Another Day, Another Book Winner

It’s Friday which means I’ve drawn a winner of “Joy’s LIFE Diet” book. Congratulations, Donna! You’re the winner! Please send me an email with your address and I’ll get it out to you right away.

Thank you everyone for posting a comment to try and win. I like giving stuff away, so hopefully I’ll get the chance again real soon.

Also, a big thank you to all of you for lending such supportive advice about my website being linked on a fake weight-loss blogger’s site (or as Crabby McSlacker put it, I have “colonic cleansing cooties!”). I’m taking advantage of the free advertising (let the fakers cough up the advertising bucks!). When people click on my site from the fake site, they are greeted with a “I don’t endorse berry or colon cleansing diets...but welcome to my site…” note and hopefully they’ll be encouraged to do safe and healthy weight loss rather than a quick fix.

Speaking of winners…

As part of my resolution to try a new recipe every week, I made Spicy Peanut Slaw Wednesday night and thought I’d pass it on. I found the recipe on Bell Plantation’s website (they make my beloved PB2, powdered peanut butter) and it was contributed by Kristina Landgraf.

I’d dragged my feet for months with making this. For some reason the ingredients didn’t seem like they’d go together. But I was really in the mood for something spicy and Asian, so I figured I’d give it a try and it would be cheap to throw together. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t feel guilty throwing it away.

However…not only did I like it, my husband liked it, and I couldn’t wait to get up Thursday morning and eat the leftovers for breakfast! A heads up, though. This is best served within a few hours of making it. It was OK the next day, but a little runny.

Spicy Peanut Slaw

1 1/2 tbsp. PB2 (just the powder; don’t mix it with water)
1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger (I used ¼ tsp ground ginger from a jar)
1 chopped green onion
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sour cream (I used fat-free)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1- 2 packets Splenda (I used a packet of stevia which is about ½ tsp.)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (I used 1/8 tsp.)
3 cups shredded coleslaw/carrot mix (I used broccoli slaw)
1 tbsp. chopped peanuts

Wisk first eight ingredients together in large bowl. Add slaw, mix well, and top with peanuts. Put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving. If you like it a little sweeter, add more sweetener. More sour? Less sweetener.

Here’s the Points low-down. Making it like I did with fat-free sour cream, the entire salad is 3 Points or 1 Point divided into three servings. By omitting the chopped peanuts, the entire salad is 2 points or 0 points divided into 3 servings.

Happy Friday! See ya’ll again in a few days.

Read More

And the Winner Is… (And I Need Your Advice)

Thank you to all of you who entered a comment to win “Half-Assed: A Weigh-Loss Memoir” by Jennette Fulda. While I wish I could give all of you a copy, the winner is Stacey! Congrats, Stacey. (Note to Stacey: Please send me an email with your address so I can contact the publisher who will send you your book.)

Now go out and buy “Half-Assed” because it’s good J //word

Reminder: You have until Friday to enter a comment in my blog entry Blogcleaning: Follow-Up, Book Review/Giveaway, and Smoothies! to win Joy Bauer’s new book, “Joy’s LIFE Diet.”

-----------------------------
Now, on to my dilemma.

I was first alerted to diet scammers/fake bloggers when I read PastaQueen’s blog entry: My Four Year Fativersary and A Warning About Scammers. I had no idea so many fake sites were out there selling those stupid acai berry/colon cleanse diets. (For a comprehensive list, go to the site Jennette linked to: Weight Loss Weapons.Com: Arming You One Post at a Time.)

Now I find myself LINKED on a fake diet blog site! My original website, the one I used as a journal while losing weight, Lynn’s Journey, is listed on the fake website Helen’s Diet. I get dozens of hits a day from it, too, which has me concerned that people coming to my site from the fake site might think I endorse berry/colon diets.

I feel like I’m in a catch-22. If I post something on Lynn’s Journey about not endorsing acai berry diets or colon cleanse diets (in fact, I find them reprehensible), thus trying to defend my good name, will it encourage people to seek out such diets?

Jennette was kind enough to help me with an html script I can add to my site that will tell people who find my site via the b-word Helen that I do not endorse such diets, but I’m wondering if I need to make some kind of short announcement on the home page, too.

I don’t know what to do, folks. Any advice?

Another scam that Cranky Fitness wrote about a few weeks ago was the One Rule for a Flat Stomach scam. Read Cranky’s blog entry here so you won’t be tempted to click on that ad when you see it.

