Eating Journey

Entries from July 2008

What?!??! I, ME, am not working out enough?????

July 31, 2008 · 1 Comment

The ingrained notion of exercise, which I was raised with, was 4-5 times a week, for at least 30 minutes. Well, I am not exactly sure if that is true, but what I can say is that is the standard approach which I have set out for much of my weight loss experience.

WRONG?!?!?!?!

According the the article “The Myth of Moderate Exercise” http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827342,00.html?cnn=yes

What has become increasingly clear, however, is that the conventionally accepted advice — 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week — is probably insufficient to spur any real change in a person’s body weight.

NOOOOOO…so what is expected then…7 days a week all day…yes of course that will fit into my schedule!

A study published July 28 in the Archives of Internal Medicine adds to the burgeoning scientific consensus: when it comes to exercise for weight loss, more is better. It suggests that obese people would have to exercise at least an hour at a time to see any significant difference in their weight.

So..how much did the study participants actually exercise if they wanted to lose weight?

The biggest weight losers were active a full 68 minutes a day, five days a week (about 55 minutes a day more than they had been before the trial began), burning an extra 1,848 calories a week.

That is a lot of exercise if you ask me. However, I think that it’s an important notion to think about. That if you want to lose weight..and honestly be healthy you have to ‘put in the hard yards’.

It’s about what you put in and what you expend. If there’s not a balance then you will be unbalanced.

This study has really made me think about my own exercise routine. Here’s what I have on this week so far:

Monday: 20 min running

Tuesday: nothing

Wednesday: 15 min elliptical and 10 min ab

Thursday: 45min boxing

Friday: 45min personal training

Saturday: 40min run

Sunday: 30-40min run

I AM NOT DOING ENOUGH!!!! What should also be noted is that study participants were restricted to 1,200-1,600 calories..which isn’t tons. I am about that level…so I need to step it up…WOW!

If you aren’t an exercisers..then just start of walking 4-5 times a week leisurely. About 3-3.5miles slowly is a good pace to start at..then add 4miles in one hour..then start to job a bit. My only advice is to give yourself space to not be fit..but room to grow into being fit.

I should mention: When you begin..if you decide…you should also take your measurements. Sometimes the scale wont go down, especially when you get closer to a healthy weight, but you will become more trim. So it’s a combination of setting weight, eating, and measurement goals.

~M

Categories: food/diet · thoughts
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11 Foods you should eat..cardboard not included

July 29, 2008 · Leave a Comment


1. Beets: they are a rich source of folate, may be cancer fighters.
How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.

When I was growing up beets were something that ‘old’ people ate. However, I have come to LOVE them. They are good on sandwiches, in salads, fresh, steamed, roasted, pickled. Basically I love them.


2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.

Steamed cabbage isn’t bad either. I also like to through it into stir frys…it’s yummy. Yes it maybe in coleslaw…but dumping mayo and lord knows what else on it..doesn’t make it healthy :)


3. Swiss chard: packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes
How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.

Stir fry things, or steam

4.Cinnamon: May help to control blood sugar and cholesterol
How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.

I LOVE cinnamon. It just adds so much to everything that you cook/eat. I love to add it to my baking (muffins/breads…should I be saying that?) But over oatmeal with a little splenda and non-sweetened berries is pretty much heaven.


5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
How to eat: Just drink it.

I have never drank it before. Honestly, the fruit itself looks annoying to me and I didn’t like how much effort you had to go through to eat it. Also, I’ve heard it’s quite expensive, the juice..but I need to give it a go.


6. Dried plums: packed with antioxidants.
How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.

So much you can do with this. Add to a salad chopped up, make a ‘fruitty’ rice dish, reduce and use as a sauce over pork, chicken. Also add to oatmeal in the mornings, eat with nuts…they are so good. I used to eat my grandparents’ prunes all the time..still do..I love them.


7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.

I don’t see them much around where I live now. I also didn’t grow up with them much either. They are also good tossed into a roasted vegetable salad, along with a green salad as well.


8. Sardines: They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.

I get what this person is saying about sardines…but I can’t get past them. I will have to give them a go at some point…they just gross me out.


9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,’’ it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.

I haven’t ever cooked with this to my knowledge. However, instead of adding mayo and mustard to egg salad sandwiches…Indian spices such as this with less mayo makes for a dang good sand which. I also like this with stir fried vegetables. It’s a great flavouring to add into egg white omelets and/or scrambles.


