Total Health by Elizabeth

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Eliz — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:06:00 GMT

When I was a kid, I remember having this really cool book of poems by Shel Silverstein called Where the Sidewalk Ends. I loved this book because it addressed things that kids care about: boogers, & daydreaming, & annoying brothers & sisters, just to name a few.

I grew up in a suburb just West of Chicago. Every street had a sidewalk on both sides.

I remember looking at the drawing on the cover of the book, thinking, "That's silly. Sidewalks don't end. There are sidewalks EVERYWHERE." And to me, there were.

Now I live in Austin, Texas. I moved here about 7.5 years ago. I run on the streets in my neighborhood & surrounding areas. I wear a Road ID because I'm afraid of getting clipped by some distracted driver, and since I run from my home, I don't carry ID or keys with me.

So, you might ask, if I'm afraid of getting hit by a car, why not just run on the sidewalk? Let me show you what I see when I run on the sidewalk in Austin, Texas:

Yep - it just ends. I'd like to say that This is where the Sidewalk Ends, but this happens over and over and over again. Sometimes there is a sidewalk on the other side of the street, but not always.

Texas is the 15th fattest state in the US with 66% of residents being overweight or obese. One HUGE (pardon the pun) reason for that is that we don't get enough activity. We don't get enough activity because we use our cars waaaay too much! We use our cars too often because the streets aren't activity friendly. See where this is going?

Anyway, my rant really isn't about the obesity epidemic. It's just really frustrating when I'm walking along & all of a sudden, there's no more sidewalk. I think I need to start becoming a thorn in someone's side. Hmmm... I wonder who the lucky winner will be?

Bonana fanna fo Fana

Eliz — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:41:46 GMT

Let's see here... I need to take role of all the stupid diets that don't work.

Grapefruit Diet? Check
Cabbage Soup Diet? Check
Cookie Diet? Check
Maple-Syrup/Lemon Juice/Cayenne Pepper Diet? Check Check Check
Banana Diet?

What? You haven't heard of the new Banana Diet that is sweeping Japan like a Giant-Sized Godzilla/PokeMon character? Here are the specifics:

A banana (or as many as you want) and room temperature water for breakfast
Eat anything you like for lunch and dinner (by 8 p.m.).
A three o'clock snack is okay
No desserts after meals
You have to go to bed before midnight

Unsure of what the "room temperature water" is all about for breakfast, the only problem I have with the diet is #2, oh yeah - and #3. So for lunch, I'd like a Bic Mac & a large fry; Dinner, I'd like a whole pizza. And that 3 o'clock snack? It's a brownie.

Okay - so I'm being sarcastic, but still. you get the point. I hardly think that breakfast is where most people exceed their calorie budget for the day. Now, "No desserts after meals", and no night time munching (dinner before 8 p.m.) could be why this diet is successful for a few folks.

So the lesson to be taken away from this post is, "Stay away from diets whose titles identify a specific food" (i.e.: see list above).

Fee fy mo Mana, Banana!

Retirement Savings up in Smoke?

Eliz — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:25:39 GMT

Everyone is talking about money these days; politicians, news presenters, even health educators! Most folks are worried about the money that they've lost due to the tanking stock market. Questions running around in their heads: "Am I going to have to work until I die now?" "Do I have enough money to send my child to college?" "If I do send my child to college, do I have enough money to retire when I had planned?"

I was inspired when I read this article in Sunday's paper about those same questions. Here's the specific quote:

Associated Press: What general advice do you have for people in their 50s and 60s who have seen their retirement accounts shrink and now figure they will have to delay retirement or scale back their goals?

Nelson: Start taking better care of your health. It's easy to say you're going to work longer, but many people effectively retire because their health deteriorates to the point where they can't work any more.

Do some type of assessment that gives you specific insight from a biological perspective about changes you could make to improve your health. A site that I like is www.realage.com. That's a very specific, science-based tool that gives you a better idea about whether you really could be healthy enough to work those extra five years if you need to.

"Start taking better care of your health" It's that easy. It reminds me of another article that I read earlier this year that obese people have lower lifetime health costs than healthy people. Why? Because they don't live as long.

I could go on & on about the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, but what it really comes down to is when we look at that paper-lined breakfast cake (i.e.: muffin) versus oatmeal, or the couch versus the dog standing there with her leash in her mouth, which one do we say "yes" to?

Part of living is having a treat every now & then, but it's the consistent choices that we make on a daily basis that will effect our wallets and longevity.

My Cloud

Eliz — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:51:00 GMT

So I was playing around on Wordle & was curious what my website would look like as a word cloud. I think it's pretty cool:

And here's my blog:

Fun!

Wellcoaches is On Board!

Eliz — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:17:00 GMT

I have gotten my first sponsor for the Total Health Challenge. Yippee! I am a licensed Wellness Coach through wellcoaches, so I thought it would be a great idea if each of the participants in the program gets one-on-one wellness coaching. In addition, each of the participating trainers will receive free tuition to complete the wellness coach certification on their own.

