Out of office reply

I will be out of my office until January 2011.  I apologize to those who may have been reading this blog. The Serving Size Experiment will pick up where it left off January 1.  Please check back in after the new year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Coming up for next month...

Just a little heads up for what is on the menu in the months to come...

December: Sweet Treats. In this month I am going to experiment with the idea of balance.  The food that we serve as part of our holiday tradition involves lots of fattening, buttery dishes loaded with calories. Each of these things I look forward to eating all year long, every year, so I am going to direct the attention off of food all together and focus on the inward self in spirit of the food.  Food is a way to bring nutrients to the body it is also a way to celebrate life and recall memories of past experiences. This chapter of the experiment will focus on the body and learning how to listen to what the body needs in conjunction with the mind.

January: Detox. I am a huge fan of the detox. I do them every year and figure that January is the perfect month to do them because we are entering fresh into another year of living with a healthy, balanced body and mind.  This month I will prepare the body for the actual detox, which will last for seven days and then focus on rebooting the system post detox.

February: Naturally Sweet. I love my refined sugar!  I am the first in line for an ice-cream cone, a Dairy Queen Blizzard, a chocolate chip cookie, or a tasty strawberry margarita.  I will use this month to take a break from refined sugar and eat only sugar from natural foods such as oranges and apples.  There is a lot of debate about the physical side effects that we experience from sugar with drawl. Is this a real thing?  Is sugar addicting? Lets find out.

Burning Calories in the Kitchen (and I don't mean sex)

I have been very busy these last two weeks cooking up a storm!  My dad and I plucked three 5-gallon buckets of apples off of his tree, the top ones being the size of man fists.  The first frost had already bit through, yet these apples seemed untainted, still dripping with dewy sweetness with each bite. I promised my dad that I would not let even a one go to waste.  Well...I kept my promise.  Lets just say I am not going to be opening a bakery any time soon...that is a lot of work!

This brings me to tonights point. We can burn calories even in the kitchen!  

Just to give you an idea of what I am suggesting, 

I found this chart from www.fitnessmagazine.com

Activity	Works	Burns
Mopping floors	Shoulders, biceps	112 calories/ 30 minutes
Painting	Arms, core	288 calories/ 60 minutes	.
Gardening	Arms, back legs	256 calories/ 60 minutes
Cleaning gutters	Shoulders, upper back, arms, legs	320 calories/ 60 minutes

(Source: www.fitnessmagazine.com)

Other websites that I looked at claim that you can burn between 120-200 calories by washing dishes by hand, sweeping, vacuuming, reaching for items (calf raises) and folding laundry.  

Some other ideas to increase the work out of your house hold chores are:

• wearing ankle weights while vacuuming
• folding laundry on a yoga ball
• dancing to music while washing dishes (inside/outside thigh)
• walking from room to room in high step (raising your knee in a marching motion up towards your chest)
• side stepping while carrying the laundry basket

These are just a few ideas, I am sure you can invent plenty more. I always wear headphones while I do my house work. If anyone were to look into my windows they would see me busting a move!  Another fun idea is to make a play list just for house work. This makes the idea of doing the work more personalized and serves as a daily outlet to unwind rather than another daily chore....if you get where I am going with that idea.

I hope some of these ideas are useful for you. There is an endless resource of information that you can find about alternative ways to burn calories if you feel like your day has been used up.  Try www.fitnessmagazine.com for some more fun ideas.

Have a good night.

The test

Today I came across another test. Did I fail? That is something that could be debated.  As a natural born Wisconsinite the love for cheese is something that is chemically strewn into my DNA chain.  I was born this way.  There is nothing I can do to stop the monster mouse that lives within me....especially when it comes to cheese tasting. Oh my lord do I love a good cheese tasting.  Mmmm... merlot cheddar, brie with orange fig spread, and cranberry gouda.  Luckily for me that the bite size pieces are so small that I can eat a few of them without going over the serving size of a piece of cheese.

However, if you don't pay attention this is a good place to just let yourself go and drift off into the over yonder pastures of taste bud bliss..so hold back. Maybe just try going for your top three choices.

This blog is not only a good place to write about how I eat, but to rediscover a place to learn how to eat. What I mean is that I actually ate more than three pieces....but now that I thought of this idea, next time I will execute it.

Hmmmmm.

Well food for thought or thoughts of food, watch out for those cheese sampling tables!  Don't get me wrong. I AM NOT going to pass up on sampling the cheese that I can never afford to buy (did I splurge on that??) when I get the opportunity.  We shouldn't have to feel bad about enjoying those things that we love. Unless you know the secret place that offers daily cheese samples or unlike me can afford cheese outside of the $2.15 mechanically processed cheese slices; I say go ahead and try them....DON'T feel bad.

