food, fitness and related
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
I’m struggling with my fitness program again. I’m doing it but I’m not loving it.
My new obsession, however, is my online food diary. And by obsession, I mean since yesterday morning. We’ll see if it lasts until Friday. I signed up at FitDay after seeing this article about how keeping a food diary aids weight loss.
I love having all the calorie calculations made for me, although FitDay seems to be telling me I have to give up half and half in my coffee which makes me :(. Maybe I should keep the half and half and give up the oatmeal cookies instead.
Then I started looking at the information on activities. An hour and fifteen minutes of hatha yoga burns just 211 calories? Dang. I need to step it up. Today is a DVD day. I’m suited up, I have the garage a/c cooling the room, now all that’s left is the showing up part.
For inspiration, I enjoy checking in on this blog, by a woman who lost 100 pounds and is still going. She’s a good, thoughtful writer and she looks great.
Speaking of yoga …
I hate it when my Tuesday night yoga teacher tells us to do a series at our own pace—especially when it’s the bow (we don’t include the tongue) to locust series.
Both poses are difficult and unfun for me. Usually, the first time through them, Marilyn tells us when to change poses and when to relax. But then she has us do them again at our own pace, telling us that when our bodies tire, we should rest.
Such a predicament! These poses make me tired almost immediately. I want to do each one for about two seconds and rest. But I am both too competitive and too determined for that and so I hold them as long as I can. But since my body doesn’t enjoy the poses (or is it my mind? These mind-body practices get me confused) it tells me to rest long before I think it truly needs rest and my mind and body end up in a power struggle.
When I finally give up and let myself down, I can’t resist sneaking a peek at my classmates to see who has out-locusted me. There’s always at least one. Damn.
I’ll never be a yogi. No, not because I can't keep up, but because I care that I can't. So un-Zen.
My new obsession, however, is my online food diary. And by obsession, I mean since yesterday morning. We’ll see if it lasts until Friday. I signed up at FitDay after seeing this article about how keeping a food diary aids weight loss.
I love having all the calorie calculations made for me, although FitDay seems to be telling me I have to give up half and half in my coffee which makes me :(. Maybe I should keep the half and half and give up the oatmeal cookies instead.
Then I started looking at the information on activities. An hour and fifteen minutes of hatha yoga burns just 211 calories? Dang. I need to step it up. Today is a DVD day. I’m suited up, I have the garage a/c cooling the room, now all that’s left is the showing up part.
For inspiration, I enjoy checking in on this blog, by a woman who lost 100 pounds and is still going. She’s a good, thoughtful writer and she looks great.
Speaking of yoga …
I hate it when my Tuesday night yoga teacher tells us to do a series at our own pace—especially when it’s the bow (we don’t include the tongue) to locust series.
Both poses are difficult and unfun for me. Usually, the first time through them, Marilyn tells us when to change poses and when to relax. But then she has us do them again at our own pace, telling us that when our bodies tire, we should rest.
Such a predicament! These poses make me tired almost immediately. I want to do each one for about two seconds and rest. But I am both too competitive and too determined for that and so I hold them as long as I can. But since my body doesn’t enjoy the poses (or is it my mind? These mind-body practices get me confused) it tells me to rest long before I think it truly needs rest and my mind and body end up in a power struggle.
When I finally give up and let myself down, I can’t resist sneaking a peek at my classmates to see who has out-locusted me. There’s always at least one. Damn.
I’ll never be a yogi. No, not because I can't keep up, but because I care that I can't. So un-Zen.
Labels: dieting, fitness, yoga
putting the fast in breakfast
Thursday, April 3, 2008
“You eat like a truck driver,” a friend commented amiably over dinner the other night.
He’s right, too. Not so much in terms of quantity—although I can pack it away given the opportunity—but speed.
“You just put your head down and when you looked up, the plate was clean,” another friend once said.
It’s true and I’m not proud of it. I particularly hate when waiters take my plate away as soon as I’m done, making my shame more obvious.
So I’ve been trying this whole mindful eating thing. I caught the TLC show I Can Make You Thin the other day. It's mostly a lot of repackaged razzmatazz about something that’s been around a while. My friend Jean Fain, who does psychotherapy and hypnosis, has been teaching it to her clients for a long time. She make videos and CDs, too. See, here’s someone eating a Twinkie mindfully.
Hm. If it had been me, that Twinkie would never have known what hit it.
I’m trying, really. When I remember, I put my fork down between bites. I’ve tried to chew my food 20 times like the I Can Make You Thin guy recommends but that’s really kind of disgusting. I become aware of the chewed food in my mouth. (Hm, might that be the point? Some sort of aversion therapy?) And a peanut butter and banana sandwich cannot withstand 20 chews.
But my biggest struggle with the whole deal is that you’re not supposed to do anything else while you’re eating. Conversation, maybe, but no TV or reading or working. I tried this and realized that while I like food, eating is boring. I usually eat lunch (such as it is) at my desk. The other day, I sat at the kitchen table and tried to eat mindfully. Just me, alone, in the quiet, chewing. Whee.
I need to find a compromise between cramming lunch down my gullet as quickly as possible and sitting silently chewing for 30 minutes. Don’t know what that is yet.
Next I’ll try Jean’s hypnosis video. Can’t hurt, might help. Wish I had a Twinkie.
He’s right, too. Not so much in terms of quantity—although I can pack it away given the opportunity—but speed.
“You just put your head down and when you looked up, the plate was clean,” another friend once said.
It’s true and I’m not proud of it. I particularly hate when waiters take my plate away as soon as I’m done, making my shame more obvious.
So I’ve been trying this whole mindful eating thing. I caught the TLC show I Can Make You Thin the other day. It's mostly a lot of repackaged razzmatazz about something that’s been around a while. My friend Jean Fain, who does psychotherapy and hypnosis, has been teaching it to her clients for a long time. She make videos and CDs, too. See, here’s someone eating a Twinkie mindfully.
Hm. If it had been me, that Twinkie would never have known what hit it.
I’m trying, really. When I remember, I put my fork down between bites. I’ve tried to chew my food 20 times like the I Can Make You Thin guy recommends but that’s really kind of disgusting. I become aware of the chewed food in my mouth. (Hm, might that be the point? Some sort of aversion therapy?) And a peanut butter and banana sandwich cannot withstand 20 chews.
But my biggest struggle with the whole deal is that you’re not supposed to do anything else while you’re eating. Conversation, maybe, but no TV or reading or working. I tried this and realized that while I like food, eating is boring. I usually eat lunch (such as it is) at my desk. The other day, I sat at the kitchen table and tried to eat mindfully. Just me, alone, in the quiet, chewing. Whee.
I need to find a compromise between cramming lunch down my gullet as quickly as possible and sitting silently chewing for 30 minutes. Don’t know what that is yet.
Next I’ll try Jean’s hypnosis video. Can’t hurt, might help. Wish I had a Twinkie.
Labels: dieting, eating, hypnosis, personal growth, Twinkies
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