FlyLady's Body Clutter Blog
June 3, 2006
Our book Body Clutter is a book that can help you learn
to Love YOURSELF! It is not a diet book! It is a book that works with
any type of program you may be on. It can help you control your
diabetes or gain weight for cancer treatment. It is all about
understanding the clutter in your head so you can release it!
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 31, 2006
I have been examining my Body Clutter Investigators for
the last month. What I have noticed is that when I do not drink my 64
ounces of water each day that I gain a little. Over a month that shows
up as a two pound gain.
This is why I have decided that our habit for the month of June is
going to be drinking our water.
I have found little tricks to help me remember to do this.
I start my day with a bottle of water in my bathroom. Then I have a
timer set to remind me to drink water every 30 minutes. My timers go
off all the time. I have even set up alarms on my telephone to remind
me to drink water at the top of every hour. By the end of the day I
should have gotten in my 64 ounces.
This month I am going to practice this more and not allow my brat to
sabatoge me. This summer is almost upon us. We had better drink up to
keep ourselves hydrated.
May 30, 2006
We come in all shapes and sizes. The Body Clutter in our
heads seems to beat us up at the same rate. When we quiet those voices
we can accomplish anything we set our minds to do!
The Body Clutter between our ears is what keeps us bogged down.
I want those of you(like me) who have their very own backpack on all day long to keep in mind; we are stonger than we think we are. We can move even if it just for 15 minutes! You are going to be so surprised at how good you feel as you get stronger and the Body Clutter begins to fall away.
Start today! Go Download your Body Clutter Investigator.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 29, 2006
Dear Friends,
I want you all to feel the peace that I have and this
peace came from establishing routines, getting rid of my clutter and
facing my Body Clutter.
Go download a copy of our Body Clutter Investigator to help you get
started facing your Body Clutter.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
I am so thankful for my Body Clutter Investigator. Even though I have
not overeaten this holiday weekend I have eaten different food and
that number on my scale showed that this morning. It was 242. Looking
at my investigator it tells me what I did this weekend was a holiday
and I can celebrate and not beat myself up. It was up 4 pounds from
last Friday.
Today I am determined to drink my water, move and celebrate that it
was a wonderful holiday with neighbors, friends and family! Time to
stay focused on eating to live and not living to eat.
We can do this! I can do this! Together we support each other and
celebrate even when that number is not what we would like it to be. It
is a tool to help us narrow our focus to what is working and what is
not helping us. I love it! I look foward to my morning number! That
number helps me to frame up my day!
May 25, 2006
Dear Friends,
If you are dealing with diabetes the Body Clutter
Investigator can help you control your sugar.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 28, 2006
May 28, 2006
All we have to do is make up our minds and the rest is
easy! It is getting past the Body Clutter that is in our heads that
keep us from feeling good about what we have done!
May 23, 2006
I have been so proud of all of you who have sent me your number (scale
reading)! Keep telling yourself that it is just a number; a tool to
help you address your Body Clutter! You can do this! Telling me that
number is a courageous first step!
Don't beat yourself up! The number is what it is! It is JUST A NUMBER!
If you are ready to take your first step; then send me the scale
reading to FlyLady@flylady.net with NUMBER in the subject line!
Download you Body Clutter Investigator to help you chart the number
and see how you are treating your body! YOU CAN DO THIS!!! It is the
only body you have! Love it! The sub-title of our book is Love Your
Body, Love Yourself!
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 19, 2006
It took me a while to figure out why macroni and cheese was such a powerful food for me. It no longer holds me hostage.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 15, 2006
We can never give up. Just because something doesn't
work at first doesn't mean it will not work at all. Many folks have
used Leanne's Menu Mailers for four people so they can have a healthy
meal for lunch the next day, put a meal in the freezer for later or
give a neighbor a nice dinner.
I used Leanne's Low Carb Saving Dinner book to help me learn how to
eat to keep my diabetes under control and to lose weight. Body Clutter
Menu Mailer was developed to guide me through my day eating healthy
snacks and meals.
May 15, 2006
Moving is more than aerobic activity. It is stretching,
weight lifting, walking and aerobic movement.
