Ginorma's Closet

I just know you're still moving and still drinking water, right?  I don't promise to post every day but I really do want to get you to follow through so if you haven't moved get up right now and walk around the stationary object your computer is sitting on five times, grab a glass of water and come back here.  I'll wait. (You can hear my fingers drumming on the desk, can't you?)

How much extra space do you have in your closet?  If you're like me I'm constantly battling to get rid of things in order to keep the things I love.  I'm not really good at the one new thing in, two old things out system some people advocate but it's a goal.  If you're like me in my prior life then your closet also has a few secrets you really don't want to share with the world.

Meet Ginorma's [pronounced jeye - norm a] closet.  Now obviously this is a fictitious place and Ginorma is one of the names I've given the personalities that speak to me in my head - yes, I'm aware they have medication for that!  Ginorma hangs around with her two best friends up there, Estelle Lowselfesteem and Lucy Lackofconfidence.  They're really good buds and for several years whenever Estelle and Lucy were really feeling down, Ginorma would cloak all their insecurities in tents specially created by Omar the Tentmaker and comfort them with large quantities of really excellent and high caloric foods!  Her closet looked like this because who would really want to find anything in there anyway? You can tell this isn't really the true picture either because the predominant color is Ginorma's closet was the ever slimming basic black.

 

When Ginorma ruled my closet I didn't like to shop very much either.  For one thing the sizes I was wearing before I got serious were in the 20's (gasp).  I didn't spend a lot of time in stores and when I did go I always thought they were really insulting because they put that "W" on the tag which I thought meant "wide" as in 22 W  or "WP" which I really didn't like because I thought that stood for "wide person".  Shopping for something new and black was bad enough but bathing suit season was a nightmare on some other planet and we just didn't go there.

 

While you're pondering if you want to lose weight after the Holidays are done I'd like to challenge you to think about this and maybe even do something about it.  Go into your closet and count how many sizes you have.  That's right, all of them.  When I started my last successful diet I had the clothes I was saving until I could wear them again including 80's peplum dresses, little skinny things I couldn't get my arm in that I think used to be slacks I wore, all the way up through the sizes.  So let's say we started at about a size 6 and worked all the way up through the 10's, 14's, 16's (which were really popular), 18's, 20's and we aren't going to finish this list!  It was awful!!  But it was me.  So how many sizes do you have?  Really?  You can tell me or not, truthfully and I'll always believe you.  While you're in there you'll want to get out your holiday skirt and wide leg pants - you know, they're black, have elastic in the waist, may have fake looking velvet on them and go with anything sparkly as a top!  You're going to need them for your holiday party rounds.

 

I'm here to tell you it doesn't have to be like this. You can make a charitable contribution right now of almost everything in your closet that doesn't fit you.  Why? Because first of all most of it is never going to be re-worn whether it fits or not in the way you originally bought it to be worn.  A skirt might be altered to fit someone else or a jacket might be re-purposed if obtained from a thrift store but no one, and I repeat no one is still wearing that style so even if you get back into it someday you won't want to or be able to wear it past your closet door.  Think of all the space you'll free up.  "But I won't have any clothes!!!"  Well, chances are you have about 2 weeks worth that you rotate a few things in and out of right now and the rest of all that in there doesn't fit you or isn't current.  It's the truth! Go look.  And if you really begin to seriously lose weight you will want to buy new clothes that fit  and look well on your new figure.  So sometime during this month instead of sitting down with a bucket of caramel corn or a plate of fudge go spend some time in your closet and take an inventory.  If you feel really ambitious you can count the activity as your movement of the day and start sorting.

 

Of course I haven't asked you if you want to start the Holiday Preparation Diet yet and I won't until December 1st.  Remember?  You're only considering it.  But chances are if you're still reading either you're someone I love or you probably would really like to make a commitment. Or you may just be dying to know what I'm going to suggest you eat in December.  It's a mystery.

 

Keep moving and drinking - do it for you because it's only for you and you're terrific!  Oh, as for Ginorma?  Well she's still back in there somewhere but there's a new gal in town and I like her closet lots better - her name - Slendesira!  Her closet looks like Carrie Bradshaw's on "Sex and the City " reruns after she marries Big.

 

'Til next time,

HV 13

 

Meet a New Life Constant

Well hopefully all your Thanksgiving leftovers are gone and tomorrow you start a new week, free from all the high caloric, pound packing goodies that freely inhabited the counters of your kitchen and pantry shelves this past week. How's that question percolation going?  Do you really want to lose weight or do you just want to eat what you love/crave and be miserable later, tomorrow morning, the next time you can't fit into your skirt or every time you walk past your mirror?  So this week while you're still thinking about deciding whether or not you want to lose weight there is something you can do that will always help your diet, weight loss or not.

