The Pros and Cons of Wii Fit

Today I'm happy to host a regular reader of Healthy Writer, Sally Kilpatrick. Sally has guested with us before, and we're thrilled to have her back. Today's she's talking about the pros and cons of the Wii Fit. Welcome, Sally!

First and foremost, let me say thanks to the Healthy Writers for letting me blog today. I’m inspired by everyone’s journey and the great tales they tell, and I’m learning some great strategies as well.

I’m writing today because I finally succumbed to the hype and bought a Wii and then, in short order, the Wii Fit. I can’t tell you that I’m now fit enough to model for Victoria’s Secret, but I would also have to confess that I let my fitness goals slide in the spring as I finished up my Masters. I sometimes wonder if I wouldn’t be in worse shape without having had the Wii Fit to chastise me when I started getting too far out of line. Let me share with you what I’ve learned about it so far and then please chime in with questions and comments.

First the Cons:
• While some of the yoga and strength training activities are challenging, I can’t see getting a really, really good strength training session from the Wii Fit. Similarly, some of the cardio activities will cause you to break a sweat, but it’s nothing like a treadmill run or a stair climber binge.
• You have to turn the blessed thing on. Before I bought mine, I asked my best friend if she liked hers and/or found it effective. Her response? I suppose it would work if I used it. As in all things, discipline will be required.
• The electronic voices and trainers sometimes make me want to throw things at them. I suppose I’m better at suppressing the urge if it’s an actual human being who’s asking me to identify the reasons I’ve gained weight or who’s telling me I’m “a little shaky.”
• The suggested weights for women seem to be about right—the Wii Fit thinks a woman of my age (30-mumble, mumble) and my height (5’4”) should weigh 129, but the recommended weight for men seems to be skewed—163 for my husband who is 6’2” and has a large bone structure. Trust me when I tell you he would be way too skinny at that weight, and it’s not quite 30 pounds more than my recommended weight even though I’m much shorter than he is.

And the Pros:
• The Wii keeps up with your progress and throws electronic confetti when you reach a goal. Yay, positive reinforcement!
• As someone who had never done yoga before, I love the yoga program and now feel more confident about taking a class with the real people. The Wii Fit Plus “My Routine” is especially good for putting together a yoga program. You can also combine yoga and strength training.
• The aerobic activities as well as the Wii Sports package that generally comes with the Wii are a fun way to burn extra calories. (I love rhythm boxing, advanced step, and tennis.)
• Using the Wii Fit is a great way to supplement your regular routine and/or get a workout on a rainy day. When our treadmill died, my husband and I combined sets of stairs with Wii Fit activities, and it helped us break our respective plateaus.
• Some of the strength training exercises—particularly core ones like the traditional “plank” are quite grueling. And helpful. But mainly grueling.
• The Wii does help you with your form in yoga and strength training exercises as well as emphasizing posture and flexibility.

My conclusion?
I think Wii Fit works really well in tandem with an exercise routine that involves more vigorous cardio and strength training routines. I generally go to the gym proper on Monday and Wednesday and use the Wii Fit on Tuesdays and Thursdays—as long as that routine is going well, I see great results. I’ve also noticed recently that I do much better with smaller goals and more frequent “celebrations,” and the Wii Fit starts with two-week goals.
The Wii Fit might also be an excellent purchase for someone who is new to fitness and needs to work up to more strenuous exercises or for someone who either can’t pay a gym membership or who doesn’t live near a gym. Like anything else, some aspects would get boring, but the Wii Fit does offer a lot of variety.
Most importantly, the kids like to play balance games and do some of the aerobic activities so exercise becomes a family affair. We also like to play some of the Wii Sports games like tennis as a way to blow off steam or to burn a few extra calories if we splurge on dessert. Our newest obsession is the “Just Dance” game for Wii; trust me when I tell you MC Hammer will have you panting at the end of that dance routine. Of course, the kids have seen us fuss at our weight so much that my eight-year-old will say, “The Wii Fit is evil.” I don’t have the heart to tell him that it’s not the Wii’s fault that his mother has a chocolate addiction.

And now it’s your turn…
I’m looking forward to trying some of the Biggest Loser programs or the Jillian Michaels one. Does anyone want to share an experience with those programs or the Wii in general? Has anyone thrown something at the television because they stepped on the balance board and the voice said, “Oo” in that electronic mock-horror way only the Wii Fit can do? I’d love to hear your Wii Fit stories, and I’ll answer any of your questions that I can. Thanks again to all these lovely ladies, the Healthy Writers.

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Prey animals

My harshest editor weighs only 4.2 pounds. He waits for me each morning, eager to read over my shoulder. Occasionally he stomps the delete key, erasing whole paragraphs and forcing me to rethink a scene. A grumpy old man trapped in the body of a cuddly bunny, he always thinks I could do better, start earlier, and write more. Except for this Monday, when he wasn’t waiting, already annoyed at my lateness. Instead he sat on his litter box, lethargic and unwilling to move. I raced to the call the vet, frantic at what could happen.

For those of you that don’t know a rabbit intimately, here are a few common aliments and their outcomes:

Illness	Outcome
Pink eye	death
Diarrhea	death
Nose cold	death
Stomach upset	death
Torn Toe Nail	death

I’m exaggerating but only a little. Rabbits are prey animals. They make wonderful pets and great writing companions, but veterinary medicine can only do so much to extend their fragile lives.

Is your writing a prey animal? If you hit a stopping point in the middle of a new manuscript does the whole piece die? What if you turn out a clunky, poorly worded sentence, is that a cause for certain death?

Is your health a prey animal? If you find that running isn’t for you, does that mean you give up on all your plans to start exercising? If you can’t find a healthy breakfast do you kill the rest of the day by eating bad-for-you-food?

I can only do so much to keep my furry editor alive. Healthy food in the right amounts, a clean living environment, and lots of love will extend his natural lifetime from one year to ten times that amount. Thankfully, healthy writing doesn’t have short lifespan.

Writing can be made stronger, through classes and workshops, or just plain writing more. You can resurrect works that have lain nearly dead for years by getting a fresh pair of eyes to make suggestions. You may need to amputate bad scenes or even cut away everything but the healthy subplots, but there’s always something you can do.

You can do the same for your health by not letting yourself be stopped by little problems. It’s fun to daydream about how much weight you’ll lose and how fit you’ll look when you join a new gym, but don’t let those dreams go because the membership is too expensive. Don’t stop yourself from seeking out ways to get enough sleep, relax at the end of the day, or eat a healthy meal. Find ways around problems instead of giving into them.

As of Monday afternoon, my editor was waiting for our usual after-work rereading session. The tummy trouble brought on by indulging in sweets cleared up before his vet could work him into the schedule. I don’t know how many more mornings I’ll have with him, but I know I’ll work hard to make as many of them happen as I can, the same way I’ll work hard to keep my writing and my health.