When you download your Body Clutter Investigator you will see that we
have little circles to fill in for these types of movement.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 13, 2006
You deserve to be happy! You deserve to feel good and
YOU DESERVE TO BE LOVED AND IT STARTS WITH LOVING YOURSELF!
Don't allow the abuse to continue. You just have to start where you
are and don't fall victim again to your internal abuse.
We have a chapter in Body Clutter about this! Please Please Please
open up your heart and Finally Love Yourself; one babysteps at a time!
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
Download your free copy of the Body Clutter Investigator and begin to
recognize these feelings.
May 10, 2006
Those voices we hear in our heads came from someplace!
Was it out of your mother's mouth or your fathers's mouth. For me it
was my grandmother who is obsessed with weight. She weighs all of 80
pounds now.
Were you given mixed messages like some folks. Clean your plate and
your backside is getting a little bigger don't you think? Maybe one
parent was saying one thing and the other parent just the opposite.
What is a kid to do?
We have gotten emails from these children who are grown up now that
explained what happened to them. I have cried many hours over these
testimonials. We can stop those voices in our heads that beat us up on
a daily basis. We have to replace them with loving kind voices that
come from you!
This is why we wrote Body Clutter! It is not a diet book! It is a book
that will help you address these issues with food, movement and
additudes. It will help any diet book or program be successful. It is
all a process of taking babysteps to love yourself.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 10, 2006
I am so proud of her. What dreams do you have hidden
away by your clutter? You will surprise yourself when the clutter is
gone and you can see clearly!
Finding joy in everything I do is what has helped me to become who I
am. Don't short change yourself by not following your dreams. Get rid
of your clutter and find your hidden dreams?
You know what they are! Tell me your dreams! As Rita Davenport taugh
me, "What good are low hopes?" and Ryan Shupe taught me to Dream Big.
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think of become an author or
mentor to hundreds of thousands of people.
With their help I Dream Big NOW! The sky is the limit as long as I am
FLYing!!!
May 10, 2006
When Leanne and I wrote Body Clutter we used all of
these tips to help us release our Body Clutter. BabySteps can make a
huge difference in the way you feel.
Go download your FREE Copy of the Body Clutter Investigator to use.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
It is not too late to make your commitment to a more healthy life.
While you are on the Body Clutter page download your Body Clutter
Release Contract. Sign it and display it proudly! Jump in where you
are! The journey starts with your first BabyStep!
http://www.flylady.net/images/bc_release.pdf
May 8, 2006
Have you been moving for 15 minutes each day and
practicing your new habit? Have you been using your Body Clutter
Investigator to help you track your daily scale reading along with
your loving movement and food?
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 3, 2006
Those silent screams are usually accompanied by purple
puddles. Keep in mind that we are not our dress size and I will wear
what ever size feels best on me. I will never forget going into a
dressing room and trying on clothes and not feeling "put out" with
myself. In fact for years I would not try on clothes at all. I would
get too uspet.
Now it can be fun. It is like a little treasure hunt trying to find
what looks nice and feels great. I call it my million bucks feeling!
Do you have things you wear that do not make you feel good? It is time
to get rid of them.
This is all in our book Body Clutter. Start with it today by
downloading your FREE Body Clutter Investigator. See what weighing
every day can do for you! One babystep at a time is going to change
your life!
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
May 2, 2006
Dear Friends,
It looks like the midnight editor has been working over time all
around the world. We are not alone anymore.
When I started to get my home in order, I always knew Pam and Peggy's
way would work for me. I had seen lots of self-help books, I had even
bought several, but I had only read theirs. You know how we buy them,
then they sit in a pile and make us feel guilty.
Well my ventures into weight lose land have been even more involved
than all of those get organized now and get rich quick schemes we
have all fallen victim to. I will just start by naming them in order
that I tried them beginning in 1974.
