Sometimes in a valiant effort to be healthy we sabotage out healthiness. Here’s an example.
Let’s say you eat oatmeal drizzled with real maple syrup and pecans for breakfast. For a midmorning snack you have a banana and peanuts. Then for lunch it’s a green salad with organic dressing. Midafternoon you go with a high-oxidant Odwalla bar. Dinner consists of rice and chicken and stir-fry vegetables.
The day may have been nutritious, but you may also fail to lose weight. Why? Because nutritious doesn’t always mean lean. Take the organic salad dressing. A serving of Newman’s Own Creamy Italian Dressing contains 140 calories and 14 grams of fat for 2 tablespoons. Health bars like the Odwalla brand carry a surprisingly high number of calories along with the nutrients. The Super Protein bar has 230 calories. Sounds more like a small meal. Real maple syrup may be natural, but it is extremely high in sugar. ¼ a cup equals 210 calories. Rather high for a flavoring.
The best way to avoid having too much of a good thing is to write the good things down. Just because it’s nutritious doesn’t give us a right to binge. Too much health food is simply not healthy.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Counting Calories Week, Day 1
When I was a music major in college, I remember one day during a voice lesson when I felt utterly overwhelmed. Lessons are times when a teacher gives as many pointers as possible so that we can go home and practice what we learned, but on this day I was trying to conquer each pointer at once and failing miserably.
My teacher found a reasonable solution: only concentrate on one pointer at a time until it’s easy enough that I can add another pointer to focus on. The overwhelming task of trying to learn that difficult song suddenly become much easier.
The same concept can be used when we feel overwhelmed with anything, like healthy eating and exercise. Last week was exercise week and I focused on that alone. Now that I jump-started my workout routine, perhaps I can add a new focus. How about calorie counting? When I am really serious about losing weight, I count every calorie. When I slack off on losing weight, I usually have slacked off on counting calories.
This week let’s add a new layer to our health focus. Each day let’s track what we eat and mark the calories. It is the best, most successful way of eating healthy. And of course let’s not forget to keep exercising!
My teacher found a reasonable solution: only concentrate on one pointer at a time until it’s easy enough that I can add another pointer to focus on. The overwhelming task of trying to learn that difficult song suddenly become much easier.
The same concept can be used when we feel overwhelmed with anything, like healthy eating and exercise. Last week was exercise week and I focused on that alone. Now that I jump-started my workout routine, perhaps I can add a new focus. How about calorie counting? When I am really serious about losing weight, I count every calorie. When I slack off on losing weight, I usually have slacked off on counting calories.
This week let’s add a new layer to our health focus. Each day let’s track what we eat and mark the calories. It is the best, most successful way of eating healthy. And of course let’s not forget to keep exercising!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Exercise Week, Day 4
Two more obstacles, but still successful!
Obstacle one. It’s hot! Triple digits. Need I say more?
Obstacle two. I’m sick! I woke up this morning to find that my daughter had crawled into bed with me and was singing one of her Sunday school songs. About the time she yelled, “Yessir!” I asked her to please go back to sleep. I felt croaky and muddled, from the inside out. Getting sick is no fun, especially during my Exercise Week.
Solutions. For the heat, I try to workout as early as possible. For my evening exercise the other night it was way to hot to even think about going on a bike ride, so I stayed home and jumped around my living room for forty minutes. My kids loved it.
While being sick, I make sure I drink plenty of water first. I’m not afraid to take cold medicine either. There are definitely times when the best thing to do is go to bed, but I’m not about to slack off during my Exercise Week. It means too much to me.
Day 4 is my daughter’s third birthday. I’m having a small party for her with dinner and dessert. I suppose TIME is my ultimate obstacle, when there is so much to do! But if I can overcome heat, sickness, and the demands of small children, then (note the slight sarcasm and the smile) I can manage something easy like making exercise fit into my busy day.
Obstacle one. It’s hot! Triple digits. Need I say more?
Obstacle two. I’m sick! I woke up this morning to find that my daughter had crawled into bed with me and was singing one of her Sunday school songs. About the time she yelled, “Yessir!” I asked her to please go back to sleep. I felt croaky and muddled, from the inside out. Getting sick is no fun, especially during my Exercise Week.
Solutions. For the heat, I try to workout as early as possible. For my evening exercise the other night it was way to hot to even think about going on a bike ride, so I stayed home and jumped around my living room for forty minutes. My kids loved it.
While being sick, I make sure I drink plenty of water first. I’m not afraid to take cold medicine either. There are definitely times when the best thing to do is go to bed, but I’m not about to slack off during my Exercise Week. It means too much to me.
Day 4 is my daughter’s third birthday. I’m having a small party for her with dinner and dessert. I suppose TIME is my ultimate obstacle, when there is so much to do! But if I can overcome heat, sickness, and the demands of small children, then (note the slight sarcasm and the smile) I can manage something easy like making exercise fit into my busy day.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Exercise Week, Day 3
Exercise creates time. Impossible, you say? Well it must create time because whenever I make an effort to exercise in the mornings, I manage to get much more done during my day. So it must mean that I have magically created time while exercising.
The second day of my Exercise Week challenge I was not as energetic. Normally I would have passed on the morning workout when feeling like this, let alone getting two workouts into the day. But I told myself I can’t give up (I have to tell myself that now and then) and proceeded out the door with my two kids an hour later than I’d planned.
The bad news, you could say, is that during the whole day I remained tired. Sometimes when we up the effort bar, our bodies react against it. So it’s normal that on Day 2 I am a little tired.
The good news is that I got so much done between the workouts that my spirits were bolstered. Watch out Day 3. I have a feeling you’re going to be full of energy and results.
