The ELFF Diet

Make Elff work for you Monday: All Salad, All the Time

What else could you possibly want to eat, or need to eat, other than salad?  A well made salad is one of the best things that you could eat. 

Stop gagging.  Stop laughing and saying to yourself, "There's no way in the world I'm eating salad.  Especially that stuff that looks like weeds, for heaven's sake." 

When I started trying to live a healthier life, I hated salad.  HATED IT.  I've slowly - and I do mean slowly - acquired a taste for it.  Now I really like it. Your Mission for this week is simple.  Eat salad.  If you don't eat it at all, try for three days this week.  Already eat salad?  Lovely.  Shoot for seven days this week. 

Here are your guidelines - NO iceberg lettuce.  The darker the greens, the healthier they are for you.  I try to have half of my salad baby spinach.  The mixed greens bags are awesome.  Pick at least four of the following to add in liberally:

• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• radishes
• shredded carrots
• green or red peppers
• celery
• onion slices

And also add in one or two of the below, a bit more sparingly:

• cheese - shredded low fat cheddar, shredded low fat mozzarella, low fat feta
• slivered almonds
• sunflower kernels
• chopped hard boiled egg
• chopped low fat ham or turkey

I usually make a big bowl of mixed salad and keep it in the refrigerator, and eat some every day with a grilled chicken breast. 

Want to dress your salad?  Terrific.  You have a few options.  You can use a low fat dressing, being mindful of the sugar content - many low fat dressings are very high in sugar.  You can use a small amount of olive oil and vinegar.  You can use one of the salad dressing spritzers.  I don't like these, as they contain high fructose corn syrup.  Many people like them though, and they can help you control your amount of dressing.  My favorite action is to put the dip into a container and then dip the tines of my empty fork into the dressing before I spear the salad.  I can usually use 1/4 of the dressing this way. 

How many salads will you eat this week?  Pick a number, make a commitment, and make it happen!

Question of the day

What food do you miss the most since you have decided to make a positive lifestyle change?

How to deal with sabotage

So, you are plugging along, exercising daily, making good food choices, and suddenly you find yourself surrounded by people who want to make you FAT.  The coworker who brings in chocolate bars and brownies (not my coworkers, who read here - just a generic coworker), your spouse, who can eat a double chocolate brownie with hot fudge sauce and ice cream every night, the nice neighbor who brings you cookies weekly as a thank you, the jumbo nachos at the Friday night meet and greet. You don't want to be rude, or appear ungrateful, and so you just have one bite.  Which becomes two, and three, and then you think to yourself, "Well, Self, the diet is blown, so feel free to eat some more."  And so you do, and then you feel horrible about yourself.

STOP thinking like that.  First of all, you are NOT dieting.  A lifestyle change is a lifestyle change, and you have room for a slip now and then.  What you want to do is keep the slip from becoming a free fall.  How do you do that?

Do you have a support system?  I know that I matched people up - I've got a person who needs a partner right now, as a matter of fact, so leave me a comment if you are interested.  When I first began to be serious about losing weight, an awesome writer friend began an online group.  I loved that group.  It was so wonderful to be able to click away my frustration, my aggravation, and to find a commiserating voice when I was craving a cookie so badly I couldn't see straight.  That group was one of the main reasons I was able to lose weight this time.  Get a support system in place.  Have a buddy who will be your sounding board, and also use this person as a method of accountability.  If you know that you check in daily with your buddy, it makes it a bit tougher to grab the second piece of meatloaf, or skip your exercise for the day.

Secondly, if you've just fallen face first into a vat of Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk - don't ask, don't ask - do something that will make you feel better about your upcoming choices.  Do some stretches, take a walk around the block - even just calling your sounding board person and recommitting yourself to your efforts will help.  Make a gesture that is a physical effort as well - set your shoes out by the door, charge up your iPod and put the pedometer on your outfit for the next day.  Set yourself up to get out there and get it done.  If you are the type to be motivated by new clothes, buy a new shirt or pair of socks to jazz you in the exercise.

Plan for the next 24 hours to eat only good for your body foods.  Actually physically plan your meals. Protein, veggies, fruit, and complex carbohydrates to balance the remainder of the meal.  Figure out how you can add in more water.

How will you deal with your next temptation?  It's easier to plan your response ahead of time, rather than fly by the seat of your pants.  If you can't say no, look yourself in the eye in the mirror and practice.  "No, thank you.  It looks great, but I just can't." No other explanation is required.  Don't give too much information.  Above all, don't let people guilt you into joining them.  Remember the rule - "If it's not the absolute best (insert food here) I've ever had, it's not worth it to me."

Then get out there and set your plan into action. 

You may have to do this time and again.  Do not give up, do not become sidetracked by your supposed "defeat".  As long as you are moving in the right direction, even if you make a slight detour from time to time - you are still moving in the right direction and you will get there.  I promise.

