Dealing with the elephant in the room

I'm reading a book.

You're shocked, I know.

I mean, I never get any healthy lifestyle ideas from a book. *scoff* Ok, so I get pretty much ALL my tips from books, but this book just about rocked me out of this world. It's called The Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard by Dan and Chip Heath. I cannot express to you how awesome this book is. Basically, if you're trying to convince someone (even yourself!) to do something, this book tells you how to do it. It teaches you how to motivate others (or, again, yourself) to do something and do it successfully. When it comes to being healthy, that's information we could all use right? I mean, it's easy to say, "I want to eat better", but hard to actually get yourself to stop eating ice cream. And if you do manage to stop eat ice cream, it's harder to keep up that change past the first few times you really crave some Moose Tracks.

We've all experienced failure- the exercise program that didn't last past the first 2 workouts or the healthy diet that lasted 3 weeks tops. Often failure is preceded by lack of motivation- we wanted something, but we couldn't motivate ourselves enough to make a change last. Well, maybe it's not a matter of how much you motivate yourself, but HOW you motivate yourself. Hold onto that thought, I'm about to blow your mind with some common sense.

In our mind, there are two very important characters- the elephant and his rider. The Switch says that the rider is sitting up high on the elephant and can see the path they are going down. He can see the end result and pushes the elephant to get there. The elephant trusts the rider enough to go along with his plan for a little while. But remember, the elephant is strong. If the elephant isn't motivated or doesn't want to continue down the rider's designated path, he can easily throw the rider off and run his own way. That's why some diets and workout programs last for just a few weeks. Think of the rider as your mind and the elephant as your emotions. Your mind sees the end result- a healthier you. It convinces your emotions that the end result is worth it. And so you all begin down the path to healthiness. But then the first craving for ice cream comes. Your mind (the rider) can keep your body (the elephant) in check for a little bit. But with each passing craving being worse than the next, the elephant gets harder to control. Finally, the craving gets so bad that it's no longer worth it to the elephant. His emotions take control, he turns around, and rushes to the nearest ice cream field. The rider is helpless at this point- there's nothing he can do about it.

Are you feeling helpless yet? Feeling like no matter what you do, you can never control your elephant enough to make a permanent healthy change? Don't give up. There is a giant key to controlling the elephant- you have to use his emotions to your benefit. You can't use logic to control the elephant. Remember, logic only works on him for the first little while until his natural impulses take over. Logic motivates the rider. Emotions motivate the elephant. And unless the rider AND the elephant are motivated, you're not getting anywhere.

Here's what a typical conversation would look like between the rider and the elephant:
Rider- "We want to be in shape. To do this we'll need to start exercising."
Elephant- "Why should we exercise?" 
Rider- "It will decrease our chances of getting heart disease and type II diabetes. Also, we'll look fantastic!"
Elephant- "Ok, sounds good to me."
The day after the first workout...
Rider- "Come on elephant, get up. It's time to hit the gym again."
Elephant- "Are you kidding?! My whole body hurts. I feel worse now than when I wasn't exercising. It's just not worth the pain."
End of exercise regimen

What was the problem with the above situation? Well, the rider was motivated because he saw the logic and benefits to exercising. He also saw the end results of a successful exercise program. But after a hard workout, the elephant didn't care about what logically made sense. He was tired, grumpy, and wanted to do what was easiest for him. He needed to have emotional motivation. Our emotions are so strong that they can convince us to do things that are hard. They keep that emotional elephant motivated and on course.

Think about The Biggest Loser tv show. A couple weeks into the program, the competitors are exhausted, tired, and feeling very down on themselves. They see that they are losing weight, but even that's not very motivating anymore. They would do anything to have their trainers give them a break. So what do the trainers do? Give them letters from home. After not seeing or hearing from their family in weeks, a simple letter of encouragement brings these 300-lb men and women to their knees in tears. After reading these letters from home, all of sudden, they are ready to get back to work. What made the difference? Emotions.

Here's another example. I'm sure you guys have seen this picture before:
Trainers of weight loss programs will have their clients see, feel, and hold what a pound of fat looks like. Why? Because their clients look at it and think, "Wow!! If I lose one pound, I lose all of that?! That's incredible!" Any kind of "wow" reaction is an emotional response. In this case, the clients are wow-ed because losing a single pound never seemed like a big deal before. But "Wow", look at all that fat I lost! That creates emotion and excitement. It keeps them motivated.

Here's a very personal example of an emotional response I had to health. I was working in the hospital as a nursing student. One of my patients was a woman who clearly had not taken care of herself. She was very overweight and unhealthy. While I was working in her room, she had a heart attack. Right in front of my eyes. The rescue response team frantically started CPR and started shooting doses of medication into her IV. I will never ever forget the sight of her limp body being rocked up and down by the CPR. Nor the look on her daughter's face when she came into the room and screamed, "What is happening to my mom?!" This woman did recover from the heart attack. But the CPR had cracked a couple of her ribs, which had punctured her lungs. As a result, she had to undergo minor surgery to get some chest tubes put in. As I was watching all of this happen, I was terrified and horrified. I thought over and over, "I will never let this happen to myself, I will never let this happen to my family, I will never let this happen to people that I care about." I had a huge emotional response to this event. And the result is that I am still a huge advocate for healthy lifestyle behaviors. I am still trying to protect other people from suffering the same fate as that woman.

So what about you? Not all of can witness a heart attack (although I wish everyone could. It really would change their lives and perspectives. I mean no disrespect to those who know someone that's suffered from a heart attack). How are you going to motivate your elephant? Find something that triggers your emotions. Are you trying to get in shape so that you'll be able to play with your kids? Family bonds create very powerful emotions, so they are good to use for motivation. You could also find your own "wow" factor. I've heard of people putting pebbles in a jar, where each pebble represents a pound the person wants to lose. As they start losing pounds, they take pebbles out of the jar. As they see the jar becoming more and more empty, they think, "Wow, this is really happening!" Are you trying to be healthy to prevent or treat a medical condition? Watch a video about how people live with disease that could've been prevented by making healthy changes. Or write a list of things you won't get to see or do if you die 10 years earlier than you plan. I know it's a terrible, sad thought. But because it's so emotional, it will help you to change.

Basically, figure out why you want to change. Then find something that triggers your emotions and use it to keep you motivated. You will probably have to use it more than one time or continue to find new emotional triggers to keep you going. But emotion is the key to keeping that elephant happy and plodding down the road you choose.

Healthy in the 3rd trimester

You've now made it through two healthy trimesters of pregnancy with me. I now lead you into the third, but not final, chapter of this period. Why do I say that the third trimester is not the final chapter of pregnancy health? Well, because the final chapter comes after you've delivered baby and are trying to get back to pre-baby weight and health.

My plan for this third trimester post was to write it when I was about 36 weeks along. However, my baby girl decided to surprise me by coming 5 weeks early! So although I don't have experience with healthy habits in the very last weeks of pregnancy, I can tell you everything I did up to 35 weeks. And I think you'll find that it probably applies to weeks 36-40 as well.

Eating- the cravings return
So remember my 1st trimester post when I talked about cravings? In case you've forgotten, true cravings are a way for your body to tell you that you need something particular in your diet. When you are experiencing something like this, it's important to give in. Your body knows what your baby needs better than you do! So it shouldn't surprise you that in the final weeks of my pregnancy, I was craving diary products like mad. Diary products contain plenty of fat. Fat is what your adorable little alien needs in this last trimester. It's the last thing to get before delivery time. When giving in to cravings, it's important to do it in a healthy way. So you can either limit the amount you eat or choose a healthy version of what you crave. So with dairy, I chose to eat the healthier products I knew of. So that means I was eating a lot of Greek yogurt with fruit, drinking low fat milk, and eating a few slices of cheese with crackers. I was not loading up on the ice cream or eating cookies with my milk. However, I know that sometimes if you get a specific craving (like ice cream), it does not go away, even with a healthy version. If this is your predicament, it's best to have the item you crave, but in little amounts. Don't eat a whole bowl of ice cream. Satisfy your craving with a few bites. Although I'm just talking about dairy products here, it applies to all types of cravings.

