The ELFF Diet

Feel Great About Your Body

I read an article this weekend in Parade magazine, that little insert in the Sunday newspaper, and the article on Feeling Better About Your Body.  In the article, a scenario is set.  You look at your body in the mirror, become disgusted with yourself because you've gained weight, and walk away feeling depressed and hopeless. For those of us that struggle with emotional eating, we might even bury ourselves, and our feelings, in food to find some measure of comfort.

How can we stop this?  How can we feel better about our bodies? There were four points in the article:

• Don't tie your self-worth to the number on the scale.  Um, seriously, this one is the VERY hardest for me.  Case in point:  Over the summer, I was down to my lowest weight - 129.8.  I took a picture of the scale and everything.  I wasn't working and my kids were off school, and I was able to devote 2-3 hours a day to heavy exercise.  During the school year, my job changed and I worked more hours, my kids sports went nuts and I put on five pounds.  I weigh in now at 134.  At first, when I realized that I've pretty much set my point at that level, I was frustrated.  I wanted to be even lower than my lowest.  I felt like a failure and a hypocrite on this site.  But I've realized something - when I was working out that hard, I wasn't really able to enjoy my meals - I was always aware of every single bite.  I didn't want to eat anything sweet or bready or, really anything, because I was addicted to that number.  At a number just five pounds higher, I can pretty much eat what I want and exercise daily and keep in line.  It's healthier for me.  YOU (and me) are not the number on the scale.
• Don't put your life on hold. I'll start exercising when my thighs don't rub together.  When I can bike outside and not struggle with my balance.  When I have hours to devote to it.  When I buy some great new exercise clothing. You don't need to, and in fact you shouldn't, wait for all of the stars to line up.  Just get out there and do something.  Even walking for 20 minutes will help you feel better.  Remember, a step in the right direction is a positive. 
• Ease up on the pressure.  You don't have to work out at a death pace all day, every day.  Find something that you like to do, and do it.  Try to think about how great you feel, what wonderful work you've done, and how great it is for your body, rather than how far you have to go.  If you've got a lot of weight to lose, that huge number can be very overwhelming.  In the beginning, I concentrated on five pound chunks.  That's all - I wanted to lose 5 pounds.  And then five more.  Relax. 
• Congratulate yourself on your hard work.  No matter what you haven't accomplished, a step in the right direction is moving you that way. No one says that you have to reach your goal today, tomorrow, or next month.  You ARE getting there.  You WILL.

Check in

What are you up to?

I did weight work at the gym today.  I walked three miles.

What about you?

Tomorrow, I'm taking my kids to a local amusement park, where I'm certain to walk at least four miles. Maybe more.  The challenge for tomorrow will not be getting my exercise, but eating correctly - this park will not let you bring any food in, and it's a hike to get to your car if you pack food.  Plus, hello, I'm not up for returning to the car with all kids.

What will you do for exercise this weekend?  What challenges will you face and how will you overcome them?

Holy Vitamins, Batman!

I've been taking the same multi vitamin for about four months now.  I'm really happy with it - the amounts are in line, and it is an Energy formula - goodness knows that I need all the help I can get in the energy department.  I bought a new bottle this weekend and noticed that the label was different.  The formulation is the same, but it's NOW!WITH!NEW!LABELING!

I was brushing my teeth Saturday night and, being easily bored, I picked up the bottle to look at the label.  I noticed something different, something I'd never noticed before.  Something that may very well be the reason I am having trouble sleeping.

My multi contains caffeine.  And I take it right before bed, since it has a tendency to upset my tummy.

Moral of this story?  Always read the label, and if you can't sleep, maybe it is the vitamins.

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It's not too late to leave me a question!  There are some really good ones that I can't wait to answer!

True Confessions, once again

Gah, could I have picked more depressing categories in that little drop down menu? 

I'd like to thank you for all of your advice with regards to my last entry.  Part of my trouble has to do with what happened last week.  I didn't share it with you, because I'm still processing it and I'm not certain how I feel.  But I'm going to give it a whirl here.  Advice and input is always welcome - assvice is not. 

I haven't been sleeping well for a long time.  I've been taking melatonin, which helps, but I don't like to take it until I can get at good nights sleep, because I'm afraid to be unable to function the next day.  So I've been working on a sleep deficit.  Part of THAT stems from the fact that I wait to write until the kids are in bed and I get all my work done, which means I don't sit down until after 9 or in some cases 10.  Which means bed has been 11 or 12, and I'm up at 5:15.  Pair that with uneven sleep patterns and you can see where the trouble started.  That's the background.