Make Elff work for you Monday: Zee walk, she is good for you!

First of all, I want to say that I am SO PROUD of you all!  Read the comments to the post before - you are an amazing group of women.  (Ahem, I say women because no men post here, but I know they read.)  LOOK at how hard you all work, and how far you all have come!  Pounds LOST, inches GONE, strength INCREASED.  Good for you!

Last week's homework was to try something new in terms of food.  I didn't hear from any of you, so I'm hoping that you all did it.  Am I right?  I tried the Fage yogurt, which I'll review this week - pinky swear.

This week's homework is for all of us to walk for 30 minutes every day this week.  NO ifs, ands or butts - only smaller butts will do.  HA!  If you can't fit in 30 minutes -which, let's face it, can be tricky some days, when I can barely squeeze in a potty break - try breaking it into 3 ten minute segments.  If you already walk for 30 minutes, outstanding.  Can you do 60? 

If you have no time during the day, get up earlier.  I get up at 5 three days a week to work out with my trainer, and plan to do the same the other three days a week - no Sunday for me, thank - to walk, now that I'm cleared for less than a mile at once.  Stupid injury.  Physical therapy IS working, but sloooowwwlllyyyyyy.   Can you walk at lunch?  On the treadmill after dinner?  Before bed?

Commit to it every day - for your health, your sanity, your peace of mind.

Keep on keepin' on

Today I talked with a friend who reads here.  She reminded me of something that I wanted to repeat again to you all.

Weight loss and body reshaping takes time.  It takes so much time.  If you think about how long it may take you to achieve your goals, it may be so long away that you feel as if you will never make it. But, if you don't start, in the same amount of time, where will you be?

Don't look at the finish line.  Don't worry about it - it's not going anywhere.  Just take the first step and get yourself out there.  If you can't run, don't worry.  I couldn't even walk around the BLOCK when I first started.  Walk one half mile at a time - I'm going to be right there with you, as I've been cleared to begin a small amount of walking ONLY from the Physical Therapist.  Once you've mastered that level, bump it up just a bit. Doing this brought me from 206 to today's weigh in of 129.

Now, answer a question or three for me.  If you are trying to lose weight, how much have you lost?  How much further do you have?  How do you plan to get there and stay there?  If you have a weight loss blog, or if you talk about your weight loss and exercise on your main blog, can you share it with me?  I don't have a solid idea of what's going on with you guys, and I want to know how far you've come!

My Thoughts About a Comment

This entry is heavy on the italics and heavy on the research.  Stick with me and give me your feedback.

I received this comment, in response to my entry on wearing a size 2 pair of jeans: 

I congratulate you...and I also think that the manufacturers have changed sizes in the last twenty years. You look like a size 10, and that is a compliment, and a size 2 used to be for children or someone so skinny they were near death.

Posted by: Peggy Lynn

To which I replied, asking what size I would have been, fifty years ago, weighing 206 pounds, following this logic.  A 26? 

I received this reply:

You asked me what size you would have been 50 years ago, using this logic. There isn't any logic involved in the clothing manufacturer's way of doing things. Fifty years ago women were slimmer. Weighing 150 pounds was pretty much the exception, not the rule. Average weight for a woman was around 120, or less. Even today 150 pounds isn't going to get anyone into a size 2

To which I will add my own logic. 

I absolutely agree that clothing manufacturer's have changed their sizes. To wit,

• In 1950 mannequins closely resembled the average measurements of women. The average hip measurement of mannequins and women were 34 inches. By 1990 the average hip measurement was 37 inches, while the average mannequins hip measured only 31 inches

• What is the UK's average-sized waist?

• 34 inches (about 86cm)

• Average UK waist in 1951: 27.5inches (about 70cm)

• Average waist in London in 2005:  32 inches (about 81cm)

• What is the average UK dress size? Size 14
• Average UK dress size in 1950:  Size 12
  Average dress size in the USA in 1950:  Size 12
  Average dress size in the USA in 2005:  Size 16-18
  Percentage of UK women who are size 16 plus:  47%

• What size are your hips?
• Average UK hip size in 1955:  39 inches (about 99cm)
  Average hip size in the USA:  43 inches (about 109cm)

I really found this stunning:  Back in 1951, during the era of post-war food rationing, a typical woman measured 5ft 3in tall, had a 37in bust, a 27.5in waist, 39in hips and weighed 9st 10lb (136 pounds). Today, a typical British woman would weigh in at 10st 3.5lb (143.5), be 5ft 4.5in tall, and carry an extra 1.5in around the bust and hips and 6in around the middle....the whole population of the UK, whether they liked it or not, ate a diet from 1939 until rationing was lifted (in the late 1940's?) that was vegetable-based and very low in fats. Furthermore, most people used public transportation or bicycled or walked (whether they liked it or not) because of gasoline rationing and much lower ownership of automobiles. (After the historic lifting of rationing, the population's diet as a whole became pretty poor.)