Exercising- my body hurts
Towards the end of the second trimester, I ran into a problem with my exercise regimen. My body hurt. I developed a pelvic pain that grew to be so intense that I couldn't move. Walking for more than 5 minutes nearly killed me. So what could I do? Running and Zumba were definitely out the window. My doctor suggested more yoga, so I tried that. I cannot even begin to tell you how much yoga helped my body. Not only did it help with the pelvic pain, but my chronic back pain almost disappeared. PLUS, when my sister came to visit, she mentioned randomly, "Dana, you have great posture! Have you been doing anything differently?" Coming from a former ballerina, this compliment had me floating on Cloud 9 for a week! All throughout my third trimester, yoga was the only type of exercise I could participate in. So I did it for an hour every single day. So if high-intensity workouts aren't your thing when you're pregnant, I highly suggest yoga as a form of exercise. You'll want to do a pre-natal yoga class, since some of the positions in regular yoga can be harmful to the baby. Since I'm poor, I used YouTube to find prenatal yoga videos. My favorites were Prenatal Kundalini Yoga with Sarah Kamrath and Prenatal Yoga Routine- Lara Dutta.

Exercising- I am sooooooo tired
Third trimester is exhausting, with a capital E. Most days I felt like a slug. Combine this with my awful pain and I was basically cut out to be a couch potato. But the key to exercising in this terrible phase is finding the time your body feels best and exercising then. For example, during the day I was basically half-awake all the time. I took several naps that would put any infant to shame. However, because I slept during the day, night-time is when I was most alert. So I did my yoga routine every night after I put my son to bed. Giving yourself a specific time and place to exercise will help keep you dedicated, even if you don't want to do it sometimes. And it became routine around our house that I would do yoga while watching TV with Dave (I would watch the yoga video on my iPhone while watching a TV show on our big screen. I know, we're so tech savvy).

Return of the morning sickness
I've heard of women getting morning sickness again in their third trimester, bless their hearts. I didn't think it would happen to me...but I was overconfident. For about 2 weeks in my third trimester, the morning sickness came back. The same rules apply to morning sickness whether you're in the 1st trimester or in the 3rd. 1) Don't try to eat food that will make you sick. If a certain food with nutrients makes you want to puke, try to get nutrients another way. Your body won't get those vitamins and minerals if you're throwing them up in the toilet later. If you're hating veggies, eat more fruit or find a way to hide the veggies in food (like juice or smoothies). And vice versa for fruit or any other nutrient-dense food. 2) Morning sickness usually has a routine time it comes about, so plan your exercising for times in the day when you aren't sick. If you're literally sick all the time, don't stress about exercising. Take care of your body first.

Third trimester stats
Energy level
         1st pregnancy- waaaaay down. Tired all the time
         2nd pregnancy- waaaaaay down. I thought having a consistent exercise regimen would help this aspect of pregnancy. However, no amount of exercise affected how tired I felt. In a way, it was disappointing that regular exercise didn't give me more energy. But it's also a good thing because more exercise wouldn't make me feel more tired. 

Bodily appearance
         1st pregnancy- By this point I looked like I was related to a balloon. Areas that appeared swollen- face, arms, legs, and butt. 
         2nd pregnancy- I had people tell me that besides my growing belly, I didn't look pregnant at all. I also still fit into my pre-pregnancy pants as long as I wore a belly band. My arms were actually more muscular than before I got pregnant, I think because of all the yoga. And although my belly was big, it is noticeably smaller than my 1st pregnancy belly.

Weight
         1st pregnancy- at 32 week check-up, I had gained 45 lbs.
         2nd pregnancy- at 33 week check-up, I had gained 16 lbs. Whooo-eeeee! That's a difference huh? For me, this was the real test of being healthy during pregnancy. I knew that with my 1st kid, I had gained more weight than necessary for having a baby. So I wanted to determine if I just had the kind of body that put on lots of weight when I got pregnant OR if living a healthy lifestyle would mean I gained less weight. As it turns out, my body type was not to blame for my 1st pregnancy weight gain, but my lifestyle habits were. Because this pregnancy, I gained significantly less weight, but still had a very healthy baby who also had a healthy weight. 

And if you remember correctly, I did promise a comparison photo between my 1st and 2nd pregnancy. So here it is! The first photo is of me at 36 weeks. The second photo is of me at 34 weeks. Ideally, I would have taken a photo of me at 36 weeks with the second kid, but since she came so early, it would have been a picture of me after giving birth. Not exactly a fair comparison. So I did the best I could. I don't know if you can tell the difference, but I definitely can! And most importantly, I felt different this second healthier time around.

Eating healthy on vacation

Here's one of the things I hate about taking a vacation (actually, it's probably the only thing. Seriously, who hates a good vacation?)- missing my refrigerator. Whether I'm at a relative's house or at a hotel, it seems that there is no good substitution for all the healthy foods I have stored back home. And normally taking vacations means long road trips or airports, which means lots of fast food stops. So somehow, this vacation that was supposed to make me feel great turned into a long period where I'm feeling icky from all of the fatty and sweet food. Well, the good thing is that my family travels A LOT. When I say a lot, I mean that if we haven't been out of town in a month, we start getting antsy. So with all of this traveling that we do, I have found lots of ways to keep healthy during our vacations and would love to share them with you. So I invite you to take a journey with me to the Land of Healthy Habits While on Vacation.

Let's begin with the traveling portion of our journey, shall we? Planning and preparing is essential to eating healthy on the road. Who says that you need that you need junk food to make traveling worth while? Well, I guess I said that in college. In fact, that's often what made a road trip fun for me- seeing all the gummy worms, energy drinks, Doritos, and chocolate you could fit into one car. But when I started living healthier, all those items weren't fun for me anymore. In fact, they made me sick because I wasn't used to eating them anymore. And raise your hand if you like being sick in a car. So I decided that I would need to pack healthier snacks when traveling. Now, it's hard to pack a ton of produce when you're going to be traveling for several hours- it will often go bad before you can get around to eating it. But never fear! I have found many healthy snacks that will last you many hours in an airport or in a car. Here are some of my family's favorites:
- Craisins or raisins
- Apples and oranges (they last forever and don't need to stay cold)
- Nuts, trail mix
- Fruit leather (I prefer the homemade kind!)
- Bananas
- Any other kind of dried fruit
- Air popped popcorn
- Whole grain crackers or breakfast cereals

When it comes to mealtime though, your selection gets a lot trickier. Sure, you can pack a healthy sandwich for your first traveling meal, but if you're going to be on the road for days it's not exactly realistic. And I am all about being realistic when it comes to eating healthy. So yes, you are probably going to need to stop at a McDonald's or Taco Bell, especially if you're going through the Midwest where there are very limited options for eating. But, here is the good news and it won't be a surprise to you- there are healthy options on fast food menus. So opt for the salad instead of the burger, the apples instead of the fries, and the yogurt and fruit instead of the milkshake. I know you all have seen these items at your favorite fast food restaurant. But speaking of being realistic, you can't expect to eat a salad every meal of the traveling day. BORING! I certainly wouldn't expect that of myself even. You're going to get a hamburger now and then, and it's ok! But be choosy and try limiting the amount of unhealthy things you eat. For example, if you get a cheeseburger, then don't get the fries with it.

