Kate Curran's Blog: The Klutzy Athlete, page 6

Holiday Weight Maintenance

Walnut trees turning color

Tis the season when pounds start magically appearing. Exercising and maintaining my weight can be a challenge this time of year. My routine gets out of whack with guests to entertain and an abundance of food to eat. Suddenly, I’m not exercising regularly, overeating and not savoring my food or the holiday.

 

Cattle grazing under Mt. Shasta
New Traditions

This year in my quest for a healthier lifestyle, I am instituting some new traditions. Instead of vegging in front of the television the entire time, I will take a walk. If there’s snow, instead of cuddling up by the fire, I will bundle up and snowshoe or ski. If it’s raining, I’ll pull out my raingear and go splash in the puddles. If the weather is too miserable, I’ll pull out my yoga mat and do some core work

in front of the fire.

Cooking and Exercise

Rebecca J. Clark, author of The Checklist Diet offered these suggestions for cooking and exercise. I am going to employ them as well.

Calf raises—whenever you’re stirring something on the stove.
Side leg raises—while stirring/mixing away from the stove.
Stand on one leg—while washing your hands (don’t forget to switch legs).
Arm circles—while waiting for the pot to boil.
Deep breathing—while chopping vegetables (in through the nose, pause, out through the mouth)
I’m also adding balance a book on my head and play plenty of music and dance when cooking—it’s fun, relaxing and I get some exercise, too

Cooking

Cooking is an integral part of the holiday for me and with that activity comes several challenges.

I like to sample as I cook, which also kills my appetite
I like to cook lots of food and fill my plate that even a crew of 50 couldn’t finish
I like a wide variety of desserts and veggies get kicked to the wayside

Savor the Holiday

My plan this year is to sample sparingly while cooking, so that I will be able to enjoy the meal when it’s finally on the table. I will choose reasonable quantities of food, rather than filling a heaping plate full of food that will leave me uncomfortably full and remind myself Thanksgiving is not just about food. I will strive to eat slowly and savor all the food I spent so many hours preparing.

image courtesy of (c) Gustavo Andrade/RF123

I will eat dessert, but in small portions, and again, savor ever bite so that I come away satisfied, but not stuffed.

The 3 F’s

My main objective this Thanksgiving is to savor the FFF’s of the holiday—family, friends and food. I intend to do all three of these without guilt and without depriving myself. And I’m sprinkling in exercise, too, as a stress reliever.

Mt McLaughlin, Oregon

What are your biggest challenges during the holidays?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone, savor every moment and don’t forget fresh air makes everything better!

The post Holiday Weight Maintenance appeared first on The Klutzy Athlete Kathy Coatney & Kate Curran.

New Exercise Routine

New Exercise Routine

It’s fall, and while I absolutely love this time of year, it messes with my exercise routine. This is mostly due to the change in weather. When it’s raining or the wind is howling I don’t ride my bicycle outside, so I have to adjust my routine and ride the indoor bicycle.

And some of the mountain biking trails I love get shut down because of weather. It doesn’t mean I can’t ride in the winter, it just means I have go to more winter friendly trails.

Shaking It Up

This changeup isn’t bad, it just means I have to readjust. It takes time for me to get in the groove with these changes. Instead of assuming I will take a bike ride outside, I have to look at the weather and make the decision of whether or not I will ride inside or outside that day.

Other positive changes are new activities. Provided there’s snow, I’ll have the opportunity to cross country ski and snowshoe. There are also places to hike that I will search out.

I really love exercise in the fall because it’s so much more pleasant than when it’s 110 degrees. I’m actually more encouraged to go out and exercise!

While I miss lap swimming, a nearby gym has a heated lap pool, and I will occasionally use their facility for a workout as a change of pace.

Challenges

I find yoga more of a challenge in colder weather. My body just isn’t as flexible. Some people enjoy hot yoga. I’m personally not a fan. I have found the middle of the afternoon is my most flexible time, so if I can take a 30 minute break, I will do a little yoga. Sometimes my schedule allows for this, sometimes it doesn’t.

I still have my kickboxing aerobics class that is much more enjoyable when it’s cooler, but with the time change it’s a challenge for me. Once five o’clock rolls around, I’m ready to slip into comfortable clothes and stay inside. There are days I have to force myself to get there, but I still go.

Williamson River, Oregon

Fall is a mixed bag for me. I love the weather, but I have to readjust my schedule. Once I do, I’m fine. And of course after I get in the swing of it, spring rolls around!

