Practice What You Preach

Do I practice everything I preach?  UUUH....EErrrr.  No.  Don't tell my kids! 

OK.  There are a few things I recommend to those trying to lose weight that I don't do myself.  I am going to lay it out there for you to scoff at me.  I weigh myself every day.  Sometimes more than once!    There.  I said it.  Just saying it out loud (blogging)  makes me feel better.

Why not weigh every day?  If you are losing 1 or 2 pounds per week it stands to reason that there are going to be days when the scale stays the same.  Or heaven forbid, goes UP!!!  ACCCKKK!  Like all humans, we get frustrated when we are working toward something and we don't see results.  Intellectually, we know that our weight-loss results don't always immediately follow our good behavior.  When we step on the scale after a stellar day of healthful eating and see no change, it's a recipe for frustration.  Frustration equals cookie binge.

Our bodies are a fluid universe.  Daily fluctuations in hormones, body temperature and other factors can influence our fluid retention.  This fluid can show up on the scale after a day of fish and vegetables and exercise just to aggrivate you.  Your aggrivated self just might not make the same effort it did the day before just out of sheer frustration.  Do yourself a favor, save yourself the aggrivation.  Weigh youself once a week so you can see the scale move!

Vitamins?

I get many questions about taking vitamins.  The most common one, "Should I?"  The short answer is yes.  But you know I'm going to give you the long answer. lol.  Let me start by reminding you about my deficiencies.  Remember the ones I learned of on myfitnesspal.com?
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies?  I'm still flabbergasted about my remiss.

Remiss:  Lacing care or attention to duty; negligent.

I love food.  We have a close relationship.  Obsessive even?  Maybe.  I cannot think of one food I don't like.  Not one.  Brussels sprouts?  MMMM.  Halved and grilled to a caramelized deliciousness.  Yes.  Lima beans?  Soft and buttery sauteed with a bit of spicy sausage.  I'm in.  It is not hard for me to get my servings of veggies in every day.  I love them.  Just this morning I threw baby spinach, red bell pepper, and green spring onions in my scrambled eggs and loved it.  With all these veggies flying around you would think I was meeting my nutritional needs.  WRONG.

What I'm getting at is even with the best diet, there are nutritional gaps that need to be met.    You don't want to be running around with deficiencies!  Why?  Disease prevention, heart health, mental well being to name a few reasons.  So a good daily multivitamin in essential.  I would recommend a good omega 3 for everyone too if I had my druthers (my grandpa used to say that! ) And you want to get the good stuff.  Talk to Dr. Jakob or Dr. Murphy about what they would recommend for you.  

Part II

Part II of the I can't get enough of my app series...lol!  MyFitnessPal has you enter your exercise for the day (if you did any) AND the amount of time you spent doing it.  No.  You don't have to log 0 minutes of jumping rope!!  The app then tells you how many calories you burned doing that exercise.  It takes into account your age, gender, weight etc.  Why?  Because everyone is different.

My husband and I went on a 30 minute bicycle ride...he burned 350 calories.  I burned 265 calories.  FOR THE SAME BIKE RIDE!  Yes, I know he weighs more and has more muscle mass and he has to work a little bit harder to peddle that additional 50lbs around...but come on...almost 100 more calories worth?!!  UUUUGH!  Men, you don't know how lucky you are.  By the same token, I'm 5'6" and burn more than my friend who is 5'1" and weighs barely a buck 10.  I guess we all have our crosses to bear.

So not only do we all burn at a different rate, we don't burn as much as we think.  Or at least as much as I think we should!  Walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes burns 166 calories for me.  Jogging 12 minute miles for 30 minutes burns 265 calories.  It really isn't all that much.  Don't get me wrong.  We should still do it.  Cardiovascular health, muscle tone, stress relief, bone density are just a few of the reasons we should exercise.  Just don't use it as a license to eat what you want.  That will certainly backfire!

The key is to exercise AND eat right.  Don't we hear that all the time?  lol.  It sounds so easy.  But if it were easy we'd all be doing it...super fit and trim.  For all of us normal folks trying our best, each day is a new day to eat right and exercise.  And tomorrow, and the day after that too. 

Fooling Myself

You know I love my new app for iPad, MyFitnessPal. It has been a real eye opener for me. I have been working in the weight loss and wellness field for several years and thought I couldn't learn anything new..I was so wrong ( I'm choking again...that seems to happening a lot lately)!   Two things struck me right away when I started using my app so I'll have to write this in two parts. Part 1 is called "I need to take my vitamins!"

I've always been hit or miss when it comes to taking vitamins. I keeps them in a kitchen cabinet and when I open it I'll take them! The operative phrase here being "when I open it!". If I feel a cold coming on, I'll take my vitamins. If someone reminds me, I'll take my vitamins. I've always thought I was OK because for the most part I eat very well. I eat my veggies. I eat fish. I eat a spinach salad almost every day. I'm good. Or so I thought.

After a week of food journaling on my new app, I clicked on the nutrients icon and low and behold...I was DEFICIENT. The app calculated everything I had eaten for the week and gave me the nutritional profile and then had the nerve to compare it to the USDA recommended amounts of key vitamins and minerals. Yup, I came up short. Not just in one area either. I was missing calcium. I was missing fiber. I was missing vitamin D among a few.  So much for that daily spinach salad.