I completely agree with this.  War rationing means less food.  Fewer autos mean more walking. Less intake+ more output = slimmer people.  I also believe that wearing girdles had something to do with sizing. 

Food sizing has also changed, and not for the better, some times.  I've spoken about this before.  It may be hard to believe that in the 1950s, Coca-Cola was packaged in 6.5-ounce bottles. Twelve-ounce cans and 20 oz bottles were next in the upsizing timeline, and now it's possible to get a super-sized soft drink at a fast food restaurant containing 42 oz or more. That's more than one liter! The original bottle of Coke was 81 calories. The super-sized beverage is over 300 calories (it would be more, but you get lots of ice included).

As a result, what was a size 8 in the 1950s had become a 4 by the 1970s and 00 today.

The last remark I don't agree with.  And I don't really see that it matters, to be quite honest.

A size is a size is a size.  It's a number.  Just like that number on the scale, it could be a lot, or it could mean absolutely nothing.  Just like all of us, I have bought clothing in the past that isn't the same size as I thought I wore.  My point is that I wear a size that I've NEVER worn - I went out of children's size into a misses 6 and then grew larger and larger.  NO matter if my size 2 is the equivalent to a 10 in the 1950's - I don't live in the 1950's, and have no clothing from the 1950's to compare my current size to. 

I don't compare myself to women from the 1950's - I compare myself to other women today.  I know that I wore a tight size 18 two years ago. I know that I wear a size 2 today.  That's all I care about, not the difference in clothing sizes, or the "vanity sizing" that manufacturers employ to make us feel better.  I DO feel better.  I DO look better.  I wear a much smaller size than I did two years ago. 

That's all I care about.  That's what I want for all of us - to wear a size that we are happy with, to be in the best shape possible, and to be healthy.  If it came out that I was fixating on sizes, it wasn't my intent. Internet writing is easy to misunderstand, apparently.

Make Elff work for you Monday: venture out of your comfort zone

It's Monday!  Rise and shine and greet another day!

Yeah, yeah, I know.  You had a great weekend off, the weather was perfect, you don't want to go back to work.  I hear you.

That's why this Mission will be great for you.  I want you to pick a new, healthy food, one you haven't tried before, and try it.  Something healthy, something tasty, something out of your comfort zone.

What will you choose?  A new vegetable? A new fruit?  Tofu?  Soy Milk?  Protein powder?  Beets?

For me, I'm going to taste test the Fage yogurt.  I've heard so much about it, I'm interested to see if it'll live up to it's hype.

Let me know what you choose, and how successful you were. 

Want some free shoes?

Check out my review of Ryka runners, and then enter the drawing to win one of FIFTY pairs given away EVERY day, between now and Oct 25.  All the info you could want is either at my site, or on the Ryka website. 

Good luck, and let me know if you win!!!

I am very pleased with myself

And also more than slightly shocked.

Two years ago, I wore a very tight size 18 in jeans.  I loved JJill jeans because they had a lot of stretch and I could wear a 16.  I was able to lie to myself for quite a while once I made that discovery.  I had room for lots of ice cream, lots of brownies and lots of laying around on the sofa.

Today I went shopping for new jeans, since it's starting to get a bit chilly.  I walked out of the store with two new pair of jeans, size 2. 

That is not a typo.  A size TWO.  A size I don't think I've EVER worn, and one I NEVER thought I'd see.

If I can do it, you can.  Stay strong, hang in there, and KNOW that all of your hard work will pay off. 

The truth is, nothing tastes as good - well, the dark Scharffen Berger Chocolates come pretty close - as wearing a single digit feels. 

Being Selfish

My friend Heather has been trying to lose weight for a month now.  She's working so hard.  So, so hard.  I applaud her honesty, her beauty and most of all her struggle.  Because it's been a struggle, the same way it is for everyone trying to lose weight.

That's something that is hard to remember.  When you are trying to lose weight, especially if it's a significant amount of weight loss,it's hard to see someone who has lost weight successfully and know that they were right where you are, just a little while ago.  It's easy to get bogged down, when you only lose a pound a week, or a 1/2 inch, and think that you'll never ever be where you want to be, but you'll always be where you are right now.

What I really wanted to speak to, though, was her assertation that by being obese you are being selfish.  Heather writes: It is selfish. It is choosing sugar in my coffee over the possibility of seeing my grandchildren. It is choosing “just one more bite” over being able to have monkey sex with my husband (you can’t erotically swing from chandeliers if you are obese). It is choosing ROUTE 44 SONIC CHERRY COKES over being able to participate in your child’s Fun Run, Jump Rope for Heart, Turkey Trot, Track ‘n Field.

IT IS CHOOSING YOURSELF OVER EVERYTHING ELSE.

Heather is exactly right.