1. Water pills(fainted)
2. Diet pills(got really fussy)
3. The Cabbage soup diet. I think it was Dolly Parton's Recipe (got
sick of it)
4. Started jogging(badgered into this by X dh; my shins hurt badly)
5. Special dehydrated food and a membership(bought all the food and
never went back)
6. Read the book Overcoming Overeating(made sense)
7. Overeaters Anonymous (1 meeting) Made a lot of sense!
8. Took aerobatics class (It was a college course; I am acrobatically
challenged)
9. Weight Watchers (several times; go once and never go back)
10. Joined a gym.( yes I went once)
11. Bought video work out tapes. (never played them)
12. Bought a video for Tai Chi. (Watched once)
13. Bought several books on Tai Chi. (Never opened them)
14. Bought a Richard Simmons Video (Did it 5 times)
15. Read the book The Weigh Down Diet(gave several away)
16. Weigh Down Diet Program (Went 3 times)
17. Read a book Thin Within (Made a lot more sense)
18. Bought a book about reducing Carb intake.(Don't even know the
name; gave it away)
19. Bought a tread mill. (the only thing I have ever stuck with
because of my writing)
20. Actually reading now a book about eating for your blood type.
(Interesting idea)
Do you see a pattern here? I like to call it the magic pill syndrome.
We buy it and think it is going to be the quick fix to our battle of
the bulge. Then we never do it again. WHY?
All I can figure out is that any and all of these different ways will
work if you use them in combination or alone. If you don't they
won't. I guess my own SHEness has gotten in the way once again.
Or it could be my rebellious spirit! More of that clutter I need to
get rid of from a bad marriage. No one was going to make me feel bad
again. I loved me just the way I am. So there! Here is the hard part.
I really do love me! If I hadn't let go of all that guilt and self
loathing I would have continued to gain weight. Or could it just be
the person that filled my head with ugliness was no longer in my life
and that lack of stress caused me to quit gaining weight. I don't
know and it really doesn't matter does it!
I have been FLYing for 7 years now. It took me nine months to get rid
of the clutter in our home. The clutter went away with the help of a
27 Fling Boogie, a Hot Spot Fire Drill and 5-Minute Room rescues. All
the while my timer was keeping me focused! In our all or nothing
thinking we would love to crisis clean our thighs and not wait for
the slow and steady process of changing our lifestyles. Let's be real
here. Our clutter in our home didn't happen in a week, or a month or
even a year. It is a collection from whole lives.
Our bodies are like our homes. In fact the body is the temple of our
being. If we would be just as careful about what we put in our bodies
as we are about what we bring into our homes then that would be an
amazing attitude shift for us. Someone once told me, "You are what
you eat and if you eat fat you will be fat" for some reason that has
always stuck with me; Not that I paid attention to it. I am going to
become more particular about what I put in my body/temple. It is the
only one I have and it is worth taking care of. I have taught you
how to declutter your home by looking at each item and asking
yourself some tough questions.
Do I love you?
Do you make me smile?
Do I have a place for you?
These questions can also be asked when you are about to purchase a
new item for your home. A lot of times you will stop in your tracks
when you realize that the item really isn't something you love and
you were just settling because it was on sale.
How can we use this same approach to the food we put in our mouth. If
we ask ourselves "Do I love you?" to chocolate or chips we will say,
Why Of Course! Gobble Gobble and they will be gone. "Do you make me
smile?" Well yes sir with every single bite. "Do I have a place for
you?" Yes I do, right in my tummy! But the truth is where will it
really go; On your thighs or your franny.
Let's look at some more questions we can ask the food as we take a
bite.
Are you going to bless my body?
Do you fit into my healthy way of eating?
Is your taste worthy enough to go into my body?
Why do I want to eat you?
With the first question; Are you going to bless my body? We are
looking for good nutrition; vitamins, minerals, fiber.
Do you fit into my healthy way of eating? This one is a simple yes or
no.
Is your taste worthy enough to go into my body? This is just like
going to a yard sale and buying anything just because it is a
quarter. If something has no taste why would you want to put it in
your body. Hey I am telling you this, because in the past I have
pigged out on rice cakes. Why? And that is our next question?
Why do I want to eat you? Am I really hungry or just need a drink of
water. Am I angry and wanting to eat to stuff my feelings. Am I
lonely and feeling sorry for myself or am I just tired and really
need to go to bed. Is this mindless eating? HALT and think about it
for a second. That is all I am going to ask myself.
