Learn Your Diet

Last post I discussed the difference between a diet and dieting. Now that we have that concept down comes the hard part ...

Dissecting and Understanding Our Own Diet

So here is where the hard part comes - analyzing yourself.

Step one to being successful in making changes and creating lifelong habits that lead to easily maintainable fat loss is to start where you currently stand and really see it.

What kind of Confucius styled rhetoric am I spouting here? Let me try and break it down with a even stranger story ...

Did You Check Your Oil?
In my youth I knew this older woman whose solution to everything that went wrong with an automobile was to "check the oil."

"My car won't start, turn the key and nothing!"

"Did you check the oil?"

"Shoot I have a flat!"

"Did you check the oil?"

"I ran out of gas."

"Did you check the oil?"

It did not matter how obvious it was that the alternator was out, the tire had a nail in it, and the gas tank was empty - all solutions to car troubles were fixed by checking the oil.  In her mind there was never a need to stop and look at the condition of the car to discover any clues as to WHY the car had an issue - the solution of checking the oil, (which at some point in her life must have solved many a car problem or been taught to her?), was always the place to start.

I have discovered the exact same concept of focusing on the solution to be true when it comes to dealing with fat loss. We look in the mirror and say:

"Ugh, I'm so fat!"

And for some reason we hear the mirror respond with,

"Have you tried dieting?"

So it is we jump on the dieting bandwagon, maybe even rushing into some sort of work-out program, never taking a moment to truly SEE the condition of our "car" (body) to discover the clues as to WHY we have an issue.

This is a truly serious problem as for many this can lead to the exact opposite of being over fat; by instead becoming underweight - sometimes to a degree that is so unhealthy we could die. Anorexia and bulimia are the extreme form of always "checking the oil" and never truly seeing the condition of the "car" we live in and are responsible for.

We are not automobiles, yet in a way our body is much like an automobile.

VVVRRROOMM! VVVRRROOOMMM!!!

We are the drivers of our own body vehicle.

What we often forget is that not only are we the driver but we are also the mechanic. In order to be able to drive such a great machine we have to be great mechanics. In order to be great mechanics we have to understand how our car operates. The first step in understanding our car is to understand our fuel. The food we put in our body is the fuel that allows it to continue to thrive and operate under the demands we command of it and that is the first place we will be focusing as mechanics: HOW WE FUEL OUR BODY.

The Challenge

For two full weeks the only thing we will focus on is journaling our current fuel intake.

Many will be tempted to eat all the right things in all the right portions during the next two weeks. Don't.

Many will be tempted to not account for and leave out of their journaling any of the indiscretions they make in food choices on a regular basis. Such as ordering take out pizza twice in one week, eating a full pint of ice cream in one sitting, or snacking on half a bag of their favorite Halloween candy. Don't.

Many will beat themselves up with every item they write down. Don't.

JUST WRITE IT.

All of it.

Don't be ashamed. Don't hide anything. Don't make changes.

JUST WRITE IT. 

This is a very simple format you can follow that will
aid in track everything you need for the next
couple of weeks!

Remember we are NOT fixing anything in our car right now, we are not changing any oil, we are just observing our car, the fuel we put in it, and how it reacts to the types of fuel we give it.

How you write this is up to you. There are however things you MUST be responsible for writing down:

1. What you ate.
2. What time you ate it.
3. How you felt before you ate.
4. How you felt 20 minutes after you ate.
5. How much you ate. Don't over think this one, just jot down if you think you ate a normal portion, more than, or even less than.

At the end of week one I will share my first weeks journaling with you all. Others can share if they would like, but do not feel like you have to.

As well, if you would like to share your journal entries with me privately I am up for that. I can be a secondary set of "mechanics eyes", one that may be a little more familiar with the effects the type of fuel you intake has on the body. However, in the long run it will be you whom take on the ultimate understanding of your bodies fueling needs.

That level of analysis comes later; for now, JUST WRITE!

There are many free and pay sites that allow you to track your food. Feel free to journal there if you would like however DO NOT use their tools and review everything with a fine toothed comb. The goal is to get it down so you can review it later and understand better what fuel you are feeding your body.

