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"If society were in concert with how females actually develop, we'd celebrate the rounding of the female shape around puberty, but because women are told to be thin, adolescence signals the onset of a fight with the body that never ends...."
Spending money on where you live is a really good use of funds. I used to think it didn't matter really- especially because I was out running around so much, but the simple fact is that what you wake up to every day affects everything you do with that day. For me, being near nature has made a huge difference. A recent move to a house that seems to have an innate sense of feng shui has made me feel joy just by sitting in my living room and looking out the window into the garden. I can feel the ocean air when I walk out the door (and I am blocks and blocks from the beach--but that beachy vibe fills the whole area nonetheless) If you can't afford to live in the neighborhood you'd like, be sure your apartment or house has things in it that make you happy. Maybe buy some freshly cut flowers once a week, light a candle so it catches dancing shadows in the corner of the room, or burn incense with a smell that helps you transcend everyday reality--just do something to bring beauty and harmony into your home--and into your life. 2) Recognize the things in life for which you are lucky. Every day I experience gratitude for love and friendship that I have in my life--having a positive attitude is essential for finding success with anything you are doing--and good health is not possible without it! Time taken out from the day to reflect on this kind of stuff is always time well spent. 3) Eat well. Your body is your temple. Honor it. I have decided that I will buy (mostly) organic food as long as I can continue to afford to, and honestly I think that helped my weight loss along. I rarely eat red meat, and often try to eat vegetarian, though I do have chicken breast fairly frequently since my doctor told me I was anemic. Organic fruits and vegetables taste better--and are free of pesticides. I feel my energy has skyrocketed since I made this change--can't tell you why, but I feel a definite difference. I also eat a lot of whole grains and have found that in terms of convenience, there are plenty of packaged foods sold in stores like Wild Oats and Whole Foods that are just as easy as the boxes from Kraft and Uncle Ben's but taste so much better and are so much healthier for you. As for Ben & Jerry's, well I will never give that up--and as ice cream goes, it offers one of the best quality product lines out there. I also use real butter, as margarine is one of the most processed foods out there--I just use it sparingly. Other than that, I eat no dairy and have found silk (soy milk) to be delicious on cereal and a great way to incorporate soy into a diet. The organic stores also carry some low-fat/nonfat salad dressings that blow away the full fat versions of brands you can get at the regular market. Yes, all this costs a little more, but not as much as you might think. Do as much as you can afford to do. If you eat out a lot, you can save money by cooking things yourself --and you have much more control over how fresh the ingredients are and how much or how little fat, etc. goes into what you eat. There are plenty of recipes which are easy and quick to make, so "I don't have time" has to become an unacceptable excuse at least most of the time-- save eating out or ordering in for those days where you're like, "Oh yeah, it's an excuse but I am exhausted" and you'll be set. You are worth it--this is an investment in your health and growth over the rest of your lifetime. Oh-- and if you have a favorite high fat food (can we say chocolate)--let yourself have it. If you'd normally eat two, just have one. Moderation in all things. Zen of food. I've got recipes on my site that are amazing and easy to make--check them out. You won't miss a thing. 
I skate on the bike path near the ocean so I can do both at the same time. My concession to time is that I only skate 3 mi a day if I'm busy (about 45 min)--5 if I'm not (1/1/2 hrs). But I make time for it almost every day, and have an extra extra short route (20 minutes) in place for those days when I just don't feel like exercising. Many times once I get out I'm able to do the 45 min one instead, but just knowing I can let myself off the hook midway through my exercise by taking the shortest route if I need, lets me get out there in the first place instead of making excuses to stay home and do nothing. I needed to find an exercise that didn't feel like work. Next step is to try to get to yoga class more--also one of the best things I can recommend for looking good and feeling great, and not being quite sure how you got there, but loving the experience of doing it. Exercise is not something to force yourself to do. If it is something fun and freeing, you will actually WANT to do it. It is also something that should happen within the context of your life as much as possible. In addition to my meditative daily skating ritual, I also try to use my skates in lieu of my car for any errands or outings that can adapt. No parking garage lines, tickets and best of all you really feel like you are doing double duty--exercising and running errands at the same time! I also have over the last 2 years done twice weekly sessions with a Pilates instructor and between that and the SFactor class I've been taking for a year and a half, my body is not the same body it was 3 years ago. It's about way more than just calories. 