The shape of things

I don't know about you, but ever since November 1 I've been dreaming of fried turkey. Mmm. And dressing. And sweet potatoes. And gravy.

You get the point. Thanksgiving is coming up soon (a little less than two weeks) and I've got a great idea for you. In order to enjoy your thanksgiving meal and not completely derail your healthy-eating-living lifestyle, sign up for your local turkey trot.

A turkey trot is typically held the morning of Thanksgiving. Most trots are a 5K (which is 3.1 miles) and seem pretty family-friendly. Visit active.com to see if your area is having a turkey trot. Can't find it there? See if your local running club or running shoe store has information about a trot.

Now I know you may think it's a little last minute - and perhaps it is - but if you're fairly new to running, I'd still suggest signing up for a trot. It's a perfect time to do it and if not now, when? Right? There are training programs (like couch to 5k) but most of the plans last 6-9 weeks. Which is obviously too long for this race.

But, if you've been doing some running (even if it's run/walking), a 3 mile course is a great place to get a taste of what races are all about. You don't have to run the whole thing. In fact, you could do your run/walk workouts on the course. The only thing is, chances are you'll push yourself a bit harder than you do on your workouts. And you may completely surprise yourself!

Take a family member or friend along with you. It's a great way to start the Thanksgiving day and it will make you feel a lot less guilty when you dig into that pumpkin pie!

This is a little bit health and fitness related - and a lot New Orleans related. If you didn't know this, I grew up in the New Orleans area and have lots of family there. This story I read today in the Times Picayune touched my heart.

Chris Rose, a columinust for TP, wrote a column today about a young man who was one of the many Katrina "transplants" that after many cities and months of moving found himself in NYC after the storm. Although he enjoyed New York, he said he always knew he'd go back home to New Orleans.

So this year, on August 29 - the Katrina anniversary - he started a bike ride from New York City to New Orleans. He logged more than 2,000 miles and made it home safely to New Orleans on October 11 (times square to Jackson Square).

Pearce Grieshaber rode his bike and made many stops along the way charging his cell phone and GPS at fast food restaurants, and meeting many people on his journey. He slept in a hammock and anywhere else that people welcomed him in.

He also raised money for the Musicians Clinic along the way by setting up a blog and encouraging people that he met to donate in his honor. He said he figured he could help people along the way - even though he's not even a musician. Now that he's back in New Orleans he no longer is working at restaurants but is training to become a New Orleans firefighter. You can read the column here. Or you can check out his blog here.

This story is encouraging on so many levels. On a local level it is encouraging to hear stories of people who aren't ready to give up on New Orleans and who will leave their lives that have started over since Katrina to come back home and help out. It's encouraging on a health level because this young man could have bought a plane ticket for $150 and been back home in 2 hours but instead decided that his journey home would be a physical and probably spiritual ride home.

"There are times when I question my decision to leave New York. I had a great life there. One that I would be happy to go back to. But my heart is a compass whose needle points South and it is there that I shall go . . . I know what it means to miss New Orleans." - Pearce Grieshaber

Use Pearce's story to encourage yourself to dream big and make goals. Maybe a cross country bike journey isn't in the cards for you - but maybe you've always wanted to sign up with the Leukemia Team in Training to train for a marathon and raise money for Leukemia research - or maybe you've always wanted to take an adventure trip to the Canadian Rockies - maybe you've always wanted to train and compete in a triathlon.... Whatever your goals and dreams use Pearce's story to help you consider how your dreams could help others. Whether it's raising money or just awareness for a worthy cause.

How many of you have either heard this statement or said this statement in reference to a thin and fit woman: "but she was born thin."

I read through some comments on Fit Sugar's blog about Sarah Jessica Parker's "weight loss tactics" and the majority of the commenters reiterated the fact that SJP "was born thin."

This has to be one of my biggest pet peeves.

Don't get me wrong. I know that people are born with a certain bone structure and overall body type. And I also know that the enviornment you grow up in plays a huge role in your eating and exercising habits you develop later in life.

With that being said, I want to make something clear - just because you're born with it, doesn't mean you won't ever have to work for it.

There are a very small group of people in the world who actually have the problem of losing too much weight and have to eat tons of calories and protein to gain weight so that their bodies can function normally. Personally I've only known one person like this - and let's just say I've known quite a few people in my life so far.

Everyone elses bodies work this way - the calories (energy) going in a body has to be less than or equal to the calories (energy) going out or you will gain pounds. It's simple.

Case and point: I am one of those "lucky" people to be born in a "small" family. My dad is short and thin and so is my mother. I also grew up in a household that encouraged playing sports and being active outside rather than watching tv all day.

All through high school I weighed under 100 pounds (I'm about 5'1 or 5'2). I never watched what I ate - but I wasn't stuffing myself with junk all the time either - I played sports about 4 times a week so I had about 6-8 hours of exercise a week (intense exercise). Being thin back then was never something I worked on, but it was a product of my genetics, a youthful metabolism, my exercise, and the foods available to me.

