Two Saturdays ago my friend Elise Hayes and I were talking about my writing goals for the year and for the next few months. I have decent ones for the year, revise my first novel to a polished draft and finish a rough draft of a second novel, but I've been struggling with breaking these two, big goals down into approachable chunks that would give me direction for the next couple of months. She challenged me to come up with at least one goal that would help me day-to-day by the end of the afternoon.In...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Ode to Soup - Red Lentil Soup
My sister’s cookbook 1 Stock, 100 Soups (written by Linda Doeser) has a lot of interesting and different soups in it. This is not 100 variations of Chicken Noodle soup – though it is hard to top a good chicken noodle soup. When deciding which recipes to try first, I was drawn to the kinds of soups I’d never had before. That still didn’t stop me from changing the recipe when I wanted to. The following...
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Tipping Point
By Terri BrisbinFirst, thanks to Trish and Michelle for inviting me to blog today. I’ve been on my own journey to try to get healthier and wanted to share a bit of it with you all. I’ve done the roller-coaster weight loss thing, having gained about 75 pounds between marriage and child #2 and then lost 75 pounds between child #2 and child #3, only to regain it all and more ever since. But I reached my ‘tipping point’ about 18 months ago. For those who haven’t read Malcolm Gladwell’s work, the...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Trigger Defenses, or Lists Part Deux
Last week I blogged about our eating triggers –those emotional/situational/food triggers that seem to make our ‘eat healthy’ resolve go poof. Or worse, the ones that push our buttons and send us right over the edge into a binging indulgence that makes us miserable after-the-fact. So did you read the blog? If not, here, check it out! And once you’ve read it, you made your list, right? (s’okay if you didn’t, just play along with me) So now you know your triggers. You’re aware of what repetitive...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Another Drama Filled Episode of The Biggest Loser
Trish is traveling, so I am taking care of this week's post. Another drama filled episode! Here's what I'm thinking about:What happened to the green team? I really liked them in week one and still have a soft spot for them, but they do seem to have a chip on their shoulders. They also seemed to have more of a competitive spirit earlier in the show. I was sad to see Migdalia voted off but am so glad that they do show you where the voted off contestant is now. Good to see that she is still losing...
Monday, January 25, 2010
Oh, Jealousy!
My first Weight Watchers meeting of 2010 surprised me with how upbeat and positive it was. The long-timers were all vowing to have as positive a year in 2010 as 2009 – or even better! – and the fresh crop of new people were full of hope from their latest New Year’s resolutions. Our brilliant leader stressed how it was a new year full of new opportunities and asked us to leave on the carpet what was holding us back. I decided to leave my impatience and jealousy behind me in 2010. That didn’t...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
The Joy of Vinegar
By Rachel KleinsorgeI returned from vacation in Las Vegas with an unusual souvenir in my bag: a $20 bottle of aged balsamic vinegar. Balsamic vinegars are made from leftover grapes that will never be wine. In my house, balsamic vinegars are called “drinking vinegars” for their sweet-sharp flavor. I’d rather sip a shot-glass full of aged balsamic vinegar than malt whiskey. Before you judge me, give...
Friday, January 22, 2010
What Works for Me
By Beth AndrewsWhile I don’t consider myself any sort of expert, I have had quite a bit of experience with dieting, exercising and healthy living. I was overweight as a child, and it seems as if my whole life has revolved around food. In kindergarten I asked my teacher if she had skim milk because I was on a diet and didn’t want the 2% milk that came with snack time. In fourth grade, I joined a national weight loss program and lost 20 lbs. The program was one where no carbs were allowed so naturally,...
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Lists... they are our friend
I'm a list maker by nature. Grocery lists, to-do lists, revision lists, packing lists. You name it, I've probably listed it. I could probably even make a list of all my lists, but that'd be silly, huh?I was reading something the other day that got me thinking about our triggers. Weight gain triggers, overeating triggers, stress triggers. We all have them. It might be a deadline or a family visit. Maybe certain meetings trigger us to make poor eating choices, or rejection letters might send...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Conflict Galore on The Biggest Loser
This week's Biggest Loser was rife with emotion and conflict. First, there was Migdalia not responding well to Jillian pushing her to open up emotionally, resulting in Migdalia walking out of the gym and saying she wanted to go home. It took Bob talking to her, then Miggy (her mother and teammate) helping her realize that she doesn't know how to express the feelings of unhappiness built up inside her to convince her to stay. I hope that she can dig deep to figure out why she feels the way she does...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A Task a Day
Yesterday, Michelle talked about changing one thing each week to improve one's health and fitness. And I recently read an article in the January issue of Prevention titled "Small Changes that Take Off Big Pounds." Seems like the idea of small changes adding up to long-term success is popular right now, and I have to say I'm a fan. That's how I also tackle writing projects like revisions, especially when the revisions are extensive. Thinking about all the revisions at once is too overwhelming. I...