Do you find challenges with your exercise routine when the seasons change?

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Setting Weight Loss Goals

I’ve talked a lot about setting weight loss goals, but I just realized my quest is not only about weight loss. It’s about developing a healthy lifestyle.

Goals

So what are my goals for developing a healthy lifestyle?

Look forward to exercising
Exercise with joy in my heart
Exercise because I love it
Stop obsessing about food
Eat when I’m hungry, stop when I’m full
Love the foods I eat and savor every bite

That’s a pretty hefty list when I look at it. And while I’ve made progress on every single item, there are days that exercise just feels like work, and all I think about is what’s in the pantry to eat.

Sticky Notes

I’m looking at the list of sticky notes I wrote last week when was writing the blog about mental clutter, a technique from Diane Carbonell’s blog about banishing mental clutter.

While I still struggle with these goals, I’m very proud of the first item on the list—I stop eating when I’m full. I can think of only one time in the past two years when I’ve eaten to discomfort. That is a huge accomplishment for me!

Accomplishments

As I look at the list of goals, I find it overwhelming. But when I look at the list of sticky notes with all my accomplishments, I see I’ve made tremendous headway in the last two years.

I’m 70/30 on eating when I’m hungry. I’m 80/20 on eating smaller portions. I’m 40/60 on eating smaller portions of the foods I love. With exercising, I’m doing it regularly 98 percent of the time, but I don’t always do it with joy in my heart. There are days I want to be a couch potato and do nothing. But I’m encouraged when I realize I feel that way because I haven’t exercised. That’s huge progress for me!

When I look at my list of goals, two stand out that I really want to work on—love the foods I eat and savor every bite, and stop obsessing about food. The first goal seems far less daunting than the second one. Like anything in life, there are times I’m fixated and can’t focus on anything but what I’m preoccupied with. Other times life goes along without a bump in the road.

Manageable Goals

I’ve decided I need to approach the second goal with baby steps and whittle it into manageable parts. Here is how I plan to do it:

Every day I will celebrate, the day, hour, minute, second I’m not fixated on food.
Every day I will search for other actives that take my focus off food
Every day I will celebrate my successes in my healthy lifestyle quest

Fall Colors

What are your goals, and what do you struggle with?

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Fall Meal Planning

Red moon

I love fall. The crisp air in the morning, the cool afternoons to exercise without getting heat stroke, but most of all I love cooking again. It’s time for all those lovely

fall meals. I’m ready for a change of pace, so this week is fall meals week.

Fall Meals
Chili and corn bread

I kicked off my fall menu lineup with a pot of chili—the spicier the better for me.

My recipe for chili is a mix of several recipes and I kind of toss everything into the pot.

½ chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic crushed
½ chopped red or orange bell pepper
Turkey sausage 16 ounce package
2 cans black beans
1 cup chicken broth
1 small can tomato paste
Chopped jalapeños (add carefully if you don’t like it spicy)
1 TBL chili powder or less depending on how hot you like it
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Sauté the onion, peppers and garlic, then set aside. Cook the turkey sausage then add the sautéed vegetables. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.

Soups
Spicy black bean soup

Next on the menu, a pot of spicy black bean soup. This was followed by split pea soup and creamed cauliflower

soup. As you can see I’m on a bit of a soup kick. I love this for lunch with a spinach salad or with dinner in place of a salad. They’re warm, filling and just fit the bill for a fall meal.

If you’re like me, you don’t always have time to cook, so when I get in the cooking mood, I always stock up and make double recipes. I keep out a couple of servings, and put the rest in the freezer, and then take it out as needed.

Meal Choices

I love to have plenty of choices for a well-balanced meal sitting in my freezer for those days I don’t have the time or energy to cook.

Cooking split peas in the crock pot

I’m on the hunt for new recipes. What are your favorite fall meals?

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Mental Clutter=Weight Loss

Mental Clutter

I started to blog about mental clutter=weight loss, but my enthusiasm fizzled. Why? Because I feel fat!

Image courtesy of Okolaa at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My scale is being Sheila (the name I give it when I don’t like what she says). Sheila says I’m several pounds heavier than I want to be. To add insult to injury, my loose jeans feel tight today, and that’s all I can focused on! No matter what I’m doing these thoughts are in the back of my mind circling like a pack of rabid dogs taunting me, tormenting me.

