Fitness Notes

I really think that no-sugar chewing gum (which contains aspartame) is causing me headaches and sometimes migraines. I still couldn’t resist the temptation though – sometimes the need to keep my mouth busy with no calories was too strong.
However, a new study shows a dramatic link between diet soda consumption and stroke, so I think this is the time to go off aspartame altogether.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20031420-10391704.html

Back when I was first diagnosed with migraines, the neurologist mentioned that I might benefit from losing some weight. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now I am adding this as another reason to lose weight.

Migraines are not headaches. They are an extremely acute state which involved your entire body. For me, they include loss of speech ability, spasms, severe nausea and vomiting and diarrhea. Not fun.

As it turns out, the link between obesity and migraines has been fairly well documented. This recent study which was carried on over 21,000 participants, men and women, clearly showed that obesity is linked to migraines. Obese women aged 20-55, especially those with fat concentrated in the abdomen, are much more likely to be afflicted with migraines. We’re talking 36.9% of obese women reporting migraines, compared with only %28.8 of those within the normal weight range.

So, there you go, yet another great reason to lose the excess weight!

Moving on with my project, let’s discuss the second reason I came up with to lose weight: so I can shop for sports clothes more easily.

You see, I am not that fussy when it comes to sports clothes. As a total amateur, I don’t need specialty fabrics or designs. I just need them to be comfortable, really, and long lasting would be a nice bonus.

Living in Israel, plus sizes aren’t really sold at regular stores. You have to go to one of the special plus size shops. They never have actual sports clothes and the best they can come up with is stretchy lycra pants. It’s not a bad solution, except for the fact that they’re usually very expensive. I’m talking $40 and upwards, which is fairly steep for a pair of tights to sweat in, IMO.

Regular shops have tons of simple functional and cheap tights. Wrong size though.

So, assuming I am not about to change the local market, I guess I need to adapt my body to the market, huh?

In my Reasons to lose weight post I said I’d elaborate on each of the reasons in separate posts. Ok, so not doing these daily, but here goes…

My first reason was – to be able to run with a lessened risk of knee injury.

I really do enjoy running. If you told me a decade ago that I’d be writing this sentence I’d laugh in your face. Moi?? running?? Still, at some point a couple of years ago I decided to give it a try and I’ve joined the ranks of wannabee runners. I can’t really call myself a runner – even at my best, which was over a year ago, I could only run for 5 km. And that high point in my running career was short lived. A few weeks later, I traveled out of the country, didn’t have the time or motivation to keep on and went back to couch potato.

Still, working out now, I started running again. Just because I like it.

The problem is I am carrying too much excess weight. I can feel my feet, ankles, shins and most of all knees, groaning under the strain. I limit my runs and increase distances very very gradually. It sucks – once you get into the run, you want to go on, as much as your lungs allow you to. It’s the adrenalin pushing you forward. Having to stop myself to protect my knees is no fun.

So, in order to have more fun running, I need to lose that extra weight.

Yup, I need a good motivation boost for losing weight again. It’s not that I don’t want to lose weight. Duh, of course I do. I just need to want to lose weight more than I want to eat, I guess. In other words, I need to become more motivated.

So, being a blogger and all that, I figured a good way to do that would be to come up with a brutally honest list of reasons why losing weight will benefit me. The idea is to throw it all unto this post here, and later work this list into a series of short daily posts. That way, everyday I will dwell on one more reason why I really really need to lose weight.

So, here goes, let’s see how many I can come up with. I’ll be leaving comments open on this post, so if you have more suggestions, please do add them as comments.

So, throwing them out here at no particular order other than the one in which they come to my mind.

X Reasons to Lose Weight

Once I lose the excess weight…

1. I’ll be able to run with a lessened risk of knee injury.
2. I’ll be able to shop for sports clothing in a regular store and not the overpriced Plus sized ones.
3. I’ll be able to go on longer and more difficult hikes with my family.
4. I’ll be able to wear my pretty “thin clothes”.
5. I will drastically lessen the chances of me developing diabetes.
6. Clothes are going to last for longer, with no worn out inner thigh areas.
7. I’ll be able to do things on our up and coming vacation next year, like riding horses.
8. I will feel less self conscious about eating around other people.
9. I’ll be able to feel good in any old outfit and won’t have to dress up just to go pick the kids up from school.
10. I’ll be able to go to the swimming pool and actually swim and have fun without feeling awkward.
11. I won’t have to come up with excuses for being overweight.
12. I’ll feel good about having my picture taken for the family albums.
13. I’ll be getting compliments from people again instead of worried looks.
14. I’ll be able to buy cheap sexy clothes for just one season at a time.
15. I will be able to exercise more and have more energy.
16. I will hopefully have fewer migraines.

