Claire and Grammy In the Kitchen

WARNING! The following blog contains a photo of me first thing in the morning. Turn away if you’re easily offended by flannel shirts, mismatched pajamas, and bed head. The thing is, the old me would never have put such a photo out there. The new me, the one working through the “What will people think?” issue, is pretty sure no one gives a goshdarn if I wear makeup or not.

Having said that....

The first time Claire and I cooked together, she was 3 months old. I’d laid her in her mother’s sling and wrapped it around my neck and shoulder then went in the kitchen and made an omelet. Claire couldn’t help much, but still I talked to her about the foods I was chopping and cooking. She didn’t cry so I took that as a good sign.

The older Claire got, the more curious she was about what Grammy Lynn was doing in the kitchen. “Unh! Unh!” she’d say, pulling at my leg and bouncing a little with her arms in the air. In other words, “Pick me up, NOW!” When she weighed less than 20 pounds, it wasn’t too hard cooking with one arm (here we are making Christmas brunch) and she fit on my hip. But she’s at a size now where I can’t hold her and cook at the same time. When I was at her house yesterday morning, I knew as soon as she heard me digging out the fry pans, she’d be there like a shot wanting to know what I was doing and insisting she be picked up. Hmmmmm...what to do, what to do. God knows the word “No” isn’t in my vocabulary when it comes to that baby.

“Wow” is Claire’s favorite word. Everything her little 16-month-old eyes perceive as fun is “wow”: things that make noise, glitter, have pockets, flip open, snap shut…you get the picture. She purses her lips and her eyes get really big and then she draws out the word long and dramatic in her throaty little voice: “Oooooowoooowwww.” So apparently my solution to the “Claire wants to help Grammy in the kitchen” dilemma was a hit when she said, “Oooooowoooowwww” after I picked her up and set her on the kitchen counter next to me and handed her a red pepper. She sat there patiently and attentively for 15 minutes while I – I mean we – made an omelet.

As she held the red pepper (“Oooooowowww…”) she picked at the little price sticker. Big help! She held the jar of minced garlic for me (well, she shook and shook the jar of minced garlic) until she discovered that mushrooms were much more fun to touch (“Oooooowoooowwww…”). She even handed me the can of Pam when I needed it. What can I say? The kid is brilliant.

When we were done, we sat down on a stool on the other side of the counter and ate our omelet. Claire loves eggs. She isn’t crazy for Swiss cheese, but she likes spinach. I suspect she’ll continue to like spinach until some kid tells her it’s gross. Isn’t that how many of our food aversions originated?

When Cassie got back from her doctor’s appointment (g-baby #2 is due in 3 months!!), she, Claire and I went out for lunch at Bob Evan’s. Cassie ordered grilled chicken, broccoli and a baked potato and shared with Claire. She told me Claire’s never had McDonald's, something she said her coworkers find amusing and almost shocking. One of them asked her, “Well, what do you do on nights you’re rushing around and need to get dinner?” Cassie laughed and said, “I make dinner.”

It made me wonder, when did being busy become an excuse to feed kids Happy Meals? This is a legitimate question and not some kind of McDonald’s bashing because I was guilty of it back in the day, too. But I’ve since learned that making something healthy at home can be just as quick as going through the drive-through. It takes less than a minute to throw some turkey, cheese, tomato and lettuce on a wrap before running out the door; less than a minute to grab a handful of carrots and put a couple tablespoons of low-fat salad dressing in a Tupperware container to eat in the car.

I cringe when I hear people ask their children in restaurants, “Do you want broccoli or french fries?”

I’d love it if Claire never ate a french fry, but I know that’s not reality. And I’m not saying all fast food is bad or that kids should never be offered a treat. But maybe by continually exposing her to healthy foods and making cooking fun, Claire will opt more often for the broccoli or the apple or the turkey wrap.

Please don’t think me the Tyrannical Food Grammy. I’ve already got big plans for making Christmas cookies with Claire this year. But more often than not, we’ll be cooking up the healthy stuff and having a lot of “Oooooowooooowwwww” fun. Who knows? Maybe some day Claire and I will have our own cooking show.

Read More

And the "Stress Eater Diet" Book Winner Is...

...Dutch!

Thanks to everyone who posted a comment about stress eating and my review of "Stress Eater Diet."

