I wish Jillian lived next door...

I've been trying to motivate myself to workout in the mornings again. I don't know why I just won't do it. I thought, this morning, if Jillian Michaels was my neighbor, then we would probably be friends, and I could ask her for help with this issue. She is probably an early riser and would probably be more than happy to come over and say, "Get on that treadmill!" or, I imagine, she would call me at 6:00am and say, "Are you dressed? Then, get dressed and get on that treadmill because I'm going to call you back in 5 minutes and you better be out of breath!" :D

Jillian is awesome like that.

But, alas, she is not my neighbor or my friend so I'm just going to have to access my inner Jillian for awhile. I wrote, a week or so ago, about wanting to make exercise a regular part of my life. Trying to make a small change in that department...it's been a difficult one. Taking it one day at a time. The small change this morning, got up in time to sit and have coffee and check email and stuff before I work out. I have been trying to get up in time to just go work out but end up not sticking to it because I like my morning coffee time. So why fight it? Why not make the time to get up, have coffee, THEN workout??

Speaking of small changes...I did make one, over the weekend, that I'm rather proud of...I cut the sugar I put in my coffee, in half. I usually use 1 teaspoon of sugar per cup. On Sunday, I started using 1/2 teaspoon per cup and, honestly, I don't miss it. It's a small thing, I know but does save me 23-30 calories every morning. Small changes = big accomplishments.

This morning, I found this poster from the Love Your Body campaign from the NOW Foundation...wanted to share:

Clean Eating Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Sundays are Dinner from the Clean Eating Cookbook. Tonight I'm making Arugula Polenta with Chicken (page 118). And for dessert, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (page 221).

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp Sucanat
• 1 egg white
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 cups Old Fashioned Quaker Oats
• 2/3 cup whole-wheat baking flour
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Grease baking sheet with nonstick spray. In a bowl, hand-mix oil and Sucanat. Add egg white, vanilla and water; mix well. Add oats, flour, salt, baking soda, raisins and cinnamon, and mix until just blended to retain the texture of oats. Drop batter by teaspoons onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.

Per cookie - 70 calories, 3.5g fat, 9g carbs, 1g fiber

15 Shocking Food Industry Secrets

I wanted to share this great little article by David Zinczenko (Eat This, Not That!). A lot of what he says echos the book I just read (and talked about in previous posts), The End of Overeating.

One Small Change = One Big Accomplishment

If I could change one thing about myself right now, it's my avoidance of exercise. I would like to be one of those people who must exercise everyday or they don't feel right. I want it to be a habit like brushing my teeth and taking a shower. It's not something I think about but if I don't do it, I don't feel right.

I want to exercise in the mornings. My biggest excuse? I can't get up early enough. I go to bed at 10pm every night but cannot seem to get out of bed before 6:30am. If I'm going to exercise in the mornings, I really need to be up by 5:45 at the latest.

Maybe it's a thing where I just have to suck it up and do it for the first few weeks...I know that my body responds well to exercise and when I'm doing it daily, I have so much more energy and I sleep better.

Ideas?

Happy Halloween

Where did October go?

I've been so focused on my job, that I haven't had time for much else. Change has come into my life yet again. I need to learn to be flexible and accepting of the winds of change...

I need balance and a routine of caring for myself...I'm tired of trying to "get back on track" and tired of giving so much energy to those who don't care about me. I give all that energy and have none left for me...must figure out how to change this.

At any rate...hope everyone has had a great fall and is planning a Happy Halloween!

The End of Overeating

A few months ago Cathy and I were talking about the foods that we crave. She was saying that she craves savory carbs like mashed potatoes and pizza. I was saying that I crave sweet fats like cakes, brownies, donuts, and moist/chewy cookies (high fat, high sugar carbs).

I started reading a book this weekend that talks specifically about this subject. The End of Overeating by David Kessler is a study of the American diet. It's fascinating and validates what I've known about myself for years. I'm addicted to those kinds of foods. Not just the thought of those foods...not so much a psychological addiction...I'm talking about a physical addiction.

"When we put food rich in sugar, fat, and salt in our mouths, we stimulate neurons, which are the basic cells of the brain. Neurons are connected in circuits and communicate with one another to create feelings, store information, and control behavior. They respond to rewarding foods by firing electical signals and releasing brain chemicals that then travel to interconnected neurons. We say those neurons are 'encoded' for palatability"(p35).

Kessler makes the case that we are physically addicted to foods high in fat, sugar, and salt through palatability, rewarding foods, and interconnected neurons.

Finally! The Why!!! Is that helpful at all? Maybe. I guess I will see. As I read more of this book, I will share more of it. Sorry to cut this post short...per usual, I am multi-tasking...big/busy work week. :)

The Yoga of Eating

I've been reading this book for the last few weeks. Pretty interesting stuff...but basically, it's what you'd think. If yoga is about being present, being in the moment...then the yoga of eating is about being present when one is eating.

I read a line last night and thought that I would share it here because it is one of those truths that I want to remind myself of..."...even the most thorough change happens one choice at a time." What that is getting to, for me, is that the choices we make add up. So if we are constantly choosing to put off our weight loss efforts, then we will never lose the weight we want to lose. If we choose, most of the time, to put our health first, then we will achieve our weight loss goals.

Something else that struck me...the notion about eating when your attention is elsewhere and the idea that one is eating what one's attention is on. So, Eisenstein writes, "In a sense, if your attention is elsewhere when you eat, you are not eating the food at all. The Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh tells a story of a friend wolfing down tangerines while talking animatedly about something he was angry about, and points out that at that moment, he wasn't really eating the tangerines at all, he was eating the anger. So...
- If you watch TV while you eat, you are eating the TV program.
-If you read while you eat, you are eting the words.
-If you eat when angry, you are eating the anger.
-If you eat while absorbed by the scenery, you are eating the scenery.
-If you talk a lot while you eat, you are eating your conversation.

This is to say that eating is a special time, even a sacred time, in which a person is in an especially absorptive state. While eating, the body is keyed to take in energy from the world. One is eating the entire experience of the meal, not just the physical food. The ambiance and emotional environment contribute to this experience, to the extent that they influence one's own state of mind."

In my experience, that is so true. Maybe that's why one of my favorite things to do is to go out to a nice dinner with good company...because it's not just the food, but the experience...the atmosphere, the sounds, the scenery, the table, the plate of food, and the company.

So...a pause, perhaps, is in order when I eat...sitting at a dining room table instead of in front of the TV...sitting and having breakfast and/or lunch without working on my laptop at the same time...or even, just a pause before eating, a blessing and gratitude for the nourishment and, at least, a few mindful bites...