The ELFF Diet

A picture I plan to frame

Meeting with Jillian Michaels was life changing, not just for me but for others.  It helped me to crystallize some things I'd been thinking for a while, and set my mind on some others.  She really resonated with me in her philosophy that it's not moderation, but balance.

Amen.  AMEN, I say to you.  Moderation is a good word, but I really want to make this a LIFESTYLE change, and NOT a diet. Diet to me has ugly connotations - it designates a beginning and an end.  If you have an END to a diet, what's to stop you from gaining the weight back? This has to be a way that you can see yourself living for the next 50/60/90 years.  Can you drink a shake for breakfast and lunch and have a moderate dinner?  Sure, for a time, you can.  What happens when the shakes run out, or you get sick to death of them, or you go out to eat or to a conference or break your leg? 

Why not moderation?  I mean, after all, moderation is good.  It designates being temperate and not overindulging.  A good concept.  But sometimes, you've just gotta go there and eat two pieces of cake or a big cup of full fat ice cream or a steak dinner or five rolls, hot from the oven dripping with butter.

Ahem.  Not that I'd receognize those things. ;)

No, Jillian spoke on balance.  If you know you will have a situation that you need to be able to eat a bit more, you hold back earlier in the day and exercise a bit more. You balance it out.  If you don't feel like exercising - and God knows, I don't - you eat less.  Calories in = Calories out. I've said that here before.

The funniest part of the entire lunch was the mental image she gave us of having her brother, who lives with her, lock up the junk food and parcel it out one piece at a time.  She also said she's trashed food that she doesn't want to eat, but has gone over to look into the can and see if it's actually touching anything. HAHAHAHAHAHA.  I might resemble that a bit.  Pour some dish soap on it, she said. Even the great and amazing Jillian struggles with the pull food has on her.

Life affirming, life changing. 

One other thought that was brought home to me?  You can't lose the weight for your kids, your husband, or $500.  It has to be FOR YOU.  Sure, it's a bonus to be healthier for your family, or to win a bet.  You've got to do it because you want to, because it will make you happier and more confident.  Then and only then, will it click. 

Lunch with Jillian Michaels

OMG.  OMG.  OMG.

Y'all, I was in the lunch that AOL Body put on with Jillian Michaels.  You know her, of The Biggest Loser?  She is amazing.  I couldn't believe the fact that I was actually sitting at the table with her.  There were about a dozen other people there, but she made each of us feel as if we were there alone.

I was STUNNED because she called me a "hottie".  That is so not my mental image, and I said that to her.  She looked at me, as if she could see right through me and said, "You need to stop with the self deprecating.  I can tell that you do that all the time, and it stinks and you need to stop." 

Whoa.  Way to talk about being called on the carpet. She's right, though.

On tv, she looks like she's an Amazon. She's not, though - she's a size four and about 6 inches shorter than I am, with the most AMAZING arms that I've ever seen.

There were many snippets of information that were so key to her.  One thing that really struck me was when one woman who runs a website for diet and exercise.  She asked how to help people who are grossly overweight and have no idea how to get started.  Jillian recommended baby steps, and says that everyone needs to be educated on both the proper way to eat and the proper way to exercise.  I'm trying to do that here, and maybe not succeeding very well.  I plan to blog deeper about this later on. 

The best thing in the world was having my picture taken with her.  The second best thing was having her autograph a book for me, dedicated to "Dear Hottie".  The worst thing in the world was the fact that my book was picked up by someone else.  It was in my possession for about a minute - I set it down to pack up my camera and then it disappeared.  I am so bummed.

But what a great lunch!

Live blogging the body image panel

Forgive the typos - typing in a rush .  It's a little scattered, but I'd welcome our thoughts on these random snippets.

Moderated by Jenny Lauck of Big Slice of LIfe.

Speakers include Wendy McClure of Poundy.com.  She's the author of the Weight Watcher recipe cards that we all love, found here.  Yvonne of Joy Unexpected, who has struggled with weight loss and blogs about her difficulties.

Laurie Toby Edison who has written books on Body Image and the beauty of overweight women.  How did she get into the photography of heavy women, when she herself is light?  She started with her best friend, who was devastated by comments made by a boy friend. She feels that fat and feminism tie together.  It all relates to the way people with disabilities are treated, the way the elderly are treated.  Everyone has a friend/mother/sister who is heavy and they are still people - shouldn't be ridiculed. 

Wendy wrote to newspapers concerning the Dove commercials.  Why should the weight of a woman appeal to another woman to sell soap? If a woman isn't eye candy, is she disgusting?  She heard this feeling from many different people, not just on the radio from deejays and such.  She sees awful, ugly, disgusting things inflicted on women and feels that the gloves come off in terms of dealing with fat women. 

