The Truth and Nothing But the Truth

Last week as I was reading one of the many fitness magazines that I love to read, in an article about New Year’s resolutions, the writer recommended that we stop “Why-ning”, i.e. stop asking ourselves questions like, ‘Why don’t I have a better job?’, ‘Why isn’t this and that right about my life?’ etc. Actually, when it comes to moving forward to a healthy lifestyle, I would encourage us to go right ahead and ask the Why questions, as long as we are truthful in our answers:

QUESTION: Why is it that I STILL don’t have a regular exercise regimen?
Truthful answer: Because I’m lazy.

I know that was painful, and you are just about ready to exit out of this blog, but let’s be honest with ourselves. Men, you are more selfish than women and you know it. Anything you want to do, you do it. Women, not only are we masters at multi-tasking (which I have decided is more of a curse than a blessing….more on that next time…), but in general, if there is something we want to do, no matter what the circumstances are, we will FIND a way to do it. It doesn’t matter what or who we have to move around, re-adjust, or re-schedule, we will find a way to do what’s important to us.

QUESTION: Why don’t I eat more fruits and vegetables?
Truthful answer: I choose convenience rather than quality.

Whether it’s because of convenience or unwillingness to cook, be honest; you are making a choice. If we are not careful, not only will our fast paced society keep us from missing out on what’s really important in our lives (God, family, relationships, giving back), it may also prevent us from taking the time to eat healthy.

QUESTION: Why do I gain the weight back as soon as I lose it?
Truthful answer: I continue to go on diets. I refuse to make lifestyle changes.

Diets don’t work. But, you already know that, don't you?

QUESTION: I know what to do to lose weight and be healthy and fit, so why won’t I just do it?
Truthful answer: I want a quick fix; I want it to be easy AND I still want to be able to eat any and every thing I want.

Now what did our mothers always tell us? Anything of value is worth working for……it takes hard work for long lasting results…..if you don’t work for it you won’t appreciate it……if it happens over night it won’t last a lifetime…Well, our mothers were right!

Here’s an idea: Instead of not being totally honest with ourselves and making New Year’s Resolutions that we won’t keep, why don’t we simply choose to apply what we already know?! “The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9

What a concept!!!

Have a Happy Healthy New Year!

What's Your Motivation?

Today, I bought a pair of blue jeans for myself for the first time in ....Hmm....maybe 10-15 years. (The one pair that I do own is about two sizes two big and though very comfortable, look simply dreadful. My 14 year-old son loathes them.) Family members made sure I did not go alone as my sister insisted that she accompany me to the store, and before realizing this my other sister volunteered to provide her assistance. My nephew and his wife teased me as I walked in front of them in my new jeans. I blushed. My nephew said, "Hey, you work out all the time; you eat right every day; you deserve to look good in some nice jeans." Though looking good in a pair of jeans is obviously not my motivation for eating right and exercising -since I have not bought any in over 10 years - it helps to have a good reason (or reasons) to motivate us to be healthy and fit for the rest of our lives (not just for a season). Trying to fit into a dress is not motivating enough for good habits to become a lifestyle. Looking good for hubbie won't last forever if you yourself don't want to make the changes. Perhaps your motivation is that you want to do what you can to add longevity to your life. Perhaps, while you are living, you might as well be healthy. Perhaps, you have children, or grandchildren, or god-children that you need to be a good example for. Perhaps, you are determined to break the chain of disease that seems to run in your family, that can be controlled by eating healthy and exercising consistently. Perhaps, physically, your life really does depend on you being healthy. Perhaps, our motivation should be that because the Lord has blessed us with such awesome physical bodies, the least we can do is whatever it takes, to take care of them. Perhaps your motivation is that you are just sick and tired of being sick and tired.

So, what's your motivation?

Hmm....these jeans actually do feel kind of comfortable...who knew?!....:)

They're Here!

The holidays are here! So, how can we make it to January 2nd without seeing more of ourselves in the mirror than we do now?

• HOLIDAYS are here; not HOLIWEEKS; not HOLIMONTHS! For the next several ‘weeks’, do not give yourself license to forgo the healthy eating principles you have acquired. Thanksgiving is a holiDAY! Christmas is a holiDAY! New Year’s day is a holiDAY! If there are any other days in the next upcoming weeks where you will find yourself surrounded by LOTS of food, remember they are just that: days! When that ‘day ‘ is over get right back on track with your healthy eating and exercising.
  
