Archive for the ‘food’ Category

1 Oct

Your Tastes Change…

Posted by Heather in food, habit, health, mindset, weight loss.

I went to a party over the weekend. It was a potluck with an “American food” theme.

Needless to say, most of the food there was junk food, though conspicuously, there was no apple pie!

Anyway, someone brought Twinkies. I haven’t had a Twinkie in years. I decided, just out of curiosity, to try a bite of one and see what they taste like.

They taste like chemicals. It was disgusting. I spit it out.

This is the thing: I used to like Twinkies. A lot. They weren’t a go-to food for me, but they were pretty delicious.

Taste buds changed, not as a result of time passing, but as a result of time passing without me eating crap like Twinkies.

As you remove garbage food from your diet and replace it with whole, real food, you develop a liking — a craving, even — for good, whole, real food. The more of it you eat (assuming you’re eating food you like), the more of it you want.

Did you see the fine print there? It needs to be food you like. If you decide to “go on a diet” (which is not a good plan in the first place) and eat lots of “salads” made of iceberg lettuce and carrot shreds and hate every minute of it, well, you’re not going to crave more of it.

Find produce that you like. Reduce the amount of cheese/dressing/sauce/dip you eat it with. Eat more of it. At the same time, eat less junk food, less processed food, less sugar and sugar substitutes.

As time goes on, keep eating more good food and less crap food, and before you know it, you’ve completely changed how you eat. I am a living testament to this process. People think I’ve always been healthy or that it’s always been easy — but that’s just rationalizing why you “can’t.” It was no easier for me than it is for you.

Drop the excuses and get it done. Because you can. And it’s worth it. YOU are worth it.

18 Sep

The Winner In All New Fad Diets Is….

Posted by Heather in food, health, links.

A friend tipped me off to this article last night. It is well-written enough that instead of trying to paraphrase it or do my own write-up, I’m just going to link you to it.

It is about the cycles of food mania in this country (low-fat, low-carb, organic, local, etc.) and how they have good and healthy intentions but we follow them mindlessly into the pockets of the rich-and-getting-richer processed food industry instead of to better health.

Read it here. Come back and let me know what you think.

12 Sep

Beyond A Year

Posted by nicholh in exercise, food, Nichol, weight loss.

it’s Wednesday and thankfully, Nichol looked at her calendar.

My year is slowly (very slowly) coming to an end. I’ve really been thinking about what life is going to look like when I’m no longer beholden to this crazy idea of mine.

I have decided that I would like to do another round of P90X. I’ll probably do it on my own schedule. I will still be interning so won’t really be into the whole 7 days a week bit.

Daily exercise has become increasingly inconvenient in light of my new schedule. It’s still happening, but it’s definitely more of a burden now. Especially Tuesday and Wednesday. I work at 8 in the morning and have class until 9 at night. And this semester, I am unlucky enough to have two professors that like to take class right up to the bitter end. Saturday’s have also sucked because I intern from 6am to 6pm. I get out early enough, but 12 hours of internship does not make me want to go home and spend time with Tony Horton.

I have finally come up with a workable schedule, which is nice but I can’t lie. I’m really, really ready for this year to be over.

I do need you all to make me a promise though. Don’t let me stop. If you see me get complacent, call me on it. I may punch you in the throat but I’ll thank you later…and maybe apologize.

5 Sep

Miss Me?

Posted by nicholh in events, exercise, food, habit, health, Nichol, time management.

Hey! Look who finally remembered that she is supposed to post on Wednesday mornings! It’s Nichol!

Dear friends,

I suck! I totally missed last Wednesday. The worst part is, I didn’t even notice until Thursday morning, sitting in the Starbucks drive-thru.

A new semester has started and with that, I have started internship. With that, I have a whole new food issue. I need to figure out my food situation. Particularly Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

School days, I leave the house at 6:30am and I don’t get home until well after 9pm. Saturday I will leave the house at 5am and not get home until after 6pm.

How do you handle that? Does anyone have a portable refrigerator/stove/oven combination? Because that would be great.

In other news, I’m about 20 days from finishing P90. And I’m very excited about the 5Ks coming up (Color Run, Neon SplashDash).

I hope to have a better update for you next week, but right now I’m typing on my phone in the middle of SWG510, while my professor lectures.

15 Aug

Happy Birthday To Me!

Posted by nicholh in drinks, events, exercise, finances, food, habit, mindset, Nichol, weight loss.

It’s Nichol’s birthday and it’s Wednesday! Two for one!

So I’m 33 today. I’m having some emotional lability about that. Let’s do some pros and cons.

Pro – presents!
Con – single
Pro – cake!
Con – cake makes me fat
Pro – increased recognition that cake makes me fat
Con – I’m going to eat cake anyway
Pro – I’ll exercise more
Con – still single
Pro – still fabulous

Basically, I’m choosing to be happy and only minimally wallow because the pro list includes cake and presents.

