NPR Fitness Group

[Phoebe]

That reminds me of another related topic we should deal with now, before its upon us: holiday eating. This has to be the worst possible time of year for eating well. It's difficult to exercise because we're busy and it's colder, and now every type of treat is being pushed around everywhere we go. I am lucky that I control the menu for our big holiday meals. I basically decided to eat ZERO in the category of "candy and cookies", except that I will budget some calories for sampling cookies on the one day we make Christmas cookies. I am going to plan ahead to eat RUM CAKE and just carve a couple hundred calories out of my daily plan specifically devoted to RUM CAKE. Also need to look into how many calories in wine, because there is a lot of wine-drinking at events over the next few weeks.

I'm going to have certain dishes that are made the really yummy way for OTHER people, like potatoes in the crock pot with cream cheese and butter. And then I'm going to have that pan of sweet potatoes baked with some peaches and apricots, for me and anyone else who wants the lower calorie option. There will be a lot of cut veggie matter lying around the house so that grazing can be done with lower calorie items while still feeling that you're getting snacks. Finally, I'm going to roast a bunch of veggies with garlic since that's one of my favorite things and I can load up my plate with it instead of other stuff.

By the way Martha Stewart has that cooking school show on PBS and it's so great. My kid and I watched her make a stuffed turkey breast last night and we were both just completely flabbergasted by how awesome it all was. The point is: you can easily make a fabulous stuffed turkey breast where the stuffing is mostly herbs and dried fruits and things, and you don't need to make gravy or heavy bread stuffing of the sort that goes along with a much higher calorie turkey dinner. This is one strategy for having lean meat dishes around that will seem very fancy and awesome, and prevent me from grabbing ladles full of meatballs and dark turkey meat with gravy, etc. That is a problem.

[Phoebe]

Sleep important for healthy living. Feeling it burn recently. See quote from Atlantic article that just makes me laugh.....

"...according to findings of a study released this month from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: Drivers who sleep only five or six hours in a 24-hour period are twice as likely to crash as those who got seven or more.

The finding led AAA’s director of Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research Jake Nelson to recommend on NPR:“If you have not slept seven or more hours in a given 24-hour period, you really shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car."

LOL. What if you do it every day for weeks?

[Stan]

Splitting it in half may be misleading. It might be the < 3 hours/day people driving the effects.

[Tahlvin]

I regularly only get about 6 hours of sleep/night. Less on game night.

[Kyle]

I try to get 7-8 hours.

On holiday eating: I don't know that I have much to offer because it's not as difficult for me since there's so many foods that I can't eat.

That being said, though- everyone enjoy their holidays and don't stress too much if you're off the wagon now and again-- but in January we're getting serious.

[Mrs.Darcs]

..........sleep?

[Mrs.Darcs]

Also, yes, come January my on again off again love affair with Shaun T is back on bitches

[Eliahad]

[Phoebe]

Doesn't matter if your struggle has to do with losing or gaining; the only thing is whether you're happy with where you are and feeling healthy and strong. I feel pretty strong, given my weight class advantage over most opponents my size, but that is not a positive or healthy thing! I really have been trying to cut down calories and at least maintain exercise - for a while I was increasing, and then weather and time demands caused exercise to diminish. I lost a pound and maybe two pounds, and now am exactly where I started. It is really, really frustrating to feel like you're putting major effort into something, and denying yourself things that you want and would have otherwise had, and not see any progress. Lately I have eaten salads almost every day, with minimal stuff on them (i.e. cucumber on them, big caloric whoop), and also having no effect. I am starting to wonder how it is possible that I don't GAIN more weight, or didn't gain more in the past, given that trying to lose it has no effect. I'm sure if I were in a hospital bed unable to eat, I would lose weight, so that also pisses me off, like my efforts aren't REALLY efforts at all or else damn it, they should be working! They feel like efforts. Why aren't they efforts?

[Kyle]

Okay, y'all. I'm just going to be honest here-- I'm not working very hard on this until after Christmas. My birthday is Thursday and there's a lot of food in my future. It's not that I feel like I need to eat it- but realistically y'all-- it's going to get eaten. So I'll start up again on the 26th.

