Making a Case for (Glass) Jars

This post is not about weight loss.  It is not about eating better (not directly, anyway).  It is not about exercise.  But it is about taking a small step toward wellness and being a better citizen of Earth, which is beneficial all the way around.

We all have heard over and over again why we need to ditch the plastic food storage containers in our lives and make the switch (back) to glass.  If you live under a rock, like I sometimes do, and haven't heard about the impact that plastic can have, check out this short article:  plastics in your kitchen  It goes well beyond being an environmental steward and really can affect your general well being and health by disrupting the endocrine system.

In this highly disposable society, it can be a difficult move to make.  Those little plastic containers and sandwich bags are so cheap and easy.  So much so, that when we share a batch of homemade salsa in a plastic container, we tell the lucky recipient not to worry about getting the container back to us.  And don't we secretly hope that they will oblige and forget to return it?  After all, we are usually giving them the crappiest one anyway.  The one that you really wouldn't mind never seeing again.  And the tomatoes always stain the plastic.  And if you use any oil, that NEVER washes off.  And it's one less lid to have to search for.  I could go on...

There is a simple solution that presents itself and it involves de-volving (not a real word?).  Several years ago, my dear friend, Shanna, introduced me to canning.  You know, that thing your grandma or maybe even your great grandma used to do?  Canning can go beyond delicious jams and jellies and provide everyday solutions in the kitchen.  Besides long term food storage, all of those jars and lids are really useful little buggers.  It all began on a camping trip with Shanna's family where she had to punt and figure out a way to pack food for her family in the cooler.  (Shanna is way more evolved than me and ditched the plastic long ago.)  She needed containers that were water proof, would stay sealed, stack well, are easy to see through, and she already owned.  Glass jars!  The cool thing is that they also come in several different sizes: small jelly jars, large jelly jars, pints and quarts.  This was a quick, easy and good solution.  Now what about at home?

Shanna also turned me on to using jars for general home food storage.  Again, the different sizes are very handy.  We now store nearly all of our bulk food items in canning jars:  nuts, seeds, dried fruit, brown sugar, beans, etc.  Some very cool things about this system versus the plastic:

• The jars are see through!  It's pretty simple to peek and see what's in it. The lids can also be written on with a sharpie or dry erase marker to label contents.  Dried cherries and cranberries look a lot alike.  
• As long as you only buy one type of lid/jar, (there are regular mouth and wide mouth lids and jars) you will never again have to search for the correct lid.  It's a one size fits all deal.  The lids and bands that hold them on are also very small to store.   
• The jars and lids/bands are dishwasher safe and won't melt if they fall through the rack and land on the heating element.  Nastiest. Smell. Ever.  
• Glass does not stain.  Spaghetti sauce is completely forgotten after that jar has been through the dishwasher. 
• Glass can go in the freezer.  I recently was turned on to the virtues of chia seeds and found out that they need to be stored in the freezer.  No problem.  But DON'T store something liquid in a glass jar in the freezer unless you like to clean up tiny shards of exploded glass.
• Jars and lids/bands can be very cheap.  Canning season is winding down (I am writing this in October) and stores that don't carry canning supplies year round are putting canning supplies on clearance.  Yesterday, I bought quart size jars at Lowe's (who'd have thought?) for only $5 per dozen.  That's a little less than half price.  I have never seen a dozen quart size plastic containers for $5.  I also picked up lids for 84¢ per box.  That's super cheap.  Another great place to pick up jars is Craigslist or Freecycle.  People seem to be getting rid of them all the time so you may be able to pick them up for free!
• The lids seal very well.  Brown sugar and raisins are my foe.  I don't use them a ton, but when I need them, I want them to be soft and ready to go.  Typically, this is not the case when they are stored in the bags in which they come home from the store.  I have found the jars to be an excellent solution for this.  The only problem is that brown sugar can be a mess going from the jar to the measuring cup since the cup won't fit inside the jar.  Placing the measuring cup in a bowl and spooning the sugar into it seems to work well.  Yes, it's one more dirty dish.  Oh well.  
• If you shop at a store that has bulk food bins, the food in those is refreshed much more often than what is on the shelves.  And it can be cheaper.  This is the stuff to store in jars:  nuts, seeds, dried beans, rice, sugars, soup mixes, granola, dried fruit, flour, candy!
• People feel guilty if they don't return the jar.  At least my neighbor that I share catnip with seems to.  She ALWAYS returns the cat nip jar.  The plastic containers?  Not so much.  
• If you do can food, you won't have to store dozens of empty jars.  The empty jars became a bit of an issue in our house when they began to take over every last nook and cranny that we had for storing anything.  Now they live in the pantry or cabinets storing food as they were intended!  So they are always in circulation and rarely need to be stored.  
• If you do can food, processed lids can be reused instead of being thrown away!  I mark all of my processed lids with an X so they don't get mixed up with unused lids.  They are then useful forever keeping pantry items fresh and seem to seal just as well as unprocessed lids. 
• Finally, as Shanna pointed out, they are pretty!  They are much more attractive in the cabinet that mismatched, half melted plastic containers.  When your cabinet doors are glass like mine, that makes a difference!

To clarify: I do not store leftovers in jars in the fridge, though that could certainly be done.  We have found glass containers with plastic lids (Gasp!  But the plastic doesn't contact the food.) that we are happy with for that job.  I do send glass containers with leftovers to school with The Boy in his lunch.  I point out to him that there is glass in there and it would be unwise to swing his bag around.   We have not had any problems (yet).   A little side note:  This year we bought some of the cloth sandwich size bags to try for school lunches and are pleased so far.  I throw them in the laundry at the end of the week and, while they are fading, they are surviving just fine.  

