Healthy You Challenge

It was easy to pick the blogger of the week because three of you emailed this post and asked that it be named blog post of the week.

As fate would have it, the wonderful Pattie who wrote this post is also celebrating her 51st birthday today! So not only would I like to say thank you to Pattie for a wonderful post, I'd like to wish her a very happy birthday!!

The post is called Yes or No? Pattie tells us she heard an expression "When you say Yes to something, you say NO to something else" How true is that? Below is the rest of Patties post but you should really head over to her blog to check it out for yourself...and wish her a happy birthday while you're over there!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Yes or No?

I heard an expression recently that keeps running through my head:

When you say YES to something, you say NO to something else.

Isn't that powerful?

For me, that expression is all about choices and consequences. Some are immediate. For instance: when I chose to go for a walk, I give up spending that time quilting. Bam! That 45 minutes is gone. Conversely, when I say YES to not exercising, I get the time to quilt, but I say NO to greater stamina and flexibility -- a more long-term consequence of my choice.

I think we all face that YES/NO question in many areas of our lives: how we use our time, how we spend our money, how we deal with our relationships, how we take care of ourselves.

If I say YES to a wonderful job I'm interviewing for this morning, I say NO to the freedom I've come to enjoy. If we say YES to giving our daughter the wedding of her dreams, we say NO to a secure retirement for ourselves. If I say YES to the choice to eat what I want, when I want it, I say NO to an active and healthy old age.

When you say YES to something, you say NO to something else.

It's all about choosing the direction we want to take in our lives. On days like today, however, I wish someone would give me a clear road map to follow!

Until next time...

Just because you are eating healthy doesn't mean you food has to be bland and flavorless. Quite the contrary! Herbs and spices are a great way to add a flavor packed punch to any dish.

A few years ago when I was first learning to cook, I was fortunate enough to have the advice of an excellent chef who told me that fresh herbs were the key to flavor. He pointed out the fresh basil that I put into the Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad that I make that everyone just raved about. People would always say the flavor was so good. One woman even told me she tried to copy my salad at home without a recipe and the flavor just wasn't the same. She asked me to review what she put in to see what she had left out and the missing ingredient was fresh basil. It blended so perfectly with salad greens that she didn't see it but she certainly tasted it.

I found an article on Spark People titled Herbs and Spices to "spark up" Your Food. It gives tips on using and storing fresh herbs and spices. There is also a chart that lists the herb or spice and the foods it will enhance.

Healthy food should never be boring!! With a little bit of effort in the kitchen, it never has to be again!

Success stories are a great motivator. Sometimes finding someone we can relate to, someone who has been in our shoes gives us hope that we can do it too.

Chubby Chick found a site that has success stories broken down by amount lost. Its called Shape Fit and honestly I haven't had time to look at the site yet but I will hopefully have some time this weekend but I wanted to share it with all of you today!

If you check it out, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

I know I say this every week but WOW, I can't believe its already week 12!! Time certainly is flying by.

So how did everyone do this week? I know that many of you celebrated the Easter holiday and faced the temptations that it brings. Several of you have been on spring break, welcome back!

Me? I have a terrible case of spring fever. The last place I want to be is in front of the computer. We've had wonderful weather here in Florida but don't worry, its headed your way very soon! With my desire to spend as little time in front of the computer as possible comes good news, you'll notice my long winded posts getting shorter and shorter!

Not only do I suffer from weak knees and frequent knee pain, I've had this problem all of my life. I have injured my knees countless times starting with the time I decided to take my older brother up on that challenge to jump my tricycle over the ramp...I was three years old.

I'm already doing exercises so why not do some specifically for avoiding knee pain. I know I'm not alone in suffering from knee pain so when I saw that headline on Spark People I jumped for joy...not good for pain free knees but still I read the article and thought it was worth sharing.

Need Pain Free Knees?

This post was nominated because the blogger shares that feeling of not fitting into places that, an experience so many of us can relate to. I know I've written a post or two about it myself.

Her blog is titled Blogging Away The Pounds, I'm gonna kick fat's butt!! and I'm sure you will Trisha!

Her post is called Facing My Fatness

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Facing My Fatness

Well, we're back home now. It was great visiting our family and watching my little girl play with the cousins she doesn't often get to see.

