Kate Curran's Blog: The Klutzy Athlete, page 9

Life is More Than a Number

Outlaw Bathroom Scales

I think bathroom scales should be outlawed, banned like plastic grocery bags, sent to the crusher never to pop up an unwanted number again. My life seems to revolve around the number on that tiny screen. When I’m a few pounds under 150 I’m on top of the world, and when I’m a pound or two above it I’m down in the dumps, and yet I still look the same.

Image courtesy of vorakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Name That Bathroom Scale

My bathroom scale has two names. It’s Darth Vader when I’m over, and Matt Damon when I’m under.

I actually have a love/hate relationship with my scale. Getting on it once a week motivates me to maintain my weight, but the constant fluctuation makes me crazy. Even though I’m within normal range for my height and age,  there’s this ideal number stuck in my head that’s as mythical as the idea that maintaining my weight will ever be easy.

What’s going to happen if and when I achieve this goal? Will I be healthier? Happier? Find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Odds are nothing will change, including the roll around my middle. So why do I continue to be the dog chasing its tail?

www.canstockphoto.com

Maybe the question I should be asking myself is, what will I gain (no pun intended) if I hit 145? Check out Diane Carbonell’s  Fit to the Finish blog for some great insights on this.

I’d really like to blame Hollywood for the incessant advertising that promotes the fanatical obsession with youth, but honestly, I can’t. The truth is it comes from deep within me, and placing blame on advertising doesn’t stop the hamster running the wheel in my head.

The truth is, it’s not weight, it’s age, sagging skin, and it’s not going to change regardless of the number on the scale. And yet, my mind circles back. What if I lose those five pounds and that roll around my middle disappears? Even if it does, will I be able to sustain it and still have the occasional dessert, hamburger or popcorn at the movie?

Ideal Weight

How did I come to the determination that 145 pounds was my ideal weight? And why do I cringe when I admit I weigh a 150 pounds? My body is solid, dependable, always gets me where I need to go. Sounds like an ad for a pickup truck, doesn’t it? Recoiling again! I want to be the Mercedes with sleek angles and elegant lines, not a dependable, durable, built like a rock Chevy truck

Image courtesy of Teerapun at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It all comes back to image, though, whether it’s the number on the scale or the kind of vehicle you think you resemble. Am I alone with my fixation on the ideal weight? Has anyone found answers? I’d love to hear them.

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In Charge versus in Control

Being in control

I’ve always controlled my eating. In truth, I was never in control—food controlled me. Since high school, I’ve carefully monitored my food intake, and how much exercise I needed to maintain that weight. Ultimately, I failed and regained the few pounds I’d lost.

As I mentioned in Tuesday’s blog, my weight started to increase and control and exercise stopped working for me.I’d always felt closely monitoring everything I ate was my only option, but then I read Eat What You Love and Love What You Eat, by Dr. Michelle May.

Being in charge
Image courtesy of Ludmila Baryshnikova (c)/www.123RF.com

 In the very first chapter, Dr. May discusses the distinction between being in control and being in charge of your eating.

When I first read it, it resonated with me, but I wondered why. I mean control and charge are basically the same words, right? Curious, I looked up the synonyms for control and found—controller, power, regulator. For charge I found—duty, care, custody, responsibility. They are similar, but being in control felt more rigid to me than being in charge.

Listen to your body

And as I considered the difference between in control or in charge of my eating, it struck me that my body is one of a kind. There is no other body like mine—it’s special, unique. And if I’m in charge of it, responsible for it, shouldn’t I give it the very best care I can? And shouldn’t I start by listening to what it tells me, because besides being unique, it’s brilliant. It’s been specifically designed to know what it wants and needs.

And while I’m still learning how to be in charge, it’s becoming easier to ask myself, ‘Am I hungry?’, and trust that my body will tell me whether it is or isn’t.

What do you think? Is there a difference between being in control and being in charge of your eating?

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Weight Loss is not for Sissies

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Weight loss is not for sissies is a truth no one wants to admit. My experience has been there is no easy way to lose weight and keep it off, but gaining it is a piece of pie, literally.

That’s not to say it can’t be done. I’m here to tell you I have done it and kept it off.

I’ve always struggled with 10 to 15 pounds, but two years ago that figure jumped to 20 pounds. My fear is 10 pounds will lead to 20 pounds, then 20 pounds will lead to 40.

I had a favorite weight loss program that had always worked for me until 2013 when they changed it. I just couldn’t lose weight on it anymore. I actually gained on their program, even though I was also following a vigorous exercise program.

