy version of pancakes that tastes delicious (my family agrees). They are made from oatmeal, which is a great source of nutrients and fiber, and they have no added fat or sugar.

Oatmeal Pancakes
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 1/4 cup hot water or fat free milk
1 cup oatmeal flour (grind oatmeal in a blender)
1 tsp. baking powder
4 egg whites, whisk with fork
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 packets Splenda

Stir oats into hot water and soak for 5 minutes. Mix in oatmeal flour, bakding powder, egg whites, vanilla and Splenda. If necessary, add water for desired consistency. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium heat. Use a 1/4-cup measuring cup to dip batter into pan. Makes 8 pancakes, 82 calories each (if made with water).

I like to add blueberries into my pancakes then top them with light Cool Whip (instead of syrup).

Sooner or Later, You have to go Home

I love to watch NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” TV show. It is inspiring to see the contestants work so hard and lose unbelievable amounts of weight each week.

I have overweight clients who tell me they wish they could be on the show, or go away to a “fat camp.” They think that if they got away from their current environment, they would find weight loss success.

Short term success, maybe. But sooner or later, you have to go home.

At home you don’t have eight hours a day to exercise. You don’t have a kitchen stocked with only healthy foods. You aren’t isolated on a resort with others who share the same purpose as you – work out like crazy and eat super clean. No trainers in your face every day. No teammates. No weigh-ins that affect other people’s lives.

At home it’s family and work responsibilities, Duncan Donuts right around the corner, parties and dinners, overtime, sick kids, fights with your spouse, office pizza luncheons, cupboards for midnight raids, and the list goes on.

At home it’s all about balance: taking care of your family, working to pay the bills, planning and preparing healthy foods, exercising…and getting enough sleep.

A weight loss show or a fat farm is not the answer. If you won’t change your lifestyle at home, you won’t change. The answer is changing your lifestyle right now, right where you’re at, right in your home and office, and right in front of your family and friends.

Teach Your Children Well

I grew up as an overweight child and teenager. I was the fattest kid in the neighborhood, among all my cousins, in my class at school, in the church youth group, etc. Let me tell you, being fat as a kid really does affect your quality of life. It affects you emotionally and socially.

I remember being the last one chosen for teams, being made fun of, being unable to run “the mile,” and (especially as I hit those teen years), being ashamed and uncomfortable with my body.

The thing is; there are even graver circumstances to consider.

Childhood obesity and diabetes are now considered an epidemic in the U. S. Children as young as age eight are being put on medication to treat conditions that should only be seen in their grandparents. Their lives are being cut short by disease.

“But,” you may say, “my child is not overweight. He’s so active he just burns it off.” Okay, but what’s going to happen as he ages? Think of him as a 40-year-old man. What food habits are you teaching him right now? What exercise habits? Are you teaching him to live a healthy life? If not, your 40-year-old child may be overweight with conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and pre-diabetes.

If you know a candy bar with 14 grams of fat and 280 calories is bad for you, why in the world would you put that into the little body of your child? How do you think that little heart and liver are going to process all that junk? What’s going to happen in his body if you let him eat that day after day, year after year?

Teach your children well. Live the life before them. Show them how to be healthy.

Live Food, Dead Food

In Dr. Colbert’s book Eat This and Live, he talks about dead food and living food. He says:

Imagine you have two shelves in your pantry, one says “dead food” and the other “living food.” On the “dead food” shelf is a label that reads: “These foods will increase your risk of developing degenerative diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis; and make you overweight. They will also make you more prone to fatigue, hypertension and high cholesterol.

But the “living food” shelf’s label reads: “These foods will help your body arm itself against cancer, heart disease, degenerative diseases and obesity; and they will sharpen your mind, energize and enliven you.”

If we would start thinking of food as life-giving or death-accelerating, it could help us make better decisions. Not only should we consider how many calories a food contains, but also what ingredients are in the food.

For instance, a 100 calorie pack may be a controlled portion of junk food, but it is still junk food. How much of the ingredients in that packet are life-giving?