It makes me want to jump on the old diet wheel and get rid of that excess weight before I can pile more on. And that’s when I reached this point in the blog and realized mental clutter was exactly what I needed to blog about.

Banishing Mental Clutter

Diane Carbonell, author of 150 Pounds Gone Forever, recently blogged about banishing mental clutter and how it prevented her from losing weight. Spring cleaning the brain=weight loss—a novel idea and one I felt was worth exploring with all the mental clutter I’m fighting today.

What is mental clutter? According to Diane, it is thoughts and beliefs that fill your mind with negativity.

Today’s mental clutter goes like this:

Why am I eating that when I’m not hungry
Why aren’t I kinder to others
I’m worthless
I’m unlovable
I’m unlikeable
I worry about things I can’t change

And with all that buzzing in my brain, all I want to do is eat, which would only compound the problem by making me feel more bloated, and ultimately I would feel worse about myself.

Combating Mental Clutter
image courtesy of (c) Jason Stitt/123RF

Diane said it takes effort to combat the mental clutter in your mind, and she developed some techniques to stop the mental clutter.

Identify negative thoughts and shut them down when they become vocal
Write down the good things you’ve accomplished in weight loss and in life on post it notes and read them when negative thoughts start (I paused here to write down my positive accomplishments)
Force yourself to say positive things about yourself even if you don’t believe them yet, i.e., I am a good person, I’m not worthless
Focus on doing rather than wishing, i.e., I will cook a healthy meal tonight and savor every bite.

As I thought about all this, I realized I needed to get away from the computer and do something for my body, which turned out to be yoga. I also realized I’d been working a lot of hours and not making time to do the things I wanted to do like cooking, so I finished my yoga, put on some music, and cooked for an hour.

As I relaxed, I stopped feeling fat and felt good about what I was doing for my body, had a lovely meal, and a relaxing evening. After all this struggle, I realized mental clutter matters, whether it’s about being in charge of my weight or good mental health.

How do you keep mental clutter at bay?

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Managing Sugar

Managing Sugar

Managing sugar is a hit and miss problem for me. In the past, the more I eat, the more I want. When I’m not eating it, I don’t crave it, but when I am, I want more. It’s been addictive for me and I craved it constantly. I managed it by avoiding sugar all together.

But an interesting thing has happened since I’ve started my weight loss quest. Now that I no longer deprive myself of desserts and sugar because I’m on a “diet”, I find I don’t crave it like I used to. I know I can have it, so I don’t treat it like it’s taboo or that I have to be good on my “diet” before I can have it. Now, I will have it when I really want it, but I also use Rebecca J. Clark’s three bite rule from her book The Checklist Diet.

“Next time you have the craving for something amazing and sinful (like cheesecake), take the first bite and savor the deliciousness. Eat it slowly…” By the fourth bite the taste has diminished, Rebecca says.

Three Bite Rule

For the most part I adhere to this, and I only eat it when I want it, but there are occasions when I have it because it’s there. Again, I use the three bite rule, and I eat it slowly and savor every bite, rather than scarf it down like a starving wolf. The best part of this three bite rule is I come away feeling satisfied and I’ve filled my craving. I don’t wait until I’m off my “diet” because I don’t “diet”, so I eat it when I crave it.

Dark Chocolate Craving
image courtesy of (c) Gustavo Andrade/RF123

A few weeks ago I had a craving for dark chocolate—specifically a Sees Candy dark chocolate filled with dark chocolate. Unfortunately there was no Sees Candy store close by, or any kind of candy store that had what I was looking for. I looked at other dark chocolate, but it wasn’t what I craved, so I waited, and waited, and waited until I could find just what I craved.

Three weeks later, I finally found the candy I was looking for. I had two pieces and savored each one, enjoying the texture, the rich flavor, the sweet burst of sugar. I still remember how good it tasted and how glad I was that I waited to get just what I wanted. And the best part was, when I finished eating them, I didn’t want

more. I was satisfied, and that has been a major accomplishment in my weight loss quest.

How do you manage your sugar cravings?

 

 

 

 

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Setting Weight Loss Goals

Weight Loss Goals

I’ve always been a goal setter—from work to exercise to weight loss. I recently read a post by Diane Carbonell on are you focused on the right thing when losing weight.

Crash mountain biking in Bend, Oregon. Good news the bike survived!