• GIVE AWAY THE LEFTOVERS. When the meal is at your house, tell folks to bring their containers so they can take all of the leftovers of the food you don't need right back out the door with them!
• DO NOT DEPRIVE YOURSELF. When we deprive ourselves of something we really, really want, we often overindulge on something else, or finally have what we really want along with what we did not really want. Enjoy what you want but use portion control, and try not to eat as much as you would have in the past.
  
• KEEP MOVING! Perhaps you will want to give your regular exercise regimen a hiatus for a few days during the upcoming weeks, but you can still keep moving. Keep taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Keep parking far as you can from the store entrance. Keep making LOTS of trips to the mail room or copy machine. Keep walking the long way to the post office or neighborhood market. Keep moving!
  
• BE PREPARED ON YOUR JOB. From chocolate candies, to muffin baskets, to potlucks, to gift exchange celebrations, you name it! Take your own healthy snacks to work with you. You may still want to indulge on the holiday delicacy, but if you have your own snack you will have options.
  
• THE ALL YOU CAN EAT HOLIDAY BUFFET. 1) Don’t hang out at the food table. 2) Drink water the entire time. 3) Choose lots of fruits and veggies. 4) Beware of dishes cooked in sauces and creams. 5) Choose lean meats. 6) Have your favorite dish, just don’t have so much of it! 7) Chew slowly! 8) Exercise the one plate rule: pile it high with whatever you want but never go back to the buffet!
  
• TAKE YOUR OWN. Who cares what your family members say?! You can’t control what others will bring but you can control what you bring to the family gathering.
  
• FOCUS ON FAMILY, NOT FOOD. Enjoy each other. Play games. Tell stories. Look at pictures. Play outside together! Create memories!
  
• TAKE A BRISK WALK THE MORNING OF THE EVENT, OR THE EVENING OF THE EVENT, AFTER THE MEAL.
  
• THE NEXT MEAL YOU CAN START ALL OVER. Too often we say, ‘Oh, well, since I have overeaten at lunch, there goes the rest of the day.’ WRONG! You can make a different choice. Choose to get back on track at dinner; don’t wait until the next day!
  
• TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY. If you do choose to wait until the next day to get back on track, rather than the next meal, that’s fine too! Just don’t put it off until the next week! Tomorrow means the next day!
• STEP AWAY FROM THE FOOD COURT ! If you must eat at the food court while shopping, 1) try the kid's meal, 2) eat before you go to the mall, 3) don't have lots of cash on you, 4) put a 100 calorie snack in your purse to have to eat first so you won't eat so much.
  
• FAST FORWARD. Imagine how you will look and feel if you gain weight between now and January 2nd. Picture yourself on that morning as you stand before the mirror, or struggle with your zipper on a pair of pants that fit fine in November. Not a pretty sight is it?
  
  Enjoy your holidays! They're here!
  

