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Baby Steps

By on January 4, 2012 in eating, food, goals, health, Paleo, weight

So it’s no secret that I had a baby in September.  I had just gotten under 200 pounds for the first time in my adult life when I found out I was pregnant!  Although I imagined gaining weight would feel tough on me mentally/emotionally, it really wasn’t.  Not that I wanted to go crazy, mind you.  But knowing that my body was nourishing my baby made me surprisingly okay with the weight gain.  I was right on schedule for a very healthy weight gain until about the last month of my pregnancy, when I gained weight more quickly, resulting in a total weight gain of about 45 pounds – gulp!

Right after I gave birth, I started losing weight like CRAZY!  Taking care of a newborn full-time (and the resulting loss of two-handed-ness) combined with breast-feeding meant that I had lost nearly 30 pounds in 6 weeks.  Then I went back to work.  And, you guessed it, gained some of that weight BACK!  I got my hands back, my milk supply dipped a bit (pumping just isn’t as effective as the baby at keeping the supply going!), I wasn’t taking care of a baby 24×7, and boredom eating in front of the computer snuck back in.

Long story short, I’m still down about 20 pounds from my highest pregnancy weight, but that means I’ve got 25 pounds of pregnancy weight to lose, plus the 10 or so pounds of holiday weight I gained last year right before getting pregnant!  Are you still with me?

In any case, I’m not ready to make weight loss my priority and I’m not going to do anything drastic because that could jeopardize my milk supply, something I’m not willing to do.  But I do want to start making the move towards healthier eating habits both for me and my baby.  So here is my loose plan (subject to revision if anything messes with my milk supply or just doesn’t feel right):

  • Starting yesterday, I am off sugar, grains, and processed foods.  This is with the thought that eventually I will transition to the Paleo way of eating at least 80-90% of the time.
  • Next (probably next week but nothing is set in stone) I will eliminate legumes and reduce my dairy intake.  I’ve decided to do that more gradually (rather than eliminating dairy altogether) and really watch closely to see if/how it impacts my milk production.
  • I am committing to a 20 minute walk 5 days/week.  This is a VERY small step and a time commitment I know I can follow-through on, so if I don’t, it’s just because I chose not to make it a priority.
  • Within the next 4-6 weeks, I will start my one month of unlimited CrossFit.

So far (one day in), being sugar and grain free has been okay.  Of course I think of sugary foods or bread (I love sandwiches!) often and have had to say “no” to several cravings.  And of course, my office just happens to be one of those offices where there are constantly “treat” foods around – literally.  No, seriously: we order candy and Goldfish in bulk from Costco!  And there are cupcakes or donuts or other pastries on an almost daily basis!  But it actually feels really good, right now, to be choosing not to eat those foods.

I remind myself often that this is a choice and nothing is forever.  I can choose to eat ice cream tomorrow if I want to.  But last time I did, I didn’t feel very good.  And ice cream isn’t going to disappear off the planet, so who cares if I go a month (or three) without eating it?

I also remind myself that some things (like ice cream or store-bought cookies) are always available and are not worth a “cheat,” while other things (such as my grandmother’s homemade kibbee with fresh pita bread!) are more rare and are worth the splurge!  So far (again, only one day in) nothing has crossed my path that has been rare enough to reverse my decision to be sugar- and grain-free.

So there you have it.  No resolutions, nothing set in stone.  Just a starting point for a year in which I will continue my journey towards a healthier me.

Comments { 7 }

Recipe: Homemade Lebanese Hummus

By on February 22, 2011 in food, recipes

It has been a long time since I’ve posted a recipe!  And one of my favorite things has always been homemade hummus.  This recipe is for the “traditional” homemade hummus that I grew up eating, but once you get the basic recipe down, you can add a variety of ingredients to make flavored hummus.  (Frankly, I’m not a fan of flavored hummus, but who am I to judge??)

Ingredients:

Garbanzo beans/chick peas – 2 cans
Tahini (sesame seed paste)
Lemon juice (preferably fresh)
Fresh garlic
Salt

Steps:

1. Open the cans of beans and rinse them thoroughly so your hummus doesn’t taste like it came out of  can.  Add back in about 1/3 of the can (while the beans are still in it) of water.

2. Dump the beans and water into a blender (one can at a time!), and add 1-2 Tbsp of tahini, 1-2 Tbsp of lemon juice, 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic, and 1-3 tsp of salt – this is all to taste.  I suggest you start out with the lowest amounts of each ingredient, blend, and then taste your hummus.  Adjust as necessary to achieve the taste you want.  For my homemade hummus, I use 2 Tbsp tahini, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 medium cloves of garlic, and about 2 tsp of salt PER CAN of beans.

