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Food and Life

Eat. Live. Be. #7: Celeb Advice

· Eat. Live. Be.

Welcome my fellow Eat. Live. Be. peeps.  Can you believe it’s WEEK 7 already?! My how time has flown.  Now before I forget, I was supposed to do my status update last week and it slipped my mind.  As you may know, Sarah and I are in a friendly competition to see who is going to lose 40 lbs first.  She thinks she has a chance.  Let me say it in black and white, just as Nick used to when he was four:  No way, Jose.  As of last week’s update, I was at a 6 pound weight loss since we started ELB.  Hard to stop a moving train, ya know?  Booyah!

This week, our topic was sharing celebrity fitness tips, recipes and the like, and I haven’t made the rounds yet, but I’m sure we all interpreted this one from every angle of the spectrum.  Dr. Oz may not be the first person you think of when it comes to “celebrity” and “fitness,” but he is definitely at the forefront of getting people interested in their health again.  I am a big fan of his method in explaining how things work and what we need to do to take better, more complete, care of ourselves.  He breaks it down in easy-to-digest laymen terms that basically leaves us no excuse but to listen and pay attention.  Growing up, my Dad always said, “It’s simple.  Eat less, move more.” I will, of course, never tell him, but he was definitely on to something.  Kind of the same way Dr. Oz explains it.  We all know what we should be doing.  Actually doing it is another story entirely.

Dr. Oz’s 10 Commandments for Weight Loss Success is another prime example of breaking things down in the easiest manner possible.

1. Thou Shalt Not Wear Pants that Stretch
Your clothing is an early-warning system for weight gain. When it’s getting hard to snap your jeans, you know it’s time to be vigilant. Wearing stretchy clothes allows you to live in ignorance of how your body is growing, making it easier to pack on pounds without knowing it.

2. Thou Shalt Not Keep Fat Clothes in Your Closet
When you keep the clothes you wore at an unhealthy weight, it gives you a back-up plan if the pounds don’t come off. Instead, force yourself to stay on track by 86ing your “fat pants.”

3. Thou Shalt Not Eat Meat That Walks on Four Legs More Than Once a Week
Meat that comes from an animal with 4 legs is higher in saturated fat (the unhealthy kind) than that which comes from 2-legged animals such as chickens, or animals with no legs, like fish. Plus: women who eat large amounts of red meat more than once a week have a 50% higher chance of dying from heart disease and have higher cancer rates.

4. Thou Shalt Not Graze
Plan your meal before you open the refrigerator, get what you need, and close the door. Opening it throughout the day leads to impulsive choices and overeating.

5. Thou Shalt Not Eat After 7:30pm
When you eat late at night you are more likely to be eating in front of the TV (when you won’t pay attention to how much you’re putting in your mouth) and you’re more likely to pick high-calorie snacks.

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Eat. Live. Be. #6 – Getting Out of Your Rut

· Narrative

ELB logo - largeThe Eat. Live. Be. topic of the week is about breaking out of your rut, whether it be food, exercise or what have you.  With us East Coasters being in the thick of a challenging winter, it can be very easy to fall into the rut of not going out to work out.  How do we avoid that?  Change it up!

Here are a few suggestions for what has worked for me over the past year or so; would love to hear about your own personal rut-busters.

  • Change your tunes. If you are plugged into your iPod during your work-outs, go on and ask your facebook friends for their favorite work-out tunes and change what you’re listening to.  I have all sorts of different playlists, some mellow, many hard hitting with an energizing beat.  Put together a bunch of different ones to suit your different work-outs.
  • Take a new class. Are you taking the same schedule of classes week after week at your local gym?  Scope out the schedule and see what new ones might catch your eye.  Break out of your comfort zone and you  might discover a new one that you love.  That’s how I discovered Zumba for the first time.  I needed a break from the treadmill.  Since then I’ve taken kickboxing, yoga, pilates and Nia….

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Eat. Live. Be. #5 – Your Favorite Healthy Change

· Narrative

ELB logo - largeThis week, the Eat. Live. Be. crew is talking about a favorite healthy change that we’ve made over the past few weeks.  You know, since starting the Eat. Live. Be. revolution.  When I checked in with Sarah on what this week’s topic was (because she has a crazy memory like an elephant that saves me from doing something practical like looking something up), I may have cursed her a bit.  I thought today was our monthly status recap.  It wasn’t – look for that next week.  “Who the heck came up with this topic?!” I asked, secretly hoping it wasn’t me.  Phew, it wasn’t.  It was her.