This trip really put me outside of my "comfort zone." (Maybe that's a good thing.) We really don't go that many places. Being fat and tired all the time probably has alot to do with that.

There was lots of eating out in restaurants, and each time I had to worry about booths. It all worked out okay, but I'll be so glad when I don't have to stress about that anymore!

Then there was one sticky moment when my sister-in-law took me to a cute and trendy little shop with narrow aisles and nooks crammed with jewelry and purses and all kinds of lovely things for the home. Not great place to go with your toddler...or if you have a big behind.

After recently reading about a truly horrifying experience in a gift shop on Escape From Obesity, I thought I was going to have my own when my butt brushed up againt a wooden sign and knocked it to the floor. I was mortified when it happened and stood there for a moment...eyes closed, wincing and waiting for more things to come crashing to the floor. Fortunately nothing broke, but the owner who was bustling about seemed alot less friendly after that little incident.

Finally, most of the time I'm used to just seeing myself from the neck up in the mirror above my bathroom sink, so the big mirror with the bright lighting over the sink in the hotel was certainly an eye opening experience. (Note to self: Big t-shirts don't hide anything. They just make you look like a big girl wearing a big shirt.)

When I see headlines like that I can't wait to open them up and see two things.

How did they do it?

How long did it take?

The common theme among almost every weight loss success story I've ever read has including eating right and exercise and doing it gradually over time. This story is no exception.

Check out the article on CNN about the woman who lost 180 pounds and went on to become a fitness instructor herself!

Jennifer Marnell Loses 180 pounds, gains celebrity status

Jennifer, you are a true inspiration to me! Thank you for sharing your story with the world.

Welcome to another wonderful week! Some of you may have noticed that I didn't post a blogger of the week on Friday and it was simply because I had limited time (spring fever) and couldn't search for a suitable post and since no one sent a nomination for blogger of the week so we skipped a week. Yes I stressed over it but then I realized none of you would want me to stress over it and so I stopped stressing

If you see a HYC team member with an outstanding post that should be featured, please email me and let me know at healthyyouchallenge at gmail dot com OR just stop over at the Scale Junkie site and leave a comment directing me to the post you want to nominate. If you have an "ah ha" moment and post something brilliant that just makes sense to others, let me know!! I do my best to get around to everyones blog but some weeks are better than others and with our growing blog list, some weeks its very difficult.

This challenge and all of you are very important to me but keep in mind I'm also just one person focused on my healthy goals too.

I've had requests for an at Goal button and buttons in kilos and stones, I'm working on those requests and hope to share them with you next week. I'm also working on making smaller NSV and Exercise buttons. Thank you for your great suggestions. If you have any more, please let me know!

Lets face it, doing the same exercise day after day, week after week would be boring, not just for you but for your body too. Its important to work a variety of muscles throughout the week.

For me getting in cardio exercise is a breeze. I walk, I have several DVD's and an exercise bike. I had a few basic strength training exercises that I did but my body was ready for more.

I mentioned a few weeks ago I tried sparkpeople.com when I was looking for a recipe calculator and once I started exploring the site, I found I really liked their food tracker too. I also started using their fitness section. I told the fitness tracker my goals and it builds workouts for me. Not only that it gives examples of what the moves should look like. Perfect for the fitness challenged like me!

So if you are in need of a bit of variety but don't know how to mix up your workout, why not check it out and see what variety you can add to your workout.

Spark People Fitness

Everywhere you look someone is proclaiming we should eat more fiber. You might have tried to increase your fiber intake quickly and felt worse rather than better. It really does need to be a gradual increase.

I won't go into the benefits of fiber in your diet, I'll let you read those for yourself if you haven't already. Instead I'll share this article I found on Spark People filled with easy common sense ways to boost your fiber intake. Its called Easy Ways to Boost Fiber Intake

I can't tell you how many blogs I've read on a Monday morning that talk about over indulgence on the weekend. People beat themselves up because they've followed their plan, counted every calorie, exercised faithfully Monday - Friday but then the weekend came along and those plans went out the window. It might not be as bad as you think.

Spark People emails tips to my mail box and this past week and I thought this would be a good one to share under the Motivation heading because lets face it, if you lose your motivation over the weekend, where does that leave you on Monday morning?

