Chocolate Update

I had to share with all of you that I am doing pretty good breaking my chocolate addiction. I posted several weeks ago that I was going to go chocoalte free on the weekdays. I've done it (three whole weeks, wow!). I've actually felt pretty good and haven't been too irritable (don't ask my boys, they might disagree). The thing that I've been really excited about is on the weekends I haven't gone nuts eating chocolate. I have definitely eaten some chocolate but it's been reasonable portion sizes and rarely more than once a day. I've really prayed hard for help to break this addiction and I know I'm not 100% cured but I feel much more in control and I like that.

How do you curb your desire for chocolate or sugar?

Abstaining from chocolate

Okay, friends, I need some moral support. I'm seriously worried about my chocolate addiction and decided it was time to stop saying, "After this bowl of ice cream I'll be good."
I thought a pledge to the entire world (or all 46 of you who follow this blog) would help me stick by my morning workout convictions. Isn't it amazing how healthy you plan on being when you're in the middle of a workout?
Here's my plan: No chocolate or ice cream Monday through Thursday. Friday through Saturday I can have a small treat as needed (every hour?).
What do you think? Too strict? Please don't tell me if you think it's pathetic because this is a really big step for me!
If you want to join my chocolate free pledge or make one of your own, leave a comment below. I would love some crazy friends with me on this journey. Thanks!

Holiday Eating

With Thanksgiving coming up I'm already strategizing about what I will and won't eat. I can skip the rolls, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie but I am definitely enjoying turkey, sweet potatoes, and hand-dipped chocolates.
Health News said those who log more than 5 miles per day could relax about holiday eating because fluctations in their diet are less likely to affect them. I agree that if you work hard you can justify some extra calories once in a while but for me it works best if I set limits.

How about you? What do you have to enjoy at Thanksgiving dinner and what can you do without?

Healthy School Lunch Continued

The day after I posted my complaints on school lunch we received a flyer from the school. Dr. Heidi Wengreen, a friend of ours and a professor at Utah State University, has joined with Dr. Greg Madden and Sheryl Aguilar, to form the Food Dudes Program. They're offering more fruits and vegetables through the school lunch program and studying the children's choices and actual consumption of healthy foods.
We haven't ruled out corn dogs or chicken nuggets yet but at least the healthy options are increasing. Yeah!
If you can, encourage your school to check out the Food Dudes Program. I'm thrilled they're testing it at our school.
I feel guilty for being negative last post. So, let's focus on the positive this time. What has your school done to try to encourage healthy eating?

Healthy School Lunch?

My 9yo begs me every day to make home lunch. I usually try to make him a healthy lunch but some days it is just too crazy and he has to eat school lunch. I hated school lunch as a child but I'm always arguing with my boys that school lunch is tastier and healthier now (but my memory isn't always too reliable).

Next week is National School Lunch Week, "Let's Grow Healthy". My 9yo brought home the schedule of lunches for the week. As we reviewed the menu we both laughed and laughed. Four of the five days the main dish was grease - pizza, corn dogs, deep-fried chicken sandwich, and breaded beef patty. Some of the side dishes were nutritious but not all. My 9yo said, "They think that's healthy!"

We're not big deep-fried fans. Ice cream may be essential but you'd be hard-pressed to find corn dogs or chicken nuggets in our freezer (there's no room with all the ice cream). So I had to concede that my son only had to eat school lunch on spaghetti and meatballs day (guess I'll have to be more organized in the morning).

I've heard that for some children school lunch is the healthiest and most complete meal they eat all day. That's a bit disturbing when you look over the menus.

What are your thoughts? I know children enjoy deep-fried foods. Am I being too extreme to hope that they would be the exception rather than the rule at school lunch? How does your school lunch rate?

Balance

It's easy for me to become obsessive about exercise and eating right. I realized the other day we were in trouble when my 5yo held up his Honey Nut Cheerios and asked, "Does this have too many calories?" I think it's extremely important to teach children how to live healthy but there's a balance. For me it works best to schedule my exercise. I can workout in the morning, but the rest of the day is focused on my boys. I also try to keep it real with meal planning and treats. We will eat healthy meals most of the time, but it's okay to go out on Saturday night, or plan a meal that has cream of chicken soup in it every once in a while (you should see how excited my boys get at those dinnertimes), or eat a bowl of ice cream while we sit around and chat at night (we try not to do it every night, I promise).

How do you keep a balance between being healthy and enjoying life?

Eat like a baby

My 7mo is teaching us some great lessons about how to eat. Though we might not want to aspire to his chubby physique, we would like to be as uncomplicated about food as he is.

