The ELFF Diet

So, It's New Year's Again

Or at least it will be in a day.  Have you made a New Year's Resolution yet?  Have a specific pound amount you wish to lose in your mind?  Want to cut out sweets and treats?  Need to add protein or water or veggies to your diet?

Baby steps.  Baby steps.

Spend the last day of the year determining your goals.  Set realistic ones - it's not feasible to say that you plan to lose 100 pounds.  It just isn't.  It's an overwhelming number that can defeat you almost before you begin.  Break your large goal into much smaller 5 or 10 pound increments.  Make a commitment to only work on one goal for a week - maybe the first week you'll concentrate on eating breakfast.  Only when you have that habit formed will you add another.

I plan to bring back my Make Elff Work For You series - one past every week, defining a new change to add to your diet and exercise routine. 

Are you ready?  It's a new year, a new slate - a new YOU is well within your reach!  Baby steps, baby steps.

Holiday Week Exercise

What will you do for exercise this week?

Don't even think about trying to control your food.  You know it's not going to happen, and, besides, it's the HOLIDAYS.  Let yourself live a little.  Not a lot, mind you - no one needs a 13x9 of brownies, a gallon of ice cream or two loaves of hot fresh bread.  But denying yourself Great Aunt Edna's homemade fudge is only going to make you cranky and belligerent. So have a little, and ramp up your exercise a wee bit.

What will you do?  I took thai boxing Monday night and will Tuesday at lunch, and then plan to walk a TON every single day for the rest of the week.  Then the gym opens again Monday and Tuesday, and so I will repeat this schedule next week.

Make sure you drink lot of water and still eat your fruits and veg, and get plenty of sleep.  The holidays will be over soon!

A Reader Asks A Question

Question:  Why do you take martial arts?  Isn't that really for men?  What, exactly, do you get out of it?  Isn't it too hard for you?

Huh.  And, uh, whoa.

Hell, yes, it's hard.  Muay Thai (Thai boxing) and Capoeira are probably the hardest things I've ever done. Skill wise, capoeria is very, very difficult.  It involves gymnastic type work, flipping and spinning and more fancy stuff than I'll probably ever be able to master.  That doesn't mean I won't keep trying.  Muay Thai is very physically challenging for me - I frequently leave the studio drenched and exhausted.  Physically worn out and drained.  I especially love the cardio drills and the boot camp type stuff.  Kettle balls, medicine balls, running drills, push up and crunch challenges - I'm the only one that's happy when those things are announced, I think.

But that's a good thing.  When I go to class, and, really, through most of the day, I feel jumpy and edgy.  Feel like I have to DO something, GO somewhere, get SOMETHING accomplished.  When I get to class, it's a relief sometimes just to be able to punch something.  Those of you that know me in real life know that I'm usually not sitting still, but moving and dancing and just DOING. Too much energy, I've been told.

Martial arts training, I think, is very good for women.  It's helped me to feel more confident in my entire life, to know how to handle myself and what to do if I'm attacked - we practice that type of stuff too.  It's empowering and fulfilling to me to be in a class with mostly men, to be able to handle myself and not feel inadequate.  I've been very pleased with it.  Even when I have a bad class - like tonight.  A bad class is better than none at all.

Dr. Oz in Real Life

Friday I had the distinct pleasure of being able to see Dr Mehmet Oz give a speech.  My mom gave me a ticket for my birthday.  Here are some of the notes that I jotted down from his talk.

• 50% of today's adults walked to school as kids.  Today, less than 5% of kids walk to school.
• Emotion drives 90% of change.
• Biology always beats willpower.  You can't hold your breath underwater indefinitely, can you?
• 100 years ago, stress meant you were experiencing hunger - as in a real hunger, like a famine.  Today, stress makes us eat because of those same biologic cues.
• Sleep is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy and look good.  Deep sleep increases the release of growth hormone in your body, which equates to vitality. 
• One of the biggest encumbrances to a good night's sleep is snoring.  Snoring can  equal 85 decibels of noise, a level that violates OSHA laws. 

Of those, the second one holds the most truth for me.  If you recall from way back, I began this weight loss and exercise journey due in large part to an ugly comment from a school mate of my daughter's.  I absolutely agree 1000%. 