Leanne has taught us to plan our meals and use balanced nutrition to
do this. We are so blessed to have her help us with this. There is
balance in all things; from TV watching to eating! We have to find
what fits ourselves. Just like you adapt your routines to fit your
family, we all have to find our balance. I do know that this is not
rocket science; it is really just plain common sense, but we have to
think just a little before we bite. Hey, think before we bite. I love
it.
If finding this healthy balance is what you are looking for then join
us on our journey to peace. I will not be counting calories, weighing
my food, or stepping on a scale. Ok maybe I am still rebelling again,
but hey, I am going to do this my way: Increase my activity levels
and reduce my intake. Just like I decluttered our home: I quit
bringing it home by getting picky about what I bought and vigorously
got rid of what I didn't love! The key is vigorously! I can move my
franny just a little more each day on my treadmill: Morning and
evening! Kind of like a hot spot fire drill! Three times a week I can
do a 27 Fling Boogie; that could be working in my garden, digging and
planting, going for a longer walk with my sweetie, just lifting a
few weights, or digging out one of my workout tapes. My 5 minute room
rescue could be just getting up every 15-minutes and doing something
instead of setting at my computer for hours. This will keep the blood
circulating in my legs.
I would like to thank everyone for all their support and suggestions.
We are going to take those babysteps to a slow and steady new way of
living. We did it with our homes, our finances and now we can do this
with the body we have been blessed with. Oh and we will not have a
pound meter up to collected those weigh-in pounds each week, but we
are going to do something even more positive. Our goal is 11,000,000
minutes of moving in May. Each time you get off your franny and move
in May, you can go enter your minutes. Now make those doctor's
appointments and calls to get permission to boogie to a new way of
living!
We can do this!
FlyLady
P.S. I never thought I was credible enough to address the Body
Clutter issue. I knew that the majority of my FlyBabies were in the
same shape I was. After the midnight editor showed me that I can do
this because we are all in this together. I now realize that in
order to keep me on track with this, that I will have to practice
what I preach! This will help me to stay focused because I am not
only helping myself, but you too! I have my sails up and will go
where those God Breezes take me! Now I am in purple puddles again.
This essay was written two years ago. It was my first step in taking control of my Body Clutter and one of the first essay's that helped to set the tone for our book Body Clutter.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
April 30, 2006
Dear Friends,
It is time to stop the abuse. We have a chapter in our
book Body Clutter that deals with this type of abuse. Please quit
punishing yourself!
Download your free copy of the Body Clutter Investigator to help you
keep up with your loving movement.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
April 26, 2006
I am at Fort Bragg this week. We are eating out every
meal and sitting in wonderful meetings every day. I can't wait to
share with you the wonderful messages we have received today. They
have been God Breezes to my friend Alice and me.
I have set a reminder on my phone to buzz every hour to remind me to
drink water and to have a snack. This is working well for me. One of
the things that is so hard on me when I travel is keeping up with my
six meals a day. I am doing well this week. I do not have a scale with
me though. So I will have to weigh when I get home on Friday.
Today I have eaten good food, remembered my water and my nuts. I am
very proud of myself!
April 23, 2006
Dear Friends,
We can't beat ourselves up. No one ever gave us an
instruction manual on how to be a parent. We did the best we could!
Our parents did the best they could. I am thankful for who I am and
how I turned out! Without all the bad things that had ever happened to
me; I would not be me! I would not have learned from my mistakes and
grown. It is OK that I didn't figure out what I wanted to be when I
grew up till I was 43 years old. It wasn't until I got rid of the
clutter that I could see the light! Clutter was blocking my path to you!
The clutter that hurts us most is that clutter in our heads. It is our
perfectionism. If we can release that clutter along with those
negative words we hear in our heads we can find our paths in life.
Leanne, Kelly and I feel that our book Body Clutter can help you let
go of the clutter that is between your ears.
April 23, 2006
When we take care of our bodies by putting good food
into it great things can happen. Our book Body Clutter is about taking
care of ourselves.