So how does this loosely apply to eating better?  Nuts, seeds, beans and rice are really good for you when you actually eat them.  Historically, I haven't keep many nuts, seeds, dried fruit, dried beans, rice, etc. on hand because it had a tendency to go stale or dry out before I remembered we had it or got around to using it.  This was primarily because it was stored stacked in bags upon bags and shoved behind cereal or beneath baking supplies in the pantry.  Out of sight, out of mind so to speak.  Now it is front and center in our kitchen reminding me that it's there for our use and going stale/dry much more slowly!

"Do as I say, not as I do", said the Stubborn Ass.

I have been running for about fifteen months or so now.  All along the way, there have been aches and pains as my body protested this very foreign thing called exercise that I was forcing it through.  None of it was unexpected, really.  Sore muscles, unhappy joints at first, etc.  All part of the deal and all went away as the exercise became a regular part of my life.

Six weeks ago, I ran the Bolder Boulder 10K race.  About a week before the race, I started having some foot pain.  Nothing too major.  Just some pain in the ball of my foot.  I was extra careful about stretching after every workout and when I got out of bed every morning to alleviate it.  At the actual event, it started to bother me much more than usual and really slowed me down during the race.  Again, I made sure to stretch and didn't worry too much about it.

After the Bolder Boulder, I decided to maintain the mileage I was running and do shorter runs, the elliptical and my bike.  It wasn't long before I couldn't get through a run without some serious pain and was even paying for workouts on the elliptical.  I was no longer able to walk around the house without wearing shoes and could not wear any shoes but running shoes.  I 'paid' for days after wearing sandals, flip flops or dress shoes.  Nothing a few Tylenol didn't help!

My husband and son were out of town for a week leaving me solo with our daughter so I couldn't run at all.  It was driving me nuts so at the first opportunity I had (after about six days off), I went for a three mile run.  It was one of those go-halfway-then-turn-around-and-come-back type of routes.  Needless to say, I was honestly wondering if I was going to make it back at all, let alone jogging.  At this point, it was obvious that I could no longer ignore my foot.  I wasn't imagining this problem, there was really something wrong.

I will take the kids to the doctor at the first sign of a problem but I have a stupid fear of appearing like a hypochondriac so I pretty much refuse to go to the doctor unless I'm dying.  Unfortunately, this means that I get to feel REALLY stupid when the doctor asks, "How long have you been having this problem?" and I meekly squeak out:  "At least a month?  I'm not really sure".  

Three x-rays later:  no running, no elliptical and even limited walking.  Best of all, I am supposed to be spending 2-3 weeks sitting with my foot up, taking Ibuprofen and getting custom made orthotics for my shoe ($$!).  Can I tell you that I cannot even sit through a feature length movie?  Seriously.  This girl cannot sit still even when I want to.  The short story is that I probably have an over-use injury that MIGHT get better with time and could take more than a year to fully heal.  If it's not better after the three weeks of being up, my doctor will investigate the possibility of a stress fracture.  Isn't that magical?

The moral of this story is:  If I had listened to my body when it first started talking to me, it might not have progressed to the point where it had to SCREAM in agony to finally get my attention.  I might have been able to dial back my mileage for awhile rather than coming to a screeching halt and ending up riding the couch.   Do as I say and listen to your body when it starts talking.  Do as I did and you'll end up a stubborn ass just like me.  My new profile picture:

Here is a timely article I received today from Sharecare about common running injuries and their treatment.  Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned runner, please look through this article and don't be a "stubborn ass" if any of these aches and pains seem all too familiar.  

Filling Myself Up

It's time to completely change gears from what my previous posts have been.  I have been using this forum, primarily, to share with others who have asked what I have done to be successful to this point with losing weight and getting active.  I strongly believe that the most important work I have done/am doing has nothing to do with what or how much I eat or exercise.  The most important, as well as most difficult, work has to do with the emotional side of obesity.  The WHY I eat and don't exercise.  There is an underlying story, plain and simple, that makes people get and stay fat.  Most of us are gaining something by staying heavy.  Whether it's protecting us from true intimacy or facing a past trauma, the weight is a protective shield from the rest of the world.  The only way to get the weight off and keep it off is to face that something head on, deal with it in the context of how it causes you to relate to food, and change.  That cause and effect relationship cannot remain intact if true change is going to happen.

Sometimes the people who love you the most sabotage your weight loss efforts.  They may fear that you will "outgrow' them as you reach your goals.  And sometimes you sabotage yourself.  I have definitely fallen into the latter category.  It took a long, long time to figure out that self sabotage was what was happening, not a real plateau, and the motivation behind it.

Typically, self sabotage is based in fear.   For me, I feared that I would no longer be what my husband wanted me to be.  All of the beautiful women in his life (mom, aunts, etc.) were heavy women and he, therefore, was attracted to "round".  I came to realize that I was losing much of my round.  I spent several months frustrated with my lack of weight loss progress not realizing that I was doing it to myself out of that fear.

So, what to do?  Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.  My huge breakthrough moment happened when I finally had the courage to tell my husband what I thought was going on with myself.  Lo and behold, I was way off base.  Of course.  He was indeed attracted to round, he said.  Because that's the shape that I was.  Now he is attracted to the shape that I am now.  Because it is the shape that I am.  If I end up skin and bones, he will be attracted to skin and bones.  Because it is my shape.  Cue the angel chorus!  Once this was all on the table, I was able to move on.

I knew I had hit the nail on the head when, not hungry, I headed to the pantry.  I was about to grab whatever was sweet and handy when I thought, "Wait a minute.  I am loved and I don't need food to fill any hole within myself."  It sounds terribly hokey but it was huge.  Jillian Michaels Podcast "Living for a Greater Purpose" (6/2/12 beginning at 15:10) addresses compulsive overeating.  It is from the perspective of diagnosing someone who is addicted to food and needs psychological help.  BUT I found it to be highly applicable to anyone who has an unhealthy relationship with food.  I was also relieved to learn that I am definitely not actually addicted to food.  Just desperately in love with it!  It also specifically addresses the idea of using food to "fill yourself" when not hungry and using food to numb emotions.

