“I hate myself for loving you…”~Joan Jett

If you’re like me, sometimes you eat things you don’t even like.

Take Cheetos, for instance. I don’t like them. They taste like styrofoam and they make me puffy. And yet…when I am tired or stressed, I sometimes discover that my fingers are orange from eating my daughter’s Cheetos (Puffs).

The bummer with eating foods we don’t really like is that we waste calories on things that have nothing to do with pleasure or fun. If I am going to eat something fattening and pretty much useless, wouldn’t it be better to eat some expensive, delicious melt-in-my-mouth Belgian chocolate rather than Hershey’s (wax) chocolate?

In all reality, when I am “stress eating,” I am eating not for flavor or fun but to relieve some pressure in an overbooked and fatigued day.

I want salt, sugar, salt, sugar…and it doesn’t matter what form those ingredients come in. Just bring it.

I think the trick is for us to find other ways to relieve our stress and fatigue. In the past I have used exercise as a stress release and it works most excellently. Sleep is oftentimes out of the question, but what about yoga? Or reading a book, or watching a movie? Maybe snuggling with your child or significant other? Do these things really work, or are they poor substitutes for some good, old-fashioned carbs?

What do you think?

Onward….

~Helen

Photo Flickr ©vkareh

“I see a red door and I want it painted black, no colors anymore I want them to turn black.” ~Rolling Stones

I remember those days of ugly PMS clearly.

I was angry, tired, aggressive, my breasts hurt horribly and I was bloated.

The world was black, my life felt bleak, and it was nearly two weeks of hell.

Pre-menstrual syndrome might not seem like a topic for a weight loss blog, but this is more than a weight loss blog. It is a blog about improving your weight, your health and your life.

PMS doesn’t improve anyone’s life.

Over the last seven years I have had very minimal PMS symptoms except for cravings for salt and sugar (and occasional breast tenderness – TMI). I can’t seem to get away from those. But I no longer cry or get angry. I still do what experts say not to do (eat sugar, drink caffeine) and yet over the last seven years I have been a new woman just before “that time of month.”

Why?

Put quite simply – exercise. Lots of exercise. Exercise has been a miracle for me in many ways (helping me lose 80 pounds of fat, for example) but suddenly last year I realized that exercise had also made my PMS symptoms much lighter. I’m not sure if strength training would give me the same benefits, but I have taught Spinning® at least four days a week for six years, which directly correlates to my amazing reduction in PMS.

Coincidence? I think not. So let’s see what cardiovascular exercise does for menopause, which is just around the corner. Sigh.

Onward and forward.

~Helen

Photograph ©Mars(3)

“Where did you come from, baby? How did you know I needed you?  ~You Sexy Thing/Hot Chocolate

Better heart health. Anti-aging properties. Decreased risk of stroke. Better sex. All from one little magic bean.

Admit it. You knew it was coming…

…the day I would write about the benefits of chocolate. Seeing that this is February, with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, it seems that an ode to chocolate is quite fitting.

If I could snort raw cocoa powder, I would. If I could have chocolate syrup delivered via IV, I’d have a drip running in 24/7.

If I could fall into that lovely chocolate river so exquisitely flowing in the original “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” movie,  I’d drown a happy woman

Aside from the fact that talking about chocolate makes me all warm and fuzzy inside there are some actual benefits to eating the brown elixir of joy. I am not talking about white chocolate (which, by the way, contains no cocoa powder), or the cheap, waxy kind. I am talking about real chocolate, with genuine ingredients like milk, sugar and cocoa powder….the kind that lights up your brain and releases all kids of legal chemicals.

Putting my pro-chocolate stance away for a moment, let’s pretend we are non-biased towards the all mighty cocoa bean and examine its real benefits:

YOUR HEALTH

1. Dark chocolate (bleh) is good for your  heart. It lowers your blood pressure, reduces your LDL (bad cholesterol) and raises HDL (good cholesterol).

2. Chocolate contains flavonoids, which act as antioxidants (antioxidants protect the body against damage caused by free radicals. I’m not sure what free radicals are, but they don’t sound very healthy). Flavonoids also help improve blood flow to the brain and make you more alert.

3. Chocolate may decrease your risk of a stroke.

4. Chocolate may help lessen the symptoms of PMS.

YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

1. Chocolate makes you feel happier by stimulating your serotonin production (a higher serotonin levels produces a feeling of well-being).

2. Women who eat chocolate regularly often report a better sex life. A new study found that chocolate-eating women “had the highest levels of desire, arousal and satisfaction from sex.” ‘Nuff said.

3. Chocolate contains the “love chemical” PEA (pheylethaylamine). PEA produces those happy, giddy feelings we get when we are in love, and also helps boost seratonin (happy feeling chemical) and dopamine (sexual arousal chemical) levels. A bonus: chocolate will still respect you in the morning.

4. Chocolate “lights up” the same parts of your brain that other (not legal) chemicals do.

Of course, not everyone respond to the chemicals in chocolate the same and not all chocolate is created equal. Most of the studies have shown that dark chocolate is the form that truly has most of the beneficial properties. And we do have to watch our fat and sugar – chocolate is loaded with both.

Now, a moment on our lips equals good health benefits. What more could you want?  Life is short. Enjoy a little bit of chocolate.

Onward and forward.

~Helen

Photo ©eszter

I’ve never had quinoa before, which is surprising considering I’ve been a vegetarian for exactly 30 years. I decided to try it today for lunch. (And let’s face it – I haven’t been shopping and was running low on food options that don’t involve ice cream or crackers.)