Her blog was about goal setting, and it made me realize that setting a goal to just lose a certain amount of weight wasn’t enough to be successful. For me, it also included an attitude change. I was no longer just losing weight, but changing my lifestyle by eating when I was hungry, stopping when full and getting plenty of exercise—not just a set amount of exercise, and even challenging myself to try new activities like mountain biking. This has come with a few bumps and bruises, but definitely worth it.

I’m no longer on a diet to lose weight, but I am committed (have goals) to permanently change my eating habits. What I mean by this is, I don’t stop doing what I’m doing. It’s not a diet I go off of, but something I will do the rest of

my life. It’s FOREVER.

A few bruises from recent mountain biking trip in Bend Oregon
Life Goals

In Diane’s recent blog, she said that what was different the last time she permanently lost weight was she focused on life goals as well as the number on the scale. Then, things began to turn around.

“Yes, I still wanted to weigh less than 300 pounds, but I realized there were also other things I wanted to do with my life that weren’t all about weight. Here were some of my life goals at the time that I felt my weight was getting in the way of achieving!”

Have more children
Feel like an attractive young mom rather than a big water buffalo
Contribute to the family income
Protect my long-term health
Have enough energy for life’s daily activities
Quit thinking only of myself, my problems, and my obesity”

Mountain biking with daughter-in-law Devin in Bend Oregon

Her blog has made me think about my goals beyond just changing my lifestyle. Some of our goals were similar, and some were very different.

Mountain biking Bend Oregon

Stay healthy with diet and exercise as I grow older
Keep my body in good shape so I can hike and bike with friends and family
Learn to savor and enjoy my food
Don’t be afraid to try new kinds of exercise or bumps and bruises
Eat the foods I love in moderation
Stop feeling guilty about eating
Stop obsessing about food and my weight

I still have a long way to go, and many days it’s one step forward and two back, but other days it’s the reverse. It’s progress, and that’s all that matters.

What are your weight loss and exercise goals?

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Fighting the Obesity Epidemic

The Klutzy Athlete is out being her Klutzy self and rerunning a blog today.  Will be back soon with more nutrition and exercise.

We have an obesity epidemic on our hands, and no one seems to know how to stop it. If you have a loved one who is obese, you’ve probably tried anything and everything to get them to lose weight. Guilt, shame, bribery, badgering, coercion, but nothing works, does it? So what do you do?

image courtesy of (c) Jason Stitt/123RF

Having recently lost someone I loved to complications from obesity, I want to take on the obesity and knock it into outer space. It’s time we all start fighting. All out cage fighting. No more children without parents. No more wives without husbands. No more parents burying children. No more. We stop this now.

But we’re losing the battle against obesity

We’re exercising less. Diets aren’t working. Surgery is a temporary solution at best, so what do we do?

I don’t have answers, but I’m searching for the solution that motivates everyone to reach a healthy weight and maintain it. It won’t be easy. In fact, I’m certain it will be darned hard, but it can be done. It must be done.

Weight loss alone is not enough. Exercise has to go hand‐in‐hand. I’m talking exercise that works the heart and keeps the muscles in shape. Exercise that takes you out into the wonderful outdoors to breathe in fresh air, and soak in the sights and sounds around you. Exercise that not only works the body, but rejuvenates the mind.

I think we’ve been trying to find a one-size-fits-all-solution to weight loss, but that isn’t possible. We are individuals—unique, special. We have different triggers, different issues with food, so my goal is to learn what our triggers are and look for solutions.

Mountain biking Mt. Shasta, California

While I search for answers, I want to toss out a challenge—let’s start exercising. Start small and build up. If all you can do is walk across the room, start there. If you can walk the length of your yard, do it. If you can walk around the block, do it!

But what if you can’t get motivated to even start? Fear and embarrassment are holding your back? Then check out this blog post Gathering the Courage to Exercise by Diane Carbonell. She lost over 150 pounds and has kept it off for 16 years!

Next, I’m going to ask those of us who are motivated to exercise and eat right to be your support and encouragement. We’ll do double time—extra sit ups, run an extra mile, swim an extra lap, hike another incline in honor of you. We’ll be your helping hand until you can take the torch and do it yourself.

It will be a double win. We’ll get more exercise and help motivate you. As Rachel Platten’s Fight Song says, “like a small boat in the ocean, sending big waves into motion, how a single word can make a heart open.” That’s what I’m going to do. With a single word, make a heart open and change one life at a time. And that word is LOVE. I’m sharing my love for you and my love of eating right and exercising with you. When you’re ready, join me, and until that time, keep following me for my support and love to get you to that point.