Ok, the last one felt kinda repeatitive and blah, so I better stop here. I was looking for concrete stuff, mainly.

So there it is, so far 15 reasons. I’ll edit and add more as I go along.

ETA another reason – I’ve been getting more migraines lately, and I think losing weight might help with that.

Having spent just one week working up my long-distance walking abilities, I’ve hit a wall: foot blisters.

I started with two relatively small blisters. I figured I’d play it brave and keep on walking. Today I have a blister that’s almost two inches long and an inch wide. It hurts too.

I’ve done a lot of reading online now about how to prevent blisters. Lots of good advice. Not too little, but probably too late for me. With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a look at what’s available for home (or trail) treatment of blisters. There are quite a few options available, but the most popular by far is this one -

Now, I haven’t tried these myself, but I’ve been reading some reviews about these GlacierGel blister dressings and people seem to be pretty thrilled with them.

They’re good for hikers too, as the entire kit weighs just 1.5oz and contains six cushiony (is this a word?) adhesive gel dressings that come in two different sizes. This gives you both instant relief and prevents further friction to the skin.

If you’re planning a hike or just want to add great burn dressings for your first aid kit – this is where you can order them on Amazon.

Fitness isn’t just about rigorous exercise. In fact, I looked up and found this definition of fitness in the dictionary:

The state or condition of being physically sound and healthy, especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition. A state of general mental and physical well-being.

Overall fitness is maintained in various ways and relates to our daily lifestyle. For most of us, this means sitting by our desk for hours, usually in front of the computer. The result: neck and back pain.

Daily exercise can help, but a single session of one hour, accompanied by 8-10 hours of crammed sitting by your computer is not enough. The key here is taking breaks.

As a webmaster, I know how easy it is to get all wrapped up in your work and stay immobile for an hour or two. That’s very bad news for your body. You have got to find someone or something to remind you to take proper breaks on a regular basis. Here are a few tips -

1. Download one of the many free “take a break” reminders. I use EyesRelax by TechMech. It’s very easy to install and configure. I have it set up for a one minute break every 15 minutes and a longer 5 minutes long break every hour. Here are similar applications reviewed by Download.com.
2. When it’s break time – get away from the computer. Walk around the house or stretch where you can’t see the screen. The idea is to get up and take the pressure of sitting off your lower back. You can use the time to do something else – just not on the computer.
3. Don’t forget your fingers! When it’s break time, move your fingers around, fan them and stretch them.
4. Finally, your eye muscles need exercise too. When it’s break time, try to look outside the window for a while. Experts recommend looking at objects at least 20 feet away from you for a while, then switching back to something closer. Repeat this eye exercise during some of your breaks.

Oops, break time for me here – see you later!

I know losing weight is good for me. I think most overweight people do. But how to harness that knowledge into actual weight loss motivation? For me, I need those actual reminders about just how important weight loss is.

A tweet by @JoyceSchneider1 led me to just the kind of article I needd this morning:

Amazing Facts about Your Heart & Blood Sugar

Joyce Schneider, a gifted writer and cook,  is the wife of Robert G. Schneider, M.D., a cardiologist who specializes in the metabolic syndrome, the relationship between weight, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (heart attack & stroke). Their website Cardiologist Wife is full of concise information, delivered in an easy to read and, in my case, extremely effective way.

For example, take this sentence: “Your blood sugar drops with just a one-pound weight loss. In fact, with just the first ounces off, you’ve made yourself immediately healthier.”  Now, that’s the kind of information that motivates me. Thinking about having to shed a couple of dozens of pounds can be intimidating, but just one pound? hey, even I can do that this week!

Thank you for the encouragement Joyce and Robert!

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist. The following is based on my experience, online research and common sense.