Red quinoa has 2 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, and 6 grams of protein per serving – it’s gluten free, too. I microwaved it with a bit of vegetable broth (well, too much vegetable broth apparently because it was a too strong), and used it as a bed for my salad.

So what did it taste like?

It wasn’t bad. A bit crunchier than my favorite (brown rice), or the cous cous I used to make for the kids, and did not have much flavor on its own without the broth. It felt a bit like eating unground smal flax seeds, but maybe I did not cook the quinoa long enough.

With the black beans, light feta cheese, spinach, tomatoes and tiny bit of olive oil I added, it made for a filling and healthy lunch. Nutritionally pretty balanced too, or at least more so than the five Jo Jo cookies I had for dinner last night. Some days I am good, some days I am “bad.” Today I am good.

Will I eat quinoa again? Yes. I am always looking for healthy protein food sources. Unlike many plant sources, quinoa is a “complete protein,”, which means it contains all the amino acids we need on its own so we don’t have to combine it with other foods. It also contains a good amount of fiber, and the more fiber we eat, the fuller we feel and the more weight we are apt to lose.

Onward and forward to quinoa-land.

Have you ever tried quinoa?

“I’m busy.”

“I don’t have the right foods.”

“I don’t have time for my full work out so I might as well not work out at all today.”

“I have to go to a party so I will indulge now and start my diet tomorrow.”

“I had a bad day.”

Or my favorite (one which I use frequently) “I’m too tired” (to lift weights, ride my bike, eat an apple, go for a walk, play with my kids.)

We are too (busy / tired / depressed) to take care of our health and our weight, and yet we make time for everything, and everyone else. (Americans watch nearly five hours of television every – single – day.)

Watch THIS VIDEO from Nike. It may help you put those excuses to rest. Take out a notebook and write your own excuses down. Borrow some from the video if you’d like. Read over your list, then look back at something you really wanted (a new car, that fabulous jacket, the European vacation, the widescreen TV). Would you let the same list of excuses stand in your way? Would you allow those same reasons keep you from getting what you wanted? Or would you make every effort possible to overcome ANY obstacle?

Think about it.

I’ve used most of these myself – have you?

Refined carbs (including pizza), soda, alcohol and candy are all persona non grata in the health arena. Caffeine, sugar and fat are on our “bad” lists, as is eating late at night. And yet, just two weeks ago I found myself driving home at 1 a.m., eating five-hour cold greasy pizza out of a box in the backseat of my car, and stopping at a fast food joint for fully caffeinated coffee in the middle of the night. How does a personal trainer justify that? Easily. And would she recommend it to her clients? Definitely. With the following disclaimer, of course.

Every day we make choices, some easier than others. What we wear, what we do with our day, who we talk to, and if we exercise, improve ourselves and eat healthily.

A few of us live under strict standards, rarely indulging in anything known to thicken our waists or tickle our taste buds. The flip side are those of us who eat whatever we choose whenever we choose, justifying our decision to scarf an entire bag of chips and a box of chocolate because we are stressed, tired or frustrated. We lay on the sofa watching TV because we are too fatigued to move, becoming even more so in the process. Neither of those scenarios are ideal.

The first group is often in pursuit of perfection, chiseling and sculpting their bodies into amazing pieces of art. They are simply beautiful to look at and we envy their dedication and restraint. Working in the fitness field as I do, and knowing many of these perfect creatures, I have come to the following conclusion: They may be gorgeous but they are no happier than us mere mortals.

Having been part of the latter group who eats to fill a void or because we “deserve” a treat (or ten), never making a change and always waiting for tomorrow to start taking care of our health, I can also state that they are no happier than the rest of us, either.

So where does the pizza fit in? Under B for Balance.

Balance is the melding of two worlds: the perfect world and the real world. Balance is the ability to indulge every now and then without going crazy. Balance is the ability to enjoy life while being healthy overall. Balance is the ability to stop obsessing about everything you put in your mouth, making good choices most of the time and less good choices other times. Balance is where the 80/20 rule comes into play. 80% clean eating, 20% fun eating. Will you be a size 2 with the 80/20 rule? Probably not (though you may be a 4 or a 6). Will you be healthy? Most likely. Will you be happy? Almost certainly.

The cold pizza at 1 a.m.? It was a bonding experience with my son. We bought it on our way to cover the Blue October Concert in Los Angeles, ate some in the car on the way from Temecula, finished off the rest on the return trip. It was unhealthy, greasy, and oh-so-much-fun, as was our evening together. I didn’t compound the damage by continuing to eat junk the rest of the night. I didn’t feel I had “blown it” and used that as a license to further feed my face. I used it as an opportunity to share a moment with my near-teenage son, who won’t want to hang with his mom pretty soon, no matter how cool I think I am.

Pizza as a health food? Yes. A mental health food. My son and I ate, laughed, watched the concert, hurried through the empty streets of LA, ate more then-cold pizza in the car, pulled over for coffee halfway home, and fell into bed at 2 a.m., exhausted but happy. The evening became a memory – a memory of doing something together, sharing a moment, experiencing life – over pizza.

Balance = bonding
Bonding = happiness
Happiness = good life
Good life = balance

What is your take?

Post any comments you might have about it. I’d love to hear your feedback.

The holidays. They are here, once again. Endless days of parties, pastries, shopping and stress. Everywhere you look and everywhere you go temptation abounds. Clients bring edible gifts, friends deliver baked goods. The office holiday party overflows with food and drink.

With enticement everywhere, what do you do? Give in and pay the price in January? Or sacrifice now and start the new year without a brand-new muffin top? To make it easier on you, here’s a guide to enjoying yourself sensibly.

(continue reading at LA’s the Place)