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Third Monday in January
I heard on NPR recently that the third Monday in January is one of the most depressed days of the year for many. All of the holiday bills have arrived. People feel like they’ve already failed at their New Year’s resolutions, and the current year will not be any different or brighter than the previous year.We’ve already discussed why setting goals instead of resolutions is a better option, but let’s tackle the question of whether 2010 will be any different or brighter than 2009. Of course it can...
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Ode to Soup
I love soups. I often make a big batch of various soups and freeze them in individual containers for future lunches or dinners. I eat soup all year long, but they are even more special during the winter. For the winter of 2010, I'm going to do an ode to soup series for my next several healthy cooking posts.My sister received the 1 Stock, 100 Soups cookbook this past Christmas. It’s a very fun...
Friday, January 15, 2010
Vanity Led Me To It, and My Writing Made Me Stay….How Weight Watchers Changed My Life
By Margaret CarrollAs of this writing, I’ve just lost 25 pounds. I’m on the Weight Watchers maintenance plan. I feel ten years younger and pretty again.Like many women reading this, I was a Twig my whole life. My parents cajoled me to eat as a child. Long after my siblings had been excused from the table, I had to sit there until I finished everything on my plate. I wore a Size 4 or 6 (I’m five feet, seven inches tall). Even into my thirties, shopping for bathing suits and underwear was no...
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
To Journal or Not To Journal
That is the question...I've been reading a lot lately about the power of journaling. In life, and specifically for weight loss. The journaling could be as detailed as a daily diary, recording not only food and exercise, but thoughts, emotions and the day's activities. Or it could be as simple as a notebook with the day's calorie intake and expenditure jotted down. But there seems to be a strong...
Biggest Loser Contestants Face Reality
Last night was the second episode of Biggest Loser Couples, and it had the contestants facing facts, facing fears and just facing reality. Early on, we found out that John feels like his family is cursed because they've had so much tragedy. Within a year, he lost his father, grandmother and older sister. He said he doesn't want to be another death in that family, another tragedy. He has a 1-year-old son to live for -- perhaps one of the cutest kids I've ever seen. Just adorable.It was what I like...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Which weight-loss plan? And cash for weight loss?
This is the time of year when lots of people are thinking about their health and eyeballing the gym and/or some sort of weight-loss plan. If you don't skip right over the commercials, you've probably seen an increase in the number of ads for weight-loss plans on TV. The big task for each of us is to find a plan (whether a pay plan or something we devise on our own) that will work best for us as a life change, not a "diet." But if you decide you want to go with one of the popular weight-loss plans,...
Monday, January 11, 2010
Are You Lying to Yourself?
For years, I told myself that I carried my weight well. The scale may have shown a huge, scary number, but I looked fine. Look at some of the before photos I’ve posted on this blog to evaluate the truth of that statement for yourself. I never referred to myself as obese – even though I was by all ways of determining that. If I referred to my weight at all, I’d say I was overweight. Only an absolute and complete lack of clothing that fit and the need to have appropriate, nice outfits for...
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Healthy eating, one day at a time
By Anne McFarlaneFor the past 10 years, every New Year’s Day I vowed to lose the 30 or 40 pounds I’d gained over the years. Surely I didn’t eat enough for me to be this big? Oh, I started the year off right. I’d lose 10 pounds then put it all back on. One summer I even lost 20 pounds. Fortunately, I only gained 10 of those pounds back by the end of 2008. But my blood pressure was high and my hips were aching. If I didn’t want to end up on medication or having surgery, I needed to make permanent...
Friday, January 8, 2010
Finding What Works for You
By Sara ReinkeAs we head into the new year, armed with resolutions to lose weight, it seems there is no end to the wealth of information available to help us achieve our goals. Just turn on your television and you’ll find them—advertisements featuring workout DVDs promising cardiovascular “boot camps” to toughen you up, prepaid diet programs where food is delivered to your door in perfectly portioned servings, or any number of pills, supplements or energy drinks guaranteed to reprogram your...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Getting Right Back on Track
Did the holidays play havoc with your diet? The craziness of the season derail your exercise plans? All of my good intentions definitely took a hit in December, too.I think thats natural, though. Time, energy and options become limited at different times of the year (holidays, conference season, etc) and we can easily slip up. The trick is to keep that slip from turning into an excuse to give up, right?I was reading the Shape website today and came across this fabulous article on jumpstarting...
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