Expletives Deleted

All I can say is not printable. I missed Lora's appearance on Oprah yesterday. Got busy working and slap forgot it.

Lora, please forgive me. I hope it was super, and we can't wait to hear all the luscious details.

Did anybody happen to record the show?

Weightloss "Secrets"

As we begin to lose weight, questions begin to crop up:
How did you do it?
What (fad) diet
are you using?

Effective weight management is no secret. After all, it's pretty much simple physics: what you put in versus what you put out (medical conditions excepted).

If you read yesterday's post, you know that why, what and how we eat is largely a function of what's going on inside our heads. Oprah says it like this:

"You've got to ask yourself: What kind of life do I want and how close am I to living it? You cannot ever live the life of your dreams without coming face to face with the truth. Every unwanted pound creates another layer of lies. It's only when you peel back those layers that you will be set free: free to work out, free to eat responsibly, free to live the life you want and deserve to live.
Tell the truth, and you'll learn to eat to satisfy your physical hunger as opposed to your emotional hunger and to stop burying
your hopes and dreams beneath layers of fat."

Here's what's working for me:
* Planning and eating an average of 1200-1400 calories a day from BestLife menu guides,

* Prioritizing daily exercise, including aerobics and strengh training each week,

* Building margin into my overall schedule to manage stress levels,

* Maintaining accountability by logging all food eaten and all exercise performed, plus weighing, measuring and calculating BMI once a week.

* Not eating after 7 p.m.

* Giving and receiving support through chatrooms and HYC blogs.

What's your "secret?"

(Oprah's quote from the preface to The Best Life Diet (Paperback) By Bob Greene

Gut Level Honesty

A short six weeks ago, I sat silent with laryngitis and the flu, watching Oprah's show for the very first time. It might as well have been church for me. At the end of Bob Greene's message, I responded to his invitation to accept the 2008 BestLife Challenge.

I was, as Dr. Phil says, at the crossroads, ready to get off the fence, ready to begin translating my insights, understandings and awareness into purposeful, meaningful, constructive action.

I made up my mind that 52 years old is not too late to begin. I was ready to wipe the slate clean, start over (again!),
and reclaim my health and my life...
no matter how much it hurt to change.

Then I read Oprah's preface to Bob Greene's book (see sidebar): "What I know for sure is that living an unconscious life is like being the walking dead. All my fat years - my unconscious years - are a blur to me now. It's only because I have photographs and diaries that I remember them at all. And sometimes, even then I don't remember being present, because I wasn't really there."

THAT'S ME, I sobbed. Every "fat year" I created was a real bummer in one way or another. Here I was again, making another
"searching and fearless moral inventory" of myself.

Dr. Phil says it this way: "Effective weight management demands that you require more of yourself in terms of personal integrity, honesty and maturity. Get real enough with yourself to say, 'I'm mature and honest enough not to play mind games with myself.'"

So...in learning to be accountable (again!), I am pleased to report that by following Dr. Phil's principles and The BestLife program of healthy eating and regular exercise, I have lost 17 pounds and 14-1/2 inches since January 15.

***And my DH has lost 22 pounds!!

(Dr. Phil's quotes from 2 Book Set: The Ulitmate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom/The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide.)

Turn Workout Time into "Eureka" Moments

Harvard researchers used MRIs to track brain activity during "daydreaming." What they found was a kind of default network pattern that switched on during familiar, easy tasks and switched off while a person was deep in concentration.

This default network, they figure, is actually the brain kicking in to use spare energy and time to form important but not necessarily urgent ideas.

This could be why you get so many "eureka" ideas in the bathtub or shower... or while driving or washing dishes... or while taking a walk (or, in our case, while WORKING OUT!). Another good reason to head to the gym, huh?

So far, I'm a treadmiller. Last week, I finally bought an MP3 player, although I didn't spring for an IPod. But wow, what a difference it makes having music to walk or jog to! I've got a few favorites that work for 3.8- 4.2 mph on the treadmill. Click the sidebar to email me, and I'll respond with a good Cajun tune!



(Thanks to Jack Forde's Copywriter's Roundtable for the tip.)

Recommended: Blue Emu

Who wouldn't want to work out with weights after reading this?

* Weight training is an excellent way to give those unwanted pounds a speedier heave-ho.

*Exercising with weights burns fat and preserves muscle while you're losing weight. (Nearly 100 percent of the weight you lose is pure fat if you weight train.)
It strengthens your muscles, joints and bones.
It decreases insulin levels so your body is in better hormonal balance. And it makes maintaining your weight loss a breeze.