It is okay to try something that you love, but use restriction. When you go to Sam's Club do you really consider a sample of bagel bite with the strawberry cream cheese a delicacy?  Keep these moments for the special ones, you'll feel better about it later.  All I can say is that I feel bad for those employees at the bank that have to deal with all of the bake salers every day.

Remember keep the samples special.

All the cheese love to you my friends. :)

Daily C

How many of you take daily vitamins? My grandma walked into a drug store one day and informed an associate that she was interested in starting a daily calcium regime.  The associate looked at my grandma and said "It's too late to start taking calcium."

I had to laugh, not because what the lady said was funny, but quite the opposite.  I remember her mother, my great-grandmother, growing shorter and shorter as I grew taller and taller.  I once looked up at her and thought it was strange as I began to see eye to eye with the woman.  It wasn't that I was actually growing taller (which I was) she had osteoporosis.  Who is to say that it is ever too late to vitaline our system, as a safety measure?

For years I spent hundreds of dollars on boxed kits of daily vitamin packs and fancy bottles that promised the fountain of youth in a mouthful of tablets...but why?

 We do get the same vitamins and minerals in our food.

Of course the  choice to take vitamins is strictly personal and the need is dependent on one's lifestyle. If you are the type that eats on the run, never eats breakfast, is a vegetarian, eats mostly meats, avoids fruits, veggies, and dairy, or eats each meal prepackaged from the freezer section  than maybe a few extra vitamins are a good fit for you.

However, if you eat a balanced diet of whole wheat pasta and bread, plenty of fruits and veggies, lean meats and eggs, and low fat dairy than you would be fine just taking a daily vitamin.   I like one a day for women and I buy one a day for men for my boyfriend.  There are several brands that offer a daily all-in-one vitamin that are good.  The great thing about vitamins is that you can always pick what you need based on how you eat and your own personal health concerns.  For example I know that I don't eat a lot of dairy ( I usually recommend that women take a daily calcium pill every day), run a little low on iron, am always stressed (compromised immune system) have dry skin, have bad eye sight, and heart/circulation problems run in my family so every day I take 2 calcium pills, 2 fatty fish oils (omegas), a daily all-in-one vitamin, and five odorless garlic capsules, and iron once a week.  If you have questions about different vitamins or are wondering which vitamins might be right for you there is plenty of resources available.  Most health and drug stores have vitamins encyclopedias that recommend certain vitamins for specific health issues.

Trick
If you want to see if your vitamin can be broken down and utilized by your body put the vitamin in a glass of water.  If the vitamin starts to fizz and break apart then your body can get the nutrients out of it.  If the vitamin is still solid after ten minutes then there is a good chance that you will "pass" the vitamin without having received any of the nutrients.

I will also recommend a good acupuncturist who is also a licensed herbal pharmacist. Check out his website at: http://www.ac4wellness.com/

• Remember try to eat a balanced diet.  A balanced diet is the best way to provide your bodies with the necessary vitamins and minerals it needs to run efficiently, but if you are on the run find out which vitamins are most valuable to you.
• Consider taking a daily one-in-all vitamin.
• If you are female consider taking a daily fatty fish oil capsule and calcium tab 
• Get plenty of exercise, and sleep. Drink lots of water. Meditate. Laugh.

The key is to try to avoid medications if you can.  We are only masking the real issue.  Listen to your bodies.

Tonight: Stretch & breath deeply.

Hello there..

I apologize for the absence. I hope everyone has been keeping up with their daily logs, remaining conscious of serving sizes, and doing the daily minimum of 30 minutes of exercise.

I have been facing several challenges that, I believe, are the precursor for what is to come later this month (Thanksgiving).  My boyfriend's family has the kind of Thanksgiving that is only seen in magazines, and happy television shows.  I am not kidding! Luckily for me most of the worry over temptation has been "licked in the bud" because I have been "volun-told" that I am working that day.  That does not help everyone else that has the day off though. All I can say is that I have seen glimpses and I am sorry....BUT I KNOW YOU CAN REMAIN TRUE!!  

This week I am coordinating a fund raiser, bake sale, for a cause that is important to me.  My boyfriend actually inspired me to have this bake sale when he refused to donate $5 towards the financial donation I was prepared to mail off that day. He told me that he would not give me a cent, but he would "DO" something instead...a.k.a bake a box load of monster cookies.....okay so here is ..me..getting to the point...MONSTER COOKIE.  Yes then behind the aroma of peanut buttery, chocolate goodness I baked off a tree's worth of apple pies. The words of my boss (head cook) "Quality Control" kept ringing through my head.  

