Weigh-in Tuesday: Dear Twelve-Year-Old Heidi

Dear Twelve-year-old Heidi,

Hey, kiddo.  It's me.  It's you.  It's us.

Here I/you/we are at the spring music program in sixth grade.

I'm 32 now, and the other day I stumbled upon a thought I hadn't had in a long time.  I was thinking about you, and your music program in sixth grade, and how you were really having a hard time back then.  Because when you're just on the verge of a breakthrough, things can feel especially dreadful.

I remember that you felt isolated.

For one thing, you didn't feel like you were on the same page as the people in your class.  It was a small class, with tight cliques, and emotions running rampant as prepubescent hormones blossomed.  They grew up into some great people, but at the time, you were drifting apart from them.  Couples were pairing off, and it really stung as some your closest friends started holding hands with some of your crushes.  Ah, crushes.  So called for their ability to crush a little heart.  You felt completely unpretty.  You definitely felt fat - though you were at a healthy weight -  and you believed that the fat stood between you and all good things.  It's important that you hang in there, little me.  There are kindred spirits in your future.  There is great love to come.  There is upcoming comfort in your own skin, even when you're actually overweight.  (Even when you're morbidly obese.)  And there is courage to take care good of yourself, too.

For another thing, you were saddled with a teacher who discouraged you.  When you mention to a teacher that you're interested in writing, the last thing you should be told is that you'll never be a good writer.  Heck, even if you were a bad writer at the time (which you weren't) a teacher's job is to encourage and enrich the student, not put them down.  I hate to admit it, but that one statement will come back to haunt you, long after other teachers award you, bosses promote you, clients commend you for your writing.  You'll still secretly worry that your sixth-grade teacher was right, that you'll never be a writer.  But you ARE one.  Throughout your life, you'll work very hard on it, and you'll keep improving at it.  You'll even make a living doing it.

To top it all off, you were getting ready for the spring music program.  Two of the 'cool' girls were asked to do a dance together, and you were secretly (or maybe not-so-secretly) jealous of them.  I know it wasn't so much about the dancing (though you'd been studying ballet for six years)... it was about feeling lonely.  Girls with whom you wanted to fit in were spending extra time together, without you.

Chin up.  You have to realize - you weren't really excluded.  You were, in fact, invited to sing a solo.  But you didn't like the solo, because you wanted to dance with your friends.  And you didn't like the song. It though it was unpopular, like you thought you were unpopular.

But you sang that song anyway. Here you are, doing it.

Here's the thing.  That song?  It's actually one of the most beloved songs in the American music canon.  It became famous in a movie musical.  One that you will grow to love.

You'll watch it for the first time in a few years, at a cozy cabin while eating raspberry pie with your very first kindred-spirit friend.  You'll adore it.  You'll quote from it frequently.  You'll come back to it again and again.

Later in your life, you'll find yourself sitting in a lawn chair, in a cemetery, in the dark.  You'll be snuggled up in blankets, and in your husband's arms.  You'll be surrounded by several of your kindred-spirit friends, as you all stare up at a mausoleum wall, aglow with beautiful scenes from your favorite movie musical of all time.  A cool breeze will swirl around you, and you'll look up and notice that you can just barely make out the outline of the palm trees in the dark

You won't be thinking of how you sang that song in your sixth grade spring music program.  You won't be thinking of anything... except how you feel incredibly - completely - content.

 There's a little piece of advice a former (er, future?) boss gave me once.  When you're feeling jealous of someone because they... have a boyfriend... spend more time with someone else... have a moment in the spotlight... have an easier journey to good health... are more successful in their career...  or for any reason at all... you should:

...Keep your eye on your own plate.

  
It's a figure of speech.  It means that if you're worried about what you don't have, you should focus on what you do have.  Don't have a dance to perform like someone else?  Work hard on that solo, and really savor the fact that you get to have your own private moment in the spotlight.  Haven't sold your screenplays like someone else?  Work hard on them.  Working hard on your writing has always paid off in the past.  (See?  I'm taking the same advice.)

I think it's also good advice to take literally.  You're going to go through a long process of weight gain, little me.  It's going to be hard on you.  But in time, you'll find your balance, and then you're going to take good care of yourself - and try to do it in every way you can.  That's what I'm doing right now.  I'm down a pound this week, but I notice that I've gotten a little bit lax with the measuring, lazy about counting.  So I'm going to work on keeping my eye on my own plate.

You've got big things ahead, twelve-year-old me.  You've got places to go and people to love, who love you.  How's this for a deal?  You keep breathing, and keep trying, and keep being yourself.  And I will, too.  And in another 20 years, maybe we'll get some great insight from 52-year-old Heidi.  In the meanwhile... I am always with you, and you are most definitely always with me.

Love,
Heidi

Weigh-in Tuesday, plus our contest winner!

It's weigh-in Tuesday, and now that I've gotten far enough away from the flu, I hopped on the scale this morning.  I do hop on the scale a few other mornings during the week, which helps me stay in touch with my body... but I only record it on Tuesday mornings.  That way, I get to see a clearer picture of my progress, because everyone fluctuates up and down naturally.

Today I'm down another 2 pounds since my last weigh-in, which brings me to 59 pounds lost!  And Tom's down to a total of 53.7 pounds lost - he's only a few pounds away from his goal weight!

Progress!

 
Yesterday I posted my first blog contest... to guess how much my produce haul cost.  A big thanks to everyone who entered!  It was really fun to see everyone's estimates.  Our winner is... Matthew!  Congratulations!

Matthew guessed $30.01, and he was only 22 cents off!  Our total came to $30.23.  He has won a customized meal plan from Tom and I!  We'll discuss Matthew's favorite foods with him, and Tom and I will create some healthy recipes inspired by them.  We'll share the menu and recipes in an upcoming post.