21 Days - PLUS!

They say it takes 21 days to create or break a habit. Hmmm.....well, I have not had chips of any kind for over 21 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, No......maybe you don't understand!!! I - ME - MOI - Dale W. Hill - the I-don't-need-dip-just-give-me-the-chips, if-there's-chips-at-an-event-that's-where-you'll-find-me...THAT Dale! I love chips - this includes Doritos, pretzels, Tostitos, baked chips, soy chips, flax chips, blue chips, veggie chips - ANY KIND OF CHIPS! But, again, I repeat, I have not had any chips of any kind for over 21 days. HALLELUJAH! The decision to do such a thing resulted from a conversation that went kind of like this:
Self: Maybe I should just stop eating chips altogether.
Old self: Yeah, RIGHT! SIKE!!! Don't be unrealistic!
Self: But it appears that I cannot control myself when I eat chips...even the ones that aren't that bad for you like the baked ones or the flax ones or veggie ones - over eating is still over eating. Healthy chips or not, I just lose control!
Old self: Who do you think you're talking to?! Hello! You love chips! You serve them at your house OFTEN when you have fellowships in your house OFTEN! YOU buy the chips! No one asks you to! YOU buy them! You love them! AND, your husband buys them a LOT! They're in your house weekly! I think you're really going over board with this 'healthy' thing if you think you should stop eating one of your favorite snacks. You're always telling people to be realistic, and to be balanced.....a few chips every once in a while are not going to hurt you.
Self: That's just it! I can't eat a few! I can't eat just 10! I can't eat just 20! Then, afterwards I feel bad physically because of over-eating, and emotionally because I feel guilty!
Old Self: So, what are you going to do?! You're just going to stop eating chips - just like that!? Cold turkey?!
Self: I did it with pork and beef in 1981! You know how I grew up loving bacon, pork chops, barebecue ribs, sausage, etc, but in 1981 I gave it all up! ( NOTE: Though I still don't eat pork and beef, I no longer think that one needs to give up pork and beef to eat healthy...as long as you're eating lean choices of meat, NOT fried, NOT smothered, and NOT all of the time!)
Old self: That was different!
Self: Exactly! That was actually real food! ....a staple.....with vitamins and nutrients.....We're talking chips here! If I can replace pork and beef with soy and veggie products, surely I can replace chips! I don't NEED chips! They're not nutritious! Look, I can't control myself when I eat them and I don't like that....and when I lose control with the chips it just leads to other things that are not good for me.
Old self: So, how do you propose to do this?
Self: One day at at time....they say it takes 21 days to break or create a habit....If I can do it for 21 days then maybe I can do it for a lifetime! But, I'm no fool. I'll add a PLUS! I'll add a prayer, 'Lord, please take away the desire for chips from me."...just like I pray when I pray for people to stop smoking cigarettes; I ask the Lord to take away their desire for nicotine. Well, I KNOW the Lord is going to have to help me do this, so I'll pray this prayer all of time!

This 21 day experiment has been very interesting and fulfilling. There have been some tempting moments to say the least! The hardest one so far was one evening when I took my son to Subways and he got back in the car with his sandwich and some Doritos! Oh, my gosh! Doritos never smelled as good as they smelled that evening! Before I knew it, I said to him, "Give me one please" and my hand reached for his bag then out of nowhere I snatched my hand back and said, "No!...never mind......" That was close! So far, during this time, when my husband brings chips into the house, I put them away where I can't see them, and if I must, I leave the room while he is indulging. I believe I'll keep praying and keep going without chips. ( I included crackers too - Ritz, saltines, Cheese-its, Wheat-thins, veggie crackers.......I lose control when I eat them too.....and I also haven't had any of them in over 21 days.)

Perhaps you too need to create a new habit or break an old one. Give it a try. Give it 21 days with your own PLUS prayer! Maybe such a 21 day-Plus experiment like mine is a bit too drastic for you, but for me, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do - WITH God's help, that is. And honestly, I don't feel deprived or like I'm missing something, but like I said, I'm no fool!.....Thank goodness for the PLUS! "Cast ALL your care upon him, for he cares for you." I Peter 5:7

I've Found the Cure!

Accounting and Accountability!! I've found the cure!....I suppose 'found' is not exactly the appropriate word to use; more accurate would be 'rediscovered'. Not being able to run 20-25 miles per week for the past several months has really been difficult to adjust to - in more ways than one. I miss it, but not only that, it turns out, I was one of those persons that was allowing myself to eat foods that were not very nutritious because I decided all of my running would easily burn off any unwanted calories. Well, I've learned the hard way that for me personally, brisk power walking, riding my bike, nor doing the elliptical machine burns off as much calories as running does, and that discovery resulted in some extra unwanted pounds! For weeks, that woman in the mirror kept telling me she would start journaling but she lied. Journaling is a wonderful Weight Watchers tool that I love to hate! (Other weight loss programs also include this tool in their program but it's called by different names) Journaling (or tracking) requires one to write down what they eat each day. It's so tedious!!! But, this tool always keeps me on or puts me back on track because it makes me accountable and forces me to acknowledge what I'm eating - and NOT eating. Well, about a month ago, I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and asked someone to ask me the following week if I had journaled. I needed someone else to keep me accountable since that woman in the mirror would not. What a great week that was! Was it easy? No! But, boy it felt good getting back on track again. The woman I asked to help me, couldn't wait for me to walk in the door to see if I had been faithful. I proudly showed her my evidence and was looking forward to continuing to journal. I was beginning to get back into my zone again. And best of all, three weeks later of journaling daily I lost those unwanted pounds! This cure can work for you too! I choose Weight Watchers to help me maintain my weight loss, but you don't have to! Perhaps counting calories works best for you. Whatever works, start keeping some kind of food journal each day - the accounting - and ask someone to ask you if you did so a week later - the accountability.

