It’s Week 4. Have you seen the inside of your gym recently?

I apologize for not being on top of things inspiration-wise. Between a week and a half of illness and prepping for the Les Mills Master Classes on Saturday (there’s still room in PUMP, JAM and COMBAT, sign up at RVC’s front desk) I haven’t had time to do much of anything.

I did, however, not buy Coffeemate this week at the grocery store as part of my goal to eat more “real” food. French Vanilla Coffeemate doesn’t count as actual food, no matter how yummy it is. I’m going back to sugar and cream. I also bought jam with no HFCS. I feel so virtuous. : )

Stop and smell the Vics Vapor Rub

Well, we’re a few days into week 3 of the 6 Week Challenge and I have been wiped out by a cold. I spent 4 of the last 7 days lying on my couch and wishing I wasn’t (which is completely the opposite of normal wherein I constantly wish I was lying on the couch and can’t.)

I very rarely take unscheduled days off. As a matter of fact, I don’t get paid if I don’t work. That being said, however, I have learned to take care of myself despite a potential pay cut or even bruise to my ego (I’m superhuman! I don’t get sick!).  I’m only doing myself harm if I push it. I can’t work if I’m not healthy.

So take care of yourself – whether that means resting or getting yourself to the gym.

Week 2: Excuses

So, how’d you do hitting your goal for Week 1?

Go you if you managed to do all you set out to!

If, for whatever reason, you didn’t manage to reach your goal in week 1, don’t give up. One false move does not a failure make. This is a new week. Time to saddle up and git ‘er done! Ask yourself why you weren’t able to do it. Did you run out of time? motivation? clean socks?

This week, I’d like you to think about excuses you’ve come across as you’ve tried to get to the gym or eat better and then figure out counter measures to combat those excuses. For example, this weekend I ate as if I’ve never heard of moderation or learned how to use any of the appliances in my kitchen. My excuse was “we didn’t have any food in the house.” That was pretty much true and yet instead of taking the steps necessary to remedy the situation (plan a few meals, make a list, go shopping) I spent more time and money traveling to fast food restaurants and eating stuff that made me feel even more slovenly than I already felt.

What excuses do you have to overcome?

But it’s made with corn!

By now you’ve seen the commercials about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) put together by the Corn Refiners Association. In it, people get called onto the carpet by their friends and family members for mentioning that HFCS is unhealthy. Those friends and family state that it’s all natural, just like sugar, because it’s made of corn.

Yeah, well, so’s biodiesel but I’m not exactly going to start using that as a salad dressing.

Here’s the deal. Supposedly, the jury (whoever they are – lobbyists, scientists, food manufacturing representatives) is still out on all the effects of HFCS but there are several studies that indicate it’s not the holy grail of sweetness that we are being lead to believe it is by the corn industry. Here’s a good article from Diabetes Health with some basics about the difference between HFCS and other sweeteners and what they do in your body.

In the commercial I mentioned above, the chastising friend says, “It’s perfectly fine in moderation.” The problem is, there’s no way to moderate it if you eat the way most of us in the U.S. are accustomed to eating.  HFCS is ubiquitous. It’s super cheap and can be used as a flavor and a preservative so food processing companies can, and do, add it to pretty much everything we eat, from soft drinks and desserts to condiments, cereals, breads and even cough syrup. (Look! Someone made a list.)

As part of my 6 Week Challenge goal to eat more “real” food, I did an experiment. I looked in my fridge to see how many items in it had HFCS as an ingredient.

Stuff from the door of my fridge

The stuff that contains HFCS

The things I found range from cocktail sauce to salad dressing to jelly. I’m actually surprised at how few things had HFCS. I figured it would be about 90%, not 25%.

Now what? Here’s an article from WikiHow on how to avoid HFCS. Their last tip is to buy fresh produce and learn how to cook it. This is a great reminder to me to finally, finally join a CSA (community supported agriculture). I’ve been meaning to do this for years. Now’s the time. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Acupuncture Question

I have a friend who is an acupuncturist and she asked me the following question:

“I’m doing a talk for a Biggest Loser group at a local gym about acupuncture and Chinese medicine for weight loss.  If you were hearing the lecture, what topics would you want covered/questions would you have?”

I think I would like to know a little bit of the science behind it – the Why and How, at least as practitioners currently understand it. I’d like to know how acupuncture, etc. could be integrated into my fitness routine and why I’d want to do that.

What would you want to know?

M.A.C. Attack

I’ve gotten several emails from those of you who are participating in the 6 Week Challenge and it appears that not only do you want to join in and be motivated but you want to be held accountable. Sheesh, so demanding!

I guess I hadn’t really thought through the whole accountability thing. I’ve received emails suggesting weekly meetings, requesting emails for motivation, and wondering where to check in to tell people (or me) that you achieved your goal that week.

