Every Gym’s Nightmare

Morning! I got some great news last: I’ve been hired to co-blog a fitness and wellness site for b5media.com. Sa-weet. I’m excited. It wont be for another few weeks but I will definately be pushing the hell out of it and except every one of you to check it out.

So after all the comments yesterday, and my failed attempt at a core video (ill take pictures tonight and just post it that way) I decided to stay on the same vein with food. I found this article and wanted to know what you guys think. Eating well isnt black or white. What do you think constitutes disordered eating? Based on this article, do you guys fit the mold?

KOOTZ- your site wont let me comment cause I dont have a traditional blog…you should open it up to everyone!

EDITI linked the wrong article. This is a good one, too, though, which brings up if EDs are something you are born with or hereditary.

I think its a bit of both. I thnk certain people are born with capability of developing an eating disorder, but that doesnt mean they will. It takes something happening to bring it to a head. what do you guys think?

I spent forever making a video post and it wont load. Now, Im so pissed I don’t feel like posting, so i will be back tomorrow.

I am often asked if I can post a sample day of my food, or what I eat on a regular basis, etc. Normally, I say I don’t because this isn’t a food blog, but also because I dont really have anything significant to contribute. I eat very healthily, but its boring and repetitive and not very pleasing to look at.

This was my dinner last night.

Generaic Whole Grain O’s with 1 sliced banana and fat free milk
1 cinnamon raisin english muffin with peanut butter

I am an uninteresting eater because:

I eat off paper plates, although I did make that bowl in highschool ceramics and its one of my favorites. I dislike doing the dishes, therefore I use as little of them as I can. This means often eating straight from tupperware or my darling little cupped hand.

I dont eat food that your would normally have at certain meal times. I pretty much live on breakfast food. I’ll eat cereal or oatmeal anytime of day or night, but have been known to have rice and veggies for breakfast.

I rarely have a sit down meal, as demonstrated by my set up at the kitchen counter. I usually eat in front of the TV or computer, but I was feeling fancy last night. I’m rushed and honestly, food isnt that important to me, its just fuel to keep me going, so I often eat just to get it down and keep going. I dont have a huge problem with portion control, so the whole “you eat less when you are not distracted thing” is kind of mute. I eat what I prepare and thats all.

I dont have the attention span to photograph everything I put in my mouth, especially because I snack A LOT. I also care way too much about what strangers think of me, so snapping pictures in a restaurant or with guests isn’t something I want to do. I also hate to explain things, so, again, no pictures.

My food is boring looking and my pictures dont help. I dont know anything about lighting or presentation or when to flash and when not to flash. Flashing has a time and a place, kiddies.

That english muffin is not whole wheat. I do eat a lot of whole wheat, I cant remember the last time I had non-whole wheat grains of any sort, but, you know what? These cinnamon raisin english muffins were a dollar, so fiber be damned.

I dont count calories or grams of any sort. I DO however know the calorie content of pretty much anything, which dates back to when counting calories was all I would do. My friends think its some sort of party trick and will start yelling foods at me so I can tell them how many calories are in it. They are simple folk.

My grocery list is always the same, with very few exceptions. I know what I like and I eat it. IM not very adventurous when it comes to food.

I spent way too much time worrying about calories and food that I burnt myself out. Lifes too short to worry so much. Eat enough, not too much, mostly good things, only a few bad. Never feel guilty, never overcompensate. This is how I eat.

So, in celebration of getting over my cold, I decided to wreak havock on my seasonal allergies by taking a walk to my neighborhood beach, Alki.

Em- this one’s for you

The view on the way down

The ferry

One time, a friend and I asked if we could play volleyball with some people (we played in highschool) and they straight up said no. So then we watched, and they weren’t very good, so we didn’t feel bad about laughing really loud.

My favorite view

This is what happened when I told Porkchop to smile

A face only a mother could love.

It doesn’t really capture the steepness, but its all up hill the whole way home.

Porkie, pooped.

Aww, look at that pink belly.

It was about 4 miles round trip.

I was going go to the gym later and get some strength training in, but I really don’t want to over do it today, having it be my first day back and all, so i will save it for tomorrow.

Im feeling a bit better today but still not well enough to go to work or not frighten young children if i ventured outside. i feel bad for my neighbor who most likely stayed up all night with me listening to my incessant hacking.

Chandra asked a question that was kind of fitting for yesterday.

I have a question (sorry if you’ve answered this before, but I don’t remember it if you have) - I know you’re not a supplement pusher by any means, but what do you think about protein drinks/shakes? I have this one, which isn’t a meal replacement and not high cal, which I like - I was just wondering what your input was on the subject. Thanks in advance, get well soon!

I sort of have answered this before, but not really. I have talked about protein and how people often eat too much, even before they use their protein powders and eat their protein bars. rarely does anyone need to make an extra effort to get more protein in their diets, but it does happen.

Protein builds and repairs muscle tissue, it does not provide energy. (unless it has to, if carbs are lacking)

First, find out how much protein you need in a day. It is recommended that adults get 0.8-1 gram of protien per kilogram of body weight. To find out your body weight in kilograms, take your weight in pounds and divide that by 2.2.

Just as a reference, there are:
- 8 grams of protein in 1 cup of milk
- 7 grams in 1 egg
- 32 grams in 2 slices of pizza
- 24 grams in about 1/2 a can of tuna
- 30 grams in 1 chicken breast

So you can see how easy it is to go over your requirements.