What can you do with $30.23?  Since we're comparing with groceries I bought in Los Angeles, I'll quote the Los Angeles prices.

• At McDonald's you could buy 5 Quarter Pounder Value Meals. 
• At Whole Foods you could've bought just the fruit in our purchase (3 oranges, 6 peaches, 6 ounces of blueberries, 1.5 pounds of grapes.)  I love the quality of produce at Whole Foods, but they're simply not reasonable.
• At my favorite fancy-schmancy restaurant, Osteria Mozza, you could buy one appetizer salad, and one mozzarella appetizer - but it wouldn't include the tip. 
•  At my favorite healthy restaurant, Tender Greens, you could buy Tom's favorite meal (the Oxnard Veggie Hot Plate) and my favorite meal (the Seared Albacore Hot Plate) plus my very favorite hibiscus iced tea, and one of their organic desserts of the day.

Or, you could buy what we bought at Super King, and cook at home, and get ALL of this:

• 5 servings of Kabocha squash soup (2-cup servings)
• 3 servings of tomato-cucumber salad (2-cup servings)
• 3 servings of soba noodle ginger veggie stir-fry (2-cup servings; noodles purchased elsewhere for $2)
• 4 appetizer servings of stuffed squash blossoms (8 blossoms/person; goat cheese purchased elsewhere for $4)
• 4 servings of steamed broccoli with lemon (2-cup servings)
• 4 servings of grilled vegetable salad (2-cup servings)
• 2 sides of roasted corn on the cob with chili and lime.
• 4 portions of sandwich fillings for grilled mushroom/onion/tomato wraps (tortillas purchased elsewhere for $2)
• 3 cups of lemon-lime and herb salad dressing (that's a lot of servings.)
• 27 servings of fruit, to go along with those meals.

The lesson here is that eating healthfully on a budget is MUCH easier than it's made out to be.  One of the biggest excuses I hear is that "eating healthfully is too expensive."  And I say... if that's the case, you're not looking in the right places for your food.  I highly recommend checking out these options....

• Find international markets near you, like our beloved Super King.  Many medium- or large-sized towns have them, and it's worth a look.
• Check out farming co-ops, where you pay weekly to help support a farm, and receive a weekly box of produce in return.
• Check out your local mom-and-pop shops. They often have local produce sources and are inexpensive as a result.
• Visit farmer's markets/u-pick/farm stands during harvest season... 
• Help a friend in her garden. Or start your own, or if you don't have space, look into getting a few square feet in a community plot.

All right!  I'm off to work, but tomorrow I'll be back with the last edition of the epic Italian Honeymoon Recap!  Have a beautiful day - and take care of you!

Suck it, Yoda.

It's Tuesday, which usually means a trip to the scale and a weigh-in report here.  But since I've been flu-y, I don't want that number to be artificially low.  So I'm skipping the weigh-in this week and hopefully once my body is more recovered next week, the number won't be out of whack either.

During Tom's fever-induced naptime this weekend, I happened to stumble upon a Star Wars marathon on TV.  So I listened to The Empire Strikes Back while doing some photo editing.  And as Yoda schooled an impatient Luke on Dagobah, I found myself getting pretty pissed off.

Let's be clear.  I love Star Wars - and have ever since my brother introduced them to me one at a time, on his trips home from college.  And boy howdy did I respond.  I was a pretty nerdy kid.  For my eleventh birthday, my hair was done up in the Return of the Jedi double braid crown.  The first essay I ever typed on a computer (around the same time) began with "I know everything there is to know about X-Wing Flyers." Yoda is my favorite character, other than my schoolgirl crush on Luke. (Don't be surprised that it's not Han. I also prefer Raoul over Erik, Riley over Spike, and young X over young Magneto. Though it's impossible not to prefer Rhett over Ashley.)

Anyway... as I listened to Yoda's fatalistic platitudes on Sunday, I found myself thinking he was full of crap.

Wrong, you are.  Full of the force, am I.  Filled with crap, I am not.

Wrong again, Yoda.

Here's the thing.  You ask Luke to lift a whole ship out of a mud-laden swamp with just his mind.  You say...

"Do or do not.  There is no try."

It has, in fact, become one of the most popular quotes to come from the movie. (Next to... that one.  You know the one.  "Scruffy-looking nerf herder.")  And, like Yoda, it is full of crap.

Now, I'm not saying Luke can't do it.  You and I both know he can.  But Luke needs practice.  And what's another way to say that?  He's trying.

My first day working out at Slimmons - my first minute, actually - I was struggling.  The aerobics was kicking my ass, and I wasn't sure I was going to make it through all 90 minutes.  And, in fact, I didn't.  Within 20 minutes, my heart was pounding so hard that I felt nauseous.  I had to do the rest of the workout sitting.  I was humiliated.  The road ahead of me seemed not just challenging but completely impossible.

But Richard, and the kind people at Slimmons, encouraged me.  So I came back to the next class, and I sat down before I felt nauseous.  I kept attending.  The more I worked, the longer I could make it before needing to sit down.  And within a month, I made it through all 90 minutes.

On the journey to better health, you'll face all kinds of challenges.  You won't be able to do everything you want to do, right away, so try to be patient with yourself.  Sometimes you'll be your own challenge, and a food choice or a missed workout you regret will make you want to throw it all away - because you've been told all your life that you're supposed to be perfect.

Well, no one is perfect.  And all we can do is take that regret and transform it to wisdom.  NO DAY is a lost day, if you don't let it be lost.  If you missed your workout after work, can you talk a walk with your family after dinner?  If you overate at lunch, try thinking about it, talking about it, and letting it go.

