By Jamie

For the last month I have made an effort to NOT focus on my weight.  For the first time since I was 10 years old, I didn’t think about the number on the scale or the size of my pants or whether or not I was the heaviest woman in the room.  This month, I was just Jamie.  Not fat Jamie.  Not even “fat and happy” Jamie.  Just me.  And guess what?  I wasn’t turned away from playgroups, no one asked me to stop talking to them at the park, in fact, in the last month I’ve met some really cool people and hopefully began some new friendships and  it seems no one really gave a damn at all about the fact that I’m fat.  This actually is news to me because I thought that it was EVERYTHING.

As enlightening as this month has been, and as great as it is for my self esteem to separate my fat from my personality/identity, the fact of the matter still remains. I am overweight.  Though I am healthy now, I am not as healthy as I could be. 

But I don’t want to go back to being a slave to my scale. I don’t think I have to be.  I don’t think I have to even weigh myself.  If I just do what healthy people do, eat what healthy people eat, it would follow that I, too would be healthy. Right?  So what do healthy people do?

Exercise.  Of course.  But healthy people exercise for the sake of exercising.  Because it’s good for their bodies. I’ve heard healthy people actually ENJOY exercising.  When I exercise regularly for any extended period of time it is always to burn calories, to loose weight, to “earn” that cookie I want to eat after dinner.  I think, at least to start with, I need some sort of non-weight related goal to work toward.  Something that will get me working out regularly and maybe experience these mythical endorphins you healthy folks are always going on about.  This brings me back to my old goal of running in a 5k race.

I know, I know, some people are out there training for MARATHONS! And believe me, I am hugely inspired beyond belief by them. But let’s face it, I’ve got like 100 pounds on some of them and much more of me is flopping around as I do my interpretation of a jog. So to me, running a 5k race and finishing while still maintaining the ability to walk upright and breathe is nearly unthinkable.  5k might as well be 50k when I can barely manage running around a quarter mile track.

I’m going to take a page out of Linda’s book and challenge myself to do something I don’t think I can do, in fact, something I’ve failed at in the past.  I am going to work out a training schedule, I am going to lace up my running shoes, and I am going to get out there and jog with the goal of running and finishing a local 5k race this Spring.

As for eating like a healthy person, well, I know how to do that, but let’s face it, unhealthy food tastes SO GOOD!  Somehow, I need to learn how to eat healthfully just because it’s healthy.  I need to completely change my thinking about food.  Look at it as fuel for my body instead of a source of comfort.  I’m not sure exactly how to accomplish that.  I have to completely reprogram myself.  Usually when we celebrate something, like our favorite soccer team winning the MLS cup, we celebrate with food!  If we’re upset about something, like my husband losing his job, we drown our sorrow in food.  If I’m anxious about something, like will our house ever sell?  Ice cream is required. What do people who have a healthy relationship with food do?

Changing the focus from losing weight to becoming healthy is much more motivating.  Sure, I can go on a diet and I can loose a few dress sizes, but if I don’t make a real change, I’ll just end up continuing to yo yo forever.  If I take care of my body and make healthy choices and really  commit to healthy living I will be modeling a healthy lifestyle for my children and maybe they’ll never have to struggle with food issues and weight problems as they grow up and what is more motivating than that?

Article by Andrea from A New Day Rises

It’s been a year since I’ve had my baby. He’s not really a baby anymore; he’s quickly bridging the gap towards toddler.

A year ago when I was swollen and poochy, waddling around with 35 extra pounds hanging off my frame, I was consumed with the thought of wearing jeans with buttons. I swear that’s what got me through the last couple of weeks.

Jack was born six days late and nine pounds. I went home from the hospital bigger than when I came in because of all the fluids they pumped me full of. I carried a lot of worries throughout my pregnancy that I wouldn’t slim down; that somehow it wouldn’t be possible. And while I was horrified by the stretch marks that showed up after the baby was born, I was more than pleasantly surprised with how quickly my body adjusted and began shedding the weight.

A week after Jack was born I tried on a pair of jeans (size 8), two sizes larger than my typical size and they fit; just barely (meaning I could squeeze them over my thighs and rear-end and I almost suffocated trying to button them). But still, they fit and I was so encouraged. It only motivated me that much more.

