Calories in Neon Lights

Yes, it is good news for the nation's waist line to have calorie counts listed on menus. Granted the rules will apply to less than 50% of the eating establishments across the U.S. and exempt movie theaters, hotels, airplanes and amusements parks. None the less, progress is progress. Right? Maybe....

For the record, I support the idea of listing calories on menus. Last August, I opined Every Little Bit Helps and those calorie counts have impacted my choices when in New York City. If they don't impact your choices you are either in full denial or are making a choice to indulge (the latter is good for you, in moderation... the former, please seek some help).

Here is the problem: Food manufacturers can reduce the number of calories in nearly all processed foods by manipuating the ingredients. Trust me, the manipulating is far worse for your body than the calories. The manipulating takes the form of fake, chemical additives created in a lab or taking what was a natural food and destroying its natural properties until the calories are reduced (along with all manner of nutrients and benefits).

So this new regulation while great in theory (as are many things), in practice we'll see two things:

1. More highly processed, fake foods lower in calories and devoid of any nutritional benefit (which will make our body crave more food because we aren't being fed, only stuffed, and people will actually gain more weight)
2. Smaller portion sizes

Do not think, when the burger you habitually order is suddenly 300 less calories, that the food Gods are shining down on you to make your life easier. Either the burger is even less real than it used to be, or it is several ounces smaller than it used to be. Option  #2 and some normalization of serving sizes is a good thing. Option #1 not so good.

The only way to combat such shenanigans is to stop eating processed foods. We support Real Food. Is it really too much to ask?

And Then There Were 10

A few busy weeks of site upgrades and writing, and then the Health 2.0 conference, and then a week of vacation, and then the scale read 135 this morning. What?!? I fall out of my routine for a few weeks and I gained 10 pounds? Egad. For the record, I really do love being in my 40s. Best decade, thus far. I do long, however, for the days in my 30s when a few weeks of gluttony didn't show up as digits on a scale.

My 5'6" body likes weighing 125. I like it when my body weighs 122 because that gives it a little room to fluctuate with the daily water gain and loss. And, since I'm in full disclosure here, my ego secretly really likes when my body is 118 though that is the point when family and friends exclaim I'm too skinny. Bah, "I'm in great shape!" is my typical reply. At this moment? I'm mushy. Ugh.

Why am I telling all of you all of this? Well, I started a company to help people get healthy, to lose weight, to exercise every day and to eat well. And, I have fallen victim to the very same thing that plagues the very people that come to Cybercise for help and hope. Our schedules get full, deadlines loom and "we" are the last thing we take care of. I preach the opposite on a regular basis and it seems I'm not immune from needing my own lecture. Irony!

Trust me, it requires a bit of courage to post my weight for all the world to read. I recognize this post will live in the websphere forever and the day I weighed 135 will go down in recorded history. Sure, it would be easier for me to keep this to myself and secretly do what I know needs to be done and drop the pounds and nobody would be any wiser. And, with every challenge comes opportunity.

If you're reading this and you are well north of 135 and you're thinking to yourself, "She is complaining because she weighs 135? You've got to be kidding me! I'd kill to have her problems." Perhaps some of you are also shouting expletives at the screen. Okay, so I hear you.... but go with me on this. There was a point, no matter how much you currently weigh, that the weight gain started out with 10 pounds. Then 10 became 15, and 15 became 20, and the next thing you knew you were so far above your ideal weight you forgot where you started. If you had a good way to stop the initial trend before it crept over 10 pounds, things would be different today.

So, no matter what you weigh right now and no matter how many pounds you need to lose, I'd like you to focus on 10 pounds. I have a theory that if we concentrate on 10 pounds at a time the path to long term, sustainable wellness is much easier. We have to learn to take care of ourselves first, no matter what.

I, for better or worse, am going to write about my journey to lose 10 pounds. Let's face it, I have what I need to make this happen. I have Cybercise (including a sneak preview of the new exercise videos we're due to release soon), I am a certified personal trainer, a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and a certified Health Coach. With all of that, you'd think I wouldn't have gained the 10 pounds in the first place. Alas, apparently I am human. Pesky truths. My hope is that by sharing my journey, we'll learn ways to make Cybercise even better to support you on your journey. I'd love for you to join me and I'd love feedback and ideas.