Monday I got up and went to the gym,where I did some really heavy weight work.  I had capoeira at night and got to bed around midnight. Tuesday after work I went running, but I felt punky.  I wasn't able to run the entire way, but I compensated by walking longer than I'd planned - I went six miles instead of 4.  When I got home, I was wiped out, but in a good way.  When I woke Wednesday, I was exhausted. I wasn't able to pop up and felt wiped out - my legs felt like lead.  I usually feel tired, but by the time I'm halfway through the weight work, I am awake and peppy.

Not so Wednesday.  I was barely able to complete the reps and wondered, briefly, if I was coming down with something. Mostly, I felt a disconnect.  I was slow and just out of it all day.  When I got off work, I went home and slept for 30 minutes. After I picked up the kids, I slept for another hour. When I woke up, I felt like crap and just sat on the sofa. 

Blood work, again

So, today was interesting.

I've been having some weird symptoms.  Lots of lightheadedness, episodes of plummeting blood sugar, moving right to the precipice of passing out, headaches.  Crying, exhaustion, fatigue. 

No, I'm not pregnant.  Although that was a thought.

So I went to the doc today.  I fasted from 10 p.m., got up and went to the trainer with no coffee - which is just vile, vile, vile.  He drew blood and we chatted.

He thinks it's one of a few things. Hypoglycemia, diabetes, thyroid - although I really don't have the symptoms for it - or, um, I'm not eating enough.

Huh? Can you repeat that last one?

Something I've been pondering

Warning:  ranting and raving ahead.  If this bugs you, come back tomorrow and we can discuss strategies for dealing with Turkey day.  I've just got to try to get this out and clear up some stuff in my head.

You all know how there is a prejudice against fat people in this society. 

I know I don't have to tell you this.  If you are a fat person, and I was, you are aware of it. You aren't a contributing member of society, according to some people. You don't have the INTELLIGENCE to avoid getting fat.  You are too stupid to know that you need to exercise.  Please don't be offended.  The Good Lord knows that I'm not the one saying this, but these are things that some people say about fat people. I heard them when I was out, read them online, and saw these gross generalizations represented daily on television shows.

I've been very surprised to find that there is also a prejudice against thinner people as well.  I know that when I was fat, I assumed that the thin people had IT ALL.  They had it all together; if you could fit into a size 6 pants, all was right with your world.  You had no worries, no troubles, and everyone wanted to be your friend. 

I have really been stunned by the comments that I've heard in the past year.  "I'm going to watch what you eat," someone told me at a party.  "That way, I can eat like you and lose weight."  Right.  Like eating certain foods is all it took.  I wish.  It would have been easier.

"You aren't any fun when we go to dinner, now that you don't eat!"  Well, I must not have been much fun before, what with the stuffing my mouth.   Goodness knows I probably couldn't speak well around all the food. 

"Are you watching what I'm eating and making a judgment?" Right.  Like I have time for that.

"Look at you, eating fruit.  You are so good, and I'm so bad."  Nope.  No one is good, no one is bad - some food choices are better than others.

When I said that I needed to buy new jeans - and that's all I said, not a complaint about how hard it was to find pants, or anything else, the response was, "I hate you.  I wish I had your body/your willpower/was lucky like you."  Um, right.  There was no luck involved.  There WAS hard work.  Lots and lots of hard work, lots of willpower and giving up favorite foods and making a choice EVERY day. 

How will you know if you have willpower?  How will you know if you can do it if you never try, if you hide behind excuses and try to make other people feel badly about their success?  If you tell everyone that there is no way that you can do it, there isn't.  If you say to yourself, I can't do it, I'm not even going to try - well, then, that's your choice.  Don't try to make people who've made the sacrifices and buckled down to the hard work feel GUILTY about what they've done.  Listen - no one hit me with a wand and granted me a wish of an 80 pound less body. I worked HARD.  You can work hard.  There is no magic formula, no secret.  Just getting out there and getting it done, day in and day out. 

What do you want to do?  Where do you want to be in two years?  Do you want to be the weight and shape you are right now, maybe even heavier?  Do you want to be on your way to a healthier life?

What can you do to get there?