* Each pound of body-firming muscle you add to your frame becomes a fat-incinerating furnace, allowing you to eat moderate amounts of food without worrying about gaining fat.

(Tips from 2 Book Set: The Ulitmate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom/The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide.)

What Dr. Phil forgot to say is how to get past the first few workouts when every muscle hurts.

Here's my recommendation: BLUE EMU!!

I first heard about Blue Emu at a birthday party for a woman of a certain age, whose friends made up appropriate lyrics about her favorite product to the tune of "Blue Bayou."

After the party, one of the hostesses gave me a jar of the mysterious turquoise gel, which I promptly put away...until I started weight training.

Believe me, it works. Now I'm a Blue Emu-ing Fat-Incinerating Furnace. And that's HOT, Baby!

You Inspire Me: A Song of Gratitude for HYC

My mom is a great thank-you note writer. When we kids were still at home, she often served us breakfast in bed on Sunday mornings. Each tray - carefully adorned with a pansy or other fresh flower in a small crystal vase - was laden with the labors of her love. Between the linen napkin and the china plate, she often tucked a love-note of affirmation, telling us kids how special we are, and how much she enjoys being our mom. She is still one of the strongest influences in my life.

This morning, I want to thank each of you for supporting me on my BestLife journey. Listen as Skye Dyer sings words of affirmation, encouraging each of us to be the best we can be. (And since I play the cello, be sure to enjoy the tender musical conversation between this talented cellist and Skye.)

Abs-olutely Risky

The Washington Post cites a new study showing middle-aged American women are gaining weight, especially around the waist (DUH!), and their risk of stroke has increased significantly.

"Abdominal obesity is a known predictor of stroke in women and may be a key factor in the midlife stroke surge in women," one researcher said in a statement.

The report also says average body-mass index, a measure of obesity, rose from 27.11 in the earlier study to 28.67 in the later study.

My first reality check about weight happened last spring when my life insurance agent informed me I'm considered "high risk" because of obesity as measured by BMI. For whatever reason, I just stuck my head in the sand and agreed to pay the higher premiums.

On January 15, 2008, however, I took my head OUT of the sand
(see my profile photo!) and started the BestLife diet and exercise program. As soon as I get my BMI back into the normal range, you can bet I'm calling for a rate adjustment!

Calculate your BMI. I'm off to the gym.

Walk to Work

An exercise machine that allows workers to multitask may be the silliest (or smartest?) invention since the executive toy. (Read more...)

Count me in as one journalist who would definitely use it to help make computer time more active!

Until then, I'll continue the exercise routine I'm following as part of The BestLife program:

* Six power walks per week, at an average speed of 2.2 miles in 30 minutes. (Fitness scientists estimate walking at this pace burns almost as many calories as jogging at about the same speed - 202 vs. 223 per hour.)

* Three strength training sessions per week.

Stop Living Like a Lazy Slug

A refined Southern lady, my mother used to whisper a familiar reminder over the top of her fan during the heat of Louisiana summers, "Honey, we don't sweat; we glisten."

Dr. Phil isn't quite so genteel when he tackles the statistic that
66 percent of all Americans do not exercise. Unfortunately,
flopping a fan back and forth doesn't count as exercise.

*Failure to put exercise at the top of your priority list, or leaving it off the list altogether, is a deal breaker, because you are cheating yourself not only out of a way to shed unnecessary pounds, but also a way to stabilize a normal weight and stay healthy for a lifetime.

*Your mission is to overcome the inertia you now have and replace it with the forward momentum and direction you want.

* To really get your weight under control, you must stop living like
a lazy slug.

* Either you get this or your don't.

Sooo, this morning I popped out $25 to hire a personal trainer to set me up on a strength-building program. Toward the end of each set of 20 reps, I had to visualize a clear blue sky, sparkling turqoise water, clean white sand and palm trees blowing in the salt breeze.

I sweat. I hurt. But I did it. And I'll do it again. I am not a lazy slug. Not anymore.

Tips from:
The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom

Lynn Berring Wins by Losing 168 Pounds

Lynn Bering is half the woman she used to be. CNN reports she has lost 168 pounds and is blogging to inspire others.

I first read the story on Scale Junkie's blog, home of the
2008 Healthy You Challenge.

Lynn's practical advice has already found a home in my heart:

"I still write down everything I eat. I still ask myself, 'How will I feel five minutes after I eat this?'
If the answer is anything other than, 'I will feel good having made this food choice,' then I don't eat it. Or, at least most of the time, I don't. Sometimes, that whiney voice wins. But the point is, I think about it. Am I eating because I want to, or because I need to? Am I feeding some emotion I'm afraid to examine?"