Yvonne has posted many pictures of herself in different stages of weight loss.  Why?  She does it  to put herself out there and let it go and not obsess over it.  She thought that she was the only woman who was battling with "the beast."  She posts pictures and tells the truth in order to keep other people feeling as if they are not alone. 

Laurie wanted to put women on the beauty continuum. There is nothing more invisible than a nude fat woman. 

Jenny asks if anyone blogs about body image.  Momomatic blogs about weight loss every friday.  She tries to deal with shame, and letting go of that sense of shame. She feels that she's found a community of support.  A Celebration of curves - she calls it fake it until you make it.  She made a rule that she couldn't leave the house until she said three nice things about her body to herself in the mirror - that is an awesome rule. She feels that her life has gotten much better since doing this, because she feels that things are more positive now.  Wendy asks about the troll that she received on her blog - what kind of problems have people recevied on their blogs when they are honest about their weight loss efforts?  What makes people disappear on weight loss blogs - they have good intentions and then just quietly go away.  Does our country have an eating disorder?  There is a backlash of dieting.

Laurie want to make it clear that body image and diet are not just for women, but men have just the same troubles that women have.  She wants to point out that you shouldn't feel like a failure if you eat well and exercise and don't lose weight. 

Question for Yvonne - did she ever feel a disconnect with her readers when she lost weight?  She sasy no, she felt like her readers still cheered her on and hung around for her.  Yvonne received strong reactions when she spoke badly about herself.  She feels that you can't get rid of the shame that you feel as an overweight person if you continue to look down on yourself and use negative words like fat ass and wide load.  Wendy doesn't like when other people assume things about her with regards to her self esteem. 

Rachel, Yvonne's friend, feels that she was judgemental of fat people but feels that knowing Yvonne and speaking with her has helped her to lose that feeling. Jenny asks, do we have a right to talk negatively about ourselves?  What can you say about yourself?  Yvonne asks, can you be honest about your weight and say things like in the heat, your thighs stick together without making other people feel badly? 

Kate Harding from Kateharding.net says that fat is just a descriptive term, and not a negative term. Take the power away from the word fat - people who say that they feel fat don't mean that they are fat, but that they feel gross.  Does fat equal smelly, disgusting? 

Is there a difference between wanting to do something about yourself and needing to do it?

Why are people so obsessed with what other people look like?  from Iateapie.net  (a great site). 

Representative of Quaker and Tropicana - wants to know how bloggers feel about NGO's and government agencies.  Laurie feels like weight loss is so prevelant and money oriented.  She thinks if we took all the energy and all the money spent on diet, we could change the world.  Diets will fail, she says that all HMO's agree.  Body Image is about so many other things rather than just your weight.  We all live with it on a daily basis. 

Wendy says that we are all guilty of looking at people and judging them.  When you put a picture of yourself online, everyone feels immediately free to comment and rip you apart.  There is no line anymore between not commenting and saying things. 

Sassafrass says that it is important for women to claim their space and own it. It is very empowering to women.  She is a writer for a fitness blog.  She approaches it as a feel good about yourself type thing.  Do you ever have feelings of being fraudulent to your readers?

Yvonne rerets blogging so much about her weight loss.  Wendy worries that she lies by omission.  If she hasn't written about doing exercsie, it means she hasn't done it.  It's weird having to live up to what she says. 

Cookie cutter beauty?  Is blogging more than a personal thing - can you help others break out of the cookie cutter image?  Women go under the knife for breast implants and enlargements and it is unsafe.

Mommylu.blogspot.com says Group cognition - you need help from other people, help from a group.  This is a community that can work together. What if we all actually did work together on this issue?

How much energy is wasted on self hatred and how can we spread that energy more positively?  It's not about the numbers but it's about doing the right thing. Is there a line between who we are and our body image?  Are we identified by only our physical appearance?  Is there a woman out there who is happy 100% with her body?  If you would never say it to another person, why do you say it to yourself?  The community is a great support and we need to use it.

What kind of responsiblity do we have to our commenters, if they need more help than we can provide?  Laurie and Wendy have both referred people to help that they need.  Laurie wants to stress that ALL of us are baraged by  images and issues - it is not just about you.  Society always tells us that there is something wrong with us.  Have we pulled the curtain back on the reality of weight loss?  If not, how can we do that? 

Should we say that "this food is a bad food"?  Should we say even that things are good or bad?  Meals, exercise, etc.  Does making those choices make you a good or bad person?  How do you know that people are even telling the truth? 

Jenny asks, Do we all self depricate in order to beat other people from doing so?

Can blogs change the culture? 