It's a win for everyone!

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

Eat your Veggies!

Eliz — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:56:04 GMT

I overheard a quote in my circuit class the other day: "You build a strong body in the gym; you build a lean body in the kitchen." And it's absolutely true. It's much easier to stop yourself from eating 2 oz of tortilla chips than it is to run for 30 minutes (300 calories in both instances).

Whenever I find that my waistband is getting a little more snug than I'd like, I turn my attention to my diet. I often realize that in addition to not paying as close attention to my portion sizes, one of the mistakes that I've been making is not eating enough non-starchy vegetables. A loose definition of Non-Starchy Vegetables are those veggies that grow above the ground. Examples are tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, green beans, summer squash, and peppers.

In addition to vegetables having lots of essential vitamins & minerals, they also have a high water content & lots of fiber; two things that will not only fill up that space in your stomach, but also help you feel satiated.

So add a vegetable to your meal to lose some inches - better yet, make sure you eat it first. Do be careful though, of supplementing vegetables low calorie appeal with added fat by dousing them with butter or salad dressing. It's okay to add some - just not a lot.

What do you say to yourself?

Eliz — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:21:00 GMT

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my bodybugg? I also have the display device which, when I originally got it, didn't think it was that useful. After all, I uploaded my information on a pretty consistent basis - twice or three times a day. Since it doesn't take that long to upload the data from the armband, it was really easy for me to keep track of the number of calories I was burning.

Well, once I got the digital display, I realized that I didn't need to update as often as I had been doing, because the digital display allows me to see almost real time how many calories I'm burning.

Yes, Exactly! It allows me to be even more anal retentive than I had been before!

So anyway, I recently set a goal to burn 100 calories per hour, or 2400 calories per day. I burn I calorie per minute being inactive, or sleeping, so I just need to move a little bit each hour to fit in those 40 extra calories per hour. When I wake up in the morning, I'm already behind, so I need to make up for those lost calorie hours.

That means that I need to do cardiovascular exercise. I could do strength training, which I do, but strength training alone will not help me succeed in my current goal. Depending on my schedule, I try to be "up" 300 calories by the time I finish my workout, and like to have burned 2000 by 6:00pm. This allows me to slow down in the evening, be a couch potato & relax a bit before bed time.

I typically try to schedule some time in during the day for me to run or exercise on an elliptical, but yesterday when I looked at my schedule for today, I knew that I wouldn't want to workout after my appointments, and I'd blow it off. Therefore, I decided that I would wake up extra early & run before my 7:15 am appointment. I knew that I wouldn't want to do that either, but to me it seemed like the lesser of the two evils.

So this is the conversation that I had with myself this morning at 5:10:

"Time to get up and out of bed."

"But I don't feel like getting out of bed. I'll press the snooze & rest here for a few more minutes."

"You know, I could just reset the alarm for about an hour later & workout after my last appointment."

"Yes, I could do that, but then I'd be mad at myself for not getting up & getting it over-with."

"Well, I could blow off exercise all together today. I've been really good lately."

"Yes, but then I wouldn't meet my goal of 2400."

"That's true, and if I exercise later, I'll end up doing it on a machine because it will be too hot for me to run outside.If I use a machine, I'll have to exercise longer because I burn fewer calories on the machine than I do running, and after running on a treadmill all summer, I'm burned out on treadmills.I don't want to exercise in doors today."

"Okay - I'm up."

As a result of this conversation that I had with myself, I had one of the best runs that I've had recently. I didn't use my iPod since I was running in the dark; I wanted to be aware of everything around me. Since I didn't have my iPod, the run was much more meditative and cathartic. I didn't have anything to distract me from my thoughts & as a result I was able to process a lot of information.

Although the iPod is a nice distraction, I didn't realize how much of a distraction it was. Running this morning in the dark was quiet. Just my breath, my footsteps, and my thoughts.

It was a great run & I'm REALLY glad that I did it.

So this brings up a few points about exercise adherence: 1)The power of Self-Talk, and 2) The power of Goals.

The entire reason that I wrote this post was because on my run, I was thinking about my self-talk when I was laying there in bed. You can easily see where I could have convinced myself that I should just stay in bed. It would have been an easy sell - and there are days when my body is fatigued, and I really just don't feel like doing it. Those days are the exception, and I typically don't feel guilty about it. I don't ever remember a day when I exercised and regretted it.

What's really interesting to me here is how I talked myself into it. It was my goal.

I am constantly setting small goals for myself. It keeps me on task. Right now my goal is to burn 2400 calories on most days, but soon I'll set a different goal. Maybe it will be running faster, or being able to do unassisted pull-ups, but whatever it is, goals keep me engaged in my exercise routine. They keep me inspired to keep exercising.