I thought this was a tough one.  I have lots of fun little changes I’ve made over the past few weeks.  Over the past year even.  But a favorite?  Oh the pressure.  It took me a little while of serious thought.  But then I had it.  For me, it’s the renewed commitment to working out. This isn’t something that has happened since we started Eat. Live. Be., of course.  For me, it started last January.  But as anyone who works out regularly can tell you, there’s little that beats that feeling you get after a work-out.  Just ask Joanne.

You feel invincible. Full of a heady, take-on-the-world rush.  Like you can do anything.  And you can.  You really can. Working out sets you up for the next 24 hours of your day.  Energizes you to deal with problems head on.  Gives you the confidence to tackle anything.

A lot of my work-outs are at the end of the day, and I’ll be honest, sometimes I’m dragging myself to the gym or a class.  But after that hour? I am completely revitalized from the inside out.  Ready to get through the “witching hour” of dinner, bath and bedtime with the kids.  Energized enough to slog through a few extra hours of freelancing deadlines after the littles are in their beds.

And just as important than that?  The regular work-outs help me examine every bite I put into my mouth.  Because as I’m banging through a one hour class, with sweat literally stinging my eyes, no way do I want to undo that hard work by eating something that’s less than good for me.  Why would I do that?  Not a chance.

For me, making the connection of working out AND revamping my diet was the magical spark that made it all work. It hasn’t been easy.  It took me a long time to get here.  A reader last week asked what made *this time* different.  I have been meaning to answer, but I think that’s a greater topic  than an add-on here, so look for it later this week.

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Eat. Live. Be. #4: Your Biggest Challenge

· Narrative

ELB logo - largeThis week, the Eat. Live. Be. crew is addressing challenges.  What ours are.  How we deal with them.  Challenges. I have a few.  Yesterday I told a personal trainer that one of my challenges is working out with the kids during the Winter.  I don’t want to drag them out in the cold more than I have to, but with nobody else at home to watch them, I also need to be able to strike a reasonable balance to get work-outs during my least favorite of the four seasons.

During yesterday morning’s Zumba class, the instructor shouted in my direction, “You can move your hips better than that – you HAVE BABIES!” She might peg that as my biggest challenge.  During the body roll segment of the song, it totally was.

So you see, it depends on who you ask when.  Challenges, I have a few.  But what do I think?  My greatest challenge?  The first step.

I have a bit of a, um, compulsive personality.  A friend and I were debating the merits of the right word today.  He said addictive, in defining his own similar trait.  We settled on “committed,” because that sounds awesome, right?  My thing is this … one I make the decision to do something, anything, I am in it 150%.  Whether it’s recycling.  Working out.  Or reorganizing my entire closet.  I jump in, feet first, eyes closed and don’t look back.  Heck, most of the time I don’t even look forward.  I just commit wholeheartedly with every ounce of my being.  But the challenge is in taking that first step. Dipping that little toe in the water down the shore on the first day of full-out sunshine to see if the water is cold enough.  It takes a lot to muster up the courage to do that.  To turn that corner.  To make that decision.  Therein lies my challenge.

Along my journey, many people have asked how they could get started on a similar path.  How I could help them.  See, the thing is, I can’t. Once you’re on the road, I am right there with you, ready to give you all the encouragement, tips and advice you need.  iVillage asked me for ten tips to help someone with weight loss and I spouted them off in nothing flat.  But that first step?  I can’t do it for you.  Your husband can’t.  Your family can’t.  NO ONE can do it except you.  Which is why it’s such a challenge.

The last time I got serious about losing weight was right before my wedding.  That was in 1998.  I fell off the wagon, so to speak, the next year.  Folks, this is 2011.  It took me nearly 13 years to take that first step again.  I wasn’t kidding when I said it was my biggest challenge.  Now some 13 months after the first step, it is a way of life.  For the most part, it doesn’t require thought.  It just is.

