Counting on a number
To mathematicians and financial types, numbers probably seem pretty straightforward. You enter digits into an Excel document or formula and presto, get a predictable result. At least I think that’s the case, having barely exceeded the minimum SAT Math section score.
But have you ever noticed how numbers can take on a life of their own? For example, calendars might casually proclaim today to be 9-02-10. But remove the hyphens and you’ve got the zip code made popular by the 1990’s teen drama starring actors pushing thirty years old. Astrologers make predictions about your love life and career based on your birthday. Numbers on a lottery ticket can make you instantly rich, or at least inspire daydreams about an easier life.
My favorite number is three. The eldest of three siblings, I’m working on my third career. Finally, in my third significant relationship, I’m with a wonderful man who is truly a keeper. I’m also partial to the number ten – which is the amount of years my friend Kim has been in remission from breast cancer and 40, the age at which I started valuing my own opinions over how other people thought I should live my life.
Aside from that burst of Hallmark card-worthy happiness, numbers can also be a downer. Like when you jump on a scale and don’t like the results or get a cholesterol score that makes you nervous. The difference of a second or two for elite athletes in competition can lead to a rush of elation or dashed hopes.
What numbers are most meaningful to you and why?
September 2, 2010 4 Comments
Is it better to exercise alone or with others?
Everybody likes alone time, but some people go to extremes. Like Laura Dekker, the 14-year-old Dutch girl who last week embarked on a trip to sail solo around the world. Or publicity hungry illusionist David Blaine, most famous for being sealed inside of a transparent Plexiglas case in London, 30 feet in the air, for 44 days. His stunt, shown in today's picture, drew large crowds of spectators that apparently threw eggs, lemons, sausages, bacon, beer cans and even paint-filled balloons. Sigh...why does that thought makes me snicker like a 12-year-old boy watching an episode of Family Guy?
But I digress. The point is that some people prefer to be alone, while others are fueled by social contact. And the same is certainly true when it comes to working out. Personally, I burn a lot more calories in the front row of an intense spin class than I do on a recumbent bike. Taking a walk with friends on vacation is a wonderful way to start the day. But while I’m always up for a quick hello between weight training sets, there are limits. Like don’t try to engage in a full scale conversation while I’m communing with an elliptical machine, iPod at full blast. Guess that’s because I view exercise as vital “me” time to deal with issues and stress while toning my body.
I have interviewed a number of long-term weight loss maintainers who credit their success to having another person to sweat with. For example, Laina Worth from Indianapolis has maintained a 200 pound weight loss for more than six years. When she put some weight back on, having her fiancée join workouts and a healthy eating regime helped make the scale lighter again.
How about you? Do you like to exercise with friends, your partner, your kids… or is exercise best when you're by yourself?
August 31, 2010 7 Comments
Can allowing culinary pleasures help maintain a healthy lifestyle?
Over the years, I tried lots of things to appear “cool” to the outside world. Like attempting, in vain, to adopt Farrah Fawcett’s famous hairstyle while in elementary school. Getting everything monogrammed during the preppy craze of the 1980’s. Drinking my weight in beer on various dance floors, and paddling a canoe in Class Five rapids when I couldn’t swim. Funniest of all was the summer of spray tanning in 2005, when my skin turned an odd shade of burnt orange.
But now, I proudly admit to being a nerd...a blogging nerd, that it. In the past year since I started this blog, ideas for posts come flying in constantly…when I’m in the shower, working out, driving my car, suggestions from my friends and followers, etc. - you get the picture. I also really enjoy following other interesting bloggers. Today one of them, www.missymaintains.com, wrote a post that really resonated with me. A certified holistic health coach, Missy has struggled with being overweight and then too thin in the past. In her post, she decided to officially “own” a few things, like enjoying a daily drink and a dessert.
With so many people beating themselves up for not eating only whole grain, grass-fed, sugar free, low calorie and unprocessed choices 24/7, I thought it was a refreshing and honest change. Made me start to think about how having a designated day of eating whatever I want once a week has helped maintain my long-term weight loss.