By three weeks post-partum I was walking every day. (I was one of the lucky ones as far as healing goes). At six weeks post-partum I was back at the gym, pushing myself on the elliptical and lifting weights. Of the 35 pounds gained, I had about 10 pounds still to go. I wrote an article here last year with my goals for the year and they rang in my head over and over.

After the holidays I added 30 Day Shred to my work out routine because it was too cold to walk outside with the baby. That DVD kicked my ass; actually, it still kicks my ass. That hasn’t changed.

What did change and has been a life-long battle for me is making healthy food choices. I’m tall and medium-thin by nature (5’8” and 135 pounds). I’ve never wavered in my dedication to exercising, but as I thinned down and reached my pre-pregnancy weight, I stopped being careful about what I ate.

‘I’m breast-feeding’ I would tell myself. And for a while, it was fine. The exercising and overall healthy choices outweighed the poor choices, but everyday I’m loosing resolve. I’m eating Halloween candy, making pumpkin bars; dishing myself up huge portions of pasta and doing stuff I never let myself do before. The worst part is I’m done nursing. No more extra calories burned.

I’m befuddled by my blatant self-sabotaging. Because, truly I like to be strong and healthy and have my clothes fit comfortably. I think that’s why I’m motivated to ‘put it out there.’ Maybe if I have to read this post, on a public site versus just letting it role around in my brain, I’ll be a little more motivated to put the cookies down.

So, before I have 10 pounds to lose (again), I’m recommitting to healthy food choices. I’m going to continue to exercise daily and remind myself that I can always have a treat tomorrow. I don’t need one today. I think it’s going to be hard.

(Cross-posted from my group NOLA 2010 training blog.)

Thanks to a recommendation from Christine, I recently read Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, and I think you should read it too. Here’s what I wrote when I pimped it on another blog:

The Amazon blurb starts out describing this book as “Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration.” It’s an absolutely fascinating read, deeply satisfying on a number of different levels. You can simply enjoy the fast-paced story that builds up to a fifty-mile foot face made up of semi-crazed ultrarunners and a tribe of nearly superhuman Tarahumara Indians, or you can also soak up the brain-bending thesis about why we were born to run and why the current plethora of overly cushioned fancy athletic shoes is making it so hard on our bodies to do so. Finally, I can almost guarantee reading this will change how you think about running, and light a fire in your soul to get out there and give it a try.

I loved every page of this book, it was so exciting and interesting and just the perfect thing to be reading right now. I’ve always thought of running as something unpleasant that people do anyway because it’s healthy, and this book got me to begin understanding the passion behind it. The people in the book are mainly ultrarunners, and you’d think that mindset would be hard to identify with—I mean, they run hundreds of miles, on PURPOSE—but this perspective, their hardcore love for running, infused me with a newfound determination.

“…Ann insisted running was romantic, and no, of course her friends didn’t get it because they’d never broken through. For them, running was a miserable two miles motivated solely by size 6 jeans: get on the scale, get depressed, get your headphones on, and get it over with. But you can’t muscle through a five-hour run that way; you have to relax into it, like easing your body into a hot bath, until it no longer resists the shock and begins to enjoy it.”

There’s also some mesmerizing stuff in the book about how we humans were evolved to run, how we physically peak as runners at 27 but don’t start to decline until 64 (!!), and how we are designed to run without shoes.

“The deconditioned musculature in the foot is the greatest issue leading to injury, and we’ve allowed our feet to become badly deconditioned over the past twenty-five years,” Dr. Hartman said. “Pronation has become this very bad word, but it’s just the natural movement of the foot. The foot is supposed to pronate. [...] Your foot’s centerpiece is the arch, the greatest weight-bearing design ever created. The beauty of any arch is the way it gets stronger under stress; the harder you push down, the tighter its parts mesh.”

The chunky heels on Nikes were originally invented because the company’s co-founder thought runners could get a longer stride if you step ahead of your center of gravity and land on your heel, instead of the natural mid-foot strike. As more arch support and side buttressing has been added over time, the more our feet have atrophied as a result. Basically, the idea is that the more fancy your super-cushioned running shoes are, the worse they are for your feet. And the more injuries you will get as a result.