There's too much pressure on us (from ourselves, mostly) to perform perfectly at everything from moment one.  The ensuing shame and fear will only make it that much harder to try and keep trying.  Remind yourself that you're not perfect, and then take a moment to be mindful.  You don't have to wait until tomorrow.  You don't have to wait at all.  Every minute is a new minute for you to take care of yourself.  And taking care of yourself takes practice.

You say "there is no try"?  Well, suck it, Yoda.  I say...

Try or try not.  But there is no do without try.

A Beginner's Guide to a Healthy Kitchen, plus an unexpected guest

It is a gorgeous day in Los Angeles, but I find myself with about as much energy as a stuffed Garfield hanging on a 1980s minivan window.  Which is to say, none.

I haven't talked much about it here, but I've been suffering some lady-parts trouble for the last few months.  Consecutively.  If you follow my meaning.  So I'm back to the same level of anemia I had in December.  At that point, I could hardly lift my arms for exhaustion.  I'm certainly better off than I was then, thanks to all of the exercise and healthy food... but I am really, REALLY looking forward to fixing all of this.  (I just made a circling-my-abdomen gesture that, in hindsight, I'm pretty sure Liz Lemon would also make in this situation.)  Here's hoping that my doctor appointment this afternoon will help!

In the meanwhile, I'm going to give you a shorter update today, with the fourth part of my week-long series...

...to a healthy kitchen!

Yesterday's guide to healthy food includes only a part of what you can do to help improve the way you eat.  There's a lot you can do to make your kitchen a haven for you and your body.  (And also your spirit, but the more I am actually using my body, the more I see how closely the two can be connected.

When you're starting down the path to a healthier life, there's one thing you should do first.  (Well, other than talk to your doctor.)  Step into your kitchen, and...

Clean it out.

I don't mean with a mop and a broom, although the nicer you make your kitchen, the nicer it is to be there. 

I mean get rid of the stuff.  Get rid of the stuff that haunts you in the wee hours of the morning.  Get rid of the stuff that is there for your No Good, Very Bad Days.  Get rid of the stuff that you stuff your face with when you're bored.  Unless you're working very hard on your moderation (which is important, but can be easier to do after you get used to your new healthy choices), there's a good chance that if it's in there, you'll eat it. So whatever you put in your kitchen should be something that you consciously, mindfully want to put in your mouth.  That brings us to...

Stock it up.

When the last carton of Chunky Monkey (or the last block of Velveeta) is gone from your fridge, you need to put good things in it so that they're ready for you to eat as soon as you need them.  

I'd say there's probably a pretty good chance you're not eating enough vegetables.  Find a place that sells what you like,  and get munching.  Raw veggies are great for snacking on.  I especially love them with a little hummus, honey mustard, or - you guessed it - greek yogurt (with a little herbs or seasonings mixed in.)

It helps to have readily-available protein, too.  I love chicken tenders - I grill a batch early in the week and enjoy them in salads and sandwich wraps.  I don't go a day without enjoying single-serving cheeses.  At any given time, I have string cheese, or Trader Joe's Brie Bites or Goat Cheese Medallions in the fridge.  The latter come in one-ounce packages (with six or so in a bag) - and the pre-defined single-serving really helps me avoid the Just Another Tiny Slice phenomenon (you know the one... you're slicing cheese, and you eat a little, and then you eat a little more, and then before you know it, half of the package is gone.)

Most of all, stock it up with healthy things that are things you like.  If you buy healthy food but you hate what you're buying, you'll have a harder time eating it.  You may even be tempted to go out for something different than what's in your fridge.  This used to happen to us all the time, but now our well-stocked fridge keeps us right on track.

Measure it out & pack it in.

There are a few supplies that I find helpful in the quest to balance our meals.  Some of these things also prevent the items in our stuffed-to-the-gills fridge from becoming green, fuzzy, and nameable. (Thank you, Dawn Summers.)

a - We pack up our chopped raw veggies, our roasted red peppers, and our grilled chicken in resusable storage containers like these ones by Glasslock.  One great thing about the Glasslock products is that neither their glass, their plastic, nor their lids contain BPA.  Women in particular should avoid BPA, for hormonal purposes.  You can read more about that in this Glamour article, which was written by an acquaintance from college.  (Thanks, Aimee, for the link!)

b - And before you can store 'em, you'll need to chop 'em on a sturdy cutting board, like these pretty green numbers by ArchiTEC.  Make sure you wash your cutting boards carefully, and avoid cutting raw meat on boards you use for other food (this is where multiple shades or sizes can come in handy.)

c - We are very careful to measure our portions, and one of our best tools for this is the liquid measuring cup by Pyrex.  Won't break, but is super-strong.  We've had ours for a very, very long time.

d - For veggies that are quick to spoil, like berries, we use these Debbie Meyer GreenBags, and they're terrific.  In our fridge, strawberries in their original container last about five days before they start to get a little wilty, and a full week before they're fuzzy.  With GreenBags, we've seen them last up to 10 days without wilt or fuzz (but mostly, our new menu planning means we eat them within seven days, so we don't see as much fridge slime as we used to.)

e - Meat and produce comes in a variety of sizes, so the best way to know exactly what you're eating is to use a food scale like this one by Newline.  It can also really help with baking, because flour settles, so a cup can differ in mass considerably.

f - For sauces & fats, a little bit can go a long way (and a long way towards throwing off your calories for the day.)  We own a couple of different sets of measuring spoons - like this set by OXO - so that we always have the right ones handy, even if we're behind on the dishes.

We try to stay up on the dishes pretty regularly, now, though.  We cook so often that if we don't have all of our pots, pans, dishes & utensils available, we have to wash them by hand as we cook.  Plus, it means we're ready for unexpected company... like this lizard who came to visit this week.