So here are my culinary pleasures. I love eating the Pad Thai and an occasional piece of Carrot Cake at Café Sunflower in Atlanta. Tortilla chips in Mexican restaurants with fresh guacamole makes my heart sing (as long as I don’t try to conquer three baskets). Homemade sweet potato fries baked in olive oil are delightful, as is a serving of warm flatbread with spicy hummus.
I admit that this list is different than it would have been 20 years ago. Back then, my daily three to four servings of vending machine chocolate and curly fries habit meant it took something over-the-top...perhaps a quart of mac & cheese or third of a cheesecake...to qualify as a special treat. Alas, I'm not even exaggerating.
What are your favorite culinary pleasures? Does "allowing" them - daily, weekly, monthly, or on special occasions - help you maintain a healthy lifestyle the rest of the time?
August 26, 2010 10 Comments
Acts of Sabotage
Spies have to be good at lots of things, like cracking codes and hand-to-hand combat. (I’ve seen every James Bond movie multiple times, hence my expertise on this topic.) One of their core competencies, in the same way that the rest of us might excel at strategic planning or project management, is sabotage. You’ve got to be able to disarm the laser in the evil guy’s lair, or thwart their plans to destroy the earth’s atmosphere. But wait, maybe I’m just thinking of Austin Powers. Guess the point is that as much as spies excel at sabotage, they’ve got nothing on how badly we can derail ourselves.
Last week, I heard a segment on my favorite morning radio show that prompted this post. A caller named Leanne bemoaned gaining 23 pounds in the six months since her boyfriend, Shawn, left for Europe. He was coming home, and Leanne didn’t want t face him with the extra weight. She reported back, a few days later, that they finally met and she broke it off when Shawn didn’t seem that into her. The deejays thought the story was off, and a quick recap with Shawn confirmed that suspicion. Turns out he was looking forward to seeing Leanne and thought she looked great. That is until she kept asking non-stop if her extra weight was a problem and discrediting his responses. You can check out the whole saga here - http://tinyurl.com/2an7kx8,
Leanne’s rampant insecurity sabotaged that once promising relationship. But she’s not alone. Every day, people do little things to ensure they don’t lose the extra pounds, don’t get a promotion at work, don't pay off the credit card and much more. Coming clean to oneself is the first step in breaking this pattern for good.
Have you ever engaged in self-sabotage? If so, how were you able to fix or end it at some point?
August 24, 2010 4 Comments
Invitation, Not Limitation
Conventional wisdom can look pretty funny in hindsight. Less than 600 years ago, most people believed that the earth was flat. A century ago, women were denied the right to vote because men were thought to be more important. As late as 2007, the economy and housing market seemed bulletproof. It proves that sometimes it is best to ignore what others think. Just ask Shad Ireland.
At age 11, he learned his kidneys were diseased. Shad’s first transplant, when he was 18, only lasted for three years. The second transplant was unsuccessful. Doctors told Shad he’d be lucky to live to 25. His first response was to party non-stop while enduring regular dialysis until the hour glass ran out. Then one day in 1993, when the 21 year old only weighed 75 pounds, Shad’s perceptions of the world shifted. The catalyst was a triathlon on television. Shad decided he would one day compete in that race.
No one thought it could be done…except for Shad. During his first day in the gym, he weighed less than 90 pounds, had severe muscle atrophy and cardiovascular issues. Shad couldn’t walk more than 30 seconds without stopping to catch his breath. Within a year, he gained 42 pounds of muscle and transformed himself into an athlete – proving the medical community wrong.
In 2004, he finished the Ironman race in Lake Placid, New York – becoming the first dialysis patient to ever do so. Today his foundation (www.ironshad.com) helps people with renal disease improve their lives through physical activity.