Leanne has helped me to learn how to eat to live, not live to eat with
her Saving Dinner the Low Carb way. Her Body Clutter Menu Mailer
contains breakfast, lunch and dinner.
http://savingdinner.com/
We have all Leanne's Books in our FlyShop.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop.asp
Here is a link to our Body Clutter Section on our website.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/body_clutter_main.asp
April 20, 2006
Dear Friends,
I have been using my Body Clutter Investigator for a week. Yesterday I
decided (on Anti-Procrastination Day) to look at the last week and see
exactly what happened.
The result for this past week was I gained eight ounces. Now I am not
beating myself up, I pulled out my BC Investigators and began to go
over them like the CSI people on TV.
Here is what I realized.
1. Chinese food--- soy sauce causes me to retain water.
2. Fried fish is not a good choice for me.
3. I have not been moving my franny this week.
4. I have been taking my supplements and medication.
5. I have not been drinking my water.
6. and it is that time of the month!
In the end I had only made a couple of non-healthy choices this past
week and the eight ounces of weight gain is because I have not been
drinking my water! Drinking my water would have purged the salt from
my body and decreased that bloaty feeling.
I will be carrying my water bottle with me this week and moving. This
is all about see what is working and what is not working. I am feeling
great and I am not coughing as much. Taking my supplements is
something that I just hate to do. I gag when I take those pills. So
each time I swallow them I tell myself I love myself by doing this.
Come Join us on our journey to discover what is working! We are
celebrating. I can be thankful that it was not a 5 pound gain and only
8 ounces. There is a silver lining!
Go download your own Body Clutter Investigator.
http://flylady.net/images/bc_investigator.pdf
This is fun!
FlyLady
|
Leanne's Body Clutter Blog
May 18, 2006
Dear Friends,
My Oprah Magazine came yesterday and I about fell out of my chair. In
her column, What I Know For Sure, Oprah is talking about how when you
nurture your body, it reciprocates.
Yes, Ms. Winfrey, THAT is something that we all know for sure! We've
been Moving in May and I (like Oprah and her mashed potato
epiphanyÑyou can only guess what that's about if you haven't read it)
have been necessarily getting basic principles relearned and having
some pretty astounding a ha moments. Or as Homer Simpson would say,
"d-oh!"
As a matter of fact, FlyLady and I just talked about this same topic
two weekends ago in Chattanooga when we told the ladies about our
book, Body Clutter. We shared with the ladies at the conference how
our journeys were different and yet the results were the sameÑwe'd
both lost equal amounts of body clutter. However, it was time to get
back on task. As we had both discovered, the process of losing Body
Clutter is an ON GOING oneÉnot a destination. We had to get back to
the basics.
Like dealing with dessert for example. You know how FlyLady orders
dessert (she's shared that with you before), takes ONE bite and that's
it? Well, like Oprah and the mashed potatoes, the one bite rule flew
out the window when we were in Chattanooga and the next thing you
knew; we were practically splitting a dessert! Multiple that by a few
nights of going out to dinner and suddenly your jeans start talking to
you (as in giving you a massive wedgie) and the scale is less than
friendly when reporting your morning weight.
When we set out to do something that's new to us, it's very rare that
we ever have the foresight and/or skill set to accomplish it without
looking outside ourselves for help. This is how we get the education
we need to make informed decisions on what to do. This is also how we
develop skills we may not have had previously.
But there is something we bring to the tableÑwe either have it or we
have a lack of it. And that is discipline. The D word. There's a word
we all love to hate. Discipline is one of those things we all bristle
against, and yet it is one very necessary component to dealing with
our body clutter whether it's having only one bite of dessert (and
definitely not having dessert every night either!) or moving for just
15 minutes at a time. The requirement is discipline.
There is another thing we either have or don't have. That one is
consistency. You've experienced how well consistency works
alreadyÑconsistency is what got your house cleaned up. Babysteps
becoming routines, performed a couple of times daily, have turned your
house from a castle of CHAOS to a palace of peace. Remember this: it
was discipline that got you to execute your routines on a daily basis
(consistently) that got you to the place where you now celebrate your
home rather than dread it. Even if you're not "there" yet with your
house, if you're doing these things, you're benefiting from the
process already.
