Super Simple

Sometimes simple really is best.

I haven't felt like eating or drinking much of anything for days. And now I'm on big meds to wipe out the bronchitis, which are doing a number on my digestive system. Food isn't a priority right now, but I know I need to eat to heal.

Time for a smoothie. A super simple smoothie that tastes great. My go-to recipe is 1 cup of Silk dark chocolate almond milk and one frozen banana pureed in a blender. It tastes like a thick milk shake, is packed with nutrition, slides down a sore throat perfectly -- all for about 200 calories.

Try it. I know you'll love it.

Bronchitis

Last Friday I started coughing. Today I learned I have full-blown bronchitis. So it's a week of antibiotics and steroids and a little less blogging. But I'll be back soon, I promise!

Friday Funny

Facing the Truth

I went to my family doctor on Friday for a regular check-up. I went in feeling great, having lost 10 pounds and gotten into the habit of exercise six days per week. I left feeling upset and defeated because I was made to face the truth.

For a seriously overweight person, I've been blessed to remain fairly healthy. However, in the past year, my years of food abuse have caught up with me. Health problems have started cropping up. And that became even more sharply focused on Friday. After going over the results of some blood work, the doctor announced that I have fatty liver disease. My liver (and probably other organs) are so packed with fat that they are no longer functioning at their normal level. It's putting a tremendous strain on my body.

And, for the first time in my life, a high number showed up when my blood pressure was taken. Uh oh.

It was a lot to take in. And made me feel tremendously sad for what I had done to myself. But, I was also glad to have the information before it was too late. Both fatty liver disease and pre-hypertension are revesible and I'm track to make that happen.

So take a lesson from me: if you've been putting off going to the doctor because you are overweight, make an appointment today and go. The life you save may be your own. It's time to face the truth.

Ditching Diets

I'm finding out that giving up dieting isn't easy, especially since I've been doing it since the age of 12.

I remember that first diet the summer I was 12 years old. My mother bought a little booklet in the supermarket checkout promising weight loss. She and I would do it together, with the hopes of slimming me down before the start of school. The first day was a total fast from all solid food. That's tough for a 12-year old but I did it. At the end of the day my mother rewarded me with a milkshake. The next few days were nothing but cottage cheese, Melba toast and grapefruit. I don't remember if I lost weight on this diet, but I do remember fasting, the milkshake reward and the ensuing days of "diet" food. Thus, began my long love-hate with diets and food.

It's no fault of my mother's. She was doing what she had learned from television, magazines and diet books. Everyday we're all bombarded with mixed messages of decadent food followed by weight-loss advice. Don't believe me? Just check out any women's magazine. It's enough to make one's head spin, and it doesn't actually do any good for losing weight long term.

That's why I finally gave up dieting and got rid of all my diet books. But dieting thoughts insidiously are still jumping into my brain. Earlier this week I decided to limit carbs and count my total carb intake. That's a diet. Then I thought that I should go back to Weight Watchers. That's a diet. I shook loose those ideas and didn't act on them, but it was hard.

Eating right and exercising are the long-term keys to success. I just have to keep reminding myself. Do you?

Mental Toughness

As I get back into healthy eating and regular exercise, I'm learning a lot about mental toughness.

Yesterday my training plan called for 1-2 mile run. My schedule wouldn't allow me to get to the gym and walk on the treadmill, so I was stuck with walking outside. It was 19 degrees and snowing outside. I didn't want to do it. I nearly talked myself out of doing it. But I took a deep breath, psyched myself up and then bundled up and headed outside on my lunch break. It was miserably cold and the roads were slippery with patches of ice, but I did it. And in doing so, I developed some mental toughness. I imagine it will come in mighty handy later this year as I stand at the starting line of the half-marathon!

Boxing

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm having so much fun with my trainer. Who knew working out could be a combination of a challenge and play all mixed into one?!

We've been working on boxing moves and tonight I got to put on a pair of gloves and work on a real bag. It felt amazing! It was tough but rewarding. As I pounded away, practicing jabs, hooks and upper cuts, Tracy the Trainer suggested that I imagine a face on the bag of someone I wanted to hit. I laughed and said I wasn't mad at anyone today. So we decided to imagine the scale in front of me and that I was pounding down the numbers. Now that was satisfying!

It was especially satisfying because I works so hard last week and didn't lose a signle ounce! But I won't let this little plateau get me down. I'm going to box that scale into submission, just you wait and see!

Last Year's New Shoes

I recently bought new running shoes. It's always a process to get the right fit. I tried on several pairs before settling on New Balance, a brand I haven't worn before (I've been a Mizuno girl for years). They fit great. As I was preparing to check out, the owner of the store mentioned that they are last year's model. He needed to clear space on his shelf for the new styles coming out and offered them to me for $50. Whoa. What a deal!

So the next time you are shopping for new running shoes, inquire about last year's models and see if you can get a bargain, too.

A Sumo-Sized Lesson

While flipping channels the other night, I happened across a National Geographic Channel special on obesity. Most of the information wasn't new to me, until the reporter turned to the topic of sumo wrestlers, the famed oversized Japanese athletes. Make no mistake: these guys are athletes with grueling workout and competition schedules. But they are indeed oversized and they get that way on purpose.

