Turns Out, Chicken Isn't So Good After All

Last spring I went through a couple weeks where I gave up all meat with the exception of seafood. I don't eat a lot of meat to begin with. Often I can go a day or two before I realize I haven't had any. I admit that I felt better, from both a health and a moral perspective. And yet, I've never been inclined to give it up 100%. But I was reading some new research that might encourage me to cut even more from the carnivore side of my diet. A new study shows that the link between consuming meat and gaining weight remains strong - for those who consume red meat AND white meat. In fact, people gained about 4 more pounds over a five-year period for every extra 250 grams of meat they ate daily.

Read the whole study on NPR at:
Eating More Meat, White Or Red, Is Bad For The Waistline

The Perfect Body?

We are inundated with images of the "perfect" body type and quite frankly, I'm sick of it. Every time I lose a pound or two I'm excited that I'm one step closer to my ideal. But what is my ideal? I keep saying I want to be thinner, fitter, healthier, but how will I know when I've reached it? It seems like once I've had a taste for a smaller waist (I'm just starting to fit into a smaller size now) I start changing my goal to something bigger. I haven't been a single-digit clothing size for as long as I can remember. One of my goals is to get into an 8 and stay there. But then I start wondering if I should aim for a 6 or a 4. The truth is, I can't even imagine I'd look anything like myself at that size, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

As I flip through the images of women in magazines and catalogs, I find myself gravitating toward the athletic, muscular woman. But even in the era of Michelle Obama arms, we see these images of the strong woman too infrequently. I think this is why I was startled to see the image I included in this post. It's an ad for a Marc Jacobs bathing suit. The tiny arms, the rib cage, even the awkward pose sums up everything wrong with the "ideal" woman. If this is what we're faced with by simply skimming a catalog, how will we ever be satisfied with who we are?

Tracy Anderson Method

I have become minorly obsessed with Tracy Anderson. I mean seriously, look at this photo. These are some serious abs. Tracy Anderson is the woman responsible for keeping Gwynth Paltrow and Maddona in shape. Now, I understand that these women have the money and time to have whatever body they like, but I was still intrigued. I've googled her, read her Web site top to bottom and watched nearly every YouTube video I could find. I decided to give it a shot. I've ordered her mat workout (which I hear will kick my ass) and this morning I tried her treadmill workout. Thanks to some nice woman on Facebook, I was able to get the full webisode of the workout. I'm sure I made a fool of myself at the gym, but let me tell you, after just a few minutes my heart rate spiked and the sweat started running. She said to start with 15 minutes (which I did, with some tiny breaks) and eventually build up to 40 minutes. It's also going to take me some time feel confident enough to let go of the treadmill during the sashays without flying off the back into some unsuspecting bike rider behind me. If you're looking to mix up your workout, give it a try! Just let go of any misgivings of how you might look if you're in public.

Time for Ourselves

I realized it's been a month (OK, a month and a day) since I last posted. That's a long time! Why did it take me so long? Well, life seems to get in the way. It's a pathetic excuse, but one we all seem to return to time and time again. I work full-time, I work part-time, and I'm a graduate student. I also work with a local high school, signed up to work with a community garden and have a  house to manage by myself. It's a recipe for tight schedules, sleepy mornings, and evenings of falling asleep on the couch.

But I think I'm not alone in saying that when time is limited, one of the first things we (especially women) do is neglect the things that are good for us. How many times have you sacrificed your personal health and well-being for the sake of others or other commitments? The first things I scratch from my schedule are exercise, sleep and proper eating. I can't remember the last time I took a proper trip to the grocery store. Instead, I eat on the fly, or I rely on the food that magically appears in front of me - breakfast treats at work, candy in a colleagues desk. But I allow that to seep into everything I do. It becomes a slippery slope. This week I've had french fries twice and a bag of potato chips - two things I'm not even very fond of!

Today is the start of a long holiday weekend and now that I have a few days to myself I'm starting to regroup and hope I haven't done too much damage. The good thing to remember when it comes to weight loss is that anything you've put back on, you can take back off again. Any wrong can be undone. The trick is that once you get off track, you can make the very next choice the right one. I went to the gym today and I've only gained two pounds (despite the tacos I had for lunch). It's a gradual process, but I'm going to use the Memorial Day weekend to get back on track.

