Saturday, May 24, 2008

Summer Weight Loss Dreams

Today I finally spent 20 minutes playing on the bowflex in an attempt to get back on track with my summer weight loss exercising. All week I'd been planning to restart the Monday, Wednesday, Friday bowflex schedule AND do some sort of aerobic exercise on the other days. My good intentions were worthless.

I realized while journaling that my dreams for summer weight loss all involve me doing things I don't usually do. That's a prescription for failure. Why would an intelligent MultiPurposeWoman, like myself, set herself up to fail? That's a question worth exploring.

Super Woman Syndrome


The quick answer to, “Why do intelligent women set themselves up for failure?” is Super Woman Syndrome. The features of this pervasive and happiness-sapping syndrome include, I-can-do-anything-itis, Just-Do-It-oma, and Ms-Celebrity-did-it-osis. The cause of this all is unrealistic expectations.

I-can-do-anything-itis


You know you have I-can-do-anything-itis when you hear about some wonderful new diet or other life enhancement and immediately add it to your already overflowing “to do” list. Another sign is that you seldom, if ever, look at all your commitments. A third sign is that you seldom say, “No.” People ask you to do something and you add it to that list.

The cure for I-can-do-anything-itis? Remember and repeat as needed the inspirational quote, “I can do anything. I just can't do everything.”

Just-Do-It-oma


You know you have Just-Do-It-oma when you frequently upbraid yourself for not having “just ” finished everything on your plate”. You give yourself a hard time for only having 16 conscious hours in a day. You go to bed after a full and productive day and worry that you didn't do enough. You feel bad if you didn't accomplish something every waking moment.

The cure for Just-Do-It-oma? Just give yourself a break. Literally, stop, drop down into a comfortable seat (or bed), and do nothing for 15 minutes at least once a day. After your break (if you still feel the need to justify your existence) make a quick list of what you have completed so far for the day. To be fair you have to list everything that took up time.

Ms-Celebrity-did-it-osis


You know you suffer from this abnormal condition when you compare your progress to that of some celebrity or other person whose situation is different from yours. Can you wake up one morning and pledge to start a gluten-free, vegan, no alcohol, no caffeine diet? Sure you can. Can you stick to that diet for 21 days? Most likely not unless you have a lot of support and you took time to prep for the lifestyle change.

The cure for Ms-Celebrity-did-it-osis? Time and planning. If some celebrity touts some fabulous sounding get-some-part-of-your-life-together plan and you really think it'll revolutionize your life for the better then slow down and plan to slowly incorporate it into your life.

A multiPurposeWoman experiment – Can I follow my own advice?

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Need a wake up call? Calculate your body fat

Since Sunday, 23 March I've been weighing myself on my Tanita body fat monitor and scale. Why? Because I need a constant reminder that I have to do more to get to my ideal weight. What is my ideal weight? I have no idea. The charts and the general proclamations don't convince me. So I figure I'll know my ideal weight when I see it.

Another reason I use the body fat monitor and scale is I want/need to know as soon a possible that what I'm doing is working. Yes, I'm impatient AND I need/want immediate gratification and feedback.

Anyway, today my readings were interesting.
(1) despite making a very conscious effort to eat less for the past week and a half, I weight more than ever - 172.2
(2) my fat % is 38.0 - the lowest it's been since I started the daily weigh-in
(3) my hydration % is 43.9 - the highest since the beginning of tracking
(4) my muscle % is 101.2 - the highest

This leads me to believe that something I was doing is working. I'd better restart my bowflex and other workout activities.

I stopped for two reasons. #1 I went out of town and my already shaky habit was disrupted and #2 I was bored and unmotivated partly due to not seeing any improvement. Which is one of the reasons stated for not weighing daily.

I like the daily routine of weighing so I'll keep it up. I'll just adjust my thinking to account for the lag time between doing and seeing results. So if you need a little push get a Tanita body fat monitor and scale and calculate your body fat. I'm looking forward to watching my body fat go down as my muscle % increases. Be happier now.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Search for Food High in Iron

It's been a week since I exercised with the bowflex. How did that happen? I exercised last Wednesday and planned to work out at the hotel where I knew I'd be on Friday morning. Didn't work. Yesterday was the other scheduled bowflex day and there was really no excuse. I watched the time go by.

I have been in search of fiber and iron. I really need food high in iron right now. I'm back on the iron pills. The doctor told me it takes 3 months of the supplements to get right. The last time I only took them for a month, felt better, stopped. I didn't know about the 3 month rule then.

Anyway, in an attempt to eat fewer calories and get some fiber, which is another thing I feel I need, I made and have been eating my gluten free granola as a meal replacement of sorts.

I made a new batch since the one listed in last Wednesday's post. This second batch has more fiber due to the pumpkin and flax seeds I used in place of the sesame seeds. I also got it together to run the nutritional analysis (on both versions). I did this primarily because I'm super bloated and finally figured out I may now be getting too much fiber.

Per the analysis it seems like I may be borderline. 21 grams daily is the recommended allowance for women. The gluten-free granola has 4 grams per 1/2 cup and the almond milk has 1 so that 5 grams every time I have a bowl and I've been eating 4 bowls a day and not much else.

Plus I realized I haven't been getting all my water in so I'm going to fix that starting today. I saw a cup at Target that's a hydration meter. I almost brought it. I'm sure I will soon. The gluten-free granola doesn't make it unto the food high in iron list. No worries I've restarted drinking lemon juice with blackstrap molasses first thing in the morning.

Question of the Day: Do I have the energy to head to the basement and deal with the bowflex?

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

gluten free maple-walnut granola and exercise


I exercised first thing. Warmed up by walking fast (2.9 mph) on treadmill while listening to the Greatest Hits of Run DMC for 15 minutes. Then did the bowflex workout. Here's my default breakfast and snack. I have it with almond milk since dairy isn't my friend.I make it gluten free by using gluten free oats.)Also, I've yet to find currants so I usually add 2x the cranberries or use another dried fruit AND I change the seeds from time to time: pumpkin, flax, whatever's on hand or sounds good while I'm at the store.

This mix can be expensive - it's worth it taste wise and energy wise - it's nutrient rich and the 1/2 cup serving keeps me energized for hours. The expense comes in with the maple syrup - not that corn stuff that flavored - real maple syrup. The recipe software I'm using estimated the cost at $33 for two batches.


Maple-Walnut Granola
Makes 7 servings
perfect breakfast and snack for type A blood
source: "Eat Right for Your Type" page 127

4 cups Gluten Free Bob's Red Mill Rolled Oats
1 cup Ener G pure Rice Bran
1 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried currants
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons organic canola oil
3/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, rice bran, seeds, dried fruit, nuts, and vanilla.
Add the oil and stir evenly.

Pour in maple syrup and mix well until mixture is evenly moistened.
Mixture should be crumbly and sticky.
Spread mixture on a lightly oiled cookie tray and bake for 90 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes for even toasting until the mixture is golden brown and dry.
Cool thoroughly and store in airtight container.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

exercised as scheduled

despite not telling you about it I exercised all of my scheduled days. In fact starting yesterday I've added the much needed cardio. Doing it in small bursts. Yesterday, in addition to the bowflex workout I pulled out an old Xmas gift, the belly dance exercise video. Did that for 30 minutes. Then went out into the world to work. When I came back I pulled out another old standby, 10 minute solution fat blasting dance mix. It has five 10-minute segments and I did simple slimmer. It's a silly video and three little girls (okay, young women - my daughters age) breaking down 80's dance moves. I'll have to give an example later. Just wanted to post to say that I did.