Down it Goes

I have a somewhat embarrassing story to share.

Tuesday night I went to see the new Harry Potter movie with my sisters. We’re Harry Potter freaks and wanted to see the midnight showing. About an hour before the movie started, my sister and I went to go get a Diet Coke (you’ll soon find I’m a Diet Coke addict. It’s quite sad, actually.)

Unfortunately, after I filled up my soda I slipped on some pop and went down. I don't even remember how I landed, but I do remember reaching for my right knee and found that it had popped out of place. I think the mental picture of my knee being off to the right was more painful than the actual physical pain. Thankfully my youngest sister was there to calm me down and eventually my knee went back into place. Being a Harry Potter fanatic, I stayed through the movie, keeping it elevated and iced.

Fast forward a trip to the ER the next morning and my knee popping out four more times. I’ve been diagnosed with a torn MCL (medial collateral ligament) and will be in a leg brace and on crutches for at least a week. I’m just thankful it wasn’t something more serious, but it certainly puts a damper on things.

Given that I’m going to be spending the next week on the couch, it becomes even more vital for me to watch what I eat. Just as I was getting into the habit of going on two mile walks in the evening, this has come to an abrupt stop. It feels like I really have to examine everything I eat (and unfortunately yesterday that included a milk shake for breakfast thanks to my wonderful dad who felt bad for me and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream after dinner, compliments of a close friend.)

What’s tough is the guilt I feel for not being able to really make a valiant attempt to lose weight, which is silly. I’m holed up on the couch and it’s painfully obvious I can’t go out and walk three miles. But it’s still tough knowing that whatever I put in my body will most likely not be worked off.

Here’s to hoping this injury doesn’t completely blow my efforts at being healthier.

The Buddy System

I think one of the best strategies I’ve found when trying to embark on a healthy lifestyle change is finding a good support base. Over the last few weeks my mom and I have been trying to go out on daily walks to trim down, and it helps to have someone hold you accountable. But more importantly, it gives you someone to lean on.

Sometimes we underestimate the power of the buddy system. Sometimes I tell my sisters to stop me anytime I try to snack for no reason other than sheer boredom, but what I need isn’t someone dictating what I should and shouldn’t put into my body. What I need is someone to relate to, someone to share my struggles with.

What’s hard for me is that my two younger sisters are athletes and thus have athletic builds. They have no problem going on runs or fitting into cute jeans. If they think they have tummies, they can work in off in a matter of a few weeks because of their training ability. I would pay big money to have their bodies.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t born with that athletic gene, so it’s tougher for me. I’ve found in the last year, though, that having a workout buddy does wonders. Last semester because my roommate and I were members at the same gym, I went twice as much as I would have gone. When I didn’t want to go, she would drag me to the gym and vice versa.

Being at home this summer, my mom and sisters have given me the motivation to get on more walks than I would have. During our walks, we talk about anything under the sun. But mostly we talk about the struggles in trying to lose weight and make healthier lifestyle choices. What’s worked for them in the past? How do they feel about their bodies? What seems to be their biggest challenge right now? If nothing else, it helps you realize that other people are going through the exact same thing. It helps that my mom understands when I’m upset that I don’t fit right into my favorite pair of jeans, or that I feel bad eating that second helping of pasta.

I just hope I can give my readers someone to relate to. You’re not alone. I promise.

Last year during walks with a friend of mine, we always talked about what people have to do to eat right and stay healthy. On one of our walks I remember her telling me that it’s hard to lose weight simply because we listen to other people instead of our bodies. She said when you ask whether you want something to eat, women will typically always tell you to eat more.

Since then, I’ve really noticed that. When I would ask my roommate or sister, “Do I really want popcorn for the movie?” or “Do I want a bedtime snack?” the answer would almost always be “yes.” Even when I’m not hungry, I’ll take their answer as a legitimate reason to dig in.

I don’t know that they’re purposely trying to sabotage my diet, but rather we all want to feel like we’re all on the same playing field. If person X eats a bedtime snack, then it’s okay for me to eat something, too. Or we feel better about the slip-up we had earlier in the day. Men, it seems, don’t worry

I noticed this theory in practice yesterday during the Fourth of July festivities. While watching fireworks from our deck, my sister decided to bring out more potato salad. A friend brought out a bratwurst. The other brought out a piece of corn on the cob. I asked if I wanted something to eat, and they all said yes. After all, it was the Fourth of July.

Why did they all say yes? Why did I even ask? I knew I wasn’t hungry and had my fair share of fatty yet oh-so-good food all day long. Why do we ask, and why do we always want the answer to be yes? Is it a way to justify it to ourselves? Is it a way to take the guilt and blame off ourselves and onto our friends?

My three roommates have high metabolism and are fairly thin. For some reason, when they eat, I think it’s okay for me to eat too. After all, they’re thin. But what I fail to realize sometimes is that our bodies respond differently. While my roommate can eat three brownies and not gain a pound, mine will invariably end up in my thighs or stomach.

So next time you wonder if you should be eating, don’t ask people. Ask yourself. Listen to your body and see if you’re really hungry. Don’t rely on other people’s opinions or have them justify what you’re eating. They don’t know what your body needs. Only you can be the judge of that.