Thanks for your help!

Read More

Blogcleaning: Follow-Up, Book Review/Giveaway, and Smoothies!

First of all, a big hello and welcome to new readers and delurkers who posted comments and sent emails regarding my recent blog post A Q&A With “Half-Assed” Author Jennette Fulda. You still have until Wednesday to leave a comment to win a copy of “Half-Assed.” The book is good stuff, I promise! (For the record, I corrected the misspelling in the original blog post title. I spelled “With” as “Wtih.” Talk about half-assed…)

--------------------------------
Thanks, also, for the ideas and links about how to exercise for the greater good (see post Exercise and the “Greater Good”).

Carla suggested people who eat right and exercise serve the greater good by not costing the National Health Service (Carla’s from the UK) a fortune on obesity/sedentary-lifestyle-related illnesses. The costs are staggering. A USA Today article quoted a Centers For Disease Control statistic that reported “Americans racked up about $75 billion in weight-related medical bills in 2003.” And that was six years ago. I can only imagine what that number is now.

Carla also doesn’t own a car and walks wherever she can.

Several of you mentioned playing with children. Definitely exercise for the greater good! Not only in terms of the emotional outlet and bonding fun, but modeling active behavior for children in this age of little or no recess or gym classes is vital.

Thanks, Zentient, for the link to Keep It Simple Bike-Blended Soap. The soap is literally made by people peddling a bike. I’d work for them for free!

Pamela shared a Mother Earth News story about how Ed Begley, Jr. uses a bike to generate energy around his house, like 10 minutes of peddling for a piece of toast. The caloric trade off would mean you could add some jelly or sugar and cinnamon! There are links in this article to other pedal-energy sites as well.

-----------------------
Next, if you happen to walk past a book store any time soon, go in and find Joy Bauer’s new book, “Joy’s LIFE Diet,” and turn to page 240. I think you’ll recognize the face J. I’m one of several people who have lost more than 100 pounds through diet and exercise Joy has featured throughout the book. Most of the people have been inducted into the Today show’s “Joy Fit Club,” and while I was asked to become a “member,” we haven’t been able to find a time that works for Today or me just yet. Stay tuned. I’ll let you know if/when that happens.

(As a side, one of the women who was on Oprah with me, Mandy Tidwell, is featured on page 234. Small world. Mandy lost 232 pounds and is a hardcore fitness guru. Very inspiring.)

LIFE stands for Look Incredible, Feel Extraordinary. Joy offers sound advice on eating and exercise. Pretty standard stuff. Nothing scary. It is definitely a diet I would have followed while losing. She also includes several tasty-looking recipes (I plan on trying the stuffed Portobello mushroom caps this week).

If you’re looking for a no-nonsense plan or just a slight change of pace from what you’re already doing, pick up a copy of “Joy’s LIFE Diet.” If anything, the stories will inspire you. I mean, 232 pounds? Holy wow. And there are several people like that in the book.

Leave a comment and win a copy of Joy’s book. I’ll announce a winner on Friday.

---------------------------------
Finally, smoothie love. My husband bought me a Cuisinart Hand Blender for Christmas, and I’ve been in smoothie heaven almost every morning.

My smoothie basics are: 1 cup of frozen fruit (no sugar added), ½ cup of soy milk or Almond Breeze, ½ cup fat-free Greek yogurt, and ½ tsp stevia. Here’s the best part. No two smoothies are ever alike! Some days I use raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. Other days I throw in peaches or frozen bananas. I use vanilla soy sometimes, chocolate soy sometimes, flavored Almond Breeze, plain Almond Breeze…you have dozens of possible combinations. Once in awhile I’ll throw in a tablespoon or two of my beloved PB2 powdered peanut butter. It’s really good with the chocolate soy milk and strawberries and bananas.

Smoothies are so easy to mix up with the hand blender, too. Very little clean up and I eat the smoothie right from the mixing cup. No frills, and it’s cheap, too. Smoothies, particularly with Greek yogurt, are a great source of protein. Perfect before or after a workout.

-------------------------------
I think that’s it. Just wanted to get caught up with ya’ll. Don’t forget to leave a comment to win Joy’s new book and a comment over on the Q&A to win Jennette’s book.

Read More

A Q&A With "Half-Assed" Author Jennette Fulda

I'm very glad to be part of Jennette Fulda's viritual book tour. Jennette is the author of "Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir" and she blogs at Pasta Queen.

