Summer plans

I hope everyone is doing well!  I just wanted to update you all on what's been happening here and hope your plans for positive changes are going well.

I just recently finished my third week of a class teaching me to become a wellness coach.  This system is phone and web based so I can support clients from anywhere.  I am so very excited to be able to work one on one with people again, I can barely contain myself!  I'm learning a lot about how to take my knowledge and make it palatable.  No one wants to be lectured about what they should and shouldn't do, eat, live like, etc.  Rather, I'm learning valuable skills to help me coach people to make the changes they want to make when they are ready to do so.  I hope to be able to work with some of you one on one. 

We finally planted a full garden and I can't wait to see what comes up.  Summer is coming close and my work schedule is easing up for the season.  I love this time of year!  Talk to you all soon!!

Home Stretch!

Well all, I'm in the home stretch!  Down 14.5 pounds as of this morning.  Back into my old jeans (they're not my "skinny" ones yet :)), and feeling great.  I have more energy than I have in a long time and I feel like I'm reconnecting with my body and it's rewarding me for listening in!  I want to talk a bit about choosing diet plans, cleanses, purification programs and systems, etc. but that's for a later date.  Right now, I'm just going to talk about the one I did choose and why it's working for me.

I am an eater.  I LOVE TO EAT!  I love cooking.  When my Bon Appetit comes in the mail, I sit down and study it nearly as much as I do my Bible.  So to cut out food completely, starve myself and go into a basic catatonic state was totally out of the question for me.  I'm sorry, I don't think the body likes that no matter what your goal.  SO, I found this program that is set up as follows: 21 days total.  The first 10 days is nothing but fruit, twice as many vegetables, 1/2 cup of brown rice and one cup of lentils per day.  On day 11 you can add lean chicken or fish.  I thought it would be horrible, rigorous and I would always be starving and dying to chow on some chocolate cake.  But much to my surprise, it was just fine!  The company that puts it together also sells some cleansing tablets and some specially formulated protein powder to help support the body through it, but just think about it.  If you eat like this, you're going to drop some serious pounds.  And I have!  If you would like more details regarding the plan, please email me or send me a private message on Facebook. 

Let me know your thoughts!  Have you ever done a cleanse?  How did you feel?  Did the results last?  Until next time... :D

Support Group :)

Ok, all!  I've decided to crack down on my eating.  I found this 21 day program that I think it actually reasonable and it's designed as a purification for the body.  I get unlimited fruits and veggies, protein powder twice a day (I'm thinking fruit smoothies!!) and a limited amount of brown rice and lentils.  This goes 10 days, then I can add lean protein like chicken or fish.  Reasonable, right?!  I can do it, right?!  Results forthcoming.  :)

I may be on here journaling my emotions over the course of the program, so send positive thoughts my way!!

The Fuss About Fiber

I recently got a question from a loyal follower (thank you!!! :)) regarding fiber.  There has been a big push in the food advertising industry to discuss fiber content of products.  So what is fiber?  Why is it important for a well balanced diet?  And does the source of the fiber matter?

Fiber is the structural parts of plants and therefore is found in everything that comes out of the ground: vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains.  There are two general categories: soluble and insoluble.  Without getting too science-y, I'm going to briefly discuss the differences in the two types as well as what it means for your body. 

Soluble
Soluble fibers are found in fruits, oats, barley and legumes.  These types of foods cause a delay in GI transit, delay glucose absorption and have been shown to lower blood cholesterol.

Insoluble
Insoluble fibers are found more in grains: wheat bran, whole wheat breads, cereals, and vegetables.  These fibers accelerate GI transit, slow starch hydrolysis, and delays glucose absorption.

Translation?

GI transit means the amount of time the bolus (equivalent of a grouping of food, e.g. a bite) remains in the digestive (gastrointestinal) tract.  Soluble fibers causing a delay in this transit will allow you to feel fuller longer, while insoluble fibers will promote healthy excretory patterns.

Glucose absorption refers to the time it takes for your food to affect your blood insulin levels.  The faster absorption occurs, the more disruptive of a spike and severe drop your metabolism will experience, resulting in extreme hunger, mood swings, etc.  The fact that both fiber types delay glucose absorption allow for a steady absorption of sugars into the bloodstream, facilitating an leveling affect.  This consistency allows for greater satiety (more about this in the next blog post), or satisfaction level.  The higher your satiety, the less you will eat.  Good right?