The other thing I can suggest to bring for long traveling days is lots and lots and lots and lots of water. It will keep you from being tempted to order sodas and juices. And when you have water, you certainly don't need energy drinks. Your bladder's warning signs will be enough to keep you plenty awake!

Now what about when you arrive at your destination? Things can get a little tricky. If you're staying at a hotel, you are probably going to eat out a lot. What I say to this is "make smart choices." I know it sounds cliche, but its as blunt as I can get. Eat out where you know there is a healthier menu. And once again, if your options are few, limit the portions of unhealthy foods you eat. And if you can, find a grocery store and pack that mini fridge full of fruits, veggies, and other healthy snacks for you to munch on during the day.

If you are staying with a relative or friend, it could get a little awkward. You don't always want to go out and buy a bunch of healthy groceries and risk offending them. So what I do is that I offer to help with meal making. And after all, it's the least I can do for free room and board, right? I can put together a nice side of vegetables, fruit salad for dessert, or even make the whole dang meal healthy. And I have never once offended or heard complaint from my friends when I do this. And the great thing is that when I plan to help with the cooking, I usually have to go out and buy a bunch of ingredients anyway. So if I'm making salad, I usually buy a few more vegetables than I need. That way I can eat the veggies I didn't use in my salad later on in the week. I also slip a few healthy snacks into the grocery cart while I'm there. I know, you all are jealous of my stealthiness...

The one healthy thing we haven't talked about for vacationing is exercise. I feel like this habit is actually easier to keep when you're staying at a hotel. Most of them have gyms. But if you dont' have this luxury on your trip, here is the best advice I can give- just keep moving. If you're at a beach, go swimming or try surfing. If you're at a national park, you know you're going to do a lot of hiking! If you're at a lake, break out the kayaks and canoes. And if you're at a place like Disneyland, chances are you'll do more walking than you realize. But what if you're just visiting relatives in North Dakota where there is NOTHING around? Keep moving and get them moving. My husband's family loves to play board games when they get together, which can be fun. But it's not very active. But my family is a younger crowd (my littlest brother is only 10), so we often have to plan outdoor activities to keep everyone from getting bored. We usually end up playing capture the flag, hide and go seek, or football. If you plan an activity like this once a day, you'll be golden and keep yourself in shape. I always seem to run a little faster and play a little harder when it's with family anyway. And whenever we play these outdoor games with Dave's family, it feels like we're bonding a little more than we would if we'd kept sitting around the table.

So you should feel all set to go on vacation now! Speaking of which, I have my own family coming to visit this week to get ready for... See all you fellow travelers later!

Special feature: Why those Pinterest workouts might not work for you

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a fantastic summer so far. I am, well...8 1/2 months pregnant, so I'm just trying to get through it. But hopefully you are all taking advantage of the beautiful weather, going outside, and being active!

This health blog has some pretty big news: we are moving! Kind of. My sister, who is an Exercise and Wellness major from BYU, has agreed to partner with me on a health website that we'll be launching at the end of the summer. We will let you know when we have a more specific start date. This website will be all about us helping you to be a healthier individual. We will have workout videos, recipes, more candid blog posts, and tons of helpful tips to get you started living better...get excited!!! It's going to be rad! Wait, does anybody say "rad" anymore? Ok, it's going to be FANTASTIC!

So today, this blog post will feature an article written by my sister, Kelly Matsunaga. I love her funny writing style and blunt honesty. I think you will too. Not only that, but she is an expert when it comes to exercise and definitely has the background experience to talk about it. In this article, she talks about the myth of spot reduction, which is the idea that you work out a certain part of your body to lose fat there. So, for example, doing arm exercises to lose flabby arms. I see those kind of things on Pinterest all the time and it drives me c-r-a-z-y. Allow me to allow Kelly to explain why. Enjoy her wisdom, I always do!

"I always crack up when I see workout videos on youtube titled “Four ab exercises to burn belly fat” or “get rid of flabby arms with these arm exercises”. HA!......HA! I never click on these videos because the instructors have no idea what they are talking about. But let me educate you so that you will be wise to their ways. Today, we are talking spot reduction. Spot reduction is the idea that you can burn the fat on one part of your body (hips, butt, under arms) by doing specific exercises that target that body part. For example, to burn belly fat you do sit-ups/crunches, to get rid of jiggly arms you workout your triceps (muscle in back of arm). I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but spot reduction is a myth. Don’t feel bad. I fell for it in high school too. I remember I would always do butt exercises when I thought it looked too big. I would think “It’s exercise so it must work”, right? WRONG!!!!!!! Doing target exercises on a specific part of the body like this will NOT reduce any amount of the fat there. What you are doing with these exercises is building muscle, which is good. Strong muscles are important for optimal health and functionality. However, people who solely rely on these toning exercises are simply building muscle under their fatty tissue. I know, I know. This can be depressing news. It was to me. But guess what?! There IS a type of exercise to burn that body fat and the answer is....

CARDIO!

I am guessing that most of you aren’t jumping up and down in your chair right now. This may be because you know that cardio exercise, at least in my opinion, is way harder than toning exercise. Then again, some of you might not know the difference, and some of you might not even know what cardio is. Here is your exercise 101 crash course:

There are two types of exercises. One is cardio (aerobic) and the other is strength training (anaerobic or toning). Strength training is the stuff I mentioned above such as lifting weights, doing calf raises, squats, ab exercises, etc. It is exercise that is designed to build strong muscles by putting them under stress and making them lift weight (actual weights or body weight). Cardio, on the other hand, is strenuous on your heart and lungs. It is the type of exercise that makes you breathe hard and gets your heart pumping a lot. Usually, cardio will make you sweaty, and it will be hard to talk and breathe comfortably. Some examples of cardio exercises are running, jump rope, swimming, dancing, and cycling.  (Click here for more cardio exercises)

The great thing about cardio is that it is great for weight loss, because this is the type of exercise that burns calories. Calories are basically energy from food that can be stored in our body as fat, which is a good thing unless you store too much. Burning these calories is the key to weight loss, and cardio exercise is the BOMB for burning calories. Toning exercises, not so much.  I know what some of you are thinking. Yes, strengthening exercise burns some calories, but not nearly as much as cardio. For example, you would have to do 100 crunches just to burn 5-10 puny calories, whereas you can burn 100 calories by running for 9 minutes! See my point?

So, back to spot reduction, the only way to burn that belly fat, (through exercise) is by doing cardio. If you are trying to lose weight on any part of your body, this is the answer. Unfortunately, this means that we can’t be choosy about which part of our body will lose the fat. We can’t declare “Today, I will use cardio to burn my booty!”, even though that would be totally awesome. Some parts of your body will just lose the weight faster than others, and this is mostly determined by genetics. You may notice your tummy, hips, thighs, or butt getting smaller sooner than other body parts as you begin to lose weight. But don’t despair, if you commit to a good workout plan and stick with it, you will eventually lose weight throughout your whole body.

Just a side note, this does not mean that strength training is not important! It’s still great for your body to do the squats and bicep curls. I actually recommend strength training twice a week. That way you will have strong, toned muscles to show off after losing weight.

One last thing.

You should love your body. No matter your shape, color, or size, you should love it. It is such a beautiful gift that we have and allows us to do so many things and have wonderful experiences. In society today we always wish we could nip & tuck certain parts of our body because we compare ourselves to airbrushed models and computer images that aren’t real. I guess this is why people advertise the “spot reduction” so much. But there is no need for this. If I could change one thing in this world, it would be to help people see how truly beautiful they are, no matter what they look like. With this said, it’s important to exercise and its ok to want to look your best, but don’t be a perfectionist with your body. My body has inherited genetic traits that the world says aren’t attractive, and it used to really get me down because I felt like I never looked right. But we are all different. Some of us have bigger butts, some have flat chests, some have long arms, some are short, and some have wider hips. We just can’t control a lot of these things. So take a deep breath, enjoy that amazing body you have, and love it because its yours :)

Also, you should put this quote in your bathroom like I did, “They say that you are what you eat. That’s funny. I don’t remember eating any sexy beasts this morning.” "

Overcoming (food) addiction like a boss

We all know him when we see him- that devilish imp that practically leaps at us from the shelf at the grocery store or in the check-out line. He comes in the form of potato chips, snickerdoodles, root beer, Skittles, danishes, and extra-buttery popcorn. He is... your food addiction.