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Eat. Live. Be. #3: Baby, It’s Cold Outside

· Narrative

ELB logo - largeI used to sing that Dean Martin song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” to Nick when he was a baby; it brings back such fond memories, so it should be no surprise that I named this week’s theme for Eat. Live. Be. The topic, though we’ll all interpret it slightly differently, is how to keep motivated during these cold winter months, and for me, it’s a definite challenge.

Right now, it’s about 20 degrees outside and I just got a call from Nick’s school that they have a 90-minute delayed opening tomorrow because of  snow due to arrive after midnight tonight.  When the winds are so blustery outside that I can hear them from inside my toasty warm house, it’s no wonder I have to give myself an extra push to get out the door to work out.  So how to fight that?

  • Try to work out before you go to work in the morning, or right after. I find that once I’m already out of the house, it’s easier to handle making one other stop, than to force myself to leave the house once I’m home.
  • Focus on how you feel after the work-out. I feel amazing when I leave the gym, so I try and remember that feeling and force myself out.  That endorphin rush is like nothing else. Nothing.
  • On particularly bad days where the snow is so high you can’t open your door, work out at home. Arm yourself with a few of your favorite exercise DVDs or stream them on your computer.  Put together a routine with light weights and go through the paces.  DO IT.
  • Make standing appointments to meet work-out partners. Knowing someone else is counting on me makes me extra motivated to leave the house when it’s cold.
  • When you get dressed in the morning, put your gym clothes on right away. On the weekends, it’s too easy to get consumed with a To Do List a mile long.  If I put my sweats on right away, it’s a constant reminder to get thyself to the gym.
  • Reward yourself. “If I go work out five days this week, I will buy that new book on the bestseller list.”  Work out consistently every day during a winter month and treat yourself to a new blouse or necklace.  Allow your treadmill time at the gym to be the only time you catch up on your favorite Food Network shows.
  • And when all else fails?  Countdown the days to Spring. I’m not ashamed to admit that we are totally doing that here.  61 days to go…  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Eat. Live. Be. is a big group effort, so please do check out what motivational tips and keep-warm recipes my fellow ELBers are sharing this week:

Did you share how to combat the Baby It’s Cold Outside feelings on your own blog?  Add your link below!

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Eat. Live. Be. Week #2: Finding Your Support Group

· Narrative

ELB logo - largeFor our second week of Eat. Live. Be. we are all tackling the topic of finding a support network.  Remember when you were in high school and your parents cautioned you against hanging out with certain crowds?  Oh.  That was just me?  Ok then, let’s pretend it wasn’t. Having a support group to help you meet your goals is kind of like that.  Hang out with negative influences and they might entice you to behave negatively.  Positive peeps bring out the positive. Yes, it really can be that simple.

One of the parts of our lives that I have worked on over the past few years is paying closer attention to the people that we interact with on a regular basis.  Not like any of our besties are like Danny Zuko pushing us to smoke cigarettes and drag race until the wee hours, but I’m sure you get my drift.  I want to be around people that are good.  That make us feel good.  That want more.  That strive for more.  That treat their bodies well. Because good begets good. And that makes me a) want to be even better and b) want to stay on the straight and narrow and stay away from detractors.  You know, like Diet Coke and potato chips.  Hello, salt, thy name is Cate.

Having a support network is absolutely 100% paramount to meeting a goal successfully.  And it’s not just about losing weight.  It can be about anything really.  It’s about surrounding yourself with people who get you. Who get what you’re working to achieve.  Who will cheer you on as you work towards it.  Who will pick you back up and bolster you if need be.  Who are like-minded folks with like-minded goals.

So now that you know you need a support network, how do you go about getting one?  For me, it happens rather organically.