If I didn't have the goal of burning 2400 calories, I probably wouldn't have gotten up at 5:10 this morning to run in the dark. I therefore would have missed out on a really great experience.

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

3 pounds

Eliz — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:33:06 GMT

One of my guilty pleasures is that I watch Oprah. No, I'm usually not home at that time of the day, but thank goodness for DVRs so that I can record it; saves a lot of time skipping over commercials, but also, if I'm not interested in the topic being aired that day, I'll just delete it.

Yesterday she had Gwyneth Paltrow & Mario Batali on her show to promote a new series that is coming out where Gwyneth & Mario travel around Spain eating their hearts out. The first segment of the show was an interview with Gwyneth about her workout routine (see the video). I can only imagine that they did that so that America wouldn't curse Gwyneth after seeing her eating her way through Spain; giving rise to the fact that no one gets a free ride as far as the calorie formula goes - Calories In versus Calories Out.

So they show Gwyneth & her trainer, Tracy Anderson, working out - which, by the way, that band-stuff looks really interesting. But what killed me is that Tracy said "No woman should ever use more than 3lbs".

What? Are you kidding me?

What I see happening all around America now is that women are doing bench presses and bicep curls with 3lb weights. Ladies, let me tell you that unless you're going to do 100 of them, that's not going to do anything for you. My hand is heavier than a 3lb weight!

I have so many things to say about this topic that I don't know where to start. I don't want to say that her method doesn't work, because for some it will, going back to the idea that everyone's body is completely different, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Power vs. Endurance - Okay, so let's start here. We have two different types of muscle fibers: power & endurance. Power muscle fibers get used during power moves: plyometrics, sprinting, or during strength training when fatigue occurs in 8 or less repetitions. Power muscle fibers are the muscle fibers that allow us to gain size in our muscles through hypertrophy. Endurance muscle fibers get recruited when we do repetitive actions with those muscles: running, walking, cycling, etc. as well as strength training where the weight is light enough to do repetitions of 15 or higher. When we exercise our endurance muscle fibers, we're strengthening the muscle fibers, and teaching them to become more efficient at converting energy at the cellular level.

Note the difference in physiques between Marion Jones, a sprinter, and Desiree Ficker, a marathon runner:


Marion Jones	Desiree Ficker

Endomorph vs. Ectomorph - There are 3 different bodytypes: Endomorph, Mesomorph, and Ectomorph. Endomorphs are naturally muscular, gain muscle and fat easily. Ectomorphs have a difficult time adding muscle, and lose weight easily. A Mesomorph is somewhere in the middle. Tracy Anderson (as stated on her site) is an Endomorph. Therefore, if she strength trains with heavy weight, she will grow.

Hormones - Testosterone is the hormone that allows muscle growth. For any woman who's afraid of getting "bulky", I have two things to say 1) women just don't have enough testosterone to grow freakishly large muscles. Any woman who has freakishly large muscles (and probably a freakishly low voice) has been supplementing with something intended to grow those muscles. 2) You will not wake up one morning and look like a female bodybuilder. If you notice that a part of your body is getting larger (with muscle) than you'd like, then decrease the weight slightly, and increase the number of repetitions.

In closing, Tracy Anderson's method will work for some to get the body style that they want. By using low weight & an extremely high number of repetitions, she's having her client work in an aerobic state to fatigue. Ultimately, she's having her clients do cardio for the entire duration of the workout. It (dancing) may be funner than lifting weights, but it's still cardiovascular exercise, which will help you lose fat. And losing fat is what we all want in order to show off our muscles.

For you women who are now lifting 3lb dumbells for 10-15 repetitions, you won't change your body at all. You need to do more. For those of you that think that lifting weights will make you "get big", if you do get miraculously big, call me. I'll be your agent.

Trick-or-Treat! Here's a pencil....

Eliz — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:22:00 GMT

Halloween is fast approaching, and since I am a wellness coach, nutritionist and personal trainer I don't feel like I would be acting responsibly if I gave candy to the trick-or-treaters. For the past few years I've been conflicted about what to give the neighborhood kiddos. Candy is fine in moderation, however there really isn't anything moderate about the abundance of Halloween candy children receive: not to mention that Halloween signals the beginning of the 5 month long sugar-fest that concludes with chocolate eggs and colored sugar coated marshmallows in the shape of chickens & bunnies.

One year I tried to sell Gary on giving away those small 8oz water bottles, but he convinced me that we would get egged by the kids. When I looked into it, it wasn't very economical either. You can get 6 lbs of candy (150 pieces) for less than $25; A case of 48 8oz bottles is $16. How do you compete with that? And as an added bonus, with the candy, you're guaranteed not to get vandalized.