"Half-Assed" chronicles Jennette's weight issues and subsequent loss - more than 200 pounds - with a combination of humor and thoughtful, sometimes stark, insight. I said, "Aha! Yes! That's exactly how it feels!" many times over while reading it.

In our Q&A, Jennette and I focus on what happens after the loss, after the book, in the ominous world of maintenance.

We'd like your insights, too. If you're still losing weight, what are your expectations of maintenance? If you're maintaining, what has been your biggest surprise about the realities of maintenance? By leaving a comment, you'll be entered to win a free copy of "Half-Assed" (US and Canadian readers only...sorry about that). I'll draw a random winner on Wednesday, Jan. 28.

If you haven't read "Half-Assed" (and you don't win the free copy), you can pick up a copy online at Amazon or other book stores.

(Personal note to Jennette: Thanks for writing your book and for all the insight you've given me this last year through your blog and your guest post at Refuse to Regain. You're one smart and funny chick! )

OK, enough of the warm fuzzies...on to the Q&A.

------------------

Lynn: While losing weight and posting your weight on your blog, you wrote that "…public failure was not an option." Do you take the same approach with maintenance?

Jennette: After posting my weight online for several years I decided I needed to move that number back into the private section of my life because it was starting to drive me crazy. During maintenance, small fluctuations in weight are normal. Some weeks I'm up a couple pounds, other weeks I'm down a couple pounds. Yet, I felt like I had to justify every small gain and loss to my readers with excuses like, "It's my period this week!" It was getting silly, so I decided to stop my public weigh-ins, but I still weigh myself privately every day. I post enough photos on my blog that it's obvious if I've gained or lost weight. I've been pretty open about the fact that I've put on 25 pounds after a period of depression in the fall of 2008.

Lynn: How is maintenance different/same as weight loss?

Jennette: It's the same because you have to keep doing everything you did to lose weight, but it's different because you don't get the reward of seeing the number on the scale go down or the joy of fitting into a smaller size of jeans. If anything, you sometimes go up on the scale or your pants start to feel tighter.

It's also important to keep things interesting. Anything gets boring if you do it too much, so I try to preserve that sense of enthusiasm I had for healthy living that I did at the beginning. If I let myself get into a rut, I have to remember to try new activities or foods that will keep life interesting. For example, I recently I signed up for a race up 37 floors of a skyscraper as a new way to challenge myself.

Lynn: You've experienced chronic pain this last year that has taken you down a completely different emotional and physical path than weight loss. You've regained a few of those lost pounds. How have you recovered from the gain, both emotionally and physically?

Jennette: The weight gain I experienced was a physical manifestation of my emotional problems, so the first thing I had to do was deal with my depression. I got some anti-depressants, made efforts to be social and not to isolate myself, and kept a regular sleep schedule. All these things helped lift me up. I'm also still pursuing treatment for my headache, which helps my spirits because at least I'm doing something about my pain even if I haven't found a cure. Doing all these things lessened my desire to overeat because I reduced my triggers.

These days, I'm simply focused on maintaining my weight, which I've done for several months. One of my doctors emphasized that regular exercise helps alleviate pain slightly, so I'm trying to take his advice even if I don't always feel like working out when my head hurts. I need to focus my energy on my medical problem and my job. Eventually I hope to focus on weight loss again, but there are other things that need my attention right now and I can only split my focus so much.

Lynn: Do you find wisdom in your own wisdom? Do you go back and reread sections of your book or blog?

Jennette: I have not reread the blog or book recently, but I did read the blog 3 times while writing the book. I also read the book so many times while writing, revising and editing it that I think I could recite it from memory. People frequently email me and tell me how inspirational and motivating they find my story. That more than anything reminds me that I've done this before and can do it again.

Lynn: I loved the imagery of you and your body in "couples counseling," and also that in maintenance, you're on "permanent probation." Are you and your body still working out issues, and are you friends with your probation officer?

Jennette: The first few years were the happy, giddy dating years. Now we've settled into the more comfortable, couple's period of our relationship where I have to work harder to keep things interesting. However, I'm not looking for any divorce lawyers yet :)

Lynn: Another quote I like and would like you to expound on in light of maintenance/gain/chronic pain: "I've heard it said that people need to love themselves no matter what, but I think you have to earn your own love through the things you do for yourself. I had to shape myself into someone worth loving, someone worthy of my own respect."

