The ELFF Diet

A quick statistic that made me feel SO much better

While at Blogher this past summer, I was given a statistic.  When I spoke with another woman about my weight loss - I was feeling really good about losing 75 pounds, and determined that I was going to continue to live a healthy lifestyle - she told me, "Well, you know that 98% of all dieters regain back the weight lost."

I was *crushed* by this statistic.  I mentioned it to Jillian Michaels at the luncheon, and she scoffed.  She'd never heard such a figure, and seriously doubted the reality of it.  That reassured me, but there was still a lingering kernel of doubt.  Having been successful, was I doomed to failure?

While reading Shape magazine for September, I noticed a small orange box on page 40.  The contents of the box, headed by a bold 60?

"The percentage of Americans who lost 10 percent or more of their body weight who were able to keep it off for a year, according to new data from the Centers for Disease control and Prevention."

I can do this. You can do this. 

Too tired to work out?

I've been tired before.  I've been busy and dealing with stuff and kids and work and bills and just life. 

In past years, the first thing to go would be the exercise.  After all, I'm tired.  Too tired to exercise, which would make me MORE tired, right? I mean, really, use your brain- why run and dance and lift weights when you can't get off the sofa?

Because. YOU are worth it and you deserve it and daily exercise is absolutely imperative to your health.  It is so hard to start - I know.  But I made a decision about a year ago that I was going to be a person who exercised every day.  i shower every day, I eat every day, I read every day - I exercise. 

The first month or so is rough, I won't lie.  Plug away at it, do it every day.  Set goals for yourself.  What about if you kept track of your mileage walked, run or rode, and plotted your way across your state?  How long would it take you to cross the continent? 

Reward yourself in a non food way once you reach a goal - maybe it'll be a month of daily exercise.  Buy a new workout shirt, or even new socks.  Color your hair, get a pedicure, go to the movies. 

You will be tired and more tired.  Suddenly, though, one day, you will discover that the energy invigorates you.  I KNOW, who would have though? 

Working out every day is a mindset and a decision.  Is it one you've made for yourself?  Why or why not?

Chai Oatmeal and Light Gingerbread Loaf

By request, here are the two recipes. Both are from Prevention magazine.  As well as a third, bonus, below the fold, from Good Housekeeping.

(Btw, I'd love to see a check in, with regards to your workout partners.  I've heard from two of you - what's going on with the rest?  If you emailed it to me, I apologize - I'm 53 emails in the hole today.  Why?  LIFE.)

CHAI OATMEAL

Combine 1/2 cups milk, 1/4 t EACH of salt, coriander, cardamon, cinnamon and tumeric in a small saucepan.  Simmer for five minutes, stirring constantly.  Add 2 t honey, 1/4 t vanilla, 3/4 cup regular (not quick cooking) oats. and 2 T oat bran and stir until combined.  Cook over medium low hear, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes, until thick and creamy.

LIGHT BREAKFAST GINGERBREAD

6 T unsalted butter, softened
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 cup peeled, fresh ginger
2 T molasses
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2 t freshly grated orange peel
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t allspice
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts - I used pecans
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Beat the butter in a large bowl for 30 seconds.  Add the sugar, ginger and molasses, and beat for one minute.  Add the egg and vanilla, beat until combined.  Combine the flour and the next 6 ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with a whisk.  Stir in the cranberries and the nuts.  Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.  Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The Great Peanut Butter Question

The lovely, generous and oh so talented Kendra asks:

I have a question about peanut butter. Sunday I was in the store preparing for the back to school crunch and looking for p.b.-reading labels, and such. With the exception of the obvious HFCS there were so many choices-low fat, with sugar, organic, natural, no sugar added-AACK!!!! What do you suggest?

Ahh, peanut butter.  One of my very favorite foods.  For me, I don't worry about anything other than the lack of HFCS and hydrogenated oils.  To ME, and me only, organics aren't a big necessity.  I'm not a big organic buyer for our family.  We can't afford it.  Every family is different, though - Your Mileage May Vary, consult a doctor and all other necessities.  The peanut butter that I buy is the natural stuff - the Trader Joe's brand is good, Smucker's is my husbands favorite, and I love the Peanut Butter company's White Chocolate Dream as a special treat.  Except for the WCD, all peanut butter that we buy is the kind that the oil separates out and has to be stirred back in.  The peanut butter that has to stay in the fridge.

I think peanut butter is a great food - it is a vegetarian form of protein, is cholesterol free and has a relatively high fiber count.  I don't think that sugar is necessary - in fact, now that I'm used to the natural, the other tastes too sweet.

What do you like to eat peanut butter with?

Make ELFF work for you Monday!

Don't worry - I'm not going to put on any of my weight.  I'm not.  I'M NOT, darn it.  It's just the stress talking. Stress and more stress.  School starts tomorrow, I start work tomorrow, and I have LOTS of things to think about.   Thank you so much for all of the reassurance.   

