I’M BACK ON THE WAGON!

So between the holidays and out of town guests and quitting my job at Weight Watchers, I’ve been a bit, well, not just falling off the wagon, but underneath it and run over. Several times.

But I’m back on it. I’ve brushed myself off, put my work-out clothes back on, downloaded the WW app on my new phone and purged my kitchen of everything I could without my family killing me. I’m back, baby!

Here’s what I’ve learned, with a little help from an article written by David Kirchhoff, President and CEO of Weight Watchers.

1. We make over 200 food decisions per day. And those of us trying to eat healthy probably make way more than that. This can be overwhelming, so keeping a food diary makes me more mindful of what I’m eating. I’m not always great at it, but I do my best!

2. If I deprive myself of what I really, really want, I’ll never succeed. That doesn’t mean I can eat an entire package of Oreo cookies, but it does mean I can have one or two.

3.  Whatever I eat, I own it. Period.

4.  I don’t surround myself with my “trigger foods.” I try to manage my environment as much as I can, given I have a husband and two growing boys in the house with me.

5.  I try to have a plan as much as I can when it comes to meals and snacks. If I “wing it,” I’m setting myself up for failure.

6.  Routines work. Yes, they can be boring sometimes, but they help me stay in control.

There you have it! Even though I’m not a Weight Watchers leader anymore, I’m still a Lifetime Member, and right now I need them more than ever! But whether you go to WW, another diet place, or just want to eat healthier, I applaud you. And don’t let those New Year’s Resolutions drift off by mid-February. This is your life, take control!!!

Karen

 

WHAT TO SAY IF YOUR CHILD IS OVERWEIGHT.

Did anybody read that article in Vogue from that woman who put her 7 year old daughter on a diet? Yeah, I didn’t either, and I can’t find it, but I read about it on several blogs. One of my favorite blogs is Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat? Love. This. Blog! Here, Rebecca Regnier points us to an article about the Vogue article which really spells it out.

The bottom line is it’s not the fact that this woman put her daughter on a diet, it’s the way she did it. It’s the hurtful words she used and the inconsistency which she maintained and the poor example she showed. It was horrific in my opinion, and apparently the opinion of many others.

I don’t have daughters as you know, but I have twin boys. And one boy is rail thin, while the other, while nowhere near fat, is a bit chunkier than his brother. It’s a very delicate situation to make sure they both make healthy choices, yet I want the thinner one to consume more calories. I have a very tough situation in my household, but I would NEVER call my other son fat, ever, in a million years.

Rebecca from Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat (don’t you just love that name?) has a great graphic which really answers the following question perfectly:

And she follows it up with this:

And then mom – look at yourself. Your child won’t do what you say but will see what you do and model that. Educate yourself about healthy eating and then eat that way, keep good choices in the house, get outside and play, praise a child for their accomplishments, and don’t let them have soda pop. The end.

Enough said! Thanks Rebecca!

Karen

2010 XTREME EATING AWARDS BY THE CSPI

Okay, I know I’ve become more aware of what I’m eating since I started my healthy living last year, and I certainly don’t want to preach to anyone (well, except those closest to me who don’t have any choice but to listen), but when I saw the 2010 Xtreme Eating Awards by the Center for the Science in the Public Interest, I just about fell out of my chair (my dining room chair!). I mean, really, you would think that the trend among restaurants would be to find healthier options for their customers, but these 9 examples by well known chain restaurants prove otherwise.

You really need to read the entire article to totally get it, but here are a few of my favorites:

1. The CSPI couldn’t even agree to pick out one particular dish at Five Guys and Fries. Ignoring the fact that all they serve are burgers, dogs, fries, grilled cheese and beverages, this is not the place for the light eater! Here’s a couple of examples: a Bacon Cheeseburger is 920 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat, while a large order of fries has a whopping 1460 calories. Holy Cow!
2. We expect chocolate cake to be fattening, but the Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake at The Cheesecake Factory has 1670 calories and 48 grams of saturated fat. I bet it’s yummy, but how will that look on your hips?
3. I hate to admit it, but I’ve gotten the Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo at PF Changs in my past (non-healthy) life, and they were gooooood! Of course they were, weighing in at 1820 calories, not to mention the 7690 milligrams of sodium. (Well, at least I split it with a friend!)
4. Crab and Shrimp Quesadillas at Chevy’s sound fairly harmless, right? Look again! There may be some seafood among all the cheese and cream sauce loaded in those tortillas, but not enough to make this a healthy choice. This tops their menu at 1790 calories, 63 grams of saturated fat and 3440 mg of sodium.

DANG!!! So be careful out there! Even when you think you’re making good, healthy choices, the restaurants are out there, biting you in the butt (no pun intended!). My strategy? I research as best as I can before I go. If it’s a chain restaurant, I look up their nutritional information online and decide what I’m going to order ahead of time, so I’m not even tempted once I get there. Even if I’m going to a locally owned place, they usually still have their menu online, so at least I can take my time figuring out my best options while I’m still at home.

Ooooh, but wouldn’t you just LOVE a bite of that Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake?

Karen

IT'S ALL ABOUT SPIN CLASS

As some of you know, over the past year or so, I have been slowly yet successfully losing weight and getting in shape through exercise and changing how I eat (with the help of Weight Watchers). One of my favorite ways to burn calories has been taking spin classes at the gym. Okay, I have a confession to make (don’t you just love my confessions?). Until I took a tour of my new gym and they showed me the spin room with all those shiny bikes in there, I thought spin classes had something to do with dancing. (You know, spinning around or something. Right?) I have a friend who, to this day, will still do a little twirl sometimes when I mention I’m going to spin class!