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Losing It with Jillian

Losing It with Jillian debuted a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't get around to watching the debut episode until last night. I was curious how Jillian could inspire and instill necessary lessons with these families in just five days when it's a miraculous thing to do it in five months during The Biggest Loser.

In the first episode, she worked with the Mastropiestro family in Wilmington, Mass., one that was only weeks away from the daughter's wedding. They were also similar to many American families -- full of excuses why they couldn't exercise of lose weight. Well, you know Jillian. She doesn't like excuses and pretty much calls BS on them.

Jim, the dad, had gone through gastric bypass surgery, but he was still obese. He, and the rest of his family, pretty much ate until they went to bed at night.

Michelle, the daughter, had undergone the same surgery, and even though she was at a healthy weight, she hadn't dealt with the underlying issues that had made her overweight in the first place. She still felt like the fat girl inside and lived in fear that the previous overweight version of herself was going to return at any time.

Agnes, the mom, had gained and lost more than 100 pounds an amazing seven times! Her body fat percentage was a stunning 56 percent. When she and Jillian went for a walk to talk about why, a very old hurt came to the surface. She and her husband had lost a baby boy after only a month of life 22 years before. Jim had never been able to talk about the loss, and so Agnes had suffered and grieved alone for all those years. Jillian helped the family finally open up and talk about that loss. This part was hard to watch for me. Not only was it incredibly sad, but it hit home. My mother lost a boy, stillborn at 7 months, four years before I was born. I have never heard my dad talk about him, and to my knowledge he has never visited my brother's grave since my grandmother was buried beside him when I was 10. Like the Mastropietros, our family didn't talk about this or many other issues. But the thing is, when you don't talk about things that bother you, they fester like an untended wound. Like Jim said, "If you don't talk about things, it doesn't get easier."

Jillian, in true Jillian fashion, got the family exercising immediately. Within five minutes, Jim and Agnes were ready to quit. That's when Michelle and her brother, Michael, went off and yelled at their parents. When Agnes said she was trying to ride the bike, Jillian shot back that "trying is planning to fail." That's an interesting quote. Maybe I'll put it up somewhere I can see it. Maybe I'll put it next to the one by Yoda from Star Wars: "Do, or do not. There is no try."

Jillian was appropriately disgusted by the family's eating habits. Even though Michelle knew what she was cooking for her family (fried, greasy foods with not a green vegetable in sight) were bad for them, she did it anyway to make them happy. "I'm an enabler," she finally admitted.

If you're wondering if five days with Jillian made enough of a difference in the family's life, the answer is yes. Six weeks later, at Michelle's wedding, the family made an impressive showing. Jim had lost 48 pounds and 10 inches off his waist. Agnes had lost 34 pounds and looked lovely in her mother-of-the-bride dress, something she'd worried about six weeks before. Michael had lost 25 pounds. Michelle, who didn't need to lose weight, looked radiant and seemed happier than she had when she'd broken down in tears in the gym while talking to Jillian about the fat girl inside her that haunted her.

I didn't record the second episode last week, but I plan to watch it online soon and will start regularly recording the new episodes tonight. If anyone wants to watch, it's on at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central.

Has anyone watched the show yet? If so, what did you think?

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Back At It.

I've had one heckuva month. A major deadline, changes to a book the last week before it was due, the end of school, testing, a trip to Vegas, line edits, writing two short synopses for previous books, and a few dozen other things.

In other words life.

We all have it happen. It's a given that things are going to get crazy from time to time. That we'll have intense stress and demands on our energy.

I don't mind that. What I do mind is that I let it derail my awesome exercise progress. For over 100 days, I'd exercised 6 days a week for at least an hour a day. I'd kicked butt. I was in the groove and even more important, I was in the habit. I didn't even have to think twice about whether I'd workout, I just knew I would.

It was a great feeling.

I miss it.

Because I know darned well that when I get up today (its midnight as I write this, so it'll be later when I get up *g*) I'm not going to be in the habit. I won't recognize the groove. I won't want to exercise and will care less about how great it'll feel after I'm done. I'll look at the big pile of excuses (laundry, time with the kids after 16 nights of no kid time, cleaning the pantry, prepping the yard for the new patio, etc) and try and talk myself out of exercising. I know I will, even though I know I need to get back to it. Because, I swear, it's harder to get started than it is to keep going. It takes a good solid month before its not hard for me to convince myself to exercise.

I hate that. I'll do it anyway, but I know I'll be cussing at myself the entire time because I fell off the wagon and have to start all over.

How about you? Do you have any get-going-again tips? Do you find it harder to get started than to keep going?

Tawny Weber writes hot, spicy stories for Harlequin Blaze. In January 2010, her novella, YOU HAVE TO KISS A LOT OF FROGS, was out in the Blazing Bedtime Story anthology and her next full length Blaze,, RIDING THE WAVES, will be out in September 2010. Come by and visit her on the web at www.tawnyweber.com

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Falling down

I’m a runner. I’m not fast, nor graceful. I am not a thing of beauty and strength on two legs. I’m a runner who sometimes falls down. I have plenty of very good excuses why I fall, but that doesn’t stop it from happening.

You would think running is easy: left foot, right foot, repeat as necessary. But thanks to a stroke, my left foot often responds to the call to go forward by saying “Who me? Sure, yeah, I’ll get right on that…” And down I go.

The beauty of falling down often is that you learn it’s not something to be afraid of. It hurts, yes. You end up bloody and bruised, but the first steps up are the hardest. After that you’re mostly just embarrassed and a little ashamed you did something so silly. I learned that falls on concrete take longer to heal than falls on dirt, so I run in the woods.

There’s a tree along my route in the woods, one I used to hate but now I love. The tree stood as a marker. My first goal was running to the tree, then past the tree, and then to the tree, past the tree, and back to the tree. The tree talked trash to me in the beginning, long taunts of “You really think you’re going to make it? You’re already panting. I’ve stood here longer than you’ve been alive little girl. I’ve seen would-be runners come and go, and you’ll go. Trust me.” I cursed that tree for standing just ten feet away from where my breath ran out, just steps from where I had nothing left but acid in my veins and two collapsed lungs.

But after weeks that turned into months, a magical thing happened: I did run to the tree, past the tree, and back to the tree. Suddenly my tree was a symbol of what I had accomplished, a sentry standing firm over the spot where I proved I could do it. After that, the tree only told me good things, and when I fell it told me to get back up and try again.

My tree often repeats a Japanese proverb to me “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.” When it thinks I need it, it quotes Batman Begins “Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” When the winter ice makes it dangerous to visit my tree, I think about it missing me. As a writer I can be forgiven that flight of fantasy and I’ve often walked out to see that tree in snow and icy conditions when running is a very dumb idea, just to wrap my arms around it and remember how it felt to run to the tree, past the tree, and back.