“The challenges I faced were numerous as well as the lessons learned,” explained Shad. “Previously, I perceived the world around me negatively, focusing on a disease I felt I had no control over and everything that I had lost. Iron Man saved my life! It taught me how to believe in the possibility of it all. It helped me to develop a belief system that says to live with a chronic illness is not a limitation rather an invitation to those who are willing to accept the challenge.”
The next time I’m thinking about ditching a morning workout, I plan to think about Shad. What motivates you to exercise, even when you don’t feel like it?
August 20, 2010 4 Comments
A Plate of Outrageous
County fairs were a rite of passage during my formative years in Columbia, South Carolina. We couldn’t wait to ride the rickety Ferris Wheels and roller coasters that would be considered a death trap by today’s standards. My buddy Jake delighted in pranking the clueless staff at the information desk, asking them to page imaginary friends like Homer Sessual (reportedly a German exchange student) to come to the rocket. Say it in fast in a broad Southern accent and you’ll see the humor from a 14 year old boy’s perspective.
Then of course, there was the food. Cotton candy, French fries doused in vinegar and huge “Elephant Ear” fried donuts. The kind of stuff that sticks to your ribs like 20 years later. I’ve heard about the evolution of county fair food over the years, with the advent of fried Twinkies and Snickers bars. But yesterday, a friend who attended the Orange County fair this past weekend alerted me to a new concoction - chocolate-covered bacon. Just writing this, I feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde locked in a heated conflict. Part of me, dormant and suppressed, rejoices in the thought of crispy bacon smothered with chocolate goodness, while the often healthy grown-up cringes a bit in horror. But if that sucker was in front of me right now, I’d snarf up a piece of chocolate covered bacon before you could blink. You know, just out of scientific curiosity.
So that creative invention made me wonder what other outrageous food pairings might be out there. Turns out that Denny’s now has a fried cheese sandwich that features four jumbo fried mozzarella sticks jammed inside – making a mere “grilled” cheese sandwich seem tame in comparison. IHOP’s pancake stackers put layers of cheese cake in between pancake and dump whipped cream and fruit on top. At 1,250 calories, it’s a meal that will stick around your middle.
What is the most outrageous food pairing you’ve ever encountered or created yourself? Feel free to use past tense or blame hormones to assuage any guilt!
August 16, 2010 14 Comments
Whoops! I Gained It Again
In a world that changes on a dime, a few things still seem immutable. Like what goes up, must come down. Most reality show couples won’t last longer than the milk in my fridge. No matter who he offends on stage, Kanye West will always be welcome at the MTV Video Music Awards. But the one that really irks me, is that once a diet is over, 95% of people will regain those lost pounds, plus more.
Those odds suck, don’t you think? But each year 70 million people still attempt to lose weight convinced that this time it will be different. Unfortunately, it won’t. Not until there is a greater national understanding about yo-yo dieting and weight loss maintenance. That’s why I ask you to share your insights in this quick, three minute survey about the vicious cycle of weight lost and found - http://tinyurl.com/2akxlcp (Insert dramatic pause or a drum roll here, whichever you prefer.)
Yes, we’re going to tackle this frustrating situation right now. And your participation will make a big difference. Responses are completely confidential. If you’d like to be entered in a drawing to win a $50 gift card, instructions appear at the end of this survey. Please ask your friends, family members, co-workers, anyone you’ve ever met to share their two cents as well. I plan to share these findings in my book on life after weight loss and future blog posts.
Thanks for your time and your willingness to be heard! Meanwhile, tell us what annoys you the most about regaining lost pounds.
August 12, 2010 7 Comments
Do something different
Inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. Athletic footwear slogans like Nike’s “Just Do It” or Reebok’s “Because life is not a spectator sport” line can rev up your pace on a treadmill. I’ve seen friends post images of Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr., on their screen savers to inspire creativity, kindness or the knowledge that change is always possible. Heck, my former dentist used to have a poster of a kitty dangling from a tree limb urging one to “hang in there” on his ceiling. I’m not kidding. While it might have provided comfort for some, the poster just reminded me that I was trapped with a drill in my mouth for the next hour.