10. Frozen blueberries: Assist with memory
How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.

I LOVE BLUEBERRIES!!!!!! No seriously I LOVE THEM!!! I grew up by a blueberry patch and apparently when I was young I called it the ‘candy patch’. I could eat them until I was SICK..remember the girl on Willy Wonka? Anyways, I love them in oatmeal, over cereal, in yogurt smoothies, in fruit salads, on salads, or just by themselves.


11. Canned pumpkin: high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Can I just say that I never ate pumpkin until I moved abroad. It’s so sad. I love pumpkin. You can roast it in the oven, wrap it in tin foil and roast it, stem it, boil it….it’s amazing. It’s low cal, packed with nutrients..not terribly expensive and adds a great base to any dinner and/or soup.

I have to give it to NYTimes online. Being abroad it is such a great resource for stuff going on around the world..which is nice. Plus, it also has interesting articles which spawn conversation and thought.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/the-11-best-foods-you-arent-eating/?scp=1&sq=11%20foods&st=cse

What I will endeavour to do is provide ways in which you can incorporate these foods into your daily routine along with healthy eating options/recipes. Check back each day for different numbered foods and insightful ways to incorporate them! YUMM..I get to eat foods which I should be eating..

Any more that you would add to the list?

~M

Categories: food/diet · list
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So if diets don’t work..then what does?

July 28, 2008 · 2 Comments

I was searching around NYTimes online and came across this article “Rethinking Diets, Weight Loss and Health”

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/rethinking-diets-weight-loss-and-health/

I have been ‘dieting’ for the past eightish years on and off. I started out at 290lbs and have worked my way down to 175lbs. The thing is that throughout my time, I have had different increments and levels of weight loss, in pounds. 290-250, then 250-210, then 210-190 and now 190-175…ending around 158-160. I started out doing Atkins and aerobics class, but have lost the remainder (250-175) on WeightWatchers coupled with exercise. I have had plateaus of around 3 years at the tops and 10 months at the lowest…I have fluctuated around 10-15lbs in between but have NEVER gained what I’ve lost back. I am currently climbing my way out of the last one…bad week last week..awful actually..but I am back now :)

This article is of interest to me, because it highlights some of the popular diets out there and has found that after a 2 year study most people only lost between 6-10lbs…mainly men.

Some things to ponder:

1. Were they allowed to exercise?

2. How old were they?

3. What outside eating was happening?

I recognise and realise that dieting is very hard. INCREDIBLY HARD but ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. Just like binging is possible, so is working out. Just like giving up is possible, so is sticking to it. The thing which frustrates me most is that people assume that dieting is just TOO hard for them. So either A) they give up B) blame weight gain on other things (hormones, family history, recent events, travelling, etc.) C) have surgery to make them stop eating.

HOW ABOUT DIET AND EXERCISE?

Well, that requires discipline, non fatty foods (most of the time) and an inability to indulge in the modern day pleasures of sitting around and eating…yes that is how many of us relax. Since we don’t actually have to expend any energy to accomplish most of the jobs in the modern world and there’s more food to eat then we know what to do with (for most of us) well let us indulge…because we had a stressful day, I haven’t had a cookie all week (it’s only Tuesday), I have already had a bad day..I’LL START TOMORROW. Yes, even I succumb to such things…yes even I struggle (red wine).

BUT…I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER go back to what I was. NEVER! That is what motivates me. I am motivated by the fact that I can run a race (see posting below), that I get compliments, that I feel good, sexy, attractive, IN CONTROL.

What frustrates me, is that we justify all the time:

“Gina says some people who have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight may decide to say to themselves, “I can be attractive. I can buy clothes. I can be fit. I can be healthy. I can have a good life, and I may not be skinny, but so what.”

I agree with the above statement..but through caution all over it. “I may not be skinny, but so what” is sandwhiched in with “I can be fit. I can be healthy”. The danger in proclaiming this, although people can do, is that many people define ‘fit’ and ‘healthy’ outside of the justifiable expectations and definitions of this word in order to rationalise not cutting back, working out or being ‘thin’.

So, I end with this

1. Dieting is hard

2. It’s not impossible

3. It’s good ole fashioned balance…work out, eat healthy, indulge one in awhile, understand why you’re eating

4. Never give up to excuses which enable unhealthy behaviour and perceptions about self

http://rowansimpson.com/2008/07/06/first-things-first/

5. You can’t out exercise a horrible diet (in most cases)

6. If I can do it..ANYONE CAN!

~M

Categories: food/diet
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Why I am doing this

July 27, 2008 · Leave a Comment

I began writing this blog, as a way to connect to those around me who I wouldn’t normally be able to connect with. Also, it keeps me on track of what I am about and justify why things which I hold true are important..and perhaps re-evaluate aspects of my life which need to be re-evaluated.

