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By kilax, December 10, 2009 5:16 am

The December issue of Shape* has an article titled “Eat what you want and still lose weight!” with nine somewhat tired strategies to “celebrate the season without feeling deprived – and may(be) even drop 5 pounds in the process!”

Ha. Ha ha.

Tip #8, “Keep Your Focus” is about not being preoccupied when you eat. “Give your full attention to the conversation or sit down to concentrate on the food in front of you – you’ll appreciate it more.”

Makes sense, right? But then they throw this in:

Where you sit a dinner matters too. Try snagging the chair next to your brother’s cute friend: A new study published in the journal Appetitefound that women who ate in the presence of a man consumed 358 fewer calories than when they dined with a group of women. Researchers at Canada’s McGill University say women often suppress their eating in front of a person of the opposite sex.

Okay. This struck me the wrong way. It’s all fine and dandy if this study is true. BUT, the fact that the magazine is encouraging it?! I think this is something women should get away from! They should feel comfortable eating how they really want to around men. I know the magazine is just including it as a tip, but I think they were better off sticking with “keep your focus” and “be mindful of conversation.”

And, really? I am more self-conscious around some women than men!

What do you think? Do you think the study is accurate? Do you think it’s a good tip? What are your holiday tips for not going overboard with food?

Here’s a tip that wasn’t included: become a vegan so you can’t eat anything at all during the holidays! Ha ha, I am just joking around, but it IS particularily bad at the office holiday potluck. Almost every dish has meat in it. I bring my own food from home for the parties.

Note: After I wrote this, I found an article on the same topic on The Great Fitness Expermient (she pretty much came to the same conclusion as me). I was going to do a similar poll, but decided not to since there was one up there.

*What is with all of the magazine references, Kim?! This is what happens when you have two flights in one day and are stuck in the airport for awhile!

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By kilax, November 4, 2009 6:02 am

I did something I haven’t done in awhile – brought an actual book with me to read on the train! Since I bought my baby computer back in March, that is really all I have brought with me for entertainment during the hour and twenty minutes (x2) commute. I use it to check emails, and surf the internet, but mostly, just to read blogs. I try to get all of that done on the train so that when I get home I can just chill with Steven, and leave the computer off.

I feel bad though! I have so many books at home (loaned to me), and here I am, choosing to read blogs during my commuting time, instead of books (to my credit, I try to read books at home, right now, it’s Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life). Blogs and books both keep me engaged and entertained, but is one better for me than the other? Hmm…

Anyway, that is not what I came here to write about today (on my commute, on my baby computer). Last week, I read on many blogs (ha) about the new book from Jonathan Safran Foer – Eating Animals. A small excerpt from the amazon description says, “Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting.” Check out the amazon site for a full description.

A lot of bloggers were writing about Natalie Portman’s post on the Huffington Post about how reading it made her vegan (if you have an hour or so to kill, the comments on that post are pretty heated and interesting). I was somewhat intrigued with her post, but didn’t think much of it.

But mention of the book keep popping up everywhere! Someone even pointed out that three vegan books, including this one (the other two are on my wishlist, wink wink), are in the Amazon Top 100 list. And yesterday, another blogger mentioned that the author of Eating Animals was doing a tour. I excitedly clicked over and saw that he would be in Chicago on November 18th, at the library that is two blocks from my office! (Event information is here).

I love, love, loved seeing speakers when I was at Iowa State University. I went to see Obama, Michael Moore, Morgan Spurlock, and countless others. I miss doing things like that! Steven was really enthusiastic about going to the reading as well, so he picked up a copy of the book for us to read before (and hopefully get signed!). Last night, I told Steven I hope there are some debates in the audience – it will be interesting to see what people have to say about this book!

Whoops. That story ended up a bit LONG.

So the big question is, am I going to read this, or use the baby computer to read blogs? For this early morning commute, it looks like the book wins – this pos computer didn’t charge last night!

Comments (19)

By kilax, October 28, 2009 7:11 am

The interesting thing about the vegan diet is that if you let it, it can be FULL of variety. I feel like I actually eat a larger variety of food now than I did when I was a vegetarian, or even a meat-eater. This happens because you begin to look to different sources for the nutrients you need. You begin to try new things, and it develops a curiosity about food that keeps you exploring.