“We found pockets of people all over the globe who are still running barefoot, and what you find is that during propulsion and landing, they have far more range of motion in the foot and engage more of the toe. Their feet flex, spread, splay, and grip the surface, meaning you have less over-pronation and more distribution of pressure.”

I’m probably not going to get out there and run barefoot, but I did buy a new pair of shoes after reading this book. And you know what? I absolutely love them. They don’t look anything like my old shoes: they’re lightweight, really flexible, and I can feel my toes gripping with each stride.

(Plus, they’re practically neon red. I may look like a dork out there, but by god you’ll see me coming.)

Anyway, Born to Read is a great, great read. I highly recommend it, especially for novice runners looking for inspiration.

By Stephanie

It’s fall, and that means I’m cooking and baking with pumpkin.  So far, I’ve made pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin-seed salad.  (I recommend all but the cookies, which were possibly the most boring cookies I’ve ever made.  Huh.)  But I’m here to write about one of the best – and most unusual – ways to use pumpkin in a hearty fall meal, one that’s perfect for the day after Thanksgiving.  It’s Spicy Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce, and even my kids love it.

The recipe, from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine, calls for using leftovers of Thyme-Roasted Chicken, another Everyday Food recipe, in the enchiladas.  Instead, I use some shredded rotisserie chicken (a favorite dinner short-cut of mine) and throw in a tiny amount of fresh, chopped thyme.  I also mix a generous serving spoon or so of sour cream in with the chicken to moisten it up a little.  But since it’s Thanksgiving season, and leftover turkey will be abundant, I’d love to hear from someone who substituted that, too.

Rolling up the enchiladas takes about five minutes, and making the sauce is almost as easy (pumpkin, garlic, water, chili powder, and jalepeno).  Even better, you can assemble it up to 8 hours ahead and bake when you want it, or bake it ahead and heat up leftovers.  My husband has been known to wrap up two- or three-enchilada portions in foil, freeze them, and tote them to work for his lunch.  Here’s what they look like, just out of the oven:

And, Thanksgiving miracle, my children eat them, too (especially when I leave out the jalepeno):

So this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for pumpkin.  Obviously, I can’t get enough.  It’s full of vitamins, low in fat, and so yummy.  If you’re as obsessed (and thankful) as I am, share your favorite pumpkin recipes in the comments.  And happy (healthy) cooking and eating!

By Jennifer

I use a question mark in the title because I have a love-hate relationship with new year goals. On the one, ambitious hand, goals are good! And the new year is such a squeaky-clean fresh start that it’s nearly impossible (for me, at least) not to be romanced by the clean slate a new year brings? (It’s why I always buy a new wall calendar and new day planner. Every year. Without fail.) On the other, more realistic hand, I usually throw out the unused day planner mid-November. Well, there goes $50. Ambition meet the total absence of follow through.

So, when I say I have a goal for 2010, I know that my track record isn’t being kind to me here. I know I have to put my money where my ass is and ACCOMPLISH this goal, no matter what, or the Universe and day planner companies everywhere are going to make a running joke out of me.

I want to run a half-marathon. I know! That’s…well…lofty for someone who isn’t exactly known for her kick-ass goal-accomplishing. But, still, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. My dad was a race director my entire childhood, and I’ve always wanted to do this myself.

Where I’m struggling isn’t even with the training or the shoes (got those!) or the music (got that!) or even the motivation to turn How I Met Your Mother off and get out the door. What I’m struggling with is WHERE TO RUN THIS RACE. AND WHAT RACE TO RUN.

I’d honestly prefer NOT to run this race in my area (Dallas/Fort Worth) because 1) the weather and scenery here straight-up blow. If I’m going to do this, I want to do it somewhere I’ll enjoy being and 2) I want to reward myself with a couple extra days out of town on the tail-end of the race.

Runners, is this silly? Planning a run out of town? Where I won’t have any experience with the terrain? The conditions? The course? Is this not just silly but, uh, stupid, too?

What’s more, where on earth is there a one-stop place for nationwide race information? I’d love to aim for fall, somewhere not-too-cold, not-too-hot. But…I’m just at a loss.

I’d really love to pay for this race now because nothing motivates me (not my weight, not my too-small clothes) like money. If I’ve paid for something, I’m far more likely to get my money’s worth.

I could use all the advice here that you have. Tips, websites, resources, etc.