I'll See Your Summer, and Then Some

Take a walk. Take notice of your sweet tooth. Take back a little of your indulgences. Take on a little more protein. Take out some fat (even good fat). Take in more produce. Turn on your awareness and you may find some space to improve. I've been trying some of these things lately without any expectation of results. But boy, did I notice when I had the decision to make. I've been thinking that the moments when you have to choose are really when it counts, perhaps more than the decision you're actually making.  

It's the willingness to make a decision that gives us the power to really grow. Most of the time, as adults needing to make physical improvements, we don't want to have to make the decision. We just want to follow a plan; show me the food, show me the move, and I'll execute it. This will always work in the short term. But then what? If our goal is to lose weight for 8 weeks, then a decision-free plan works. If we really want a lifestyle of health, things have to have more fortitude and flexibility.

Dr. Jade Teta (@jadeteta) describes our metabolism like a thermostat; always changing and adjusting to the "temperature" of our food and fuel. Think of a typical American teenage boy diet...massive quantity, not great quality (at least in my mom-experiences) and yet most of the time, lean mass. Take that same teen and add 20 years, and that massive quantity can no longer be metabolized efficiently. Now he has a nice extra energy supply right around his waistline. Lots of things have changed for this child; his activity, chemistry, mobility and stress.  These all dictate how his body uses energy. If this ever-changing environment is true, and it is for all of us, how then can we follow a "plan" to get us to a "goal" but we leave out the very thing that will give us success? We leave out adjustment, or decision-making, for the sake of following the script. We become actors in a short skit of our "weight-loss play", then we take off the costumes of the plan, walk out of the theater, and go back to living our lives....with more weight, more stress and no more skill at making decisions that really matter. And, sadly, less awareness of how our body has adjusted to our play-acting. Take a look at the recent research on the Biggest Loser and you may be disheartened at how well our bodies like change. 

“ I’m more satisfied with food and less driven by quantities or servings or any qualifier of “good and bad”. ”

So, back to the beginning...these seemingly small things that I've been doing. Adding in recreational activity, measuring cream in my coffee (I'm pretty sure if I had measured before it would have been in small cups and not tablespoons), eating less dark chocolate (a little), eating less nut butter (slightly), eating more vegetables (a few), resting more, meditating more, consciously de-stressing, sleeping more... I think they are working. I'm more aware of minute adjustments in how I physically feel and can take action with emotional and mental stress much faster than before. I like the adjustments. And the results. I feel better. I sleep better. I exercise harder (or easier). I'm more satisfied with food and less driven by quantities or servings or any qualifier of "good and bad". I even think my shape has changed a little, and that wasn't on purpose. I believe it's because I quit justifying things I had done because I exercise a lot and "deserve" something. I took some time and examined my daily routine, culling for spaces that held me harder than they should. I wanted to make some decisions that weren't comfortable but possible. I wanted to be the thermostat and not the thermometer, just measuring and not adjusting. This is all to say that what we are able to change physically, we are able to grow from and live with for a long time. 

Here are some of the adjustments I've made lately. Maybe they will trigger some ideas for where you can change too. Know that if you try to follow this like a "plan" it probably will fail you. These are just things I'm trying...not fool-proof and not for everyone and certainly nothing magical or guaranteed. See if you can make some good decisions about things in your life without weighing it or comparing it.

• Turkey wrap stuffed w kale salad vs cheese and crackers (yes, I eat crackers, tortillas, bread, cheese, milk and sugar. sorry paleo-likes)
• Oatmeal w protein powder and blueberries vs peanut butter on rice cake (my favorite food-indulgence)
• Salmon/black bean burgers/chicken burgers/eggs vs hummus as protein source (hummus is still good, but I think I need more protein than chickpeas can provide at times. So, I use it as a side, like it's designed, instead of the main course. duh.)
• 1T of half&half in coffee vs "natural" creamer (at embarrassing amounts)
• More roasted veg for lunch vs just for dinner (duh again)
• Drinking more water before every food intake
• A glass of red wine vs dark chocolate covered gogi berries (on the weekends, people!)
• 2-4 mile walk with my dog almost every day
• 15m guided mediation vs social media scanning
• Reading for 30m before bed vs working on computer till I doze off
• Scheduling more time with friends vs waiting for them

I hope that as the seasons change (and who isn't ready for summer??!!) you will also take some time to see if you need to change...maybe just for a season...see what you can do. I bet you'll grow from it. 

XO