Perhaps in the future I can get fancier but since this is the first time I’ve done something like this I’m going to keep it simple. First, we’re going to keep this on-line. Consider this here blog “Motivation and Accountability Central” aka M.A.C. (Not that we need an acronym.) I will announce any new posts on Facebook and if you are not on Facebook I can send you an email telling you to come here. Every Monday or so I will write a post asking how you are doing. If you are interested in being held accountable, feel free to comment and share your successes and struggles*.

Sound good? I welcome all suggestions and comments to help this work for you.

*Note to Facebook users: If you make a comment via Facebook it does not show up on this site but it does show up on the link to the post. So I guess you need to decide where you want people to see it. Here is more permanent.

Week 1

It’s Day1/Week 1 of the 6 Week Challenge. Do you know where your gym clothes are?

As they say, a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. What does that mean for you, me, and this challenge? It means we need to do something to get ourselves going. Since my goal is to workout 3 times per week, I wrote “1″, “2″, and “3″ my schedule. If there isn’t something written after each of those numbers by Sunday I have failed. Having a visual reminder helps me. Have you scheduled time to get to the gym this week? Today’s the day to do it.

There are lots of other little things you can do to get started on this journey.  I happen to have a locker at the gym so I generally have all my workout clothes with me but your first step may be simply to pack your gym clothes the night before. Or make sure your iPod is charged and full of upbeat music. If you’re going to keep a food journal do you have a pad and paper designated for that purpose?

Whatever it is you need to do to get yourself moving and changing, today’s the day. No excuses. What’s your first step?

The %$!#@ Girl Scouts

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

This week, my dear boyfriend came home with ten, TEN!, boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Luckily, only 4 boxes were Thin Mints.  I can easily pass up the Samoas (coconut – blech!) and the lemony ones, whatever they are called, but not the Thin Mints. Perish the thought.

I share this with you because these are the things that happen in real life. We make a decision to eat more healthily and BOOM! our favorite dessert shows up literally on our doorstep. This is why I have never been on a diet. It’s too unrealistic. I’d much rather make small, consistent changes that slowly add up to big ones. Because of changes I have made over the years, that first box of Thin Mints hasn’t already been consumed in a gluttonous frenzy. There is no way 5-10 years ago I would have been able to have just one.  How can I do that now? I’m glad you asked.

If you are following my 6 Week Challenge as a participant (see side bar) or vicariously through others, one goal I would suggest to you would be to start a food journal. What I learned from simply writing down everything I ate was that I am what I’d call a “competitive eater.” This does not, thankfully, mean I eat 60 hotdogs in 4 minutes. What I mean is that if I think someone else is going to get it, I want it first. It doesn’t even matter if I’m hungry.

In the past, if there was, say, a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in the freezer I’d eat more of it (or all of it)  simply so the other person in the house couldn’t. I’m sure a therapist could have a field day as to the why, but for my purposes, the why doesn’t matter. As they say in any 12 step program, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Until  I realized that my problem was wanting to finish things first I couldn’t do anything about it. Once I did, it was much easier to make changes.

Now, a pint of Ben & Jerry’s can sit in my freezer for a week or more – but only if I specifically stake my claim on it and know that it is mine. In other words, my boyfriend and I have to each have our own and promise not to touch the others. With that situation in place, I’m perfectly satisfied just eating a few spoonfuls and putting it back. If I thought for a second he was out to get my pint, well, it would be all over.

My boyfriend and I have not yet discussed a cookie strategy. However, just recognizing that I might react competitively makes me take a step back and not do so. Maybe I’ll be disappointed one day to come home and find all the Thin Mints gone. But the difference now is that I can live with that outcome. And so can my waistline.

Your Mission, should you choose to accept it…

…is to think of a goal: weight loss, fitness, food, exercise or other habit change, and join me for the next six weeks to achieve it.

Why? Because we can all use a little motivation to get us going.

And you won’t be alone. Starting on Monday March 16, my gym/work place is sponsoring a Biggest Loser type contest. (Check out the website.) There are 12 contestants and they are going to be working so hard it’s a shame not to use that to get myself and you up, moving, and changing your life. Or at least what you eat for breakfast. (You do eat breakfast, don’t you. Just say yes. You don’t want me to yell at you.)

Have you been thinking about making some changes? Especially the kind that may stop you from having to go buy bigger pants? Don’t just think it, do it!

Here are my goals:

• Do 3 of my own workouts per week in addition to teaching classes. I’m going to try  to take a couple of the classes that I don’t teach – like Spinning and Body Combat.
• Purge my kitchen of food that isn’t food i.e. items that have ingredients I can’t pronounce, spell, or that I could not buy at the grocery store on their own.

As my “Biggest Loser” told me, “I have nothing but time and opportunity.”

So, what are you gonna do? It’s only 6 weeks but it could last a lifetime. See the side bar for who’s in!