Health and Fitness January, 2013

Share healthy living habits.
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Harmony
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby Harmony » Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:29 pm

So you guys are tracking exercise, calories, fat, carbs, sugars, glutten, sodium, steps, heart rate, water, weight......

Has anyone tracked how much time it takes to do all this? On my list of excuses, which is a mile long, time is on the top line. Reading, shopping, cooking, exercising, logging, and consider all of this is extra than what the normal routine usually is... add in going to meetings, posting online; and has anyone tracked just how much this all costs - the food which turns out to be more expensive, I found weight watchers expensive when I did it, gym membership (I would do that if I could because I have one about 2 minutes from my house).

Alright, I know, this is cheaper and better than bad health costs are.

I guess I just needed to gripe a bit.

I am staying at my current weight-loss number...I wonder how long I can skate by with these few pounds I lost last month? Hehe, guess it's time to get another pound off.

OKay, can't you just do WW online? Course, I know the face contact rah rah meetings help.... though when I dropped out I had met my 10% goal and nobody took the time to rah-rah me and help me set the next goal, "you can do it!" rah rah and I figured, oh nuts why bother, and I didn't have the money to put into it anyway... well that's my story. I still have my couple charms I earned from them, not they they're motivating in any way...

My goodness I'm in a mood tonight. Sorry.

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Lynlee
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby Lynlee » Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:39 am

"Pain Free" by Pete Egoscue .... looks interesting. I might see if I can find a copy locally.

Things that made a difference for me - I try to include protein with each meal. That works for me with both energy and mood.
I have rethought what a meal is. A smoothy (sugar free) is a meal and not a beverage to go with a meal.
I need to fill the water filter twice a day - and a bit more for any used in cooking.
Gluten has a pull but it does my body best to resist. And likely my brain too. I don't recommend that unless you have a reason - or find out a benefit from abstaining.
Sugar and artificial processed food are just out.
I just count meals. Aim for 3 or sometimes 4 if ones a snack.
I need some foods that are quick and easy.

Kathryn - you may like some of the other gluten free breakfast options.
Oats - some say is ok if cooked until smooth and creamy . I possibly don't have the patience to cook it so long to test it properly that way.
I love my mix of buckwheat (technically a fruit) quinoa sunflower seed and cashews. All solid in protein - sometimes add millet. Aramath is a nice too. Any nuts, dried fruit as suit - almonds, walnut, sultanas added in the commercially prepared super foods claimed pack. I add a dried fig.
Look for some other flours to use in your recipes. I substitute all the time. Buckwheat. Besan (chick pea) are heavier flours. Rice corn tapioca/arrowroot are lighter. I have some aramath flour I'm using atm. It thickens very quickly added in a sauce.

I've gone off besan and dry peas/beans as it seems to cause my ibs to act up in :o surprising unexpected ways.

I would have thought there were lots of places w online weight loss groups. sparkspeople and self.com spring to mind.
I watched an interesting Dr Oz show that was full of simple weight loss and exercise tips right at the end. Sorry - the byline for that show has slipped from my mind.
Just begin.
Living this day, today
Take a reality check; Remember to breathe; Do what I am able to do.
Look for the good in all.

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Harriet
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby Harriet » Mon Jan 21, 2013 11:25 am

So you guys are tracking exercise, calories, fat, carbs, sugars, glutten, sodium, steps, heart rate, water, weight......

Has anyone tracked how much time it takes to do all this?


:D
... ...
Oh, what... ... were we supposed to have an answer?... ... uh, sorry! I just have an "Amen"! :)

Mental effort - that's what it takes to have a healthy way of eating and also meet a health goal with it. Weight loss, getting blood number-markers in line, eating correctly for a personal concern like diabetes or IBS, any of it. Mental effort. "On call" anytime, you have to think. :geek: When you keep records of what you're eating (and we should) that's little bits of time all day long, so, very difficult to track how much time we're actually spending. How much of our grocery planning/shopping time is wrapped up in our attempt to track our healthy eating? Very tough to express!
(To the tune of How Many Roads) "How many books must a woman pick up, before you can call her slender? " :?

That's why plans and programs are so popular even if they cost a lot - anything that offers a shortcut to that difficult mental effort and keeps people from derailing has its place. Nutri system, for instance, or any meals-to-the-door program, SlimFast or Medifast type idea.

That's also why I also started re-reading Carbohydrate Addicts today. Trying to reinforce some of the simplest ideas I remember as I take in these new thoughts from newer books (C.A. central idea is placing sugars into one meal only). I can probably manage that meal-by-meal concept better than counting all day. Like Lynlee said, think in terms of the meals. I can count to 3, even on a busy day. :)

Harmony, you get a
GOLD STAR from us for holding on to a low weight. Sorry you were previously underappreciated!


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Nancy
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby Nancy » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:11 pm

I'm a bit off track on my eating but hoping to get better when house sitting is over.