He first appeared on the outside of our screen door Monday. 
We opened the glass to get a better look at him, and when our very curious
kitten Greta lifted her paw slowly to him, he jumped straight into the air,
freaking all four of us (cat, lizard, Tom, me) out.

We thought he was gone for good, but on Tuesday, he was back nestled by our succulent planter.

He kept curling back out of the sun, and in the process, posed for a portrait.

In trying to figure out what kind of lizard he was, we stumbled upon the Lost Lizards of Los Angeles project, through the Natural History Museum of LA.  Fascinating!  They're tracking what lizards live in what areas of the city.  Our Mr. Lizard turns out to be a Southern Alligator Lizard, which are apparently very common in SoCal.

Eventually it got too sunny for him and he crawled underneath the planter.  We're not sure if he's still there (he seems to have eaten all of the slugs that drifted toward our succulents after recent rainfall, so he probably has no reason to be.)  But we'll be on the lookout for our reptilian roommate!  I hope he's taking good care of himself.  And I hope you are, too!

A Beginner's Guide to Healthy Food, plus Adventure Wednesday

Happy Adventure Wednesday, everyone! Did you include a little adventure in your day?  We'll get to today's exploration a in a little bit - but we're going to start with...

...healthy food!

What do you think of, when you think of healthy food?  Does it bring to mind things you associate with hippies from the seventies, like lettuce and bean sprouts and tofu?  Do the two words in juxtaposition make you cringe? If so, I have a challenge for you.  I challenge you to adjust your perspective on what it means for food to be "healthy."  In fact, I believe that almost any food in its natural state can be healthy, when enjoyed in moderation, and in balance with other foods.  There is no specific food or food group that I avoid.  (Cheese?  I eat it every day.  Potatoes? At least once a week.  Sourdough bread?  I might die without it.  Chocolate?  It's not my favorite, but I do eat it from time to time.)  The trick is moderation.

Our experience with food this year has been a surprising one.  Before January, Tom and I both thought we ate relatively well.  (Outside of the occasional emotional or stress-based binge on my part.)  We even logged calories... when we felt like it.  And when we weren't ordering delivery, or going out to a restaurant. Or when I grabbed fast food on the way back from a long shift.  It turns out that some of those not-logged meals were the ones that were topping 2,000 or even 3,000 calories.  It sounds terrible, I know.  A healthy person who's not trying to lose weight should typically consume around 2,000 calories per day.  If you're eating that much in one meal, there's a good chance that you're going to be consuming more than your metabolism can burn.

And if you're not looking at what goes into your food, it's not always easy to tell that you're consuming that much.  This week, The Daily Meal released a list of the 10 fattiest meals at chain restaurants.  Not fast-food restaurants, mind you.  Burgers & fries are a good way to gain weight, but they don't even begin to compete with... chicken & broccoli pasta.  Chicken & broccoli pasta?  If you were looking at a menu, given a choice between a burger and fries, or chicken and broccoli pasta, wouldn't you guess that the burger was the less-healthy option?  No.  That pasta dish has 1564 calories, which means that a regular Big Mac value meal (with medium fries and a medium coke) is a whopping 434 calories less than the pasta.  Not that we should run out and grab a Big Mac for dinner today, but this is just the beginning of my #1 tip for you today: 

Know what you're eating.

Just because it sounds good for you, it doesn't mean that it is.  Oooh, a veggie burger at a health food restaurant, with avocado and all-natural sauce!  That sounds great.  Except that it's loaded with more fat than our bodies need.

When you know what you're eating, when you keep yourself in touch with your food habits, you're less likely to lose track of how many calories you're consuming.

There's a lot of very simple ways to do this.  The simplest is to just start a food log - a diary of what you eat each day.  Talk to you doctor about how many calories you should be consuming in order to maintain, lose, gain... whatever your goals are.  And then start aiming for it.  There are lots of different ways to log food, though.  Join Weight Watchers.  Download an app.  There are all kinds of handy things out there to help you eat mindfully, and it's really worth it to try them and see what works best.

I use a couple of different methods of food logging.  I am a big fan of the nutritional information available on LiveStrong.com's Daily Plate.  It has brand-specific information, easily adjustable serving sizes, and an array of graphs and charts that show you how you're doing with vitamins, balance, and overall consistency.  It even lets you enter your own recipes or meals, so that if you make something regularly, you can enter it once and add it quickly again later.  I also use Richard Simmons' FoodMover system to make sure I'm staying in balance.  I could write a very long entry on FoodMover and how best to use it... and I probably will do so later, but it's too long to pack in today.  The short story is that Food Mover helps me make sure I'm eating the right serving sizes - and the right number of servings - per day.  And what a difference that makes!

Serving sizes are tricky little beasts.  Aside from all of the ridiculously huge portions we're served at restaurants, even figuring out how much we should be eating can be a challenge.  If you look at two brands of rice, right next to each other on the grocery shelf, one might tell you a serving size is a 1/3 of a cup, and the other might tell you that a serving size is a cup.  It doesn't sound like much of a difference, right?  Except that 1/3 of a cup of cooked brown rice is 72 calories, whereas 1 cup is 218 calories.  If you're working with a certain amount of calories, that's a pretty big difference.  And is that listed serving size for dry or cooked rice?  Fortunately, with FoodMover, you get to ignore all of the listed serving sizes on the boxes, and follow a single source of information.  It comes with a booklet that covers almost all kinds of food serving sizes.  After about two weeks of looking up my every morsel, it became pretty much ingrained.  (According to FoodMover, 1 serving of rice is 1/3 of a cup cooked.)

