Sometimes Size Does Matter

Take a quick look at these two plates. Which plate has around 450 calories?Surprise! Both plates have exactly the same amount of food. Okay, maybe it’s not a surprise, maybe you’re well aware that plate size influences how much we eat, but did you know that plate sizes are slowly increasing? The two plates above are my ‘good china.’ The plate on the left is a salad plate, something that used to be...

Continue Reading...

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...

Continue Reading...

Everything's Bigger in Texas

This week, the contestants on The Biggest Loser went on another of their special trips to inspire people just like us. This time, they headed to Texas, famous for everything being bigger than everywhere else. But Texas could benefit from being a bit smaller in one statistic -- five of the 10 fattest cities in the country are in Texas. So the contestants took their stories to radio stations and invited people to come run a 5K with them at the Cotton Bowl. Before the 5K, Alison shared some more startling...

Continue Reading...

Health News Roundup

Every so often, I like to do news searches to see what is being reported in the world of health. Today, I came across an article that stated that more U.S. women may be obese than previously thought. Okay, that's not good news. The discrepancy stems from different obesity standards used by the World Health Organization and the U.S. federal guidelines. Some experts suggest the BMI basis used in the federal guidelines is not right for everyone. See the full article here.Another article focused on...

Continue Reading...

What is a healthy approach to dating?

The question what is a healthy approach to dating and courtship has been on my mind in the last year and a half more than at any other time except perhaps the first couple years of college. Alas, I'm not sure I have any more wisdom today than I did as a freshman or sophomore at Dartmouth. Who has all the answers that seem to elude me?As I've mentioned before, I spent most of my 20s and a good start on my 30s obese. I'm sure there are obese people who have very active, romantic, social lives,...

Continue Reading...

Inspiration Sunday

There is a quote by Henry Ford that I liked so much I wrote it on a slip of index card and put it on the corkboard above my desk. When I did it, I was thinking of it in terms of my writing. But when I looked up at it recently, I realized it could apply to any journey in life, including weight loss and fitness."Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."What is your goal for this week, in your writing and in your personal health and fitness journey? Mine are:1....

Continue Reading...

Tofu Shirataki Noodles in Beef Lo Mein

I’m a firm believer in real food. Thanks to a medical condition I can’t have artificial sweeteners, and I tend to avoid other artificial things like flavor or color. That eliminates a lot of dieting staples from my life: no sugar free soda, no sugar free pudding snacks, and almost no diet versions of regular foods. From time to time I’ll find a substitution that works for me, like swapping creamed...

Continue Reading...

The Skinny Girl in the Elevator

Last year at DragonCon I stepped onto the crowded elevator to a scent worth drooling for: bar-be-queue sauce sweet and tangy followed by a hint of fresh French Fries. My mind filled in the rest of the meal hiding in the Styrofoam container: crumbly, buttery cornbread and cool, creamy coleslaw. Having just come from a not-nearly-as-enticing grilled chicken salad, I sighed and announced how jealous I was. A woman not far from me reminded me to think of the calories. I replied that you couldn’t always...

Continue Reading...

Why?

Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to write a book?I think the answer to those questions are the key to sticking with it when things get rough. When the rejections start rolling in or the scale won't budge. When watching that TV show sounds so much better than working through that plot problem and the chocolate chip cookie smells soooo good your mouth waters. Just like in crafting a solid character in our writing, we have to have a strong enough motivation to push us to face the things...

Continue Reading...

Ups and Downs on The Biggest Loser

Things got off to a bang on this week's The Biggest Loser when the contestants found out they would have to endure an all-day temptation in the form of a room filled with food where they would have to eat all their meals. They could choose to try to eat the most calories and thus win the ability to cast the only vote during the elimination, or they could stick with their healthy eating habits and just hope to stay above the yellow line. Most everyone stuck to the healthy eating, a few gave in a...

Continue Reading...

When pollen derailed the fitness train

Things have been going really well lately in my fitness endeavors. I was getting at least one hour of exercise every day, some days more, and I was doing well with my calorie counts and seeing results on the scales. Then all that yard work I've been doing came back to haunt me. I've been very careful because I have icky seasonal allergies. When I work in the yard, I wear a mask and when I come back inside afterward I immediately discard the clothes into the laundry and take a shower. Alas, some...

Continue Reading...

It Is Better to Be in the Game

This past weekend, I went to WRW's annual retreat In the Company of Writers. It is one of my favorite events of the whole year and features a raucous game of Romance Jeopardy on Saturday night. The three hostesses Glinda the Good Witch (Karen Smith), the Scarecrow (Cathy Maxwell), and the Cowardly Lion (Kathleen Gilles Seidel) skipped into the ballroom singing We're Off to See the Wizard, and the...

Continue Reading...

It's All Greek To Me...

We have a couple of fabulous Greek Restaurants in our city and it’s fast becoming one of my favorite foods. My vegetarian daughter introduced me to Greek Pizza and I loved it but realized I could have all the goodness of those black olives and feta cheese without the guilt by making a salad instead. So here’s a really tasty Greek Pasta Salad. And I often use a purchased low fat salad dressing to...

