Food for Thought
Probably one of the biggest indulgence meals in a long time – so much Franciacorta!
http://twitter.com/#!/rosso/status/84983772201754624
Links that are making me think this week:
- 5 tricks I love about vegan baking and cooking – even if you’re not vegan or vegetarian, I love the alternatives here!
- Some great tips for getting started with group exercise classes – I’ll be posting about why I love group exercise classes
- Forced to eat fast food? In the US, 22 “healthiest” fast foods – not really “healthy” but you get it. Next is to start examining the labels of those healthy foods. I’d like to see a “22 ‘Real’ food alternatives at fast food”
- A personal trainer won’t make you skinny – or why to get one, for real
- Zipongo – Groupon-like deals for healthy living – not a big fan of these types of mass-buying sites, but worth checking out for deals if you already buy these things. More about the Zipongo launch
- Does exercising on an empty stomach burn more fat? – I won’t ruin the punchline
Food For Thought
So true. Now I need to be careful not to overdo it, and make that one glass last!
http://twitter.com/#!/rosso/status/83604264567578624
Food for thought this week:
- Worth a read: the True Cost of Tomatoes (NYT)
- A good guide on How to select your first or next race at Healthy Tipping Point
- Fat Substitutes may cause more weight gain than regular ol’fat via Jezebel – Something that supports what I’ve been practicing – full fat, real foods instead of lowfat substitutes. My one exception is 0% Greek Yogurt, because the only thing on the label is: milk and cultures. No other sweeteners or additives.
- 10 diet myths “that pack on pounds”
- One of my first posts was about casual drinking while dieting, and now “Get Drunk not Fat” sorts drinks by their calorie to alcohol ratio.
Towards the high end of the scale, all those flavored drinks you probably drank in college like Smirnoff Ice, Zima, and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. A margarita? Margarita 10% alcohol 417 calories Straight tequila as the best bang for your buck? Vodka and Diet Coke is a drink I sometimes partake of. - What is emotional eating? Feeding your feelings from Web MD I think it’s pretty common for people to emotionally eat or be tempted to do so, being able to recognize the signs is something I think can help everyone!
What’s making you think this week?
Non-scale Victories and Non-food Rewards
Photo by fimb
I’ve often exercised, I’ve sometimes dieted, I’ve almost always been aware of my own weight, but this time feels different. Most notably, I’ve never had access to the amount of information I have now with the Internet and healthy living blogs.
Two concepts I’m really loving which are probably not new to everyone else are the concepts of Non-Scale Victories and Non-Food Rewards.
Non-Scale Victories
It’s easy to get seduced by the machine that first calibrates itself, then magically makes a number appear as you step onto it. You might be tempted to step on it more than once, as if the act of calibration is also flexible and therefore might produce different results. Lean forward? Lean back? Feet centered? Weigh daily? weekly?
The number on the scale can be important to your goal, but it’s not all there is.
Celebrating non-scale victories – positives and wins that have nothing to do with that number on the scale can be great reinforcements for what you’re doing, whether it’s fitting into an old dress or running your fastest mile. You are not your scale. I believe this concept came from Weight Watchers but I’m not sure.
Here are some non-scale victories:
- Fitting into an old (smaller)
- Hitting your highest free weight reps
- Your fastest mile
- Your longest run
- Your most consecutive weeks without missing a workout
- The first time doing X in Y
etc.
Non-Food Rewards
Similarly, Non-Food Rewards are important because they remove the idea of “deserving” food as a reward for exercising, sticking to your diet, etc. When you hit goals, your first thought should not be of rewarding yourself with chocolate, for example.
By all means, have the chocolate, but separate the thought process of it as a reward. Instead, focus on non-food rewards for being healthy, hitting a weight goal or even a non-scale victory.
Achieve a non-scale victory? Reward it with a non-food reward!
Some examples of non-food rewards:
- new workout clothes or other gear
- new clothes in general
- a manicure or pedicure
- a trip to the hair salon
- new nail polish
- a visit to the movies
- a new domain name (this is a purely me reward)
Are you familiar with these concepts? Any non-scale victories or non-food rewards to share?
Food for Thought
On my food blogger blog, Ms. Adventures in Italy, I discuss an epic meal I had at Alinea, Grant Achatz’s restaurant in Chicago, and one of the best restaurants in the US. A lesson came from it that applies to today – small bites and portions reward us in more ways than one – not only will we enjoy things in moderation (all foods!) but we avoid getting palate fatigue that a bigger portion would bring.
Read more about it: Dinner at Grant Achatz’s restaurant Alinea in Chicago.
http://twitter.com/#!/rosso/status/81018751507644416
- Work your core to get flat abs from Run Street – great exercises with photos to start tightening up your core
- Skinnier women earn more from Jezebel – a complement to the “taller men earn more” fact
- Prior Fat Girl, a group blog that I enjoy, lists some other sites that motivate them
- Americans steadfastly refuse to eat healthy? So says a Gallup poll
- As a complement to last week’s Dinner Plate conversation, the Harvard Business Report reminds you it’s important to maintain your mental well-being, too with the Healthy Mind Platter.
- Love sandwich fillings, but want to skip the bread? Here’s 15 ways to enjoy Lettuce wraps – love this, I am not eating a lot of bread but love the filling 🙂
- More fitness blogger conferences – it’s called Fitness Bloggers’ Conference and it’s next weekend, June 24th!
- I liked Beth’s simple tips on Finding the Motivation to get Motivated
Confessions: Failure after Success
I hit a pretty good milestone in my getting healthy efforts, and though I’m happy I’m not ready to shout it to the world. Why? Mainly because now that I’ve started losing weight, I’ve realized the losing part is actually the easy part.
Did I say that? Yep, I did.
Being someone who’s very goal-oriented, this period of pushing yourself, working towards a goal, making some sacrifices, etc. is not only attractive to me, but I like the finite feel of goals. Approach problem, set path to solve problem, reach goal. Done.
Done? Not done!
It’s the after that I’m afraid of more than I was when I was inactive and, well, fat. I think that when most people start the quest to get healthier, they’re worried about failing and not being able to really accomplish their goal. At least I was.
But now, after hitting a few milestones I set up for myself, I find myself more afraid of failure now. Failure after success? When I step back and realize how this project (that never finishes) is similar to many other projects I’ve taken on. At some point, the idea turns from something abstract into something real. It’s really going to happen, or you’re going to fail trying to make it happen.
Real when you look in the mirror. Real when you need a belt to wear those “fat” jeans. Real when you look at your food journal tracking all your choices in these months. Real sweat rolling down your face in the gym, and the smile that still crops up after you groan.
I hit a milestone that I’ve refrained from sharing with friends because I’m afraid of what the implications are – what if I can’t keep it up?
I know these are silly thoughts. Every day, every week has its own victories and failures.
And so while I hit a milestone, and I want to celebrate, I’m aware of the maintenance period that lies ahead of me, well, my entire life. So for today I won’t celebrate the loss. Maybe soon, or a week or a month after I reached that date so it feels more real.
And in the meantime I’ll set another set of goals ahead of me, beyond losing. About keeping it off. And hoping I celebrate those milestones with as much, if not more, enthusiasm as the loss.
Taking inspiration from the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans – they do True Confessions Tuesdays.
Food Blogger on a Diet 