Often prepackaged foods are loaded with additives and chemicals to make them taste better and keep them preserved. This kind of food does not supply life-giving nutrients.

Fresh foods, those close to their natural state, are usually packed with nutrients. They are usually lower in calories and higher in fiber – like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean animal products.

Take a tour through your kitchen. Separate the living from the dead. What foods should you throw out? How can you add more living food to your diet?

Eating well is not only about losing weight. It’s about living well.

Game’s Not Over

I’m working with a client to help him lose a certain amount of weight. He is only five pounds away from his goal and he’s excited to be so close.

“But it’s not like it ends there,” he told me. “It isn’t ‘game over’.”

I am really encouraged by his perspective. He understands that these are lifestyle changes. He isn’t on a diet that he will “come off of” because he reached his weight loss goal. He realizes that to stay healthy and fit, and maintain a good body weight, he will need to continue eating well and exercising.

I’ve seen so many people lose and gain, lose and gain. It’s because they have not made healthy living their style of living. They haven’t embraced it. They haven’t made a commitment to stick with it today, tomorrow, and forever.

In pursuing a healthy body weight and a fit body, the game is never over. Every day the plays we make determine our score. Are you playing to be a winner?

Food Planning Made Easy

Do you struggle with your food because you’re always short on time when it comes to planning? Do you get caught making a bad food choice because you didn’t have anything healthy prepared?

One thing I find helpful in my own food planning, as well as with clients who are busy, is to eat basically the same foods every week day. For example:

Breakfast – oatmeal and egg whites
Snack – almonds and apple
Lunch – Tuna/chicken and salad
Snack – yogurt and berries
Dinner – Fish/chicken, brown rice and green veggie
Snack – protein shake

This makes planning really easy. Once you get into the routine, you barely have to think about your food.

Then on the weekends, switch it up. Have whole wheat pasta with turkey meatballs, or turkey chili, etc. Enjoy the foods that take a little more prep time.

Then on Monday, back to the usual. This makes food planning really easy and quick.

Spend a Little Time, Save a Lot of Calories

Yesterday I had to drive some distance away and was on the road for about six hours. I didn’t feel like figuring all my food and packing it. (It takes time and effort to think ahead and make it!)

On the other hand, I really didn’t want to have to try to find something healthy on the road. I especially didn’t want to get caught hungry and end up making a poor choice. See, I know myself too well. And I wanted to smile at the scale this morning, not feel disappointed.

So I went ahead and got my food ready: almonds, applesauce, tuna on lettuce, lite popcorn (popped), apple with peanut butter, and celery sticks (and water bottles). The only thing I did get on the road was a cup of coffee - chocolate caramel - with a little fat free milk. I was very happy to come home and add all my calories together and see that I was right where I needed to be.

If we can look past the effort to the end result, we realize how little the effort really is when compared to how much it helps us reach our goal.

One of the easiest things you can do that has the biggest impact on your weight is planning and preparing your food. Depending on your job, schedule, etc., this could mean packing a day’s worth of stuff in a lunch cooler. So what? It may take a little time, but it’ll save you a bunch of calories… and bad choices, and crying over the scale, and heart disease, etc, etc.

Stop whining over the work involved in living healthy and start bragging about the benefits.

More Tea, Please

I grew up next door to my grandparents. As a little girl, I spent a lot of time with them. One of my sweet memories is the many summer evenings I spent sitting with them on their front porch sipping tea. My grandma would pour a little of her tea into her saucer for it to cool then give it to me to drink. That could by why to this day I love tea, especially mint varieties.

Every day I drink about three cups of herbal tea. It’s not only because I enjoy the flavor, but it is one of the little “helpers” that keeps my food consumption in line. 1.) It’s flavorful. Water is great, but sometimes I just want taste. 2.) It’s healthy. I don’t have to worry about all the additives and artificial stuff. 3.) It’s hot. Drinking something hot helps fill me up and get me through munchy times.