To gain bulk, sumo wrestlers follow a prescribed regimine. They do not eat breakfast. They eat a tremendous amount of carbohydrates (white rice, noodles and beer). And they nap after eating so the calories can be stored as fat.

Doesn't sound so different than the way many of us have unintentionally gained weight. It was an eye-opening, sumo-sized lesson.

A Shift in Perspective

Like many people who struggle with obesity, I have sleep apnea. This is a sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. The result is chronic tiredness, obviously, but the problem can also lead to bigger problems like heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes. It’s common in overweight people, but isn’t limited to them. I know several very thin people who struggle with this problem.

The treatment is usually a breathing device called a CPAP that is worn while sleeping. The machine forces pressurized air into the breathing ways, keeping the throat from collapsing and stopping breathing. That’s all good, but the device is unsightly and uncomfortable. Not a joy to wear. So, I’m practicing a shift in perspective. Each night when I put on my CPAP before sleep, I’m telling myself that it is a high-tech training gadget that will dramatically enhance my sleep, allowing my muscles to heal and get stronger as I train for the half-marathon.

It seems to be working. I’m wearing my CPAP more often for longer amounts of time. And I’m better rested, which, no surprise, is indeed enhancing my training. All it took was a little shift in perspective.

Good Calories, Bad Calories

After yesterday's rant again diet books, I have to admit that I have yet to return one to the library: the 640-page tome "Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health" by the remarkable science writer Gary Taubes. This isn't so much a diet book as a work of investigative journalism, unearthing the assumptions made about why America is gaining weight. Taubes doesn't pull any punches -- nor does he water down the science. It's tough reading, but truly fascinating and is making me re-think all I know about carbohydrates.

As a vegetarian, the foundation of my diet is carbs, ironically, rather than vegetables. I think it's true for most vegetarians. I eat a lot of pasta, rice, bread, cereals and potatoes. True, they tend to be whole grains but Taubes is making me consider if this isn't part of my weight problem. And he may be on to something. I've had trouble ever since making carbs the base of meals. Even my observant father noted this.

So, as I'm shifting my diet, I'm shifting my carb consumption, too. I've reduced the amount of carbs I'm eating and I must admit that I feel better and the weight is coming off easier. I'm eating more vegetables and protein, too, which isn't a bad thing.

Check out Taubes' work. You might be equally surprised.

Liberation

Perhaps, like me, you're prone to falling prey to dieting mentality. I check out diet books from the library. I leaf through weight-loss magazines at the book store. I buy stacks of books promising the next easy way to drop pounds.
No more.

I put the magazines in the recycling bin, returned the library books and sold my books at the used bookstore. It's been wildly liberating!

I don't need to read any more advice. I know what to do (and I bet you do, too!). Eat moderate amounts of real food -- vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, beans and some low-fat dairy, an egg or a small piece of meat every once in a while -- and move off the couch.

Holistic dietician Maya Nahra said it best: "There's so much information out there about losing weight, especially losing it fast and easy, that we forget that weight loss comes down to calories."

Simple, really. So how many calories do we need? Everyone is different. I found out my target range here and you can, too. It's just one more way to liberate ourselves from the mental slavery of the diet industry.

A Little Help

Sometimes we all need a little extra motivation to exercise. Or in my case, a lot of extra motivation. I do best with a race in front of me or being pushed by someone else. That's why I splurged and hired a trainer to beat on me for the next 10 weeks.

Actually, Tracy the Trainer, is a sweet, petite, enthusiastic fitness czar. She's pushing me beyond my comfort zone and I'm already surprised at how quickly my body is responding. My muscles are remembering what exercise feels like. My legs are eager to start running again. My breathing is less labored. My heart is pounding less. And best of all, I'm actually having fun. Tracy makes our twice-weekly sessions something I look forward to. Amazing!

Becoming a Runner Again

In October 2008, I completed the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in San Francisco. It was the climax of my life as a beginning runner. Sure, I was slow, but I did it and loved every moment of becoming part of the running community. No feeling can describe meeting such a goal and I was certain that I had become a life-long runner.

Except I hadn't.

I don't know what happened after that race but I gave up running. It was if my brain couldn't compute that I had actually become a runner -- something I had wanted my entire life. I lost all my hard-earned fitness and gained nearly 100 pounds. It's been horrible. I would give anything to go back to the finish line of that half-marathon and tell myself to keep on running. But I can't.

So, I'm back at the starting line. Re-learning how to run. Working hard on building endurance. And as a motivation, I've signed up for another half-marathon this spring... because I want to be a runner again.

No More Excuses

Last fall, my doctor gave me an ultimatium: lose weight and start exercising or face gastric by-pass surgery. Before I left his office, he scheduled my next appointment for three months later and gently admonished me to show progress by then.

It's no wonder he got serious with me. At age 38 I weigh nearly 400 pounds and suffer from a host of physical ailments. I'm on a pile of prescriptions and have basically no physical fitness. It's no way to live.

Oh sure, I've tried to lose weight in the past -- mostly with limited success. I've followed Weight Watchers, South Beach, The Zone, The Food Pyramid and met with a host of dieticians. They all worked for awhile until I got frustrated with confusing food formulas or the high price of products.

Well, no more excuses. In 2011, I'm going back to basics: eat less and move more. The plan isn't complicated or pricey: just exercise six days per week and watch my calorie intake. It's not fancy but it does work.