Oh, and by the way, lest you think FlyLady and I have lost our way in
regard to dessert. We have a new way of handling special occasions
that warrant desserts when we go out to dinner. We take our forks,
clink them together (as if to "toast" this special occasion) take our
bites and throw the forks on the floor! We do fish the forks out from
under the tableÑwe don't leave them for the wait staff to retrieve.
Kelly mentioned we could put salt and pepper on the dessert and deal
with it that way, but the whole idea of clinking forks, eating the
bite and throwing the fork on the floor is more fun and will (I'm
sure) become a beloved ritual and tradition between the two of us.
Our dessert ritual is a great example of discipline and consistency.
The discipline of the one bite rule will help us keep desserts in our
lives; the consistency of doing it will prevent the body clutter from
creeping back.
Keep these two qualities in mind as you're dealing with your body
clutter. The food you eat (or don't eat) and the movement you make (or
don't make), all rely on those two things.
Love,
Leanne
May 9, 2006
For the entire month of May, I've wanted to write this essay because I
believe this is something that might be holding a lot of FlyBabies
back. I'm talking about sugar addiction and how we derail our good
intentions to eat better because of our socially acceptable addiction:
we're sugar junkies.
It's easy to brush this one off. It's not nearly as unacceptable as
alcoholism or drug addiction. Its addictive traits are pictured
beautifully in magazines, on television commercials and on the
wrappers of the food itself: great big luscious looking cinnamon buns
with melting icing dripping down the sides. Glossy chocolate bars
waiting for us to sink our teeth into their brown riches. It's
overpowering and intoxicating!
But we have to understand this: sugar is most likely at the very heart
and soul of our body clutter. No matter what form it takes, whether it
be in the simple carb form of white rice or white flour, or something
more obvious like ice cream, pie and chocolate, it has the same
deleterious effect on our bodies: it makes us feel good for awhile,
but then it tears us down to the ground--just like an addict when she
needs another fix.
I'm here to tell you it's time to get real and call food a drug when
it acts like one and that is exactly what sugar is doing. A Princeton
study found that fast food and sweets can be nearly as addictive as
heroin because they set off hormonal changes in the body. They believe
that eating a lot of foods that are high in fat and sugar can activate
your brain the same way drugs can.
That's scary! But it doesn't have to be that way! You can make some
simple changes that will set you free from this bondage. And once
again, it starts with babysteps.
Here is a simple list of babysteps to help you get on track:
1) Eat good quality protein sources with each meal. We talked about
mini-meals before. Making sure you have protein will help stabilize
your blood sugar. Stable blood sugar means you will feel better and
are less likely to develop the cravings that pull you down.
2) Make an easy exchange. White flour, white sugar and white rice do
nothing for you nutritionally. Nothing! Change them out for whole
wheat flour, xylitol (see xylitol.org for info) and brown rice. Easy
substitutes and you will notice a dramatic difference in how you feel.
If it is difficult to completely change, start mixing the white with
the brown and making the change gradually.
3) Supplements may help. Specifically, vitamin C, a B-complex, calcium
with magnesium and chromium picolinate. Please understand: this is
information I have gathered: I am not diagnosing nor prescribing
anything to anyone! Please don't email me asking me how to use these
supplements or which ones to get.
4) Move! We've been talking about this all month long. When you move,
you produce endorphins. Endorphins make you happy and this will in
turn also help to quell the desire and craving of sugar. (although you
crash later on sugar; you don't when you move).
Above all, stay balanced when you eat! You need protein, complex
carbohydrates (not the simple ones!), fats and water. My menus are
designed to be very balanced and will help you get your nutritional
self together for dinner. Go to the website and find the menu that
works for you, www.savingdinner.com
You are your own expert. I've said that for years starting in my first
book. Don't get sucked down by nutritional gurus with yet another
diet, gizmo or gadget to sell you. You need balanced eating, a healthy
does of common sense, a desire to babystep your way to freedom from
body clutter and an attitude to match your FLYing altitude! It's
amazing what we can accomplish together.