Sunday I did everything I could to prepare for the upcoming week.  I cooked several things ahead for the week, I did all the laundry, cleaned up the entire house, and organized the kids school stuff. All the workbooks I could get my hands on are covered, every pencil is labeled, lunches are packed and I have to let the rest of it GO.

One thing I did that was helpful was decide on a few breakfasts, make as much of them ahead as I could, and put them in the fridge.  That's what your Mission is for this week, the way that you can make the ELFF diet work for you.

Eat breakfast.

Before I started to live in a more healthy manner, and before my weight loss efforts were successful, I had lousy breakfast habits.  LOUSY.  I never ate it.  Studies have shown that those dieters who eat breakfast every day lose more weight.  Searching around the Internet found this list of breakfast benefits, from Sparks People:

• a revved up metabolism started early so that it burns the maximum number of calories to fuel your activities
• fewer total calories consumed throughout the day
• an increased leptin output

What’s leptin, you ask? Leptin is a hormone that suppresses appetite. Eating a significant meal early in the day ensures our body’s leptin production, says Meg Jordan, Ph.D., R.N. – as reported to First, September 2003. The book "Fit Not Fat at 40-Plus: The Shape-Up Plan That Balances Your Hormones, Boosts Your Metabolism, and Fights Female Fat in Your Forties-And Beyond", published by Prevention

Since leptin suppresses appetite, it follows that those of us who eat breakfast would take in fewer calories throughout the day. In fact, researchers at the University of Texas, El Paso, studied the food diaries of 586 men and women and determined that the more food people ate in the morning, the fewer calories they consumed in an entire day. So eat up early – though what we eat for breakfast may affect what we eat later on.

Today I made a new recipe, Chai Oatmeal.  It smells really good - I found the recipe in an old issue of Prevention magazine.  I'll have to let you know how it turns out.  I also made light gingerbread loaf, to eat with fruit.  What is your favorite low fat and filling breakfast?  And who likes Fage yogurt - I have yet to try it, but have read lots about it on various diet sites this week. 

It's the EASIEST Mission EVER - eat a good, balanced and healthy breakfast every day this week. 

Gettin' by with a little help from my friends

I'm feeling a wee bit uninspired lately.  Stress, lots of stress, massive to-do lists, worry about starting work, trouble with my kids - all are conspiring to send me running back to my good old friend, yummy, yummy food.  I find myself thinking about nachos, ice cream, fruity island drinks with umbrellas, french toast dripping with butter and syrup. 

In order to avoid this, I need to stay inspired.  I read about Mel's struggles and successes over at The Amazing Shrinking Mom, where she's lost over 60 pounds.  I read Shauna, who lost an amazing incredible 175  pounds!  I read  Jeanette at Half of Me, working on a 200 pound weight loss!

I also read other blogs about diet and exercise and healthy living, who maybe haven't lost quite as much weight as those ladies, but who inspire me with their dedication and devotion.  Jenny at Big Slice of Life, Kelly at Fitness Fixation,  and I know that there are others, but I'm completely blank. 

Help me out here.  Who do you like to read for diet, exercise and fitness inspiration?

___________________________

By the way, you all ROCK at getting the exercise done!  I am so proud of all of you!

True Confession Time

What did you do for exercise today?

Today, on Oprah

Today's Oprah show was a rerun, but no less interesting for having seen it before.  Dr Oz is talking about women and heart disease.   The real hearts, livers and kidneys with damage are gross, but highly effective teaching tools.  Did you see this episode?  Have you read any of the YOU books?  Or seen the website?

One out of every two women will die from Cardiovascular disease.  One in Two.  Will it be you, or will it be me?  Last year, 494,000 women died from cardiovascular disease.  More women die of heart disease than the next six most common causes COMBINED.  Whoa.  That's heavy, indeed.  Do those numbers include someone in your family?  Your mother, your sister, your mother or grandmother? 

I never thought that I'd be in such bad shape that I'd be in grave danger of dying of a heart attack.  After all, Heart Disease is a man's disease, right?  WRONG.

By the time you have a blockage in your heart, you have a blockage in other areas - your kidneys, your lungs, etc.  The blockages affect your breathing, your brain, your everything.

What are the causes of Heart Disease?  Hypertension, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, overweight, physical inactivity, gender, heredity, and age.  How many of these risk factors do you have?  At one time, I had 6.  Now, I'm trying to get it down to two - heredity, which I can do nothing about, and age. 

We as women can reverse our heart disease.  Female arteries are more pliable and have more calcium in them, so women have a better chance of stopping and reversing the damage to your heart.  But how do you do that?  Diet and exercise.  Every day, day in and day out. Take the small, baby steps that you need to, in order to keep yourself healthy.   