Maybe you don’t fall down in the woods. Maybe it isn’t a tree that taunts you but a Big Mac. Maybe the voice inside your head belongs to someone who loved you but hurt you a little too. It doesn’t matter, falling down works the same way for everyone: it hurts but you get back up, brush yourself off, and start going again. You’ll probably limp for a few days. People will see your bruises and cringe. None of that matters. Fall down seven times, stand up eight.

In the mood to share? I’m always happy to hear about how someone picked themselves up from a spectacular fall.

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Y...M...C...A!

Now that I've got that Village People song in your heads (mwahaha!), I promised to tell you what I've been up to the past week, a new adventure. Yes, I joined the YMCA. A couple of weeks ago, I toured both a gym and the local YMCA to see what each could offer me in my journey to becoming healthier and more fit. Each had pros and cons.

The gym was pretty cheap as it was an express gym (aka no classes), had a racquetball court and a cardio gym (a bunch of treadmills in a movie theater). I liked some aspects, but I was bummed about them not having classes.

Just down the street was the local Y. Here, the down side was the monthly fee being three times as much as the gym. On the plus side, they have several different classes (Zumba, Pilates, yoga, step, spin, etc.) and a pool where I could take swimming lessons. Since one of my goals for the year is to learn how to swim and I felt that the other classes would really push me past what I'd do on my own, I sucked up the extra cost and went with the YMCA. Hopefully, I'll sell some books soon so I won't feel so guilty about the cost.

I joined the Y last Tuesday, and I jumped right in by going to a Zumba class. Ten minutes in, I thought I was going to die! I started doubting that automatic monthly charge on my credit card I'd just authorized. I was dripping sweat, my face was beat red every time I turned toward the wall of mirrors, and I felt like a goob because it seemed everyone else in the class knew all the steps. Thankfully, I'd parked myself in the far back corner. But I kept pushing myself, wanting to see how much of the one-hour class I could endure before I passed out. Halfway through, I'd already drained the bottle of water I'd brought with me and had formulated plans to bring a much bigger one the next time if I lived to see a next time. I can't tell you how many times I thought about quitting, but I didn't. I kept watching the steps the really-enthusiastic instructor was making and trying to copy them. Somehow, I was able to push myself all the way to the end. As I walked (teetered?) out of the room, a feeling of accomplishment swept over me. I'd just survived an hour of really intense cardio workout. I even followed it up with a few minutes on a treadmill. I read somewhere that a person can burn up to 600 calories an hour doing Zumba. Not sure what I burned, but I at least sweat off a couple of pounds.

The next day when I woke up, my first thought as I tried to get out of bed was, "OMG, what have I done to myself?" My muscles ached liked crazy. I thought I might take a day to recuperate. I'd earned it, right? No! That was the kind of thinking that had propelled me into Overweight Land. So I looked at the daily class schedule and forced myself to a yoga class. Once again, ten minutes in I was having big doubts. I'm not limber by any stretch of the imagination, and I was so tired. My arms and legs just simply wouldn't do what I wanted them to do sometimes. But, again, I gritted my teeth and powered through. The stretching even helped with the sore muscles I'd acquired the day before. The yoga instructor said something about a buildup of lactic acid from the Zumba workout. Part of this new YMCA experience is to try different classes and see what works for me and what doesn't. I don't think yoga class is for me. I may continue doing some of it at home, perhaps looking up yoga workouts online. But I'm not much for the "woowoo", touchy-feely aspect of the class setting. That's just me. I know lots of people love it.

I've made use of the 30-minute workout cafe, which is set up similar to Curves, the treadmills, the elliptical and a bike. Yesterday, I had my first consultation with one of the wellness staffers, who showed me how to use several pieces of weight equipment and created a beginning program for me with specific reps, sets and settings on the machines. I'll be doing the weight training three days a week and cardio five days a week.

After I mark a couple more things off my to-do list, I'll inquire about private adult swim lessons. I may brave contact lenses again for the first time in 20 years so I can actually see while I'm in the pool. And I'll have to face the horror that is bathing suit shopping. But I'm determined to finally conquer this crazy fear of putting my head below water.

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Exercise!

Today, I've got a few exercise-related tidbits for you:

1. Watch tomorrow for a post about my latest exercise adventure. I'll endeavor to be witty as well as inspiring. :)

2. Now that The Biggest Loser has wrapped another season, Wednesdays are getting a new look here at Healthy Writer beginning next week. Our newest blogger, Keri Mikulski, will be bringing us Workout Wednesdays to get us up and moving this summer. I'm excited to read her first post!

3. I've been in culling/cleaning mode lately, whether it be scrubbing the bathrooms or culling old, accumulated e-mails. Michelle has sent me links to many wonderful articles over the last several months, and I've saved them with the intention of reading them when I had some spare time. So yesterday, I took the time to read them. This article from the New York Times has some very interesting information about research into the psychological link to exercise.

4. Remember, tonight is the first episode of Losing It with Jillian. I'm going to check it out to see if it's helpful and/or inspiring for me personally.

5. It's the beginning of a new month. What goals do you have for this month -- writing and health/fitness? I want to complete revisions on a YA novel and get it to my agent. Exercise-wise, I want to work out for two hours a day at least five days a week and at least 30 minutes on the other two days each week. I want to try to drop 5 to 7 pounds this month. Ambitious, yes, but I've been stalled out for so long that I'm going to really try to up my efforts and urge my body into a different gear.

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Letting Go

At our blog we talk about being healthy and often focus on categories like healthy eating and healthy exercise. Today the most important categories for me are physical and mental health. Mentally, I’ve taken a beating this spring. On the one year anniversary of my mother-in-law’s death I buried my best friend from college. A few weeks later my grandmother passed away. Now, as if that stress weren’t enough, I’ve started a new day job and in another month I’ll be moving.

My physical health is better than it has been in some time. Healthy eating is suddenly a habit to me. I remember my vitamins on more days than I forget and I regularly get enough sleep. Thanks to Trish’s challenge I’ve had a streak of running every other day going since late March.

That streak ends tonight. Tonight, I’m choosing mental health over physical health. I made the same choice this morning when I put caffeine in my body. I normally avoid caffeine and high fructose corn syrup. I consider both of them to be about the same as alcohol and cigarettes. Still, today, dealing with all that stress, I know they’re the lesser of the evils in front of me.

There comes a time when you realize some transition, some battle is so hard you can let the other things go. You have a moment when you pray for strength to get through something or ask yourself if you really can do it. At that moment, when the darkness is so deep that you think dawn will never come, I urge you to focus on one promise, to focus yourself, and let the others go.