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OKay
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby OKay » Mon Jan 21, 2013 4:23 pm

Has anyone tracked how much time it takes to do all this?


This is an EXCELLENT question! One of my biggest reasons (?excuses?) for not taking care of myself is because there is so much to do. I told myself that I didn't (don't) have time to take care of myself by keeping up with these types of details.

So I grabbed my timer and recorded how long it takes me to record my food eaten so far today.

It took....
* 16 seconds to turn my phone on and for the MFP app to open.
* 13 seconds to record my breakfast (I eat the same ingredients 5-6 mornings so it is saved as a meal)
* 1 minute 50 seconds to record lunch (mashed russet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, meatballs, green beans).

So far today I have less than 5 minutes devoted to tracking in detail everything I put into my mouth and exercise (only 1862 steps so far) :shock:

Knowledge is power.......but is also a big UGH factor when I'm not meeting the goals I set for myself (more exercise!)

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Ivy
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby Ivy » Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:12 pm

:D Today's the 1st day of my Mayo Clinic Diet. I got the book and journal a few years ago, filled up the 8-week journal in pencil, then went on the low carb diet to lose the rest, but I wasn't at goal, just made it to 196.8 Lbs. at the time, Nov. 2010, on rotator cuff surgery day. My goal had been to get under 200 Lbs. that year, from Feb. through Nov. and I did it.

After that, I on and off kept a food journal, but now weigh 175.4 Lbs. and need to be 140-150 Lbs. I found out today how my BFF wants to lose, too, and she's 5'4" tall and is 178 Lbs. and I'm 5' 5 1/2" tall, so she and I are right around the same ranges. She and I have decided to be diet/fitness buddies now, she's bought the book/journal, and we're both looking forward to this journey we're on with each other. She lost her husband a year ago and put on weight since his death. :(

I feel so HAPPY that I'll have a buddy because my other diet buddies have fallen by the wayside:
1- a lady had to bow out to care for her seriously ailing DH.
2- a gal was having way too many personal problems to stay in the group.
3- a gal had weight loss surgery, is over 200 Lbs., and is sort of doing her "own thing".
4- a gal who loses 44 Lbs. at a drop of a hat, then quits dieting for months, then diets again after she's gained back 25 Lbs., is over 300 Lbs. and it's hard for me to identify with her, for some reason, although at one time I used to weigh 280 Lbs. and I've been there, I know what it's like, and I feel like I should be there for her, too, but her and her DH are doing a diet again. I wish her the best and support and congratulate her on her exercise and losses, too, so I'm not really deserting her.

I walked 30 min. today, I've eaten very healthy foods, I feel good inside, I feel good about myself, I feel like I'm in a good place to make this happen for me, with the support of BFF and by posting here, at the Village, too. So THANK YOU for being here, Everyone, for all of us! It takes a Village, right? :D

The reason I'm doing The Mayo Clinic Diet is because there is no counting or measuring. You pay attention to what foods you're eating, write down how much you ate and the time, and there is a pyramid where you "X" off your fruits, veggies, carbs, protein/dairy for the day, too. The book has a lot of information in it, too. I think I heard about this book from Dr. Oz. :?:

Anyway, Good Luck to you All! :D
Touch the earth, love the earth, her plains, her valleys, her seas. Rest your soul in her solitary places. ~Henry Beston

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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:47 am

Harmony wrote:So you guys are tracking exercise, calories, fat, carbs, sugars, glutten, sodium, steps, heart rate, water, weight......


Here's my experience (from getting to goal twice using WW):

It becomes the major focus of my life and lots of things move to the 'just in time' or not done at all burner. Specifically paperwork and housework. Yes, it takes a LOT of mental time as well as physical time.

Even knowing point values of food in my head, what works for me and what doesn't, and being free from having to attend meetings (although that's what got the weight fully off those two times) I find I'm obsessing about this almost all the time - worrying about church meetings (they involve gluten and lots of calories) and needing extra calories to keep warm or keep alert while I get the annual report done.

But I think a lot of this might be a mentally unhealthy way of shifting focus from eating. I'm still thinking about food all the time but looking for more healthy ways to address food. Complete success will come when I stop thinking about food.

When I joined the Compact, I gained about 15 pounds in the first year. Apparently, I not only stress-eat, but I stress-shop and when I took that away, my good eating habits fell by the wayside in a big way.

Travel added the remaining 25 pounds. Bad habits formed while traveling never get dropped once we are home. And I lose the habit of healthy meal planning and prep.

So, yes, this takes a ton of time.

BTW: my stress over the annual report created a complete fail over Sunday and Monday and I'll try to recover (sometimes one can do that on WW) but I suspect I'll have to do a complete reboot on the week.

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Harriet
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby Harriet » Tue Jan 22, 2013 11:29 am

Thanks for the info, OKay. Online calculator probably makes my time spent less as well.