[Phoebe]

I totally understand because WTF, I am working on it and eating kale salad and lentil soup for lunch and nothing good is coming of it. On the other hand, if you let yourself get a free pass all the time, you're never going to make a change. You don't have to make a BIG change and wipe out all the good stuff, you just have to do it in moderation. It's a small change. But maybe it's a change that literally means 1000 calories saved.

Think also about how EASY 1000 calories is to rack up: 50 tortilla chips with nothing on them.

[Phoebe]

Stopped looking at scale for a few weeks. Lost two pounds. Not sure why but I'll take it. My husband has dropped three waist sizes, which makes me so happy because it's healthy for him and an encouragement to me that it's possible to lose weight even on our madcap schedule and diet. But it also bums me out that i feel like my diet is better than his, and ive been doing this for 2.5 months to lose 2 lbs. Grrr.

I wonder if one reason for the weight loss is that i got a new coffee maker and have doubled my intake of liquids. Maybe im not eating quite as much due to feeling fuller?

Hey, one more thought: it's 2017 now. Does anyone else want to join us? We've got an app, which I find helps me stay on track because in the back of my mind I know I've got to pay attention to logging what I eat, and trying to exercise regularly. It's not a heavy motivation but it's just enough to give you that nudge, like, hey, fitness app is there again, I guess I should DO something! Doesn't matter if your goal is to gain or lose, or exercise more, or just do something like drink more water or make a change in habits. Carving out new habits can be difficult, so the small boost of social support and reminders is helpful.

[Pdyx]

Are any of y'all still using MyFitnessPal? I've used it on and off for years now and when I use it regularly, it really does help. I just started to use it again. Username is Pdyx. If any of y'all know my real name from FB, my email is firstname_lastname @ hotmail . com

Would love to have others on there, as that has been helpful for me in the past and I don't currently have any 'friends' on it.

[Phoebe]

I can't remember how we did this before, but we added one another to some sort of group, so now I see occasional notifications about the progress others are making.

I don't have time to get the blood test (maybe on that great free-time day when I can run off and have a whole sleep study done) yet, but apparently it is a real medical concern and not just my imagination that excessive stress and lack of sleep could interfere with weight loss. It is recommended that I forcibly chill myself out for 20 min per day. Sounds RELAXING.

[Phoebe]

Came home after crap day. Discovered sick kid will prevent going out to dinner. Immediately microwaved two potatoes and - because I'm a genius - poured spicy ranch dressing on them. Potato three is already being radiated. Is there anything i can do to stop this rapid slide into total madness?

Fitness Pal awesome, other kindred spirits on it have entered foods like "Bitter Unicorn Tears", which i plan to eat every morning for breakfast.

Update: have a beer with your ranch dressing potato. This must be at least close to what illicit drugs are like, or why would anyone take them? Upside: I'm 200% more relaxed.

[Ronster]

getting back on the pain train...

[Mrs.Darcs]

ok, help me not eat all my delicious delicious emotions


So upset over stuff at Evangeline's school all I do is stuff food in my face. I'm thinking about medifast, help me NPR You're my only hope.

[Phoebe]

I dont know what medifast is and i think everyone in your present circumstances is downright morally entitled to eat meals consisting of garlic mashed potatoes, spicy Indian potatoes, and lemony roasted Greek potatoes. However, your story made me want to punch various people in the face, so my guess is the manageable horn of this dilemma is exercise! Put on Eye of the Tiger (the real one, not that Katy Perry business), your hardest-core exercise bra, and pound some holes into your drywall. Go into the woods, find a fallen tree branch or log, and heave it around like a lumberjack! Better yet, fell some trees with your waraxe so you're prepared for backtalk from anyone at the school. Or just do some old fashioned jazzercise, i dont know - weather might not permit anything else. Exercise is so important for your mood, and you feel like eating differently afterward. If nothing else you'll feel that minor sense of satisfied accomplishment that says "I can do this!", which i find that counting calories simply does not provide.

[Ronster]

[Phoebe]

In the middle of the night it forces itself not to eat anything. It is deeply frustrated by this plan.