There’s also the non-shallow pros. Which include all the accomplishments I’ve racked up since my 31st birthday (mini sprint tri, 5K, weight loss, healthy eating).

I’m actually okay with being 33. I think that if I hit 35 and I’m still single and in school and perpetually broke, I’ll let it affect me a little more but for now, I’m going to celebrate and just be thankful for my life and the many blessings I have reaped. Not just physically, but spiritually and emotionally.

The last two weeks have been intense, in reference to my well-being. In a totally good way, but totally intense. There has been a lot of reflection going on in this giant brain of mine.

Now, don’t be alarmed, but I took a day off. A real, honest to goodness day off. No P90, no running, no walking, no biking, no swimming. I slept 12 hours that night.

I have racked up 226 straight days of exercise. Well, it was 221 straight until my day off. I’m beginning to think that I might need a few more of those. Problem is, I had such intense feelings of guilt about it, it almost wasn’t worth it. However, if I’m not resting, my body can’t repair itself. I am currently always aching. Not in a worked out yesterday and I’m sore kind of ache, but a pretty constant, dull throbbing kind of feeling. Probably not a good thing.

I’m still thinking about it. I would have to get over the whole pride thing I have going on. When I make that decision, you will be the first to know.

In the meantime, I’m going to party like its 1979. I’ll see you peeps on the other side of 33.

13 Aug

Are You Hungry or Just Snacking?

Posted by Heather in food, mindset.

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. For her work, she often has small social gatherings, for which she provides snacks and drinks. We were talking about healthy snacks versus unhealthy snacks; she said that when she puts out things that are healthy, people don’t eat them.

Since her business is not directly health-related, she might not want to try to make a statement with her choices in snacks. Having good cookies might be part of what keeps business coming (though I would hope not). And the cookies she buys are really good.

However, most of the time, people will eat snack food that is served just because it’s there. Maybe it’s tasty. Maybe it’s just OK. But it’s there and so, without thinking too much about it, it gets eaten.

Typically not so with healthier foods. I saw it happen: set out a plate of cookies and a plate of apples. Which plate is empty first?

If you are legitimately hungry, you will likely eat what is available (assuming no allergies and that something available is palatable).

If you are not actually hungry, you’ll probably eat the junk food. And if there is no junk food, you just won’t eat.

(Of course, if you’re hungry and both are available, it will more depend on your habits than anything else. I was with a few ladies one evening and none of us had had dinner. There were fresh veggies, hummus, and cookies available. Some of us ate the veggies and hummus; some of us ate the cookies.)

Likewise, at home, when you go to the fridge for the fourth time in half an hour and are disappointed that the same food is there — are you hungry or bored?

If you want to stop eating junk food, the simplest way is not to be in proximity to junk food. Don’t keep it in the house. Don’t go to places that serve it. If you were a patron of my friend’s business and you didn’t want to partake in the cookies, you would sit across the room from the table — not right next to it. Eventually, it becomes a habit to make healthy choices.

Do you eat whenever there’s food available, or do you mainly eat when you’re hungry? Would you eat the veggies or the cookies?

30 Jul

Just Say “I Don’t”

Posted by Heather in food, mindset.

Mind over matter.

Reframing.

“It’s all in how you look at it.”

The overwhelming majority of how we live is due to mindset. The hardest part about exercising is starting. Getting out the door. Getting out of bed. Turning on the video. Lacing up the shoes. For most people, whatever your means of exercise is, getting started is the hardest part. That’s not a physical hurdle — that’s a mental one.

Deciding to eat — or not to eat — a plate full of cookies is a decision. Mental. (Nothing tastes as good after the first bite or two anyway, so you can’t blame your taste buds. Most of the crap we eat doesn’t even taste that good anyway.)

Last week, I saw this article that talks about a simple way to reframe cravings (or anything along those lines, really) to make it more likely to stay on the path towards your goals.

When presented with something that is no longer part of what you’d like to be consuming, instead of saying, “I can’t have that,” say “I don’t eat that.”

“I don’t” is language of empowerment; “I can’t” is language of deprivation.

Going to try it? Report back and let me know what you find. 

(photo from http://www.freedgitalphotos.net)

5 Jul

The Skinny on Fat-Free

Posted by Heather in food, health.

Did you ever notice that things that are full of fat taste so good?

What happens when you take out the fat? It doesn’t taste as good.

From a manufacturing perspective, this means fewer people will buy it and less profit will be made. (Don’t be fooled — they don’t actually care what it does to you as long as you buy it.)

So when they take out the fat, they often replace it with sugar.

Make sure you are reading your labels. Most of the time, it’s better to just go with the full-fat version and eat a moderate portion. Or substitute the entire food. Just going with low fat/no fat isn’t going to get you where you need to go.