Congratulations, Lynn, and thanks to Diana for sharing the good news.

Watch Lynn's interview from The Today Show.

Plate Up the Right Portion

I'm no math whiz, but I can divide a plate into four sections to plan meals without confusing the issue with details about food groups, points, fat or carb grams, etc.

Here's Dr. Phil's solution:

At each meal, fill one section of the plate with a protein, another section with a starch, and the remaining two sections with vegetables of a vegetable and a fruit. Proportioned in this manner, these foods form the foundation of your daily meals.

I agree that if you're trying to control your intake of a substance, even if that substance is food, you have to get your focus off it, or you'll only be fueling your obsession.

Here's his easy way to measure portion control relative to the size of your hand or a tennis ball:

* A serving of meat, fish or poultry should be about the size of the palm of your hand.

* Fruit and vegetable servings should be about the size of your hand when it is cupped, or about the size of a tennis ball (which equals 1/2 cup). Same for a serving of cottage cheese, rice, pasta, cereal or starchy vegetables.

* Whenever you need a cupful of something like milk or yogurt, a serving the size of a fist or two tennis balls is about the right amount.

* A slice of bread, one small roll, or half a bagel or bun counts as one serving.

* A serving of sandwich cheese is one slice.

* As for fats and oil or nuts and seeds, a reasonable serving is about the size of your thumb (or half your thumb if you have big fingers).

Once you get the hang of it, portion management becomes automatic.

Tips from The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom
Tuesday Weigh-in:
Since January 15, I've lost 15 pounds and 12-1/2 inches.

Inspiration: Randy Pausch

Everybody has their own version of inspiration – usually tailored to a particular time in their lives.

Last week, two people sent me links to a
You Tube video with accompanying accolades for “the most amazing video ever” or something similar. I made a note on my calendar to watch the video over coffee Saturday morning, but, you guessed it, got busy and blew it off. Yesterday morning, another email arrived with the same link. Yesterday afternoon, I brewed a pot of green tea and pulled up a chair to watch it while Myron was on the golf course.

Randy Pausch, a young professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. His doctors gave him only a few months to live…last September.

Regardless how “amazing” you consider the video, Randy Pausch has a message for everybody. Here’s the short version, about 15 minutes, from a recent Oprah show.

Here’s the original version, his final lecture to students, fellow faculty and friends, about 76 minutes.

If you can’t squeeze it in today, please bookmark it for later.

$25 Restaurant Gift Certificate for $5

Everybody likes a good deal, especially if you don't have to cook it!

Go to this website , check out participating restaurants in your area, then use the discount code VOTE to get your $25 restaurant gift certificate for $5.

I just bought one for Cajun Boilers,
a local restaurant that features
boiled shrimp, blackened fish and other
BestLife-approved entrees.

Ahhhh....sweet inspiration!

Saturday Recipe - Balsamic Glazed Salmon

(Earlier this week while reading another blog, I made a note to try this recipe; but I forgot to note who shared the good find. My apologies to the author!)


INGREDIENTS
6 (5 ounce) salmon fillets
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Coat a small saucepan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook and stir garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Mix in white wine, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
3. Arrange salmon fillets on foil-lined baking sheet. Brush fillets with balsamic glaze, and sprinkle with oregano.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 14 minutes, or until flesh flakes easily with a fork. Brush fillets with remaining glaze, and season with salt and pepper. Use a spatula to transfer fillets to serving platter, leaving the skin behind on the foil.

Here's a video how to choose salmon.

Here's the nutrition info.

Enjoy!

Hunger Scale

Part of The Best Life process is learning to recognize emotional eating — impulsive, unhealthy snacking triggered by stress, boredom, depression, and other factors.

Real physical hunger, however, appropriately signals when your body truly needs to be fed. Using the Best Life
10-Point Hunger Scale is a great way to train yourself to recognize whether you are eating in response to real hunger or just an emotional trigger.

By learning to distinguish between real and imaginary hunger, we avoid overeating.

Puma Power for Flat-footed Athletes

I seriously considered posting a "Non-Scale Victory" badge last week when I finally, yea verily, finally found a pair of running shoes that not only fit my flat feet but also provide adequate support for my left ankle, which is fraught with two steel plates and 10 pins.

Honestly, I almost hollered "Hallelujah!" in the store when I tried on this Puma Women's Cell Flexion shoe. It was so comfortable, in fact, I would have bought TWO pair, had they had a second pair in my size.

The good news is that although the shoes are listed for $100 on the Puma Store web site, I bought the gold and white version at
T. J. Maxx for $39. Tonight, I found the silver and blue style on sale for $39 on this Finish Line site.