Excuses?

You will come up with so many of them as to why you just could not journal that day: "I was so busy" or even "my dog ate my journal." They will all be valid reasons and here is the thing, I don't care. This is for you and about you and NO ONE is going to reprimand you for not doing this, except yourself.

Remember that part - YOU are doing this. YOU are the mechanic. The only person whom you have to explain not doing this to is YOU.

I will however state that I know, like me, many of you have already put in plenty of time, effort, and expense to lose fat. Even if it only lasted a few weeks, you made the effort. The effort asked for here is to write, to use a piece of paper and pen and write. It's perhaps the least amount of effort you have ever made in your fat loss journey. So be diligent with it. Give yourself this chance to really make it all happen!

~TigressSky~

Diet vs Dieting. Is there a difference?

Diet vs Dieting. Is there a difference?

As simple as it is to explain, it seems to be one of the hardest concepts to "get" when starting down a path to fat loss. My own journey began more than 13 years ago and it wasn't until the past few years that I truly "got it". What I am talking about here is the difference between diet and dieting.

Is this something you eat regularly? Then this is part of your diet.

A Diet is what you eat on a regular basis.

Dieting is making a sudden and sometimes drastic change to what you eat regularly in order to aid in fat loss.

Okay simple right? 

Actually, it isn't that simple. Especially if you want to ensure that your fat loss efforts will be something permanent and easy to maintain.

Permanent and Easy to Maintain You Say?

We all pretty much understand the difference between Diet and Dieting what we do not seem to understand is that changing your diet does not mean nor equate to dieting.

Wait, what? Do the definitions not show that in order to affect my fat loss I need to change my diet which requires dieting?

Technically, it looks like that is in fact the case. Everything we read and are exposed to also makes these same pleas to us of using this pre-defined nomenclature in order to achieve any success. Dieting companies, authors, and reality television shows all push this same agenda of dieting upon us, each focusing on their particular fool-proof plan!

You can burn calories just reading all the rhetoric!!!

Plans such as: "Eat these pre-packaged meals," and/or, "eliminate these types of foods" and "take these supplements that come in boxes of rhetoric for you!" As well as the more simpler plans of: "eat this many calories," and/or, "eat this many meals a day within this caloric range." Plans that are really not maintainable in the long run, so much so that I would beg to call them Dieting Fads not plans.

Almost all of these dieting fads come with a type of work out program focused on getting you into the "best shape of your life!"

(There is a reason the dieting industry is one of the most profitable and it isn't because of their success rates.)

I guarantee you that if you spend the time, effort, and dollars needed on any of these dieting programs you will lose weight and you will see results. I also guarantee you that as soon as you stop following them you will gain some back, most likely all of it will come back; with the very typical added bonus of a few extra pounds joining you anew! 

Truth is, if we want "this" to work then we have to change our diet altogether 

and that change is not helped but instead hindered by dieting.

What is "This"?

This is successfully changing our diet to ensure healthy fat loss that is so easy to maintain we barely have to think about it!

This is something we can all do.

This takes time and will typically not produce nor cause immediate results.

The first step of this is to recognize that we are NOT dieting!!!

It is truly that simple. The first step is to STOP DIETING!

The next steps come in simply understanding our own diets; through such understanding we will discover how to make the individual changes to them we need without the dieting fads we don't.

~TigressSky~

Battle Lines Are Drawn!!

In this corner we have the medical term Obese.

In this corner we have the societal term Fat.

In the middle is were I stand, trying to avoid either or both of those terms sticking it to me as they duke it out.

Here in the United States it is a far greater stigma to be in the corner with Obese than it is to be in the corner with Fat. In other countries, however, it is just the opposite.

For me, I had to find a balance in which neither one of those words were a stigma. Basically I took away the power of those words to make me feel bad about where I sat in my current health and fitness goals. That doesn't mean those words will lose all power of negativity; they remain painful if someone decides to use them to purposefully be mean and cause hurt. Yet, in my own personal journey, coming across those words and finding them applied to me in some way is no longer a stigma.

It is all in what the word means to you. The word has the power you give it, nothing more or less. It is just a word.