I’m not telling you that every torn-stocking-missed-the-bus-forgot-your-lunch bad day justifies going off your diet. I’m not giving you license to skip your writing goal for the day because your car broke down. I’m asking you to look at your circumstances and decide if this is a truly stressful time where doing things, even healthy things, will just make the situation worse. I’m giving you permission to take stock of the situation, evaluate your priorities, and say no to some things. Free yourself from guilt, set a date to come back to the habits you set aside, and move forward, focusing on what matters most. Sometimes you have to let go, let yourself drift, so you can come back stronger and better.

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It won’t kill you.

My father’s feet turned to clay when I was ten years old. Before then, he stood as a giant who protected me from everything. At 6’3” and 250 pounds, Dad held us up so we could reach the stars. But the year I turned ten Dad was diagnosed with diabetes. My invincible hero turned into a man with cautions attached to his life. The strongest caution accompanied food. I learned early in my Dad’s diagnosis that if he didn’t eat he would die. Being hungry would kill him. I internalized this message a bit too well, and never let myself go more than a few hours without food.

A funny thing happened when I was 29. I spent 24 hours without eating. It wasn’t by choice, there were other things on my mind at the time, not to mention doctors and nurses who ordered me to take only water. Not a single bite or drop of juice for 24 hours and somehow I survived. Since then I’ve disproven the lesson from my childhood over and over again. I’ve actually come to appreciate being a little hungry. It makes me savor my food, helps me look forward to it. Surprisingly, if I push away from the table still slightly hungry, I can go three or four hours before I need to eat again. I will admit to getting “hangry,” a word a friend made up meaning so hungry you’re angry at everyone, but I haven’t died yet.

Another unspoken family rule taught me that exercise wasn’t to be trusted. Exercise hurt. If you did too much, you would have a heart attack and die. If you escaped that fate you were sure to end up with injuries: torn ligaments, pulled muscles, and surely, broken bones. My Aunt who biked regularly had to have knee surgery. She became an example of why it was best to just avoid all of that danger.

I started running in my early twenties. I was (and am) super slow. In addition to surely dying, according to family and friends I risk a number of maladies every time I put on my sneakers: joint degeneration, back pain, knee problems, and (a personal favorite) any minute now my uterus is going to fall out. And yet, like being hungry, running hasn’t killed me. I’ve come to believe it won’t. I even own a t-shirt that says “Running won’t kill you. You’ll pass out first.”

Exercise makes me feel better. It clears up migraines before they really start. It soothes my moods and helps me form strong friendships with other runners. It teaches me that I can pick a goal and stick to it, no matter what. At the end of March Trish challenged us to set a goal and stick with it. I chose running every other day in preparation for a local 5K. In the month since then my grandmother died, I’ve dealt with job issues, and I had to revisit some old fears. Still I ran. Every other day, despite weather, exhaustion, and just plain lack of any desire to, I got out there. My 5K was the day after my grandmother’s burial. I ran. …and it didn’t kill me.