The second day of my Exercise Week challenge I was not as energetic. Normally I would have passed on the morning workout when feeling like this, let alone getting two workouts into the day. But I told myself I can’t give up (I have to tell myself that now and then) and proceeded out the door with my two kids an hour later than I’d planned.
The bad news, you could say, is that during the whole day I remained tired. Sometimes when we up the effort bar, our bodies react against it. So it’s normal that on Day 2 I am a little tired.
The good news is that I got so much done between the workouts that my spirits were bolstered. Watch out Day 3. I have a feeling you’re going to be full of energy and results.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Exercise Week, Day 2
I am in the middle of a self-provoked challenge: workout at least two or more times a day this week. My first day was an invigorating success. I took a morning walk before the temperatures climbed too high. Then after dinner my family took a bike ride.
Exercise with small children is definitely challenging, but not impossible. The morning walk was really more of a morning push. The double stroller I have isn’t the best quality. In fact, the front wheel doesn’t swivel, so I have to push down on the handle bar to turn a corner. And the way it glides to the right adds more push-and-adjustments. It takes muscle and burns extra calories. The stroller is absolutely perfect for a good workout.
My evening bike ride is more of a bike haul, with my two little ones riding along in the trailer behind me. While my husband is showing off with his pop-a-wheelies and curb jumps, I’m trudging along like a work-horse. It’s the perfect workout.
At the end of an active day I feel pumped. I have had a good dose of sunshine, fun, and family time. And don’t forget the calorie-burning, metabolism-revving aerobic workout. Oh how I love being active!
Exercise with small children is definitely challenging, but not impossible. The morning walk was really more of a morning push. The double stroller I have isn’t the best quality. In fact, the front wheel doesn’t swivel, so I have to push down on the handle bar to turn a corner. And the way it glides to the right adds more push-and-adjustments. It takes muscle and burns extra calories. The stroller is absolutely perfect for a good workout.
My evening bike ride is more of a bike haul, with my two little ones riding along in the trailer behind me. While my husband is showing off with his pop-a-wheelies and curb jumps, I’m trudging along like a work-horse. It’s the perfect workout.
At the end of an active day I feel pumped. I have had a good dose of sunshine, fun, and family time. And don’t forget the calorie-burning, metabolism-revving aerobic workout. Oh how I love being active!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Exercise Week
It is time to shake things up a bit. Get the blood pumping. Rev the metabolism. Sweat out the toxins. Wake up the workout junkie. It is Exercise Week!
Life is busy. It always will be.
There are valid reasons not to exercise. There always will be.
Exercise Week is about isolating one of our biggest obstacles—procrastination—and conquering it. If you have been meaning to start exercising, or if you have been meaning to step up the frequency and intensity of exercise, but haven’t gotten around to it, this is the week to do it.
We only have to take this on for one week and just see where it takes us. My goal is to exercise two to three times every day this week. What I hope to see by next week is this: a spike in my energy, a decrease in stress, and some weightloss. Also, I expect a higher standard in what is “normal exercise” for me.
Are you with me? What is your exercise goal this week? Let’s get started!
Life is busy. It always will be.
There are valid reasons not to exercise. There always will be.
Exercise Week is about isolating one of our biggest obstacles—procrastination—and conquering it. If you have been meaning to start exercising, or if you have been meaning to step up the frequency and intensity of exercise, but haven’t gotten around to it, this is the week to do it.
We only have to take this on for one week and just see where it takes us. My goal is to exercise two to three times every day this week. What I hope to see by next week is this: a spike in my energy, a decrease in stress, and some weightloss. Also, I expect a higher standard in what is “normal exercise” for me.
Are you with me? What is your exercise goal this week? Let’s get started!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Paint
My day today wasn’t easy. It wasn’t a bad day—in fact a lot of good things happened. It just was the kind of day that makes you think, I want to go into the mountains and do nothing for at least a week. Unfortunately, there are no mountain retreats in my horizon, only more days of a similar routine as today.
I wasn’t able to get to blog writing until late, which incidentally tends to lead to rambling rather than insight. I sat with my computer on my lap and meaninglessly tapped my fingers on the keyboard, typing nothing. Not even ramblings would come out. About that time, I looked at the title for the blog, “Paint.”
Earlier in the day at the time I usually write, I got as far as the title when my little one-year-old interrupted me. Paint. Whatever inspiration I’d had earlier was now gone.
We had the inside of our house painted today. It was simultaneously fun and hectic with two small children to keep under control. I’m sure I had something clever in mind that would have tied my topic into healthy living. Maybe I was going to talk about the value of inward transformation. Or maybe I was going to discuss how the color of a kitchen can affect one’s appetite.
Instead, I’ll leave you with a verse out of the Bible that has come to mean a great deal to me on days when I am tired and tempted to slack off of my goals. It goes like this: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”* It’s enough to keep me going, at least one more day.
*Galations 6:9
I wasn’t able to get to blog writing until late, which incidentally tends to lead to rambling rather than insight. I sat with my computer on my lap and meaninglessly tapped my fingers on the keyboard, typing nothing. Not even ramblings would come out. About that time, I looked at the title for the blog, “Paint.”
Earlier in the day at the time I usually write, I got as far as the title when my little one-year-old interrupted me. Paint. Whatever inspiration I’d had earlier was now gone.
We had the inside of our house painted today. It was simultaneously fun and hectic with two small children to keep under control. I’m sure I had something clever in mind that would have tied my topic into healthy living. Maybe I was going to talk about the value of inward transformation. Or maybe I was going to discuss how the color of a kitchen can affect one’s appetite.
Instead, I’ll leave you with a verse out of the Bible that has come to mean a great deal to me on days when I am tired and tempted to slack off of my goals. It goes like this: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”* It’s enough to keep me going, at least one more day.
*Galations 6:9
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