Number of servings, that's tough, too.  Depending on how many calories you're eating, how much of each food group should you be eating?  Again, that's up to you and your doctor or nutritionist.  My personal intake is about 1400 calories daily (though I'm flexible if I need to be, especially if I become overly hungry.)  And my balance breakdown goes roughly like this:

Breakfast: 1 serving dairy, 1 serving fruit, 1 serving carb, 1 serving protein
Lunch: 1 serving dairy, 1 serving fruit, 2 serving carb, 2 serving protein, 2-3 servings vegetables, 1 serving fat
Dinner: 1 serving fruit, 2 serving carb, 2 serving protein, 2-3 servings vegetable, 2 serving fat

And those serving sizes are roughly 1 oz of protein, 8 oz dairy, 1 piece of fruit, 1 teaspoon of fat, 1/3 cup or 2 oz carb.

If that seems like a lot to consider... well, I won't lie to you.  It is.  There's really only one way I'm able to swing this every day.  And that is my #2 tip for the day...

Plan what you're eating.

We have a food routine that we follow each and every week. Every Sunday, we plan a menu for every meal that week - including scheduling any restaurant or social gatherings that we'll need to plan around.  Then we make a list of everything we're going to need for that menu.  And then we go to the store, and we buy what's on the list.  And nothing else.  (And we don't go shopping without eating healthfully first.)

Once we're home, we put everything away, and - if we're following our schedule perfectly, which we don't always but we try to - we prep the foods we'll need for the week.  Peel and store carrots.  Chop celery.  Roast peppers.  Grill chicken.  Whatever we can do in advance... saves us time when we're making our meals later.  I know that whenever we're not working from home, we'll also need to make big batches of meals that can be stored for eating later in the week (and/or frozen for eating later on.)

Does it take time?  Yes, it takes time.  Not much more than sitting at a restaurant, or waiting for your food delivery to arrive, or listening to an episode of The Simpsons in the background. And, like I keep saying, like I'm going to keep saying, even when you're sick of me saying it...  you are worth it.

The great thing about planning ahead is that I never need to worry the specific calorie counts too much.  I don't have to obsess over what I might possibly be eating next.  I can walk to the fridge and look at our weekly menu, and I know exactly what it will be.  And if you're planning ahead, you can tweak recipes so that they work better for you.  Which brings me to my #3 tip...

Swap what you're eating.

If you, like me, are working with a restricted number of calories, there are different ways you can go about it.  You could eat a couple pieces of bacon, and some steak, and some cheese, and a corn muffin... and then be hungry for the rest of the day.  Or you could go my way.  You could eat primarily vegetables, supplemented with healthy proteins, fruits, and grains.  And you could feel as full - or possibly fuller - than you did when you were eating restaurant portions.

The more that you replace an unhealthy version of something with a healthier counterpart, the more calories you have to play with.  And the same goes for adding in things that are flavorful but not high-calorie - the more you entice your palate, the less likely you'll be to crave something else.  And so far, we've come up with all kinds of swaps to make, inspired by tips from Hungry Girl and other food bloggers or cookbooks.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Fat free Greek yogurt.  This variety, which is strained to remove whey, is lusciously thick and creamy... but it has about twice the protein as regular yogurt. If you're a regular reader, you probably already know this is my favorite swap ingredient.  I use it for tuna salad, for potato salad, for deviled eggs, for baked goods, for sour cream or mayonnaise in any recipe. At this point I'd feel confident betting you that I can work Greek yogurt into any recipe and make it better and healthier.

• Smaller/Low-Carb tortillas.  I probably eat a wrap sandwich daily, and I'm able to fit more protein and veggies into it if I use a wrap.  My favorite is Mission brand.  Technically, corn tortillas are lower in calories than flour, but I'm a sucker for the flour.

• Spray oil.  We used to follow recipes to the letter, but they often ask for large amounts of olive oil.  I only eat about 3 teaspoons of fat (outside of meat, dairy, beans etc) per day, so when we started FoodMover, we started using Pam for stir frying, roasting, and most of our other oil needs. I really don't miss the oil at all.

• Whole grains.  We used to eat white pasta, white rice, white bread... on a regular basis (and in large portions.)  It took a little getting used to, but we now eat a majority of our grains whole.  We eat whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, light wheat bread, and some more unusual whole grains like quinoa and barley.  Give it a try - give it some patience - and see if you can include one new whole grain this week.

• Vinegar and lemons.  I'm a sour fiend, so I've been using these to spruce up veggies or salad in place of oil.  I love a squeeze of lemon on my broccoli (sometimes with a few capers for extra flavor.)  Vinegar on good salad greens is simple and delicious.

• Herbs, spices, onions, garlic, and scallions.  These aromatics add far more flavor to food than anything else.  Try a little dill on your cottage cheese, a little rosemary on some roasted potatoes, a little garlic in your chicken soup.  If you keep shaking it up, you won't get bored... and one of the most frequent causes of diet-crashing is boredom.

• Turnips.  Holy crap, I love turnips.  We slice them up like fries and bake them so that they're crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.  One cup of turnip fries is 34 calories.  One cup of McDonald's fries is 740 calories.

• Roasted red peppers and sun-dried tomatoes.  Available commercially packed in water (or home-roasted, like we do) these low-calorie flavor boosters bring an lovely note to any sandwich or salad.

• Bananas.  When I need a frozen treat, and we don't have any homemade sorbet around, all I do is slice up a banana and pop it in the freezer.  When they're icy, you can blend them up in the blender to make ice cream, eat them plain (they melt creamy!) or dip them in a little bit of chocolate.  I also use half a frozen banana in my pre-Slimmons fuel smoothie.

• Pumpkin.  Whether hidden in mac & cheese, used as a filling for lasagna, or snuck in as a secret ingredient for chocolate cake pops (entry coming soon!) pumpkin is a perfect food.

• Kabocha squash.  Most squash is sweet enough to count as a carbohydrate, not a squash.  Kabocha has only 30 calories per cup, and is terrific in Tom's Thai squash recipe.