What lessons hold you back? If you took them out and looked at them, would they still be true? Are you willing to give up the security of those lessons to be healthy?

~~~

When she’s not cooking, buying, or dreaming about food, Rachel Kleinsorge writes steamy paranormal mystery romances. She is currently waiting for the call from her agent, the amazing Carolyn Grayson, while working on her next novel.

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But I'm So Busy!

April was insane for me. By the 30th, I had the partial for my March '11 Blaze due. I had the galley edits for my Sept. '10 Blaze due. And I had revisions and an epilogue for my Dec. '10 Blaze novella due. Just typing both exhausts me and makes me feel a little like I'm bragging, which I definitely don't mean to be! Don't get me wrong, this is a major dream come true. I'm ecstatic to have my contracts and the deadlines!

But when they hit like this, all at the same time, I stress hugely. And while I've got a solid handle on the stress eating (avoid it, ignore it, pretend strawberries are a wonderful substitute for chocolate), I don't have a good handle on the time factor.

And when I stress, I cocoon. Some people get a little manic. They clean, exercise, do tons of stuff. Me? I want to nap. I stare at the computer screen. I write words over and over and over, then delete them and wish I hadn't. I refuse to cut back on commitments to my kids or husband or house, because stress always brings out my inner SuperWoman urges. I write endless to-do lists.

What I don't do? I don't want to exercise. I seem to go into automatic "but I don't have enough time" mode and think of a million and twelve reasons to blow off exercising.

Exercise. You know, that stuff that releases stress. That energizes both the mind and body. That makes all those really cool hormones and endorphins and nifty things that would be soooo good for me. Those things that would, of course, make me stress less and help me achieve all my goals.

Nifty, huh? And my mind keeps trying to talk me into avoiding it. I, of course am doing my best to ignore my mind. So far, I'm doing pretty well. I've managed to keep my workouts to at least 5 days a week, even in high stress (6 is my norm). I'll admit, I'm exercising with a bit less intensity about half those days since I end up running at 9pm instead of 2pm like I'd prefer, but I'm still getting the run in, right? And I haven't given in to take a week off. All good.

So here's my question. When you get overwhelmed, is exercise --or writing-- the first thing to go on your to-do list? How often do you tell yourself you just don't have time? How often do you find yourself making excuses that you know are flimsy, to get out of exercising --or writing?



Tawny Weber writes hot, spicy stories for Harlequin Blaze. In January 2010, her novella, YOU HAVE TO KISS A LOT OF FROGS, was out in the Blazing Bedtime Story anthology and her next full length Blaze,, RIDING THE WAVES, will be out in September 2010. Come by and visit her on the web at www.tawnyweber.com

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Goodbye to another pound

I'm happy to report that despite a couple of slips in my willpower last week, the scale is still going the right direction overall. I got down to 162 at one point last week, but then I had a really bad calorie day and two more less-than-stellar ones. The lesson learned -- I can eat out once in a day and manage my calories, but twice makes it near impossible. Yesterday morning, I was sitting at 163.6, but at least that's a pound less than last Monday.

Someone asked last week what I'm eating to stay in my calorie count of 1,200 per day. Here's a sample from last Monday, one of the days when I stayed in the ballpark of 1,200:

Breakfast:
1 English muffin (120 calories)
1 T strawberry jam (50)

Lunch:
1/2 cold cut combo sandwich from Subway (440) -- You can't beat $5 for a foot-long sub that can feed you for two meals.

Snack:
Apple (100)

Dinner:
1/2 cup sloppy joe (200)
1 wheat sandwich thin (100)
1 cup vegetable pasta (189)
1/2 slice American cheese (35)

I drink only water, which has no calories. So the total calorie count for the day was 1,234, and I spent 2 hours working in the yard (mowing, constructing a rock garden around my mailbox, and trimming limbs off trees).

Some of the things I've learned:

1. I don't have to have a full slice of cheese on a sandwich. 1/2 to 3/4 of a slice is plenty, and an easy way to cut a few calories.

2. I love using the sandwich thins. I'm a big fan of sandwiches, and with these I can have the bread for only 100 calories.

3. Risotto is good, but horrible in the calorie department. Same with the oh-so-delicious rolls at Logan's Roadhouse. OMG, they're like 275 calories each.

4. Having a piece of fruit as a snack between lunch and dinner helps to satisfy my cravings for sweets and helps me not get so hungry before dinner, tempting me to overeat.

5. It's awesome that we're going into fresh produce season. Things like tomatoes and cucumbers and green beans have so few calories that they're good things to help fill me up without packing on a lot of calories (or pounds).

6. I've observed that I can have one higher-than-normal calorie day without seeing too much of an uptick in the scale numbers, but it's when that day becomes two or three that things start going the wrong direction.

7. Things I need to steer clear of: white bread, white rice, corn.

8. Sometimes fate seems to be steering me right when I veer off the path. Last week, I caved and went through the DQ drive-through to get a small Blizzard. When I took the first bite, it was filled with nuts even though a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard isn't supposed to contain nuts. In fact, the whole thing was filled with so many nuts that I couldn't eat it. I hate nuts! 600-calorie catastrophe averted.

What lessons have you learned on your fitness/weight loss journey? Has fate ever given you a helping hand?

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Progress So Far

Last Thursday, I really renewed my efforts to keep my calorie count in the 1,200 range and to up my exercise. I've discovered that on most days it's not going to be realistic to get in the ambitious four hours of exercise. That doesn't mean I won't shoot for that as often as possible, but I'm not going to berate myself unless I don't exercise at least for an hour every day. I've already lost more than a pound. At one point, I'd lost two but I had one day where the calorie count was closer to the 1,500 range and I wonder if that extra pound of loss was water that I later replenished.

Here's a look at the past few days:

Thursday, April 1:

Weighed in at 165.8
I got in my 4 hours of exercise with 1 hour of walking, 1 hour of house cleaning, 30 minutes of yard work, 30 minutes of stretching/weight lifting, and one hour of mowing.
1,079 calories (should have had around 100 more)

Friday, April 2:

1,242 calories
3 1/2 hours exercise (mowing, raking, house cleaning, biking, walking, using the stretch band, and step aerobics)

Saturday, April 3:

This was my off day with 1,495 calories and only one hour of walking. I did make myself walk though even though all the exercise of the past couple of days had me aching.

Sunday, April 4:

I got my calories back in the right range with 1,153. I could have had a bit more, but I didn't want to eat too late. Only 40 minutes of walking though. The writer part of me took priority since I had some copy edits and an article due. I spent most the day in front of the computer.

Monday, April 5:

Weighed in at 164.6 pounds.

This was another big day in front of the computer. It'll be a challenge the next couple of weeks as I try to meet a deadline, but I'm committed to getting in at least 2 hours of exercise each weekday and one hour each weekend day, if not more.

1,234 calories
2.25 hours yard work (raking, constructing a rock garden and trimming limbs)

How are the rest of you doing on your April goals? Needing some inspiration? Tune in to The Biggest Loser tonight.

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Spring Is Here!

Spring is here! It's a time of renewal, rebirth, and even redemption. It's a great time to determine where you are on your journey to become a healthy writer and decide if you are happy with your progress. Are you doing your best? Can you do more? Do you want to increase your efforts?

I do want to step it up. I have lost a little more than 7 pounds since the beginning of 2010. I'm happy to see a loss and can feel a difference for it, but I don't think I've been doing my best this winter. I know I've been struggling a little with backsliding the past couple of months, and I really don't think I've done enough in the area of exercise.

I've only averaged two trips to the gym per week over the winter months. Now, this is something. I also walk about 30 - 40 minutes a day for my commute, but my winter weekly gym attendance is nothing compared to what I was doing in the summer and fall when I averaged 4-5 visits to the gym a week.

I felt better when I worked out that often. I also find that one of the many benefits of exercise is that it makes the food stuff, making healthy eating choices in terms of what I eat and how much I eat, a lot easier. I'm not sure why that is, but there is a clear connection. When I'm working out a lot, I am doing better in almost all areas of my life.