This year I was thrilled when I opened the mail & found the Oriental Trading Company's catalog. It's filled with candy alternatives to give away for Halloween. Some items that I really liked were:

Washable Tatoos
Pencils
Glow-in-the-dark Bracelets & Necklaces
Glow-in-the-dark Superballs
Woven bracelets in Orange & Black
Glow-in-the-dark Vampire Teeth

These are just some of the more affordable items that I really liked. Athough Gary scoffed at the idea of pencils, I found this article that suggested that it was a good idea.

This year I will not contribute to the obesity epidemic in America's children. I will only contribute to the growing mound of needless stuff that will accumulate in their homes in the coming months.

HFCS - It's a Four Letter Word

Eliz — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:27:02 GMT

I was watching TV last night when I saw this commercial & was stunned. It's a commercial promoting High Fructose Corn Syrup. Here's another one.

If you don't already know, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a sweetener made from corn. Production Excerpt from Wikipedia:

High-fructose corn syrup is produced by milling corn to produce corn starch, then processing that corn starch to yield corn syrup which is almost entirely glucose, and then adding enzymes which change the glucose into fructose. The resulting syrup (after enzyme conversion) contains approximately 90% fructose and is HFCS 90. To make the other common forms of HFCS (HFCS 55 and HFCS 42) the HFCS 90 is mixed with 100% glucose corn syrup in the appropriate ratios to form the desired HFCS. The enzyme process which changes the 100% glucose corn syrup into HFCS 90 is as follows:

   1. Cornstarch is treated with alpha-amylase to produce shorter chains of sugars called oligosaccharides.
   2. Glucoamylase breaks the sugar chains down even further to yield the simple sugar glucose.
   3. Xylose isomerase (aka glucose isomerase) converts glucose to a mixture of about 42% fructose and 50–52% glucose with some other sugars mixed in.

While inexpensive alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are added directly to the slurry and used only once, the more costly glucose-isomerase is packed into columns and the sugar mixture is then passed over it, allowing it to be used repeatedly until it loses its activity. This 42–43% fructose glucose mixture is then subjected to a liquid chromatography step where the fructose is enriched to approximately 90%. The 90% fructose is then back-blended with 42% fructose to achieve a 55% fructose final product. Most manufacturers use carbon absorption for impurity removal. Numerous filtration, ion-exchange and evaporation steps are also part of the overall process.

What I find funny about this excerpt is that under the USDA guidelines, the Corn Refiner's Association is allowed to call HFCS a "natural" product. Does that process that the corn just went through appear as a "natural" process to you?

No one really knows what the impact of HFCS has on the body. For some folks, I'm sure that the impact is more severe than others (as seems the case with everything; what is true for one may not be for another). For that reason, it's difficult for anyone to prove that HFCS is the cause of the rise of obesity & diabetes since 1960, when it was garnering more use in processed foods; and processed foods were becoming more popular in American homes.

What scientists have discovered is that HFCS seems to interrupt the signals that the hormone, leptin sends to the brain. Ghrelin tells the brain that we're hungry - so we eat. When we eat foods with HFCS in them, they interrupt ghrelin's counterpart hormone, leptin, that tells us that we're full. As a result, we eat more of the foods with HFCS in them than we would a truly natural sweetener, like honey or refined table sugar.

One of the commerical's claims is also that it's fine in moderation. That may be true - but how much is "moderation"? In my opinion, there may be times that I'm getting HFCS when I don't know it, and that's moderation enough for me. As a result, I don't purchase foods that have HFCS in them. I am willing to send a message to food manufacturers that I don't want processed crap and chemicals in my body. We as consumers have enormous purchasing power. We need to send the right messages to our suppliers: I don't want your crap.

Wellsphere

Eliz — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:09:00 GMT

I've recently gotten turned on to this new site called Wellsphere. It's totally in line with my personal philosophy & perspective. It's not about living the "perfect" life according to the rules: no sugar, no alcohol, no fat -- just green beans & grilled chicken. It's about living life and doing those things in your life that will allow you to enjoy your life for as long as possible.

I love that!

They've asked me to join their community as a health blogger & what could I say, but YES, Yes! So, it's a great site especially now because I'm a part of it.

Elizabeth Sherman

Healthy Living Community

I'm not going to feel guilty on Vacation

Eliz — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:19:00 GMT

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was on vacation last week; and I ate. A lot! So the next question you might ask is, "Did you wear your Bodybugg?" No, I did not. I wore it when I exercised - because I have the display device, and I wanted to know how many calories I was burning. There were a few days that I really wish that I had worn it because Gary & I were so active that I was curious to know how many calories I was burning.

The main reason I didn't wear it was because of the food. I was going to eat what I wanted to eat regardless of how many calories I burned; and also add to it that I was eating restaurant food, which, in my opinion, is more difficult to estimate calories than the national debt. I was on vacation, and I didn't want to feel guilty for drinking a beer at lunch. If I had logged my food, it would have ruined the enjoyment of sitting on the water with my husband drinking a beer, eating oysters & steamers.