I have to admit though, it didn’t start out like this. I did my research, and I started a vegan diet on June 15th, but it took awhile to figure it all out. I’m still figuring it all out. In the beginning, it was really Steven who was pushing me to eat cups of spinach a day (only a slight exaggeration) and multiple servings of beans, among other things. Damn, can’t I just eat oreos, swedish fish, and wafers (all vegan)?

Now, I am really starting to get into researching vegan recipes (I have my eye on The Kind Diet and The Conscious Cook). I am really enjoying trying new things.

But here’s the problem – I am afraid of cooking. I love to research the recipes, but bringing them to life? That’s something I usually expect Steven to do. Which is NOT FAIR (even though he usually loves to cook).

A few Sundays ago, I really wanted to try a recipe from the vegan cookbook that Gina got me for my birthday – Vegan Italiano. I read through all of the pasta recipes, and found one that sounded appetizing and didn’t call for any ingredients that we didn’t have. Then, I showed it to Steven, expecting him to be excited to cook it and… he wasn’t! He was in the middle of working on something when dinner time came around, and he was worn out.

So I tepidly made my way into the kitchen, read the recipe about 6,000 times, and put all of the ingredients out on the counter. Oh no! I told Steven the recipe called for 6-8 garlic cloves and we only had two. He politely informed me that we had two garlic bulbs, not cloves. Ha! That would have been one garlic-y dish and I would have used those two “cloves.”

I made the dish, with minimal supervision, and it turned out really good! I was so pleased with myself. It encouraged me to think that I might actually be able to cook things on my own some day! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to put a dish together without a recipe, like Steven, but there’s hope…

I forget the name of the dish, but it was a garlic-broccoli sauce! Edited to add: the breaded stuff is Boca Chik’n! Yummy!

I think that as a vegan, it is important for me to learn how to cook, so that I can take care of myself (duh), but also so that I can share these wonderful recipes with family and friends… and hopefully help them realize that vegan food is not “gross” or “weird.”

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By kilax, July 12, 2009 3:05 pm

Welcome to week 4 of marathon training! If you click on the activity links after the dates, it will take you to the Garmin connect website for full stats.

Day 22 | Monday, July 6: Cross-train for 30 minutes Rest

Ugh. I felt mopey and was suffering from a sugar withdrawal headache so I did nada for cross-training and went to bed early.

Day 23 | Tuesday, July 7: Run 3 miles

I keep repeating this, but I absolutely have to start doing these shorter runs slower. I ran the first 1.5 and last .5 miles of this run with Steven. We started out fast and I didn’t want to slow down. I also don’t want to over-train though! I promised myself I would run slower on Wednesday, but Wednesday’s run never happened.

Distance: 3.01 miles | Time: 26:10 | 1: 8:49 | 2: 8:52 | 3: 8:25 | 4: 00:02

Day 24 | Wednesday, July 8: Rest

I felt frustrated (and sorry for myself) since the moment I woke up on Wednesday, so I took the night off to relax.

Day 25 | Thursday, July 9: Run 6 miles

Six nice easy miles, at a comfortable “conversational” pace – check!

Distance: 6.00 miles | Time: 57:01 | 1: 9:25 | 2: 9:29 | 3: 9:47 | 4: 9:35 | 5: 9:24 | 6: 9:19

Day 26 | Friday, July 10: Run 3 miles

Three hot, accidentally race pace, PISSED OFF miles.

The two highlights (low-lights?) of this run both involved kids getting into my way ON PURPOSE. I wish I was imagining this, but their actions were obviously intentional.

The first time I was on the loop around our neighborhood park. I saw two kids on one motorized bike coming my way so I got over to the right edge of the path. They started swerving back and forth and back and forth over the path, crossing dangerously close to me before quickly swerving out of my way. The kid driving gave me a malicious look. I think it is the same kid getting in the way of cars on the street two weeks ago. What the heck?

The second time, I saw a kid dribbling a ball in the sidewalk, so again, I got over in the right edge to get away from him. When I got near him, he made eye contact with me, then he dribbled the ball in front of me and I had to stop and jump into the grass. What the heck?

Parents, anyone, reading this, what should I do? I doubt it is worth saying anything to these kids, but it is seriously frustrating me. These are not young awkward kids trying to figure out sidewalk etiquette. They are being little sh*ts on purpose. Maybe I should just stick to the early morning hours before the terrors get out of bed. Or try REALLY hard to ignore it.