Mt. Lassen

How can we fail with love at the helm? Love is a powerful thing. It moves mountains, opens hearts, makes miracles happen. Let’s make a miracle one pound at a time and make sure our loved ones are here for a long, healthy life. Share your struggles and together we will find solutions.

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Exercise Tips

Doing Push-ups

I’ve been following Rebecca J. Clark’s 30 Day Weight Loss Challenge on Facebook, and it is loaded with fabulous exercise tips.

Did you know that after just two weeks of being a couch potato you could lose 25 percent of your strength? That made me sit up and take notice, especially with winter on the way.

Exercise Tips
Elbow Planks

Rebecca said doing this circuit workout one to two times a week can maintain your strength.

Sit and stand from chair—20x
Jumping jacks—20-50x (if you can do 50, do 50)
Push-ups against the wall/counter/floor—15x
Step ups (up, up/down, down on step)—20 each leg
Elbow planks—hold as long as you can up to a minute

Another great fitness suggestion:

Use a hard back book and balance it on your head, then walk around for 30 seconds to a minute. Also try balancing while you’re sitting. It’s good for posture and your looks, energy levels, and back, shoulders and neck, Rebecca says.

Balancing a book on my head
Why Do You Exercise?

Diane Carbonell’s blog Is Exercise Enough? intrigued me. She asked the question, “Why do you exercise?”

In the past, I would have said to maintain my weight, but that’s not the only reason anymore. While it certainly has the added benefit of maintaining my weight and toning my body, my main motivation is that I feel better when I exercise—mentally and physically.

Diane also asked if it’s possible to lose weight without exercising, and while I think it’s possible, my goal is a lifestyle change, not just losing weight. For me, a healthy lifestyle includes exercise, diet, and managing stress. And exercise fills the bill on all counts.

Weight Loss Quest

When I started my weight loss quest, it was all about losing weight. But as the weight came off, it also became about changing my lifestyle, which also resulted in not only looking forward to working out, but missing it when I can’t exercise.

The wonderful thing about exercise is, it’s like Netflix. There are literally thousands of choices—dancing, skiing, walking, biking, the list goes on and on. All

Hiking Smith Rock in Oregon

you have to do is pick what you like and get moving.

What’s your favorite exercise?

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Social Eating

Taking a new path on my lifestyle

Sorry for the hiatus last week. I was at a writers conference and just ran out of time to blog. But I came home with a topic after being dependent on restaurants and conference meals. This has always been a real challenge for me, especially before my lifestyle changes.

Eating Challenges

That isn’t to say there weren’t challenges and that I didn’t overindulge, but I did so mindfully. I accepted that I was eating when I wasn’t hungry and with food I didn’t necessarily want.

View from the plane flying into Seattle

But, I didn’t stuff myself until I was uncomfortable. For the most part, I ate until I was full—a few times beyond that, but not to discomfort. I still ate too fast at times, but at other times, I paid attention and slowed down.

When I’m out at an event like a conference that is just an ongoing social event, it’s incredibly difficult for me to keep track of when I ate, or in some cases, come up for air from eating.

Savoring Dessert

Every meal offers dessert, and while I wasn’t craving a dessert, I didn’t turn it down either. But what I did do was follow the three bite rule—stop eating when the food stops tasting good from Rebecca Clark’s book The Checklist Diet.

“Next time you have the craving for something amazing and sinful (like cheesecake), take the first bite and savor the deliciousness. Eat it slowly…” By the fourth bite the taste has diminished, Rebecca says.

image courtesy of (c) Gustavo Andrade/RF123

This was where I totally rocked! I savored every bite and left three-fourths on the plate without wanting more. That was a twofold benefit. I ate something I loved, and I savored the texture, the taste, the experience it gave my taste buds!

I also remembered this mindful moment from Eat What You Love Love What You Eat, by Dr. Michelle May, “If you love what you eat, act like it.”

For once, I actually did that with the desserts, but that wasn’t the case with other meals. It’s small progress, but still progress and I’m savoring that victory. I came away satisfied and not feeling deprived.

Celebrating Victories

Now that I’m home, I haven’t felt I had to deprive myself of foods I love just because I indulged. I also didn’t treat the conference as an excuse for an eating spree because I was away from home. These are both major victories for me.

Do you find it challenging to eat healthy when you’re away from home for work or fun? How do you handle it?

 

 

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