If you haven’t checked out the tea section at the grocery store recently, you might want to give it a glance. The varieties are amazing: blueberry (which I love), tangerine, raspberry, cinnamon apple, almond, lemon, and all assortments of mint. There are even teas to help with weight loss, tension, and sleep.

I indulged in vanilla maple black tea with a little Splenda for sweetness. Mmmmm. Tasted sinful.

Happy sipping.

Better Today

I had a fantastic run over the weekend. I finally got my time down to what it had been during the summer. I could tell my pace was good. I could feel the energy in my body. I wasn’t dragging; I was springing forward. It felt so great.

Even so, even on my good days, I know I am a slower runner than most. And even after that great run, I felt a twinge of disappointment. I wished I could’ve made the run faster.

I had to do some talking to myself because running six miles on hilly terrain is an accomplishment – even if it’s not very fast. I had to remind myself that five years ago I didn’t run at all. I walked a mile and thought I was doing something great.

Then I started walking two miles. Before I knew it, I was walking three miles, then four. Then I realized that walking really was too easy so I added jogging intervals… from this mailbox to that telephone poll, from this tree to that driveway. The intervals became longer. Somehow, I made it to jogging four miles. Then eventually five. Then I picked up my pace. Then I tried six miles. Over the summer, I now like to throw in an eight-mile run every week.

I may never be fast, but I’m better today than I was back then. I’m doing things today physically that I never imagined I could.

What about you? Can you look back and say you are better today? Are you doing things you thought you never could? Don’t be afraid to try.

Bundle Up, Go Outside

Do you start to feel cooped up during the winter? Feel like your house is getting smaller and your kids are getting louder? Are you snappy and irritable?

You need some fresh air and sunshine!

Getting outside for a walk or a jog on a sunny winter’s day will cheer you up. It could be the sounds of the brave winter birds twittering despite the cold, the fragrance of the fir trees lining your path, the white dusting of snow on the ground. Perhaps it’s the solitude and quiet that bring such peace.

It could also be the boost of vitamin D your body makes when exposed to natural sunlight.

Your body’s biggest source of vitamin D comes from the sun. Limited sun exposure is actually good for you. Studies show that vitamin D can prolong your life, and guard against certain cancers and osteoporosis.

Without enough sunshine and vitamin D, Seasonal Effective Disorder can occur. The depression-type symptoms come on during the dark, cold days of winter.

So bundle up and go outside. Take your daily dose of the sunshine vitamin.

Dark Chocolate

For Valentine’s Day, my hubby and I plan to put the kids to bed early and curl up to watch “An Affair to Remember” – a classic movie with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. I'll make light microwave popcorn for our movie-at-home date, but we'll also share a bar of Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate (I have it hidden in the cupboard).
Sure, flowers, back rubs, and romantic dinners are all great. But celebrating Valentine’s without chocolate wouldn’t be the same.

The good news is, dark chocolate is good for your health because it’s high in antioxidants. These antioxidants help remove harmful molecules that can cause cancer, heart disease and other illnesses. And the flavonoids in cocoa can help prevent cardiovascular disease.

Now don’t go crazy and run to the store to buy a cart full of dark chocolate. Even though it has health benefits, it’s still high in calories and fat. Make sure you have someone to share your dark chocolate bar with!

Aztec Indians believed chocolate to be an aphrodisiac. It's also said eating chocolate releases a chemical in your body similar to those produced when you're in love. So be careful who you share your chocolate with.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Exercising While Under the Weather

If you’ve been hit by a wintertime cold, adjust your exercise routine. Your body is already fighting the cold off. If you exercise too hard and stress the body, you can prolong the cold.

Here are some suggestions for exercising while feeling under the weather:

1. If you have a fever, do not exercise. Rest and drink plenty of fluids.
2. Lower your intensity. If you usually run, you may need to take a slow jog or a brisk walk. If you usually take a kickboxing class, you may need to ride the bike instead.
3. Keep your heart rate at a moderate level. Your heart rate and breathing should be at a slightly elevated, but moderate rate. This is especially important if you have chest and/or sinus congestion.
4. Shorten your time. If your energy level is low, shorten your workout. If you normally work out for 60 minutes, cut it down and do a “light” workout.
5. Listen to your body. If you are feeling fatigued, or begin to feel very weak during your workout, your body is trying to tell you it needs more recovery time.