Image courtesy of Okolaa at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Then January first of 2014 The Checklist Diet was released. I devoured this book like I would a bowl of my favorite ice cream. Thirty-five pages of easy reading by an author I could relate to and I was hooked. She states right up front that she’s not an expert. She created the ten-step checklist to help manage her own cravings and weight issues.

Weight Loss

Using the checklist from the book, I proceeded to lose 16 pounds in two months and another six pounds over the next three months.

I tweaked the plan to work for me (I call it a plan because it’s not a diet IMO). My main take away from the book was: eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full.

Sound easy? Ha!

It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. I sat for hours and hours waiting for a sign of hunger. I wanted to eat, but I wasn’t hungry. My brain said I’m bored, eat. My brain said, it’s been two hours, you need to eat, but I wasn’t hungry. It was torture!

Hunger Signs

When I did get hunger signs—my stomach felt empty or it was growling—I ate, but only in small half-cup portions. If I was hungry after I finished my snack or meal, I had more, but only if I was hungry and only in small portions.

Now, over a year later, I’ve maintained my weight without all the cravings, and I eat healthy food 80 to 85 percent of the time. I still limit my portion sizes, especially when I eat out because the calories are so high, but if I’m still hungry, I eat. And if I want the occasional cheeseburger and fries, I have them!

Mountain biking Gateway Trail Mt. Shasta
Exercise

An integral part of my success includes exercise, but I actually exercise less now than when I was on my old program.

Maintaining my weight means sacrifices. I can’t eat large portions of foods I love all the time. That sucks, doesn’t it? But the tradeoff is that I don’t crave them like I used to, and I can maintain a healthy weight and feel better about myself.

Mt. Shasta

I empathize with anyone trying to lose weight. It’s hard work, and for me, it amounted to going to war with my brain. Whenever my brain said, eat, I listened for hunger signals instead.

Who else struggles with this? I would love to hear your journey.

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Savoring Food

Savoring Food

I’ve mentioned in previous posts I’m searching for answers about how to maintain a healthy weight. I need to alter this slightly. I’m searching for answers to maintaining a healthy weight without being obsessed about food.

In my search for answers, I’ve found a book that speaks to me. It’s not a diet book. It’s about living a healthy lifestyle that includes weight loss and savoring food. Eat What You Love and Love What You Eat, by Dr. Michelle May has given me several ah-ha moments. I’m learning that I can be in charge of what I eat and eat ANY food I love in moderation. The author calls it mindful eating.

Mindful Moments

Throughout the book Dr. May offers Mindful Moments. One Mindful Moment, in particular, resonated with me. “Get rid of guilt and make eating for enjoyment an intentional decision.”

I’ve found many similarities between this book and The Checklist Diet by Rebecca Clark. For instance, the three bite rule. After three bites, the taste buds stop registering that intense flavor. “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 will have diminished, Rebecca says.

I didn’t believe it until I tried it, but it really works. And there’s a twofold benefit. I ate something I loved, and I savored the texture, the taste, the experience it gave my taste buds!

Love What You Eat

Another Mindful Moment, by Dr. May, “If you love what you eat, act like it.” I found that when I took a moment to look at my food, inhale the wonderful scents rising from my plate, feel the texture of the food on my tongue and the roof of my mouth, that my entire eating experience changed. I ate until I was satisfied and loved what I ate!

My mantra this week is to stop feeling guilty about what I eat and savor every morsel. What about you? Is there something you want to strive for this week?

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You Want me to Shave Where?

Swimsuit shopping is not for sissies.
Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Raise your hand if you actually enjoy shopping for a swimsuit. If there’s a churning in the pit of your stomach, then welcome to the sisterhood of ‘You want me to shave where?’

I hate shopping for swimsuits almost as much as I despise pantyhose. Is there any worse reality than standing in a department store dressing room with interrogation room lighting and mirrors that have converted me from a middle-aged woman to a squat troll? I swear if a camera adds ten pounds, these dens of horror add fifteen.

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With harsh reality staring back at me, it’s impossible to deny that I not only have generous hips, but a roll or two in the middle, depending on whether I’m sitting, standing or holding my breath. And the newest outrage—back fat bulging over my swim suit.

For my next career, I’ve decided to be a dressing room designer. Perfect mood lighting that hides the flaws, wrinkles and rolls. And a mirror that will reflect a runway model’s body. I’d buy that swimsuit!

Adding insult to injury, swimsuits keep getting skimpier, forcing hair removal in places where no blade or wax should ever go. I hate one piece swim suits, too, because they are impossible to get off once they’re wet, but my body is no longer made for a bikini.

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There’s always the skirt suit that my grandmother wore. Not ever gonna happen! There’s also the trick of wearing shorts over my swimsuit so no one will guess I’m covering ten tons of cellulite.