I also think part of my journey to becoming a healthy writer is learning to love my body and appreciate what it can do. Exercise helps a lot with that. One of the slogans everywhere at my gym is Know Your Own Strength. When I attended the body pump weight lifting class 2-3 times a week, I was learning how to love how strong I could get and what I could do physically. It felt so empowering. Furthermore, nothing made me smaller as quickly as strength training.

Yes, some of this need to learn to love my body is typical female hangups with body image. Another part of it comes from the fact that since my sister had a stroke at the age of 5, she has had physical disabilities. I spent a good part of my life feeling guilty for being able bodied, so learning to love what my body can do has been a very hard lesson that is still in progress.

In many ways, I've missed working out hard at least 4-5 times a week, and I hope to get back into that pattern this spring. It's something I've started working towards already. Daylight Savings Time has really helped. It's so much easier for me to go to the gym when it's still light out, and there are fewer clothes I have to put on to go outside.

This spring fever need to increase your exercise is also influencing my Weight Watchers buddies. Several have signed up for running races. A bunch of them were talking about it after a meeting a couple of weeks ago, and they inspired me to finally purchase some kick butt sports bras. This has been on my list of things to do for awhile. I am well-endowed in the chest area and hover in the D to DD range. I need a super supportive athletic bra. I've asked around for recommendations, and several friends mentioned the bar system that the Title IX Web site has for rating sports bras - the more bars the better the support. Given how expensive these super duper sports bras can run, I wanted to try some on first.

Walking home from the metro one day, I passed a lululemon athletic store. I went in to see what they could do for me, and I walked out with 8 killer sports bras. I can vouch that the ta ta tamer (someone has a sense of humor as that is the real name) is amazing. There's almost no movement at all. It's actually made a difference in my workouts. I no longer hold myself back on certain moves in my classes that previously had been very uncomfortable due to the size of my chest. These bras will also make it easier for me to contemplate the idea of adding running to my exercise repertoire. I plan to go for a run with my friend Elise Hayes at the WRW retreat in a couple of weeks as a kind of experiment. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

I have done my best to set myself up for a successful spring in terms of exercising more. I went to the gym 3 times this past week, and I'll get back to that 4-5 times a week range soon.

Does the arrival of spring make you evaluate your current efforts to become a healthy writer? Are you doing your best? Can you do more? Do you want to increase your efforts?

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Wanna Workout?

By Keri Mikulski

Hey, everybody!! Thanks so much for having me! I’m loving this Web site.

Yes, I admit it… I’m one of those people who actually enjoys working out. Well, I love the feeling after I workout. The feeling before and during…. Not so much. So why do I do it almost every day?

Like writing, exercising saves me. When I’m stressed out, I work out. When I’m suffering from a block, I work out. And when I’m angry, I work out. Believe it or not, exercising literally saves me. I exercised throughout my entire first pregnancy and recently found out after some tests that working out prevented some major circulation complications I’m genetically predispositioned to. And that’s just one of the many healthy benefits of exercise I’ve encountered over the years.

The amazing gang at Healthy Writer was kind enough to invite me today to share one of my favorite workouts for writers. Writing is tough enough without worrying about working out and there are plenty of painless ways to fit exercising into a jam-packed schedule. Check out one of the ways below.

Want to workout without having to worry about going to the gym or even getting out of your seat? Then, toss aside your desk chair for an exercise ball.

Easy to find in most sports stores, exercise balls are a cheap way to fit fitness into your day. The balls come in many different sizes and colors making this workout specifically targeted to your body’s needs.

Besides being easy, an exercise ball is beneficial in many other ways...

1. Strengthens your spine - By accessing the core, your spine will naturally align and strengthen.
2. Balance – Since you’re unstable on the ball, it forces you to stabilize your body and practice balance.
3. Abdominal workout – To stay on the ball, you must activate your core/abdominal muscles to keep yourself aligned.
4. Circulation – Because the ball makes you move, it will naturally improve circulation.
5. Burn Calories – The more you move, the more calories you burn.

Convinced to ditch? Toss your chair today and begin to feel fabulous.

Before the writing bug bit her, Keri Mikulski coached high school soccer and softball, taught seventh grade, worked as a personal trainer, and a pediatric registered nurse. Today, Keri is the author of HEAD GAMES (Razorbill/Penguin, 2011), teaches writing at Rowan University, and resides at the Jersey Shore with her family.

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The Road Back

Please welcome guest blogger Nancy Northcott!

Nancy Northcott’s books combine adventure and romance in the development of true love for her characters. A two-time Golden Heart finalist, she has also finaled in the Maggies, the Orange Rose, Finally a Bride, the Daphne, the Windy City Four Seasons Awards and other chapter contests. Her manuscripts have won several chapter contests, including the 2008 Maggie Award for Excellence in Contemporary Single Title. A life-long book geek, she considers her blue belt in jeet kune do one of her greatest accomplishments. When she isn’t blogging with the Romance Bandits, she’s reading, writing, or trying to convince her husband that Prime Minister’s Question Time on C-SPAN is a really cool show.


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I’m three pounds down from my top pregnancy weight. Great, right? Yes--if I were pregnant.

Since I’m not, I’m a bit depressed, a bit annoyed with myself, and a bit frustrated over my limited wardrobe choices. What I am not, however, is anxious.

You see, I know exactly how I got here, which means I know exactly what I need to do. And I’ve done it before.

Several years ago, I lost 35 pounds. I weighed less than I did when I graduated from college, was in the best shape of my life, worked out six times a week, and had developed a pretty solid right cross punch on the way to earning a blue belt in karate. I maintained that weight for two years, even working as a weight management consultant for a national company. Then injuries kept me away from the gym and family turmoil led to prolonged stress.

I’m a stress eater.

I love chocolate--not picky about the variety.

I give up on exercise first, anyway, so I never got back to the gym.

And here I am, way heavier than my favorite clothes can accommodate.

So what now? I’ve about reached the limit on my ability to ignore the inconvenience, not to mention the health risk, of this added weight. One thing I learned as a weight management consultant was that weight loss and weight maintenance are a journey. Weight doesn’t magically appear overnight, and it won’t disappear that way, either.

If only.

In the absence of magic fairy dust, I do have an effective, if slower, plan:

1. Stop eating junk except every once in a while. That means one actual portion (not a restaurant portion) of dessert no more than once a week OR a tiny, pre-measured ration, like two midget Reese’s cups or two chocolate kisses, each day if that works better for me, but it usually doesn’t) and eat healthy, unprocessed food instead. Bye-bye, Milk Duds, alas.

Instead, I’ll eat healthy food (lean proteins, fruits, veggies, brown rice, high-fiber cereal with skimmed milk, and whole grain pasta) in actual portions, not the mega-portions most Americans have come to view as normal, and without cream-laden sauces. A serving of pasta is one cup, cooked. A serving of meat is about the size and thickness of the palm of my hand. A serving of cheese is the size of a golf ball. Yes, really.

And eating out of the bag while standing at the sink or watching TV is a sure-fire way to eat far, far more than I realize, so I won’t be doing that, either. When it comes to sweets, the only safe road for me is pre-measured and separately bagged, and when the bag is empty, I’m done.

One of my favorite snacks is cut fruit from the grocery store or fresh melon with (don’t groan) fat-free cottage cheese. I put my favorite non-sugar sweetener on the cottage cheese, which has enough protein to keep me from being hungry again soon. An alternative is non-fat, unflavored yogurt similarly sweetened with fresh berries, pineapple or banana mixed in. Not as filling because it’s lower in protein, but it’s tasty and has fiber from the fruit.