#1 - Fruits and veggies are amazing. Phoenix downs any kind of fruit or veggie placed on his tongue. I love fruits and veggies as well, but pureed prunes? That's pushing it a bit far.

#2 - You don't have to clean your plate. When Phoenix is done, he's done. There's no sneaking in one more bite. It really is okay to throw food away or save it for another meal. Let go of the guilt and the extra calories - toss it in the garbage.

#3 - Don't eat it just because it's fun. There's always an uncle, cousin, grandma, or brother who thinks it's fun to feed the baby dessert or dairy (before a year) and see how the baby likes it. It's okay to eat sometimes for fun, but for the most part eating should be to improve health, increase energy, and sustain life. Sorry to be the party pooper but if a food is going to hurt you in the long run, it's not really fun.

#4 - Slow down. My husband loves to shovel Phoenix's food in as quickly as the little guy opens his mouth. I cussed him and now we're both taking it slow. Me because I need to run around the kitchen and do ten things between each bite. My husband because he knows I'm watching! As a mom it's easy to rush through eating. Don't do it. Slow down and savor each bite. You'll eat less and you'll enjoy life more.

The older I get the more food issues I find myself dealing with. Keeping it simple and uncomplicated may just be the key to getting over the unhealthy behaviors.

Every bite counts

I'm finally losing the last of my baby weight, only six pounds to go. It feels wonderful to fit into my clothes and workout hard again, but it's frustrating how strict I have to be with my eating to keep losing.
The difference between a normal weight and overweight person is 100 caloreis a day. Do you know how easy it is to snarf down an extra 100 calories? (For me at least) I read an article in Prevention about a lady who lost 120 pounds. She said, "You'll never feel bad about not eating something." Perfect counsel for me. Walk away from the kitchen. Very empowering stuff.

Diets

Have you ever been on a diet?
I constantly preach against fad diets, but I'm as guilty of anyone of "going on a diet" when I need to lose a few pounds. The sad thing about diets (besides how miserable they are) is that 95% of people put the weight they lose back on. Not great odds. It's just too hard to maintain a diet and it also messes with your metabolism. Best just to stick with good old healthy eating and effective exercise to stay at a good weight for life.
How about you? What's the craziest diet you've been on? When you've lost weight dieting have you kept it off?

Sugar = Poison?

The past couple of days I've consumed an entire piece of The Cheescake Factory's Black-out Cake. If you've ever seen one of these slices, you'll understand why I'm disgusted with myself. They're bigger than a dinner plate and richer than Ghirardelli chocolate. Yesterday I seriously could not move out of my chair. I was so weak and sick it terrified me. I started wondering if it was the sugar overdose. I did some research online and found everything from cautions to too much sugar during pregnancy because of gestational diabetes to an article that basically equated the effect of sugar on a fetus to be as awful as alcohol, cigarettes, or caffeine.

Oh, the guilt!

The hard thing is there isn't a lot of solid research out there, but I guess I understand that. None of us would want to be the guinea pig to see what hurt our baby or not.

So I've decided to be careful about excess sugar for the next few weeks and see if I feel better. I'm not giving up jam on my toast but I did hide the rest of the Black-out Cake in the outside freezer!

Any advice? Have any of you noticed an adverse effect from sugar on you or your children? I definitely feel gross if I eat too much and I think my children get whinier, but I've really never equated sugar with poison as some of the articles I read suggested.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

Cami

Yoga to lose weight

When I'm pregnant yoga is the only thing that helps me sleep at night. It may be all in my head, but if I don't fit in 10-15 minutes of yoga each night I might as well count on not sleeping.

It's also been proven that yoga can help you eat more mindfully and lose pounds.

Check out Yoga Finder for a class near you or try a fun DVD: Shiva Rea Flow Yoga or Rodney Yee's Yoga.

Please share your favorite yoga moves or a DVD that you love. My favorite yoga pose used to be the Child's Pose, but now I can't breathe in that position, so I'm going with the Warrior Pose.

Love Your Body - Review and Book Giveaway

It's such an honor for me to review Brooke Parker's book, Love Your Body. Brooke is a registered dietitian, but as I read this book she spoke to me like a food psychiatrist bringing up many issues I have struggled with for years and helping me to find positive solutions to them.

I loved this book. Brooke has a fabulous attitude and it shines through as you read the book and do the exercises. I believe every woman should read this book, it will change your life for the better.

Win your free copy:

We will be giving away 5 copies of Love Your Body: A Diet-Free Approach to Balanced Eating as part of the online book book tour. The contest will close on March 5th at midnight, MST.