The results of the X ray

X ray says:

not broken.  Severly bruised, apparently internally, because there is absolutely NO evidence on the outside.  I'm not supposed to run or do anything that hurts.  Well, swell, that lets out about, oh, 90% of everything.

I'm off to Blogher. I'll be speaking on Blogging about the Passion in your life, and mine is diet and exercise.  I'll be mentioning this blog, and talking about how amazed I was when I realized that this new way of life wasn't just something that I NEEDED to do, but something that I WANTED and ENJOYED doing.  Pretty wild.  A serious 180 degree turn from three years ago. 

If you are coming to the conference, what would you like to hear me speak about?  Anything in particular?  If you aren't attending, you'll be able to hear me on podcast, so chime in!

My foot

While making my bed on Friday - I think it was Friday, I've lost all track of the days now - I walked around the side and kicked a ten pound weight.  The weight connected with the outside of my foot, right at the lower knuckle on the pinky toe.  I yelped and jumped and cussed, grabbing my foot and jumping all around.  It hurt like crazy.

So, that was, by my closest estimate, 4 days ago.  It still hurts like crazy.  The pain radiates across to the middle of my foot. It hurts when I walk, it hurts when I flex or point my foot.  It's not an agonizing pain, but a deep ache.  It's uncomfortable enough that I broke my exercise streak today and did only ab work.  I did exercise every other day since I banged it - wonder if I messed something up by doing that?

My foot is not swollen.  It isn't discolored or misshapen, but I can't touch it without cringing.

I'm contemplating going to the doc in the box.  I'm wondering if I need an x-ray, but I really don't want to go up there and sit for three hours, only to be told that I have a deep bruise and be done with it, leave your $40 at the door.

Gah.  I hate this.  Injuries suck.

The lesson is, making your bed is a waste of time and possibly injurious.

Bites of info from around the 'net

A recent study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that people who had higher levels of Vitamin D in their blood were significantly stronger during a grip strength test than those with lower amounts.  It is thought that Vitamin D regulates calcium and a hormone that helps build muscle.  For maximum strengthening, you need at least 400 IU of Vitamin D a day.  One cup of milk will give you 100.

Extra sleep at night can help you lose weight.  A recent study proves that a sleep debt, no matter how small, interferes with the function of hormones that regulate how efficiently your body burns fat.  Hmm, maybe I could sleep off those last five pounds?

Penn State nutritionists found that having a handful of pistachio nuts (1.5 ounces) daily helped to keep the subjects blood pressure down in a stressful situation.  With 3 ounces camne and extra bonus - increased artery relaxation. 

Daily, you lose 80 ounces of water just doing normal activities.  One slice of watermelon can replace 9 ounces.  Look for canteloupe and honeydew melon to quench thirst as well - both are water rich.

67% of married couples report that their spouse snores.  If you are the one forced to listen to it, you could be missing out on as much as 4 YEARS worth of sleep. 

Recent studies suggest that we need 60 to 70 grams of protein a day.  How close to this number do you get?

Quick breakfast idea:  fill a Dixie cup with low fat yogurt and diced fresh fruit.  Cover the top with tin foil and poke a popsicle stick through the top.  Freeze. 

The next time you are in a fast food restaurant, grab the nutrition guide and leave it in your glovebox.  That way, when you are out and have to grab something wick, you'll know what your best choices will be.  HInt:  they can usually be found on the kids menu.

Make ELLF work for you Monday: Ramp it up!

Greetings!  It's another week!  How are you faring?  Any dilemmas you want to discuss, any news you feel like sharing, any successes to report?  Are you seeing the numbers go down on the scale?  Are you feeling stronger and more energetic?

This week's challenge is to ramp it up.  If you walk, run a bit.  If you run, throw in some sprints.  Go to the playground with your kids and do ALL of the challenges - swing from the bars, slide, climb the towers. If you've never rock climbed, why not call the rock gym and make a time?  Aerobics?  Why not add some ankle weights?  Or take up water aerobics, which uses different muscles.

I know you can do it.  I have faith in you. 

Tell me, what will you choose to do? 

Keeping your focus while on vacation

So, yeah, there is this little conference I'm speaking at next week.  Maybe you've heard of it? 

I'm curious to know how you all keep your focus on eating well and daily exercise when you are away from home and out of your routine.  What are some of the decisions you make?

I wake up early and work out every morning.  I also try, as much as possible, not to stay up too late the night before and definitely NOT drink too much, in order to facilitate the early rising.  One of the first things on my agenda next week when I arrive is to make a walking trip to Whole Foods and buy some healthy things to keep in the refrigerator in the room.  I also bring a large bottled water with me and drink all day long.  I recently read a great travel tip - you can no longer bring a bottled water through security, but you can bring an empty water bottle and refill it on the other side.  So, so simple and it never occurred to me.