My own odyssey of using food to numb or create emotions definitely did not begin with my insecurities relating to my relationship with my husband though I hope it will end there.  Predictably, it goes back to my childhood:  I grew up in a family that did not, and does not, discuss problems.  I was never told I was beautiful, loved or worthwhile.  Though I was a skinny kid (for a time), I was never told that I was a healthy weight and was never encouraged to maintain that active, play outside constantly lifestyle.  There was not physical affection in my childhood.  What was present was money for the vending machine nearly every day that I asked for it.  So food=love?  No big surprise that I'm in this boat now.  

It's easy enough to blame and dwell on it, but it's not the answer.  It doesn't get me to where I am determined to go.   Instead, I am rolling up my sleeves and doing the dirty work of looking at my issues head on, working through them and moving on.  Adaptation is what we are built for and I definitely need to do some adapting.

Honestly, I have done 90% of my emotional work while running.  Being out on the paths with nature as my only companion and Jillian Michaels talking in my ears, was exactly what I needed to get into my own head.  I suspect this- not abusing my poor old body- is why I enjoy running so much.  There aren't the distractions of every day life-or the TV in front of the elliptical-fighting for my attention.  It's just me and my issues.  Maybe not a very comforting thought but definitely a necessary one.  So I'll keep after it, knocking them off one at a time, until I don't need to hide anymore.  Now THAT is the real reward!

Confession time: Lately, I really suck at losing weight.

So I have been seriously neglecting this blog lately.  Mostly, things at home have been crazy busy with end of the school year stuff for the kiddos and home improvement projects galore.  In the last couple of months we have gotten a new roof, installed solar panels, reworked the back yard a little, started the vegetable garden (cheap organic veggies!) and assembled lots of cabinets in anticipation of gutting our kitchen next week.  Phew!  Needless to say, I anticipate the blog neglecting going into overdrive once the kitchen project begins.  We are still dumb enough to take on such things ourselves.  Yes, we really are doing everything except the granite (Yay, IKEA!).  Of course no such project would be complete without it bleeding into other rooms of the house.  So not only are we completely gutting the kitchen, we are replacing flooring on the entire first floor as well as remodeling a bathroom.  Maybe some day we will learn...but I doubt it!  


Back to the blog.  When hubby and I got engaged, we spent Memorial Day weekend camping in Boulder, CO.  Little did we know that 55,000 others would be in town at that same time for a 10K running race called the Bolder Boulder.  My interest was piqued.  Why in the world would anyone do something so crazy, let alone call it fun?!  That weekend planted a seed in my brain that maybe some day I would see what all the fuss was about.  So I have had a long term goal (17 years is long term, right?) of some day running the Bolder Boulder.  This year I was able to finally check that off my list but was left with the question of "Now what?".  Naturally, all of my fans say, "Half marathon!  Marathon!".  To which I say, "Ha! Ha!  Very funny!  NOT going to happen."  So again, now what?  How do I continue to lose weight and stay healthy if I don't up the fitness ante?  The answer is to step it up food-wise.  But I really don't want to.  I have cut portions and calories and junk to the point that I feel like I shouldn't have to tighten it up any further.  I'm going to say it:  The REAL reason I have neglected the blog is that I have been really sucking at weight loss lately.  There are reasons and there are excuses but the bottom line is that I HATE HATE HATE tracking my food and it is showing with a lack of results.  So I need something new to get me motivated and honest.  Enter bodybugg.  I do not own and have not used one but I am thinking that this may be the next step for me.  All of the contestants on The Biggest Loser use these little guys (that's the black thing they wear on their upper arms!) and it gives the trainers all the information they need to tailor diet and exercise to really maximize results.  Could the bodybugg help you, too?  I asked two friends who are currently using the system to share their experience with us so that you can decide for yourself.  


First up is my dear friend, Joe.  He is a 36 year old husband and father of three gorgeous kids.  
Here is my experience with the bodybugg. 

I have been on a four year journey to lose weight and get back in shape. I was an athlete my entire life but after college I ballooned up to over 300 lbs. I decided that enough was enough. I started to work out, eat right, and the weight started to drop off. For the last year it seemed that no matter how hard I worked out or how clean I ate I could not lose any more weight. Three weeks ago I asked a friend, who used to be a professional trainer, to work up a nutrition plan for me. This was the only missing link that I could think of. I figured that I must be missing something so I was hoping a nutrition plan would be the solution. After an in depth conversation he explained that it is simple math. You must burn more calories than you consume. That is when he mentioned the Bodybugg. It is only sold at 24 fitness, man I hate going to the big gyms, but I went and spent the $125. The system comes with an online subscription which tracks the calories you burn. In order to view the calories you consume you need to manually enter each item. Mine came with a six month subscription. 

After the purchase I was excited to get home and start using the system. It needs to be worn on your left arm to measure the oxygenated blood from your heart. It is up to 98% accurate. Once I set up the online account I had to answer about 70 questions on life style, body dimensions, and what goals I was trying to reach. The system was very simple. This is not a quick fix tool, you do need to work at it but it has been very effective. You need to login online and input everything you eat throughout the day and then at night I down load the data for the day on what my body burned. You are able to see what your body burned in two minute increments. This has been extremely helpful. I can now see how many calories I burn when I mow the lawn, wash the car, go for a bike ride or sit at my desk all day at work. I can now customize what I need to eat depending on my activity level for that day. It has also been a big eye opener to see how much an actual serving really is and how many calories I am putting in my body. I now have missing links!! The calories I consume and the calories I burn. Simple math. Burn 500 calories more than you eat each day and in one week you will lose one pound, burn 1000 and lose two pounds. I did not change my diet much but now I am very conscious on how much each type of food has. If I want a slice of pizza, great, now I know that I need to ride my bike for 45 mins to burn that one slice. It is just not worth it anymore. The first week I lost 2.6 lbs., second week another 1.8 lbs. This is not a system you need your entire life but in a few months you should be able to know your body and what you have to do to maintain or lose weight. I could not be more thrilled with the system and the progress so far. I have lost more weight in the last three weeks than the previous year combined. I did it all by just tweaking my work outs to burn more or the diet to eat less. I hope this has been helpful. I think everyone needs to do what works for them and this works for me.