On second thought...

Ouch. I was working on our state newsletter trying to figure out what to write for the Great American Eat Right Challenge. While I was looking through a few printouts of the website and came across a page in the newsletter called “I’ll Walk It Off.”

I’ll admit I’m a huge victim of this. I’ll see something that looks good and I’ll justify eating it by telling myself I’ll go on a walk later and work it off. Late last week it was chocolate chip ice cream. This weekend it was popcorn from the movie theaters, among other things.

But according to this newsletter, I would have to walk 12 miles to work off that large movie theater popcorn. Yikes. The small chocolate milk shake I had Sunday night? I’d have to walk 3.6 miles. Not terrible, but since I only went on a 2-mile walk that evening, I didn’t work it entirely off. And that was just the shake.

That’s the hard part of dieting and eating right. Temptation can be a pain, and it’s something that most people struggle with everyday. Should I have that second helping of spaghetti? Can I have that brownie without it going straight to my thighs?

I know I said I hate counting calories, but that seems to be the only real way to monitor what I put into my mouth. I need to start being more conscious of what I’m putting into my mouth, or more importantly, how much I’m putting in.

I think what it boils down to is balance between what you eat and the amount of exercise you get in. I can have some of that movie theater popcorn, but it doesn’t have to be a huge portion, and I can get on a walk later that night. I don’t need to eat ice cream every night, but I can have it once in a while.

I’m trying to change my mentality so it doesn’t feel like I’m depriving myself. I don’t want to monitor what I eat and how much I exercise just to see if it results in weight loss. Instead I should focus on being healthy and how great I feel when I eat right and exercise. If I automatically tie it to weight loss, it isn’t going to be as beneficial and I’ll be more likely to give up.

So from here on out, I eat and exercise for my health, not for the number on the scale.

…remind me of that after the Fourth of July festivities and food..

Counting Calories

I hate counting calories. I’ve tried dieting in the past, and the only thing counting calories has done for me is leave me with a splitting headache. There’s too much measuring and estimating when you’re trying to figure out how many calories you’re consuming.

Just to see where I should be at, though, I took the daily calorie needs test on the website and found that even if I just have a sedentary lifestyle, I need almost 3,000 calories to maintain my weight. That surprised me.

Too many of us, I think, see food as the enemy. We tend to forget that calories are actually energy, and in order to get through the day, we need to eat. Off the top of my head, I can think of a handful of people who have lost weight by not eating meals or by cutting their daily calorie intake to dangerously low levels. It worked, but at what expense?

To be honest, skipping meals and essentially starving myself has cross my mind on quite a few occasions, but it’s always just a passing thought. I don’t know about you, but I like food too much. I enjoy cooking and being able to try new recipes. I love being able to go out to dinner with family or friends and making it a social event. Movies wouldn’t be the same without popcorn. Sometimes regret follows as I look down at what I ate, but I try not to let it ruin my day or evening.

My mom has always said that nothing is bad for you as long as you eat it in moderation. As long as I follow that rule and listen to my body to know when it’s satisfied (and not stuffed), it will pay off. No one is saying you have to be perfect or get your calorie intake down to 800 calories. You need food, so enjoy! Just remember, moderation is key. Don’t use this as an excuse to consume all the calories you want today. Just know that food is not out to get you.

Walking Machine

When my cousin was diagnosed with colon cancer at the end of November, it really hit me that cancer could happen to anyone. He was only 30, didn't smoke and led a fairly healthy life. He is only 9 years only than me. What if I were facing this in 9 years?

What's good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) is that one-third of cancers can be prevented through healthy lifestyle choices. One-third. That's amazing. It's definitely a motivator for me to eat better and exercise more.

In the Quick Tips from the Eat Right Challenge website, it recommends that you get 10,000 steps in a day. The fact sheet recommends that you should set a goal of, say, 4,000 steps and then work toward the 10,000. My dad actually bought me a pedometer for Christmas (not as a hint to get walking, but because I asked for one.) It amazed me at how little I was walking! Walking around campus I thought I was getting at least 8,000 steps in everyday. Not true. I was lucky if I was even hit 5,000! I definitely over-estimated how much I was walking.

Since then I've made a more conscious effort to get in my 10,000 steps a day. There was one night in Janurary that I was walking aimlessly around the house, desperate to get more steps in. Slightly lame, but as long as I hit the magic number, I didn't care. Did you know the only way I can reach that number is by getting in at least 30 minutes of exercise a day? Funny how that works out, huh? It's like they knew that....

Test Post

We're starting this blog as a way to help people participate in the American Cancer Society Eat Right Challenge in August. Hopefully through this blog we'll be able to educate, inspire and encourage other people to take on the challenge, too.

I don't know about you, but my eating habits definitely need a fix-up. With so many programs, it's hard to know what to do - Atkins diet, South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers. How do you know what the best program is? One day you're eating a low-carb diet and the next you're eating a low-fat diet.

I've decided the best thing for me to do first is to watch my portion sizes. Using the American Cancer Society Great American Eat Right website I can get quick information on how large my serving sizes should be. It also has some helpful tips, too.

I'll keep you update on how my task is going... Wish me luck!