How heart smart are you?  Take this quiz.  How can you tell if you are at risk for a heart attack?  Is your waist size over 35 inches for women, or over 40 for men?  Because of how close the belly is to major organs, belly fat is the most dangerous fat that you can carry, and and it is one of the strongest predictors of health risks associated with heart disease.

If you are overwhelmed with the thought of how far you have to go to get in shape, think about yourself one year from today. If you do nothing, how much worse shape will your heart be in?  How much more weight will you gain? How much harder will it be to begin in a year, when you could be ten or twenty pounds heavier than you are today? 

Diet and Exercise.  Every day, one baby step at a time. You can do it.  Your heart will thank you.

Make ELLF work for you Monday: ramp it up day!

Yes, I know, we already did the Ramp it up Version.  So what?  It's time to jump it up another notch and get ready to enjoy the results!

Whatever exercise you are doing, it's time to make it a bit harder.  If you are a walker, walk further, or add running to your workout.  Walk for 2 minutes, run for 1 and repeat until you die. 

I'm kidding.  I think.

Doing videos?   Can you do two in one day?  Add weight work to one?  Push yourself to the next level?

Biking?  Farther, faster and longer. 

Eliptical?  Move to the next level.

The point is, at this time in your workout, you've had time to grow complacent and it's time to move again. Remember, muscles have memories and they quickly grow accustomed to the work you are doing.  What was a challenge a month ago may not even cause you to break a sweat, and it is time to remedy that.

Move it, people!

The long awaited lunch box edition

Wow.

Ask and ye shall receive, eh?

There are so many of us dealing with packing lunches for those who are, shall we say, gifted in the art of determining spicy tastes and crunchy foods and want a meal that is just so.  BTW, Robin, how do you have a 19th grader?  If you don't have kids to pack lunches for, there is still yourself, maybe a spouse.  Unless you LIKE the challenge of creating a meal daily at the vending machine, or day dream about the taste of 7-11 hot dogs.

One thing I have to remember, when I'm packing lunch for my kids, is that if it is something that they like, and they've had it fifty million and twelve times, and I'm sick to DEATH of packing it, but they are eating it, let it go.   LET IT GO, man.  My son Gabe ate the same lunch every day last year - soy butter and marshmallow fluff on whole wheat, banana and milk.  He wouldn't eat jello, he wouldn't eat chips, occasionally popcorn, no pudding.  Sandwich, banana, milk, until I wanted to cry.  I finally resorted to letting him pack it.

I'm taking four of the questions that were asked and tackling them. 

I would love some additional ideas for an egg-free, peanut-free, nut-free, dairy-free diet.. Wow.  I thought I had it rough. Soy butter?  Veggies and fruit?  I did find a really great recipe for a cake that fits those criteria, and you could eat that for lunch every day.  (I'm kidding.)  Here's a great recipe for a Beef Vegetable Salad that fits your parameters. (Skip the bacon on top of the salad.)  In fact, the entire Ener-G site is chock full of recipes that you can specify which allergens to avoid.

Ideas for veggie based, cold, portable meals? The salad above is great, but I'm thinking you want to avoid meat, right?  If not, this beef salad looks good too.  Ooh, now I'm hungry!  A green salad is good with grilled tofu on top, or shredded rotisserie chicken - my husband frequently buys one from the grocery by his job and brings a spinach salad from home.  Tortellini is a favorite here, eaten cold with a bit of parmesan cheese.  I'm kind of stumped here myself.  Anyone?

Any non sandwich lunch ideas would be very helpful.  What about baked potatoes, topped with cheese and broccoli, or ham and cheese?  A container with lots of finger foods - mini meatballs, grape tomatoes, meat and cheese chubes or veggies with peanut butter.  An oven fried chicken leg, pasta salad, crackers and cheese.  My kids really enjoy peanut butter in a cup with lots of stuff to dip in - graham sticks, celery sticks, carrot sticks.  A thermos of soup, with bread sticks to dip.  One of my daughters doesn't like sandwiches, but will eat crackers with topping almost every day.  We've done baked tortilla chips with a dish of black beans, cut up tomatoes, shredded chicken or cheese and corn to dip.  She also loves Laughing Cow cheese to spread on crackers.

Unfortunately, when I do cook something yummy & healthy there is rarely anything leftover for me to take to work the next day because he will eat it ALL. Your answer here is to scoop your portion out FIRST.  Before you serve anyone else, take a small tupperware container and create your lunch for the next day.  I do this quite often for both myself and my husband.  This way, our lunches are already packed up and I don't have to worry that maybe we won't have something the next day.  Make sure you are cooking enough to begin with, so that no one is skimping, but try that and see if it doesn't help.

Whatever you pack, don't forget your fruit and veg choice, water or other healthy drink, and make sure you pack enough protein to power you through the afternoon.