Introducing water!  Bottled or tap, filtered or running in a stream water is one of the single best substances you can put into your body every day, all day.  It has zero calories, quenches your thirst and fills you up. It's also necessary for all your biologic processes to stay up and running and it's lack has some unpleasant side effects.  Like everything else you can actually drink too much water but that is in the extreme and I'm not advocating anything extreme as you navigate that preparation holiday diet toward your weight management strategy.  I think the Greeks really had it right if they truly said, "Moderation is the key".

 

If you paid attention yesterday I recommended you MOVE.  Did you?  If you walked once around your kitchen can you do it twice today?  If you walked once around the outside of your house can you do it twice today?  Around the block? Up to the corner and back?  Was it hard?  Did it exhaust you?  I doubt it so try to do it again today and a little more than what you did yesterday.  At the end of moving give yourself a treat!  Drink a glass of water, iced, or with lemon, straight up or however you like it best.  Sip it, guzzle it, or chug it but pour a glass, grab a bottle and drink it down, even if you're not thirsty.  If you are thirsty your body is already telling you that you don't have enough water on board so don't let it even get that far - drink some.

 

Now if we were into the weight management strategy portion of our diet, I'd recommend you drink 8 glasses (8 ounces each) of water a day but we're not even sure we're doing that yet so for now try just one glass instead of something else you'd choose.  Replace a cup of cocoa, a diet soda, iced tea, punch, or a regular Coke with one glass of water.  When you're well hydrated on a regular and ongoing basis your skin will look fabulous!  Your kidneys will cheer and you'll feel better all over because you did something just for you.  And it's here we actually can begin the Holiday Preparation diet for your weight management strategy starting January 1st relatively painlessly.

 

Tomorrow and the rest of this week, regardless of what else you put into your mouth do drink a glass of water every single day.  If you already do this, bravo!  Keep it up.  If you don't and you think water is boring try chilling it or squeezing a lemon into it or pretending it's medicine and drink it by tablespoonfuls once an hour but work it in.  Tomorrow and the rest of this week keep moving!  You don't have to run a mile, track your speed, break a sweat or go past your coffee table in the family room.  If you want you can just lap that 3 or 4 times but do it intentionally and do it one more time every day then reward yourself with water.

 

For all you overachievers out there if you're really wanting to get going here then do what you've already done plus one and add the water.  If you like water, add two glasses.  Do something you can do every day this upcoming week though, won't you?  I want you to be wildly successful and I want you to feel really good because you took the time and energy to do just one or two little things just for you.  By the way, if you get really hungry this week, eat whatever it is you think you should because you are not on a diet!  Enjoy it, savor it, love the freedom to indulge but really give some thought to whether or not you want to lose weight.  We can talk about your closet next time.

 

Keep moving and drinking!  Cheers

HV13

The Challenge of Change and Dieting

Does this seem like torture to you?

So while you're still enjoying the last of the leftovers I hope you're thinking about whether or not you really want to lose weight. What it boils down to is a struggle between instant versus delayed gratification.  For years I could opt for delayed gratification for a couple of weeks but then an occasion would come up, I'd have a stressful day at work or my kids would send me over the edge and I'd find myself standing in the pantry eating cookies like raisins and my diet would be BLOWN! It would feel great to eat with freedom again for the five minutes of fevered face stuffing but regret came swiftly followed by lack of resolve and the descent into denial because who among us likes to admit they failed at anything? 

But maybe comfort eating isn't your problem.  Maybe you're like me in a prior phase of life.  3 kids, husband and the challenges of cooking meals and cleaning up the table.  My peers likely recall being members of the "clean plate club" in childhood, the state you had to achieve to get a desired dessert at the end of the meal when suppertime usually happened at the family table nearly every night.  Or maybe your parents treated you to the "eat your food - there are starving children in Africa" guilt trip.  This was before food in a bag or a box was anywhere near normal and there I was - cooking, starving, in a hurry and some of that chunk of cheddar I was shredding found it's way into my mouth or I "tested" everything I was serving which became a bad habit.  Pretty soon I'd eaten a full pre-meal before I'd served a thing.  Or maybe like me that "clean plate club" guilt makes you unable to scrape anything left into the disposal so you just finish it off so it's not wasted.

Whatever your motivation for overeating is, that you love to cook and eat food, that your weight hides some emotional trauma of your past  or that you just crave snacks at a particular time of day and can't get past that consistently, I'm guessing if you thought you could be successful you'd trade that temporary satisfaction in a minute for the ability to walk up the stairs without being short of breath or the joy of twirling in front of a mirror in the "perfect" dress or your skinny jeans and knowing you look fabulous! So while you're contemplating whether you want to lose weight or not why don't you ask yourself what your food triggers are and why you keep them?  What have they done for you lately?