Wearing the bodybugg without logging your food is similar to logging your food & not knowing your calorie burn; It's only half of the equation.Additionally, I only had web access part of the time while I was there.

For those reasons, wearing the bodybugg on vacation didn't make sense.

What I really like about the bodybugg is being able to make timely ad-hoc decisions about my food based on my activity level for the day. If you wear the device all day & eat what you want, but don't upload the data to the website (even if you have entered your food online - but even worse if you haven't), You could be way off track with your eating plan.

We all know that overeating will make us gain weight - the same could happen if you drastically undereat. For me, hunger carries over to the next day. So, if I undereat one day, I could be setting myself up for a binge the next day - and that's not good for anyone either. If you have a bodybugg, check in with your calorie alotment throughout the day - see how you're doing. If you've planned meals, see how they fit in with your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). Ideally, you want your calorie consumption to mimick your calorie burn as the day progresses (meaning that the time of day that you burn the most calories is ideally the time of day that you consume the most calories). Although, research has proven that timing of calories doesn't make a difference in our weight management, you do want to make sure that you have enough energy (calories in your system) to fuel your activity.

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

Eat Without Abandon

Eliz — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:16:00 GMT

This week I was on vacation. My husband, Gary & I went to Boston for his sister's wedding, and while we were there we spent a couple of days in Newport, Rhode Island.

Now, my attitude towards vacations is this: When I'm on vacation, I do everything that I can't do at home. That definitely includes eating; I eat whatever I can only get locally. I don't eat foods that I can get at home because really, what's the point? Since I was in Boston & Newport, seafood (specifically shellfish & lobster), italian food and good bread (because we can't find those here in Austin) were on the menu.

I follow a 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the time I make food choices that are "clean eating"; or foods that my body needs to function properly. The other 20 percent of the time, I relax my guidelines a bit, and eat foods that my brain needs to stay sane. Vacation falls into the 20%, although because I have lost the craving for high fat & sugary foods, the foods that I crave or tend to order on restaurant menus are still pretty healthy.

I teach a lot about making good choices in restaurants. Eating healthy when traveling takes work. Not only making good choices and knowing how to place your order, but also knowing when to stop eating since portions can be so large. Because I was on vacation, I wasn't so concerned about my vegetable, fiber, or portion intake. If I was traveling for business, I would have been. I ate what looked good to me, and I did so without guilt. I know I gained a few lbs, however it doesn't bother me too much because I know that once I continue normal eating and exercise routine, I will be back to my comfortable size.

So, when thinking "What Would Elizabeth Eat?" The answer may not be as simple as "carrot sticks & celery stalks". I consider myself a foodie & love to eat good food that is good for me. For the most part, "good for me" means nutritious food that fuels my body. Occasionally it means food that nourishes my soul.

Fiberific!

Eliz — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:11:00 GMT

This month's Nutrition Action Healthletter is all about fiber. Fiber is great stuff. Not only because it helps you stay regular, but foods high in fiber tend to be more filling. Fiber is found in carbohydrate sources of food. Simply put, it's the part of the grain or plant that is not able to be digested by the body. There are 2 natural types of fiber: soluble & insoluble.

If you've ever taken Metamucil or psyllium husk, you've taken Soluble fiber; it gets gel like when it interacts with water. Because of that, when you eat foods that are high in soluble fiber, it bulks up in your stomach causing you to feel less hungry.

Insoluble fiber is found in the bran part of whole grains, and in most vegetables as well as edible fruit skins. Insoluble fiber stimulates the muscles of the large intestine, helping the waste with it pass through the body more rapidly.

Remember a few years back when all the rage on marketing of processed foods was "Net Carbs"? What food manufacturers were doing was removing the fiber values from the total carbohydrate sum to give you the total number of digestible carbohydrates in the food source. This is actually accurate, since we don't digest fiber, we don't consume the number of calories that fiber contains: 4 per gram.

Additionally, it's been shown that when eaten in the right doses, fiber can bind to fat in the digestion process, therefore lowering the number of calories that the body absorbs even further.

Current recommendations for fiber are 20-25 grams of fiber daily for women and 30-35 grams of fiber daily for men. The more fiber you can get into your diet the better; however it's best to introduce your body to it slowly if you haven't been paying attention to your intake until now.

Custom Calories?

Eliz — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:18:00 GMT

Whether you use the Bodybugg Weight Managemtent System or fitday or the daily plate, or sparkpeople, to log your food, One of the complaints is that it takes a long time to find the food that you want to log. When I first started using fitday, I remember I typed in "milk" and got 350 items!

As with any new activity, it takes a while to get familiar with the new way of doing things; and that's uncomfortable. The key in being successful in the new behavior is getting through the discomfort. One thing that's a HUGE pain in the rear whenever you use a logging tool is not only finding the foods that you eat (and remembering how they're listed) but then entering the foods that aren't in the system that you consume.