Last night, I received a surprising dose of inspiration from Green Day. Yeah, the rock band that has a core following with tattoos and green hair. While three or four of their songs live on my iPod, I didn’t know much about them before the concert. My boyfriend sprung for the tickets, and it was something different to do on a Monday night. Expectations were low.
It turned out to be fantastic. Not just because much of their music was great, and the lead singer is one of the best live performers I’ve seen. What I really dug was how the band constantly pulled their fans out of the crowd to join them onstage. It didn’t matter if people couldn’t sing their way out of a paper bag, or had no rhythm. They jumped at the opportunity to interact with Green Day, get sprayed with a water hose (that luckily didn’t reach back to our seats) or be showered with confetti at the end. The high energy and spirit of inclusion was infectious. Justin and I happily shouted whatever random song lyrics we recognized and swayed with our arms in the air.
For me, the experience was a parable about life. The lesson is to just jump right in, without regard for how you are going to look to others. Scared to be the first one on the dance floor? If you start shaking your butt out there, you’re going to have fun. Hesitant to join a Zumba class because you don’t know the steps? Stand in the back where you won’t hurt anyone and just have a great time doing whatever you can.
What has inspired you to do something different lately?
August 10, 2010 5 Comments
Savor the Back-to-School Spirit
There’s something poetic about the ritual of kids returning to school. I probably think this way because I’m not a mom. Instead of sorting the details of carpool duty or spending a bundle on back-to-school clothes, my main concern is dodging early morning school buses while heading to the gym.
But growing up, I couldn’t wait to score the latest Scooby Do lunchbox or Mead Data Center organizer to get ready for the next year at elementary school. I remember the heady sense of excitement, as an in-coming freshman, in joining my friends Susie, Kim and Audrey at the benches in front of Dreher High School, which reportedly was the cool place to be seen. (Newsflash – it wasn’t.)
My official status as a student ended upon graduating college in the final year of the Reagan administration. However, I continue to associate this time of year with focusing on learning something new, exploring a big change or contemplating a personal reinvention. Nearly 18 years ago, I embarked on my permanent weight loss journey by focusing on feeling better rather than the number on a scale. Other late August/early September milestones have included hiking my first mountain (Blood Mountain on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia), starting to learn Pilates despite an inherent lack of coordination and even working with a certified Shamanic energy healer.
Are you planning on learning something new or challenging old beliefs during this back-to-school season? Please share!
August 5, 2010 8 Comments
The Weighty Truth
Honesty is always the best policy. Sure, that belief might not be embraced by politicians or reality dating show contestants. I just learned at an early age that life is too complicated to try to keep up with untruths versus reality.
Back in the ninth grade, I tried to pull a fast one over my parents by spending the night at a friend’s house, neglecting to mention that a mutual buddy was having a blowout party since his folks left town. Nothing gets past my mom’s radar, though. By 10p, she came bursting into the party like an avenging angel, cursing a blue streak. Being grounded for a month sucked, but it taught me a lesson. Since that time, I’ve stuck with the truth with a few minor exceptions. Like saying a neighbor’s freshly baked cookies were delicious when they tasted like burnt hockey pucks. Or, prior to meeting my boyfriend, turning down dates with guys that didn’t float my boat by demurring that I was unavailable. And to a fault, I’ve always shaved a few pounds off the weight number that appears on my driver’s license.
So when I read this Associated Press story http://tinyurl.com/39s6waz claiming that more Americans are now being honest about their weight, it got me thinking. When I was 50 pounds heavier, I easily shaved 15-20 pounds off the driver’s license number. Even now, I still claim a weight that was accurate for about one hour something like 11 years ago. On a good week, my real weight is four pounds greater and during other times, more like six to eight.
How about you? Do you put down your exact weight on your driver’s license? If not, do you fudge it a little or a lot?
August 3, 2010 7 Comments
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