So now I'm not just an app convert. I'm a vitamin convert also. I've taken my Total Family Healthcare vitamins out of the cabinet and put them on the counter where I can see them. And take them. Every day!  This is something so many of us want to do, and somehow it just gets away from us.  Don't let it.

Build It

We all have goals, right? Or at least we should. Goals help keep us focused on what we want, which is a good thing...sometimes. I've had weight loss goals since...well, since forever. An endless parade of New Year's resolutions, swimsuit seasons, high school reunions, the list doesn't end. The goal is always the same. Lose weight. I've wondered what I would work for if not for losing weight?! I've had to revamp my goals and my thought process to get off the weight obsessed bus. Trust me, it has been a process.

The first thing I did was minimize my goals. Of course I still wanted to fit into my high school jeans and look fabulous but that goal was rather daunting. I've switched to small manageable pieces. For example, for my daughters choir performance on March 1st I would like to be two pounds less so I can sit comfortably in my jeans and not cut off my air supply...because you know that gym is going to be hot and crowded!!! This kind of goal I can manage. Plus I get to pat myself on the back on March 1st because I'll be successful. AAH Success. How sweet it is!

Not only did I make my goals smaller but I've had to dive into the byproduct.  What?!  Let me explain. If my ultimate goal is to fit into my high school jeans and look fabulous, the byproducts of that goal would be; a good fitness routine,  eating wholesome foods and getting decent rest etc. Instead of setting my goals on the weight, I set my goals on the byproducts. Thinking small, manageable pieces again, my goals are; exercise 3 times a week (mostly), get to bed by 10:30 at night (mostly), eliminate junk food (mostly).  You get the picture.

I am simply building the background set for the best version of me.  Once I get the background details built...I figure the best version of me will be in my high school jeans and looking fab.  It is a building process, a project.  But on this project I get to pat myself on the back for all of my successes and take the focus off the weight. So try it.  Build a better you.

Diet Tech

I'm a bit tech challenged.  So it goes without saying that I don't have a smart phone and all the doodads that go with it.  Yeah, I said doodads.  I am so out of it but my keen sense of denial allows me to call it retro...or old school:)  I turned 45 last week and my sweetheart of a husband gave me an Ipad for my birthday.  Well, for a tech nerd this was the equivalent of getting a vacuum cleaner.  "What am I suppose to do with this?"  I said this to myself, of course.

OMG.  Within 24 hours I was converted.  Crazy.  I am app mad.  For all of you that are like me (tech stunted), an app is a program you to download to your device to help you with....well, with whatever.  There is an app for EVERYTHING!  There is even an app for managing your apps.  I love it.  My new favorite is My Fitness Pal.  It's free.  They even have it on the web.  Myfitnesspal.com.  You KNEW it had to be a health and nutrition app, right?

First I'd like to say to all my tech savvy friends out there, I know I'm about 3 years behind and this is old news.  Diet apps are everywhere.  I know.  I just didn't think they could help ME!  I consider myself conscientious and diligent about what I eat.  I AM conscientious and diligent about what I eat.  But wow, what a difference having an online food journal makes. 

I am all about the food journal.  Every time we give a patient a food journal to fill out for the week, they nearly always lose weight.  It works.  But writing out a food journal can be time consuming and frustrating.  But with my new app it's a snap.  It has all types of food to click on, from restaurant selections to grocery items.  It adds them to your daily log and keeps track of calories and nutrients for the day and for the week.  It also includes exercise selections and tells you how many calories you burn for each and adds them to your daily calorie allowance.  Who knew?  Well, everyone but me apparently!

So I was wrong.  (I'm choking as I say those words!)  There is an app for everyone...even me.

Shake it

I often have patients ask about the use of protein shakes.  Usually because they want something quick and easy for breakfast and they cannot stomach another egg.  An ounce of protein in the morning is all it takes to level out your blood sugar.  We want you to eat first thing.  Why not a protein shake?  Well, I'm not a fan of the protein shake and here is why...

• I think we should chew our food.  Not drink it.  If I drink a meal replacement or a protein shake, I still want to eat.  And sometimes I do...right after I drink a meal replacement.  I've just had 2 breakfasts...FAIL!
• Protein shakes almost always contain sugar and carbohydrate along with the protein.  The body will burn those sugars and carbs first before going to fat stores for fuel.  I don't know about you but I want my body to use up my fat stores...the sooner the better.
• 1 ounce of lean protein from meat, eggs or cheese has about 100 calories.  Sometimes less.  Most protein shakes START at 200 calories and go up from there.  

 All that being said, if you still want to use protein shakes, do so at your own risk.  Shop around.  You want a shake that has 25 - 30 grams of protein (the equivalent of an ounce of chicken), low carbs (3 grams or less) and low sugar ( 2 grams or less).  If you find yourself hungry within an hour or two, don't be surprised.  Our minds don't tend to register calories we drink.  If this is the case for you, put down the shake and pick up a fork :)