Jennette: Yeah, it's important to treat yourself well. It's sad how some people will say awful things about themselves that they would never say to anyone else or how they'll treat themselves more poorly than they'd treat others. I still try to treat myself well and I think I'm a lovable person :)

Lynn: At the end of your book you were Jennette 2.0. What upgrade number are you at now?

Jennette: Oh, I think we're still at Jennette 2.0, but I'm working on a patch to fix some recently discovered operating system errors :)

Lynn: Do you still feel "proud and powerful?"

Jennette: Yeah, I do. I'm a believer that your weight is not the ultimate determiner of your self-esteem. So no matter how that fluctuates, I still feel pretty proud of what I've accomplished and believe I have the power to do whatever I want in life if I work hard enough for it.

Read More

Think Happy Thoughts

A wise blogger wrote to me after reading my recent entry at Refuse To Regain. She said: “Don't be so hard on yourself. Nobody's perfect. And let me tell you something I've learned along the way. Nobody wants to listen to someone complain about how fat they are or how fat they feel. It gets old real quick. I learned this the hard way. Find something else to complain about...like the weather.”

She’s right. I HAVE been a whiney ass lately. I suspected this was true even before I got her email, but I didn’t really acknowledge it until today when I was on my way home from the gas station and I listened to myself yell to no one as I drove down the street.

I was mad because a selfish/ignorant/belligerent/assholeofacollegestudent pulled up to the gas pump I was OBVIOUSLY waiting for. When he swerved his beater around me and up to the pump, his girlfriend turned around and laughed at me from the passenger seat (I think she pointed, too, the little b-word). I thought about the scene from “Fried Green Tomatoes” when Kathy Bates smashed into that chick’s VW Beatle after the little b-word stole her parking spot. I fantasized the boy and his girlfriend looking on in horror as I squealed in delight while I rammed his pathetic little car with my Jeep, and when I was done, repeating Bates’ infamous phrase: “Face it girls, I’m older and have more insurance.”

But the gas station was packed, there were too many witnesses, and the police station was just down the street. Not to mention I might have blown the place up, gas being explosive and all.

What’s at the heart of my rants and complaints and negative self-loathing is sometimes easy to identify. Other times…like now? Not so easy. But since losing weight and changing my attitude and and blah blah, blah, I’ve learned I have to sit down with myself and dig into the feelings rather than ignore them. Ignoring them only causes food to go in my mouth. Well, after the yelling in the car, that is.

When I got home, I started figuring it all out by thinking of something happy, namely Claire, which led me to remembering one of the songs my daughter sings to her when Claire’s sad. It’s from the show Yo Gabba Gabba (which you have to be a toddler to appreciate) and it’s called “Think Happy Thoughts.” I’ve watched Cassie sing this to Claire several times, and by the time Cassie gets to the chorus – “Think happy thoughts, happy thoughts / That’s what you gotta do. / Think happy thoughts, happy thoughts / and a smile’ll come back to you” – Claire’s tears have dried and she’s back to her happy self again.

So I’m thinking maybe it’s not always about figuring out WHY I feel the way I do. Maybe I just need to deal with the feeling, acknowledge it, and find a way to move on that doesn’t cause me to repeat the hurtful/angry/self-abusing behavior. Maybe I just need to think happy thoughts sometimes to get over the rough spot instead of shoving food in my mouth or whatever it is that satisfies me for two minutes.

My happy thoughts today of Claire led me to a satisfying emotional place. I no longer want to pummel that kid’s car. I’m not calling myself “fat” or any other name. I’m not “all there and together” necessarily, but I can feel what I feel in the moment without further self-degradation. And I’m not bitching about how fat I am or feel. That’s useless. Makes no sense.

Sure, the things that are bothering me and worrying me are still present, but there’s no need to take it out on myself or others. Life’s just like that sometimes. Hormones, bad moods, worries and complaints. That’s just the way life is. You gotta take it all in stride and think happy thoughts sometimes.

Read More

Exercise and the "Greater Good"

As I watched my husband shovel the snow that was supposed to measure 1-3 inches when we woke up but magically turned into 8-10 overnight, like evil fairy dust, I thought about something PastaQueen wrote last month. In her blog entry, “Going to the gym is ridiculous,” she said: “I think it odd that our culture has developed to a point where we now have to set aside a block of time every day to do something our bodies were meant to do everyday anyway.”