2. Eat only when I’m hungry. This means really, truly, stomach-growling hungry. No “Hmm, I think that tingle in my stomach might possibly, if I work at it, be construed as hunger; I’ll have a chocolate bar.” The better philosophy is, “Wow, I’m famished; I’ll have an apple (per step #1).” Apples are loaded with good stuff, including fiber, which helps me feel full longer than foods low in it.

3. Go back to the gym. Yes, it’s embarrassing because I’ve been gone so long. Yes, it’s painful to work those slack muscles again. Yes, it’s annoying and frustrating to perform like a wimp. Yes, there are a gajillion and ten possible excuses. But no one else there cares or likely even notices my issues, so a lot of that is in my head. Which means I control it. Hah!

And I’ll feel incredibly virtuous, and I’ll lose weight, which I can no longer do without exercise, and I’ll tone up. Worth it.

I can’t take karate anymore. My knees won’t hold up to the conditioning part of the class. Instead, I take the class that started me toward karate, cardio kick-boxing. We punch and kick heavy bags, not the air. The impact helps bone density and can provided great catharsis when the writing isn’t going well.

I think the most important part of an exercise plan is liking it. I like kickboxing, as my buddy Anna Sugden likes boxing and other people like walking or Jazzercise or whatever. Of course, anyone with any medical concerns should consult a doctor before starting. Me, I’ve consulted my knees and will pamper them accordingly. Lucky for me, roundhouse and snap kicks don’t bother them.

4. Be patient. This means recognizing that the process will be slower than I’d like, uneven at times, and will probably involve some lapses on my part. Being patient means cutting myself some slack when I trip. Yeah, I might blow it one day. That’s no excuse to blow it the next day, and the next, and the next as well. It’s a pothole, not an abyss, on the road to success.

And oh, yeah, that dessert ration in step 1--I get that only if I comply with all other steps along the way. Otherwise the dessert is forfeit.

So that’s my plan. What’s yours? What do find hardest or easiest about losing weight? What do you most like or dislike about exercise?

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Causes of Back Pain

I'm like many people who experience back pain from time to time. I attribute most of mine to hours at the computer, bad posture and lack of the proper exercise over time to make my back strong and occasional stress. So when I saw an article recently talking about back pain, I took the time to read it. It was surprising, and yet it wasn't, that back pain is the second-leading cause of doctor visits behind the common cold. The article, in Prevention, quoted Todd Sinett, a chiropractor and co-author of The Truth About Back Pain, as saying that normal back aches are not usually caused by one thing but rather a combination of contributing factors.

I'm all about trying to prevent back pain, so I read on about the 14 most common mistakes we could all be making that lead to a pain in the back and how we can avoid them or fix them when they happen. Perhaps for writers, the first thing on the list is the biggest culprit. According to the article, sitting puts 40 percent more pressure on our spines than sitting.

Yoga is recommended to help with back pain, and some study research backs up the claim that it helps. This tip is accompanied with a link to some yoga videos on prevention.com.

A culprit for us women is too-heavy purses. I think this would apply to any students out there carrying monstrous book bags or anyone carrying a laptop case on the shoulder.

Another of the potential problems is one that hits home for me -- having a mattress that is too old and doesn't provide the right support for the back. I need to watch for mattress sales and nab a new one.

In further evidence that emotions and physical woes can be interconnected, the article cited a Duke University Medical Center study that found that test subjects who practiced forgiveness and didn't hold grudges had several positives health results, including less back pain.

Read the entire article here.

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Olympics as inspiration

We don't have The Biggest Loser for a couple of weeks because of the Olympics, so I thought I'd talk about the Olympics today. I am a HUGE fan of the Olympics, always have been. I'll watch any Olympic event, summer or winter, but I'm a bigger fan of the Winter Games. I love figure skating, ice dancing, snowboarding, skiing, speed skating, you name it. And as much as the competition itself, I really love to hear the stories behind the athletes -- the stories of struggle and overcoming adversity, the details of how much time, effort, and sacrifice they put into their sports in the pursuit of an Olympic medal. I've heard at least three stories of torn ACLs during the Games so far this year -- ones overcome in the past and even one current. I don't remember who it was, but one of the downhill skiers was competing with a torn ACL. That's dedication, folks.

I find these athletes inspiring when it comes to health and fitness too. They are fit because they work at it every day, without fail, often without complaint. It makes me wonder why I grouse about having to put in an hour or two of exercise to stay fit when these people spend hours and hours a day in gyms, on the ski slopes, on the rinks, in the half-pipe. When I see their stories of dedication, it actually fires me up and makes me want to become a workout maniac. Several years ago, I think after the Nagano Olympics, I actually took a figure skating class. I'm not good by any stretch of the imagination, but I at least learned how to stand up and move away from the wall of the rink. And skating is really good exercise. You can feel it in your legs when you come off the ice.

I wonder what I could accomplish if I could even spend half of each day dedicated solely to exercise. I'm already thinking of trying an experiment in April, after all my current deadlines and planned travels are over. I think I want to try exercising half a day every day in April just to see what kind of difference it will make. I'm excited about it, and I'll keep all the readers here at Healthy Writer updated on how it goes with regular check-ins.

Until then...go Johnny Weir, Evan Lysacek, Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Tanith Belbin, Ben Agosto and the rest of Team USA!

Are you all watching the Olympics? Who are your favorite Olympic athletes and sports? Do the Olympics inspire you to spend more time getting fit?

Trish Milburn writes for Harlequin American under her own name and young adult fiction under the name Tricia Mills. Find our more about her books at www.trishmilburn.com.

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Get Rid of that Butt

We writers spend a lot of time sitting in our chairs at our computers (at least we should be), but a bad side effect of that is acquiring a less than firm posterior. Awhile back, I mentioned here that receiving regular fitness and health newsletters in our e-mail in boxes has been shown to help people stayed focused on their fitness and actually do something about it. At that time, I signed up for several newsletters from Prevention magazine's site. I've read lots of fun tidbits and tips, and one was a series of four short videos about exercises to firm up and trim down the butt. These are things we can all do in short spurts, even while we're watching TV or listening to a book or workshops on our iPods or other MP3 players.

Click here to view the videos of the balancing squat, single leg deadlift, banded shuffle and side leg lift. Let me know if you try them and if you see changes as a result. I'm off to try them right now as I watch the pilot of Torchwood, the next TV series I'm requesting from Netflix.

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Am I Backsliding?

I've noticed an alarming trend the past few weeks. The amount of calories, or points for Weight Watchers followers, I'm eating daily is increasing while the amount of exercise I am doing daily is decreasing. This is not a formula for continued success with weight loss.

I'm not sure why this is happening. I'm in the fourteenth month of my diet, my lifestyle change, my latest journey to become a healthy writer, and I would have told you a few weeks ago that it's much easier now than it was during the first 6 to 9 months. I started 2010 completely motivated to get back on track after the challenges posed by the holidays and have done a meticulous job of keeping a food and activity/exercise diary since the beginning of the year. This is why I can say with full confidence that I have been eating more and moving less the past several weeks.

I don't think this is a case of emotional or stress eating. I have had disappointments and challenges the past few weeks, and I have had about an equal helping of successes and other moments of happiness. I don't think there is some unaddressed, underlying emotional issue making me eat more - though perhaps some of those disappointments did make me eat more on any given day. But, they have not started this several week trend of backsliding.