Distance: 3.00 miles | Time: 26:34 | 1: 8:54 | 2: 8:56 | 3: 8:40 | 4: 00:02

Day 27 | Saturday, July 11: Run 6 miles at marathon pace

I set my regular alarm for 6:00, but had to rely on my kitty-cat alarm clock to wake me up at 7:30. Thanks Data! (Funny thing is, he started waking me up at 5:30 on Sunday. He’s a kind of unreliable alarm clock!)

Look! A talking shoe!

It was cloudy when I got to the park, so I was excited, thinking I wouldn’t be running in the sun. That quickly changed though! I got really hot right away. I was too lazy to put my hydration belt on, and ended up stopping at the car THREE TIMES for water. Yikes. I need to wear the belt next time!

The deceiving skies…

… quickly turned to sun!

I took a photo of my awesome bruised wrist to share with you all. I look forward to running as one of the few hours of the day when I don’t have to wear the stupid splint and wrap.

Pace runs make me so nervous and stressed out. I feel like I am constantly looking at the Garmin to keep on track. I feel guilty if my pace goes up at all. I much prefer the method we used for the half marathon – just putting the miles in, at ANY pace. I know this is the way to becoming a better runner though!

Distance: 6.00 miles | Time: 53:15 | 1: 8:55 | 2: 8:52 | 3: 8:57 | 4: 8:49 | 5: 8:55 | 6: 8:40 | 7: 00:03

Day 28 | Saturday, July 12: Run 11 miles

I found a new out-and-back trail to try near our house, but was concerned about getting too far out on the trail away from a toilet. The park by our house has a loop that goes by three separate toilet facilities (!!!) but I am getting kind of sick of running there. When I told Steven my dilemma, he suggested I run to the park by our house, then do a few loops there, to change things up a bit. I have always been a bit nervous about running on the shoulder of the street (especially with a 55 mph speed limit!), but it went well, and it was fun to run somewhere different for the first and last 2 miles.

Not driving there created another dilemma though – I couldn’t bring extra water. My hydration belt (this one) only holds maybe… 16 ounces total? And it LEAKS. I was definitely dehydrated today. I have been looking for a belt that holds more water, or a hand held water bottle, or maybe even a camelbak. Actually, I am really interested in camelbak, but worried about my back getting all sweaty and gross. What do you like to use for hydration? Have any of you used a camelbak?

Edited to add: My brother-in-law was disappointed that I didn’t mention I tripped over him and five of his friends on my way out the door that morning. So… Andrew (my BiL) was in town with his friends for a Cubs game on Saturday and the Brewers game on Sunday, and they all stayed at our house. It was fun seeing him and his friends, and finding spots for all of them to stay (three couches, one bed, one air mattress, and one sleeping bag!). Data enjoyed sleeping on their dirty sheets after they left. Ew Data, ew.

Distance: 11.00 miles | Time: 1:49:58 | 1: 9:42 | 2: 9:38 | 3: 10:24| 4: 10:08 | 5: 10:09 | 6: 10:03 | 7: 9:58 | 8: 9:46 | 9: 9:56 |10: 10:08 | 11: 9:59

Week Summary: 29 Miles

I seem to have fallen prey to the “I can eat anything I want, I am training for a marathon” mentality. Well, if that were true, would my jeans be this tight? My diet has been disappointingly junky lately, and feeling restricted by my wrist and moody all week surely didn’t help. I get through my runs just fine, but know I could perform better if I ate better, and lost a few pounds. I haven’t mentioned it, but I took my weight loss tracker off the site awhile ago, and stopped weighing myself. I didn’t want that to be a focus during training. I want my focus to be on feeling healthy. I’ll get there.

The end of week 4 means I am 25% through the training program! The marathon will be here before I know it! I just found out you can track the racers online during the race, so I will make sure to post all of that info closer to the actual date.

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By kilax, April 25, 2009 8:39 pm

Peanut Butter is a trigger food for me. It can sit in the pantry for weeks and I don’t even think about it, but once I open it, I eat WAY too much.

We had two containers in our pantry from November – creamy and crunchy. They were both half full this week. They are now gone – mostly because of me.

We went to Target today to get groceries, and even stopped by the peanut butter, but I didn’t say that we needed any, because I didn’t want it in the house. I was being selfish.