Entering the contest is easy--all you have to do is blog, tweet, follow, or comment about the book or blog review then fill out the form here.

1. Become a follower of our reviewers blogs. You can follow one of our reviewers or you can follow all of them. Remember that each blog you follow gives you another chance to win, so why wouldn't you choose to follow them all? But what if you are already following them you ask? Well lucky you because you get an entry for that too.

Walnut Springs Press

Brooke Parker RD

Of Writerly Things

Random-ish by Nichole

Queen of the Clan

Rachelle Writes

The Write Blocks

Tangled Words and Dreams

*Tristi Pinkston, LDS Author

Why Not? Because I Said So! and LDS Women's Book Review

Cami's Books

2. Post a comment on the reviews. (Sorry, you'll have to post it on my book blog, but I wanted to share this great book and giveaway with all my bloggers.)

3. Blog about the contest or one of the reviews. Spread the word. Just remember that the blog post either needs to link to the contest or to one of the reviews.

4. Tweet about the contest or one (or all) of the reviews. Yep, 144 characters or less is all it takes to enter.

5. Follow us on twitter. Maybe you use twitter, maybe you don't. But if you do, you should follow us.

http://twitter.com/walnutspringspr

http://twitter.com/brookeparkerrd

http://twitter.com/valerieipson

http://twitter.com/nicholegiles

http://twitter.com/Rachellewrites

http://twitter.com/LDSWBR

http://twitter.com/camichecketts

6. Post about the contest on Facebook.

7. Become a fan of Love Your Body on facebook.Brooke is constantly updating her fanpage with articles, recipes, and helpful hints.

8. Anything else you can think of that will spread the word. If you mention it on goodreads, shelfari, google buzz, or any other social media site, or make it your status on gmail chat, MSN or yahoo messenger let us know. We want to reward your creativity with an entry.

Here's that nifty little form again that you need to fill out to be entered,here

Can fat hinder your strength?

Does your diet really affect your workout?

"Canadian researchers found that when you regularly eat high-fat foods, the excess fat is stored within the muscles, slowing their fat-burning ability." (i)

"It's like carrying a backpack with 33% of your weight in it, but your muscles can't compensate for the extra work," Thomas Hawke, PhD, associate professor at McMaster University

So basically the more fat you consume the more you hinder your ability to burn that fat, even if you're exercising vigorously. Makes you think before gobbling that next Big Mac.

(i) "Wake Up Your Workout" Prevention, February 2010

Love Your Body by Brooke Parker

Brooke Parker has written an amazing book on becoming the best you and feeling good about yourself. Win your free copy of Love Your Body

If you're struggling with body image issues or just want some great tips from an amazing dietitian and motivational speaker, this book will make a difference in your life.

Love Your Body by Brooke Parker

Brooke Parker's first book, Love Your Body, has just been released. Brooke is an amazing dietitian. I've had the opportunity to listen to her speak. Her positive attitude and real-life approach made me believe I could be healthy and happy.

Here's a little information about her book:

Are you tired of dieting and feeling unsatisfied with your appearance? In this book, registered dietitian Brooke Parker shares secrets for developing a positive body image and creating your own customized eating plan. You'll also learn how to replace negative thoughts about yourself with positive, motivational thoughts.

With the tools you master in Love Your Body, the scale, the media, and your "skinny jeans" will no longer have the power to determine your mood or your life!

Topics include:

-Finding a New Relationsip with Food

-Honoring Your Hunger and Fullness

-Finding Your Own Healthy Balance

-Creating Healthy Expectations

-The Inner Dialogue

-Put an End to Worry

-Your Body is a Gift

-Eliminating the Physical Triggers

-Destructive Thinking Styles

-Pampering Activities

..and many more

Brooke Parker is a registered dietitian. She graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Dietetics. She currently works for USU's Student Health Center providing nutrition support for the entire student body. She specializes in Eating Disorders and has worked with this clientele for 8 years. She is passionate about helping women overcome eating disorders and body-image issues.

Brooke and her husband live in northern Utah with their three young children. She loves being a mother and all that comes with it. She also enjoys gardening, family vacations, reading, golfing, and snow skiing.

Brooke will be signing copies of Love Your Body at The Book Table in Logan, Utah - Friday, December 4th from 6-10 p.m.

Buy link for Love Your Body - http://www.amazon.com/Love-Your-Body-Brooke-Parker/dp/1935217372/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259334484&sr=8-8

Loving You More

Do you love yourself more than that slice of Firehouse's chicken barbecue pizza? More than that slice of Granny's apple pie? More than that bowl of Dreyer's cookie dough ice cream with homemade hot fudge?