A couple of general things to remember:  the daily recommendation for fiber intake is 25-35 grams.  A nice large salad can provide up to half of your daily intake requirements.  Most fiber rich foods contain some of bothy types of fiber, so don't stress about getting enough of one particular type of food.  As will all of our dietary recommendations, just eating a wide variety of types and colors of food will most likely satisfy your dietary needs.  A good thing to keep in mind also is that most fiber supplements are not easily absorbed by your body.  SO, the very best way to get your fiber is a well balanced diet:)

That's all for today!

Exercise Like Snacking?

I read an article yesterday in my quarterly ACSM journal I thought would be worthy of sharing.  It mentioned that everyone, even regular exercisers, can still benefit from short intense bursts of exercise throughout the day.  So, I got to thinking about this and decided that maybe exercise is like snacking.  I eat three meals and two snacks per day.  The snacks are not my main course, but my body likes them to keep my metabolism running.  Also, they prevent me from overeating at any one meal. 

Applying this to exercise, your regularly scheduled exercise bout is the main course.  If you're anything like me, you tend to go a little crazy during this session because it's your only chance during the day to try to do something good for yourself.  However, if I incorporate exercise "snacks" throughout my day, this will also keep my metabolism revved, help to not have to kill myself during each workout, and keep me mindful all day long of opportunities to do something good for my body.  These "snacks" should not, of course, replace the main course, but they definitely can help.

A few years back, I would grit my teeth everytime I read an article about squeezing exercise into your day.  These touted the calorie burn of parking further away at the grocery store and taking the stairs at every opportunity.  This push to get people to think this was all they needed to do in order to get fit landed in disaster.  However, if we use the "meal-snack" analogy, these small bouts can enhance an already existing exercise program.

Can you make it a goal to find just three opportunities per day to "snack" on exercise?  If so, what are they?  Please share, either here or on our Facebook fan page!

Until next time...happy getting healthy! :)

HOT BY SUMMER 2011!

This year I am determined to rock a two piece (tasteful, of course :)).  So following my recovery, I've looked around and discovered I need to get my bod in shape!  Are you in the same boat?

Nearly every day I hear people saying weight loss isn't as easy as when they were younger.  I got to really thinking about this and think I might have some insight.  It's easy for us to blame hormones, medications and age, and granted, these do all play a role.  However, might it all be in our approach?  I remember simply cutting out soda for a week and dropping some pounds.  And when you're in your 20's it doesn't really matter so much.  But did I learn how to change my behavior?  Not in the least.  Once it was off, I could get away with going back to my old habits until they snuck up on me once again.  This mentality carries over into dieting.  Once we're successful, we lose our way once again.  Maybe our bodies are simply saying once and for all, "I'm sick of this!".  So how can we modify our behaviors for life in simple, permanent ways?

I'm going to give simple lifestyle tips from now until the beginning of summer to make easy edits in our lifestyles and way of thinking and hopefully these will become our healthy habits, fixtures of our lives.  So here are a few things to keep in mind along the way:

• Take your measurements now.  Bust, waist, hip, thigh, all at the biggest parts.  It may be brutal, but think of how awesome it will be to track over time. 
• Keep a food journal.  This is an absolute must for mindful eating.  Record everything.  Get a baseline for how many calories you are currently consuming per day by using free websites.  Just find your favorite one and get comfy.
• Be patient with yourself!  Permanent habits take time to develop.
• Give yourself a break.  Take one day per week to do something great for yourself.  Relax with a good book, take a nap, get a pedicure, etc.
• Remember that weight loss is a big giant math equation.  The more you consume, the more you have to burn in order to maintain your weight.  Be reasonable, of course, but thinking about it as a math problem takes some of the mystery away, doesn't it?  Refer to our "Discussion" tab on our Facebook Fan page to see how much you should be consuming per day.
• Don't obsess over the scale.  I always tell people to check in once a week.  Remember, muscle weighs more than fat, so the first 2-4 weeks of any program, your scale may go up before it goes down.  It's not just about the number.  It's about the journey.
• ALWAYS check with your health care provider to make sure you are healthy enough for any fitness and/or meal plan.  Consider any special needs in your daily intake of food, beverage, and activity modification.
• Find your support system.  Maybe it's here with this blog, maybe it's your significant other, child, workmates, etc.  Establish that NOW, and make sure you will be held accountable.
• Plan rewards that are not food related.  So many times when we have a great workout, we want to celebrate with that slab of cheesecake and 2 liter bottle of soda.  Think outside the box, plan your rewards ahead of time and make sure they are fitting in to your wholesome lifestyle and outlook.
• Set your long-term goal for 6/21/11 (first day of summer).  What does "HOT BY SUMMER" mean for you?  Now work to establish reasonable goals to get there.  Remember, healthy weight loss is generally 1-2 pounds per week, so don't create a plan that is not realistic.