My approach? I'm going to start with a Move.Eat.Be. plan for the week. A weekly plan is best done on Sunday evening and something I did not do last night (I was tired - probably because my body is carrying around an extra 10 pounds - and still no excuse. Shame on me!). You're welcome to stay tuned here for my plan and my progress for all the world to read. As for those 10 pounds, they're out of here! Get ready body, here comes determination!

Body Image

You have an assignment. Take all of your clothes off and stand in front of the mirror. What do you see? Are there parts of your body you love? Are there parts of your body you're not so crazy about? Look carefully... where do you see muscle tone? Is your skin clear? Are your eyes more sparkly? Is your hair shiny?

All too often when we catch a glimpse of ourselves in the mirror the first thought that goes through our mind is something negative. Ugh, we say, my (insert your particular flavor of criticism here.)

Have you taken the time to celebrate your physical form and be grateful for all of its hard work and effort? If not, while you're standing in front of the mirror in all of your naked glory, tell your body thank you. It does a terrific job for you each and every day, even when there are things about our bodies we're not so crazy about.

The impact of body image on our overall health and well-being is significant. If you feel better about your body, you're more likely to feel better about you. There are no perfect bodies and many of the people that spend all of their time striving for the perfect body usually do so while sacrificing something else in their lives (often happiness). Eating well, exercising each day and getting enough sleep can improve your body and greatly elevate your body image.

Tell your body it is beautiful. When you do, your body is more likely to tell you the same thing back. 

How Much Do You Weigh?

There are many ways to answer this question. The most common way is how much your physical body registers when you get on the scale. Easy enough to do and something you should do on a regular basis. It is good to know where you are.

Some people have physical bodies that don't weigh much, but their mind is completely weighed down by thoughts that don't serve them. Do you spend your time thinking about how much you dislike your job? That is one very heavy thought and it probably doesn't do you any real good. If you have this thought or one like it, this could be a great time to stop. Replace that weighty thought with productive ideas to lead you on a path to find a new job. Do you need some additional training? Do you need to get a student loan? Do you need to volunteer for an organization to get some new experience? Spend you time on those thoughts. They are much better for you.

Another way to weigh yourself is the amount of stuff you have in your life. Many of us, myself included, have spent a number of years accumulating stuff. For the record, I have a lot of stuff. All of my stuff was procured with a greater purpose, mind you. It has simply all added up into way too much. My physical body doesn't weigh so much but I have a ton of stuff. It makes me feel heavy. I am weighed down by stuff and worse yet, some of the stuff requires maintenance. How did I fall into the trap of getting stuff that then requires my time and energy to keep? Seems like a very silly waste of time, doesn't it?

I am cleaning out stuff today. And I'm going on a stuff diet. I don't want to be weighed down by stuff and I'm pretty sure this stuff won't be missed. I think a better way to live is to accumulate experiences and leave the stuff for others.

Think about how much stuff is in your life. Then think about how much stuff you really need. Autumn is on the way. Be like a tree who sheds leaves and let go of your stuff. Who knows what you'll then have room for in your life?

Tracking Progress for the Sake of Progress

Yesterday we blogged about trusting the progress you can't yet see. Today, we're going to explore the idea of tracking progress for the sake of progress. As I've shared before, I'm working with a great group of people (none of whom I've met in person) on a little experiment called The First Follower.

On Sunday, Andrew 2 decided to seriously pursue Andrew 1's idea of the Numberless 30 Day Calendar. This is a fairly simple way to track your completion of a task for 30 days without regard to the days of the week or month. How many times have you waited to start an exercise program on the 1st of the month only to then forget, change your mind or be too busy to start anything new?

The Numberless 30 Day calendar, per Andrew 1, is a simple piece of paper with 30 boxes in which you place a check in each box as you complete your task for each of 30 days. Andrew 2 and his group of followers are feverishly discussing the idea and brainstorming on how to make this into a simple, clean and usable web application.

Cybercise? We love, love the idea! We do have a calendar feature on our website so people can plan their workout schedule by day, week and month. And, we think this feature to track progress would be a great addition.

Could we actually revolutionize people's motivation to exercise by giving them a simple tool to "just" check the box? We contend the most important thing is that you do a little exercise each day. Don't worry about what the mirror says just yet. Remember... trust the progress you can't yet see.