This sort of serendipitous good fortune, my friends, does my heart good.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Respect Your Inner Elder Athlete

It’s a myth that athletes necessarily slow down as they grow older, reports Gina Kolata in The New York Times (1/31/08). In fact, some runners actually “are faster at 60 than at 50.” It’s not exactly that the trajectory isn’t downward, though. What Dr. Vonda Wright of the University of Pittsburgh has found is it’s possible “to stave off more deterioration than you thought.” Not only that but you can start the staving pretty late in the game — “one man took up running at 62 and ran his first marathon, a year later, in 3 hours and 25 minutes.”

The key to that kind of success, says Dr. Hirofumi Tanaka, 41, is to “train hard and train often.” The reason, he says, is that you need to increase your oxygen consumption, which is essential to performance. “You have to make training as intense as you can,” he advises. Dr. Steven Hawkins, a physiologist, agrees: “High performance is really determined more by intensity than volume. Sometimes, when you’re older, something has to give. You can have both so you cut back on the volume. You need to rest more days.” The challenge is, your heart rate and lung capacity both decline with age.

But the good news is, “muscle mass and lactic threshold can be maintained.” However, the other limiting factor is purely one of motivation. Athletes who have been going at it for 50 years sometimes just don’t feel like exercising anymore. This can be especially true if they see their performance declining, even though they are working as hard or harder as ever — but for the truly dedicated that really shouldn’t happen until around age 75, when times fall, “on average, by 7 percent.” Dr. Barry Erbsen, 67, a dentist, found a simple solution for that — he switched from running to mountain biking. “I’m not getting too much slower,” he reports.

(Reprinted from Cool News Reveries.)

Wishbone Salad Spritzers

At Kroger yesterday, I bit the "3 for $5" tag below these Wishbone Salad Spritzers. BestLife approved, they're only one calorie a spray!

Good find. Good flavor. Good for you.

A New Earth - An Oprahtunity to Grow

When I was formally ordained to ministry in 2006, my mentor, Dr. George Monta, gave me Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose.


This month, the book soared to new heights as Oprah's Book of the Month Club recommendation No. 61.

Beginning March 3, Winfrey and Tolle are teaming up to present a 10-week webinar to explore the tenets of the book.

"We will be studying A New Earth, but not as an academic subject or in order to acquire new theories or beliefs," says Tolle. "Our aim is to explore through the teachings of the book the most important question you can ask: What is the purpose of my life and how do I fulfill that purpose? It will be a course in self-exploration and awakening. It will help you see what the dysfunctional patterns are within yourself that create unnecessary conflict and suffering and prevent you from finding true fulfillment. Hopefully, it will also help you access a dimension within yourself that perhaps you didn't know existed or only caught glimpses of on rare occasions. Don't be trapped for the rest of your life within the narrow confines of your personal history and your conditioned personality and allow your life to be transformed from within, through the power of consciousness itself."

Want to join us?

Hold That Thought

Dr. Wayne Dyer asserts, "There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep and you hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking."

Furthermore, "the imbalance between your desire for a healthy body that feels great and persistently unhealthy habits is not remedied by simply changing those habits. You must have a firm determination to learn the art of passionately believing in something that doesn't yet exist, and refuse to allow that picture to be distorted by you or anyone else. Truly, you are not what you eat or how much you exercise, but rather what you believe about the you that you're presently birthing in your thoughts."

"Keep reminding yourself, I get what I think about, whether I want it or not."

From Being In Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires.

Finding Calorie Count and Nutrient Make-up

Learning to "write what you bite" can be time consuming unless you have the right tools. Members of The BestLife Diet program have access to intuitive caloric and nutritive databases; but the resource doesn't always include the information you need.

More broad-based information is available from this list.

Fork Over the Calories

Overweight people usually share common eating habits: eating too fast, eating while watching TV, eating somewhere other than the dining room table, etc.

DH is the king of fast eating. Most of the time, he stands at the kitchen counter to wolf down only a few bites of BestLife breakfast before dashing off to work because he would rather sleep through three snoozes than to get up a few minutes early to eat more slowly. We're going to talk about this over the weekend.

When you eat too fast, you shovel in enormous amounts of calories without realizing it. By then, it's too late for your brain to signal your stomach it's full - a process that usually takes 20 minutes.

One way to slow down your eating is to put down your utensils between bites.

Dr. Philcites the case of Glenn,
a patient who finally felt ready to lose 50 pounds.

"He made only one change at first. A habitually fast eater, Glenn learned to put his utensils down after each bite. From counting his caloric intake at meals, we discovered that he had slashed his calories practically in half just by using this delaying tactic, yet he still felt satisfied even though he was eating much less. Glenn felt neither deprived nor threatened by this change; it was no big sacrifice. Each week, he would drop anywhere from 1 to 2 pounds, without much effort on his part."