Typically, we each eat about 100 foods over & over & over again. So, once you have those foods in the system, it's easy & that just takes time. If there's a specific brand or type of food that you eat that isn't in the system, I highly recommend that you create a custom food for it. In most systems, a user's custom foods are predominantly placed in the return items so that its easy to get to your custom foods.

Occasionally there will be a food that you won't want enter as a custom food; perhaps it's a energy bar or drink that you have no intention of eating again, or its a food item that you don't eat that often. In this case, I have a food-logging easability tip. (okay - I know that easability isn't a word, but it wasn't too long ago that sinage or gianormous weren't words either - and don't get me started on Rachel Ray's vocabulary!)

Create a custom food item titled "calorie". Then when you add your food that you know how many calories it is, but you don't want to add the custom food, just add your "calorie" food to your meal, and change the number of units to the number of calories in the food - 150, or whatever it might be. Easy!

You can get complicated with this tip or it can be easy. It's up to you. When I initially came up with this idea, I created a few foods titled "protein" "carbohydrate", "fat" and "fiber" and added each one as the nutrition label suggested. Each of the "protein" and "carbohydrate" items had 4 calories per gram, and the "fat" had 9 calories per gram. Fiber is non-digestible, so that calorie total was 0. The reason I did this was because I wanted to know how much protein, fat, and carbohydrates I was consuming. Most people don't care about that, so the "calorie" solution works just fine.

Happy Logging!

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

To Be or Not To Be ... Vegetarian

Eliz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:18:00 GMT

Wanting to leave the world in a better place than I received it is how I started in the health field. At the time, I interpreted that as a duty to serve my fellow humans by spreading the message of wellness to all.

Nowdays with so much attention to being earth-friendly, I try to incorporate 'green' practices into my own life as much as I can. I try not to waste gasoline; I turn off the lights & fans when I leave a room; I recycle; I eat local foods when they're available to me, and definitely stay away from produce shipped in from South America when the same US produce is sitting in the next bin over at the store.

But now I'm starting to turn my attentions to other areas of my diet: protein.

As a Nutritionist, I know how vital protein is to our bodies for muscle regrowth and repair as well as cell formulation. And as an Athlete, I am aware of how much my body needs protein in order to stay in peak physical condition.

Years before I became a nutritionist, I was a vegetarian. Honestly, I wasn't a very good one. I didn't know about Amino Acids or Complete Proteins. Although I lost weight as a vegetarian, I just became a smaller version of my larger self; not only because I wasn't exercising, but I wasn't eating enough protein for my body to maintain the muscle mass that I had previously.

There are small amounts of protein in fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts and cheese, however the amount of fat and carbohydrates that I would need to consume in order to get enough of the correct amino acids would surely send me into a body fat bracket that I wouldn't be comfortable with.

I am a strong advocate of my clients eating animal protein as a part of each of their meals. This slows the digestion of carbohydrates into the blood stream, and therefore decreases the ensuing blood sugar spike and later brain fog/energy drain.

There's no doubt about it; Lean animal protein is a healthy part of a balanced diet.

I'm not going to talk about Organic versus Conventional meats & fish. That's an entirely different post. However there are a few facts that make reducing the amount of animal protein I consume very appealing.

The truth is if you were to take the amount of food that is required to feed an animal to maturity, you could feed many more people for a longer period of time than the animal flesh would feed. Example: It takes 2-4 lbs of fish to yeild 1 lb of farmed salmon.

The other concern is the fossil fuels involved in transporting meats to my local grocery store. Yes, since I live in Austin, Texas, there are lots of cattle and chicken farms, but I don't know if there are any slaughter houses near by, and that seems to make less sense; transporting cattle around the nation to be slaughtered, packaged & distributed.

So these are the reasons that are compelling me to reduce my animal protein intake. Although I haven't done anything about it yet. I think diet choices are as personal as political and religious beliefs, so I don't try to force my views on my clients or anyone else. Those choices that I make may not be suitable for someone else's body type or lifestyle, and I respect that.

I'll try not to let it go to my head

Eliz — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:21:00 GMT

I was interviewed by the local press last week about the Bodybugg. Jessica, my client did an excellent job in the interview & I think she even upstaged me a little bit. I'm excited about the buzz that it's causing. The news story was even picked up by not only the Texas Cable Network, but also three other markets: Austin, Las Vegas, and Topeka Kansas. How exciting!

Apex is thrilled with the exposure, as they should be. It's a really cool device & I'm confident that it will do well.