So let me tell you first why I started going to these classes. Because somebody told me I shouldn’t! Really! It was early in my working-out days, and I mentioned to a friend (who is very physically fit) that I was thinking of trying it out, and she told me she thought I should get in better shape first. Hmmmph! I showed her! (Actually when I brought this up to her a few months ago, she couldn’t believe she ever said this to me and was even more proud of me that I tried it and stuck with it!)

Here’s why I stick with it: I can’t embarrass myself! In step or dance classes, I just can’t seem to pick up the moves fast enough, so I end up bumping into people or doing the wrong thing. But in spin class, I can’t make a wrong move! All I have to do is pedal! And if I get tired, nobody has to know that I took resistance off for a little bit while I recharged my energy. But in a step class, they would surely notice if I stopped moving for a while!

Now the spin instructors are all over the board. There are instructors who just stay up there and pedal and tell you what to do in a very monotone voice and are very boring. I stay away from their classes! However, I also stay away from the ones who DON’T STOP TALKING THE ENTIRE TIME! Good music is a must. Being motivating is absolutely necessary. And good videos are definitely a plus. Most instructors just use the videos that the gym supplies (Bike-O-Rama-Vision through different parts of the country – yawn, various bike races – double yawn), but I have one instructor who actually puts different music videos together for our rides. Even cheesy 80’s videos! I love those days! (Thanks, Karen K!)

So if you’ve never tried a spin class, go for it!. Yes, your butt will hurt like hell for a couple of days, but it really does go away if you keep going to class. As my “music video” instructor says, don’t worry, you don’t get calluses on your butt, either. If she did, her husband wouldn’t let her teach these classes!

Karen

LIFE RETURNS TO NORMAL!

FINALLY! The kids are back in school and the husband is back at work and I can get back to my normal routine. I don’t know why Winter break seems so much longer than Summer break. I guess just because there are really no pressures during the summer. I know it’s going to be a long, lazy 3 months, and I prepare for it. I plan time to work and to exercise and to get everything done. But winter break is full of holidays and errands and family and eating and so on and so on! It seems like there’s not a minute to spare, yet nothing gets done! So after 2 weeks, I’m exhausted!

But, as I said in my last post, no worries! It’s all worth it, knowing my kids had a great Christmas and a great winter break.

So now, the catch-up begins. And so do the New Years Resolutions. I’m really not one to make these grand gestures to make drastic changes to my life, which will probably last one week, at the most. Rather, I think New Years Resolutions are about making small, yet significant changes, to make me a better person. (I tried explaining this to my 8 year olds. One said that he wants to become a better video game player and the other said he will remember to feed the dog more, which, by the way, hasn’t happened yet. We’ll work on this some more!)

So here they are: My first resolution is a continuation of last year’s. In 2009, I began working out and eating healthier, and so far I’ve lost 34 pounds. I plan on working harder at this (it’s the snacking that gets me!), and continuing to work towards my 50 pound goal. Also, as a side note, I’d like more of this to rub off on my husband! (The kids I can control to some degree, but not DH!)

My next resolution is to be more organized in my business and my life. (I know, I write books about organizing information. I should be more organized myself, but for some reason it’s just easier for me to tell others how to do it than to do it myself!) Again, nothing huge here, just small changes, one at a time. I’ve already started using Google Calendar, which syncs with my phone, so I always have my schedule with me. See, small changes!

That’s it! Just two New Year’s Resolutions for me! Wish me luck!

Karen

Wednesday Whatever… My FAVORITE Diet Foods

Okay, I know that “favorite” and “diet foods” don’t exactly go together, but I have found some foods that keep me filled up longer than others and are very healthy. The key is fiber. I’m not a diet or nutrition expert, so don’t comment and tell me how wrong I am! These are just MY observations during MY diet! (Oops, it’s not a diet, it’s changing my eating habits to be more healthy. Yeah, whatever!)

My first favorite diet food is an Arnold Select Sandwich Thin. Have you ever tried these? They are really yummy! Here are the stats:

• Calories: 100
• Total Fat: 1 gram
• Carbs: 21 grams
• Fiber: 5 grams
• WW Points: 1

These make great buns for everything from burgers to chicken salad sandwich. My favorite thing to do with them is cook some Egg Beaters and make an egg sandwich. Only 2 points and it keeps me filled up for hours.

My second favorite diet food is Fiber One Yogurt. Check out the stats on this:

• Calories: 80
• Total Fat: 0 grams
• Carbs: 19 grams
• Fiber: 5 grams
• WW Points: 0

Yep, that’s right, ZERO points for this one! And again, because of the fiber, it’s a great snack and keeps me filled up.

KAREN’S WEIGHT WATCHERS UPDATE:

Last week, my family and I went to an all inclusive resort in Cancun, where there was an abundance of food wherever we looked. VERY hard to diet under those circumstances. But I did the best I could, even worked out twice, and told myself that if I gained less than 2 pounds, I’d be okay with it. So sure enough, I gained 1.6 pounds!

I’m back on the WW train again this week, so keep checking back as I update my weight loss story and bring you more tips!

Karen