Continue Reading...

What do you really want?

By Dr. Laura F. ShwalukI was sitting in a seminar when the speaker said the following quote:“Most people fail instead of succeed because they give up what they really want for what they want at the moment.”-UnknownThat made sense to me. I thought it refers to long-range goals like retirement plans, saving for a house or car, or getting out of debt. However, it also applies to my health as well. It really made me think of my health goals and my commitment to them. Such as exercising 4-5 times per...

Continue Reading...

How Hard Are We Working?

I've spent the last two weeks gaining and losing the same pound. Up a pound one day, two days later, the pound is gone. A few days later, its up. Then, thankfully, down. And so on... I felt like a very angry yo-yo.My first impulse was to throw the scale through the wall. I mean, it was obviously defective, right?My second impulse was to throw my hands in the air, say to heck with the exercising (actually my words were a little stronger, but this is a public blog LOL) and go sit in my comfy chair...

Continue Reading...

The votes, they're getting harder on The Biggest Loser

When I turned on my TV to watch last night's The Biggest Loser, I discovered that it wasn't recording on my TiVo. After a little investigation, I realized that since Deadliest Catch's new season premiered last night and it's higher in my season pass queue, TBL got bumped until its second showing on Saturday nights. So, I'll be having to watch it live from now until the end of the season. But for this week, I missed the first 50 minutes of the episode. I turned it on right as O'Neal was screaming...

Continue Reading...

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...

Continue Reading...

Why Can I Still Get So Upset When I Gain Weight?

This past Tuesday night, I had a bad weigh in at Weight Watchers as I gained 2.4 pounds. While I try to approach the scale with zero expectations to prevent some kind of emotional boomerang, I do not always succeed. As I wait in line for my turn to get weighed, I can always come up with arguments as to why I might lose weight that week and why I might gain. I honestly could tell the Weight Watchers...

Continue Reading...

Inspiration Sunday

Inspiration Sunday is a series at the Healthy Writer blog. Every Sunday, we post a quote, anecdote, fact or other item that will inspire you to keep moving forward on your journey to becoming and staying a healthy writer. "Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow." -- Doug FirebaughAgain, this urges us to make small steps toward our ultimate goals, toward making our lives a little bit better each day. This can apply to our weight/fitness goals, our writing goals,...

Continue Reading...

Creating My Own Delicious Pasta Sauce

One of my favorite restaurants in the Washington, DC, area is Filomena Ristorante in Georgetown. I love how it is able to feel like a fancy, family-style Italian restaurant. It always decorates over-the-top for upcoming holidays, but it still feels tasteful and sophisticated. You see a lot of the D.C. social and political scene there. While the food is expensive, it is delicious. I've had many...

Continue Reading...

Push Back: Walk or Run and Improve Your Writing

Keri MikulskiWhen someone asks me, "What do you do when you’re suffering from a block or stuck?", my answer is and always has been, "Take off for a run." But, what happens when a writer’s method for inspiration goes kaput? We’ve all been there. A point in our lives where we can decide to either throw in the towel or push back. Two years ago, it happened to me. During the toughest two years personally of my life, every time I went out for a run a feeling of heaviness crept over me like a suffocating...

Continue Reading...

Journey or Destination

Years ago, my parents went to listen to a Zig Ziglar motivational workshop and came home all jazzed up and enthused. My step-mom proceeded to give everyone on the office (they own a modeling and talent agency - which is a whole 'nother post on body image issues, btw), as well as my father and I a test generated by the workshop. Among the many questions, there was one in particular that stood out.Do you see life as a journey? Or a destination? I answered that I saw life as a book (this was about...

Continue Reading...

Big Week for the Yellow Team

This week's The Biggest Loser started off with the revelation that whoever lost 2 percent of their body weight first would get immunity. The catch was that you had to time it right before you hit the big button that sounded the siren that you were going to way in. Do it too early and you might not have hit the goal. Wait too long and someone else might beat you to it. I got a chuckle early on when Daris commented on the noise the siren made. "In Oklahoma, you hear a siren like that, it's time to...

Continue Reading...

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...

Continue Reading...

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...

Continue Reading...

Inspiration Sunday

Inspiration Sunday is a series at the Healthy Writer blog. Every Sunday, we post a quote, anecdote, fact or other item that will inspire you to keep moving forward on your journey to becoming and staying a healthy writer."Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." -- Robert CollierI like this reminder that in order to effect change in our lives, we don't have to do one or two big things. It can be lots of small things, added together, that helps us achieve what at the...

Continue Reading...

Sock it to me cake

Not every day can be a good day. Some days you get rejected and it hurts. Someone criticizes your work and it’s like they’re criticizing you. While I don’t condone emotional eating, I’ve never objected to comfort food. My comfort foods are exactly the ones I try to avoid on a day to day basis: baked goods, cakes, and cookies.This cake is perfect for a night when you want to curl and cry a little....

Continue Reading...