A Taste Challenge

by Kris Pitcher

I might have told you that the week before I started my "diet" I just went back to my actual plan. What that meant was not extras. No extra bites of this, or licks of that. And in just one week of doing that...I'd lost a pound.

One pound! Then, someone smarter than me gave herself a challenge. No bites, licks or tastes. Think about that. While you're preparing meals, lunches, snacks for yourself or the kids...no bites. Not one lick, not one taste of what you're preparing. Not one. Could you do it?

There's a lot of mindless tasting going on. Lots of finishing the kids toasted cheese sandwiches, or french toast or whatever is left on their plates as you're clearing away dishes. Think of all the bites...yes, ALL the bites.

Think of the licks. Sure it's just a lick of peanut butter after making a sandwich for the kids. But, I didn't just fall off a turnip truck and I know what a knife full of peanut butter and jelly can do for you. Think of adding that up over a week, two weeks...sure, it's just a lick.

I was guilty of eating a few almonds each time I weighed out my ounce and put it in my container to take to work. What bites are you sneaking? What extras have widened your plan?

What if you challenged yourself to no bites, no licks, no tastes? I say, take the no taste challenge and see what you can do to put yourself on course. Eat what is on your plan, without the extras.

If you find there is food going to waste in the household, make smaller portions for the kids. You could always make another half a sandwich if they want more. You don't need to be eating what they leave behind.

Try it for two weeks and see what happens. Be mindful of where your bites come into play. Stick to your plan by taking the no taste challenge. Little things make big changes, and this one's proof of that! 

Hang Up The Scale

by Kris Pitcher

I cringed as I stepped on it. Would the number be good...or bad? Would it reflect the hard work I'd done? Would it stare back at me with a number I didn't deserve? What terrible truth would it tell me?

On Wednesday when I stepped on it, it was good to me. Then I stepped on it on Saturday...not so good. It's down, then it's up. And along with it is my mood. So what's a girl to do with her scale?

We need a break!

Take. A. Break. Period. I'm doing the work and my body is changing. I can tell by the way my clothes fit, and which clothes fit. My husband can tell I'm changing. He's got a good eye ;)

What I can't let happen is for the scale to determine whether I'm doing a good job or not. It's not measuring my fat loss. It's not measuring my lean body mass. It's not measuring whether I'm gaining muscle and losing fat, or whether I was dehydrated on Wednesday, or retaining water on Saturday. It's not measuring much of anything, really.

It's actually one of the last markers of progress. And I'm not just saying that because it's moving slowly for me. But it is just one measure.

Allowing the scale to weigh whether you will feel good, or bad, or whether you will binge or sabotage your plan is putting way too much into that number. It is after all only a number. I could tell you I weigh 140, or 120. Either way you would believe me, and either way - what would it matter?

It wouldn't matter. Your number doesn't matter either, that's the point. What matters is that we do the work. Keep doing the work, regardless of what the number says. Why? Because the changes are happening.

The changes are going to be slow, that's what makes them work. Hang in there even if it means hanging up the scale for a while. Take a break from the numbers and just do the work.

Carotenoids Super Nutrients

by Kris Pitcher

Some foods just seem to have super powers. Take carotenoids for example, super food. Well, super nutrient found in foods.

Carotenoids have vitamin A activity, meaning they can be converted to retinol. They act as antioxidents fighting off free radicals which damage our cells. These carotenoids enhance our immune function.

There are four we look for: beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, gama-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin. Bioavailability of carotenoids is believed to be dependant on lipids, they're fat soluble. Combining these super nutrients with some healthy fats makes them a true super hero.

It's the carotenoids which give the color or pigment in red, yellow, and orange peppers. They're also prevalent in tomatoes, papaya, sweet potatoes, mangoes, kale, spinach, and carrots.

Keep the free radicals away and eat yourself younger looking by including carotenoid rich foods in your daily plan. Give yourself a rainbow of nutrients the next time you toss up a salad or add salsa to spice things up, and you'll be getting an important boost of carotenoids.

Embracing Your Happily

by Kris Pitcher

Think you'll be happily ever after you've hit your goal, or your goal weight? Think again. If you've created a fairy tale around this process, there may not be a happily ever after for you.

The good news? Your happily is right now. Embracing it is the problem. Waiting for some distant point in the future to pin your happiness on is setting yourself up to be unhappy for who knows how long.

I'll be happy in 15 pounds. Why not be happy right now? What will you have in 15 pounds that you don't have right now? Will your house be paid off? Will you be retired? Or, have the prefect job? Will you have completed the things on your life's "to do" list? What will be different?