And now Sarah.  Sarah is a young pup who was a student of mine "back in the day" and has also had much success.  

Hi Becky’s Blog followers!
My name is Sarah Johnson and Becky has asked me to take a moment and let you in on my little weight loss secret, the Bodybugg.

“Combined with a user-friendly web based program*, the bodybugg system makes it easy to manage the calories you consume and burn so that you can stay in control of your weight.”-Bodybugg

Essentially, the Bodybugg is a way for you to stay on track to make sure you are burning more than you are eating every day. How many of us have stood on the scale at the end of the week and said “What happened, I did everything right?!”  Well, with this tool you know exactly where those pesky pounds were procured.
The system works in tandem between the bodybugg band that is worn on your arm which, in my opinion can best be described as a supped up pedometer on steroids, and the online program where you enter your food and data each day. I began my weight loss journey tipping my scale in December 2011 at 232lbs and have currently lost 34lbs while using the bodybugg. I’ve learned that to get the results I need it is imperative that I am held responsible for the amount I move and logging the food that I eat. You will quickly learn you truly can eat whatever you want IF you are willing to work for it. I’ve developed a realistic mindset that says, I’m 24, it is unrealistic for me to say that I’ll never consume pizza, a snickers, popcorn, bread, or even beer but I am willing to work for it. The foodie in me believes that a life without cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory simply isn’t worth having and that’s why the bodybugg vs. other weight management systems works for me. I’ve included some photos of my personal bodybugg log so you can see just what I mean about seeing every calorie that comes in and every calorie that comes out!

This dear friends, is the bodybugg
It is designed to fit snuggly around the back of your left bicep. It’s so light you barley know it’s even there!

This is a snapshot of a typical day for me.
It is important to remember that when you set up your bodybugg, not only do you get a real live bodybugg coach as a resource but the plan will be tailored fit to your lifestyle. It takes into consideration your age, height, current weight, and activity level to generate manageable calorie and activity goals.
See how you can easily tell if you are eating more than you are burning? If you are honest about what you eat and move enough to cover calories you will be in good shape (literally)! The bodybugg has changed my life and I know that I can continue this journey and even maintain my weight when I reach my goal. If anyone has any follow up questions I’d be happy to help and also strongly recommend that you check out their website!

I HATE planning workouts so I’ve decided for those of you like me who’d like to have something pre planned, here is the workout I did in the gym on this particular day.
Disclaimer: I literally ate cheesecake from the cheesecake factory the day before so I’m making up for a little bit of indulgence here….☺
Stretch
Warm up 10 minutes on the bike
LEGS

• Lunges X10

• Lay on back and throw pilates ball up and catch with legs X10 Bridge on ball  X3 for 8 count
• Squats   X10
• Frog jumps   X5

TREADMILL

• Walk 5 min @ 3.0
• Increase Incline 2.0
• Walk 4 min @ 3.1
• Increase Incline to 4.0
• Walk 3 minutes @ 3.2
• Increase Incline to 6.0
• Walk 2 minutes at 3.3
• Increase Incline to 8.0
• Walk 1 minute at 3.5
• Drop Incline to 0
• Walk 5 minutes

ARMS
Whole circuit X2 Pick 4 or 5 of your favorite moves

X4
Burpies 1 minuteRest 1 minute
Lunges 1 minute
Rest 1 minute

Whole circuit X2 Repeat the moves you did in the previous set

10 minute stretch yoga

Big love,
Sarah


Listen up, Hubby! My birthday is less than three weeks away and this is the next step for me. I've made it easy for you to just click on the link. Was that subtle enough? Friends, our bodies were created to adapt. If we continue to do the same things over and over when it comes to weight loss, our bodies will figure it out and it will cease to be effective. Also, if you refuse to do the things that are proven to be effective (like tracking food consumption!), the scale will refuse to budge. I am proving this to myself again and again. I need to find a way out of this rut and I think bodybugg is the answer. Besides, it's another fun little gadget to play with!

Premature Book Review: Weight Loss Boss

This is just a quick post to recommend a book that I am currently reading.  I am so impressed by it that I am only halfway through and pausing to write a post here to recommend that you add it to your own library.  Weight Loss Boss by David Kirchhoff (click the title for a link to order from Amazon) is a title just released this week that is written by the CEO of Weight Watchers.  Though it may seem like a shameless plug of the company he works for, it is that and so much more.  It does plug the company simply because he tried, unsuccessfully, many times to lose weight throughout his life and never found success until joining Weight Watchers as a member, not its CEO.  As I have been saying all along, their system just plain works.  Beyond that, the book is about his own journey to weight loss success and maintenance.  I'm a success story junkie and he has a great one complete with falling on his face many times and daily struggles to prevent backsliding (Put down the spoon and walk away from the ice cream!).  I am currently reading the "HOW" section of the book that gets down and dirty with the science of behavior modification, as well as his own 'tricks' for replacing bad habits with good ones.  Of particular note is Chapter 5 where he discusses the "triggers" that make losing weight a priority in one's life.  He does a great job of explaining the exact situation that I couldn't quite put into words where life reaches a point where you can finally make weight loss a priority.  All of the pieces have to fall into place for the timing to be right to "have your head in the game".  It was completely out of the question for me to start down this path until certain 'fires' in my life had been put out and I had the capacity to focus on myself.  It simply was not within the realm of possibility prior to that.