Yesterday I decided I loved Great Harvest's pumpkin chocolate chip bread more than I loved myself and ate two slices. I've been nauseated ever since.

This saying is going to be another weapon in my arsenal of "how to trick myself into making healthy choices." I'm going to simply think, "I love myself more than I love ______" You can enter your own vices - you know mine will be some form of chocolate.

Any advice that helps you stay strong?

"Nothing tastes as good as lean and mean feels." Michael Colgan

I know you've heard this quote too many times from me, but I keep hoping if I type it, read it, and repeat it a couple hundred times I will imprint it on my brain.

It's always easier for me to subscribe to this quote after I've had my serving of ice cream and I'm on board to eat great again! The trick is remembering it before I eat something that makes me feel awful.

Here's to a wonderful weekend of fun times with family and friends and healthy food that makes us feel good!

www.camichecketts.com

Does exercise increase your appetite?

I've been reading articles about the effect exercise has on appetite. As usual, there's conflicting evidence. The general consensus is that moderate activity decreases your appetite, but vigorous exercise can increase your appetite.

I think the main issue is eating healthy, filling food. Most experts say you need to eat within half an hour after exercise to replace your glycogen stores. Eat low-fat, high-protein and high-fiber foods and you will be fine.

I also think it's important to not talk yourself into a pit that I've been in many times - "I work hard, I deserve to eat this ice cream, chocolate, cookie, or whatever." Although exercise is fabulous for your heart, lungs, prevention of disease, and re-shaping your body, you will not be able to maintain a healthy weight if you consume too many calories. Most of us underestimate how many calorie we burn with exercise. So avoid the trap and think, "I worked hard today, I want to keep being healthy and getting double the rewards!"

Another trap to avoid is exercising hard at the gym but then sitting around the rest of the day. Your overall movement will contribute to your weight control and health as much as your gym session. Try to sneak in little ways to move all day - run the stairs instead of yelling down to the kids, park farther away at the grocery store, take more trips rather than hauling twenty pounds of stuff from the car in each arm.

What about you? How do you keep your appetite under control when you're exercising hard? How do you keep yourself moving when the couch looks so appetizing?

Satiate Your Cravings

It's always hard when I'm trying to eat healthy to find foods that satiate my cravings. I assumed it was because I cut so much fat out of my diet, but a new article says differently, "It used to be thought that fat contributed to maintaining a feeling of fullness. But now fiber and protein have been shown to be the two key factors. The combination of protein and fiber slows your digestion and is thought to extend the release of hormones that trigger the "I'm full" response in the brain." (i)

Most of us get enough protein, but fiber is harder. Here are some articles about fiber benefits and the foods with the highest fiber content:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49482.asp

http://www.healthcastle.com/high-fiber-foods.shtml

http://www.changingshape.com/resources/articles/high-fiber-diet.asp

http://www.aolhealth.com/diet/basics/fiber-foods

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/nutrition/a/0806_high_fiber.htm

http://www.wheatfoods.org/AboutWheat-list-of-high-fiber-foods/Index.htm

My favorites on the list? Black beans, bran cereal, popcorn, peas, apples, pears, berries, and oats. I throw oats or grind wheat to put in all of our pancakes, breads, waffles, etc. My boys hate it! Someday they'll thank me, right?

When I'm really craving a treat and want to be good I pop some popcorn, spray Can't Believe It's Not Butter on it and guzzle Crystal Light or I'll mix fruit, yogurt, and cottage cheese to get a low-fat treat that is almost as good as ice cream (nothing compares to ice cream for me!).

What's your favorite way to sneak in more fiber?

How do you satiate yourself when you're craving a treat?

(i) "Feeling Satiated Longer" by Megan Porter, RD - http://www.caloriesperhour.com/news_070815.php

Let's Start This Contest

First day of the big fitness contest. Are you all so excited you can hardly stand it? I'm snacking on grapes while I type this afternoon, rather than my usual bowl of cookie dough ice cream with homemade hot fudge (sorry about the sensory detail, that almost made me want to go make a bowl!).

I have to admit to being a bit depressed today. First day of the fitness contest and I'm so sick I can't workout. I don't understand why, but this also makes me want to sit around and eat. Thank heavens for the contest. I'm at least on track to get my four other points today, even if I can't exercise.

When you're sick, do you workout anyway or do you figure you'll recover quicker if you give your beat-up body a rest?

Have a healthy day,

Cami