I knew that. My mother's been saying it all my life. Duh.

Fruit and Veggie Guru

One of the best ways to create a sense of well being is to put top-grade fuel in your tank each day. After all, you are what you eat. Proper nutrition not only keeps you raring to go, it also helps to fight off diseases.

DH's idea of eating more vegetables would stack up on a plate like this: beans and rice, corn on the cob and potato salad.

If you need a little help figuring out creative ways to package healthy fruits and veggies for your family, try the Fruit and Veggie Guru.

How to Help Tornado Victims

On Feb. 5, 2008, tornadoes devastated parts of Arkansas. Many families lost everything when their homes were heavily damaged or destroyed and many in these areas are without power.

"The loss of life and property we saw from these storms is terrible, but Arkansas will rebuild. We always do," Gov. Mike Beebe said. "Everywhere we went, we saw volunteers pouring in to help their friends, neighbors and, oftentimes complete strangers, get back on their feet."

The American Red Cross is requesting donations to help meet the massive and urgent needs. Here's how you can help.

One Foot in Front of the Other

Walking. Seems like such a simple way to derive all these benefits.

The laryngitis I described yesterday turned out to be a strain of flu not prevented by a standard flu shot. DH and I are each on a round of meds; and I'm confined to isolation for 48 hours after the fever breaks. So...I won't be going to the gym while I'm contagious, but I might sneak out for a walk around the neighborhood.

***Later***On second thought, that wasn't such a good idea. My chest really hurts now. I should have read this first:

If your symptoms are from the neck up, meaning you have sniffles, a runny nose, headache and perhaps a very mild cough, it's probably OK to perform a mild workout. The key is to make sure you have no difficulty breathing during or after a workout. Definitely cut back, though, especially if you're a type A at the gym. Experts agree that going at one third your normal pace might be the best way to proceed and if you feel worse a few hours later - give yourself a few days rest.

If you're symptoms are primarily neck down, that is you've got a deep chest cough or a fever, you should skip working out altogether until you feel much better. Chest pain means you most likely have inflamed tissue in the lungs and working out will cause an even worse inflammation. Sleep and rest are the better choice.

Happy Mardi Gras!

And if you're in a Super Tuesday state, PLEASE vote!!

Develop Right Thinking: Conscious I.D.

Strangled by a case of laryngitis today, I am more conscious of the conversations romping through my brain.

In Chapter Four of
The Ultimate Weight Solution:
The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom,Dr. Phil recommends we filter all interal dialogue
through these four questions:

1. Is the internal dialogue

TRUE?

2. Does your internal dialogue

SERVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS?

3. Does your internal dialogue

PROTECT AND ADVANCE YOUR HEALTH?

4. Is your internal dialogue

HELPING YOU ACHIEVE YOUR
WEIGHT-MANAGEMENT GOALS?

Good medicine for everyday use.

Be Blessed

John O'Donohue, 52 - an Irish poet, philosopher and author - died peacefully in his sleep on January 3 while on holiday in France. With degrees in philosophy and English literature and a Ph.D. in philosophical theology from the University of Tubingen in Germany, John was one of the most articulate voices of living Celtic Christianity and wisdom. As a way of remembering John's spirit, Carolyn Myss offers this streaming video of his 2006 appearance at CMED Institute.

For those of us on parallel paths toward wholeness, O'Donohue's words offer healing, grace, generosity and strength of spirit:

A BLESSING

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

[A selection from
Anam Cara (Gaelic for Soul Friend):
A Book of Celtic Wisdom by the late Irish poet, John O’Donohue]

BMI Oh My!

Body Mass Index (BMI), is a standard way of measuring height and weight as it relates to body fat. When I calculated mine, the results read like this:

According to the information that you provided, you fall into the Obese I classification. Therefore, your risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease is High.

Wayne Dyer, author of The Power of Intention,might argue that our physical bodies mirror the way we see ourselves. In other words, Because of My Intentions,
I look the way I do (now).

Dr. Dyer recommends we change our inner dialogue to sound like this:

"I'm headed in the direction of perfect health. I have no shame or guilt about myself or my behavior. If I choose to be a couch potato, I'll be a healthy, trim, beautiful couch potato. I love my body. I'm taking great care of it because it houses the sacred being that I am. It is my intention that whatever I eat will be converted to energy that will make by body feel vigorous and strong." (From Being In Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires.)

BMI - "Be More Intentional" - sounds like a good way to start the weekend.