This book grew from Mr. Kirchhoff's blog, Man Meets Scale.  It is a great read filled with honesty, humor, nerdiness, practical tips and has great appeal to both genders.  I know it seems silly to recommend a book that I have not yet fully read, but I hope that will give you an idea of just how well written I am finding it to be.  I'm a little afraid that after reading his book, you might not find it necessary to visit this little blog anymore because he's covered it all!  Seriously.  Looking to be very good.  But every person's experience is unique.  Included at the end of each chapter is a success story of a Weight Watchers member.  Of course there is the obligatory Jennifer Hudson story but, of particular note, is a success story (page 48) of a 28 year old man who took 28 months to lose 340 lbs.  That's NOT a typo!  6'2" 529 lbs to 189 lbs in just over two years.  Incredible!

Step It Up

Now that you've been exercising for awhile and gotten into a routine, it's time to change it up a bit so that your workout continues to be effective.  The human body is built for adaptation.  If you continue to do the same thing over and over, your body will adapt to it and it will no longer produce the same results.   Here are a few tips to keep your body guessing and working:

• Add distance or time.  This is a bit obvious, but I think we tend to get into an exercise rut and forget to do this.  It's simple to add five more minutes to a walking, elliptical or treadmill routine.  Continuing to add distance will also keep you challenged and motivated.  Already ran or walked a 5K?  Go for a 10K (see you at the Bolder Boulder!).  Adding distance is what has helped me stay motivated to run.  I fell into a big rut and just wasn't making any progress when I realized that I just needed a new goal.  Adding 5% more distance per week (Thanks, Coach Vining!) is working me toward that 10K goal.  
• Cut time.  I am always singing the praises of the Nike+ GPS app.   One of the features that I like  best is that it keeps track of all of your "records".  I am always trying to best my 1 mile, 1K and 5K times.  It will also track your longest distance and longest workout times.  
• Go backwards.  This can mean a few different things:  One easy way to change up your routine is to take your same walking/running route but in reverse.  All of the uphills will now be downhills and the downhills will now be up.  This will keep your body from knowing, "Okay, I've gone one mile, time to go uphill for fifty yards and increase elevation by forty feet".  Your loved ones will still know your route but it will change it up a bit for you.  Another way to challenge your body is to literally go backwards.  Assuming you can find a safe place to do it (your yard, a football field or on a treadmill), walk or jog backwards.  This can really challenge your balance at first so take it slowly until you get comfortable (holding on at first is a good idea).  Anything that changes balance will also work your core.  Win-win!  If you want to really step it up, walk backwards on a treadmill that is shut off.  I also like to go backwards on the elliptical for a few minutes of each workout, usually right before the cool down portion of the program.  Another thing I have done is play "Tag" with the kids but I only run backwards.  This keeps the playing field a little more fair for the three year old and I'm sneaking in more exercise.  
• New route.  The beauty of exercising outdoors is the changing scenery so take advantage of it. Try a completely new route that has bigger hills or more hills.   Be sure to tell someone where you're going.  
• Add sprints/interval training.  This might sound like high school PE class hell, but it's not really so bad, I promise.  I like to add 30 second sprints every few minutes of an elliptical workout.  It makes the rest of the program seem really easy and I'm challenging myself.

Of course, sprints can be added to a running or walking routine.  A set amount of time to sprint, as with the above elliptical example, or a set distance to sprint, such as walk one block/run one block works.  Do a little research into interval training if this is of interest.  I don't know much about it but I know that it's kept the same old routine more interesting for me and is touted as a great way to burn fat in a shorter workout time.  I'll have to look into it further.  Another way to add sprints is to go for a family walk and race to the next corner/fire hydrant/dandelion patch, etc.  If it can be done safely, it's also fun to race across the parking lot to the car.  Any little thing to sneak in some extra exercise is a good thing.

• Add weight.  Adding any amount of weight to your regular routine is a great way to challenge yourself and keep your body guessing.  If you don't own hand or ankle weights, don't fret!  Simply holding a regular sized (20 oz. or so) water bottle or canned food works perfectly.  Take a walk with added weight in a backpack or wearing ankle weights does the trick.  Adding weight to a routine that you normally just use body weight for, such as lunges, wall sits and squats or crunches, will really make you feel a difference.  If you aren't interested in bulking up, don't worry.  You can add up to 20 lbs. or so to your routine and not come out of it looking like The Hulk.  Jillian Michaels recommends doing something like this every two weeks to keep your body from adapting to the same workout day after day.  Weight/resistance training is just as crucial to your health as cardio workouts.  It's absolutely not necessary to use weights, either.  Just bearing your own body weight (such as push ups, squats and lunges) is highly effective for building muscle.  Muscle burns more calories and resistance training is ESSENTIAL for bone health.  It is especially recommended for anyone with a history or family history of bone density issues.  bone density article  A really neat experience that you've seen if you watch The Biggest Loser is 'putting the weight back on'.  Once you've lost quite a bit of weight (15 or so pounds or more), try adding the amount of weight that you've lost back on to your body by filling a backpack with weight (bags of sugar or flour work) or giving a piggy back ride to a child who weighs the amount you've lost. It's amazing to feel how much extra weight you were packing around and think of how hard it must have been on your body on a daily basis.  
• Try a video or a class.  As mentioned in previous posts, your local library will have a variety of exercise videos that are available to check out for FREE!  Everything from step workouts and old school aerobics to yoga, Zumba and Tae Bo are available.  Bob Harper of The Biggest Loser also offers all of his videos for $5 each from time to time on his Facebook page.  Try one of his yoga videos and you will NEVER scoff at yoga as 'not really exercise' ever again!  There are so many different resources for exercise classes, as well, with costs varying widely.  Many Senior Centers offer free classes for the 55+ crowd.  Every class imaginable is available at local recreation centers.  If you are trying something more intense like yoga or Cross fit, make sure you are working with a certified instructor to avoid injuries.