 Yes, that Thai squash is yummy.  And if we weren't on this weight loss journey, I doubt we'd have tried it, because the final tip for today is...

Play with your food.

No, really.  It's time to get playful.  It's time to look up recipes for the things you order at restaurants, and see if there's a way to switch them up at home.  It's time to start a quest for the tastiest possible cake pops for the lowest possible calories.  It's time to venture out to an ethnic food store.  And that's just what we did today, for Adventure Wednesday!

Yesterday after writing about the wonders of exercise, we skipped class.  Well, technically we were driving to class when our car started shuddering, so we drove to the mechanic instead, and walked home.  We're sans wheels for the next few days, so this morning we hit the bus stop...

The sky was incredibly blue.

...on our way to India Sweets & Spices, so that we could find some ingredients for our upcoming Indian Feast.

 They have both a market and a restaurant at the location in Atwater Village.

Tom wonders if this is code for "where vegetarians come to die."

We spent most of our time in the market, where they sell all kinds of things.

Including statues of the Hindu god, Ganesh

And incense.  Lots and lots of incense.

But mostly they sell food products.

We've been making a lot of our own Indian food, because restaurant food of any kind is harder to estimate in terms of calories.  And since they aren't out to adjust the recipes for maximum health factor, they sometimes use ingredients like these...

Meet ghee. Clarified butter.  The starting point of almost any Indian dish.  We cook without ghee.

They also sell all manner of Indian snack foods, much of which
wouldn't fit into our food plan, cute names notwithstanding.

We do sometimes enjoy a bit of jam, and if we ever run out of my dad's homemade preserves,
I'll be sure to pick up some passion fruit jam, here. But what the heck is woodapple?

Here is lime pickle, which seemed like an interesting condiment,
low calorie and presumably flavorful. I'd like to try it sometime.

They carry brown basmati rice! I didn't realize that all shapes/types of rice come in the brown variety,
but Tom reminded me that of course they'd have to - it's just unprocessed rice.

I'd never heard of coconut vinegar, but since I love both things,
I'm looking forward to figuring out how to use this someday.

The market specializes in all kinds of Indian spices. Lots and lots and lots of them!

Garam Masala is a very popular blend of spices, and I thought we might purchase some today. Tom would
like to try making our own out of some of the spices we have in our well-stocked cupboard, first.

I thought that these were very small coconuts, but they were marked as very large dried lychees!

I that the Mukhwas was beautiful - it's a digestive aid and breath freshener
made from a blend of seeds with sugar and essential oil

The fennel candy was also bright and cheerful-looking.

I was grossed out by the Dieter's Delight slim tea, which came with the warning
"if you experience stomach cramps or diarrhea, you should stop drinking this tea." 
Or perhaps not start drinking it.

I usually visit ethnic food stores to learn more about the culture, not to laugh at it.  But I couldn't help but laugh when we found Indian foods made by American brands that you wouldn't usually expect.

Uncle Ben's Korma. "Perfect every time!"

Nothin' says lovin' like samosa from the oven.

The only down-side to Adventure Wednesday was that I had forgotten to eat breakfast before we left the house, so I had to look at and smell all of these lovely things while feeling rumbly in the tumbly.  Little successes, though, right?  We bought the Darjeeling and the cardamom pods for my chai recipe, but I was able to hold out and not buy any barfi, a dessert made of sweetened condensed milk and sugar.

And in this case, also pistachio. Ah well, I will have the picture forever.

What can you do to add more adventure to your food?

My friend David (who blogs about his journey at keepitupdavid.com) tries to buy one different food he's never tried before, every week.  Maybe you could join him!

Or perhaps you could venture out to a new grocery store, or a farmer's market, and see what they have to offer!  Or you could pick up a cookbook of your favorite kind of cuisine, and see what you can do to adjust and make it healthier!

What are your tips for healthy food, be they about adventure, moderation, or mindfulness?

All right, that's it for today, but I hope you'll come back tomorrow, when I come armed with tips on how to make your kitchen friendly for the new, healthy you.  Until then, take care of you!

A Beginner's Guide to Exercise, plus weigh-in Tuesday

Hello and a warm welcome to new guests and old friends!  Just one quick Weigh-In Tuesday update, and then I'll jump right in to part two of my new series.

Today I'm down another pound!  That brings my total to 42 pounds since January.  Do I wish it were more?  Sure, but I have enough friends on a plateau to know that a pound lost is a lot to be proud of.

And now, for...

...exercise!

I may have made a lot of changes this year, but there's something about me that just hasn't changed.  I hate to exercise.

Yes, that's the truth.  I HATE EXERCISE.  I don't like the smell of the gym, I don't like the fees, I don't like the smugness of extremely fit people, I don't like waiting for a machine or a lane, and I really, really don't like to sweat.

But I have to tell you something else that's true.  I love the way I feel after exercise.  It is possibly the most important thing I can do for my body. It helps me control my weight, but beyond that, it does so much more.

Why should you exercise?

• Are you anxious or blue?  Exercise is proven to reduce stress, and, thanks to the endorphins that are released during physical activity, can improve your mood. 

• Worried about your health?  Increasing your activity level helps combat chronic disease, including heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and all kinds of other issues.

• When you get out of bed in the morning, do you feel like a mastadon stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits?  Working out ups your energy level.

• Not thinking straight?  Feed your brain! The increased blood flow from exercise is proven to improve cognitive function.

• Missing that spark?  Not only can exercise increase libido, it can affect your agility, flexibility, and stamina.  

• Having trouble carrying your grocery bags?  It's amazing how much exercise can build strength.  I used to have difficulty lugging heavy, wet laundry up the stairs.  Now I'm surprised every time I pick up a new load... it isn't a challenge anymore.