For me, this devilish imp came in the form of Diet Coke. More about that in a minute. Let me get back to the topic of food addiction. Don't be ashamed to admit if you have one. In fact, maybe we should call it a food weakness instead of addiction. Because we all have a weakness for at least one food item that isn't healthy for us. If you don't, you may not be human. Your food weakness is one that is particularly hard for you, as an individual, to resist. It keeps ending up in your grocery cart and in your home, even when you know it's not good for you.

It's ok to have this food weakness. It means you're normal. But like all good addictions, they must be curbed and limited. Let me tell you how I did that with Diet Coke.

The beginning of my story features a very pregnant me job hunting. I wound up working for Chick-fil-A where I quickly learned that all employees get a free meal and free drinks during a shift. Haha, that was so not good for me. I knew that I already had a weakness for Diet Coke. In fact, in high school it was a huge joke that I was so in love with this drink. I even bought a Diet Coke ornament for my Christmas tree. And so my new unlimited supply at work was like a dream come true. But it had me quickly addicted. Every day I was drinking at least two 24 oz Diet Coke. And the sad thing is that I couldn't get enough of it at work. I started bringing it home from my grocery shopping trips.

This was NOT the kind of habit that I wanted in my pregnancy. I hate being addicted to things. It makes me feel so weak that I need a certain item to be happy. I like having the freedom of saying, "No!" But with Diet Coke, I just couldn't sum up that two-letter word.

Hopefully by now you can all relate to my situation. So what do you do when you're stuck with a food addiction or food weakness? There are 2 options to choose from.

1) The Little-by-Little Elimination Option
This is the option I chose when I decided to break up with Diet Coke. It is the one I would recommend you trying first. In this option, you look at how much of your food weakness you are consuming and cut back little by little. So I knew that I was drinking at least 2 Diet Coke drinks every shift at work. So I decided to cut back to one per shift. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was still a little sacrifice every day. The next week I cut back to half a drink per shift. Soon I was going every other shift without needing the soda. And eventually I was able to break the bad habit and go completely without Diet Coke in my life!

2) The Cold Turkey Option
This is the option for you if you're tried and tried and tried to break up with your food love, but it keeps coming back for more. Here you give up your food weakness all in one go. Instead of cutting back slowly, you cut it off entirely. It's like ripping off a band-aid! It may hurt, it may really suck at first, but in a few weeks the cravings will stop and you will be addiction free.

So now you have to decide, based on your personality and mentality, which option is the best for you. Most people prefer the little-by-little because it's hard to handle the cravings that come with the cold turkey option. I mean, if you're been eating rocky road ice cream every night for the past year, after giving it up for a few nights, the cravings tend to drive you a little crazy, you give into them and eat a whole gallon. With little-by-little you still have cravings, but not as intense because you're still giving your body that food. I guess it's like a nicotine patch. But I have heard great things from those who try the cold turkey option. It works great for people who need that finality, that closure of getting rid of their weakness for good. For example, I have a family member that gave up processed sugar overnight. She said she knew herself well enough, that she couldn't just limit herself to one brownie or cookie. One taste of it and she had to have the whole pan. So cold turkey was the best option to stop herself completely.

Keep in mind that once you break your bad habit, it's ok to indulge in your food weakness every once in a while. Even I had the occasional drink of Diet Coke, especially when we would eat out on special occasions. Just don't let yourself get back to that point where it's constantly in your cupboards and in your stomach. Make it a treat, something to really savor when you have it.

Now we come to the close of my Diet Coke story (no, it's not ended yet). It's 3 years later, I'm pregnant with my second child, and I'm sitting on my computer doing school work. I haven't had a Diet Coke in quite a while, but I was starting to fall asleep and needed a little something to wake me up. I ran to the store, grabbed my former love, drank it while I finished the assignment, then promptly went to bed. About 5 hours later, in the wee morning hours, I awoke with such a horrible stomach pain, I thought I was going into early labor. It took a few hours, but finally subsided. It felt like I had died and come back from the dead. A few months later, this same sickness came again, only this time it was a result of drinking Diet Coke at a restaurant the night before. My system can no longer handle the drink because I've gone for so long without it. It's a little bitter sweet knowing that my previously favorite drink will no longer be in my life. But you know what? I'm ok with it because I know that it's better not to have it anyway, even if only on occasion. And if something is making you that sick, you KNOW it's your body telling you, "That's disgusting, we really didn't need that by the way!"

If one particular food has kept popping into your mind while reading this post, making you feel guilty, you know what you need to do. There is just one decision to make: Little-by-little or cold turkey? The answer to that question will get you to a healthier place and give you blissful freedom from food addiction. Break the bond! Go in peace my friend.

Thoughts on stomach surgery

Remember that one blog post I wrote...a long time ago...that said I have very strong opinions and hope you all don't get offended by them? Well this is going to be one of those posts, so you've been forewarned.

Here's what's on my mind. Stomach surgery. I'm talking gastric bypass, lap-band, basically anything that includes using a knife to decrease your stomach size. It's not that I'm anti-surgery (nursing student, remember?) I think surgery is absolutely useful and incredibly beneficial to many people. However, stomach surgery is the one that makes me cringe a little bit and I'll tell you why. I think it's becoming over-recommended and over-used as a weapon in the war against obesity. Exhibit A: I had just finished a work out and was getting cleaned up. On the TV in the locker room, was a news report promoting stomach surgery for adolescents. Wait, wait, wait, back up. Is a news channel actually encouraging obese adolescents to get stomach surgery rather than use diet and exercise? I did a double take. Unfortunately, my ears had not deceived me.

So my issue with the stomach surgery thing is that it all comes back to a focus on weight. Teenage girls are tortured in high school if they are too heavy. Overweight adults have  health issues that doctors all attribute back to their BMI and obesity. The recommendation? Lose weight. So some people turn to gastric surgery. It makes sense when you think about it initially. Cut down your stomach size so you eat less and your body learns to fill up on less food. It's a great concept and it does work. But what are we telling people when we promote this idea? We're telling them that overweight equals unhealthy. So to lose weight, get surgery done. But will that fix a high cholesterol level? Will that lower your blood pressure or get rid of your diabetes? Will that get you exercising every day?

Folks, obesity here is not the issue. Overweight does not equal unhealthy. I knew plenty of overweight people in my college days that exercised way more than I did and ate a much healthier diet (back in those dark days, my diet consisted of chocolate bread and Velveeta mac n' cheese. Yes, there is such a thing as chocolate bread). But I was blessed with a super high metabolism, so I could eat whatever I wanted. But just because I was skinnier, did not mean I was healthier. Yet, many people do not deem that as true. We are a particularly superficial society that has become notorious for judging people's health based on their weight and appearance. So obese people get called unhealthy by others who have no idea what their lifestyle is actually like. And doctors resort to using obesity as an explanation for health conditions. Now, don't get me wrong, obesity is a risk factor for nearly every chronic condition I can think of. But it is the weight that is the problem? I think it has to do more with the food you are eating, the exercising (or lack of) you are getting, and the amount of fat your body has.