In the spirit of "stepping up" routines, let's examine a way to step up your diet a bit:

Excuse time!  I can't afford to eat organic.  It's neither practical nor necessary to eat organic all of the time.  The key is to eat organic as often as possible and when it really counts.  When eating out, it is very unlikely that the food you are served is organic so it makes sense to eat out less.  There are so many advantages to eating out less that go beyond pesticides and genetically modified foods.  Of course eating out less means saving money and most restaurant food has tons of added salt and calories.  Did you know that pretty much all restaurants will add a butter sauce onto cuts of meat to make it look more appetizing?  Be sure to order meat "dry" but that's not what this tip is about so, back on topic!  When trying to figure out what fruits and veggies to buy organic, a good rule of thumb is that if it has a thick skin, husk or rind, it's probably okay to NOT buy organic.  Examples are melons, avocado, citrus and coconut.  Broccoli is naturally unappealing to insects (and some humans!) so it is typically not sprayed with pesticides.  However, tomatoes, berries and sweet peppers are highly attractive to insects and heavily sprayed.  Soy beans are so heavily sprayed and genetically engineered that many people in the health and wellness field recommend avoiding all soy, in all forms, at all costs.  The dirty dozen and clean 15 of produce is a list of foods (click on those words) that tested highest and lowest for pesticide residue after being washed.  These lists are a good resource to keep in mind when shopping for produce.  If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with more than one grocery store, be sure to shop the ads.  I often find that organic produce at Sprouts and Sunflower will be the same price or sometimes even cheaper than its non-organic counterpart.  Of course, if you grow it yourself, you will know exactly what has/hasn't been applied to it.  Growing your own produce is not only gratifying but great exercise!  I LOVE the Square Foot Gardening method for growing a lot of organic produce in a small amount of space.

When talking about organic meat, most experts agree that organic, grass fed beef is worth the switch.  But that stuff is super expensive!  So eat less of it.  Your body simply doesn't need as much meat as the typical American eats.  Your budget and your waistline will thank you for eating meat less often-as little as once or twice per week.  Spaghetti, fajitas, chili, quesadillas, burritos and sandwiches are just a few examples of meals from which my family has eliminated meat and not missed it at all.  I do have many friends who raise their own beef or buy sides of buffalo each year.  This is another great way to go if you have the resources.  There are no buffalo feed lots!  My family has also made the switch to organic chicken and milk.  I have found that chicken thigh meat at Costco is much cheaper than breasts.  Again, eat less of it and it's more affordable.  We are also enjoying the home delivery service of a local dairy at prices that are much less than organic milk in the grocery stores.  Just prioritize what organic you choose to incorporate and do what best fits your situation.  Don't forget about food storage as a way to make eating organic more affordable.  Buy things in bulk when they are a good price or grow your own and get familiar with methods such as freezing or canning to make your supply last longer.

Lose the weight, not your sanity.

I thought it was time for some practical tips on making weight loss livable and maintainable.
Here is a compilation of a few little tips that can add up to a lot of saved calories.