Wouldn’t it be awesome if all the energy we spent exercising could go to some greater good beyond just sculpted calves and lower cholesterol? I’m just an English major, but surely some scientist could find a way to hook up those treadmills, stair steppers, ellipticals, bikes, and rowing machines to generate electricity, right? Think of it, especially with all the newbies joining gyms in January. In just a few weeks we could probably generate enough electricity to keep New York City in lights for months! We’d be more than simply mice on wheels.

I just came in from feeding birds. Their feeders were covered in snow and I felt guilty sitting here eating a smoothie while they pecked away at the empty containers hoping to dislodge just one, sad little sunflower or thistle seed. So I put on my “snow” pants (the size-larger stretch pants that go over the real pants), pulled on my boots, wrapped a scarf, zipped up the liner jacket, then the outer jacket, and put on a hat and gloves. For 15 fifteen minutes I plodded through knee-deep snow, then went back in the house, stripped back down to normal clothes, and sat in my office and watched several dozen happy birds eat lunch.

Fifteen minutes on the elliptical doesn’t give me that kind of warm fuzzy.

I know the economy is in the tank and he’s got more important things to think about then how to generate energy from crazyass gym folks, but maybe Barack Obama could ask his new energy secretary, Steven Chu, to find a few minutes to ponder it. He’s a physicist. Isn’t that what physicists do? Think all day about movement?

Call me Buck Rogers I guess. All this snow is making me a little punchy. But it’s also making me think outside the box of gym equipment. We’re supposed to keep exercise interesting and fun or it gets boring and we quit, right? So what kinds of things do you do or would like to do that incorporate exercise and the greater good, beyond your own physical health?

I’ll think about it, too, and let you know what I come up with. Besides feeding birds and shoveling my next-door neighbors walk, I’m at a loss. I look forward to your thoughts.

Read More

New Year, New Moves

I think what I did to my thighs today is illegal in 20 states. Seriously. I’m only five hours out of my workout and my thighs are giving me the whole, “Are you freaking KIDDING me?” routine.

I’m pretty protective of my lower body because of all the arthritis and whatnot. I want to hang on to what knee and toe joints I have left for a few more years before becoming the Bionic Woman. So mostly I’ve done just cardio to strengthen my calves, hamstrings, glutes, etc.

However, a few months ago, I bought a used stepper. You know the ones they use in step aerobic classes? And I started using it to do calf raises. I hold a dumbbell in my hand and slowly do one leg at a time. I started at 8 pounds, 12 reps/2 sets and am now on 10 pounds, 15 reps/3 sets. I love the groove I’ve developed in my inner calf. It’s there somewhere under all these layers of clothes!

Then last week when my biceps tendonitis flared up in my right arm, I had to lay off the heavy upper body weights and modify my workout. In the back of my mind I thought maybe I would try a little lower body stuff to fill in for what I was going to lose for awhile in upper body exercise, but I wasn’t sure what to try.

I took care of the upper body first. I found some shoulder rehab exercises on YouTube and dug out one of my favorite strength training books, Strength Training for Women by Joan Pagano. I picked some modified upper body moves that will help get me back in lifting action pretty quickly – three shoulder, two biceps, one chest, and two triceps lifts. I miss the barbell, but it’s all for the greater good, I keep telling myself.

Nosing further through the book, I checked out the lower body section just for kicks. The knee extensions, ball bridge and inner-thigh lift looked like things I could do. Hmmm….. Flipping through the pages, out dropped a short article I’d torn out of a magazine months ago on how to “reduce my saddlebags.” (Question: Does anyone outside the desert southwest, South Dakota and Montana even know what saddlebags are anymore?) Anyway, using the book and the “saddlebag-reduction” leg rotation, I developed a 3 set routine. I bought ankle weights at WalMart and tried it all out this morning.

Sixty minutes. That’s how long it took me to get through my revamped rehab, and upper and lower body circuit. That was in addition to the the cardio warm-up and the abs workout afterwards, which also included a new move – side twists with a 5-pound weighted ball. I’m pretty sure my obliques will be bitching at me tomorrow, too.

Just when you think you’re in shape, another muscle comes around and yells, “Hey!! Guess what? I’m part of your body, too!!”

Ugh.

It’s a good pain, though. The kind that says, “Good job. You’ll appreciate this come tank-top weather.” For now, though, I’ll muscle through and keep stretching. I love stretching. Feels. Soooo. Good.

How do you mess…I mean MIX…things up? I’m always looking for knee-, shoulder-, toe-friendly moves. Got anything compelling I have to try?

Read More