Your life is happening right now. Memorial Day is a good time to remind us to live in the present. We are grateful for our freedoms, for those who have given the ultimate price for each of us. Many of us celebrate loved ones and lost ones on this day.

Put your process into perspective. Waiting is wanting what you don't have. Being happy now allows you to do the things you need to do in order to keep working toward your goals. Embracing your happily empowers you to care enough to take care of yourself. Today. After all, your happily is right now.

Strange Behavior

by Kris Pitcher

I wonder if people think my behavior is strange. I say that because I notice some VERY strange behavior all around me. Like just last week, I was on my way to work and saw a lady flossing her teeth at the bus stop.

At the bus stop. First of all, and I realize we all have our own system and order in life...but I floss and then brush. Doing it the other way around seems like it leaves your mouth unfinished.

But that is not the point of this. The point is, why is she flossing at the bus stop on her way to work?

Which leads me to remind you why you should be a good hand washer. You should be a good hand washer because flossing lady is all around town touching everything you're about to touch. Just saying.

I notice a lot of strange behavior at the gym just because that's where I am much of the time. We walked into the weight room Friday and in the huge space there were two other people besides us. One man was doing back extensions "Superman" style on all fours in between the benches.

He would alternate reaching one arm and then the other, stretching it to the hithers of the weight room. I wondered if he could maybe complete these exercises in the stretching area? Then there was Olive Oil lady.

She looks like Olive Oil with her long limbs and straight across bangs. She brings her own 2 pound weights (because the weight room does not have those) to complete her full body routine. She lays her mat down between the machine weights to do her 3,000 sit ups.

So, as we are doing our multiple sets on the seated hamstring curl we have to be careful not to step on her head. Remember there are only four people in the entire gym as we approach a holiday weekend.

Strange behavior. Again, I can't help but wonder if she could maybe do those sit ups in the stretching area? I do celebrate the fact that she is there, quite frequently doing her full body 2 pound regimen. Good for her!

And good for all the strange behavior really. It's what makes the world such a colorful place, or at least so interesting for me to watch. Keep your eye out for interesting and strange behavior, and watch your back...it might just be you we're watching.

Watching What You Eat

by Kris Pitcher

When I used to manage a fitness facility I was amazed by this young teacher who would watch the Food Network for hours while she did cardio. I couldn't imagine the torture of watching that while I was exercising.

This bright eyed, change the world teacher went on to become a pastry chef. And she's probably still doing lots of cardio. But I'm not so amazed any more, I get the attraction.

There isn't much on TV at 4:30 AM when you don't have cable TV. There are however two cooking shows and one lifestyle show that often has cooking. I am now, watching what I eat.

Well, not what I eat...but what I could maybe someday on a cheat meal eat. The funny thing is it doesn't bother me or make me want things I can't have. I'm interested in the mechanics, in the science, and in the creativity of it all.

I love the travel involved in these shows and I can be an armchair world traveler right on my treadmill. We even have a name for this in our house..."food porn".

You can watch it, but you can't have it. And while for some it would seem torture, it almost normalizes the process for me. I often get ideas about things I forgot about. Like capers. Throw a few of those on top of some fish and suddenly, you've got fancy fish.

There are certainly lots of ways to keep yourself occupied while you're exercising. Not the least of which is watching TV. I don't know what you like to watch while you're doing cardio, but lately I've been watching what I eat.

Flush Fat Fast!

by Kris Pitcher

I'm just going to tell you how I feel. I'm not going to sugar coat this. I have a BIG problem with the word "flush". This a big marketing scam and it really chaps my hide.

It's not because I think you're not smart, but you're not smart enough to know that you cannot flush fat from your body. Well, that didn't come out right.

When someone tells you that you can flush the fat from your body, doesn't it just sound like you can drink their lemon minted water and the fat will literally wash from your insides right out into the toilet?

Maybe I'm not the smart one here, because I could be sitting on a PILE of cash if I was willing to tell you that you could do just that. But. I'm. Not.

Flush is a marketing word. When we hear it we think of ease, of simplicity, of rebirth. We don't think of countless hours of cardio and eating a healthy nutritional plan. We think of having the fat simply washed from our body. Easy.

Physiology doesn't work that way. In fact, it sounds so easy that I could flush it away today and then eat garbage and gain my comfort fat right back just to flush it away again. Right? It's about the mentality of washing it away rather than working it away.

We can make fat disappear. It takes a commitment to your nutrition and to your exercise. It takes a change in your mental philosophy about food, and how and why you eat. It takes a life time of lifestyle changes. Don't get flushed...