When I started college I stopped playing sports and my only exercise was walking around campus and the occasional (once a week maybe) pick up soccer game. I turned to cafeteria and fast food since I lived in a dorm and when I moved out of the dorm I continued relying on fast food and takeout. So - despite my genetics - I gained weight. In fact, the beginning of my junior year I was around 130. (30 pounds in less than 3 years).

I brushed off the quick weight gain as a normal by product of "growing up" and the "natural" slowing of my metabolism. I went up in pant sizes without really thinking about the fact that I was gaining weight - I thought I was just getting older.

It wasn't until I started watching what I ate and started exercising regularly again that I shed those pounds that I had so quickly gained. See - calories in has to be less than or equal to calories out.

Moral of the story? Pretty much every person who is thin (and over 18) has to work to stay thin - whether it's watching what they eat, staying active, or just living a generally healthy lifestyle.

If you get discouraged that you weren't "born with it" just know that those who were, still have to work for it too. It isn't easy for anyone - BUT, once it becomes a lifestle it is easy for most. Make sure the things you are doing to stay healthy (maybe eating more fruits and veggies, getting into a dependable and enjoyable exercise routine, etc.) are things you can continue doing for the rest of your life without being miserable.

So the next time you find yourself making yet another excuse why you can't get to your target weight or you can't get toned in a certain area - remember that it's something we all work at. You're not alone.

I saw a picture of myself today from Fall 2004. We went on a weekend trip to the beach and the picture was of me in a bikini - belly and all. With 25-30 extra pounds, I definitely didn't look great.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the moment that I don't realize how far I've come in this healthy lifestyle. I'm not sure if you do the same thing - but sometimes I get so hard on myself for maybe gaining 2-3 pounds or eating too much on the weekend or missing a workout - that I completely forget the progress I've made these past three years.

Don't get me wrong - if I got into the habit of excusing gained pounds and missed workouts, chances are it won't be long until I get back to looking like the photo from 2004.

But what I'm trying to say is that we need to be less critical of ourselves, give ourselves shout-outs and praises when we deserve them, and not to be too harsh when we mess up. It's really a balance thing - love yourself, love how far you've come and where you want to go, and go easy when you mess up.

If you do one thing today - steer clear of self-judgment. 

If you catch yourself snarling at your arms in the mirror, or grunting when you look at the scale - stop, step back and appreciate the results of your hard work.

I've mentioned before about how my one main "trouble spot" all my life has been my belly. Growing up I always had a pooch, and when I started gaining weight in college the pooch turned to a pot belly. I was always very self-concious about this part of my body and never - ever - ever liked wearing bikinis or anything showing my midsection.

When I started losing weight I lost weight everywhere else first and then in my belly (boobs, thighs, arms then belly!). And when I was at my target healthy weight I still wasn't too satisfied about the look of my abs. The top part was flat-ish but the lower part was still flab-ish. I did so many crunches and core workouts. And I always mixed them up trying new moves and doing more reps or adding resistance. I still felt like not much was happening.

Then, I made the decision to take Pilates.

Read about my first class here. I wasn't sold after the first class. I liked it, I liked how my abs were "engaged" and working the whole time, I just wasn't sure if there would be any benefit from it since my previous core workouts actually included a lot of pilates moves (not to my knowledge at that time) and hadn't produced the results I craved. 

So that was June 22. And it's now been almost 3 months and I have to say - dang my abs look good!!

I've been taking the class 2-3 times a week. Somehow the mix of the moves, the way we work the core, the way I am more aware of engaging my transverse abs all day - all these things have done wonders for my abs. I feel more confident about them, I stand up straighter, and most importantly I can see in the mirror that they are truly flatter.

If you've been on the fence about taking Pilates - take it from me and every other starlet who swears by pilates - try it out. Give it a couple months and then make your decision.  I hope you have similar results as I did and I also hope that it will open up your mind to different ways to work our bodies. 

I love setting goals for myself. It's a great way to get me motivated and moving. Whether it be signing up for a 10K or deciding that I want to be able lift a certain amount of weight - I always need a goal or two to get me going.

So when I saw an article in the new Shape Magazine about "being the girl who can do pull ups" I was immediately hooked. My husband pokes fun at me because I lift weights 2-3 times a week and yet I still can't pull myself up while hanging on a bar. Of course he doesn't take into account the fact that it's a lot harder for women to do a pull up - but enough with excuses!

I tried to find the article on Shape's website, but they haven't posted it so I'll share it with you here:

1. Do seated lat pull down exercises - load 20-30 pounds and sit at the machine and pull down the bar. For form tips read this article. Keep adding more weight so that by the last two reps (out of 10) you can barely do another one.

2. Standing Lat Pull Down - Attach handles to a high cable machine, holding handles with palms facing forward. Bend your elbow, pulling handles down towards your shoulders. return to start position; repeat. When you can lift half your weight, advance to the next move.

3. Assisted Pull Up - set the weight on an assisted pull up machine to half your weight. When you can lift 80% of your weight, try number 4. Watch a good video on form and how to use these machines. (disregard the cheesy dude) hehe.

4. Pull-up  - Grasp a pull up bar with hands wider than shoulders and palms facing away you. Bend elbows, pulling chest toward the bar. Lower to start position and repeat. Do 2 or 3 sets of 2-5 reps.