So when doctors recommend surgery as a solution for weight loss, they are ignoring the major issue- that it is the lifestyle that matters, not the BMI! As a society, we need to change the view that "obesity=unhealthy and bad". We need to embrace that people can be healthy at different sizes, even bigger sizes. If you are eating a healthy diet (low fat, moderate amount of carbs, tons of produce) and exercising daily, no one has a right to tell you that you are unhealthy. And I think that it all starts with health professionals. If doctors and nurses have the mindset that all overweight patients are unhealthy, it only reinforces the negative connotation society has with obesity. And if surgery for weight-loss is what they're recommending, they are neglecting to solve the underlying need for lifestyle change.

So while gastric surgery has been incredibly beneficial for people who want to lose weight, I think it sends the wrong idea to our nation- that as long as you lose weight (no matter how), you can be healthy. And that is simply the wrong approach.

Now of course, obesity is a serious issue in the US right now. And often it does mean that there are behavioral and lifestyle changes that need to happen. I'm not trying to say that there shouldn't be a war on obesity. I'm trying to say that let's not lose focus on what the actual issues are- unhealthy diets and lack of exercise. Just by losing weight, you do not fix those problems. And I am just as guilty as the next guy for judging people based on outward appearance. Sometimes I fight the war on obesity too much, rather than the war on unhealthy lifestyles. But in my career, I am attempting to change my ways and solve the issue underlying the weight.

I realize I'm very strongly opinionated about this, but I would still love to hear your opinion and thoughts. Are we as a society stressing the importance of weight loss too much, to the point of using surgery as a quick fix? Have we forgotten what unhealthy really means? Are we too judgmental of others based on how they look? Please, don't be intimidated by me. Share your two cents!

Healthy in the 2nd trimester, like a boss

I am so happy! Weather is starting to finally warm up and when I walked into the grocery store yesterday, guess what I saw?? Watermelons, cantaloupes, corn, peaches, and more of my favorite summertime produce! It's still the beginning of the season, so prices are a little high and the products are a little small, but it won't be much longer before they are ripe, cheap, and ready for consumption. I have had a particular craving for fresh peaches with this pregnancy and in a few weeks I'll finally be satisfying it. Hurray!

Speaking of pregnancy, did I mention that my second trimester is now OVER? Hallelujah, I'm in the final stretch of this thing. I have had so many unexpected obstacles to staying healthy in this trimester. There's been a lot of trial and error, but I am eager to share my successes and tricks with all of you today. I apologize ahead of time if some of the information is TMI (and also if you're male and reading this). But I did promise that I would be completely honest with you all, a commitment I intend to keep. And who knows, maybe some of you are experiencing these problems (or will in future), but have been too embarrassed to ask someone else about it. Allow me to be embarrassing for you!

Sciatic Pain/Round Ligament Pain
I could not believe this but I started experiencing sciatic pain around week 14! I thought that surely this was some kind of cruel joke nature was playing on me, but it was for real. I hurt. For those of you who are lucky enough to have skipped this unpleasant sensation, allow me to briefly describe it to you. Sciatic pain is sharp, fierce pain felt in the lower back, from a pinched nerve in that area. Imagine the area just above your butt feeling like it's on fire. That's sciatic pain.

Round ligament pain set in shortly after that. I had never experienced this before, so I wasn't sure what to

think about it at first. Imagine wearing a bikini bottom and feeling sharp pain or pulling along the front borders of it- the area where your leg meets your core and/or in front of your pelvis. It usually just lasts for a few minutes. I started getting this pain during or after exercising. But I know some people getting after staying in one position for a while and then moving suddenly. Depends on who you are I guess.




Anyway, as you can imagine, it's hard to exercise when you're constantly in pain. And then I heard of this wonderful invention (thanks to my doc). It's called a maternity belt. Basically, it's fabric that you velcro under your abdomen. It supports those ligaments as well as the extra "belly" you're carrying around. You can find them around $30 on Amazon. I finally took the plunge and bought one (the Gabrialla kind, but I don't think it really matters what brand you get). The results were amazing! No pain during exercise or after. What a huge relief.

The other intervention that made a huge difference was yoga. If you remember from my 1st trimester post, I was doing half an hour of yoga once a week. Then when my doctor told me that yoga really helps with sciatic and round ligament pain, I started doing it every single day. It took a few weeks, but since doing it consistently, my pains are completely GONE! Now I can't start my mornings without completing a yoga routine. And not only has it helped with my pregnancy pains, but it does wonders for my spine. I feel so completely refreshed and stretched out after doing yoga.

Incontinence-
This is the part of my pregnancy that gets a little uncomfortable discussing. I noticed around week 16 that I was starting to dribble urine a little during running and zumba classes. It was only a little bit, but still quite embarrassing (especially when I'm teaching the class!) I learned that Kegel exercises help strengthen the muscles that are in charge of releasing urine, so I started doing those. But it takes about a month of solidly doing Kegels every day before you start to see results. I taught Zumba every week! So I started doing the Kegels, but also picked up a pack of incontinence pads at Target. They are basically like pads you wear during your period, but thicker and more absorbent. I wore them during my runs and zumba workouts and never had to worry about my little problem showing on my pants again. If this is a problem you're experiencing, don't let it keep you from working out. The pads are a simple solution. And even if its embarrassing at first to wear them, it's totally worth it to stay healthy and fit during your pregnancy!

Eating in the 2nd trimester-
I've had much less food aversions this trimester. I'm back to eating vegetables without wanting to throw up. Cravings are tolerable, thanks to my philosophy about indulging cravings. I continue to eat 5-10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day and adhere to the plate technique for portion control. I'm still eating 300 calories extra worth of healthy snacks per day. So there haven't been many obstacles to eating healthy in this second trimester. Sorry I'm just not that exciting in this area of pregnancy. If however, you are still struggling with cravings or food aversions, I suggest you read my post from the first trimester. Hopefully it gives you some useful tips to get you through the next few months!

Exercising in the 2nd trimester-
Here the types and amount of exercise I did weekly during the second trimester.
Running- 1/2 hour, 2x/week
Zumba- 1 hour, 2x/week
Yoga- 1/2 hour, every day
Walking- whenever I need to run an errand :-) Usually 2-3x week

Stats for the second trimester- if you recall, my first pregnancy, I was not eating a healthy diet and did absolutely no exercise. So these are my comparisons to this pregnancy
Energy level:
     1st pregnancy- energy level picked up in the second trimester, but I was still a couch potato. I thought my body needed to "relax" as much as possible.
     2nd pregnancy- energy level is up, but I'm using it to stay active, chase a 2-year-old, and keep my household up and running. And the more I move, the better I feel!

Feeling:
     1st pregnancy- generally feeling "blah". I never wanted to get up or do anything. I felt consistently lazy, never wanting to get up or go out.
     2nd pregnancy- feeling happy and energized. Every day I look forward to getting out of the house and doing some fun activity. Staying inside and watching TV gets me bored!

Bodily appearance:
     1st pregnancy- At this point, starting to get too big for all my clothes. Not because my belly was too big, but I was gaining a lot of weight in my butt and thighs.
     2nd pregnancy- Still fitting into all pre-preggo pants, as long as I wear a belly band. My legs and butt don't look like they're putting on pounds at all. My arms haven't swollen up yet, so shirts are still fitting great as long as they are long enough to cover the belly :-) Basically, the belly is really the only thing that's been expanding

Weight
     1st pregnancy- At my 18 week check-up I had gained 22 lbs
     2nd pregnancy- At my 22 week check-up, I had gained 6 lbs

FYI: Baby Mia (she's a girl!!!!) is doing very well. She's actually measuring a whole week and a half ahead of schedule. I am so ready to get through these last few months and meet her! Stay tuned for my next update on tips and overcoming obstacles in the third trimester! Here's a quick comparison of the "just barely pregnant" look and the "finishing my second trimester look".