Steven noticed we were out when we got home. He was upset that we didn’t get any. I can understand that. He likes to have it every once in awhile. And it was wrong of me to only think of myself when making the grocery list. I told him I would go pick some up, but that it is a trigger food for me, so I had no idea how long it would last. And I have no idea how long this overeating/binging phase is going to last for me. Why do I go through phases like this?

So now I feel guilty for eating too much AND for not getting any more peanut butter for the pantry. Yay.

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By kilax, March 3, 2009 5:32 am

On Sunday Steven and I visited Fleet Feet in Elmhurst. The employee who helped us was great – very knowledgeable, accommodating, patient and friendly. She did a gait analysis for both of us, recommended a few different kinds of shoes, helped me find a new sports bra, and talked to me a bit about Luna Moons (which I’ve really been wanting to try!) and different ways to carry water while we run. And when I mentioned I wanted to read one of the books they sell there, she hooked me up – for free!

You know what I was thinking most of the time I was there though?

I bet this girl is looking at me and wondering what I am doing in a running store. I don’t look like a runner.

What is up with that? I went there shortly after finishing a 6 mile run. I should have still be pumped and proud of that! I guess the endorphins wore off.

Why do I care if other people see me as a runner, when all that matters if I see myself as a runner?

I DO see myself as a runner.

The funny thing is, later that night, still feeling a little down, I opened up the book she gave us, and flipped to a random page. The first paragraph I read said:

It’s clear to me now that I’ll never have a runner’s body, no matter how many miles I run. Instead, I’m concentrating on having a runner’s soul.

Then, that chapter goes on about how running won’t make you have a “runner’s” body – your body is still your body. No amount of exercise can change the natural build of it. Running won’t make your legs longer, or your hips narrower. You have to be grateful for the body you have, and what it’s given you.

How true. That is the logic I am going to have to use to fight the body image battle.

This battle is constantly up and down for me. I don’t know if it will ever be over, but I do know that I’ve gained a lot of ground. The more tools I can to fight with, the better.

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By kilax, February 26, 2009 6:25 pm

I was at the office print center this morning, and they had a glass candy bowl filled with yummy treats.

I looked down at it, and my eyes fixated on the one piece of chocolate in it – a Milky Way Midnight Mini.

I picked it up and held it in my hand. I thought, “I will go put this in my desk drawer – then I can have it as a small treat this afternoon!”

Then I remembered. Was it not just yesterday that I said I would try to cut back on sugar?

Jeez. This may be harder than I thought.

Luckily, I remembered my new goal, and put it back in the bowl. Then I felt something strange – a sense of relief. Relief that I can now walk around the office and ignore ALL of the candy bowls, because I am going to try not to eat any sugary treats.

The relief feels pretty good.

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By kilax, February 18, 2009 5:55 pm

It’s been four weeks since I started participating in my office’s Biggest Loser Challenge. We’re one-third of the way done with the challenge. So far, I’ve lost 5.21% of my starting weight.

I have to admit that the competition made me feel a bit different than I expected it would. I’ve been fine weighing-in in front of my coworker. That doesn’t bother me at all.

But when the results were emailed out the first week, and I saw that I was in the top three, I felt a bit of competitiveness. I saw that I was doing well, and wanted to stay in the top. That feeling didn’t last very long, but I admit it was there for a second.

And I wasn’t expecting my coworkers to be so encouraging about the Challenge, but they are. Participating has actually opened up a lot of communication about health and fitness. I found out another coworker loves to run, and that another group of coworkers walk the stairs in our building at the beginning of their lunch break. I am not sure how long these conversations will be around, but I enjoy participating in them (I even laughed when someone, who ISN’T participating, saw that I was in the kitchen making oatmeal for breakfast, and asked what I had… wanting to make sure I was still in the competition… uh… yeah).

The most interesting thing I’ve learned, now that a month is over and I have tracked my progress, is how little my weight actually has to do with how I feel, what I eat, and how much exercise I am getting. One week, I ran around 22 miles, ate like a saint, but somehow gained .2 pounds. The next week, I spent three days eating nothing but carbs and sweets – I was in Denver, and I was there to have fun. I lost 3.4 pounds that week. So, my body is on its own path. What I weigh on any particular day is just a flux number – it doesn’t really mean anything. It goes up and down based on my hormones, how much water I drink, if I eat salty foods… you get the idea.