You did it! Go Girl!!

I'm a sucker for good advertising - I admit it. Having two degrees in Mass Communication has definitely taught me to be a better consumer and media critic, but when an advertising dept. does a good job, it does not go unnoticed in my book.

That's why I've consistently loved Nike's advertising to women athletes. I could name numerour Nike Ads targeted at young women - The Mia Hamm/Michael Jordan Anything You can do I can do better - The Maria Sharapova I feel Pretty Ad (and the list could go on).

So when I read an article today in New York Times about a new commercial that puts women back on the pedastal and in front of a HUGE megaphone (figuratively and literally) I was thrilled. The article includes a clip of the ad and it's pretty neat. They have all the gals there (Gabrielle Reece and Mia Hamm to name a few) and they yell in to the megaphone what it means to be female and to be athlete.

Some of the female athletes are interviewed by the NY Times reporter and the consensus seems to be that women's sports is slowly falling off the radar and that less and less young girls are getting involved. That's a sad story.  

Perhaps I'm turning to this topic too often, but it saddens me that the same fervor and excitement that surrounded women's sports when I was growing up is being overshadowed today by Lindsay Lohan's rehab stint.

Perhaps with the summer olympics coming up in 2008, women's sports will get its much-needed attention. But on a much smaller level all of us can do our part to make sure we encourage and nurture young female athletes. If you have a talent in a sport, go coach a youth-league team, if you're not talented or don't have that time - then encourage your kids and your friends/family kids to get involved in youth sports and go out there and cheer them on!

This may sound really cheesy, but one of the main reasons I never smoked (EVER) is because when I was young I found this poster of all the gals on the gold-medal U.S. women's soccer team and it said something to the effect that you can't play soccer and smoke. So basically you need to choose. I chose soccer. 

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days. Apparently my busy weeks at work and slow health news weeks coincide. Which, is a good thing I suppose.

I read this article today on Runners World and it was so inspirational that I really wanted to share it with all of you. This woman talks about how she runs but she's not "training" for a race or a marathon - and how this confuses people. So she often gets asked "When's your next fall marathon"

She then shares this great story about what running (just for the sake of running) means to her:

"We are supposed to deal with our own stuff, tidy up our own lives and our own hearts.  We are supposed to work at our fitness in all capacities (spiritual, mental, emotional, physical), and not simply because it is an end in itself, but because we are in a constant state of being made ready.  If we are fit, in every sense of that word, then when someone we love needs us, we can make a difference for them.  In this manner and for this reason, we work hard to be stronger, fitter, faster, more agile.  Fitness has a purpose far beyond vanity, beyond even good health, when a person is trained to think of it in these terms."

Read the rest of it, it's worth it. It will change your attitude about working out and being physically fit. 

I was reading this post at FitSugar about SJP's toned arms and was SHOCKED at the reader response. Most of them said that she looked manly and "too muscular." I didn't respond - for fear of going off on a rant that just wasn't appropriate in the comments section. But I'd like to address it here. It goes hand in hand with my recent post about our body image role models. At what point did strength and femininity stop going together?

I put together this collage (for your viewing pleasure) for what I think is beautiful in a woman. You'll notice muscular arms, backs and legs all of which are beautiful - if not just for the fact that they show the strength of these women. Women need to stop thinking that we should all look like toothpicks. God gave us muscles and He gave us bodies that are capable of being physically fit. I'm tired of women shying away from strength training because they fear "bulking up." You will not look like the Governor of California from free weights, but you will look strong, healthy and confident.

A few months ago I was talking with a friend about role models in the media - specifically body image role models. We were reminiscing about how when we were in our early teens the women we looked up to and wanted to look like and act like were strong, physically fit women athletes. Both of us played sports, so maybe we were in the minority, but I have a feeling we were not.

In 1996 the summer Olympics were held in Atlanta, Georgia. I was 13 that summer and remember being especially interested in the women athletes - go team USA, right? When I was that age I saw women like Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Kerri Strug, and Lindsay Davenport and I wanted to grow up to be just like them. I realized that I wouldn't necessarily be a gold-medal winning soccer player, but I wanted that body, the attitude, the lifestyle.

What a great set of women to look up to, right?

 

I feel like today, girls who are 13 look up to the wrong women as a body-image role model. They think that Jessica Alba is "curvy" and that Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have beautiful bodies. It makes me sick. They see crazy women like Britney and Lindsay Lohan going to rehab, leaving rehab, going to jail, snorting coke...

Maybe because I played sports I didn't pay attention to the celebrities in 1996 who were doing all those above things (eating disorders, prison, cocaine) or maybe most young girls were like me and wanted to be a strong and confident woman.  

It's time that we encourage young girls to aspire to be fit, healthy, athletic and strong. We need to show them (we as their mothers, aunts, teachers, mentors, or friends) that the number on the scale doesn't matter and that strength and confidence will get you somewhere wonderful in life. Whether that's on the Olympic Podium, or just not in rehab - doesn't really matter - what matters is that their role models be like my role models when I was 13. 

Thank you to all those women and the many other who had the courage to compete, to win and to inspire.