Look at this package:

Is that healthy? It says right on the front that it’s a low-fat candy! Low fat = good, right??

OK, you might not be duped by something so obvious, but really — compare labels. Take the regular version and the altered version. Compare the nutrition charts. Compare the ingredients lists. Make educated decisions. Don’t make your decision based on the front of the package.

4 Jul

Confession Time

Posted by nicholh in exercise, food, habit, Nichol.

It’s Wednesday! Nichol is with us…

I hate running. I’ve said this a million times but I’m going to own it now. I HATE running. It makes me miserable and no matter what, I can’t seem to obtain the runner’s high that dumb runners go on and on about.

That has put me in a bit of a pickle. I really want to successfully run a full 5K, because I enjoy 5K events and would like to keep doing them. I would also like to finish Couch to 5K because I have started it over and over but I’ve never finished it and I find that unacceptable.

You know what I think part of the reason is? I hate running when it’s even slightly warm out. I enjoyed running jogging/walking when it’s cold. Because jogging/walking makes me warm.

But even when it’s cold, running sucks and I hate it.

You know what I love? Strength training. Yoga. Swimming. Biking (real and stationary). Walking (long and short distances). There’s nothing wrong with that, right?

I am over halfway to the end of the year and I think I’ve earned the right to do what I want. *stomps feet to bedroom, slams door*

I started P90X on Saturday and I am loving it (so far). The guy annoys me to death, but I feel exhausted and amazing at the end of every workout (so far). I feel the same way after working out with Heather. And after biking an hour. And after walking two miles.

Here’s my new plan (which doesn’t include abandoning mile a day):
1. Finish P90X
2. Finish mile a day in whichever way I see fit (yes, I am still doing at least one mile everyday that I do P90X)
3. Keep eating healthy-ish
4. Finish C25K before the year is up (probably restart after P90X, or maybe start on P90X rest days. . . Or maybe not)
5. Keep doing social circuit
6. Quit beating myself up when I’m lazy and choose to walk a mile at the mall.
7. Quit putting parameters and rules in place. (Anyone else feel like I need a book to keep track of this stuff?)

On a side note, have a happy and safe fourth of July. I will be eating ribeye and mashed potatoes and pie with my family and not giving one care about the starchy ridiculousness. And neither should you. We’ve earned a day.

28 Jun

Foods You Thought Were Healthy

Posted by Heather in food.

A link passed through my Facebook feed the other day: 50 Seemingly Healthy Foods that are Bad for You. Besides my annoyance that it was a 51-slide slideshow (how many clicks…), I was annoyed at some of the items on the list: energy drinks? Gummy fruit snacks? Really? And granola, while something that actually should have been on the list, was on there in three different forms (granola, granola bars, parfait).

But this post isn’t about whether or not those 50 (or 48) things should have been in the too-many-clicks slideshow.

Here is a quick summary of things that aren’t good for you, despite their shiny labels:

Low fat/fat free/low calorie/”light” foods: When they take out the fat or calories, they put something else in it to make it tasty. Generally, the replacements are worse than the fat was to begin with. Either take a small portion of the full-fat version, or skip it altogether.

Foods that can be cooked in their container: Most of these foods are TV dinner-type foods, which tend to be unbalanced (how many green veggies?) and full of sodium. Even the ones that are healthier (and others that aren’t in mini cafeteria trays) are still in containers that leech chemicals into the food. Sure, they’re convenient, but at what cost?

Any “health food” that has candy added to it: trail mix, granola, yogurt, etc. A handful of nuts and no-sugar-added dried fruit is a healthy snack. Add M&Ms and coat the peanuts in chocolate? Not so healthy.

Any “health food” that is flavored: milk, non-dairy milks, and yogurts are the most common. You’re much better off buying plain and adding your own fruit or other flavoring. The pre-flavored varieties are loaded with sugar.

Chips: doesn’t matter what they’re made from or if they’re baked or fried. Some are healthier than others, but none are health food.

Anything fried: you’d think this goes without saying. Fish is healthy (generally). Fried fish is not.

“Special diet” processed foods: gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, etc., etc. Food is not inherently healthy just because a particular ingredient is missing.

Canned food: besides the chemicals in the lining of the cans, most canned food has either too much salt or sugar in it. Opt for frozen instead, if you have the option.

Sports drinks: you need to exercise at a high intensity for a long time before you need to start to worry about your electrolytes.

Organic junk food: just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Produce, meats, dairy? Yes. Cookies, cakes, candy? No.

Protein bars and shakes: most of them have a lot of sugar. And if you’re eating a remotely typical American diet, you’re getting more than enough protein.

What foods were you surprised to learn (today or ever) are not as good for you as you thought?

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