Your Ideal Weight

A Fork, Not a Shovel

I was eating lunch the other day, more than a little distracted by the litany of to-do's on my list. This, of course, ushered in an unplanned experience of for mindless eating.

Half-way through a truly phenomenal plate of stir-fry, filled with all of my favorite veggies and nutty brown rice, tons of flavor--a culinary work of art, one might say--I realized that each time I took a bite, I was loading another bite onto my fork immediately after the previous bite had hit my tongue.

I stopped. And realized I was using my fork as a shovel.

I actually asked myself, "Is this really how you want to enjoy this fabulous meal? And is this really how you want to serve your body's nutritional needs...mindlessly and haphazardly?" (It's true, I actually have these types of conversations with myself often).

So, I finished the meal consciously. Purposefully. I set my fork down after each bite. I chewed my food fully, savoring the flavors and textures. I gave my body and mind time to communicate with one another and to let me know when I'd had enough. And I actually enjoyed my meal, using it as a celebration of food and of health, and as a bit of "respite" from the rest of my busy day.

As I continue to practice this daily, it's changing my relationship with food and with the experience of eating in a very good way.

All from seeing flatware as a fork, not as a shovel. And being present to the moment, to my food, and to my body. A very cool tool, indeed.

 

 

Savoring and Stopping

Every year around the holidays, I hear people talk about the weight they’re going to gain before the New Year, and I always find it a little bit baffling. I think the reason I don’t gain weight between Thanksgiving and Christmas is that I indulge in treats year-round. If I want to savor a decadent triple mousse cake in the middle of July, by God I am going to eat it! 
But that means when Christmas rolls around, I don’t feel the need to eat two dozen Christmas cookies, followed by pecan pie, pumpkin cheesecake, and washed down with a gallon of eggnog.

In my quest to develop a healthy relationship with food, I’ve realized the importance of indulgence, the importance of savoring. Whenever I’ve lived in a state of total self-denial, deciding that certain foods are 100% off limits, two things happen. First, I become enraged. Constantly. Especially when I’m eating (and since eating is a really joyous experience, why would I want to cause myself to be filled with rage when I sit down to a meal?). But the second thing is that I end up freaking out one night and eating about 2,000 pounds of junk.

When I know that I can eat whatever I want, and that food will be available to me again the next time I want it, I tend to be able to focus on the savoring experience and then STOP.

So have that brownie square. Close your eyes while you chew it. Experience the silky mouth feel. The chocolatey goodness. And then stop.

Contributed by Katie Howard, Ideal Weight Guest Blogger

Autopilot Saves the Day

When I put my shoes on, I always start with my right shoe. No purposeful decision, no conscious thought. Just right shoe then left shoe. It's a habit. In the morning, I roll out of bed, automatically greet my children and ask how they slept, then head to the coffee pot. No willpower or straining. It's a ritual that I enjoy, and one that unfolds automatically.

These are things that don't require willpower or mental energy, which saves my precious psychological and physical capital to spend on things that really require my focused attention--like writing blogs and crunching budget numbers and orchestrating complicated schedules.

Experts say that 90-95% of our physiological processes and daily activities are actually automatic or "habitual" in nature. We don't have to coach our hearts to beat or our eyes to blink, and we don't have to think too hard about how to flip the turn signal in the car or brush our teeth.  These automatic/habitual activities preserve our energy for the things that really require them. I mean, how exhausted would we be by 8 AM if we had to consciously think, "step right, step left, balance, step right, step left, balance" every waking moment? Autopilot literally saves the day!

Research has shown that people who maintain a healthy lifestyle, including their weight, have integrated positive health habits into their lives for much the same reason. These habits could include keeping walking shoes by their desks to prompt them to cruise the block at lunch, or having a watter bottle close at hand to encourage random sips throughout the day. For some, it's the practice of boxing up part of their meal when dining out to help control portions (and make packing tomorrow's lunch a cinch). And for others, it's the practice of heading to the gym on the way to work or packing healthy snacks for the week every Sunday night.