So, why am I doing it? The weather is definitely working to keep me from the gym. I haven't wanted to drive to the gym on the days it snowed. Since many of the roads are still a mess, I'm still wary about taking my car out. I also think that the fact that it's dark and cold when I get home from work has discouraged me from going to the gym on some nights. It's just easier to motivate to go to the gym when it's sunny, and I don't have to put on so many layers of clothes. The weather also kept me from going to work 3 out of 5 days this past week, so I did not even have my general commute walk to increase my daily activity.

But, I know that these are just excuses, and I need to find ways to work around the excuses if I want to succeed on my goal of reaching a healthy weight and BMI and stay there. Thankfully, I was starting to feel the lack of exercise in my body, and I did not like it. I wasn't sleeping as well, and I just didn't feel as good or as energetic as I do when I'm exercising more. I finally dragged out my step at home Tuesday night while watching the Biggest Loser. One of the Olympic athletes had challenged the audience to do lunges during the commercial break. I did it, and it was harder than it should have been.

That appalled me and made me get out that step and do about 50 minutes of step that night. I have continued to do step routines while watching television this week. I felt a positive difference in my body Tuesday night and that's continued. I've now committed to working out at least 3 times a week, above and beyond my normal commute, at home on my step or at the gym for the rest of the winter. I think this will stop my decrease in exercise and get my activity points closer to the range where I want it. I think incorporating exercise into my life every day will just naturally get easier in the spring and summer.

While I have made some strides to address why I'm not exercising as much as I want to, it's not as easy to understand why I'm eating more. I pulled out my trackers, or food diaries, since January 20th to try to see if I can figure out some answers for that question. As always, I tend to eat more calories on any day that I eat out. That said, I'm not willing to give that up. Eating out is a big part of my social life. I can work harder at making better choices when I eat out, but if this is a lifestyle change, it has to be "livable" and not lessen my quality of life. I need to "be social" at least once if not more per week to keep up my general level of happiness and well being. I'm even willing to accept that I may lose less weight on weeks that I eat out a few times with friends rather than eliminate all eating out to try to lose the weight quicker. I try to plan around eating out and treat those occasions as my treat(s) for the week.

But, this trend of eating more daily also occurred on days I was not eating out for social occasions. And, I can't say that I was just hungrier these past few weeks. After looking at my food diary for the past few weeks, I have noticed a new trend. About a month ago when I went grocery shopping, for some unknown reason I decided to check out the weight watcher and other lower-cal desserts in the freezer section and bought five different kinds of WW ice cream treats. I still don't know why I did this because it's unprecedented. Since then, only a day or so has gone by without me eating some kind of treat.

This is not good. I like desserts as much as the next person, but I've never felt like I needed to have one daily. I've noticed that I'm starting to think everyday about what will my treat be that day. For example, Saturday I went to Teaism to meet some girl friends for a late lunch/tea. I had the same order as I had when I went in January: mind and body herbal tea, curried chicken salad and two small carrot cake scones (a single serving there). This is totally acceptable to me, I ate a smaller dinner to compensate for my larger lunch, and this could have been my treat for the week.

The only problem was that I now have this new trend of having a treat a day. Friday, I had an oatmeal chocolate cookie. From Friday, February 5 to Thursday, February 11, I had at least one Weight Watchers ice cream treat a day. It feels like that eating that second or third Weight Watchers ice cream sandwich in late January has triggered this expectation or desire for some kind of "treat", preferably a sweet one, every day. I'm not sure if this is eating for reward or if it's just that this has triggered an increased desire for sugary treats.

I suppose this would be fine if I were decreasing the amount of other, healthier food choices I eat daily to address the fact that I'm starting to eat 100-200 extra calories a day of nearly empty, sweet calories, but I'm not. These treats are definitely increasing how much I'm eating a day. Now, I haven't been able to go to Weight Watchers (due to the weather) since Tuesday, February 2, so I haven't weighed myself since then. I do know that these past two weeks are when I should have my biggest loss in the typical monthly weigh loss pattern I have. Tomorrow night's weigh in will confirm if this backsliding of mine has hurt my total weight loss in February.

Even if I do have a big weight loss tomorrow night, I know I need to stop this pattern of moving less and eating more. I have addressed the exercise part this past week, and I'm starting to address the eating side this week. I have reconfirmed that I DO NOT need to have some kind of sugary treat every day, and I should not expect one.

I've also reexamined my definition of a treat. In the past few weeks, a treat has been a sugary dessert, but that doesn't have to be the case. In the past 14 months, I have gone through stretches when I've been able to look at very healthy choices as treats. As part of my goal to make this journey a lifestyle change and not a temporary diet, I've worked very hard to make all my meals healthy AND satisfying to me. I've thought a lot about what healthy foods do I really like to eat and how can I incorporate them more into my diet. I've increased my appreciation for fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains and other healthy food choices while I've almost eliminated unhealthy processed foods from my diet. I need to renew this focus on eating healthy yet satisfying (to me) foods.

On the way home from Teaism Saturday, I stopped at Whole Foods to buy healthy treats: organic pink lady apples, bananas, blueberries, a sweet onion, fresh garlic, milk and freshly baked, dark, Russian peasant bread. I've incorporated these healthy "treats" into my diet and stopped eating the Weight Watchers ice cream treats this holiday weekend. For dinner Saturday, I toasted the dark, high-fiber, whole wheat bread and enjoyed how the peanut butter melted on it. Sunday morning, I mixed three of my favorite high fiber, crunchy cereals and added blueberries (a healthy treat!), sliced almonds and milk to it for a very healthy, filling and satisfying (to me) breakfast. I plan to make old-fashioned oatmeal (with whole oats - not that instant or quick stuff) on Monday morning and cook it with milk, walnuts, a pink lady apple, cinnamon and just a tiny bit of brown sugar for a satisfying breakfast that incorporates some of my favorite healthy treats.

Hopefully, this refocus on healthy choices as treats instead of sugary desserts that are full of empty calories as treats will help me decrease how many calories I eat on a daily basis in the next several weeks. I really am bound and determined to reach a healthy weight for the first time since I was 20-years-old, and no temporary stretches of backsliding are going to grow to such a size that it knocks me off my journey to becoming a healthy writer.

Have you noticed that you have been letting some of your healthy habits slide lately? Can you figure out why you are doing it, and how you can address the excuses that are making you change your behavior? Do you have any tips for how to address backsliding?

Michelle Butler has made becoming a healthy writer a priority. She lives, works and writes in the Washington, DC, area. You can follow her on twitter at http://twitter.com/healthywrtr

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Here I Go Again

By Joan Kayse

I have to lose weight. I want to lose weight. I struggle to lose weight.

These key statements will not be unfamiliar to those who swear every January to lose those extra pounds. I know. I’ve sworn that every January since high school.

Trish invited me to blog when I posted to our Romance Bandits loop about joining the YMCA. I’ve been doing Weight Watchers on and off also and had managed to lose 15 pounds. I understand the program. I KNOW the program and I feel better when I exercise and yet…here it is February 5 and I’m still languishing.

I offer no excuses but I do have explanations. Since October I’ve had two dear friends go through some traumatic life events. As a friend, I was there with them but I also worried for them and when I am stressed I eat. Then the holidays happened and now my brother had to have surgery. Running back and forth between houses, working 12-hour days and trying to keep up makes me stressed. So…I reach for the quick solution. I don’t get to the gym like I intend. I don’t follow the points like I should. No excuses.

No one can do this but me. No. One. I have to MAKE the time I need to exercise. I have to follow the program of Weight Watchers. I can do it. We all can do it. So I’m dusting the chocolate off my hands, tossing the buttered bread out the window and taking it one day at a time.

What about you? What are you going to do different today to get back on track?

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