The article is called Tips for a Healthy Weekend and once you are on the sight, under the Related Content header there are some other great articles.

Wishing you a happy and healthy day!

I hope everyone has had a healthy week.

Jessica sent an email telling me all about the Biggest Loser MSN and NBC’s “Million Pound Matchup” Sweepstake. To enter you must answer 3 MSN Healthy and Fitness trivia questions. It’s a great way to get health and fitness tips and have a chance to win a great prize! You can enter daily until April 15, 2008 at http://biggestloser.msn.com/ Someone has to win, it might as well be one of us!

On a very sad note, if you have a chance to stop by Curvy Jones’ Awakening blog and offer your condolences. She lost her younger brother in a car accident over the weekend and needs all the support we can offer.

Monica from Expressing Not Stuffing has made her blog private and started a new one
The Little Engine That Could

Hanlie from Fertile Healthy has moved to:
http://www.fertilehealthy.com/blog/

I’m pleased to announce that Mrs Blubba took my challenge on Friday and started her own blog thanks to the many words of encouragement from you. I’ve added her to the links below. If you missed Friday's post, be sure to checkout the post Mrs. Blubba left on Mr. Blubba's blog.

We have a few more new people joining this week, I'm sure you'll give them a warm welcome. Please make sure your name and link are correct in the blog roll. If you aren't listed or there is a problem with your link, email me at healthyyouchallenge at gmail dot com

Welcome

The Beat of Losing

Failure to Communicate

Diets, Food, and Everyday Life!

Fate or Destiny

Making Mommy Hot

VLCD My Journey

My (not so) private pages of my life

Losing Danni

The Forty Project

Weighing in on me

Mrs. Blubba’s Blog

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If you have trouble logging into Mister Linky, let me know and I'll email instructions. I know many of us had problems logging in last week because Mister Linky's site had technical issues for about seven hours last Tuesday. I'm hoping for a smooth week! Lets get started!!

Note: Do not give or seek medical advice from your fellow Health You Challenge members. If you are curious about a diet they are following or an exercise routine they follow and think it might be right for you, you can get information from them but always check with YOUR doctor before you start a diet or exercise program.

I'm not currently a member of a gym but I had quite a few pet peeves when I was. I belonged to a womans only gym and some of my pet peeves were the women who were just there to look cute. I wore functional workout clothes, cross trainers, I pulled my hair back and I broke a sweat. I got so sick and tired of seeing the women in full make up with their hair sprayed into place with half a can of hairspray. There was one woman who wore so much perfume that you could smell her from across the room. I would have to leave because I'd start sneezing every time. There were those who were more interested in just standing around gossiping.

Now I know NONE of you would ever break any of the gym etiquette rules but why not read the article and leave some of your gym pet peeves in the comments.

On their list?
1. Be quiet.
2. Clean off the machines.
3. Be careful when handling weights.
4. Share the equipment
5. Watch your ordor.

Be sure to check out the whole article and read the reasons behind each of these comments, some aren't what you think!

This article can be found on MSN in the Health and Fitness section and its called 5 Rules of Gym Etiquette, you can read the article by clicking on the title of the article or by clicking here

You all know that Fat Man Skinny Wallet aka Blubba is a part of our challenge group but did you know that his wife, Mrs Blubba also follows along with him? Yes Blubba signed in last week to the HYC page but then later, MRS BLUBBA signed in!!

I found this post from Mrs Blubba and she needs OUR help!!

What do you think? Doesn't Mrs Blubba need her own blog? Even if she only updated it once a week? Read her post below and see for yourself!

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So, obviously, I don't post that often, because this is really Blubba's show. But I do visit here often, read and make suggestions to Blubba regarding his posts, and almost obsessively check the comments and Sitemeter. So I'm more of a "behind the scenes" participant over here at Fat Man...Skinny Wallet.

But I am coming out of the shadows briefly here, because, having read the comments obsessively, I have seen how supportive the Healthy You Challengers are to Blubba. Which is so fantastic; I can't even tell you how much I appreciate it. And I agree with all of you that Blubba is too self-denigrating about his weight loss, and I have told him as much before. I think he feels like what we've been doing isn't horribly difficult, so it must not be effective, and that any weight loss is therefore a lucky accident. Between me and all of you, we can convince him that he's working hard and seeing results.

