Time for Yoga

Seven months into my post-baby weight loss adventure, I am two pounds away from my goal.  I have learned along the way to take the time to let my brain catch up to my body, waiting for my mind to recognize the new body weight as normal before proceeding to lose more.  It has taken longer than I hoped, but just about as long as I expected.  I'm proud of myself for the work done so far.

I'm also tired, achy, and vaguely bored.  I've taught myself dozens of new exercises and pounded away on the treadmill.  I've walked miles and miles outside each day that the heat index stayed below 105 degrees.  The workouts have been effective and empowering, but now I'm ready for quieter strength.  I'm yearning for somebody else to guide me for 90 minutes, to stretch and breathe and find muscles I never knew I had.

I'll keep at it in the gym, and the walks outdoors are invaluable... but in every physical and emotional transformation, there is a time to add and subtract.  I am coming full circle to the yoga that pulled me out of depression in my early-20s and the yoga that cushioned my pregnancy this past year.  I'm excited to see what happens when I approach that work from a place of light instead of darkness.

I am so thankful for the studio two blocks from my home and for my many yoga-loving friends who remind me - by their own example - how much strength there is in stillness.

Frozen Food Is Your Friend

Okay, I am loving this woman, Jane Lear, and her thoughts in her article "Surprise! Frozen Seafood Is Often the Best Option".  First of all, I am a pescetarian living in a land-locked state, so fresh fish is often inaccessible, over-priced or low-quality.  Jane makes some great points about why and how frozen seafood is a healthy option, and she has some good links on there to help you determine which frozen fish is eco-friendly.  Second of all, I love her comment "I'm not sure when [convenience] became a dirty word."  

We are busy people.  We are often too busy to grow, pick, clean, peel, shuck or otherwise prepare our own fresh food.  Three cheers to all those folks who are capable of doing these things on a daily basis, but I hereby absolve the rest of us from frozen/packaged food-induced guilt.  

There are lots of lovely grocery stores around that sell all kinds of frozen foods and/or pre-cut, sliced, and diced foods that are perfectly healthy.  Sometimes they are even healthier than fresh foods that have been flown halfway around the world over the course of many days, losing nutrients all the while.  The key is to make sure these "convenience" foods have not been coated in sauces or preservatives (including salt) that transform them into unhealthy options.

Of course, local and fresh is ideal, but if it is a whole food, frozen fresh and unaltered, it is probably very good for you and your family.  Defrost with pride.

Fiona Apple is Haunting Me

I went to see Fiona Apple at the Ryman in Nashville last week.  She slithered around on the stage with her Holocaust eyes, howling at the moon.  She played brilliant piano and left space in her songs for the melody to land.  She was herself unchanged, and I was lost in 1998.  I couldn't separate her current self from the bygone moments when she accompanied me at 2 a.m. on the subway in NYC, coming home from God knows where - not entirely sober - and most definitely not at all happy.  She resides too deeply in my past for me to be able to take her with me into the present.

Back in 1998, she was so angry and gritty and skinny.  I was angry, trying for gritty, and desperate for skinny.  She was everything I imagined myself to be, except I was chubs. I found myself, this week, sitting in killer seats at the Ryman, married with a baby, a house, and a husband.  She was still angry, gritty, and skinny.  Every other song seemed to have a lyric about filling her skin, using her skin, getting under or on top of her skin. Her whole wold still seems to be about her skin.  I got lost in her psychology and could barely approach the music.  My skin fits pretty well these days.

I'm not angry anymore, not gritty (except maybe for the killer tattoo I just got), and I never got skinny like Fiona-skinny.  Some tiny, twisted part of myself spent those two hours wishing I could be like that, just to know what it feels like to cave your chest in, stick your collar bones out like blades, and barely feel the clothes hanging off of your body. But then I remembered that I like being happy and that means being healthy.

Sorry I couldn't hear the music, Fiona.  I'm too far gone to the other side.

It Was A Dark Day at Body Baggage

This Monday was a dark day at Body Baggage for Misfits... and our best day yet.

Everybody came in with failure of one sort or another.  We had injuries, bizarre medical ailments, lethargy, plateaus, and plain old lack of follow-through.  We had opportunities that were missed and goals that were accomplished but not acknowledged.  We put it all out on the table, chased it with a glass of wine, and looked forward to the coming week.  By the end of the night, we had numerous people in the group making dates to try new forms of exercise and a growing sense of camaraderie.

I don't have any deep thoughts here.  Just... new friends are good.  Truth is good.  We are moving towards good, and I am happy.  Thank you, ladies!

Why Juicing Is Not All Its Cracked Up to Be

I tell my clients all the time that juicing is not all it's cracked up to be.
- Liquids don't make you feel as full as whole fruits/veggies would.
- You tend to drink far more calories than you would ever eat.
- Cleansing fasts are unnecessary for good health and unhelpful for long-term weight loss.

Sorry!  I know I'll catch some hell for this, but I don't like what juice fasts do to a dieter's psyche.  The idea is to feel full and satisfied, strong and energized... not hungry and frustrated.  Every time I've had a client who loses weight on a juice fast, they always gain it all back, plus a few pounds.  And most people get bitchy and unfocused after a few days of liquid only "cleanses".

If you want to eat healthier, eat lots of whole fruits and vegetables.  So says me... and this nutritionist.  See?  I'm not the only juicing-naysayer out there.

Permission to Give Up and Leave

Body Baggage for Misfits had its second meeting last week, and we were discussing tricks we use to get ourselves to exercise.  I used to put my workout clothes on the floor by the side of the bed and get dressed under the covers before flinging myself up and out.  Another woman slept in her workout gear before meeting a friend for early-morning jogs.  Another put her alarm clock across the room to force herself to get out of bed.  Several others pack their clothes and bring them with them to work, knowing that if they go home to change, they're screwed.

All of those are helpful tricks, but what happens if you are lying in bed or getting ready to leave work at the end of the day, totally miserable at the prospect of exercising and having a debate with yourself about whether or not to actually put those clothes on and go?  I say, give yourself an out.  Do not allow a debate in your mind about whether to get up, put on the clothes, press play on the yoga video, or set foot in the gym.  Do those things without burning a bunch of mental energy on the debate, but know that if you get to the gym and you are standing on the treadmill and you are still completely miserable... you have permission to give up and leave without doing a damn thing.

I have done this myself, and I am proud.

If the desire not to exercise is that strong, don't do it.  But you still have to get your body to the gym or out on the sidewalk or wherever it is that you are planning to exercise.  Forget the debate.  The debate is killing your motivation.  Get to the starting point, and then make the decision.

Walk away if you must, but do it with swagger.