Recipe: Chicken Salsa Salad

Is it normal to get cravings in the third trimester? If so, my little Mia is craving avocados right now! Seriously, I eat at least one a day. Good thing they're in season and super cheap right now (2 for $1!!!). And recently I found a salad recipe on Pinterest that would give me something to use them for besides my fresh homemade guacamole (which is fabulous). If you're not an avocado fan, feel free to omit that ingredient and substitute another yummy vegetable instead!

Chicken Salsa Salad
taken from http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/
Ingredients
-chicken (I used canned, but you can add it however you want!)
-tomato
-black beans
-corn
-avocado

Um, basically just throw all those ingredients together. In whatever portions you desire. This is a very fresh summery salad that fills you up. If it's a little bland for you, try adding a tiny bit of southwestern salad dressing or a vinaigrette. Remember, a little goes a long way. So you should try this salad...like right now!

Speaking of summery, anybody else like listening to Keith Urban or Kenny Chesney sing about summertime?  Those songs are so upbeat and happy! Makes me want to sit and lounge on a beach all day sipping a fresh cold (root)beer. I think I just found my weekend plans.

And if anybody knows when the heck peaches are coming into season, inform me at once! I have been CRAVING them as well, yet they are no where to be seen. I figured by May in southern California, I'd have at least spotted one or two. :-(

The science behind why dieting doesn't work

Living in California definitely has its pros and cons. One pro I was thinking about recently is that nearly everyone here is concerned about being healthy and fit. At any given morning in the local parks, you will find a few exercise classes going on, as well as one-on-one personal training. I never saw anything like that in Texas! However, this attempt to be healthy has a closely related con: dieting fads. When marketers for dieting products look for the ideal audience, California has got to be #1 on their list. Since moving here, I've met the all-protein-no-carb dieter, the all-juice dieter, the all-greens dieter, and the list goes on.

If you've read my first post ever (Setting goals like a boss), you probably already guessed that I am not a fan of dieting. The reasoning I gave in that post was based on my own logic- that if you adhere yourself to an impossible diet, your body in 3 weeks will have said "enough!" and in half an hour, that gallon of ice cream in your freezer is gone. But lately, I have done a lot of research and studying about the human fat cell and weight gain/loss. And with all that research, I've learned the actual science behind why dieting doesn't work, not just my own logic. When I was reading these studies, I was absolutely astounded (again!) at how amazing/annoying our bodies are. I think you'll be amazed as well at just how much sense it all makes. I'm so excited, I can't wait to tell you everything I've learned.

But...before getting into all that, I want to make one thing clear (and you'll see why in a minute). Although exercise is essential to weight loss, I truly believe that being "healthy" involves good nutrition in addition to exercise. Your healthiness is not dependent on your BMI, but on how you treat your body.

Ok, so let's jump right into the facts, starting with our body's resilience. I introduce to you "The Set Point Theory". Do you know that most people who start out on a weight loss journey, though successful initially, will return to their pre-weightloss weight within 2 years? Why on earth would our bodies do that to us? Well, basically, our bodies are programmed to run within a specific range of values. If we get outside of those values, our body takes drastic actions to get us back to the original range, or "set point". Example- our body is set to operate around temperatures of 98.6. So if our body temperature gets too high or too low, we  go through drastic changes to get it back to the set point (sweating, chills, lethargy, etc). Like every other aspect of our body, our body weight and body fat also have set points. If we lose or gain too much, our body deems it "abnormal" and takes measures into its own hands to get us back to the original range.This is why a 130 lb female can participate in an ice cream eating contest one night and still resume her normal weight later on. This is also why a 210 lb woman can diet like crazy, lose weight, and return to 210 lbs two years later.

HOWEVER, there is a very unfair catch to all of this. If our body does adjust to a new weight, it tends to increase weight much easier than decrease weight. Let's go back to the ice cream contest example. The 130 lb woman's body will not increase her weight or fat content just from one night of splurging. Her body will kick up her metabolism, decrease her appetite and make other adjustments to make up for the ice cream intake. However, if our female friend eats in an ice-cream contest every night, her body will slowly adjust her weight upward. Remember, our body tries to adjust to be normal. So if this woman is consuming a 500 calories more every night, her body begins to think THAT is the norm. And so she begins to put on weight (could this be why some women don't lose baby weight after pregnancy?). And yet, if a woman diets on a 1,600 calorie diet for a year and loses weight, her body does NOT adjust to her lower weight but rather puts those pounds back on within 24 months. WHYYYYYY?!?! It seems so unfair, right?

You have to understand the fat cell to grasp this concept. When our body increases our normal weight (aka when we put on the pounds), it does this by adding fat cells. Why? Well, because when we are eating more calories, our body needs a place to store it all and so into the fat cells it goes. When a fat cell gets too full and cannot store anymore, our body adds a new fat cell to take on the extra load. Once added, we CANNOT get rid of those fat cells. There is no delete, remove, or subtraction button for fat cells. Like I said, unfair huh? The only thing we can do is decrease the size of those cells. And that is the theory behind dieting- that you decrease your number of calories, carbs, fats, etc to shrink those cells down as low as they can go. But there's a problem with that. Once those fat cells start shrinking, alarms start going off in your body because...why? Because it's not "normal". Our body says, "Our fat cells are shriveling away into nothingness, we are in starvation mode!" You can yell at your brain all you want and say, "No, but this is what I WANT, don't stop it" and it's not going to work. People have tried.

So how does our body make up for the shrinking fat cells? It does everything it can to get them back up to size, which includes kicking up our appetite hormones (so we feel hungry all. the. time) and slowing down our metabolism (decreases our energy so we don't feel like doing anything). If you ignore the hunger pains repeatedly, your body's cues become completely disorganized and incorrectly placed. Dieters lose the ability to determine whether they are hungry, bored, or tired. They also lose the ability to determine when they are "full", which often leads to eating far beyond their satiety level. And if you've ever felt sluggish while dieting, it's because your body has slowed down your metabolism to the lowest possible level that can still maintain life. It does everything it can to "save" you.

So you can understand now why you can try a no-carb, all-juice, or 1500 calorie diet, lose a ton of weight, and then be right back to where you started weeks or months later. It also answers the question as to why yo-yo dieting actually ends up putting pounds on instead of taking them off. Does this seem depressing yet? Feel totally helpless? Well, actually there is a bright light at the end of this tunnel.

The fact is, people DO lose weight and keep it off. There are success stories out there. There have been several studies done to analyze those people and find a common pattern to their success. What have they all done right? The answer is this- exercise. Daily exercise. One study found that successful weight losers maintained a routine of 80 minutes moderate exercise or 35 minutes vigorous exercise daily. One study found that some dieters maintained a low cal diet (women 1300 cal, men 1700 cal) and were successful-- but they also exercised daily. This is why you cannot have lose weight with just a healthy diet. You must must must have the exercise component with it.

And there you have it- why I am not a fan of trendy diets. The best way I know to be healthy is to exercise daily and eat right. And there is a difference between eating right and dieting. Eating right is getting lots of fruits and veggies into your body and eating correct portions at mealtimes. You can eat dessert and still have a healthy diet. Eating right is eating all things in moderation. Dieting is restricting a certain food group or just food altogether. There is a reason your body needs carbs. There is a reason your body needs fats, proteins, calories, substance. If you completely eliminate one of those groups, your body senses something is wrong and tries desperately to fix it. And sometimes when our body does repairs, it can be more damaging than helpful.

Someone's idea of a low-cal diet. Indeed, it made me laugh

Phew, that was a long one! Thanks for hanging in there with me. I hoped you all learned as much as I did!

Prevent the sugar addiction like a boss

This is somewhat of a followup to the childhood obesity post I wrote a few weeks ago.