It’s funny that tracking my weight like this, what so many people DON’T recommend, is what has made me accept that my weight is JUST a number. I hope the challenge continues to let me become more accepting of my body!

Comments (10)

By kilax, February 11, 2009 6:47 pm

Besides the running portion of training for the half marathon, there is also a bit of “diet” training. I need to figure out which foods my body prefers to fuel a run, and eat right before a run.

I already know my body prefers a “first thing in the morning” run, preferably on an empty stomach or after a very light meal. But my schedule doesn’t allow that. I have to run in the evenings on week nights . So, I get home, eat dinner, and run 30-60 minutes later.

At first, I was just getting a stomach cramp every night after my post-run shower. But starting last week, I’ve had a different problem.

(This is the part where you stop reading if you don’t want to know about my bowel movements.)

Three times in the last week, I’ve had to stop during a run and sprint (ha ha) to the bathroom… to poo. You know that uncomfortable feeling, like “I have to go right now“? That is the feeling I had – an awful, sudden cramp that had to be answered immediately.

I attributed the first two times to the fact that I had eaten some of my favorite Valentine’s Day treat the day before. I liked the treat – my body didn’t. I threw them away. One of those runs was a week night one, and one was a weekend, so I didn’t think it was from eating too close to running.

The third time though – last night – didn’t make ANY sense. I’ve been eating healthy for quite a few days before the run, but it still happened.

I did some internet research (you can imagine how fun THAT was), and this is the best article I came up with. It advises to:

• Cut dairy out of your diet
• Reduce your fiber intake
• Don’t eat anything with sweeteners ending in “ol” (sorbitol, mannitol, etc.)
• Avoid cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower
• Empty your system before a run
• Eat big meals at least 3 hours before a run

I suspected the first item. Dairy and I have been enemies for quite some time now. And I’ve been having a cheese stick once a day. Goodbye dairy, except for that occasional Chile Relleno that is no where near a running day.

I should be able to follow all of these items, except the fourth and sixth. I gotta eat my steamed broccoli. I love it. And 3 hours? Ha!

I am going to try these things and see how it goes. Apparently, all that bouncing and giggling of your intestines speeds up your need to use the bathroom no matter what, so I may not have any luck.

I’m not afraid to “go” outside if I have to – I’ll do what I gotta do!

Comments (13)

By kilax, February 2, 2009 5:57 pm

Awhile ago, Steven told me he felt like he needed to start eating more. The half marathon training was making him feel hungry all the time (plus he does weights and about 10 million crunches every night).

I was a bit behind Steven in the training, so I was kind of like, “Uh huh, use that as an excuse to eat more. Sure.” I mean, why would running more make you more hungry? That just doesn’t make any sense.

Uh… duh, Kim.

Now I am putting in around 16 miles a week (4 days of running) and a few miscellaneous hours here and there (walking, fencing, wii tennis [ha – can I include that?], etc.) and I am HUNGRY. HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY.

I don’t know why, but I just wasn’t expecting this effect. I thought about how I would have to eat healthy, to fuel my body, but I didn’t think my body would respond by demanding more fuel. I guess it all makes sense though.

It feels really good to eat healthy food all day, then have a long run at night. When I am eating healthy, with fueling my body in mind, it doesn’t feel like work. It doesn’t feel like I am being forced to do it. It just feels good – it feels like the right thing to do. It’s the thing I WANT to do.

Will this half marathon training actually make me have a healthy relationship with food? Is that even possible?

I’ve just noticed that I seem to be less worried about how much I eat, since I am running so much, and actually feel hungry. I feel less guilty, having a treat on a rest day, because I know I will work it off. I feel like I deserve it!

Of course, I must admit that my competitive streak did kick in just a tiny bit on the work Biggest Loser Challenge. More about that tomorrow, but I do realize I need to be careful. I want to lose weight, but I don’t want to be so weak I can’t walk up a flight of stairs – I’ve exercised/eaten so little before that I’ve been in that situation, and it’s awful.

That’s not my intent. When I say I am hungry, it means I am eating more, and enjoying it!

So… we’ll see where all of this goes. I am only 6 weeks into my training. I have 10 weeks of training left – and I will be running quite a bit more during those last 6 or so weeks. Maybe the hunger will go away as my body gets used to running so much. Or maybe I will just have to keep eating more. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as my body continues to adapt if I end up putting in less miles per week after the half marathon.