I'd say the broad category of menu planning and any extra time with prep and shopping because of the different menu is where my time goes most. Harmony was also asking about exercise, of course, and traditionally my shortest workout is 15 mins, longest 50 (but that's not daily), averaging 25. (This new one in the a.m. - I think it's not so much exercise as early morning metabolism boosting. Still, valuable.)

Happy for you that an in-real-life friend will partner with you, Ivy. I have only partnered IRL with HRH, and exercising with the children at different times. I do have very productive chats with my dVetNeighbor, who is a wellspring of info on all kinds of health-related subjects, but we've never tried anything together. (She is slim and trim, btw, on the Paleo diet.) Friends here on this forum have probably been the best inspiration for me.

What an interesting chat you started, Harmony.

Kathryn, you did a good job of describing that "major focus/back burner" see-saw. I do feel it's a recurring theme in my life, too. I recognize a need and rightly turn my attention toward it. However, I'm a busy woman. That turn of attention takes its toll, and some other areas of life "slip". You were able to point to specific moments very well. I can look back at a roller-coaster of my parents' health that took my weight along with it - slimming down when eldercare calmed or when there was an immediate crisis, putting on the pounds during long, hard hauls like my mother's radiation treatments or downward cognitive spirals for my ddad.

I think it's the actual quantity of time to think, but also the quality of the thinking. :? I can't (or is it that I won't) give my best thinking to anything on that "back burner" when I perceive something important (or just immediate) as a "major focus".

I was comforted again in reading Carbohydrate Addicts (I have Carbohydrate Addicts Lifespan 1998 - there are newer books). The research (since 1963) into the carbohydrate-insulin connection should make anyone who ever beat themselves up over their weight feel comforted. Doctors who chastised and condemned patients for inability to lose weight - anytime since 1991, when the research had been in every medical journal and published mainstream - should feel embarrassed. Carbs are craved - there are scientific reasons for that physical phenomenon. Carbs can cause excess amounts of insulin in the bloodstream, which in turn causes more fat to be stored plus further cravings. The mantra in the book is, "It's not your fault." Well, duh. I needed to hear that again, and also needed to hear that people can do something about it.

Very good eating day yesterday, and sugars were only 6 grams by suppertime, so appropriate to the Cruise program. (Turns out, lettuce 2, onion 1, eggs 1, peas 2 - I don't even think those good items should count, lol, but it's what the online calculator said). Supper meal popped the sugar amount up above his 15 mark, but it was still a better day than my usual as far as sugar.

Like Kathryn said - the ideal is to learn and gain experience up to the point we don't have to put in so much mental effort. I'm a person who finds research and programs interesting - hmmm... ... wonder what would have become of me if I wasn't.

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OKay
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby OKay » Tue Jan 22, 2013 11:51 am

Keeping on.

I slacked up with "weight loss thinking" when I reached 1st monthly goal. It's been on back burner this week. I'm still logging food, drink, exercise but not giving it much mental effort.

Instead I've been working on some food projects that get me EXCITED :) Yesterday I made the perfect (IMHO) biscuits. They are a mixture of sourdough and yeast. I like the sourdough because it give an interesting taste and the crust is chewy. I like the yeast for the soft insides and the yummy freshly baked bread smell. I took 1/2 of the bread dough and made pigs-in-blankets (LO favorite) and the other 1/2 was made into regular biscuits. There is nothing that I want to change or improve about this recipe (rare for me). I had two biscuits yesterday and they were worth every calorie! :)

I continually work/tweak menu planning. Something is always in the process of being defrosted/chopped/cooked. On a typical week I make 18 home cooked meals. (Saturday night is ice cream night, Sunday noon we eat out, Sunday night is YOYO (Your On Your Own). I prefer to make as much as I can from scratch. It takes some mental thinking to keep that many meals interesting and as healthy as possible.

RE: Carb discussion. A friend was telling me the changes she has made on recommendation by her doctor. Shis going to loan me a book she recommends - I forgot the title but it is something like "Grain bellies" I just remember it had the word belly in it. I suspect staying away from white processed food (white flour, white sugar) is a very healthy habit to develop. ***VBSigh**** but but but I just found the perfect biscuit recipe! Guess I'm going to be tweaking it to replace the white ingredients.

Life is an adventure and sure to change. :)

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Harriet
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Re: Health and Fitness January, 2013

Postby Harriet » Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:13 pm

OKay, Wheat Belly is the book that helped cathyy's dh lose a lot of weight. She posted a thread on it here in H and F in Dec, 2011 if you wanted to check out her thoughts.

Right, some of the scientific proofs behind the craving of carbs are the changes, over recent decades, of what we put in our mouths. Altered grains. Altered sugars. Toxins. Medicines we take.
Btw, I think it's so nice when someone loans a book that helped them - that's such a caring thing to do when you think about it.

Yipes, I can't think about homemade biscuits right now, lol, but I'm so glad you have perfected a recipe! Smart to make part for LO in his favorite way.


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