What are your tried and true travel secrets so that you can avoid putting back on the weight you've worked so hard to remove?

Supplements: yay or nay?

So, hmm.  Some of us take lots of supplements, and some of us take none.  It was pretty interesting to see the different reasons why we do what we do. My background with vitamins is varied, as is most of my experience in life. 

HA!

I was approached by a Shaklee representative about six years ago and fell head first into all of it.  Hook, line and sinker. I do most things to an extreme, and this was no exception.  Now, I'm much more skeptical about vitamins in general.  I do believe in a few things - and one of them is to not have the most expensive pee in America.

I believe that we can't possibly get all that we need from our daily diet, no matter how wonderful and balanced it may be.  Even if you think you’re eating right, you may not be getting all the nutrients you need from your diet. Food’s lack of vitamins and minerals can be caused right at the beginning with poor soil, poor storage and incorrect processing or cooking.  Toss in a few Doritos instead of carrots, and you may be lacking in some pretty crucial elements.

I believe that just about every woman needs extra calcium.  I believe that Calcium works best in conjunction with Magnesium - I can really tell if I haven't had my cal-mag.  My muscles ache.

What else do I believe? 

I think we can all use extra fiber, and if you are trying to build muscle, you need extra protein.  I think extra Vitamin C is beneficial in the winter (although some studies say that it can't be proven), and folic acid is a must if you are of child bearing age.  If you are breastfeeding, you need more zinc, as your body stores can be depleted.  If you are a vegetarian, you need extra b vitamins and iron.  If you are an avid exerciser, or if you are pregnant, you need extra iron. If you take calcium, you need to take it at a different time than iron, as they will block each other.  Vitamin C will help your body ABSORB the iron.  Sheesh, so many things to think about.

I  believe that many, many multivitamins out there are overflowing with too much of the wrong stuff.  Some multis aren't really multis at all, as they are deficient in several key vitamins, minerals and/or nutrients.  Sometimes there are even things added in that you really don't know WHAT they are, and what possible purpose they could serve.  78% of women don't get enough calcium.  50% of women need more vitamin D.  Most of us don't get enough magnesium or iron either.  So, what to do?

Look for a multi that contains as close to 100% as possible of the Dietary Reference Intakes - new recommendations developed by the Institute of Medicine in 2005.  DRIs are more accurate that the older, more commonly known Recommended Daily Allowances because they take into account both gender and age, and also allow for pregnancy and breastfeeding.  Here is some really complicated and impressive information about the DRIs.  Women's Health magazine did an amazing article about vitamin supplements, and they recommend the One A Day Women's, as they say it's the closest to the recommended levels.  The magazine also recommended that women take extra Vitamin D, Vitamin K and Calcium and Magnesium.  They don't recommend extra Iron, as the multi has enough. 

That said, I don't take that vitamin.  I am bad about taking multivitamins - they have a tendency to sit heavy in my stomach and I get queasy.   When I do take them, I take the Ultimate Women's from The Vitamin Shoppe.  I happen to like it - I feel like the levels are good for me, and, most importantly, if I take it at night, it is one of the few I've found that I don't wake up to puke during the night.  To me, that's a good thing. If any vitamin upsets your stomach, even if you take it with food, take it right before you go to bed, with food - that's the only way it works for me.  One thing I am absolutely rigid about taking, though, is my calcium magnesium supplement without fail.  If I don't take it, I get leg cramps.  I think that every woman needs to sock away as much calcium as she possibly can. 

As far as protein goes, I've just started that one in the past two months or so.  After capoeira class, I make a smoothie with frozen fruit, a scoop of the Lowfat Muscle Milk powder,and a teaspoon of Fibersure.  After working out with the trainer in the mornings, I have another scoop of muscle milk - which isn't milk at all, because it's lactose free - in almond milk.  (I do class and weights on alternate days.) I like the MM because it's not gritty and it has a sweet taste to it, which mixes well.  The Fibersure helps me to get to the 25 grams receommended for every day, and it is unnoticeable in the drinks.  Taking both protein and fiber is new for me, and it took some getting used to.  Mixed with frozen fruit and thinned with water, it is actually palatable and I feel good, knowing that I'm giving my  body what it needs.

So, what do you think?  Are you happy with what you supplement your diet with, or do you feel like you need to jump it up a bit?

Quick poll

Do you take a daily multi vitamin? If so, which one?

Do you take extra calcium?

Do you take extra antioxidants?  Which ones?

Do you take a fiber supplement?

What about a protein supplement?

I'll explain why I asked all of this tomorrow!