Kathryn Bankhead 100 day heart challenge

Ah! It's spring! At least about every other day it is. Now I can ride my bike to and from the gym in exchange for the time on the stationery bike. It is wonderful to hear the birds sing as I leave the house early and watch it get leighter. Last Saturday we walked the 5 K rout and got an idea about what it wil be like to participate in May 30's event. The river, sunshine, new blooms, and blue sky made it seem like we were more energetic than we really were....I was slow at sustaining short times of jogging, but will improve.

We were all shocked to hear about the 20 worst foods to eat at restaurants in our nutrition class last week. WHO KNEW? I had no idea a piece of pizza had so many calories. I already knew not to order the Awesome Blossom onion ring appetizers; that's a "no brainer". I often order lettuce wraps and feel so good about my choice, but now I know they are also high in calories. But we'll learn how to make them for 300 calories per serving from our chef, Mike, next week. Like so many other things, eating healthily is better done at home with more knowledge and control of what you are actually eating.

The real shocker for me was that my very favorite restaurant dessert--the Paradise Pie at Chili's--has as many calories and grams of fat as 3 hamburgers!! I haven't had more than one big bite of a juicy hamburger for years, but I have quite frequently shared the appropriately named Paradis Pie with someone, with me getting the bigger half by far. And I'm well acquainted with all 27 desserts at Magelby's grill. Wonder what the calorie count is for those??!! Not to mention the bread sticks I used to consume without a second thought--but with plenty of "second" helpings.

How is it that I have lived so long and ignored the fact that desserts weren't that healthy for you? I remember responding to a friend when I was 24, "what's so bad about cookies? All they have in them is butter, sugar, flour, chocolate chips and nuts."

I never even thought about calories when I was growing up. Homemade desserts were part of my everyday life. Even when I did know better, I ignored the facts and blissfully enjoyed them as I ate myself back to being a little girl happilyeating at my Mom's dinner table. That was OK until I hit 45; calories started to matter and stick around my stomach, inspite of my ignoring them.

I know better now and have re-programmed my little brain. Now a "treat" is Kashi fruit and grain bar with chocolate and nuts on top or a Slim Fast snack bar with 120 calories. I've even started using plain yogurt flavored with lemon or orange extract when I use it as a topping on a fruit salad, saving my Yoplait Lights for occasional treats. When I get hungry for chocolate, I shake up a vanilla protein drink with a spoonful of cocoa and a can of diet Sprite. Pure Ecstacy...

And "real" desserts? An occasional addition, but in much smaller portions, when I'm at a party.

And to what do I owe this change of mind and (healthier)heart? That I can tell you in one phrase I heard many years ago but didn't believe:

"NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS BEING THIN FEELS!"

But I believe now. I'm already able to wear some of the clothes I used to wear when I weighted 10 pounds less than I do now. Although I have a long way to go to reacn my healthier heart and weight goals, I now have the skills, habits, knowledge, and desire to continue eating and exercising this way the rest of my life. I'm committed clear through 2009 until Feb of 2010 so I can give it a full one year test. I want to see where that leads me. I want to see, by following the program and using the helpful holiday hints we got last week, where that leads me. Then I'll decide what to add, improve, change, or continue.

Let's keep blogging to make sure we stay on the right path now that we've found it and help each other to stay on course.

100 day heart challenge journal

As we've learned, being too 'hung up' on the number on scales is not helpful in our overall health and goals. After all it is "just a number". But those numbers are part of the history of our lives. I know, for example, that the first time I weighed what I do today was when I was 8 months pregnant with twins. Not knowing I was carrying twins, I was horrified at the very number that I now am thrilled to see on my scales! It is now the number of success--of 10+ pounds lost, and more importantly, the direction I am going, the inches I've lost, and the habits I'm making.

It has made me realize once again that life has ups and downs and what we may be disappointed about in one season might be a success in another. A "number" that is good for one person may not be good for another. I look back to size 10 with longing and nastalgia; my friend who longs for a size 4 feels "fat" in her current size 8. For one person, the lower number on the scale and on the clothing lable is a healthier alternative and an huge achievement.

With that in mind, some of us on the program are starting to swap clothes; instead of "hand me downs" these clothes are "hand me ups"!. The size 12 one woman has now outgrown is a delightful "just right" size for me now and indicates a level of success I'd dreamed of achieving. I hope my size 14-16 clothes that now are getting baggy can be enjoyed by someone else who has reached that "number" she has hoped for.

We live in a world where we measure many things. It's nice to be involved in the current numbers of our Challenge program, but we're moving beyong numbers to intuitiviely listening to our bodies and our hearts--the ones that beat inside our chests, as well as the figurative ones of our souls--measuring improvement, new patterns, new friendships, new social interactions that involve foods, new recipes,new exercises, new perspectives. We are striving to "measure up" to our new perceptions of our better selves. Right now it's still somewhat about numbers, but that is slowly changing, just like our bodies are slowly changing. And we all like the changes we're experiencing!

Kathryn Bankhead--100 day Heart Challenge Journal

I hit the wall last week. The challenge has been my focal point--in my time allocation, schedule, etc. and I've improved my eating and increased my exercise. BINGO: it works! I've lost over 10 pounds and so my driven personality mentally figured I could keep up that pace and lose another 10 before the end of May.

Great plan; unrealistic. I went to the gym last Monday and after an hour, I realized I no longer wanted to do any more; I was tired, went home and back to bed for a couple of hours. When I mentioned it to Traci, our fitness expert, she told me I was tired because I was TIRED! No breaks, no rest, just "keep up the pace or pick it up more".

So now I'm looking at the "long haul", listening to my body for exercise and rest clues, just like I am looking at eatingn intuitively.

lesson learned......