There’s a part of me that wishes I didn’t give a hoot what anyone thinks like an aunt of mine. I always considered her the female version of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. At well over fifty, she trotted out to the public pool in a bikini without a thought to her appearance. Thirty years later, I still cringe at that image, but at the same time I admire the woman who was willing to thumb her nose at convention and wear what she wanted.

So, what’s the answer to the swimsuit dilemma?

Weight loss? Exercise? Massive doses of plastic surgery? Sure surgery can probably give me a body that looks good in a bikini, but is that really the answer? Even if I were inclined, which I’m not, my pocket-book can’t afford it.

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I could give up swimming. When it’s 115 degrees, not likely. My solution, find a comfortable swimsuit and work at accepting my body as it is, flaws and all. I found Michelle May’s blog, Heal Your Relationship with Your Body very insightful, but I’m still a work in progress.

Anyone willing to share their solution to the swimsuit dilemma? Or thoughts on learning to love the body you have? Nightmare dressing rooms you’ve been trapped in? Love to hear about your experiences and commiserate with you.

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Trigger Foods & Emotional Eating

Taming Emotional Eating
My trigger food—tortilla chips

I’ve just turned into a giant tortilla chip. I started eating a handful of tortilla chips, and the next thing I knew, I’d finished the bag. How did it happen? I didn’t want them, but one handful led to another and another. They are the trigger food that sends me spiraling into that dark hole of overeating, and it leaves me feeling bloated, fat and out of control.

Emotional Eating Studies research found these eating triggers:

Friends impact how you feel about food
Chronic work stress contributes to emotional eating
Exhaustion and low energy impact eating habits
Suppressing feelings leads to unhealthy eating

Three out of four of these were right on target for me. When I’m with friends who turn down dessert or choose a lighter meal, I do the same. When I’m exhausted, all I want to do is watch TV and eat. And suppressed feelings and eating, me, me, me.

Trigger Foods

If I asked what your trigger food is, what would you say? Rebecca Clark, author of The Checklist Diet says, “My trigger food is Cheetos. I simply cannot be in the same room with an open bag of them. I’ll keep eating until the bag is empty or someone pries the bag from my orange-crumbed hands!”

Image courtesy of hxdbzxy (c) /www.123RF.com

Once I’ve become a giant tortilla chip, my attitude changes and I think, what difference does it make what I eat? I might as well have that big dish of ice cream, too, then start fresh tomorrow. But tomorrow I blow it again, and the next day and the next. It’s a treadmill I can’t turn off. And one without the benefit of exercise!

So how do I manage my trigger foods and keep my weight on track?

Rebecca’s best advice, stay away from your trigger foods completely until you’ve been consistently and regularly eating healthy for at least three weeks. Then test yourself at the end of three weeks. Can you have just one portion of your trigger food? If it doesn’t lead to a binge, then you can safely add a portion of that food to your diet once a week. “Because seriously, life’s too short not to eat a food you love, right?” Rebecca says.

I’m a work in progress when it comes to trigger foods, and I won’t be satisfied until I tame them. What’s your trigger food? Have you found any solutions?

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Fighting the Obesity Epidemic

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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Motivation Meals and Movement

Motivation, meals and movement.

When I have these three components in my life maintaining my weight is a snap, but motivation is a continual challenge for me. When I have motivation nothing stops me. I’m invincible, I’m Wonder Woman, I’m a mover and shaker. I’m unstoppable. When I’m unmotivated procrastination takes control. Tomorrow I will eat better. Tomorrow I will get my butt off the couch and move. Tomorrow I will start yet another diet.

Image courtesy of Apolonia at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 What I need is middle ground between hopped-up-on-caffeine enthusiasm and stuck-in-the-doldrums procrastination. One of the best things I’ve found that keeps me on track is having good healthy snacks and nutritious meals available. It’s not always easy when I’m on the go, but some standby, simple dinner recipes that I can make in 20 minutes help keep me on track.

In case I haven’t mentioned it, I’m a fan of Cooking Light magazine. I love their recipes. They’re fast, nutritious and delicious.

Check out their Super Fast Recipes:

Linguine and Spinach with Gorgonzola Sauce
20 Minute Chicken Enchiladas
Bacon and Cheddar Slider
Black Bean Chili
Apple and Onion Pork Chops

Image courtesy of KEKO64 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When you have a little extra time, make a double recipe and freeze one half, then on those nights you don’t have the time or energy to cook, you’ll have dinner in a jiffy. That happened to me last night. While I was scrounging around in the freezer I found dinner, and presto, 30 minutes later we had meatloaf and salad!