I'm off to P'burgh for a few days to see daughter Cassie and grandbaby Claire. The sun is finally out, word has it it will be 46 degrees tomorrow...what more can a girl want? I'll be in touch!

P.S. She's such a little diva in her Hello Kitty duds, isn't she? Hollywood's Red Carpet's got nothin' on Claire's style.

Read More

Can We Just Have Some Consistency??

I couldn’t believe I had something physically in common with Marilyn Monroe until I read an article on Snopes about the “truth” behind the fact that Marilyn wore a size 16. We’re both 5’5.5” tall. And…well, that’s where the similarities end. I’ll never have a 23-inch waist, and my bra size will never be a 38D without medical intervention.

I was researching how the perception of women’s body sizes has changed over the years. I look at photographs of my mother and mother-in-law and many of their friends from the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and they’re all small waisted and petite (by today’s standards) even after having babies. Yet my mother wore a size 8/10 back then.

Now, I’m no mathematician, but I weigh more than my mother did in her smallest days, my hips are wider, my waist is larger, and I wear a size 4/6.

I know, I know. It’s called vanity sizing. But it’s really messing with folks. Many women like to quote the fact that Marilyn “wore” a size 16 when in reality, at her heaviest of 140 pounds, she would be a size 10 or maybe a 12 by today’s standards.

I own two pairs of long johns that I wear as pajamas on cold nights, which is most every night right now. Each was made by a different manufacturer. The are both size small. One pair is too big and one pair is too short and fits a little snug in the waist. I’d like to get another pair of the ones that are too big because they fit well in the length, but the company doesn’t make “extra small.” Like I’m extra small anyway!

I just want some consistency. Is that too much to ask of the clothing industry?

Take Eddie Bauer for example. My hips measure 38 inches and my waist varies between 30-31. According to EB’s size chart, my waist size puts me in a size 12 or L and my hips a size 8 or M. These seem very reasonable to me. If I were ordering from their catalog or website, I’d select a size based on these numbers, right? So how come when I go into their store and try on their clothes, I wear a 4 or 6, both in tops and bottoms?

Marilyn Monroe’s hips were 36 inches at her heaviest. 36 tiny inches. According to EB online, she’d be a size 4/6. But I’M a size 4/6 at EB! So what’s the truth? An inch measures the same now as it did 50 years ago. Inches didn’t suddenly become smaller. Have we become that vane that we need to see an S or a 6 or 8 on our clothing to feel good about ourselves, even though the truth is that we’re an M or L or 10, 12, 14 or whatever?

Personally, I just want to go online or into a store and know that my 38-inch hips ALWAYS fit into the same size across the board. Whether I’m at Ann Taylor or WalMart, my size is always my size, and that size is always dependent on the cold hard facts: my waist/hip/bust/inseam measurements.

As for who’s “fat,” Marilyn Monroe, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Drew Barrymore, Jessica Simpson…each one has been called “fat” in the press. If this is fat (that's Jessica Simpson), then hell, I want to be fat!

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

REMINDER: You have until tomorrow morning around 7 a.m. Eastern time to leave a comment on my last blog entry – “Stress Eater Diet” Review and a Giveaway – to qualify to win the “Stress Eater Diet” book. Thanks to all of you who have shared your stress stories and strategies, and a big welcome to all you new readers! Keep the comments coming!

Read More

“Stress Eater Diet” Review and a Giveaway

It’s no surprise to anyone reading this that survey after survey shows American’s stress levels have gone through the roof in recent months. Everyone, to some degree, is impacted by the financial crisis, whether it’s directly through a job loss or cut back; loss of savings through the stock market; higher prices at the grocery store; or reduced services provided by federal, state and local governments.

What worries me (OK, stresses me out) is that more people will turn to food for comfort. Stress eating is already something 50 percent of Americans report they do, and a more recent survey shows that 82 percent of people say they have eaten in response to a stressful situation.

It worries me because, as a news junkie, I’ve noticed the overweight/obesity epidemic has not only taken a back seat to the economic crisis in the media, but it’s been downright kicked out of the car along the side of the road. And now with everyone stressing out over money and jobs – and rightly so, this is a serious situation – chances are people are going to get even bigger than smaller as the financial crisis continues.

That’s why I was thrilled to read (and highly recommend) “Stress Eater Diet” by Robert Posner, MD, and Linda Hlivka.