So whats the big deal if you go over? Its not really a huge deal, but just like anything you eat in excess, that extra will be stored as fat. An extremely high protein diet, like atkins, can dangerous.

Too much protein, aside from the extra turning to fat, can lead to dehydration loss of calcium and puts unnecessary stress on the kidneys and liver. High protein diets, from natural sources, also mean you are consuming a lot of fat, usually saturated, if it consumed through meat.

I believe it is always better to get your nutrients from natural sources. That way, you will recieve other vitamins and minerals as well.

Some people do have trouble getting that protein though. vegetarians or vegans that are very stringent with their eating can be missing out on protein, and people that just plain aren’t meat eaters. Or take me, for example, yesterday. I never really make an extra effort to get protein because I know I get enough through my food, but yesterday I knew I was low so I made a smoothie with a scoop of protein powder.

My smoothie consisted of:

- 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
- 1 fat free container of banana creme pie yogurt
- 1 can of mangos (a really good cheap find) with about 1/2 the juice
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 scoop whey protein powder

It was delicious, but not enough to cure me.

It may be because I am doped up on cold medicine, but I can actually feel my muscles shrinking.

Im home from work today, sick a s a dog, and pissed that I havent gotten a real workout in over a week. Bleh.

I am feeling generous, probably again from the meds, so I’m sharing a free sample of Kashi granola with you all. Click here.

And Fiber One Cereal. Click here.

I must go lay down, I feel like I might keel over. So I will leave you with another toothpaste for dinner, and the promise of an interesting post tomorrow.

toothpastefordinner.com

I am currently walking death.

Im probably going to miss work tomorrow which will be a pain because I will have to have someone to cover, and Ill still end up working at home, trying to get this nutrition seminar done. Which it almost is, thank god.

I’m trying my best to eat well, but my appetite is slim to none, which is a clear indicator I may have something dangerous, like the plague or shaken baby syndrome. I usually eat more when I am sick, so to have my appetite gone is kind of odd.

Shaken babies are not funny.

I found another article today that I found interesting, and timely, since I have been asked to talk at my old highschool about body image and self esteem issues. I will obviously be sharing my experience with my eating disorder, how I over came it and offer some advice on either how to avoid falling into its trap through building a positive body image, or where to find help if you already have. Great, another presentation to write.

And the entire time I will be standing there preaching about loving yourself, I will be studying the crowd wondering if they are making fun of my clothes or want to throw things at me and they will probably ignore me and snicker about who banged who at what party because thats what I did in highschool when we had speakers.

I will also be asking them to participate in an activity that will help local inpatient eating disorder patients with their recovery, which I will also ask you to participate in as well if you would like, but I will get into that within the next few days when I have the kinks worked out.

The workout is iffy right now. Im thinking its a no today, but i will atleast get my steps in. I think Im a bit too far gone to have a workout help me instead of make me feel worse.

Oh, the article. Here you go

I have yet to meet a boy with an eating disorder, but I know they are out there and would love to talk to them and see how similar our experiences were.

I think developing an eating disorder is like having fat genes. You have to be genetically predisposed to the disorder, but it doesnt mean you will get one for sure. (Yes, I am saying “its your genes” is not an excuse for being overweight.) It takes an experience or outside influence to bring it to a head. But im interested to hear what you guys think, both who have had an ED and not.

Ahhh, the things I can teach these young minds.

toothpastefordinner.com

Alright, so I think I have the hang of everything with this site now. Thanks, Annie (Ha! Like she reads this..)

Pictures are working, and video is to come. Hopefully I will be able to just post videos of exercises instead of frame by frame pictures.

I found something amazing at Big Lots last trip:

Brown Rice Cream

Its like cream of wheat, but made with brown rice so its a lot sweeter.

I dont know why the margins are so big, I will have to fiddle.

Added bonus: only $1.00

Im starting to feel ill, my throat is killing me which is no fun. Im off to have dinner with my folks. Theres no way Im going to go run in the cold tonight so I will make sure to get my steps and workout in tonight when i get home.

Im a bit frustrated because I havent worked out in the past 4 days due to my vacation and now if i get sick it will be even more.

Its weird that I get mad when i cant work out. It just shows how much exercise effects my mood.

I found an interesting article about what the Biggest Loser contestants ate on an average day (I was always curious but could never find anything specific)

Here’s the article

I think it seems low and, frankly, boring. But let me know what you think.

hey guys, just messing around trying to get the pictures going. Ill post for reals a little later on.

Just a glimpse of the wonderful things you can purchase on Ebay

Hey, guys. Well, I’m back and had a fantastic time. My sleeping patterns were a bit wonky and mixed with the 3 hour time difference, I got home yesterday and fell asleep around 4 pm. I woke up this morning for work and had no idea where I was or what day it was. Im glad I had set my alarm early or I would be in trouble.
 
I didnt get a formal workout out in all weekend and ate pretty much crap the entire time, but its vacation and thats what happens so I am back on track now, with no regrets. I got in a lot of walking around at the airports and a lot of jumping and sweating at the concert (even though I’m sure a lot of it was no my sweat.)
 
Im going to go for a run today, because I have to clean up after then hurricane that was my boyfriend in my apartment alone all weekend and unpack and get settled again.
 
Tomorrow will be another run because I have a female appointment and then its my dads birthday, so i have to go visit him.
 
After that I will be able to get back into the gym, which I suprisingly miss.
 
Sorry this is a bit short and rushed, but I have a ton of stuff to do.
 
Bright side, my sister taught me how to load pictures, so you guys get to stare at nmy ugly mug again.

But not tonight.