You are worth it.  You ARE.  You can do it.  You CAN.  I KNOW you can.  I will do whatever I can to help you get there.

Just don't try to make me feel badly about my success.

Self Control - is it a myth?

I was sent a question by the lovely and talented Emily, and I have her full permission to post it. 

Confession: I cooked a molten chocolate pudding for myself this week. I ate half of the 8x8 before I got up the courage to throw the rest away. At least it's better than eating an entire 8x8 of brownies by myself (like I did three weeks ago). Today? A Kit-Kat, two taffys, cake and ice cream, and three reese's cups (hubby ate the fourth). I'm so ashamed of my eating habits; many a time I've eaten something all by myself and hid the evidence. I want to change them for the better. It's hard, oh so hard, because I hate grocery shopping (which needs to be fairly frequently to use decent produce) and I love to bake. I walk almost every day (since hubby has the car) which has helped with my mood and my weight this summer. I'm afraid for the snow, though.             

And since I have a fair amount of energy, walk several miles a day, and don't have the joint
and back pain that I had even at 140 lbs I assume I'm in great shape.

But I eat like crap. I don't buy junk food anymore, but like I said--I love to bake. When I'm stressed? I bake. When I'm depressed? I bake. And then I eat. Yes, I eat between 4 and 6 servings of fruits and veggies every day. But if there's something sweet around? I'll gladly eat nothing
but that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I don't have a problem with soda, lattés, candy, chips, or the usual offenders. I simply don't buy them. But when I go to a party? No self-control, especially if it's a buffet. Twice this week I ate so much I
felt sick, because we were at parties or visiting friends. I almost wish that I knew it would affect my weight more than it has, but my 9-month-old weighs 23 pounds and eats very little solids right now--he literally sucks the calories right off.

Mostly, I need support and tips on how to regain my self-control, and to form habits that will serve me (and my family) better. You are more than welcome to address this and use anything I've written.

Fish oil - do you take it?

Do you?  If not, you may well want to rethink that decision. 

Omega-3's are one of the key nutrients, providing support for brain development and cell function.  Omega 3 fish oils have been proven to benefit heart health, lower triglycerides and high blood pressure. 

Recent studies have taken the efficacy of fish oils a step further though, proving them to be as effective as prescription pain medication at easing arthritis-related joint pain.  Joseph Maroon, M.D., a neurosurgeon at the University of Pittsburgh, gave 1200 milligrams of DHA and EPA to 250 men and women with back and neck pain.  After a month, 59% of them were able to discontinue their use of NSAIDS. 

The most interesting result of the study was the fact that Omega-3's can help prevent exercise induced asthma.  If you suffer from this, vigorous exercise can restrict airflow.  In a study from Indiana University, three weeks of fish oil supplementation helped improve post exercise lung function by 64 percent.

I can second this.  About a year ago, I started giving three of my kids - the three youngest - a fish oil supplement every night, in order to combat some moderate eczema in two of them, and to help brain development in my SID daughter.  One of those kids had moderate asthma, and was on three daily medicines.  Much to my surprise, at his last check up, his lung function was so improved that he was able to discontinue two of those medications and cut the third in half.  I was so impressed with this, in conjunction with reading the results above, that I started my other asthmatic kids on Fish oils. 

The easiest way, of course, is to eat fish.  Salmon has one of the highest levels of fish Omega-3's, with sardines, oysters and tuna.  But what if you don't like fish?  Try a supplement. Look for one that contains 400 mgs of EPA and 200 mgs DHA.   My kids take the Coromega.  If you are bothered by fishy burps, try freezing them before or take the coated capsules, labeled enteric.   

Take some fish oil.  Or eat some fish.  Just don't cook it in butter!

So, let's talk about the injury

If you read my other blog - and if not, why?  I think it's pretty good - you'd know that I messed myself up pretty good running, or attempting to run, a half marathon this past weekend. 

Man, that was a long sentence. 

Anywho, I tried to run it.  Thinking back on it, I can pretty much pinpoint what happened.  At mile three, there was a really good band.  I had tons and tons of energy - The Hubster remarked that I was running his buns off.  I felt keyed up and bouncy, and so, when the music was so cool, I ran some grapevines  (Running sideways, crossing one foot in front and then back, over and over - a trick from soccer).  Shortly thereafter, my knee began to feel as if there was a hot knife under the outer edge of the knee cap, being wedged back and forth. 

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?