Stop trying to be Skinny...

We have been on this journey for about 33 weeks if my count is correct if it is not it should be close.  When I started this journey I had a goal of weight loss, as I continue down this path my goals are changing.  If you have been following along I tend to “refocus” quite often.  Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily as long as my goals are still going in the right direction.  I was struggling a bit on what to write about this week when I heard some AWESOME news.  I won’t mention names but this person told me that since starting to exercise and making healthier choices that they have dropped their cholesterol 100pts!!!! The more I think about this the more great I think it is.  You have to be extremely proud of yourself I know I am proud of you.  So with that story I knew this was the right topic.

If you read last weeks article you may remember the quote “Stop trying to be skinny and start trying to be healthy” this is an excellent quote for this week.  We all have the super model image in our mind that we are trying so desperately to fill. My question is Why? Why do we have to look like that? Is that really what is going to make us happy?  Probably not, if the truth were known you could even ask the super models if they are happy with their body and most likely they are just like us and can pick out a feature that they would like to change.  My image of skinny seems to always change the closer I get to my goal. So why not work for the feeling instead of the size 0?  After all I am pretty sure my bones are not a size 0. So what’s the point?

I have always struggled with my weight in fact stepping on the scale in the morning used to predict how my day would go.  That makes total sense right? It used to, to me, but now that is the craziest thing I have heard.  Why does that matter on my journey to a healthier lifestyle?  Before you stop reading think of it this way.  If I am capable of performing my life with ease or at least without struggling why does it matter what size my pants are or what the number on the scales reads?  Now the scale is a common and easy measurement of progress but it is not necessarily the best and it is the worst to get wrapped up in, especially when it sets the tone of your whole day.  Now you may be thinking back to the beginning of this journey the No Excuses motto.  You are absolutely right this could easily become an excuse and lead me back to where I started.  I am not aiming this for an excuse and I am going to be sure to watch myself so that it does not become one.  I am just changing my focus to enhance my journey.  I am focusing on the food I consume and the output or activity.  I want my organs and muscles to be in great shape and I feel that as I progress to that “my” perfect body shape will follow.  I will still weigh myself, of course, because it is the most convenient measurement but I won’t let it rule my journey.  I am starting to realize that it is about so much more than being skinny, 150 pounds or a size 5.  And I will say that this realization isn’t the same as when I would say it so that I could just accept that I will never be “skinny”.  This realization comes with the fact that your perfect body size and shape and my perfect size and shape do not have to be the same.  There are so many other measurements of health that tell me if I am on the right path.  So if you have lowered your dose of diabetic meds or dropped your cholesterol 100 pts but the scales only read a few pounds less…so what, you have made amazing accomplishments.  Keep going on your journey your weight will follow suite!

Stick with it!

So we have been on this journey for quite some time now.  I hope you are doing well and are noticing the effects of your lifestyle changes.  There has been a lot of talk around here about the changes.  It is very gratifying to me to listen to these successes even though you are the ones sweating it out.  We have started a new class, 4-week calorie blast, and I must say the progress I see in this group, as with a lot of my members, from when they started is absolutely amazing!

This week my message is to anyone who is just starting or might be feeling a bit discouraged like you are not getting anywhere.  Stick with it because you may not see it but you are making some pretty huge changes and if you keep making positive changes the weight loss will come.  A quote I saw today said “Stop trying to be skinny and start trying to be healthy” Your weight will probably take care of itself if you do.  And I have become a huge believer of that.  Several times people who haven’t known me forever will think that this comes natural to me and that I have always been this way. I will admit myself that this is the first time I have stuck to an exercise routine for this long.  Don’t get me wrong I have always had some exercise in my life.  Although I was just like a lot of people and I would be really, really good for a while then I would get comfortable, or for me lazy might be a better term, and I would fall off my routine until I was right back to where I started.  Honestly I never really got very far because my lapses got closer and closer together.  My heaviest weight (without being pregnant) was close to 200 pounds I wish I could say for my height that is not that terrible but I am not that tall.  After opening Your Life Fitness I have actually really noticed the changes not only in size but also in my abilities and my self-confidence.  Before I would do exercise videos and feel like I was going to die.  I did get to the point that I could get through them and to where I was completing all sections but never really got to the point that I felt I needed to kick it up to get a workout.  Now I have gone back and not only completed some of the videos but even felt like I could do more.  I will admit with it being my job to workout it does make it a bit easier to stick with it…I don’t have a choice people are counting on me but if you stick with it I promise you will see the changes too and you are so worth it.  It is not going to happen overnight, I am a year and a half in and I still have room to improve.  Permanent changes take time, effort and hard work.  Another quote I see often is “If you want maximum results use maximum effort.”

A big thing I have to keep reminding myself is “I am worth it and I deserve to feel good and be healthy.”   Often times, (I would almost venture to say always) we are the only ones who get in our way of our dreams.   When I was working on my business plan for the fitness center I was talking some things over with a friend and at one point she looked at me and said “Quit sabotaging yourself!”  I had never thought about anything like that before and she was absolutely right.  I still hear her saying that to me anytime I find myself doubting my ability.