Stay with good nutrition and avoid sugar, which weakens the immune system. Drink lots of water and get lots of rest. Before you know it, you’ll be back to your energetic self!

Problem or Possibility

People’s mindsets tell me a lot.

Those who really want to lose weight and are of a “mind” to do it, find the possibility to eat right and exercise in every situation. Those who aren’t ready to make healthy changes find the problem for why they can NOT eat right and exercise in every situation.

Let me show you the difference. Both the problem thinker and the possibility thinker work from 8 to 5, pick up their kids from afterschool activities, and begin making dinner as soon as they arrive home.

Problem thinker (not ready to make the changes, but isn’t admitting it to me and maybe not to herself either). “I just don’t have time to exercise. I have to get my kids off to school then get to work, and I don’t get home till late. We don’t even eat dinner until 7:00. Then I’m so tired there’s no way I could exercise. And I don’t have time to make special food for myself either. I just have to eat what the kids eat.”

Possibility thinker (totally motivated to change). “I don’t have much time, but if I get up a little earlier I could at least walk for 20 minutes on the treadmill before I shower, and when the weather’s nice, I can walk during my lunch break. Come to think of it, if I make dinner in the oven, I could exercise while it’s baking. Oh yeah, I found some really great healthy recipes that my whole family enjoys. I always make extra too so I can take leftovers for lunch the next day.”

If someone really wants to change, she will find a way to turn problems into possibilities.

You Don't Have to Go Hungry

In wanting to lose weight, people often have the misconception that they need to starve themselves. This is not the case. The body needs to be fueled every 2-3 hours to keep the metabolism humming.

The key here, of course, is eating highly nutritious, lower calorie foods. Usually, this means you can eat more food (a higher volume or greater amount of food).

For example, let’s replace a 1/2 cup of light ice cream (150 calories) with yogurt and fruit. You can eat 1 cup of yogurt (nonfat plain flavored with vanilla and Splenda 110 calories) and a whole cup of strawberries (50 calories) for 160 calories = 2 cups.

Now let’s replace a single-serve bag of chips (150 calories) with light microwave popcorn. One cup of pop corn is 20 calories, so to get 140 calories you’d need to eat = 7 cups.

How about replacing a hot apple pie (250 calories) from a fast food restaurant with a baked apple sprinkled with cinnamon and Splenda? Actually, to come close to the same amount of calories you’d need to eat = 3 apples.

Almost always, healthy food equals more volume. More food, more nutrition, and more satisfaction – without the extra calories and bad fats that lead to obesity and disease.

Eating nutritious foods means you don’t have to go hungry to lose weight!

Slow and Steady

Have you lost a lot of weight at one time only to gain it all back? Did you exercise regularly, but now sit on the couch eating your ice cream and watching Biggest Loser? Do you look at the smaller sizes hanging in the back of your closet with a heavy heart?

You’re not alone. So many people have lost weight for a time, then slid back down the slippery slope into bad lifestyle habits. I lost and gained at least a half dozen times. And what a wretched feeling it is.

I recently caught up with one of my past clients. He’d lost a lot of weight, but gained it all back during a transitional time in his life. Now he is working at weight loss again. Though the pounds aren’t coming off quickly, he’s at peace. He knows that this time around, he needs to make changes that can be part of his life, forever. Not a diet. Not a flash in the pan. But lasting changes. He signed off his email as “slow and steady.”

I couldn’t give better advice. The healthy changes you make need to be ones you can sustain and live with day after day, month after month, year after year. Even if your progress is slow, as long as it’s progress. Keep moving toward your goal. Keep making adjustments, doing better, making healthier choices.

Slow and steady always wins the race in the end.