  • This little grassroots Eat. Live. Be. challenge (and accompanying facebook page) has become a great source of support.  We are all working towards some sort of goal … together.  Becoming each other’s cheerleaders.  Getting new ideas.  Sharing tips and tricks.  Hey, there’s even a giveaway going on today, if you need a new exercise dvd to kick-start your own routine.
  • The gym. I take classes at a variety of places, and the people that assemble have slowly become a little bit like an adjunct family.  One of my Zumba classes I’ve been going to for a year, and there are maybe 7 or 8 of us that chat before and after class.  They notice if I’m not there.  And I ask where they’ve been when they miss a class or two.  Last week, I spent the whole hour of Thursday’s class beating myself up about a specific body part.  Just one of those days.  Afterwards, one of the women came up to me.  “I bet you’ve lost 15 pounds since the holidays,” she said.  I smiled.  “A few pounds, not quite 15.”  “Well you look great!”  She didn’t know the mind battles I was going through during the hour-long sweatfest, and her unsolicited pat on the back reminded me how far I’d come.
  • Exercise buddies. Seek out those in your posse that like to work out.  And it doesn’t have to be a regimented class.  Maybe you have a group that likes to go hiking.  Or bicycle riding.  Or chase your kids at the playground with other moms.  Seek out people that like to move.  And schedule time to move with them.
  • Friends that hold you accountable. I have a few friends that are total hardcore when it comes to working out.  Two especially come to mind.  One will text me … “I’m going by your house to pick you up in 30.  Be ready.  No excuses.” On a day that I wasn’t going.  I do work out 5-6 days a week!  She said Saturday that I’ve come too far and she will drag me out of the house if need be.  This is also coming from someone who takes three back-to-back hour-long classes on the weekend.  The word “hardcore” might not even be strong enough to describe her.  Another friend works out Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and if I’m feeling ambivalent about a specific day (weather, work, homework, fill in the blank), I know if I just shoot him an IM he will guilt me into the fact that HE is going and if I don’t, he will be one up on me.  And I can’t have that.  So I engage.  This type of guilt works in my favor every time.
  • Make Standing Appointments. In a roundabout way, this is part of creating your support network.  Because it’s about making your support network work in the best way possible.  When I was getting in shape for my wedding, I bartered services with a local personal trainer.  After we made our arrangements, he said he’d meet me the next day at 12 noon for a one-hour work-out.  And he did.  Every weekday for three months.  Because we had a standing appointment, and this goes back a bit to last week’s Putting YOU on the List, there was no putting it off for a better time.  Everything gets worked around it.  I have set classes with a few of the people I work out with too, just like the standing appointment with my old personal trainer.  They are counting on me to show up, and I them.  There is no “it’s a crazy day, I can’t make it” or “Thursday’s not good, what about Friday?”  It just is.  Period.  End of story.

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Putting YOU on the List

· Narrative

Without making sweeping generalizations, I think it’s safe to say that most women are good at nurturing.  Whether they’re taking care of their kids, their husband or their cat, women are seemingly always doing for others.  It’s in our DNA.  One of my resolutions for 2010 was to put ME on the list.

In the past 12 years or so, I was focused on taking care of the kids and The Ex, as any good mother and wife does.  But I forgot me. I didn’t make the list.  Not nearly enough.  Last year, I changed that… and was so much better for it.  A better me.  A better mom.  A better everything.  So last night, when a friend asked me about my New Years’ resolutions, my answer was simple.  More of the same.

As women, we need to give ourselves permission to be on our list.  To make us a priority. We’re always so busy taking care of everyone and everything else.  What about us? Whether it’s making time to exercise regularly, sit down with a cup of coffee and a good book or treat ourselves to a manicure, we need to be on the list. That’s not to say that you need to stop taking care of others.  Far from it.  We just need to focus on making ourselves just as important.  After all, if you go down, the whole darn ship goes down with it.

Last year, I made going to the gym uber-important, and reaped the rewards for it.  It was a bit of a juggle trying to fit everything in and budget-wise, but it worked out.  This year?  Much of the same.  That endorphine blast that kicks in at the end of a work-out makes it totally and 100% worth it.  There is nothing like it.  And this year, the gym routine continues, now more than ever.

How else do I make myself a priority?  I’ve always loved journaling and writing.  Last year, I bought a notebook in January and started filling it with quotes I liked, affirmations, aspirations, goals and dreams.  This year?  Much of the same.  Madeline and I went out at lunchtime to get this year’s notebook and, of course, she needed her own too.  Mine was a pretty pastel flowered cover.  Hers?  A shocking green frog.  Both make us happy.  And as I go through 2011 and jot down things that inspire me and goals I hope to accomplish, it will be a wonderfully reflective journal to look back on at the end of the year … to see how far I’ve come.

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