So lets start with de-stigmatizing the word fat.

Fat. I have it. All over my body. Some places more than others. It is natural to have fat. Fat is a part of us. Everyone has fat. Some of us have more than others. Excess fat can cause and worsen the effects of thousands of ailments we all suffer from. Excess fat can also be seen as a social stigma.

My goal for my overall health is fat loss. I replaced the word weight with the word fat to remind myself that fat is the focus, not weight. Fat loss can happen because of muscle gain, which imparts no noticeable weight loss. Fat loss is what makes my organs healthy. Fat loss is what drives away a myriad of diseases my family members all suffer from.

Not too hard to de-stigmatize it when you look at it this way.

De-stigmatizing the word obese was a little harder.

The first time my beautifully fit doctor handed me information on fat-loss and then said, "we have to work on your obesity," I was taken aback and offended. Sure, I was a little over-weight, maybe even fat, but I wasn't obese!

I told my friends who chanted with me, "you are NOT obese."

I was though. That is the crux of the whole issue.

To determine obesity doctors use a calculation called Body Mass Index (BMI).  BMI is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems.

That is it, plain and simple.

At the time, based on calculations from my height and weight, my doctor was alerted to the fact that I was in the obese category. The doctor, knowing that I do not yet suffer from any of the ailments being in that category can afford, simply went into preventive maintenance mode and handed me some information on fat loss.

The BMI is based on averages and wasn't designed to fit everyone perfect. It was designed to say, "on average, in this size body, with these levels of fat, (or even on the other end of the spectrum focusing on levels of not enough fat), people typically are at risk, or greater risk, for certain ailments and chronic diseases." The people who do not fit into these averages are the rarity not the norm. Most people are categorized correctly within the BMI scale.

What we have to start seeing is that being obese does not mean all those negative things that are running through your brain right now. Being obese simply means you are in the highest category for possible suffering from fat related health issues, most of which are chronic and easily avoided with just a minimal (10% of your current body weight) loss of fat.

If you find yourself one of the few whom BMI just doesn't fit, then no problem. Let it go that you are labeled  in the obese category. You already know you don't need to focus on any fat loss as it doesn't apply to you.

As well, if you are in the obese category legitimately do not beat yourself up. It is not a negative label, it simply is a way of measuring your risk for many of the health related issues that can be caused or are due to excessive fat.

Do not look at the BMI as a weight goal or as the total amount of fat loss you should focus on. That is not the intent. The BMI is instead a knowledge tool that helps you maintain your focus on the importance of losing fat - your overall health.

Will this help anyone else? I'm not certain. I know for me though, pulling out the emotions and looking at the crux of the issue really has helped me; tremendously. I don't want to live a life that is only survived by handfuls of pills and Wheel of Fortune as I become aged. So, I use all the tools and terms given me to aid in ensuring I don't!

Speaking of, we are halfway through our "Do Life" challenge and here are this weeks motivational challenges!

1.) Now that you know and are meeting your caloric range, have removed some bad habits, and added some good, - well know it is time to focus on WHAT it is your are putting in your body. This weeks challenge is to take at least one (but maybe try all!) meal you eat from a box or can, (or a meal that you make with items from a box or can), and find a recipe so you can make it from scratch ingredients!

2.) Go to the toy aisle of a local shop and find one toy, in your price range, that requires physical activity. Buy it. Now play with it at least 2 times this week! It doesn't have to be expensive or require a lot of exertion either. As long as it motivates you to play for 10-20 minutes! Well ... HAVE FUN!!!

Bonus Challenge: (I didn't change this one up from last weeks to give us all a second chance to focus on some SLEEP!) Remain exercising to the videos I shared or your own fitness levels and goals for at LEAST 30 minutes a day at LEAST 3 days a week. Spend at least 1 day in a 20 minute meditation AND here is the new and important and most challenging aspect - get AT LEAST 7 hours of sleep per night the entire week! Whew! That is going to be a challenge for me.

~TigressSky~

Just Breath

Ugh! Another week of misses.

I missed making it to my morning work outs at the gym ... ALL WEEK LONG!