So quit sabotaging yourself and stick with your changes you are worth it!

Chocolate – Good for you?

Everyone likes chocolate, ok well the vast majority I am sure as soon as you say everyone someone will not agree.  Anyway my guess is that you have heard the recent studies that say chocolate is good for you, right?  And if you are like me that is when you stopped listening to the report. All I need to know is that it is good for me. J

Ok well that really isn’t all you should know.  According to an article on about.com written by Mark Stibich, Ph.D, dark chocolate is where the health benefits flourish.  He states that chocolate is made from plants and contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables.  By now you probably know that the darker the vegetable the better.  The benefits come from flavonoids which act as antioxidants.  Dark chocolate contains nearly 8 times the number of antioxidants found in strawberries!  Are you thinking what I am thinking…. strawberries dipped in dark chocolate, win win!

Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure and lower LDL cholesterol by up to 10%.  Other benefits of dark chocolate include: it tastes good, it gives a feeling of pleasure, it contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant, and it contains caffeine, which is a stimulant.

Now you may also be aware that chocolate contains a lot of fat.  Here is some more good news.  Mark Stibich states that the fats in chocolate are 1/3 of each, oleic acid, stearic acid and palmitic acid.  Palmitic is the only one, which raises cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.  Oleic acid is also found in olive oil (healthy fat) and stearic acid is saturated but seems to have a neutral effect on cholesterol.

This is the part where we tend to stop listening.  Although dark chocolate is good for you it still contains calories.  One bar of dark chocolate contains about 400 calories. If you would eat half of that for 200 calories you need to be sure that you exchange something else so that you still remain in check for total daily calorie count.  While dark chocolate has claim to health benefits milk or white chocolate do not.  To be dark chocolate it must have 65% or higher cocoa content.

So just remember these few tips and enjoy dark chocolate everyday!

1.      Go for the dark chocolate

2.      Skip the caramel and nougat they just add sugar and fat and defeat your purpose.

3.      Avoid washing it down with milk.  It is said that a glass of milk could prevent your body from absorbing the antioxidants.

4.      And probably the most important to avoid hampering your journey…balance your calories.  Be sure to make the exchange not add to you daily balance.

So grab some dark chocolate and forget the guilt!

Ignore the product label and head straight for the ingredients list!

Ok so this series of “How bad is it?” has been interesting and a little frustrating for me.  You can find just about anything on the Internet, including just what ever it is you want to hear.  This week I decided to research whole grains, triggered by my search on good carbs, bad carbs.  I used to think that complex meant good and simple meant bad, well if you read my article last week you found that both categories have both good and bad.  So how in the heck do you make your grocery list and keep your sanity without spending hours and hours at the store?  Ignore the front labels and looking at the back.  The nutrition label is helpful but the real test is the ingredients. 

The less ingredients the better if you are looking at something like bread.  You hear a lot about whole wheat bread, so I switched to whole wheat bread.  Then that wasn’t the right stuff it needed to be 100% whole wheat. Now I am finding even that is not truly the best.  Here are some examples:

This is ingredient list on a package of 100% Whole Wheat bread

“Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Gluten, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Yeast, Cracked Wheat, Salt, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Molasses, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Ethoxylated Mono-And Diglycerides Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Honey, Soy Lecithin.”

Remember a couple weeks ago we talked about the partially hydrogenated and we hear about fructose corn syrup all the time and these are towards the beginning of the list meaning they have a greater proportion in the mix.  If you are unaware of ingredient lists here is a little tip.  The ingredients are listed in order of proportion so whole wheat flour has the largest measurement of all the ingredients listed and soy lecithin has the least.

So another option, this loaf of bread said Natural 100% Whole Wheat:

“Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Reduced Iron, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) Folic Acid], Water, Cracked Wheat, Whole Wheat Flour, Yeast, Barley, Honey, Fructose, Wheat Gluten, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Wheat Bran, Malt, Ethoxylated Mono-And Diglycerides, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Caramel Color, Whey, Soy Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Soy Lecithin, Nonfat Milk.”

Here is the third example:

Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Calcium Propionate

Catch the differences? I bet you did. They both have partially hydrogenated soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup...junk.  But if you didn’t notice the second option says unbleached enriched wheat flour, this is borderline fake whole wheat bread.  The difference with this and white bread is probably one process, which removes the color.  I don’t know that for a fact I did not research the process.  The third example is the best for three reasons that come to my mind immediately.  There is only 5 ingredients, I know what they are and how to pronounce them and it does not include the partially hydrogenated and fructose.  Had we just looked at the product label we likely would have migrated towards the Natural 100% Whole Wheat, right?

Next time you go to the store check out the ingredients…if you don’t know what they are your body doesn’t either.