Lately, folks have been asking me if it will work for them. Yes, it will. However, I've been coming up with a list of criteria for those who it will work best with:

You're motivated enough to wear it all the time - If you only want to wear it part-time, then just go out & buy a heart rate monitor. It is meant to be worn most of your waking hours. Eventually, as you find that you're doing the same things over & over again, you can tell the application when you upload the data off the armband that you did the same activities as yesterday or the day before, but until you have that baseline set, you need to wear it daily.
You're willing to log your food - Just like logging your food without knowing how many calories you're burning is only half of the equation, so is wearing the bodybugg without logging your food. And let me add here that not only are you willing to log your food, but you're willing to be honest with yourself about what you're eating. Be aware that even the most diligent person will underestimate their calorie intake by 15 - 20%, but when you're doing fuzzy estimations, "I had 2 glasses of wine," and those two glasses of wine were served in over-sized wine glasses that could hold half the bottle, you're not being honest, and therefore dis-serving yourself.
You don't get flustered by technology - This is a tool that heavily relies on a web application to make it useful. If you're a techno-phobe, this may not be the tool for you.

Between the armband and the web application, anyone can accomplish their goals. The question about will it work for you depends on whether you'll leverage those tools to be successful.

The application has some great reports that you can use to help in your success too. For instance: if you log a calorie deficit of 500 Calories a day, you should lose 1 lb per week. If after 1 week you only lose 1/2 lb, the application will tell you that you were underestimating your calories by 250. Now instead of getting mad at the application, you can look at that data & think, "Okay, so I'm clearly missing something. It looks like I need to cut back my calories a bit more to be on goal, so instead of creating a calorie deficit of 500, I'll lower my intake an additional 250 (the amount that I'm off) to create a 750 Calorie deficit.

And for anyone who says that $250 is a lot of money for the Bodybugg; yes, it is a lot of money, however in 2006 alone, people spent $35 billion dollars on books, supplements, gadgets, creams & services. This one works. It's not a magic bullet that you can sit back & it will do the work, however if used correctly, it can facilitate a lifestyle change - and that means that it could be the last $250 you contribute to the multi-billion dollar diet industry.

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

Success!

Eliz — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:34:00 GMT

After 12 weeks of using the bodybugg, I've achieved my goal weight. If someone had told me that I would have been able to lose almost a pound a week without starving myself or working out for 2 hours a day, I would have told them that they just didn't know my body. My body is different. It's very efficient & doesn't like to give up it's calories & fat. It's impossible for me. I know this because I've tried.

I guess I really don't know this because after using the bodybugg, it proved that I'm wrong. I competed in a bodybuilding contest about 3 years ago. I competed in the figure division, which the judging favors the athletic female form rather than the overly muscled women that you think of when you think of women's bodybuilding. When competing in bodybuilding, the competitor must get his/her body fat down to very low levels. In straight bodybuilding, body fat needs to be around 3%, in figure or fitness, close to 8%. Although each person has her own set point at which her body functions well - ranging from 12% - 30%, a healthy body fat for a woman is around 20%.

During my competition, my body fat was probably around 9%. In order to get to that level, I strength trained for an hour a day 6 days a week & performed cardio twice daily for about 1.5 hours total. My calorie intake had slowly dwindled to roughly 1350 calories daily. After the competition, I wasn't exercising as much as before, and I pretty much allowed myself to eat freely. As a result, I quickly regained weight.

Over the past 3 years I've tried to take it off. My diet is very clean; I don't eat processed foods, I drink alcohol only once a week, and I rarely eat at restaurants. I exercise daily & my job is active.

So what was the problem? Honestly, I still don't know. However, I do know that now that I have the bodybugg, it's no longer an issue. I now know how many calories I'm burning, and I know how many calories I'm eating. As long as those two numbers are in balance, I'm good.

My next phase in my bodybugg adventure is to maintain my weight for just a little bit; I need to taper my running and slowly increase my calories until my body is used to maintenance energy output.

Once I feel comfortable maintaining, I will start to focus on building some more muscle. I'm so excited that I have the bodybugg so that I can easily accomplish my goals.

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

Mmmmmm... Tacos!

Eliz — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:20:00 GMT

I just posted a new recipe to my website for Thai Style Steak Tacos. They're a really good alternative to traditional mexican or tex-mex tacos.

It's Very Freeing

Eliz — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:37:00 GMT

I really love my bodybugg! I love it because I am so close to achieving my goal. And that's exciting. It's exciting to know that as a personal trainer and nutritionist, I'm not a failure at losing weight -- I just didn't have the proper tools before. And it's amazing to me how easy it is.

As I've said before, I've always had a rather clean diet, and I've journaled my food for years -- nothing new there. I don't think I'm exercising more either. I haven't given up carbohydrates, and I still pretty much eat chocolate every day. I have become more aware of my hunger, and I try to eat to that, however whenever I had tried to eat according to my hunger cues in the past, it had led to eventual overeating. I think there were days that I certainly didn't eat enough for my activity level, and then the following day I would be ravenous, practically eating the drywall off the walls.

Since I've started using the bodybugg, I really haven't had any major swings in appetite. I'm rarely hungry because I'm eating an appropriate amount of food to fuel my activity; and I feel more energetic too!