I did sample a small cookie (well small according to my usual standards) and included that as part of my lunch. I can't say I have been the best participant today, but I managed to logistically calculate all that I consumed.  

This brings me to another vicious cycle. The "I will do better tomorrow" cycle.  I went through this cycle the month before last. Everyday I would eat like I had been locked in a dungeon with only plain bread and water for three years.  I would tell myself  "I will start eating healthy tomorrow." After a little over a month of eating like this and feeling like hell I decided that I wanted to do this experiment.  I just want to observe that eating consciously doesn't mean that we have to omit all of the things that we love, but rather allows us to eat them without feeling guilty.  I am just going to say the golden word MODERATION.  

An idea I would like to share is to look back at what you ate all week on Sunday.  What do you notice?

Keep your beautiful head up. Eat in moderation, but love with all of your intensity.  No matter what, just keep moving forward.

Have a wonderful evening!

Subject for tomorrow: vitamins.

Anyone hungry yet?

Anyone hungry yet?  I have to say that I feel pretty good today.  My cold is gone, thanks to the miracle work of my friend. Also I feel like I have more energy, and I don't feel mentally sluggish.

So is this from eating smaller amounts?  There are so many studies that point to mental and physical health problems being directly linked to bad diet and obesity.  It makes sense that eating lighter and less would be more conducive to feeling healthier and essentially being healthier. Hmmmmm....now that is food for thought :) I want to pass on healthy thoughts for the day.

I have a little exercise:

• Let's envision ourselves in a place of complete and total perfection, what do you see?  What would you change about yourself? Example:  I get told by people once in awhile that I like to talk, which makes me think that maybe I need to work on being a better listener (or spend more time in my office writing) but that is something I would change about myself...I would be a better listener.  Okay  now back to you :) what would you change about yourself?  
• Take each thing one by one and hold it in your mental hand. What exactly does this piece of yourself that you are removing look like? What does it smell like?  Does it make any sounds as you rip it away?
• Now shake the thing you have removed and toss it into the air, then blow to assist it along. Do you feel lighter?
• Remember to get them all, all the little things that you want to change about yourself. Is it your nose? Your gray hair? The spacing between your teeth? Is it the way you laugh? Whatever it may be tear it loose in your mind and set it free.
• Now take a look at yourself in the mirror (the mirror in your mind) how do you look? How do you feel? 
• Now look at yourself in the mirror hanging on the wall or bathroom.
• Notice how beautiful/handsome you are inside and out.  You are. Beautiful/Handsome!!
• Give yourself a huge hug because love is always and forever burning within us no matter what shape or size we are.

If you have an ipod consider downloading the podcast "Chakra Meditaion" by Paul White. It is free and it only takes a few minutes to go through the entire thing, but it works!

Tonight: think light,  take a load off.

Sweet dreams

Just a little poke

So today I decided to face yet another fear: needles. I have a good friend that does acupuncture and I decided to let him be the "catalyst," as his website puts it, to help me face my fear.  Lets just say the needles won. I couldn't ease into my happy place long enough to reap the benefits of the process so my friend had to use alternative "stickers" on me. I did enjoy the experience of fire cupping on my back, where he used heat to suction globe like glass balls on my back.  This sucks out the toxins, such as the cold I came in to see him for.

What does this have to do with our experiment?

 Fear.

We are all afraid of something.  Some of my fears are heights, needles, disease, venomous snake bites, and mountain lions jumping out on me while hiking on a deep wooded trail.  The fact is whether small and minute or huge and overbearing we all have them.

The thoughts for tonight:

1. What are/is my fear(s)?
2. What are/is my coping mechanism(s)?
3. Am I afraid of change, or find it stressful?
4. Do I feel hungry or have the urge to eat when I feel fear/stress?

These are some questions that you may find interesting to free write about in your journal.  Try this: Without thinking too much about what you are writing, answer these questions.  After you answer them all free write for two minutes (or longer if you like, but time yourself) once two minutes are up go back and read what you wrote, did you discover anything interesting about yourself?

Sweet dreams.

Day 2

WOW!  This is going to be a challenge.  I am always gun-ho to try new things until I get to that familiar place where a change must occur.  Breakfast was good as always, and I didn't notice any fluctuations during lunch. My afternoon snack of a mini snickers (trick-or-treat) and a stick of string cheese went over well, but it was at dinner that I squeaked!