The core of the blog is that I have lost about 115lbs (52kg) on and off for the past 8ish years.

What is happening now is that I am down to the last 15lbs and I don’t want to give it all up. More though, I get asked all the time ‘How did you do that?’ HARD WORK, determination and good ole’ exercise and diet.

I STILL STRUGGLE! Amazing, I know. So, this is not only an outlet to help those along, who perhaps have no idea what to do and/or where to begin, But it’s about my trails, successes, and insight into the things which constantly inspire and frustrate me.

Categories: thoughts

Afraid of success? Come on, yeah right!

July 27, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Running a Race..and I am scared

As part of my weightloss and exersice journey I have decided that I am going to be part of a local race. Having studied and currently being abroad I have discovered that you can not hide behind any excuse for personality flaws. Meaning that I can’t blame my inability to meet scary goals…ones which I find scary… by blaming it on my family, boring home town, weather, etc.

IT IS MY PROBLEM.

So I have always wanted to run a race…haven’t we always had something that we’d like to do?

How am I going to understand this mental block which has blocked me out of being solid with my weight, of running a race, or completing fitness challneges?

Why am I afraid of accomplishment?

In my quest of use google as much as possbile I decided to google ‘afraid of accomplishment’–not much luck. So I then tried ‘afraid of success’. BANG!

From the article: “Are you afraid of success?” http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1996/07/08/214330/index.htm

“Often fear of success shows up in the exceptionally talented as a long pattern of underachievement, of schlubbing along in the same old rut.”

“On some level, success-fearing people are running from change–especially from having to change their secret self-image as an unsuccessful or undeserving person.”

“As a culture we love the idea of hitting it big, but we also fear and distrust it.”

“Before you can decide whether you’re a success fearer or a commonsense downshifter–or neither–and then act accordingly in your own best interest, you have to know yourself, including those parts of your psyche that you might rather ignore. You have to like yourself too. And that, initially, can be even harder.”

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In my google quest to gain a deeper understanding of this fear, I had mentioned that I was scared of running the race to someone. Their response was, ‘did you go for a 5k run today?’. ‘Yes, I did’ I responded. ‘Well, that’s almost 1/2 of the race that you’re going to be running. You’ll be fine.” I responded with “But there are hills, and I don’t feel ready, etc”.

What I have discoverd is that I am scared of not finishing, or not living up to the ideal self-image that I have for myself..blowing through the finish line first.

Here’s an interesting online quiz: ‘Are You Afraid of Success?”

http://www.stopdepressiontoday.com/am-i-afraid-of-success.html

I scored a 10 out of 20…borderline <wipe sweat off of forehead, but think…humm I was borderline>

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Eating everything on your plate

July 27, 2008 · Leave a Comment

I was out to dinner recently and started a conversation about how I was raised to eat EVERYTHING on my plate.

What is interesting is that even though I am aware of the fact that I have to let go of the ‘eat everything on your plate’….I still do. It’s actually a struggle for me not to eat everything on my plate…I feel guilty, unaccomplished, rude, not normal, if everything isn’t gone.

Until that conversation, I hadn’t really verbally processed it with someone..it was always in the back of my mind. How can people leave 1/2 a portion of something and not eat it? Can you really stop when you’re full?

So why is it that I do this? Why is it that other people struggle with this as well?

1. Being raised, indoctrinated to eat everything

2. As a backlash to the stressful and many times unsatisfying lives that many of us become consumed in…food becomes a pleasure trigger…a momentary drug.

3. Could it really be a hormone problem? Is that possible? Or is that just an excuse to excuse poor eating habits, unhappy lives, and bad food consumption by many poeple?

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From “Stop when full? You must be French” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23449358/

Based upon a study of people in Paris and Chicago, this is what researchers discovered:

“The Parisians said they knew they were through when they no longer felt hungry or when the food no longer tasted good to them. Their answers suggested that they’re influenced by internal cues — whether they liked the taste of the food or whether they wanted to leave room for a later dessert — to tell them dinner’s over.

In Chicago, it was a different ball game. The 145 Americans relied on external cues of satiety. They said they knew they were through eating when they cleaned their plate, when everyone else at the table was finished or when the TV show they were watching was over.”

How do you overcome this?

“Use a smaller plate and put everything on your plate before you eat. Don’t go back for seconds. And don’t eat while you watch TV.”

Categories: food/diet · thoughts
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