Rebecca Clark, author of the The Checklist Diet offers these simple exercises to do while cooking:

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)

Do you have a nutritious easy meal or an exercise to share?  I would love to hear about it!

 

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The Klutzy Athlete Takes on Exercise

I’m the klutzy athlete and I’m taking on exercise. I’ve always shied away from exercise and team sports. In fact, I started life with two left feet that became progressively more pronounced the older I got. I always envision myself as  Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing when in reality I dance like Elaine in Seinfeld.

Mountain biking The Escalator in Redding, California

Not gifted with natural athletic ability for exercise? Welcome to my world. Does this mean I don’t exercise? Absolutely not. Of course, it’s not pretty when I workout. I constantly manage to trip over my own feet, and I’ve made an art of falling. My most spectacular crashes are when I’m mountain biking. Most often I fall when I’m attempting to stop. I’ve done a header over the handle bars while trying to move over for other bikers. I’ve come to a complete stop, lost my balance and crashed onto a rock that left a bruise on my thigh the size of Mt. Everest.

Have I given up? No, I climb back on and keep peddling—with plenty of whining and complaining.

I used to worry about looking foolish, but I’ve decided not to care what anyone thinks. And if I get laughed at, so what? I tend to take myself too seriously, so I’ve made a conscious choice to lighten up. I’m also a firm believer that a little public humiliation builds character. So, even if my body isn’t in the best shape, my character is getting a workout! I also happen to like this body I was given with all its flaws, inelegant as it can be, and I want to keep it in the best condition I possibly can—that means exercise.

 

Why Do I Exercise?

First and foremost, I’m not a quitter—ever. Second, weight control. A healthy body means maintaining a healthy weight, and exercise is a necessity for me. Third, I get to see all the wondrous places that only a mountain bike, a hike, or snow skiing can take me. Fourth, I exercise with family and friends, which makes it more fun and gives me time with people I care about.

Hiking at Crater Lake, Oregon

Over the years I’ve tried many, many different activities from hiking, kayaking, waterskiing, kickboxing aerobics, yoga, volleyball, cross country skiing. Snowshoeing is my latest endeavor, which was fun and easy to learn. Now all I need is some snow!

What’s next for the Klutzy Athlete?

Skydiving? Doubtful as I’m not fond of heights, but I might give racket ball another shot or maybe tennis. What’s the worst that can happen? A few bumps and bruises and a little more public humiliation. I’m sure my character could use improvement. What’s important is to stop worrying about what others think and get moving. Go out and walk, listen to the birds, shake off a lousy day at work, breathe in some of that fresh clean air and you’ll feel better. Trust me when I say, if I can exercise, anyone can.

Mountain biking Lake of the Woods, Oregon

What’s keeping you from exercising? What’s your worst athletic experience? Come on, share. I guarantee you’ll feel better, and there’s always someone who’s got a worse story to tell.

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The Lure of Small Towns

What intrigues me about small towns? For starters, I’m a fourth-generation small-town girl, born and bred.

Living in the boondocks has its advantages. Small towns are intimate. The clerks in the grocery store, post office, and florist know you by name. You know your neighbor and probably grew up with them.

Where I live, there are four stoplights and the first didn’t arrive until the 1990s. Murders are rare, schools are small and gossip is a given.

But, there are definitely tradeoffs to living in the sticks. Shopping amounts to a dollar store and grocery store. Choices for dining out are: Mexican, pizza or burgers. Entertainment is slim to none. Everything else including movies, is a thirty minute drive.

You don’t need a smartphone to broadcast everyone’s business. You only have to walk into the local coffee house or beauty parlor to hear the latest scoop. If you’ve lived in a small town long enough there will always be someone to retell your most embarrassing moment and embellish it in far greater detail than any YouTube video.

On the plus side, people are there for you when life turns sour and celebrate with you when everything is coming up daisies. They are your tribe, your community, your merry band of brothers and sisters.

I find places like Cicely, Alaska, and Stars Hollow, Connecticut, in Gilmore Girls very appealing. There is a charm, a bit of magic, and a sense of time moving slower in these places—a nirvana of sorts—that leaves a permanent stamp in my memory. A place where problems, for the most part, are solved within the constraints of a sixty-minute television show. Real life, in comparison, isn’t so tidy.

Feeling connected to a small town lures me in. I can’t resist the temptation to pedal my bicycle down a tree-shaded lane, or to stroll down Main Street lined with wrought iron street lamps and brick sidewalks. I’m overwhelmed by the urge to grab a mocha at the cozy coffee house on the corner, sit at the umbrella-topped table and soak in sunshine on a warm spring afternoon.

What about you? Do you have a favorite small town?

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