That was supposed to be somewhat poetic.  Because...well I did make it.  For dinner I was running late and didn't feel like cooking dinner so I went to the grocery store and bought a rotisserie chicken, a bag of frozen vegetables, a box of chicken broth and a tube of biscuits.  Little did I know each night in the past, that I had piled gravy over mounds of biscuit halves, that a serving of biscuits is only ONE....ONE?  Wait, one?? That can't be!  Yes the tape worm (that is what I have named my endless hunger) in my belly tightened sharp and slowly, sadly slid away.  So instead I ate a small salad with diced tomatoes, my ONE biscuit with a cup of gravy (as the serving size allows), and for dessert...ONE cookie :)
...and I was satisfied.

Tonight if you made it, pat yourself on the back. Now 27 days more to go. We can do this.

Welcome...

to day one of the actual "Serving Size Experiment."  The first thing you should do today is tape yourself to find out what your starting measurements are.  Record results in your journal.

Example:

November 1, 2010
Upper Thigh  24 in.
Calf              15 in.
Hips             40 in.
Waist           28 in.
Bust             36 in.
Bicept          10.5 in.

To Get Started
Like any other experiment this may have a few little ticks.  For example this morning I was making my bowl of oatmeal and realized that a serving size of walnuts is 1/4 cup (surprising large).  I put the amount I wanted in my bowl and ate the rest plain.  Similarly, my boyfriend was making lunch for me and found that a serving size of lettuce according to the package is 2 c. I walked in the front door and found my boyfriend up in arms with a huge pile of greens on my plate.

NOTE: we can adjust these servings down as much as we like to suit our needs and wants.  For example tomorrow morning I will just take the portion of walnuts, out of the serving size, that I desire for my oatmeal and forfeit the rest.   I also want to throw out there that once you forfeit a portion of your serving you can't eat more of something else to make up for the portion of a food not eaten.....just want to make that clear :)

For the entire month of November you can enjoy any thing you like. The goal of this experiment is not to put certain foods in the time out corner, but to embrace them warmly...just in moderate bites.  So eat whatever you choose as long as you abide by the serving size on the package.

I suggest that you try to eat five small meals a day.

• A breakfast consisting of good sugars such as catelope, grapefruit, or fresh oranges
• Try whole grains over refined.
• Enjoy a yogurt or protein shake for a post breakfast snack
• Try salad for lunch.
• Soups are a delicious filling way to get tons of fiber, vitamins, and protein.
• Make everything from scratch (as much as time affords)
• Try an apple and peanut butter to curb the afternoon munchies.
• Make dinner count!  The more colorful the better.  I always keep in mind that whatever I eat for dinner will be sitting in my belly ALL NIGHT :/

This is going to be fun!  I will be posting every day to keep you motivated.  Just remember to keep up with your daily exercise (30 minutes minimum), take a daily vitamin, eat what you enjoy, but watch those labels.  

Example:

Daily food log:

Breakfast-

1 serving of oatmeal with walnuts, flax, coconut, maple syrup  NOTE: These are all portioned out by ss

1 c. tea

1 c. (8oz) orange juice  NOTE: this is actually a larger serving than the list below, but I followed ss on box label

Snack-

1 container of cherry yogurt

16 oz. water

Lunch-

1 turkey pot pie

1/2 c. arugula salad with a cherry tomato and (less than) 2 T. of italian dressing.

Snack-

1 cheese stick and four triscuit crackers

16 oz. water

Dinner-

fist sized hunk of steak

1 baked potato with a pad (less than ss) of butter

1/2 c. vanilla ice-cream

Later-

16 oz. water

1 c. hot apple cider (no sugar added)

Last minute reminders:

• measure yourself tonight if you can or as soon as possible
• record what you eat
• read the labels
• if a serving size is more than you like, then don't eat the full amount
• try eating five small meals a day. Like a car, our bodies are little engines that need fuel to keep them running.  If you let your tank run dry then your engine will be running on fumes (or fueling on muscle rather than fat)
• drink lots of water
• meditate. get enough sleep. smile often. journal, journal, journal. enjoy new recipes

As a reminder here are a few label less serving sizes again:

According to the United States Department of Agriculture a serving size is:

• Fruit/Veggies-about 1/2 cup for raw
• Greens like spinach or romaine lettuce is about 1 cup
• A single piece of fruit such as an apple, orange or pear is considered one serving size
• One serving of fruit juice is a 4 oz. glass.
• The serving size of meat should be roughly the size of your palm or a deck of cards. 

Okay I hope this helps everyone get started. 

This is going to be a lot of fun and hopefully everyone will feel energized and healthier in a month, just in time to look fabulous in your new Christmas party dress!