3. Blend the ingredients until smooth.  You may need to add more cold water if the mixture is too thick to blend, so have some cold water on hand and add it a little at a time.  Before you take the hummus out of the blender, taste it!  Add/adjust your ingredients until it tastes how you want it to.

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for your second (and third, or however many!) can of beans, taste again, and then mix your two batches together in one bowl.  If you’re making a large amount, say to take to a party, hummous is very forgiving in that if you over-salt one batch, for example, you can under-salt the next batch to compensate.

Serve:

  • Traditionally, hummus is spread in a shallow bowl, and you drizzle olive oil on top, sprinkle a little paprika, and put a sprig of parsley on top.  Serve with pita bread.
  • You can also serve hummus with vegetables (kind of like a dip), tortilla chips, or anything else that complements the garlicky flavor.
  • Finally, try using hummus in place of mayo or other spreads on your sandwiches.  It adds flavor and healthy fat to your meal!

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out!  You can add additional ingredients (i.e., roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, etc.) to change the flavor of the hummus and/or for variety.

Comments { 2 }

Something to Chew on…Time for Tough Love

By on February 4, 2011 in Betsy, consistency/commitment, eating, End of Overeating, food, goals, guest post, health, plan, Uncategorized

Without further ado, please enjoy today’s guest post from our friend Betsy!

I’ve tried being gentle and loving with myself when it comes to my weight loss and healthy-living efforts, but all that has gotten me is a warm-fuzzy feeling coupled with bouts of self-loathing and desperation, so the hell with that. I’m resorting to tough love. To help guide me on this never-before-traversed-tough-love path I’ve created and implemented a plan based on the advice outlined in the two books (Kessler and Beck) I discussed in my last post.

What are the goals of this plan?

  1. To eliminate the chaos that surrounds mealtimes.
  2. To break my desire for, and emotional dependence on hyperpalatable foods.
  3. To reframe my relationship with food: i.e. food is for fuel (family, friends and activity are for reward and comfort).

What is the plan? It’s pretty basic because if I set too many rules I tend to forget about them or lose track of them or mix them up and reverse them and return to my habitual eating. So “don’t eat after 8PM” becomes “eat with abandon after 8PM.” So my plan goes like this:

  1. ELIMINATE all sugar, white flours, pastas, junk food, cakes, chips, processed foods, and fast food.
  2. Set mealtimes in advance and eat ONLY at those times.
  3. Spend a few minutes each day creating the next day’s meal plan.
  4. Select a few meal options for each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack) and eat them again and again and again.
  5. Complete Beck’s Success Skills (Stage 1) for seven consecutive days and then assess. (I need to assess today!)

I have to tell you that I am VERY proud of myself for including the word and action “ELIMINATE” in my plan because I usually lean towards the healthy living camp that frowns upon eliminating food types as it is said that can lead to a nasty mentality of deprivation thus leading to cravings and overindulgence. But alas, I’ve tried (and tried and tried and tried) to keep all foods fair game, in moderation, and that has not worked for me. At all. So in a moment of bravery and tough love, I have given up those foods that have comforted me for 30+ years. I have finally admitted to myself that reaching my goal (of being a fit, healthy person) will not be attained by consuming my trigger foods. It just isn’t gonna happen that way for me.

In preparation for launching my new plan I held a multi-day event called The Great Food Funerals of 2011. During this time I enjoyed my go-to comfort foods, thanked them for the years of support, told them I no longer needed them, and released them and asked them to release me. I realize this sounds ridiculous but I am one for grand gestures when it comes to life changing moments, and this farewell to my food faves deserved a proper send off.

It’s day eight since I implemented this plan and I’m finding Beck’s whole “NO CHOICE” approach a huge relief. The moment my mind starts going down that road of trying to justify giving into a food craving that isn’t in my day’s eating plan, I take a deep breath and say, “NO CHOICE.” And then there is a blissful silence. My mind doesn’t try to tell me I deserve it, or just this once won’t be a big deal, or that I should eat it because I want it and I’m an adult and get to make my own decisions so just go ahead and enjoy it. When I say, “NO CHOICE” all of that chatter evaporates. It’s so simplistic that I’m amazed it’s working for me.