The other one that I DEFINITELY get is the snoring one. Oh, how I get it. 

He was interesting and had lots of scientific evidence to prove his thoughts, which is something I really admire.  Any thoughts?  Do you like Dr. Oz and his theories?

Exercise today: 6 mile walk.  Yesterday: capoeira class.  Day before: Thai boxing and four mile walk.

It's Another Brita Giveaway!

Want to win a Brita Pitcher and two water bottles?  I have two packs to give away.  contest open from now until December 27 - US readers only please, as the postage comes out of my bare pocket. 

You know you want clean water, and it'll help you with your New Year's Resolution for 2009 - the one that includes more water and exercise and less cheesecake.

Getting Started

The Lovely Anna asks:

I wonder, maybe you can help, how does one start exercise when it's *never* been a part of your lifestyle? As much as I know I need to be exercising, it's just... I wouldn't even know where to start. And even if I did, what am I supposed to wear? Should I run, or walk? Bike? How far?

Gooooood questions.  Hopefully I won't sound too "bipolar Fred" when I answer them, for what I did and what are recommended are two VERY different things.

When I first began to exercise, I literally couldn't walk around the block without becoming short of breath.  I remember sitting on the curb - it took me a little while to get down there - and crying.  I was, at one point in time, fairly fit and moderately active.  But who can't walk around the block?  I made myself go four times, which was about .25 of a mile.  I forced myself to double it every week.  Half mile the second week, a mile the third week.  It was *torture*.  I stayed at a mile for a little bit, and then added another.  I did this by walking a mile "to" a place, so that I'd have to walk back.  It's a little mind trick that I still use today.

Once I was up to walking about 4 miles - which was, I think, about 6 months in - I got a wild hair.  Running looked FUN - seriously, everyone I see running makes it look effortless, they just glide around like swans - and so I started running a minute at a time.  Gah.  How incredibly heavy I felt while running, and how grounded and struggling it was for me.  But I kept up and kept up, and finally got to the point where I could run about 6 miles.

And then I got injured.  I tore my IT band while finishing the half marathon and was out of any type of running or walking or martial arts for three months.  Almost immediately upon reentry, I broke my toe.  Shortly thereafter, every time I ran, my IT ached and ached, and I didn't feel like I was doing it any good by running.  So, I stopped for a while, and went back to walking - the same four miles that I'd worked up to after each injury recovery period. 

THEN I had hernia surgery.  THEN I had melanoma cut out of two places and I just flat out gave up.  Kidding.  I still run and walk but I find that I have to take it slow. 

So, sorry - I made that all about me. The point was, I think that I did too much too fast and that was why I got injured.  I recommend that you stick with a distance that is just beyond what you can comfortably do.  Do you think you can walk a mile?  Plot it off and go for it.  If it's too short, you can always walk it again.  You want to feel tired at the end, but not exhausted.  Shoot for five days a week if you are trying to lose weight - 45 minutes to an hour is optimal, at a pace that gets your heart pumping.

What to wear?  Whatever you are comfortable in.  Don't go out dressed as warmly as you need to be comfy, because you want to move enough to warm up, and you'll quickly get too sweaty and start stripping.  It's never comfy to walk carrying a sweatshirt and a hat and gloves.  Long pants are great, but make certain that they aren't so full at the ankles that they trip you.  You can spend lots of money on clothes, but that's really not necessary.  Start off in whatever you have, and make a goal for yourself.  Lose ten pounds and you'll buy a new fiber wicking shirt.  Twenty pounds gets you a running skirt with capris.  (Aren't those cute?)

The one thing I'd really recommend is that you invest in good shoes and socks.  I find that cotton socks give me blisters, and I pony up the $$ and buy quality running socks.  I am a HUGE fan of the DeFeet brand.

Does that help?  Ask me for clarification if I rambled on too much!

Quickly, Quickly

Because I promised and I need to be accountable.

Wednesday: 5 mile walk/run
Thursday: 4 mile walk
Friday: 6 mile walk
Saturday: 7 mile walk
Sunday: crash and burn and fall into a food coma with Turkey day leftovers.

Monday;  Weight training for 35 minutes.  Walk 4 miles.  Capoeira class. 

You?