Don't trust the woman in your mirror. I have a feeling your mirror and my mirror know each other!

Death By Helmet

I can just see the look on the medical examiner's face as he writes on his certificate, "Death by Helmet". Surely he would wonder, what would cause this woman to strap on her helmet so tightly that it would take the breath out of her? Couldn't she tell it was too tight? Wasn't she uncomfortable? Who would tell him that she missed running so much that she was desperate to get any kind of cardio work-out she could and since riding her bike did not hurt her foot/ankle, she was DESPERATE to ride no matter what! How would the investigators be able to figure out and tell her loving family, Reuben, Erin and Reub that apparently the rollers in her hair that she had to use because of the new hairstyle she got over the weekend, were really too high for the helmet but she forced the helmet on any way, snapped it closed, and rode for 30 minutes in spite of the trouble that she must have had breathing. At least she went doing what she loved, he'll add to his report, and surely he'll think he's seen it all now. Hmmm...."Death By Helmet".

O.K. Now that we're finished laughing, let's all learn from this. Let's not be so determined to eat right or exercise that we make unwise - O.K....down right stupid - choices. It really was hard to breathe this morning with that helmet snapped so tight on my neck, but I was too stubborn! I was too determined! I had to be that good example! I was going to get my 30 minute work-out no matter what! (O.K...I said you can stop laughing now.) I finally went to see a physician about my ankle/foot last week and he wants to have an MRI done to see what's wrong because the X-rays did not show anything conclusive. It's times like this when I realize that exercise is not enough. This lifestyle of being fit must include both exercise and eating healthy. I enjoy running, Yes, I really do, because of the wonderful feeling I get when I run, but also because running burns LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of calories! ....way-ay-ay more than riding my bike! So, without being able to burn as many calories as I usually do, then I really must eat right. And sometimes that's not so easy. So, we must be disciplined in both areas.

O.K. Really ...stop laughing.

It's a War!

As soon as I get home after work, the war is on! It seems like as soon as I walk in the house the 'eat the first thing in your sight' demons attack! It's got to be more than one because I am often so helpless with seemingly no defense! Somehow they know I didn't eat a healthy lunch. Somehow they know even though I'm hungry I really don't want to wait until I cook to eat something. Somehow they know that I was fasting until a certain time of the day and on quite a wonderful spiritual high but now things are different and I may be a little weak! Somehow they know snacking is my greatest weakness and if they get me quick they've got me for the rest of the evening. Somehow they know I've used so much discipline with my eating earlier in the day that by the time I get home I can't take it any more - I need a snack!!! IT'S A WAR I TELL YOU!! IT'S A WAR!

So, what do I do? Sometimes I just lose it. Sometimes I give into the temptations, snack on whatever I can get my hands on BEFORE dinner and my evening is ruined. And, of course I feel so guilty. It's awful. The next morning I start all over again with a new determination, (and begging the Lord for help in my prayers), to do better at eating healthy ALL DAY - not just until 6pm. Sometimes I eat dinner - if it's leftovers - AS SOON as I walk in the door before my hands can grab anything else! Sometimes I grab a piece of fruit - if I have to cook - to help me until dinner gets done. Sometimes I'll prepare some 94% fat free microwave popcorn just before I leave work and eat it in the car on my way home to keep me from wanting to snack when I arrive. Sometimes, as I drive home, I repeat my health affirmations that I've already said in the morning: 1- I am healthy and fit. 2- I do not want to snack tonight because I am not a snacker!!!; and, 3- I do want to eat a healthy dinner. I DO! I REALLY DO! HELP ME JESUS!!!

I believe we all have an area - or two - that we feel like we're in a war, with regard to our goal of being healthy and fit. To overcome them. let's first of all acknowledge them, then determine strategies to be victorious. And, let's remember, "A person without self-control is like a city with broken down walls" (Proverbs 25:28) And, "Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city." (Proverbs 16:32) OUCH!!!! THAT REALLY HURT!!!