This “diet” is normal and healthy – real food and no “cleansing” – and it places a strong emphasis on mindful eating, behavior modification, and stress-reducing techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga and exercise.

I was really glad to see the question, “Who are you losing the weight for?” asked almost right away. God knows enough of us have lost (or are are still losing) weight “for” someone else, “for” something else, like “just for me” isn’t good enough.

The “spin” to this diet (and you know every diet has a spin) is its emphasis on serotonin imbalance. The authors recommend eating foods that contain tryptophan (an amino acid essential for normal growth and metabolism). Foods include: turkey, chicken, fish, pheasant, partridge, cottage cheese, bananas, eggs, nuts, wheat germ, avocados, milk, cheese and legumes. They also want us to get out in the sun more.

Another big reason I can recommend this diet is because it encourages journaling, both food and emotions. Long-time readers, you know I’m all about journaling, even before you start to lose weight. Figuring out WHY we overeat, WHY we treat ourselves the way we do, and WHAT we eat can help us develop personal strategies for overcoming old patterns.

The book includes an Emotional Eating Worksheet which I can see would be very helpful, very “journaling-like.”

Tips for “Breaking the pattern of stress eating” include waiting 15-30 minutes before eating, keeping a diet log, changing your snacking routine pattern, making it a habit to eat only when you’re sitting at the table and not occupied by another task, putting a note such as “Why am I eating?” on the refrigerator or pantry (I like this one the best), and “As a last resort, if you cannot stop yourself from eating a particular food, limit the portion and STOP after you have eaten that portion. Do not feel as though you have ruined the day and might as well eat everything else in sight. Start fresh from that moment on.”

The book includes several other practical tips like how to reduce stress in the car, managing stress and anger, and how to “sniff” away stress. They recommend one of my favorite essential oils: frankincense. I always thought it was some ancient perfume long buried in the ruins of old Bethlehem until I found some at the place I get a massage.

The heart of the book is the actual diet. The last section deals with stress-reducing foods and outlines a four-week eating plan. It includes the best explanation I’ve read on why it’s important to “eat your colors,” and what those certain foods do in terms of health benefits.

The meal plan gets two thumbs up. There a lot of emphasis on protein, fruits and vegetables, and while the plan suggests several kinds of meat, I can see how it could be easily adjusted to accommodate those of us who choose not to eat meat.

The Stress Eater Diet authors also write a blog. I’ll be adding it to my blog roll. And while most of you probably realize if you eat when you’re stressed, the Stress Eater Diet website offers a Stress Eater Quiz (click the link). It’s also in the book.

So, who wants to win this book? Leave a comment about stress and how you deal with it. I’ll “draw” a winner on Tuesday!

Read More

This Is The Time

I bought myself some tulips today at WalMart. Just a little $5 bunch of small purple tulips that are still tightly closed. Soon they’ll open and then they’ll die, but from now until then they give me hope that, as I look out my window and see snow blowing little birds off the feeders, spring really is a month away.

More than that, they symbolize what I realized today listening to David Cook sing in my iPod at the gym. I never thought I’d find something profound in one of the corny songs written for American Idol winners since they’ve all been disappointingly bubblegum in nature (not to mention I hate any song that refers to rainbows), but there are three lines in the lyrics of “This Is The Time” that said to me this morning, “Hey, Lynn. Listen up.”

The first is the opening line: “I’ve been waiting for my dreams to turn into something I could believe in.”

I’ve been doing this for awhile now: waiting, sort of acting, but definitely being a mostly passive observer. I know dreams don’t simply get dumped in our laps. At least not usually. We have to act, often aggressively, to make them a reality. But this one dream I have…man…it’s been tough to envision as real.

While I’ve been aware of my holding back for awhile now, the song was there at the right place at the right time. I’ve not been acting to make one of my biggest dreams come true. I think about it all the time. I plan strategies for how to accomplish it. And still, I do nothing other than dabble in it.

Why do I do that? I thought as I cooled off on the bike. What’s holding me back?

Fear, said the little voice. Fear that you’re not good enough.

I thought about that for a few minutes and realized it was true. I don’t believe in myself. That’s the bottom line. I mean, I do a little, otherwise I wouldn’t have lost 170 pounds, right? Obviously a cheerleader lives inside me, albeit subconsciously. I need to resuscitate her. Give her some pompoms, a short skirt and some kicky white vinyl boots (that’s how pompom girls dressed when I was a kid) and let her give me an L! Give me a Y! Give me an N! Give me an N!