I’m also amazed because I found this approach tedious and difficult just a few months ago. Obviously, I wasn’t ready to make these changes and so I resisted them with fervor akin to a televangelist. But today I’m ready because I am tired of expending all of my energy fighting with myself in a battle over food. It’s just so darn tedious to constantly be engaged in a battle of wills with myself. It’s also quite absurd and such a self-centered use of my precious life energy. So enough. Enough.

Comments { 9 }

Something to Chew on…I’m not a weak-minded fatty!

By on January 20, 2011 in Betsy, eating, End of Overeating, food, guest post

Please enjoy this guest post from our friend Betsy!

So I’ve been doing all sorts of reading and thinking and journaling and planning about food and weight loss, and food and healthy living, and food and me, and me and food and well, food. Like many of you I’ve used food to soothe my battered ego, comfort my lonely-bored-happy-sad-stressed-out self, and as a celebration enjoyed with family and friends. And not surprisingly, I don’t know when to stop. Eating, that is.

Thus I have spent my adult life trying to be more mindful, get to the roots of my habitual “reach for the bread/cake/chips” response to anything happening in my life, and, well, basically try to stop shoving gobs of food into my cake hole.

With all of this reading and thinking about food I recently purchased “The End of Overeating” by David A. Kessler and must say I have experienced the long-awaited for paradigm shift where food is concerned. Reading Kessler’s book has helped me discover that I don’t lack willpower (well, okay with some things I definitely lack willpower or gumption or commitment but not when it comes to food) rather I am a victim of crafty food scientists.

While that may be overstating it a bit, what I’ve learned about food and the brain and our bodies’ reactions to certain food/chemical combinations has opened my eyes to a new vision regarding food: The processed stuff isn’t good for me and the more of the junk I eat the more of it my brain will demand.

If you haven’t read the book that statement may not make too much sense so allow me to give you a brief (and simplistic) synopsis:

From the book’s Foreword, “Kessler theorizes that after having been exposed to hyperstimulating foods, some individuals develop what is known as conditioned hypereating.” Kessler goes into detail about how foods, specifically combinations of fat, sugar and salt, trigger responses in our brains much like those that occur when taking certain drugs or after exercising (the brain releases dopamine and/or endorphins) and the mind likes the release of those brain chemicals very, very much (they make us feel good) and so the brain encourages us to eat more of the food that created that pleasure. And as we keep feeding our brains the food that caused the release of those feel-good chemicals we quickly establish pathways in the brain that reinforce this continued behavior. “When it comes to food, we are, in essence, following an eating script that has been written into the circuits of our brains.” (Page 62.)

For example, I’ve had a lousy day at work so on the way home I buy a slice of white frosted yellow cake. When I get home I sit down with this yummy slice of cake and joyfully devour it to “calm me down” and “cheer me up” after said lousy day. My brain likes this sugar-fat laden food and releases those feel-good chemicals in my brain. Next time I’ve had a lousy day and want to “unwind” my brain says, “Hey, try that cake thing again that really worked the last time,” and I obligingly go for the cake. And now I’ve started to create those pathways in my brain that will drive me towards cake when I want to escape my lousy day.

Kessler goes into much greater detail than I have here but let’s suffice it to say the U.S. food industry has figured this out and spends millions (if not billions) of dollars creating foods loaded with fat, sugar and salt as these three ingredients, and better yet these three ingredients in combination, elicit the strongest responses from the brain which drives us to eat more and more and more.

So when I say I’ve had this paradigm shift regarding my views on food, what I’ve experienced is that I now see how these yummy sweet, chewy, soft, salty, crunchy foods are engineered that way to keep me eating and eating and eating. “When we understand our brains’ response to food, and how it drives our lack of control, we can change our approach to eating.” (Page XII.)

I realize this probably doesn’t put me in the best light: that I need to learn the U.S. food industry is purposely trying to get me to eat their crap before I’ll be more inclined to choose healthier foods but that’s what happened. Now just so you don’t think I’m completely out of touch or stupid, I do know, and have known for many years, that processed foods suck and contain zero nutritional value. However, I’ve felt addicted to them. Unable to stop eating them despite the gazillion times I’ve berated myself into a lonely corner chanting, “You weak-minded fatty!”