I missed eating healthy following a 90/10 rule ... about 4 out of the 7 days this week!

I missed reading the first book on my list this year, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, for 30 minutes a day ... only managing to read 4 pages so far!

I did however manage to practice my guitar, play the drums, craft with friends, walk and play with Pants, and practice singing this week ... most of the time for at least an hour or two at a time!

It's now the beginning of a new week which to me does not mean some sort of fresh start. I poo-poo on that whole idea. What it does mean though is that I need to get a better focus on my health and fitness or I am going to find myself lost in the rabbit hole of wonder and confusion again soon. I have all the tools I need, I just need to start using them ... again!


I am having a hard time finding my motivation and drive to focus on my health and fitness right now. I know why; I have so many other pressing emotional things running amuck in my life right now. I feel like I have been thrown topsy-turvy and I am trying to figure out how to get back on my feet again in so many realms of my life ... and yet so many aspects seem absolutely right. It is just a matter of all the change I have gone through in the past three years and how to understand the new me I am becoming.

Knowing that I am going through so much right now is what has kept me from absolutely kicking my own ass for not maintaining the fitness and nutrition standards I had set for myself just a year ago. I will get back there, I just have to figure out what my new life routine is going to be and make sure fitness and nutrition are a large part of it.

I can do it!

With that said here are this weeks motivational challenges for those of you participating in the "Do Life" mini-challenge with me:

1. Now that you have been watching what you eat for a few weeks. Adding new things and trying to eliminate bad habits lets figure out what our calorie range is and try to stay within it! Follow this link: Calorie Calculator - and find out what your caloric intake should be. Try and meet but do not go above that intake, (seriously it may seem higher than you expect but try and meet it), and do not go below 1200 calories (for women) and 1500 calories (for men). (This is a simple calculator more advanced ones can be found by searching yourself or, what I still highly recommend is to, join SparkPeople.com and get a more accurate range to stay within and a great place to track your food at.)

2. I did not change this goal from last week because I thought we might all like one more week to meet this goal!!! :) Attempt to be able to perform one thing physically that I never thought I could by the end of the week! Some examples could be: doing one full pull-up without assistance, walking/running a longer distance/time than ever before, doing more sit-ups/push-ups/mountain climbers/etc. in a minute at the end of the week than I could at the beginning, etc.

BONUS: Do one of the video challenges I previously sent 3 times this week - they are only 20-30 minutes long so they should fit well what we have already been doing. So since we have already pretty much been doing this what is the "bonus?" Well, add in one more day, but, this time spend your 20 minutes in meditation! Here is a very simple one to work on for those of us, (like me), who suck at this!

So get out there and kick some ass this week!! I know I'm going to try!!

~Tig~

A week for greatness!

Well this week was a downer for me. Getting up in the morning is not easy when you have a puppy that gets you up 2-4 times throughout the night. I only managed to get up in time to hit the morning workouts 3 times this week. She is getting better though, and the past couple of days I managed to ignore her a couple of times and get her to lay back down and sleep. I hope this will help her get use to staying quiet in the bedroom for the 6-8 hours I actually try and sleep!

We shall see.

This is Pants! She is a born runner!

Also conspiring against me meeting my fitness goals is the cold and dark. These two really lend in sapping any inspiration I have to run with Pants after work. However, the light is returning, so soon enough it won't be dark when I get home. That should help inspire me even with the cold. Cold and dark running on streets without sidewalks is not really my cup o' tea.

Neither are excuses for not running. Which I seem to have a ton of lately ... ugh.

I recognize that it is my responsibility to make the changes I want to make. To become familiar and customized with the habits I want to successfully add to my life. To choose health and wellness over depression and sickness. I have tasted the nectar of what feeling and being beautiful mean to me and I want to thrive on that honey again.

So starts week three of my version of the "Do Life" challenge.

This week I will push myself for greatness!!!

Here are this weeks motivational challenges:

1. Add one healthy thing to your overall health/diet/fitness that you never thought you would do and do it each day. Be that eat carrots, run intervals, lift weights, dance with your kids, meditate for 10 minutes, read a chapter from a book each day, etc...