• Thirsty can feel a lot like hungry.  This is why you will often see a tip about drinking a full glass of water and waiting 15 minutes before snacking.  It is a good idea to pause a second and consider how long it's actually been since you've eaten and WHY you want to eat.  If it has been fewer than three or four hours since a meal, is there an emotional reason such as boredom, stress or loneliness?  If so, consider its source (many people will choose to journal at this point about an emotional trigger they have experienced to try and avoid it next time) and see if there is a way to divert your attention to something else:  take a walk, clean, call up a friend, pick up a craft project, do some work or garden.  Removing  yourself can be very helpful. If you are still hungry after this diversion, have a snack.  By the way, we who need to lose weight may not remember or may have never experienced what hunger actually feels like.  I know that sounds crazy.  I very clearly remember a day during my Junior year of college when I was walking home from class and my stomach growled.  It literally stopped me in my tracks.  I was thinking, "What the heck was that?!".  After considering for a second, I realized that my stomach had growled and that I hadn't felt that sensation in YEARS.  So many, in fact, that I didn't know what it was at first!  So get back in touch (or become familiar with for the first time) actual hunger cues.  Stomach growling, feeling shaky or a little lethargic, several hours since you last ate are all clues that it probably is really hunger you are feeling and not a habit or emotional need.  It's still a good idea to try the drink of water first just to be sure and it will help you eat less by filling up that belly a little first!
• Give in to temptation...intelligently.  Just can't say no to the chips, cookies or chocolate?  Decide  how much you will eat and remove it from the package.  Now put away the package or have someone else put it away where you won't find it.  Eating mindlessly from the bag is a sure way to finish it before realizing what you've done.  Along these lines, make sure it's a small portion.  Easier said than done?  Have you ever noticed that the very first chip out of the bag tastes AMAZING?  The second one is pretty good and the rest after that all taste the same?        I  know people who pre-portion snacks as soon as they arrive home from the store.  They buy large bags of things, but measure out the portions with measuring cups or a food scale and bag them individually so it's easy to grab without thinking about how much you can/should have.  Something my husband does after eating sweets is to munch a few baby carrots.  Removing the sweet residue from your teeth and tongue helps keep it from snowballing into an all out binge.  
• "It's not mine."  This tip is the one that has served me the best around candy-centric holidays such as Halloween, Valentine's Day and Easter.  When I visit someone else's house and they have a candy dish sitting out, I often don't know whether it's okay to take something from the dish, so I don't.  I keep this attitude around my kids' goodie buckets.  They definitely don't need all the candy, but I need it much less.  To keep from polishing it off, I tell myself that it's not mine, just like the candy dish at someone else's house.  The kids would be very upset if they found a bunch of their candy missing so it also keeps me out of trouble with them.  
• Keep treats you don't like.  My hubby has been kind enough to limit his in-house treats to things that are of no interest to me:  jelly beans, gummy bears, hard candy, sour candy.  All things that I can easily pass up.  He (and the kids) can indulge as he pleases and it doesn't tempt me one bit.  Now, bring in some chocolate and all bets are off!
• Only the best of the best.  This can be a REALLY tough one to make a habit, especially if you're an indoctrinated member of the 'clean plate club'.  If you take a bite of something, such as a cookie or candy, and it isn't the best __________ you've ever had, don't finish it.  For me, this means that I won't touch chocolate that isn't Hershey's.  To my palate, it's simply the best and the rest just isn't worth the calories because I won't enjoy it as much.  This can be especially helpful around the holidays when everyone you come across is offering goodies.  If you don't like a particular offering, politely decline instead of accepting just to be nice.  If you take a bite of something that doesn't knock your socks off, put it down and walk away.  
• Make indulgences inconvenient.  I try not to keep the treats that I can't control myself with in the house and I generally am too lazy to go out and get something when the urge hits.  This can be really frustrating in moments of desperation but I have found myself reaching for an orange or an apple when I had been seriously jonesing for something sweet.  The urge is typically fulfilled and I feel a lot better about not having polished off an entire huge bag of M & Ms by myself.  
• Allow the family their vices...OUT of the house.  I love ice cream.  I haven't met many people who don't (like that double negative?).  To keep from indulging nightly, I don't keep it in the house.  However, the rest of my family wants their treats, too, so hubby has a standing date with the kids on Monday night to go out for ice cream.  They have become connoisseurs of the various 99¢ cones.  The kids know that they will get their ice cream once a week so they don't ask for it on other days and I get something else that I crave:  an hour at home, alone, with some peace and quiet.  
• Have a standing "bad" food night.  I hesitate to add this tip because it's something that doesn't really help me with my battle against the bulge but it does help my family cope with being a party to my battle.  Pizza is probably the one thing that "dieters" fear the most.  It's typically the first thing that they feel has to go and symbolizes all that is evil about junk food in that doughy, cheesy, greasy goodness.  My family eats every home cooked meal at the dining room table.  Except dinner on Friday night.  Friday is pizza-in-front-of-the-TV-night.  We make a big production of spreading a blanket on the living room floor to 'picnic' with the kids and watch a family friendly movie together.    This has done wonders to curb the "can we have pizza?" whining from the kids.  They simply don't ask for it anymore because they know about Friday nights.  We watch very little TV so this is a BIG deal to them.  I also offer a big container full of chopped veggies and hummus to go with the pizza.  I can have one (or so) slices then fill up on the vegetables and dip.  The kids munch away on the veggies when their pizza is gone and they don't want to miss any of the movie to go upstairs to the kitchen to get more.  Win-win!  Oh yes, keep the rest of the "bad" food out of reach.  That flight of stairs is a pretty good deterrent for mindlessly grabbing one more slice.  But when we get take out and it's in the same room, there is never leftovers because ALL of us just keeping grabbing more.  One side note:  I weigh in on Thursday morning so it's no accident that Friday is pizza-in-front-of-the-TV-night!  (That would make Wednesday fish and giant salad night ;-)
• Dealing with cravings.  I have a personal rule of no junk food before lunch.  This makes the morning a pretty easy binge-free zone for me.  The afternoons and evenings are another matter altogether.  It is very predictable for me to have a serious need for something sweet after lunch.  I have found that having hot tea helps a lot.  Especially in the Winter, it is very comfort food-y.  I can usually get by with something zero calorie like peppermint but sometimes the sweet need is just too much.  Adding a MEASURED amount of sweetener (try different ones like agave nectar or honey to change it up) to a sweeter tea such as Earl Grey or peach is usually enough to take care of that craving for me.  Tea also counts toward hydration needs! A friend suggests chewing sugar free gum to help with cravings.  I go through A LOT of gum ;-)  Brushing your teeth after lunch or supper can help, as well.  It really makes you think twice about messing up that minty freshness.  Popcorn is also a great choice, especially in the evening when the rest of the family is going to town on junk or during a movie at home.  Popcorn is high in fiber so its satiety factor is high, as well as it being okay to mindlessly much away on given a few conditions:  plain air popped popcorn (spice it with calorie free things such as chili powder, dill or anything else you can think of) or 94% fat free microwave popcorn.  If you are using WW, FIVE cups of that stuff is only 3 points plus values!  That's a whole lot of popcorn.  I'm not a big fan of reduced fat foods primarily because of the chemicals that they tend to introduce into your diet and fat, quite simply, is not the enemy.  Fat is a necessary nutrient and is healthy in moderation, as with anything else.  By using the 94% fat free microwave popcorn, you still get the butter and salt flavor without the calories and other bad things (remember all the hoopla about movie theatre butter causing cancer?) and it's pre-portioned.  With that particular type, you can even go for the big bag and don't have to eat only a mini bag worth!  I have been known to bring my own mini bag of popped corn into a movie theatre.  What are big purses for, after all?  