The second lyric that caught my attention was: “This is the time to be more than a name or a face in the crowd…”

My dream has nothing to do with fame and fortune. It’s more like losing weight – something I want to do for me, not anyone else. But it still wants to be done. Still wants to be accomplished.
There are nights I go to bed and vow to never write another blog. I want to simply vanish into anonymity and be nothing more than a face in the crowd. It’s safe being one of the masses. But always I wake in the morning and know that my voice, as small as it is in the billion-blog realm, needs to come out, even if I’m the only one who hears it. Well, me, my mom, my kids and Gail, who I’m pretty sure reads every one of my blogs. (Hi, Gail!)

Then there’s the third part of the lyric. I thought about it and decided it’s something I want to do: I’m “Ready to run; I’m keeping my feet on the ground; My arms open wide; My face to the sun; I’ll taste every moment; And live it out loud; I know this is the time.”

What have I got to lose? What’s life if I don’t break out and do what I really deep down want to do? And why not live it out loud? I’m gonna do it. I need to restructure some things, rework my priorities, but it will be done. The dream that is. It’s time.

I’d love it if you’d break down this song – or any other song or poem or writing that speaks to you whether it’s in an elevator, a commercial, or at the gym – and apply it to your own life. What dream do you have? Are you living it? Or are you merely thinking about it? This is your time. YOUR time. Just give it some thought.

Oh, and buy yourself some tulips. You deserve it.

Read More

Getting Skinny. Staying Skinny. How Do “They” Do It?

“How do they stay skinny?” Every time I go to Facebook, I see this ad, as well as the one for Hollywood’s secret for eliminating wrinkles *eyeroll*. The ads use headshots of Jennifer Aniston, Diane Lane, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, and every other thin female celeb you can think of. My blood boils every time I see it because I know there are people who actually believe the ad is real and end up getting duped. Desperation is like that.

I clicked on the darn thing last night to see what it was all about and gee, surprise surprise, it was an acai diet. I played along and called myself Sid who wanted to lose 10 pounds. Here’s the message I got back (oh, and keep in mind I won’t be 46 until August, thank you very much)

“Hello Sid, Based on your goals of moving from 128 lbs to 118 lbs, your height of 5'6" and the fact you are 46 years of age, you seem like the perfect candidate for one of our remaining weight loss packages with 14-day Trial period. However due to the small number of trials we have left to hand out, there’s just a few short questions we’d like to ask before having a full month’s supply (that's 60 capsules!) rushed to your door.”

I answered their questions and this was the next message:

“Great news! Sid, you qualify for one of our remaining trial packages! Not only that, but if you take AcaiBurn 2x per day and....- go for an easy 30 minute walk (or swim, or cycle) three times a week- don’t eat after 7:30pm- drink 8 glasses of water a day… you can lose weight fast and be well on your way to your weight loss goal by Mar 18, 2009!

Your BMI is within the normal range of weight for your height. Weight is not always the true indication of your fitness. The BMI represents a range of healthy weight for your height. Your Wu-Yi Tea will help you fuel your engine and get you to your goal weight without compromising your energy or good nutrition.

DIRECTIONS: As a dietary supplement, take 1 capsule of AcaiBurn 2x per day, approximately 30 to 60 minutes before your morning and afternoon meals. Consume at least six 8-oz. glasses of water per day. Read the entire label before use and follow directions. Do not exceed 2 capsules in a 24 hour period. Do not take within 3 hours of bedtime. If you begin to experience weight loss in excess of one pound per 24 hours, temporarily discontinue use.

WARNING!....The AcaiBurn system was not created for those people who only want to lose a few measly pounds. The AcaiBurn System was created to help you achieve the incredible body you have always wanted…USE WITH CAUTION!”

So there you have it. That’s what’s being advertised on Facebook and I’m sure a million other places. Just take a few pills, drink some tea, walk a little, and pray you don't lose so many bodily fluids that you lose a pound every 24 hours.

Where do you suppose these ads originate? My guess is somewhere in Asia. This doesn’t sound like the same “voice” you get in those “I am living in exile and have $5 billion dollars in my bank account…” email scams.

Call me naïve, but I don’t know how advertisers like this live with themselves. Shame on them.