Got it?  Sketch out the rough ideas of your goals, plans, and rewards, then talk about it on our Facebook page!  Ready, GO!!!

How a simple surgery almost killed me

Hello, everyone!  It's been a while since I've been able to blog on here.  This blog post is going to be deeply personal, but I feel very strongly that it is vital information that I need to disseminate to the best of my ability.  I am depending on each of you to pass along this information to anyone who is going to have orthopedic surgery, and female that is on oral contraceptives, or anyone that is otherwise at risk for blood clots.  I will talk about what these are and then give you my personal story. 

I used to think when I saw commercials listing blood clots as a risk that it was no big deal.  However, it is a huge deal.  I had orthopedic ankle surgery on July 22nd of this year.  Everything was going well, I was recovering well.  After a couple of cast changes, I got one that felt pretty tight.  I had calf cramping and decided to just rest up as much as I could.  After all, I had asked about the pain and was told it was normal.  So, day after day I just bummed around the house, spending most of my time alternating between the couch and the bed.  Finally, one Sunday I didn't get out of bed except to use the bathroom all day.  My husband was awesome, he brought me all my meals and doted on me hand and foot.  By Tuesday night I had finally had enough.  My foot was getting so discolored, it was gross and the pain was unbearable.  Wednesday I demanded a cast change and they begrudgingly did it, still telling me all my symptoms were normal.  Once the cast was cut, my leg felt like it was on fire, then my foot tingled for a good 5 minutes.  All the while, I'm reporting these symptoms to the cast tech, and he is not responding at all, just rewraps it.  I'm feeling better, my discoloration is down, cramping is fading away, I'm thinking problem solved.

That weekend, my husband I drove to see my aunt and uncle out of town.  Friday night when I went to bed, I felt super anxious.  I tossed and turned all night stressing over completely insignificant matters.  Looking back, I firmly believe I had what the American Red Cross calls a "sense of doom".  Many people experience such emotions prior to a major health complication.  Saturday morning, I wake up, hobble to the kitchen on my crutches to get some coffee and have extremely intense chest pain.  I sat down, used my inhaler and waited to see if the pain lessened.  It did.  Most of the day, I was symptom free.  Until about 3pm.  More intense pain, feeling as if I'm going to pass out.  Used the inhaler again.  Symptoms lessened, but I still had some chest pain.  After dinner, I was walking from the car back to my aunt and uncle's couch and I almost didn't make it.  I flopped down and put my head down, generally what would relieve symptoms of passing out as blood flow gets restored to the head, but that made it worse.  So I sat back up and asked my husband take me to urgent care, which he readily did.

Fortunately, at urgent care our doctor was awesome.  He said because I am young (it's relative :D) and healthy, the chances of it being anything serious are small but need to be further investigated.  He did not have the ability to do a CT Scan, so he wrote up a report and sent us to the closest Emergency Room.  I was seen right away there.  Once I was in a room in the ER, I got up to use the bathroom and my pulse shot up to 148 bpm and my blood pressure, which normally runs about 110/68 or so, was above the hypertensive threshold which is 140/90.  I don't recall exactly what it was, but that was when they told me I was no longer able to get out of bed.  A CT scan confirmed that I had one giant saddleback pulmonary embolism.  If it dislodged, I would die.  Two days later I learned that five out of six lobes of my lungs were either completely or partially blocked with clots.  At this point, I'm unsure if I have six separate clots, or just the way the one is sitting, caused all the blockage, but nonetheless, I had to rely on my body to do the right thing and get me through this. 

Three days on bedrest in the ICU followed.  Then an additional 5 days on the floor.  I was started right away on blood thinners, shots and tablets to try to dislodge the clots.  What felt like 100 tests were done to test my blood levels of the thinners daily, along with hematology panels to see if I had any clotting disorders that had previously gone undiagnosed.  The long and the short of it is there was nothing wrong with me.  Just a cast that was too tight and a voice that went unheard until it was almost too late.

I suppose the lesson I would love everyone to take home with them is this: when you see commercials for drugs that say "increased risk of blood clots", carefully think about all that entails.  Exercise regularly so that your veins can properly pump blood through rather than letting it pool.  When you have surgery, talk to your doctor about some of the signs and symptoms of blood clots, which is a very real risk post-operation when your body is already in a hyper healing state.  I found out later that orthopaedic surgeries commonly have clotting complications. 

And by all means, make your voice be heard.  You know your body better than anyone else.  If you have a legitimate concern: pain, discomfort, unusual fatigue, inability to go about your daily activities, make sure someone takes it seriously.  It could save your life.