A Fitness Bucket List

On Sunday morning I could hear my phone chime from far beneath the covers. It was 8 a.m. and my friend Katie was letting me know that she and her husband John were en route to the start of the St. Luke's Half-Marathon, in which John would be running. The start line was a block from my house, and for the past 30 minutes I had been trying to ignore the bubbly voices streaming past my bedroom window. I agreed to meet Katie - after a big cup of coffee - at the finish line.

Once upon a time, I ran my first 5k at this very race. After taking a "Beginning Running" class (yes, we all have to start somewhere) I signed up. I tackled a few more, but never hit my stride, excuse the pun. The races provided good motivation for me, not because I wanted to break a PR, but because I simply wanted to cross the finish line, and to do so I had to log the hours in training.

A few years ago I was even inspired to walk a full marathon. I coaxed my friend Leah into joining me and the two of us trained by walking hours on end. We finished the Hartford Marathon in just over 7 hours and it's safe to say I will never, ever walk (nor run) another marathon in this lifetime. I was frustrated that I didn't lose weight during the training process, but I did gain strength and endurance. It also gave me the chance to get to know Leah much better. Walking 10 or 15 miles at a stretch gives you the time to talk that you can never quite do over the occasional lunch or happy hour. I'm sure she was cursing me under her breath on more than one occasion though!

Inspired by seeing John cross the finish line on Sunday, and hearing my friend Michelle recount her first-ever 5k, I began thinking about what comes next. Having a big goal helps motivate me and distract me from weight-loss tunnel vision. It's easier to think about a race than a scale. I started looking online for women's triathlons last night. This morning I checked my email and saw a message from Leah:

Subject: My Two Bucket List Goals for Fitness - Complete a Triathlon and Backpack a Section of the Appalachian trail - Want to join! 

What are the chances? So now I'm thinking, can I complete a triathlon? 

My Frenemy the Scale

I got on the scale at the gym on Tuesday morning and I was down two pounds. Two pounds! Psychologically it gave me the mental boost I needed to bang out a good workout. Thursday morning I returned to the gym, got on the scale, and I gained five pounds. Five pounds?? WTF.

I couldn't help but feel deflated. When women get their period (as I had that Thursday) their body doesn't cooperate in more ways than one. According to Weight Watchers, the biggest culprit of weight gain during a menstrual cycle is water retention.  Read "Menstrual Cycle and Weight Gain." But they assure me that it's minor and temporary. I don't really consider five pounds minor when I'm knocking off a mere one to two pounds a week. Two things will help offset the water retention: lower your sodium intake and drink more fluids. I'll keep that in mind for next time.

This actually raises a bigger issue for me though. How often is too often to get on the scale? I struggle to resist the call of the scale when I walk into the gym. I want to know at any given time just how much weight I (hopefully) lost. But our bodies can fluctuate as much as three pounds a day. So, daily weigh-ins are a sure saboteur to any progress. I'm going to try to get on the scale once a week - the same day, the same time. And maybe next month at this time I avoid the scale altogether before it ends up mangled in the locker room trash.

The Losing Streak Starts Here

So this is what it's come to. I have been battling with weight issues since I landed in middle school, and now I'm resorting to some good old-fashion public humiliation to get myself on track. The truth is, I'm like so many other women who think about their body as many times a day as men think about sex. But at 34, I've reached a point in my life where it's no longer just about how I look, it's about how I feel (although I'd be lying if I said I didn't want the kick-ass body to go with the optimal health.)

Like countless other women, I've tried all the diets - with little to no success. Ok, no success. Weight Watchers, Atkins, The South Beach Diet, The Abs Diet - you name the food, I've either eaten it or given it up. This time, it's all me. It's my diet. I'm owning this weight loss and I'm not paying to have someone publicly weigh me or another book that collects dust on a shelf. And my hope is that others will help keep me on my toes.

I know what to do. No, honestly I do, I can prove it. Read Get on a Losing Streak and you'll wonder why the hell I can't practice what I preach. But I can, or at least I've convinced myself I can. And it all starts now. I don't plan on chronicling the ins and outs of my day. No one wants to read that. Instead, I'm going to cull all the information and recipes I pore through day after day in an effort to learn how to slowly, steadily, healthily lose the weight that's kept me from skinny jeans and a bikini for years.