To quote FlyLady: are you ready to FLY?
Love, Leanne
May 1, 2006
Dear Friends,
We're moving in May and plan on logging in 11 million minutes of
moving. I just know we're going to make that goal. And I also know
that movement is going to help move some of the body clutter we've
been lugging around. So will making a few changes in our eating
habits.
But back to the tips. These little tips are so easy to implement and
easy to do, there's no reason why you couldn't implement at least one
today. :-)
My favorite is the liquid calorie tip. I read that you can save
yourself over 30 pounds a year if you just give up your soda a day
habit. But in a magazine I was reading recently, it said that if you
gave up two sodas a day and your glass of juice (the whole fruit is
better for you anyway) you will lose 44 pounds in ONE year. That's
the kind of baby step I like! Obviously, if you replace the juice and
sodas with lemon meringue pie and Snickers bars, the deal is off.
Here's a great shape up tip that I read on the Internet. Exercise
during commercials. Get down on the floor and do a few sit ups (the
safe kind--don't do the old-fashioned ones!) or some push ups or
dance in place for the duration of the commercial break. It's amazing
what you can accomplish with baby steps! Our own FlyLady does
something similar when she writes her Morning Musing on the
treadmill. Let's call our exercise time during commercials when we're
watching TV or a movie, our Moving Musing! We can do this!
And here's another good one. If you mindlessly graze on chips and
pretzels and the like, replace them with some dill pickles. You'll
get the crunch and the salt without having to deal with the clutter
that comes from overeating the other stuff. As a matter of fact, if
you eat 32 pickles in one sitting, you'll only ingest 160 calories
(not that you'll want to eat 32 pickles anytime soon, but you get
what I mean).
Lastly, if you do want to eat chips or pretzels or something else
like that, understand that they don't have to be completely off
limits. But be aware of portion control and set some rules for
yourself. Don't allow yourself to eat out of a big bag of anything
anymore. Somehow, we all have this notion that little bit of grazing
doesn't count--until it shows up on our backsides and makes our pants
hard to put on. Put your chips into a small, zipper topped bag--a
serving size and be content with that. Otherwise, just buy individual
servings that you'd throw in the kids' lunches. They may cost more,
but at least you won't be paying for it personally--if you catch my
drift.
May is here and I'm ready to go! If you need some help getting your dinner menu together, I've got a free menu for you on my website with good healthy recipes AND an itemized shopping list to go with it.
Leanne
April 26, 2006
Dear Friends,
Buddy Hackett once said, "My mother's menu consisted of two choices.
Take it or leave it."
That's what my mother's menu consisted of, too. We had the choice of
eating the dinner she prepared or leaving the table hungry. If we
didn't like what she prepared, we weren't allowed to make ourselves a
PB & J. If we snuck a banana or anything else for that matter, we were
in big trouble. Why? Was my mother abusive and mean? Was my family
dysfunctional because the children weren't allowed to call the shots
on what was for dinner? Am I in therapy now because I was made to eat
my vegetables?
Nope. My family had issues like any other family, but it was pretty
"normal". I've noticed however, that what was fashionable in the
childrearing of yesterday is now considered barbaric and obsolete.
Today, we are told, that if we "make" our children eat what's in front
of them will develop eating disorders. Not giving children "choices"
will harm their self esteem, so say the "professionals".
The very words "eating disorder" sends us into a tailspin.
Consequently, after years of permissive parenting at the dinner table,
we suddenly realize our children may have never eaten an honest
portion of veggies in their entire young lives. In our perfectionism
(and boy, parenting is the place where we wear our maternal stripes
with pride!) we have been more concerned about our children's psyches
than teaching them an important life skillÑeating nutritiously.
Because we want to be better parents than our own parents, we want our
children to have "perfect" childhoods with no conflict whatsoever. We
buy all of that, don't we? And, to use a food analogy, the proof is
the puddingÑjust take a look at the kids.
Childhood obesity is at epidemic proportions. According to the
International Obesity Task Force, there are about 22 million children
in the world, UNDER 5 that are overweight or obese! In another study,
the Canadian Medical Association reported that obesity among young
boys ages 7 to 13 years old, TRIPLED between 1981 and 1996.