2. Attempt to be able to perform one thing physically that I never though I could by the end of the week! Some examples could be: doing one full pull-up without assistance, walking/running a longer distance/time than ever before, doing more sit-ups/push-ups/mountain climbers/etc. in a minute at the end of the week than I could at the beginning, etc.

BONUS: Do the following workout video 2 times this week, plus work out for 20-40 minutes doing this video or something else you would prefer 2 more times this week, for a total of 4 days in which you workout for 20-40 minutes per day!

If you choose the video the substitutes for the high intensity level of each exercise is:

WARM-UP SECTION -

Side-Squats: Instead of the hop just step to the left, do your best squat, stand up and step the right, do your best squat. Repeat.

Jog in Place: Do this at the intensity level you can maintain. Jog on and off, or walk in place if you cannot jog the entire time.

Knee-Ups: Do these without the jump to lower the intensity if needed.

Up & Out Jacks: Do these without the jump to lower the intensity if needed. Instead of jumping do toe taps in and out. Tap your left toe out, bring it in, tap your right toe out, bring it in, repeat.

Slow Butt Kickers & Arm Swings: There should be no need to modify this, if there is though leave the arms out.

Butt Kickers: If you need to modify, continue doing these without the jog/jump switch-up, just step in place instead.

Lateral Jumps: Rather than jump just step side to side. Slow the motion down to your comfort level.

CARDIO INTERVAL -

Burpee w/Leg Raise: When you do the burpee go slow, bend forward, place your hands flat, step back into push-up position, hold for a second, then bring your feet forward, raise yourself up and lift your legs as high as is comfortable to each side.

Flutterkick Squats: Again, just slow this down. Step forward and back slowly, then squat.

Double Butt Kickers: Do the single butt kickers at a jog/run or, if that intensity is still to intense, just do the single butt kickers with a gently rocking side-to-side step motion instead.

That should do it! The rest is up to you to take on!

~TigressSky~

A personal aside ...

Two pounds down and things continue to stay pretty plateaued for me. I know why this is though, calorie intake is high right now as the stress of life is just a little to overwhelming at times.

It is good life changing stress but stress none the less. I continue to eat healthy and get my fitness in during these times, but not at the levels I need and desire.

So it is that I push on and on, trying not to beat myself up to much, and enjoy this thing we call life.

As my triathlon approaches I feel weak and pathetic. Yet I am going to do this. I am going to stop focusing on being better than I was last year and instead focus on the fact that I am doing it and more importantly I CAN DO IT!!!

~TigressSky~

Feelings, nothing more than ... ffeeeelllinnnggsss!

I have been hitting the gym hard the past few days as the past few weeks, (more like months), my discipline has been lacking. Life snuck up on me and gave me a shove into a pile of "do-do" - as in do this, do that, and do this as well. This pile of "do-do" left me with very little time to do much else, let alone enough time to get my fitness routine met. So, these past few days at the gym have really hit me hard as my body is completely out of whack to any real routine.

Yet, I think this pile of "do-do" was an important for me to step in, as today I recognized something very important; my feelings.

As I walked down the hallway at work, every muscle in my body screaming their torturous "whys!" at me, I stepped into the bathroom, glanced in the mirror and said to myself, "oh yeah, this working out is really making a difference!" That simple glance relayed to my muscles -"this is why we do this!" I felt happy and light and proud of myself.

Now, in all reality, I have truly only upped my attendance and pace at the gym for the past three days. Therefore, my body most likely does not look any different in the mirror than it did just last week - when I was too busy to make it into the gym more than two days that entire week. Yet last week, when I looked in the mirror at this exact same body, all I could see where my flaws and flab. I felt down, discouraged and upset with myself.

That's when it hit me. How working out can change your attitude. How just taking steps to better yourself will make you feel better about yourself. Not only will you feel better, but, you will be able to actually physically see the "better" you in the mirror. Even if that better you is the same you from just three short days ago.

Change your life, change your attitude! 

I get it now. Making the effort to do helps me see that I am worth that effort and in short makes me feel better about me, no matter where I am at in the game. My attitude when I am not working out, eating right, and taking care of myself is that I am not the best me that I can be. However, my attitude when I am doing all of these things is that I am becoming the best me that I can be!