It's hard to break a habit, whether it's biting your nails or eating junk food every day. It takes self-determination, will power, and time. If you think it's hard for adults, it's even harder for kids. They don't have the same self-determination adults do and time is the enemy of all children. What 5-year-old is going to make a goal to keep his hand out of the cookie jar? And for many children, the only concept of time they understand is the present. Seeing how bad habits will affect their future is not exactly a strong-suit of theirs. While it might sound like I'm bashing children, I'm just explaining characteristics that make them kids. And it's not always a bad thing. I can't imagine what I would do if my already-trouble-making toddler suddenly got a super burst of extra willpower. My point is that if you think as an adult it's hard to break a habit, it's going to be even harder for a child to do it alone.

So what should parents do? We prevent the bad habit from forming.

The bad habit I'm referring to is sugar addiction. I'm not a parenting expert (if that were so, I'm sure I wouldn't have woken up to a cup of red Gatorade spilled on my floor this morning). I'm not judging other parents. I simply have some experiences with healthy eating and children that I want to share with you all. Maybe it works for you, maybe it doesn't. All I know is that the steps I took with my child to prevent him from becoming addicted to sugar has made a profound difference in our lives.

I started worrying about sugar addiction before Cage was even born. That's really saying something, since I was eating ice cream every night during his pregnancy. It started one day at church. I was in my third trimester. And with our church meetings being 3 hours long, it meant I was using the bathroom at least 6 times. On one of these bathroom trips, I saw a parent in the hall with their toddler. The child was screaming, "I WANT A DOUGHNUT! GIMME A DOUGHNUT!" Oddly enough, it wasn't the yelling or rudeness of the child that bothered me. It was the content of his yelling. Kid was going ballistic because he needed a doughnut. And the mother just sighed and handed over a bag of doughnuts she had brought with her. Now, maybe I just caught these two on a bad day. But regardless, that scene had a lasting impression on me. When I returned to the church pew, I couldn't stop thinking that I didn't want my child to be that way. I didn't want to bring bags of sugar-filled treats with me everywhere. And I most certainly did not want my child so addicted to sugar that he couldn't go a few hours without it. So Dave and I started doing some serious thinking.

Then we remembered our friends Matt and Diane from Florida. They had an unusual rule for each of their children- no sugar until they were 2. Dave and I kind of though that was crazy at first, until we spent more time with their family. Their 2 boys preferred bananas over cookies. When they tasted soda, it was so sugary they didn't want to drink it. They were constantly asking for apples as a snack- not Twinkies! It didn't take long before we decided that we wanted our boy to have the same experience. So we set the rule. Cage would not have sugar until he turned 2. Now, I realize that there's pretty much "sugar" in everything- fruit, breads, cereals, etc. And we weren't going to stop the kid from having things like pasta. By "sugar", we mean any kind of sweet treat or dessert that was mostly processed, refined sugar. No cookies, no cake, no ice cream, no soda, no chocolate pudding, you get the picture.

I will tell you that we were mocked RELENTLESSLY for having this rule. We heard every possible negative statement- "That's ridiculous" "Do you really think you can keep that up for 2 years?" "Having sugar is just part of being a kid", etc. But guess what? We did it. Yup, the whole two years. Let me tell you about the results.

Cage has now been allowed to eat sugar for 6 months. He eats more produce than any other kid I know. When we visited my family for Christmas, he sat down with a bowl of carrots while we all had popcorn. By his own choice. He loves green beans so much that we use them as bribery so he'll eat his dinner. He will eat apples and oranges all day long if I let him. At his second birthday party, he wanted watermelon instead of cake. We have a shelf full of water bottles in our fridge and he, on his own, will drink 1-2 of those a day. I'll let you be the judge-- was it worth it? Absolutely. Are we going to do it again with our second kid? You bet.

My boy is down with some celery and peanut butter

Now, does Cage even like sugar? Oh yes. He's a boy after my own heart. In fact this morning he asked me to make cookies (instead I made oatmeal). But is he addicted to sugar? No. He doesn't ask for candy all day long. He won't throw a hissy-fit if I tell him "no" when it comes to ice cream. In fact, he'll gladly take the strawberries instead, even prefers them sometimes. Part of it could be that I just have a really easy going kid. Part of it could be that it's in his genes to like healthier foods. But you know what? Part of it could be that he didn't eat sugar for two years.

But we didn't just hit sugar mode full-on once he turned 2. His sugar content is still moderated and limited, like ours.He gets dessert twice a week with me and Dave, no more. We don't keep sugary junk food in our house, so those options aren't even there to tempt him. He eats pretzels and celery sticks for snacks. And when he does get something sweet, he sees it for what it should be-- a special treat that you get to have every once in a while. Not something Mom carries around in her purse everyday.

Ok, so you might be thinking that I really am crazy for depriving my child of sugar for 2 years. Let me remind you that this is simply the road I chose to take with my child. You don't have to have the same rule I did. It's the principle that matters- do something to prevent your children from becoming addicted to sugar. I started from birth with Cage because it's easier to limit a 1 year old's sugar content than a 10 year old who's had a soda a day since he was 5. And I truly do think that there is an addictive quality to processed sugared foods. If your children become used to the taste of sugary foods when they're little, they aren't going to want less sugar, but only more. Because that's what they're taste buds register as normal. If all their taste buds know are fruits and veggies, that's what they'll want and a cupcake will be overload!

You can take simple steps to prevent a sugar addiction before it gets bad- don't keep junk food in the house, have plenty of fruits and veggies on hand, limit dessert nights at your home. My sister-in-law has 6 children and I haven't once seen a cookie jar at her house. All her jars contain nuts and goldfish, and she has always has a bowl of apples on the table that her children eat at will. She didn't have a "no sugar" rule like I did, and yet, she taught her children good habits by giving them healthy options for snacking.

I think prevent our children from having a sugar addiction not only encourages them to eat healthier younger, but it gives them a huge advantage over childhood obesity. I hope that my experiences haven't irritated you, but have encouraged you to make a change in your home for your kids. And there is a wonderful thing that happens when you throw out the soda and zebra cakes-- your kids change their habits and you do too!

Do it for your kids like a boss

This subject is very near and dear to my heart. When I did nursing clinicals in the hospital, 90% of the adult patients I saw were there for a problem related to their obesity. I saw Type II diabetes, strokes, malignant hypertension, foot ulcers, lung disease, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks etc. All these conditions have a preventable factor and that is obesity. Seeing those people in the hospital suffering and knowing that something could have been done to prevent their pain is heart-breaking to me. But what breaks my heart even more is when we see it happening to a 5, 10, or 18 year-old.

1/3 of the children in this country are overweight or obese. They're catching up to the adults (7 in 10 obese) in that statistic, and it's downright terrifying. Who is to blame? Most people say the parents. That's partly true, but partly not. What truly loving parent would intentionally put their adult child in the hospital or on medication by creating bad lifestyle habits for them as kids? Not one. Parents want what is best for their child and will do anything to keep them from being in danger. But while teaching your kids to "look both ways before crossing the street" is critical, saving their life by teaching them healthy habits is just as important. You heard me right- you are SAVING THEIR LIFE. But we've established that parents wouldn't intentionally harm their children, so why is childhood obesity grow worse and worse every year? Two big reasons:
Reason #1)  Parents don't know what healthy habits are. In most cases, this isn't their fault. No one has taught them the right habits. Most parents don't even know that there's anything wrong with the way they cook or eat. So how can they fix the problem if they don't even know there is one?!
Reason #2) There have been several studies shown that 75% of parents don't know that their child is overweight. Once again, you heard me right. Seventy-five freakin percent. But can you honestly blame the parents for this? Since the moment our children are born, we love them unconditionally and are blinded by this love (as we should be, by the way). But blinded by love means that, once again, parents don't see a problem to be fixed.