As you're eating your way through the Holidays and thinking about this weight loss thing I imagine if you're reading this you're also thinking you need something more than an analysis of why you eat to get you going.  You probably really want to begin doing something about this or you wouldn't have been searching for diets.  So I'll give you a tip today to start you on your way.

Tip #1 - Move.  Something or anything more today than you did yesterday.  You don't have to go to a gym, buy a spandex outfit or add weights to your garage.  If you're lucky you have a pair of feet and probably a pair of shoes.  So today stand up and move.  Walk around your kitchen island or alongside your counter and back.  Walk up and down your stairs one more time than you would have ordinarily for no reason.  Walk in and out of each room of your house.  If the weather's nice go outside and walk around the whole outside of your house.  If you're feeling ambitious walk down the block, around the block or across the street and back.  You don't have to use that treadmill pictured in the corner of this post.  Moving is key to changing what you're doing and you're going to need to move something every day so start small.  You aren't officially dieting yet anyway but make a conscious effort to move something today and then plan to move something again tomorrow and the next day.  If it doesn't hurt you, move a little longer or a little further.  While you're moving you can think about why you eat what you eat.

What have you got to lose?
HV13

The Holiday Preparation Diet for your Last Diet!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

It's the Holidays! If you're like EVERYONE, yesterday you feasted on healthy things like turkey and vegetables and unhealthy things like pie, ice cream, rolls, whipped cream, candy and everything in between. The guilt you experienced is likely directly related to your scale and your clothing size and indirectly related to the relative you like least because she's always skinnier than you and says no to fabulous desserts, walks away and makes it look easy!! Last night you swore your gluttony would not continue through the weekend and undaunted you poured your first cup of coffee with fierce resolve.  It really was the refrigerator's fault... the weakening, the backsliding, the ultimate undoing but boy that pie sure tasted good for breakfast!!! Mine was apple, with two kinds of ice cream and whipped cream on top.  Is this really about dieting?  You have to wonder don't you?

Here's the deal. I am a successful dieter, meaning I once had a lot of weight to lose, I lost it and I've kept it off  - for more than six years!  I'm also a health professional so I know a bit about biology and what goes on under the covers so to speak.  Like everyone else I've ever known, I've struggled with various weight issues through my teen years, into my child bearing years and on through my mid life when I finally got it right.  Along the way I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do and it's that I hope will help someone else succeed because it sure is great when you lose weight and keep it off.  And yes, there is pie and ice cream in your future but there's a lot of hard work first, no lie.  If you were looking for magic there are plenty of "lose 16 pounds in five days" diet sites out there. Wanna get into that holiday dress? You'll need to look elsewhere.  This is the wrong place for you.

If you've got 5 - 10 lbs. to lose you can't kid me.  You know how to eat right and balance your intake or do most of the time so unless it's been 5-10 lbs. for 20 or 30 years I probably can't help you.  More than 15 - 100, I think you're in the right place but you'll have to decide if it's what you really want. If you have more than that to lose you have serious weight issues, you likely also have health issues and while everything I'll try to share here may help you, it's very likely you need help that's interactive and includes face to face assistance.  TRUTH # 1 - Until the day you decide that you really want to lose weight and keep it off, no diet on any website, in any kitchen, designed by any nutritionist or ordered by any physician will help you.  You and only you are in control of your weight and that's the honest truth. It doesn't mean you have to journey alone.

So what' s the " Holiday Preparation diet" anyway? Well this is the diet you're going to use to prepare you to undertake your last diet and your first truly successful weight management strategy. To help you like EVERYONE else your real diet will need to start on January 1st just in time for your annual New Year's Resolution to lose weight.  In the meantime between now and then there will be parties, family gatherings, goodies in the office, and well meaning friends bringing you treats. Or maybe your downfall includes those grocery store end cap displays all tempting your tastebuds and filling your nostrils with that delightfully seductive smell of sugar and spice and everything nice...not to mention, gooey, chocolaty and oh so buttery rich.  My advice to you is simple.  Finish your leftovers, enjoy your friends and relatives, eat what you love and enjoy it but check back here.  I'll try to keep your December full of tips to prepare you for what's coming January 1.  Understand that your main work until year's end is to decide if you really want to lose weight next year.  I'll give you until December 1st to let it percolate in your brain.  By then if you think you want to consider a serious effort you'll check back in through December and get ready.  On December 31st you'll need to make a real commitment to saying goodbye to your old ways and I'll do my best to help.  It really is up to you.  In the meantime there's a glass of wine with my name on it and I bet it would go really well with some of those leftovers!  Gobble, gobble...'til next time.

 

HV13