In an effort to engage my own autopilot, I figured that I'd start my new habit building by committing to eat a healthy breakfast that includes both protein and fiber within an hour of waking each day. I chose this habit because I've noticed that when I do that, I have no cravings during the day, my mental focus is sharper, and my physical energy skyrockets. And when I forego the "healthy" portion of the "healthy breakfast" ensemble, I end up eating far more sweets and treats throughout the day because my body has set the stage for that by exercising the not-so-positive habit of waiting too long to eat and then eating whatever is most convenient (which typically is the least healthy thing around).

So, for the next few weeks, I'll be cultivating my healthy breakfast habit. By paying attention to creating the habit over the next 21 days, it will move into the realm of auto-pilot, protecting my health (and my weight) without too much effort after hose 3 weeks. At that point, I will just be the person who not only puts her right shoe on first, but who also eats a healthy, protein-and-fiber-rich breakfast each day. Without thinking about it. Without too much effort. But with big rewards.

It Really IS the Most Important Meal

I’ve always been the type of person who stares in alarm when people tell me, “Oh, I NEVER eat breakfast.”

I’m the exact opposite! I wake up starving, with a growly stomach and the desire for a farmhand breakfast ... biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon, pancakes, coffee.

Over the past several months, I’ve been reflecting on how I fuel myself during my first meal of the day. My traditional breakfast has almost always consisted of two scrambled eggs on toast. But I recently starting playing around with egg whites. Add two of them to one whole egg. Maybe scramble in a little spinach. Pretty tasty.

 But my absolute favorite new breakfast experience is oatmeal. Now, there’s nothing new about oatmeal. According to my mom, oatmeal was the only thing I’d eat for breakfast during the first few years of my life, and if that oatmeal wasn’t ready RIGHT NOW when I woke up, she sure heard about it (unless it was spring and I could stare outside at all the “robin birds!”).

But oatmeal has not traditionally been my healthiest breakfast, since I prefer to top it with real maple syrup, dried fruit and nuts, and a healthy slosh of heavy cream.

Lately, I’ve instead been trying something a little less heavy. I take 1 cup of old fashioned oats, and boil them in 1 cup of water and 1 cup of coconut milk (available in the dairy section, near the soy milk). While it cooks, I simmer in half a chopped bananas, two chopped dates, a few chopped walnuts, and ground flax. No additional sweetener needed thanks to the banana and dates. And it keeps me full for at least a few hours.

Contributed by Katie Howard, Ideal Weight Guest Blogger

Positive Aspects

 

During challenging times it can be so easy to cascade into a downward spiral of thoughts and emotions without even noticing it. Whether it's the economy or a disappointment at work, a stressful relationship or a "less-than-perfect" body, a negative domino effect can happen in short order when you look at any situation through the wrong lens.

And, since your body is right there with you 24/7, it's one of the easiest targets for unproductive thinking. A tight-fitting pair of jeans or an upcoming reunion can bring about a vivid mental display of every extra bite of food you've ever taken when you didn't really need it, and every workout foregone in favor of an extra hour of sleep.

That's why I love the practice of focusing on the "positive aspects" about just about anything--my day, my relationships, my life in general, and (yes) my body. When I identify that first thought that could start a spiral--like how my midsection seems to be more like a maxsection as of late--I do my best to stop right there and choose a more productive thought. That's the midsection that carried my two children. For that, I'm grateful. That's the midsection that 2 inches healthier in size than it was two months ago, effectively reducing my cardiac risk. For that, I'm also grateful. And, it's the midsection that can feel the warmth of another person in the warm embrace of a hug. For that, I'm once again grateful.

Even when things aren't ideal, a cascade of positive aspects helps me focus on what is good and gratitude-worthy right here and now. When I head in that direction, rather than the direction of negativity and self-loathing, it's not only a lot more pleasant but also a lot more productive in setting the stage to experience more of what I DO want rather than what I DON'T want.