So the most criminal offender is really us, as a society. We don't talk about obesity openly. It's a "sensitive subject" and who really wants to tell their friend, "Hey, you and your kid look like you should hit the gym"? The only people we hear it from are doctors. And honestly, how many of you do exactly what your doctor says? The time has to come to be honest, because we are potentially saving a life. Let's teach parents healthy habits that they will in turn teach their kids. And parents, when you learn what good habits are, don't just sit on the couch and tell your kid to go run a mile. Get up and run it with them. Don't make pies in the kitchen, but tell your child to eat the salad in the fridge. Make it family salad night! Children look up to their parents and if they don't see you making a change, they won't either. Plus, as they get older, kids have a natural tendency to be rebellious, so if they sense any hypocrisy on your side, you can bet they won't listen to what you say.

I'm a big fan of the Biggest Loser. I don't always agree with their methods (let's face it, working out for 6 hours a day isn't practical for most of us), but I do love to see the medical results. I don't care as much for how fit they look or how many pounds they've lost. I love to see the doctors tell them, "You're no longer a Type II diabetic" or "Your hypertension is GONE". Every time they say that, I want to jump up and punch the air because, are you freakin kidding me? They got rid of a chronic disease through exercise and eating right. It wasn't the Metformin and Lopressor medications that helped. It was changing their habits and lifestyle. Do you understand now why I want to be a healthy lifestyle coach? Instead of giving out drugs, let's give out good habits!

So anyway, this year on the Biggest Loser, they are focusing on childhood obesity awareness. They chose 3 kids (all teenagers actually) to work with. They didn't do ridiculous workouts with them or put them on a juice-only diet. They simply taught the kids and their parents how to exercise, cook, and eat right.These kids had all sorts of problems before they started this regimen, besides their obesity. One girl had high levels of cholesterol at only 16 years old. The 13-year-old girl they worked with had pre-diabetes when she started. See what I mean? These are conditions already present in children that could've landed them in the hospital in 20 years. But by the end of the season...the high cholesterol and pre-diabetes were gone. One of the boys lost 25% of his body weight. And this all happened because they threw all the junk food out of their house, started eating more produce, and started exercising every day. That's it! That's all it took and these kids just saved their lives! Would you be willing to do that to save your child's life? One of the moms on the show did the right thing and took the challenge with her child. She's lost several pounds and she didn't even have to visit the Biggest Loser Ranch! That's what I'm talking about- doing it FOR your kids and doing it WITH your kids. And let me ask you something- do you think her son was more willing or less willing to change because of her actions? I'll let you ponder on that...

So my diatribe is mostly finished, the problem has been stated, but no solution has really been given. How do we, first of all, get parents to recognize their child's current health problem and then, how do we help them to fix it.

As nurses, we recognize obesity from a simple BMI chart, which is what I would suggest to get started. You simply enter in your child's height and weight to see if they are overweight or not. I have put the link to a child's BMI chart here. So plug in the numbers and wait for the results. On the results page, it will tell you whether your child is of normal weight, overweight or obese. It will then tell you what that really means for your child's health and how you can help him/her. Another simple test that I do is merely through observation. Have your child participate in a physical activity for 30 minutes (a game like basketball or flag football). Is your child unable to complete the activity? Are they out-of-breath only 10 minutes into it? These are indicators that your child may be overweight, or if not, just quite frankly be out of shape.

So once you've recognized that your child is overweight, what are the next steps? Well, being a nursing student, of course I'm going to tell you, "Go see a doctor". Overweight children have a higher risk of developing health problems. Doctors can do simple bloodwork and other tests to see if your child is in danger of any immediate health problems (like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood fat levels, etc). Wouldn't you want to know if this was the case? So get them checked out and follow the doctor's recommendations.

Lastly, how do you teach your children healthy habits? Well, this question isn't easy to answer and it's not a quick fix. In fact, the answers are in my blog, but spread out over several posts and articles. I'll try to keep it simple though.

1st- Get them eating the right proportions of food via the plate plan.

2nd- Replace their junk food snacks with healthier snack options.

3rd- Get them exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, every day. Get them involved in activities they enjoy.

4th- Get involved yourself. Your child doesn't want you to end up in a hospital or on medication either. They want you to be able to dance, swim, run with them! Those aren't activities easily done on the couch (I swear, if someone makes a smart-aleck comment about WiiFitness here...). And if you think that they won't eat brownies you made simply because you told them not to... well, you'd better invest in a brownie safety vault.

There is a wonderful article about understanding childhood obesity. I have put the link to that article here and hope it is helpful to some parent out there who needs it. Like I said, most childhood obesity cases occur because the parents honest to goodness don't know any better. We haven't been teaching what they need to hear. And sadly, the chances are that the people who really need to read this article, aren't going to. So that's where we needs others (you!) to help them along the way. No parent would intentionally put their child in danger, so let's stop spreading around blame and start helping each other. If you know someone who really needs to read what I or others have said about childhood obesity, I hope you will guide them to the resources I've given you. I hope I haven't said anything too harsh or offensive, but I do try to be honest about these things. This is something I'm incredibly passionate about. And frankly, I think more people need to be passionate about it too.

Cage's grandpa teaching my little boy baseball. What a good example of an active grandparent!

Pasta Bean Soup recipe

Of all seasons, winter is my least favorite. For someone who gets cold in just a 73 degree house, weather down in the 50s is not my idea of fun. And I don't have much room to complain either, especially since my relatives in Utah got down in the negatives this winter. Bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrr! I was meant to live in the south.

If you're anything like me, you do whatever you can to heat up your house and stay warm during the winter. And often, baking in the kitchen with that oven at a nice toasty 350, seems like a good way to go. In college, I'm sure I ate more cookies in the wintertime than any other time. Also, winter just happens to be an excuse for several eating holidays- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, President's Day, Valentine's Day, MLK Jr Day. So all the more reason to indulge in the baked goods right?

Robin and I were discussing this issue one day and she told me the secret to her saving grace during winter- eating lots of soup. Soups that warm you from the minute they enter your mouth right down to your very soul. So I have taken her advice and tried a few varieties of soups this winter. I try using water-based or broth-based soups. Cream based soups are added fats, salts, and calories. I add plenty of vegetables. And I sit and read a book right next to the hot stove that is heating my soup and house. I stay warm and dinner gets made. Done. Oh and did I mention the irresistible smell that fills my house while it's cooking? Mmmmmmmhmmm

Here is one of my favorite soups this winter. I got the recipe from http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2010/1/2/sausage-and-bean-soup-with-pasta.html, however I made a few adjustments to make it slightly healthier. It has pasta and beans for your carbs, ground turkey for your protein, and lots and lots of veggies! Here is the recipe, altered by yours truly:

1 15-ounce can of cannellini, drained
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 medium onion, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, cut

3 tablespoons olive oil 
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes 
6 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups water / 3 cups chicken broth to lower the salt content)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper 

Spinach, cut

1 cup ditalini pasta, or any small pasta

Brown turkey, remove from the pot. Remove fat from the pot as well. Sautee carrots, celery, and onion in the pot with the olive oil for a few minutes. Add garlic and sautee for another minute. Add beans and all other ingredients except for the pasta. Cover and cook for an hour on low heat. After an hour, add the uncooked pasta and cut spinach. Cook for about another 20 minutes uncovered or until the pasta is soft and done.

Mmmm, just look at that goodness waiting to be eaten!

Folks, that is it! It's super hard to mess up a soup recipe. Basically, you're just adding ingredients until it looks good to you. This soup was so good and it made a huge pot, so we ate it the left overs for almost a week. It's the kind of soup that just fills you with warmth and yumminess, you can't get enough. Feel free to go back for seconds; it's mostly just vegetables in water!