5) Keep to a schedule as much as possible--even if it's weird, consistency is key. I am not an early morning person, and because it is so hot here in LA, and I have stuff to do all day long, I often don't go skating until after 6 PM, which means dinner is usually eaten around 9 or 10 at night (of course if I had to be up to go to work in the morning things would be different--and on those days when I have to be up early I change my schedule accordingly) but usually I'm up by 9:30/10, having gone to bed anywhere from 1-2 AM. I don't buy all this talk about not eating late at night. What that really means is don't eat again if you already had dinner!! If you need to eat later to eat better food, by all means do it. I have lost all the weight I did and in the last year have pretty much never eaten dinner before 7 PM. What matters is the total number of calories you put into your system, and how many calories you use throughout your day. And if I'm skating until 8 or 9, there is absolutely nothing wrong with me eating at 10 or 11 PM and going to bed a few hours later, but this happens mostly in summer, when the days are much longer. My system has adapted to that kind of schedule, and because of the late exercise, I think stays in burning mode well after the early evening times you see in so many diet regimens. Call me crazy, but it has worked in my personal experience so I vouch for its truth. It's not a good idea to go to bed on a full stomach, though, so it's important to have both the later mealtime and bedtime for this approach to work. Aryuvedic medicine says differently. I'm learning more about that. Someday might change my mind, but not yet. I do notice that my mood seems to be most affected by shifts in light cycle, so I think it is important to experience at least part of the morning upswing, before the light starts to cut down in its mid-afternoon slide into dusk. Your body needs light to keep its metabolism active, so it is especially important in the winter that you take some kind of mid-day walk so that your body can get the light in the limited time it's offered. 6) Remind yourself that your view of yourself is influenced by what's been ingrained into our society by the media (that at this point virtually surrounds us)--so there is no real escape from those messages, and you will have them in your consciousness. The voices that you hear in your head--are just voices--and you don't have to listen to them. In other words, you can only take your opinion of your self and your insecurities so seriously.... as your standards of "good and "normal" will inevitably be a little warped unless you grew up alone on a desert island... Failing to recognize this fact, and resorting to extreme behavior to compensate for a perspective not generally recognized is what leads to an eating disorder. Walking around every day just hating yourself for what you look like, whether it comes with an official disorder, is still life-defining. A really healthy person realizes that he or she controls the key to his or her own happiness--that the power of thought is ultimately what it always comes down to. Every day we have many, many times we can choose to react with positive thoughts or negative ones. Calming thoughts in the face of adversity, or major freak out sessions. Hating yourself because your butt looks kind of big in the mirror today. Or feeling grateful for being free of any life-threatening illnesses; because any day, it could be your doctor seeing something that "concerns" him or her. Be honest with yourself. If you don't know what that is, then your first step is to figure that out. If you learn how to give yourself good advice to yourself, you'll truly have found your best friend in the world. Here are some diet and exercise sites to get you started on the lifetime road to good health, and some vegetarian cookbooks to get you started cooking, low-fat, healthy food that tastes amazing!!! Mirror, Mirror Recreating the Body Inside Your Mind What Is An Eating Disorder? Something Fishy: Eating Disorders/ Weight Issues 
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Want some cookbooks to help get you ease onto a healthy culinary road? Vegan Vittles : Recipes Inspired by the Critters of Farm Sanctuary The Uncheese Cookbook : Creating Amazing Dairy-Free Cheese Substitutes and Classic 'Uncheese' Dishes
How I Look Today (well, sort of, I am wearing my Halloween costume!) October 2004
List of Current Favorites The S-Factor: Strip Workouts for Every Woman Yup, I'm an S-Factor girl, and lovin' every second of it! Started to take classes at the studio about a year and a half ago. If you saw Sheila Kelley (founder of S-Factor) or Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewife and SFactor Girl Extraordinaire) on Oprah recently, you know. It's not about the stripping. It's about the workout--and the power of being a WOMAN. For 2 years I did Pilates twice a week with a private instructor and totally reshaped my entire body. That's not at all cheap, BTW. But the Winsor Pilates video is what my teacher recommends as a much less expensive way to get started, and what I bought for my husband to start to incorporate Pilates into his own exercise regimen.
Bryan has been my yoga teacher for years and I absolutely adore him--as a person and as a yoga teacher. His videos and audio tapes are outstanding, inspiring not just in terms of offering a great workout, but in helping you maintain a positive attitude and body image. He will always make my list! and... DON'T LAUGH!! You can have fun and lose inches at the same time--just hula-hoop your way to a smaller waistline. I've been doing it while watching General Hospital for maybe 10 minutes every other day, and I feel my abs working hard!! Be sure to go in both directions (one side willl no doubt be harder than the other) because you want to work both sides of your body equally! Click here for |