But that kind of brings me to why I am appealing to you, HYC readers. I mentioned awhile ago that I want to lose about 20 pounds, and I've been working just as hard as Blubba. We've been working out and eating so much better over the last two weeks, and I'm so proud of us. We've been doing great! Except...well...I thought I would be seeing some results by now. Even half a pound. Something. But no, the faithful Tanita remains stuck on the same number it showed me two weeks ago. Maybe it's mad at us. But in the absence of psychological games being played by the scale, I'm left to wonder...why?

So I turn to you, HYC readers, in a craven request for a little boosting. I realize that I am not as overweight as Blubba, so I wouldn't expect to see dramatic results as quickly, but I don't think I am unrealistic in thinking that I could have seen a half a pound or pound coming off right away. Help me, HY Challengers, help me! Please give me reassurances that I'm doing the right things, and that the weight will come off! Those of you who have managed to lose the weight and get healthy (you are so my heroes, by the way!), how soon can I see some results, given that I don't have a huge amount to lose?

Thanks guys. I'm feeling a little weak today in resolve because of the lack of progress, and I hope you can help me buck up.

I jumped for joy when I read that headline. For about a year I attempted to follow a carb restricted diet. I know that some people have had success with it but it wasn't for me for so many reasons. Yet still its been a battle with my brain to reinforce that carbs are ok and not only that, certain carbs are really good for you.

My sister emailed an article she found called Nature's Fat-Burning Breakthrough and they list the 6 best fat-burning foods and explain why they are good for fat-burning. The article talks about foods that have a resistant starch, a unique kind of fiber that they assure us we'll be hearing more about.

Again, moderation is the key, all great foods have to be part of well rounded diet. Want to learn more? Just click on the link below to read the article and watch the slide show.

Chubby Chick emailed this article from CNN Health and when I read it I was blown away by this story. This is an example of what following a plan and exercise can do.

• He followed South Beach Phase 1 for two weeks, then graduated to Phase 2
• Started Exercising and kept exercising!
  
• Sought counseling to get at the mental and emotional reasons for eating.

Thank you Matt McKenna for sharing your story with CNN and the world. You are truly an inspiration for the rest of us.

If you want to read the story of how Matt lost 200 pounds in 9 months and reached his goal in just 14 months. Click on the link below!

From 500 Pounds to a New and Rewarding Life

Mister Linky experienced an outage for about 7 hours yesterday and I know many of you had a hard time logging in or weren't able to log in at all. I'm assured the problem has been fixed and you should now be able to log in. So lets regroup and refocus and get everyone logged in!

So here we are in week 9 and the start of a brand new month! A great time to recommit to your healthy eating plan and add some additional exercise! In like a lamb, out like a lion perhaps?

After last week’s long announcements, I’m going to make this short this week. Mark your calendars because this my friends, is a rarity!

I just wanted to say that we’ve had a few people drop out and a few people who are just very busy right now and can’t participate, please refer to Mister Linky to see who is active!

Remember to send any interesting articles my way and don’t forget to nominate your favorite Healthy You Team Member Post for post of the week by emailing me the link!

Welcome to our newest members!

Diet Me

Bessie

Losing Leelee

Fat to Fabulous

So how did everyone do this week? Hopefully everyone is feeling focused and ready for another fabulous week!

Just click on the Mister Linky Logo below to check in and be on the "active" list for the week!

Amy recently emailed an article they published in the library over at RNCentral titled Diet Overkill: 25 Of the Most Ridiculous (and Ineffective) Popular Diets

With a title like that I immediately thought I had tried them all or at the very least heard of them all, it turns out I hadn't. While I do agree with most of their choices there are a few on the list that I don't consider ridiculous if followed in the right context and as long as you follow the plan as written and transition.

Even thought I thought I've tried everything, I found I had only been on five of the diets on the list, some for months, some for mere hours. There were a few I'd never heard of and a few that still make my stomach churn reading about them again.

Honestly, you'll see results from any diet short term but the questions you must ask yourself include: will this work long term and will this benefit or hurt my health long term.

I would urge anyone out there who is following any diet to discuss your plan with your doctor. Only your doctor knows your medical history and what will be the best fit for your body.

So tell me, how many of these diets have you been on?