So, which feeling do I want to have ... ?

Yeah, exactly!!!

~TigressSky~

Running Clinic - Week Five - Motivational Goal Setting

Our runs are becoming more ambitious! As well I have upped our challenges to give us a strong finish. Here is the Workout Log for week five.

THE SCALE OF DOOM!!!

I've talked a lot this week with individuals about goals, which prompted me to want to blog about it. I find, just as I use to do, people set their goals based on immeasurable and damn near unachievable ideals. One of the worst goals we all tend to set in the beginning is, "I want to weigh x-number of pounds."

First off if you are using your scale as a measurement of success you are already setting yourself up for failure. I promise you this.

A scale is ONLY a fat loss and weight maintenance TOOL. A scale should never be used as a measurable GOAL. In short, monitoring your weight is just one of many tools you can use to achieve your goals but it should not be a goal.

Why? Well, weight fluctuates on a regular basis for everyone. We celebrate a pound lost today and beat ourselves up for a pound gained tomorrow. The majority of the time this flux in weight has nothing to do with losing or gaining fat. Instead the scale increase is showing us our water retention, food intake and processing, or even just simple swollen joints caused by tension or stress in our muscles.

When you spend all your time focused on "losing weight" you miss out on all the good things you ARE accomplishing. Your weight and your scale should be looked at as tools to help you succeed, not goals you want to achieve.

WHAT IS A GOAL THEN?

I tend to ask myself this question when setting a goal: "Is this something tangible that I can be complimented on easily?" If it is not, then it really is not a goal.

When you achieve a goal it should be like a light going off! It should be something people can see easily and celebrate with you. Things like finishing your first 5k, fitting into a brand new sexy dress or cooking everyone a new tasty healthy meal.

Yes, people may see something new about you and say, "hey have you lost weight?" but it is not your actual weight shown by the scale that they are complimenting. (Heck, half the time they ask this question you may have actually gained weight!) Instead, what people are noticing is how good you look in something you are wearing or how light and happy you seem that day. These are tangible things people can see you have accomplished.


I WILL NEVER LOOK LIKE HER.

That is right you will never look like her. Nor should you want to. Looking like someone you are not should never be your goal. You are guaranteed to fail this goal no matter what. It is literally impossible for you to look like someone else.

We are horrible to ourselves. Always comparing ourselves to another, always seeing tons of flaws and beating ourselves up with a focus on "dieting" and "losing weight" to obtain an impossible ideal we have set in our head.

I do it. I look at women shorter than me, at how cute, petite and gorgeously feminine they are. I look at women who are taller than me, like my little sister for example, and I wonder why I can't be thin like her and have her beautiful flat stomach. It is here, in thoughts like these were we preset ourselves up for failure as we focus on wanting to be something that is literally impossible.

This journey should NOT focus on becoming the best somebody else we can be. It should instead focus on becoming the best YOU can be! And guess what, you don't even know who that person is that you could become because you spend so much time focused on trying to make that person you could be into someone else.

This is not about being who you want to be and who you see in the shapes of others. This is instead about discovering the you that you can be! You and I have no idea who that person is, in fact, you won't even recognize her when she gets here because you NEVER thought she would! You NEVER thought she existed! That woman/man you keep telling yourself you can't be is stopping you from discovering the woman/man you CAN BE! So stop letting them!

Seriously, when I started this journey I NEVER thought I would be smaller than a size 12. I NEVER thought I would run a mile. I NEVER thought I would wear a small sized anything! Yet the woman I became showed me that SHE is a size 8, that SHE can complete a Triathlon and that SHE can wear a size small if she damn well wants to. After meeting this new woman I am becoming I am even more excited to learn all about her and what else she can do! Seriously, the woman I am now is so excited to meet the woman I will become that I just can't help but keep letting her shine through! Yes, every now and then the woman I am wants to be Angelina Jolie, but, the woman I am becoming knows that I am becoming something more than the impossible and that anything really is possible.

I promise you, anything is possible if you just stop limiting your possibilities and instead start letting yourself shine! What's your motivation?

~TigressSky~