So, the bodybugg tracks how many calories I burn in a day. By keeping my calorie intake just below my calorie burn, not only am I rarely hungry, but when I am, it is so slight that I am able to control the urge. By knowing how many calories my body needs, and controlling that threshold of the calorie deficit, I'm able to break free of the cycle of under-eating, over-eating, guilt, even more under-eating, and so on...

I am now finally in control of what I eat instead of my diet controlling me!

Copyright Elizabeth Sherman. Purchase a Bodybugg through Elizabeth Sherman.

Is Eating Healthy More Expensive?

Eliz — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:50:00 GMT

For years, I've heard the argument that eating healthier foods is more expensive. It's hard to argue with that when you have McDonalds and Burger King supersizing meals for a measly $0.39, yet a salad can run you $9.00 at a to go restaurant.

Not too long ago, I saw a post on what 200 calories of food looks like. I wondered what 200 calories of food cost. Lucky for me, someone already did that.

As a general rule, you want to "eat from the rainbow". Foods that have lots of color have more nutritional value. Unfortunately, everything looks pretty beige (except for the brightly colored candies, cereals, and chips) until you get to just above the "Cost of 200 Calories: Over $1.00" category. The Avocado makes it's debut at $0.99.

It makes me sad that not only is bad for you food cheaper, but it's so readily available - within reach. Healthier options are also perishable. Fruits, vegetables & meats have an expiration date (unless they're canned). Twinkies? not so much. Frozen foods are a great way of extending the shelf life of your healthier foods, however you may sacrifice a bit of taste quality in the process. I suppose folks who are opting for fast food & junk foods though aren't worried about taste though since those foods are enhanced with chemical flavoring. And who wants to eat chemicals?

Wii Fit

Eliz — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:56:00 GMT

The Wii Fit (different from WWEE or Absolutely Fit) is a new video game launched from Nintendo to get people to move more. For years now there have been reports of folks who have dropped dramatic weight by using video games such as Dance Dance Revolution or some of the other Wii games.

As a wellness professional, my first thought is, "That's great! It's getting people up & moving around -- off the couch & that's just fantastic!"

But then thinking about it for a bit, I start to get sad because it's a video game. I laugh when I think about my massage therapist, Annie. One of the newest hit video games is Guitar Hero. She says that "By the time one gets good at Guitar Hero, they could actually have learned the guitar!" Which is true.

But I think that the Wii Fit is a little different. People are exercising. They're not pretending to exercise; they're actually doing it. Also, take it to account that exercise videos are a huge industry with credits to Jane Fonda, Billy Blanks & Cathe Friedrich to name just a few. Is it that much different? As far as exercising to the television in the privacy of your own space - no. But in concept it is a HUGE difference. The Wii comes up with a different program each time you use it. Much better than doing the same thing with the same music & the same commentary that you get with an exercise video.

Absolutely Fit!

Eliz — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:19:00 GMT

I do my personal training out of a small personal training studio in the heart of Austin. The studio is called Absolutely Fit! & has recently launched it's website. You can only workout there if you're working with your personal trainer. What I love about working there is that it's a little like The Island of Misfit Toys -- Everyone belongs. And because everyone belongs there, my clients & I don't feel uncomfortable. Ever.

The studio is fantastic because it's just the right size, it has all of the necessary equipment, the location is perfect & clients don't have to pay for a membership. Sometimes we have complete privacy, other times we share a space with a few trainers & their clients. It all depends on the time of day. Everyone knows everyone else & share in group discussions (or eavesdrop if that's your thing).

It really is awesome. Thank you Jeff for giving us a space to call home.

WWEE?

Eliz — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:34:00 GMT

I've recently purchased the URL WhatWouldElizabethEat.com. Right now it just redirects to my recipes page, however I have lots of clever things in mind for it in the future. Unfortunately, WWEE.com is taken by Worldwide Entertainment Events. They're not even using it! ugh.

But anyway - Yippee!

The Decider

Eliz — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:06:00 GMT

Just in case you wanted to remember the insecurity that you felt in grade school gym class, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has just re-issued the Presidential Physical Fitness Test for Adults.

The test measures your aerobic capacity, flexibility, muscular strength (sit-ups & push-ups), and body composition. Unfortunately, you won't get a certificate signed by Dubyuh, but you can see where you rank in relation to others across the nation.

Step 1: Print the data collection form

Step 2: Enter the data online for your results

Here's what I got:

Fitness Component	Test Event	Your Results	Your Score
Aerobic Fitness*	1.5-Mile Run	13:30	75%ile
Muscular Strength	Half Sit-Ups	85	100%ile
	Push-Ups	45	95%ile
Flexibility	Sit-and-Reach	17	55%ile
Overall Score (based on percentile average)			81%ile

Body Composition	BMI:	22.3	Normal
	Waist Circumference	28

So, yes - flexibility is something that I always try to work on. See how you do. Good Luck!