I went vegan eight months ago and never looked back. My reason was not health-related. I just refuse to benefit from the practices of the food production industry. I am not an animal rights activist – I just like cats and dogs and believe other sentient beings such as cows, pigs and chicken, deserve the same kind of consideration for their needs and welfare. I am actually ok with eating them, as long as they are reared with due consideration to their welfare – which not the case today.

With that out of the way, I have to say I find the vegan lifestyle fairly easy. It’s much easier than being vegetarian (which I have tried in the past). I have zero cravings for meats, dairy products or eggs. Milk just doesn’t taste as good anymore – don’t ask me why.

One thing people often ask is: “Without meat, eggs or dairy products, what’s left for you to eat?”

So, here I am today, sharing my favorite vegan sandwich fillings. They’re yummy, very healthy and easy to prepare.

I use only whole-grain breads, and choose these spreads/fillings:

1. Avocado – I absolutely love Avocado. We have two trees of Avocado in our backyard and we get a fresh organic supply during the season. Avocado is great as it is – all you need is a spoon – and it also makes a great sandwich filling. My husband sometimes has it with vegetables, especially tomatoes, but I just like to put a slob of avocado and tuck right in.
2. Hummus – Living in Israel, we have a fair selection of hummus spreads here. Some of them use vegetable oil or even starch which makes them less healthy than the original. I found a good brand (Rafi Cohen’s by Tzabar) that focuses on the original squashed chickpeas with tehini and it tastes real good.
3. Roasted Vegetables – these need to be prepared in advance, but you can keep them in the fridge, covered in olive oil, for several days. To prepare, just roast sliced zucchini, mushrooms, yellow and red peppers, cauliflower, and pretty much any other kind of vegetable you like. I like to sprinkle it all in olive oil and throw a few cloves of garlic into the mixture. I roast them in the oven, uncovered, until their tender and crispy. They get a thick texture that’s perfect for a sandwich. They even come with oil, and a garlicky taste, so no need to add anything else.
4. Halva – when in the mood for something sweet, Halva is a great option. It’s made of tehini, and you can get organic varieties using honey instead of sugar. I am talking of the Israeli/Middle-Eastern variety of Halva – has no flour or anything else. The main problem with Halva is that I have a sweet tooth and find it hard to stop at one piece…

Got more ideas for vegan sandwiches? Leave them here in a comment!

I am definitely at the point where I enjoy my workouts. I love getting out there and doing my running-walking mix. In fact, last Friday, I did a wonderful trail not too far from where I live, out in nature, and it was so awesome I almost drove up there again today.

But, here’s the rub. It would take me too long. Driving there and back, plus the long hike I was fantasizing about – I figure at least two hours, possibly more. Who’s got the extra two hours in the middle of the week? Out the window went that idea went, and I settled for a routine 45 minutes workout in the nearby streets.

I am sharing this story in order to illustrate that I don’t have all the time in the world to exercise. I am a working Mom. Between raising two kids, two cats and a husband, the gazillion projects I manage online, friends and family, time always seems scarce.

We all have so many tasks and chores in our lives, squeezing in the exercise can sometimes seem impossible. Up until a few years ago, I really did think I simply do not have the time to work out. Every minute I didn’t have to put into managing the home, I would try to put into managing my business.

My husband was the one who made me see the light through us having a lengthy talk about one important thing -

Priorities.

You see finding time to exercise can seem impossible, when you put it alongside things like work and managing a home. Now, stop for a minute and think about what exercise really means for your life:

Your Good Health.

Now, let’s try and look at the priorities again: work vs. good health? money vs. good health? clean home vs. good health? Which is really more important to you?

Is getting diabetes in your 40’s worth the clean house, the extra money or career achievements?

As we both considered that, things suddenly became crystal clear. Of course my health is more important. This isn’t about a fun stroll in the park. It’s about making sure my kids have a healthy Mom for years to come. Nothing is more important than that.

So now, I do have the time to exercise. It comes before house chores and before my work. I no longer have to find time to squeeze in my workouts into a busy schedule. I schedule the workouts first, and then build the rest of my activities around that. I still rant about lack of time, but now my rants are not about lack of time to exercise. Priorities. That’s all it is.