Here I’ve been thinking for 30 years that I’m a spineless, weak-minded, lacking-in-willpower, fat loser who just can’t say no to certain foods, when in fact my need for comfort coupled with crafty food scientists sent me down a path of overeating. This realization brings me an Everest amount of relief. Why am I relieved? Because now I know where I need to focus my energies. I don’t need to expend my energy on beating myself into eating submission. Rather, I need to break the habit. I need to ditch the processed stuff not just for the sake of my health and my waistline but also for the sake of my brain. I must bust the I-feel-bored-so-I’ll-eat-junk-food cycle.

How shall I bust the cycle? By eliminating all overly processed foods from my diet and establishing new habits for comfort and reward. Kessler outlines strategies in the final chapters of his book and my darling friend Val (aka SeattleRunnerGirl) gifted me “The Complete Beck Diet for Life” book so between these two books I’ve got the tools needed to make this paradigm shift a reality.

I am feeling confident that I can shed my eating-for-comfort cycle and establish new ways to relax and reward myself thanks to this new information. And I am further bolstered by my horoscope (courtesy of Free Will Astrology) for the coming week:

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In the early 20th century, many women at the beach covered most of their bodies with swimsuits made of wool. If they went in the water, they’d emerge about 20 pounds heavier. Swimming was a challenge. Your current psychic state has resemblances to what you’d feel like if you were wearing drenched woolen underwear and a drenched woolen clown suit and a drenched woolen robe. My advice? Take it off; take it all off. The astrological omens are clear: Whatever your reasons were for being in this get-up in the first place are no longer valid.

So now I’m off on The Great Nix-the-Processed-Foods-from-My-Diet Experiment of 2011. Wish me luck and stay tuned! Got any tips you wanna share with me? Have you read Kessler’s “The End of Overeating” or Beck’s “The Complete Beck Diet for Life”?

Comments { 4 }

Back in the Saddle

By on January 6, 2011 in 4-Hour Body, consistency/commitment, determination/motivation, eating, food, hcg, plan, R2P4, working out

Hey y’all!  I hope you enjoyed the guest posts over the last couple of days – I’m so grateful to Tara and Betsy for sharing the writing load with me this week!  I’m finally back in Seattle and, just like every time I take time off, I’m wondering if the vacation time is really worth the mounds and piles of work I have waiting for me when I come home!  Who am I kidding – it’s totally worth it! – but if you are wondering where I’ll be for the next week?  A good bet will almost always be my desk!

Vacation was great – it was really nice to take a mental and physical break.  Before you shake your finger at me, don’t worry – I didn’t take a total break from working out.  In the 5 days I was gone, I got in one awesome gym trip, a 3.5 mile run, and a 3 mile walk.  And yesterday, my first day back, I hit up the gym for an AWESOME kick-my-own-arse cardio and core session.  I can’t wait to meet up with my trainer this afternoon and get back into the groove with her, too.

Another thing that has me excited is that I’ve decided to give the slow carb diet from The 4-Hour Body a try for the next 2-3 weeks.  I won’t weigh myself until Sunday to give myself a few days to lose a bit of water weight, but I already know that I’ve put on probably 10 pounds over the holidays.  So I’m ready to get that weight off and prep my body for all the awesometasticness that 2011 will hold, like running lots of events – including the Warrior Dash, Ragnar, and a half marathon – and another round of HCG.

So today I started on The 4-Hour Body slow carb diet, which is basically as follows:

RULE 1: AVOID “WHITE” CARBOHYDRATES.  Avoid any carbohydrate that is, or can be, white.

RULE 2: EAT THE SAME FEW MEALS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

RULE 3: DON’T DRINK CALORIES.

RULE 4: DON’T EAT FRUIT.

RULE 5: TAKE ONE DAY OFF PER WEEK.

I know these rules might seem uber-restrictive because, well, they are!  I am not worried about feeling deprived for two reasons.  One is that one day each week, I can eat what I like.  At this point, I am sure that will include lots of fruit (which I will miss), some dairy, and maybe even pizza.  The second reason I am not worried about feelings of deprivation is that I don’t intend to follow the slow-carb diet for ages.  I’m using it as a tool to help me take off a few of the pounds I’ve gained and to get me off sugar completely before I start my next round of HCG.

So there you have it – I feel fantastic today because I got a good night’s sleep, fit in a fantastic workout, and have eaten yummy, healthy food all day today.  Oh, and I’m taking a trip to Whole Paycheck Foods tonight on my way home to stock up on lots of essentials, including white truffle sea salt, eggs, chicken, beans, lentils, veggies, and more.

How are you?  I’m still catching up on blogs, so fill me in on your news and goals for 2011!

Comments { 24 }