• PMS cravings  When talking with friends, the theme of PMS cravings seems to be a need for fat. Specifically, chocolate and cheese.  I count myself among this group but have found a way of dealing with it.  My friend, Shanna, offers this great tip:  About a week before your period is due, increase the healthy fat in your diet.  Good choices are olive oil and avocado.  This doesn't mean to polish off an entire bag of tortilla chips with a bucket of guacamole.  This means add a few slices of avocado to your usual sandwich or drizzle some olive oil on your fish, pasta, or whatever you like.  As a hard core chocolate craver, I can tell you that this tip really does work.  The first time I tried it was the first time in my life that I didn't need chocolate to the point of being willing to do bodily harm to someone if I didn't get it.  
• Stretching it to the next meal:  I eat breakfast with my kiddos pretty early in the morning.  This can make it feel like a loooong time until lunch some days.  It seems like 10:00 is the magic hour for running on empty.  To make it to lunch without going nuts and enabling lunch to be a little smaller meal than it might otherwise have been, I have found apples to be a lifesaver.  They work in the afternoon, too!  Apples are great because they have lots of crunch, are sweet and have a lot of fiber for filling you up and keeping you that way for a good amount of time.  Another good choice is almonds.  Be careful here because it's very easy to mindlessly empty the container.  Eight almonds should do the trick to tide you over and not be a huge calorie expense.  So count them out then put away the package. 
• Keep after it.  Believe it or not, junk food no longer feels good (and I'm not talking guilt here).  It still tastes good! But once that stuff is out of your system, your body will reject it.  Nothing feels so nasty to me now as a burger and fries.  It's just too much.  Too much grease.  Too much salt.  Too much food.  I also see it immediately on the scale the next day.  I have read that it takes about two days for food to get through your system and arrive on your tush.  Fast food seems to be on the fast track to my belly and bum.  
• Meal plan.  I know this is hard to make time for and a pain to do but it can be very helpful.  It is especially helpful when you don't really feel like cooking and would typically resort to eating out.  If you glance at the meal plan in the morning and know throughout the day that you will be making a particular thing for dinner, then it's easier to stick to that plan and you don't have to stand in front of the panty/fridge and puzzle out what you can make or want to eat.  My family has a dry erase calendar that I use and try to fill out a month at a time.  Doing such an extended period of time means that I only have to make time for it once per month and not once per week.  I definitely don't always stick to it.  It's more like an outline of what we have the ingredients for in the house in that given week.  If something doesn't sound good then I can glance ahead a few days and find something else that does and switch them.  I have friends that use apps and online meal planners.  They also will keep just a few month long meal plans and rotate between them so they aren't starting from scratch each time.  The most important thing about meal planning for me is that it puts me in the driver's seat of my nutrition and not at the mercy of my husband's whims (pizza tonight, nachos tomorrow night, burritos the next night, hot dogs after that...).  It also means that if I get busy, he can glance at the calendar and see what the plan was and get it started himself.  
• Buy and USE a food scale and measuring cups/spoons.  The only way to accurately portion food is to measure it.  "A serving of meat is 3 ounces.  The size of a deck of cards."  Whuck?!  Do you know how often I hold a deck of cards?  Pretty much never.   I don't think I have ever seen a piece of meat that was exactly the thickness of a deck of cards, either.  But I can put a piece of meat or any other food for that matter on a food scale and figure out how much it weighs and how many calories or points that would be.  This is the ONLY way that I can deal with potato chips.  If you read the nutrition information on the bag it will likely tell you that a serving is about 16 chips.  Good luck finding 16 whole chips in a bag.  If you asked me to eyeball one ounce (that's a serving!) of potato chips, I would probably put about three on the plate.  The truth is, one ounce is a pretty reasonable amount of chips (see above about the first one being the best one) and I can't produce that amount without some help.  Read the nutrition labels on your food and use the tools to measure out an actual serving.  You will probably find that your idea of a serving is enormously distorted (big surprise, America!) but you may also find that it is smaller than an actual serving.  I found this with hummus.  A serving is 1/4 cup.  I was (inaccurately, of course) eyeballing the amount of hummus I served myself.  I was pretty happy to find out how much it really is and now I just scoop it into the (leveled, not mounded) 1/4 cup measuring cup and dip straight out of there so I'm not being gipped at all.  However, I wanted to cry the first time I measured a serving of pasta with the food scale.  I definitely wasn't gipping myself there!  Learning to use the tools to see what an actual serving is has been HUGE for me.  This is the thing that I never learned growing up.  Huge amounts of unbalanced food and the clean plate club is the bottom line of my childhood food experience.  In spite of that, I have learned that a human being CAN survive on less food and actually is better off for it.  Speaking of the clean plate club:
• I don't expect you to clean your plate.  Yes, there are people all over the world, even in our own areas, who don't get enough to eat.  However, they will never directly benefit from the specific food on your plate.  That means that you are not directly causing the starvation of the children of the world if you throw away a little bit of food rather than cleaning your plate.  And just think how much your OWN kids will learn from that simple act.   Along these same lines:  Don't finish the pot just to avoid leftovers or avoid pitching the little bit of food that's left.  Save it for lunch or get rid of it.  Throwing away 1/2 cup of a side dish will not shift your cosmic balance of good vs. evil.  

Excuse time!  I have no willpower.  The funny thing is, I bet you actually have tons of willpower that you use everyday.  It took a LOT of willpower not to yell at Girly when she dumped a bowl of cereal all over the wood table on the fancy tablecloth yesterday morning when we were running late.  It took all the willpower I could muster not to tell a soul we were pregnant with The Boy for the first twenty weeks.  It takes a lot of willpower not to tell a friend what you really think of their new haircut and color.  It definitely takes willpower in so many work situations.  It comes down to choices, not willpower.  It's just part of the mental game.  I love the Jillian Michaels podcast where she interviews Bob Harper (3/31/12 Together Again!) and he says that his motto is "It's a game and I'm going to win".  I think that is so applicable here.  Willpower or choices, it's just a word game.  I can choose to be healthy, strong and in control or I can choose to hide behind the excuse that "I have no willpower".  Make no mistake, sometimes I choose chocolate.  Not because I lack willpower but because I'm choosing to live life on my terms.