You've probably already heard about much of this.  If you're not working out - unless you have a physical ailment preventing you - the real challenge of working out is probably how hard it is to get started, not to mention how hard it can be to keep it up.  Now, I can't drag you out the door and lug you to your gym (though your accountability buddy might have to sometimes.)  But I can give you several different tips and ideas for integrating activity into your life.  And I'll start with the biggest, most important tip I can share.

Make it fun.

The only way I can get myself - and keep myself - exercising is to do whatever I can to trick myself into thinking that I'm having a ball.

I'm lucky in that I live in Los Angeles, home of the world's foremost fun-maker of exercise: my (formerly imaginary and now very real) friend, Richard Simmons.




There he is, dressed as a fluffy yellow chick for his day-before-Easter "Hopping at the Disco" class.  And there I am, in my green tank top, behind his shoulder on the right.  I dare you not to smile at how cute this is.

And here we are again, on this week's episode of Khloe & Lamar.  My apologies for bringing the Kardashians into all of this, but it's kind of amusing to be in the background of a show on E! - since the only E! show we ever watch is The Soup, known for ragging on its own network.

I go to classes at Richard's gym, Slimmons, three times a week.  For 90 minutes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, I get to punch, kick, and scream... and get screamed at by a national icon.  (Screamed at with love, that is.)  If you're anywhere near Los Angeles, why aren't you working out here?  It's $12 per class (with some package deals that can discount the price), and every penny is worth it.  And, like I was saying yesterday, YOU are worth it.

Seriously. Grab a water bottle, a towel, some crazy gold lame leggings, and your sense of humor.  And come out and join us.  It's so entertaining that you forget you're working out, plus it will make you fierce, fit, fabulous.  And the crew of regulars are, bar none, the kindest and most supportive exercise pals you'll ever meet.  The positive attitude filters down from the top, and no one leaves a class without smiling... even if, as Richard threatens, you are so sore that you have to drive home with your lips.

(For full disclosure, you should know that I am a scholarship recipient to Slimmons, but they have in no way paid me to endorse the gym.  I just really love it.)

Richard's an expert at making a workout fun, so here are some tricks I've learned from him that you can use even if you're nowhere near Los Angeles.

• Work out with friends.  A room full of friends is great, but even just one helps ease the anxiety of crossing that gym threshold (or that door threshold!)  You'll have someone to check in with, someone to challenge you, someone to complain to when you don't feel like your arms can lift so much as a cereal bowl.  And someone to be accountable to - if you cancel an exercise date with yourself, it's just you in a little bubble.  If you cancel an exercise date with a friend, you'll let them down just as much as you're letting yourself down. 

• Shake it up.  You can't do just one kind of exercise and call it a day.  It gets boring, plus your body gets too used to it.  Do some aerobic exercise, but then move on to weights.  If you want to stay at home, free weights are a terrific way to gradually strengthen your arms and core.  Use the resistance of your own body to make it stronger - try crunches, push-ups, and bicycle kicks to challenge yourself in a new way.  Believe me, your body WILL respond to the challenges.

• Be patient with yourself.  It may be hard to do something at first.  I only made it through 20 minutes of my first Slimmons class before my heart was pounding, and I started to feel hot and nauseous.  The Slimmons team ushered me to a chair, where other chair-bound exercisers taught me how to do the workout seated.  Over the course of a month, I worked out standing as long as I could, and then I pushed myself while sitting.  And soon I was standing for full classes.  If you're just starting out, you have a long way to go.  It's not a race, so remember that and keep a close eye on how your heart and body responds.

• Turn up the tunes.  Nothing will get your legs moving quite like an awesome playlist.  Richard does a different theme class every Saturday, during which he plays a carefully-selected collection of music from a particular era, artist, or topic.  I've discovered that the oldies classes get my feet moving best, but others love the days with all new music.  Try on a bunch of different songs for size, and see what works for you.

• When all else fails, laugh. At those theme classes, Richard dresses up in a costume that reflects his music choices.  For the "sexy" Saturday, he was dressed as a sex kitten (cat ears and all.)  For "rock" Saturday, he was in full KISS makeup and gear.  He's forever trying to make us all laugh, and when I don't think I can lift my knees or do another crunch, he makes some joke that has me in stitches, and forgetting how little I want to be doing these damn push-ups.

I try to shake it up between Slimmons classes, too.  I have been trying all different kinds of exercise, discovering the things I like best.  It's not hard to do a little research on classes, gyms, and other kinds of fitness.  I encourage you to vary your routine, so that you're always growing and never getting bored.

For instance... consider swimming!  Outside of Slimmons, it's my very favorite form of exercise.  Because of the water resistance, you can actually burn more calories while doing laps than almost any other form of exercise.  (Even running!)  Plus it's low-impact, so your joints will thank you for it.

Don't know where your nearest pool is?  Check out Swimmers Guide, a database of pools all over the world, including public parks and gyms.  This is an especially valuable tool for vacationers.

Swimming can be a little bit of a production, so I've created a shopping guide of my favorite products that help me "just keep swimming, just keep swimming."  All links are to Amazon listings; none of these companies have paid me to promote, they're my personal recommendations.

A - Staying underwater for prolonged periods of time can lead to a condition called Swimmer's Ear, an infection which, trust me, you do not want (and I did not enjoy.)  I prevent this when doing laps by wearing earplugs.  This pair from Speedo works quite well, and withstands the horrors of chlorine and ear wax.

B - Growing up, I always thought that swim caps prevented hair from getting wet, but in fact, they are there to protect the water from your hair (and your hair from your goggles.)  Before getting a cap, I frequently had strand breakage right along my goggle line, so now I always wear one of these stretchy lycra Speedo swim caps.