 

 

The Fidget Factor

I recently remembered a research study that my friend and colleague, Dr. Bob Maurer, shared with me that forever altered the way I looked at physical activity. We were chatting about some of the studies he had reviewed for his book, One Small Step Can Change Your Life, one of which compared the differences between thin and overweight individuals. One of the key findings was that thin people expend more calories per day in physical activity that most people would probably consider "fidgeting." That's right--unintentional movements like pacing when talking on the phone, tapping your feet while sitting at your desk, and puttering around the house can actually lead to a significant difference in body composition. Now, THAT caught my attention.

I remember watching my children's daily activities for a few days after that, how they swirl their feet constantly while we read a nightly book, and how they absorb themselves in casual movement as they chat with me while I cook dinner or they tell me about their day at school. They use big arm movements and bounce around whenever a song is playing in the background. It's automatic and pleasurable.

Then, I watched some of the adults in my circle for a few days, both in professional and personal settings. So many had accomplished amazing feats of "movement apathy," myself included (even though I'm someone with a lifelong love of activity through dance and fitness!). It was so striking the difference between the natural and joyful movement patterns of children, and the "learned sedentary" nature of so many adults. Now, THAT ALSO caught my attention.

I committed that day to incorporating "The Fidget Factor" into my life, remembering that anything you do with regularity will become a habit before too long. Just as lack of activity has become an unproductive habit for many, tiny bits of additional activity (even ones that seem utterly insignificant) can add up to a productive, healthy habit that benefits both your weight and your well-being.

So that's why you'll see me gently shifting from side to side when I'm talking with someone in the grocery line, and why I'll do alternating leg lifts while I'm watching my favorite television show. It's why I'll take three or four trips in from the car when I'm hauling groceries, and why I'll squat down to say hello to my kids...or the dog...or my own feet more often than I used to. It makes it simple and effortless to add just a little bit more activity into my days one small step (actually, one small fidget!) at a time.

 

Welcome. I Love You.

 
I recently began taking private yoga lessons with an amazing teacher, and these lessons have quickly morphed from straightforward yoga practice to something that I’ve started calling “Yoga Therapy.” I love it. We talk a lot about the things that happen to me during my practice. And, usually those “things” relate to some sort of unkind thought I have about my body. Thoughts like, “Why is my fat rolling over my pants in this stupid side angle?” or “Ugh, I hate the way my stomach looks when I’m inverted! I bet everyone else thinks I look fat. The teacher is probably grossed out.”

 After I explained these thoughts that plague me both on and off my mat, my teacher asked me what it would feel like to have a “perfect body.” And I realized I had absolutely no idea. I’ve spent so much time, energy, and brain space thinking about how much I hate my body that I’ve never conceived of what a perfect body would feel like.

 I know the “right” answers. Functional. Pain-free. Efficient in its movements. Energetic. Of course, none of these answers involve how my body looks, yet whenever I think of achieving perfection, I think only of skin, bones, and defying gravity.

 Whenever I have these types of epiphanies about the dichotomy between what is true and what I believe, I want to immediately and sweepingly change the way my mind works. Of course, it doesn’t really work that way. Just like it’s impossible to lose 100 pounds overnight, it’s impossible to reprogram a lifetime’s worth of thought processes with the push of a reset button.

 But that’s where small steps come in. Man, I love the power of small steps! It’s so much easier to think of changing when all I have to do is something tiny.

 So, my small step right now is really so small that it’s almost embarrassing. All I’m doing right now is noticing these negative thoughts I have. Waving at them as I listen to them announce themselves. And then saying, “Welcome. I love you.”

 And the coolest thing is that lately when I’m trying to sink deeply into a side angle, I’ve stopped caring so much about the fat on my side.

Contributed by Katie Howard, Ideal Weight Guest Blogger