That's just the children. What about the adults? In the United States,
7 out of 10 adults are overweight or obese (according to the Centers
of Disease Control)! The problem of obesity or what we like to call
Body Clutter, is a FAMILY problem. And we, the parents have a huge
responsibility to teach our children how to be healthy (by eating
right and exercising) and we do that primarily by example. You can't
preach healthy living if you're not doing it yourself.
I don't pretend for a minute to hold all the answers to this and other
child rearing dilemmas. Like you, I struggle with my decisions as a
parent. However, as a nutritionist, I have to look at the statistics
and they are absolutely mind blowing. That's how I want you to
evaluate what I'm saying--look at this from a nutritionist's point of
view.
Believe it or not the family dinner table is one place that you can
make a difference in your family health quota. By serving a healthy,
balanced meal at least once a day, you'll be making great progress.
But the problem is schedules, sports, dance classes, band practice,
churchÉdid I miss something else that has you going almost every night
of the week? We often find ourselves in the car at dinnertime
schlepping kids to yet another activity during dinner time. Or we're
driving thru for a quick bite (and feeling guilty about it) or going
out to dinner (againÑthere goes the family budget!).
How do we get back to the dinner table anyway? The first step would be
to reevaluate your family's schedule. What is the reality of your
schedule? Are you out of the house almost every night of the week? Can
any of these activities be combined and done in one night instead of
two? Can you eliminate anything?
If you're out nearly every night of the week, ask yourself these
questions honestly: how often are you eating fast food? And even if
you are eating fast food, how often are you making the healthiest
choices on those menus?
Body Clutter is a FAMILY project-- becoming healthy and fueling
yourself and your family with the right amount of quality food is a
lifestyle, not a diet. Talk to your family about foodÑhave a family
meeting. Tell them your intentions and invite them to come aboard. You
might not get the warm welcome you're hoping for when you're talking
about a healthy diet! But stay persistent, buy healthier foods and
make them for dinner (how about adding a nice green leafy salad a few
times this week for dinner? A bowl of baby carrots for the table? See
how easy this can be?). Take a family walk after dinner and leave the
TV in the OFF position. Just these little babysteps will make a huge
difference.
Remember, you can't organize clutter; you have to get rid of it. That
means body clutter, too.
Love,
Leanne
April 20, 2006
Dear Friends,
Guess what I had to learn again? Everything counts. All food, even the
little extra bites count. The ones eaten at the computer, the ones in
front of the fridge, the ones in the car. They all count and they all
add up.
The fact is math is math. 2+2=4. No matter how we break it down, it
still adds up to 4. You could change the equation to 1+1+2, but it
will still equal 4. The sum is equal to its parts.
When we're talking about food and eating, our bodies don't understand
the emotional rationalization that goes along with it. Our bodies
don't hear our search for meaning, our quest for acceptance and love.
The inner dialogue and our own civil war we have going on in the body
clutter between our ears isn't heard by our body's metabolism.
All our bodies understand is basic, elementary math. That's it. And if
we cause our calorie cups to overflow by eating too many bites, we end
up wearing the sum of those (extra) parts in our pants. And you know
what that means if there have been far too many extra bites.
I have started keeping a food journal (again) because my tendency is
to be too lenient with myself. "One bite won't hurt," I will say (and
I'll eat two). "Just this once," I will say, as I dig into my
husband's ice cream (and I am not even that fond of ice cream!).
"Candy!" I will scream, as I rifle through the kids' (teenagers!!)
Easter basketsÑwhat am I thinking??? And why do my teenagers have
Easter baskets with ALL the candy in it that I love??
Why do I do this to myself? I know better! Is it because I think it's
not a big deal? Do I think I can just fudge a little and get away with
it? I think because I exercise it doesn't count?
The cold hard truth is it ALL counts. It's basic math - you can't play
around with it and manipulate the numbers to please yourself. If you
ate 4 bites and your body needed only 3, the forth one is going to
live somewhere on your body, plain and simple.
That's my revelation for today. I am using my food journal and going
back to basics!
Love,
Leanne
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