But mostly I’m sadly perplexed by the number of people who actually give out their credit card numbers to these scammers. I don’t mean that as a slam on anyone. God knows I’ve made my share of financial mistakes in my life. But my heart really goes out to the desperation people feel to lose weight fast and, in most cases, so unhealthily.

I’m sure many of you (me included) have felt that “fat desperation” before. That “Oh my god just get it OFF me already!” kind of panic when it comes to weight loss. It’s easy to forget we have better choices and we have time. Time to think. Time to develop patience. Time to remember that weight loss isn’t something that’s best done quickly.

We need time for our brains to catch up to our bodies. Time to figure out what made us fat in the first place. Time to just breathe and be and start loving who we are despite the scale. Actually, just remembering to breathe and keep loving who we are is something that continues in maintenance. I’m always reminding myself to be patient.

It’s hard, though, when day in and day out we’re bombarded with ads promising fast weight loss. Promising that our lives will be perfect once we lose weight. Sadly, that’s the biggest lie ever. How do we combat it? I don’t know. I guess just one blog at a time, eh?

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

I want to give a shout out and plug to my sister Emily's best friend Carye who is an independent artist living in Portland and runs a little press called Red Bat Press. Carye designs very fun cards, calendars and blank books.

I'm particularly fond of her bunny series. I also love the birds.

If you're looking for something a little different, click here to go to her website.

Read More

Wait...What Was I Doing?

Nothing sounded appealing yesterday, so I did a half hour of strength training in silence (as silent as my house gets with three dogs). I realize I need to do this more often because I get a better workout when I concentrate on the moves rather than sing “Mas Tequila” at the top of my lungs.

Instead of music or news or a podcast, I listened to the Pink Panther neon wall clock ticking loudly on every second. I followed its cadence while lifting rather than the cadence in my head because, as I learned, 10 Lynn seconds is about 6 or 7 real seconds. Amazing the difference 3 or 4 seconds can make. Just ask my obliques. Fifteen to 20 reps, 3 sets…that’s 2-3 additional minutes per exercise. Yikes.

After the ST at home, I went to the gym and did cardio for 50 minutes. With all the thinking and music listening I do to distract me, the exercise itself becomes tertiary. I just muscle through doing the same old same old and wishing it was over. Halfway through my workout yesterday, the song “The More You Ignore Me…” by Morrissey came on. I forgot I’d added that to my playlist.

“The more you ignore me The closer I get You're wasting your time The more you ignore me The closer I get You're wasting your time”

It was like Morrissey was channeling my body. “Stop ignoring me!” it was saying. “Pay attention!”

I focused on my thighs and calves and heart rate and realized, yes, I really was being an ignorant nit. I could do better, work harder, stop wasting my time. So I cranked up the arc trainer to 50 and a 7 incline, found “Mas Tequila” on the playlist, and stepped in time to the beat (no, I didn’t sing). I paid attention to everything me. I felt every drip of sweat fall over my nose and watched them drip to the floor. I felt my feet and legs and arms and abs. For 3 minutes it was just me, my myself and I. Well, and Sammy, too, but I didn’t engage in my usual fantasy of drinking tequila in Baja and licking the salt off of…oh never mind.

Today, I rode my spiffy new recumbent bike in silence. I thought I’d go stark raving mad, but it wasn’t too bad. I learned where I need to focus, so hopefully that will become second nature with some practice.

I am easily distracted, though. My mind wanders all over the place, whether I’m exercising or writing or whatever. For instance, the first thing I wanted to do this morning was pay bills and balance the checkbook. I got up from my desk in my office to retrieve my checkbook in my purse hanging on a chair in the dining room. On my way, I remembered I wanted to plan meals for the week. I wandered into the kitchen, dug out cookbooks, figured out the plan, and then walked back to my office. I sat down and thought, Wait. I need my checkbook. Back to the dining room. On the way, I remembered I wanted to add soap and paprika to the grocery list. But before I could do that, I had to turn off the electric candles in the windows, open the shades, make some tea and pick out workout clothes. I got back to my desk and still didn’t have my checkbook.

This is a recurring issue for me. Even after yesterday’s intentional mindfulness during exercise and I was feeling so good about how well I’d done, today comes and I have to start all over again.

And that’s OK. I didn’t lose weight overnight. I can’t train my mind to pay attention overnight, either, right?

Now I’m really going to go pay bills and balance my checkbook. Really. I am.

Read More