C- Gym showers - even in our uber-clean Hollywood YMCA - are not my favorite, but they're a necessary evil.  To prevent any hitchhiking fungus, I recommend purchasing a gym-only pair of flip-flops to keep in your gym bag.  My favorite pair is by Havianias: comfortable, washable, and they've lasted me for five years with heavy use!

D - Since I posted about it a few weeks ago, I've been swimming with the Speedo snorkel and I LOVE it! If you have any trouble breathing, or wish to focus on your stroke instead of breaking for breath, I highly recommend trying it out.

 E - It's important to track your fitness so you understand how much energy you've spent, and so that you can gauge how much stronger you're becoming.  While in the pool, I use a lap-counting ring, by SportCount, to count my laps. It is really easy to use, and works well underwater. Adjustable, too.

F - The swim aftermath products are as important as the during-swim ones.  Chlorine can build up quickly in hair.  It's important to cleanse it thoroughly with a chlorine-neutralizing shampoo, so you can avoid brittle (and green!) strands.  I've been using Barracuda's Aquia Swim Shampoo-Conditioner to help rid me of chlorine - so far, so good.  (UltraSwim works too.)

G - Finally, a even a little swimming without proper moisturizing will likely turn you into an alligator.   Origins' grapefruit Gloomaway lotion is what I use to rehydrate my skin.  I rarely ever get dry skin unless chlorine is involved, and this always does the trick.  It's very creamy, and the fresh citrus scent helps combat the eau de pool that is otherwise my new signature fragrance.

I hope that this guide will help move you towards movin' it.  You owe it to yourself... to the little you who couldn't wait to be a grown-up.  To the elderly you, who needs you to get strong now, and stay strong for the future.  And you can do it.

That's it for today, but be sure to come back tomorrow for some fun with food.  Your mom may have told you not to play with it... but it turns out that's the best way to have a healthy relationship with it!

Until then, keep taking care of you and have an excellent day.

Friend Makin' Monday, plus: the art of balance

I was having such trouble with motivation and balance yesterday.  I'll tell you all about it, but first, it's Friend Makin' Monday so I have some questions to answer!

FMM: Describe Your Dream Mate

My dream mate is kind.  He is gentle and loving to animals and in-laws.  He knows when something is going to make you sad, even before you do.  He comforts you when it does.  He's honest to everyone he meets, and loyal to everyone he loves.

My dream mate is supportive.  He is a cheerleader when you're winning, and especially when you feel like you're going to fail.  He goes with you to exercise classes, even when he's feeling shy.  He is behind you 100% when you're working on yourself, and does nothing to sabotage your good work.  And when you want to sabotage your own good work, he doesn't criticize.  He doesn't ignore your pain.  He takes you in his arms, and he dances with you.  He just dances with you.

My dream mate is funny.  He may be quiet in crowds, but when he does speak up, it is always something that makes people laugh.  And they rarely see it coming.

My dream mate is smart.  He has a good understanding of the world and how it works, he follows the news, he reads, he absorbs facts like a sponge, which makes him a formidable competitor at any trivia game.  He remembers telephone numbers (as I do not.)

My dream mate likes pretty much exactly what I like, when it comes to movies or hobbies or people or design.  Maybe there's a few differences thrown in for good measure.  There has to be something to debate, after all.

And I'll admit that the description of my dream mate might make you might laugh, and tell me he doesn't exist, and that it's very unlikely I'd ever be lucky enough to meet him if he did.  But you'd be wrong on both counts.  I was surprised that he existed, too.  So I married him.

***

On to balance and motivation, and a challenging day yesterday.

As has been the case since January, I was happy to do everything related to my weight loss journey.  Plan food for the week? Check.  Eat planned food for the day? Check.  Go to the gym? Check.  Blog about weight loss journey? Check.

But as has been the case since January, being so successful with my health has caused the balance to shift.  Everything that I used to do easily (while I avoided taking care of myself) is like pulling teeth now that I'm focusing on my health.  So when it came to anything else yesterday... dishes, laundry, journaling, bill-paying, writing, meditation... you name it, I tried to shirk out of it.  Successfully.  Just before our planned departure time for the gym, I was in pieces. And in tears.  There's so much that I want out of life.  And so much of it starts with these little tasks that I sometimes struggle with.  Writing leads to career.  Bill-paying leads to house-buying.  Laundry leads to looking cute, putting your best foot forward, and not smelling.  Doing dishes leads to avoiding bug infestation, and we ALL appreciate that.

I urgently want the career, the house, the peace of mind. (And following that, the other, more unspoken desire: the kid I can't afford in LA without those things.) So why is it so damned hard sometimes?

Before Tom lovingly nudged the gym bag into my hands, I posted one sentence on Facebook:

"I used to do everything but take care of myself.  Now I work hard to take care of myself, but everything else feels like a struggle.  Will I ever be able to balance?"

When I got back from my swim (and since then) I've received such insightful replies that I wanted to share some of them with you, here.  Because so many people seek balance and it may well be the eternal struggle.  For your inspiration, here are some of my friends' thoughts on balance:

Erica says: "I think there will be a point where balance is found... but it takes time and practice, just like living healthier."

Lisa says:  "I always think of balance as a pendulum on a string.  It gets pulled too hard in one direction, it has to swing back and forth to achieve balance again.  But it always swings by balance on the way back and forth, so you can at least keep your eye on it and know where it is."

Cynthia says:  "In dance, balance is something that is always - slightly - maintained, but is the place you start from, again and again, only to move beyond the point of being centered.  Getting back there, that is where the struggle is, that is where life is lived.  Rejoice in the act of coming to center and bursting forth."

Today the pendulum has been heading back to center again.  I'm waving at it as I pass by.  I rejoice as I burst forth.