New Year, New Blog, New Wellness “truth” to question

Saturday night, I waited up for my son to come home (do other parents do this, please advise) and then couldn’t get myself back to sleep. I’m sure the remnants of jet lag didn’t help matters. My body has no idea what time it is. I did what every sleep expert would advise against and started reading things on my phone. My phone wouldn’t have been next to the bed, if not for the teen at a late movie, but still.

I started scrolling through my Instagram feed. I am a little bit of a quote whore, so many people that I follow tend to post quotes. However, some are snarky and hilarious (my preference) and others are more of the annoying Instagram variety, you know what I’m referring to. I get it, I should love myself and some days I do. I read this quote “watch your habits not your weight.” At first glance, I was on board. Habits, and establishing them, are a good use of your time. Fixating on weight and the scale, we all know that helps us as much as a Mallomar when it comes to actually feeling good. But the commentary- and I realize many people respond to this type of thing, bugged me. The poster explained she is starting the year at a higher weight and it doesn’t matter because she now cares more about habits. I felt a pang of doubt, I call it my quote intuition. It happens when I read a quote, wait for it to inspire me, and sometimes react with “nope, that doesn’t work.”

Carolyn and I had lunch, ok hot toddy’s with some eggs on the side, on Friday. We talked about this recent ethos of “weight doesn’t matter.” And we weigh our clients backward, so it’s not like we’re weight fixated but, call it what you will, size matters (to some) J I feel accomplished when I take my vitamins or make my matcha. It feels good. But so does putting on my ski pants, or any pants for that matter, and feeling fit and pretty. If things fitting snugly or a muffin or mini muffin top doesn’t get under your skin, that’s great. But I don’t necessarily aspire to not care about size. I care about my house being decluttered, I love pretty flowers and I love feeling confident or sexy. I like that boost.

I’ve talked about this holier than thou social media movement before. Diet is a bad word, as is thin, forget skinny- the wellness elite will excommunicate you for that one.  But we all agree, I hope, in using our energy to feeling good, have less negativity and guilt. If, for one person, that means weighing more and accepting that, amazing. But feeling that way isn’t necessarily morally superior to putting on an outfit and liking that way it fits. It’s all about keeping it positive and knowing which camp you’re in. Speaking of camps, our New Year’s Squeeze week starts today. Good luck to our 50 Squeezers, many of whom have goals, of feeling "lighter", "leaner" and "debloated", at the end of the week.

Happy New Year!

P.S. How do you like the new blog? Any topics you’d like us to cover? Are you a size doesn’t matter person or does it matter to you?

The Secret to our Squeeze Programs

Squeezers Insta story

Carolyn and I are both R.Ds, we seek out and sample fab food products (many are not fab)  and have years of nutrition counseling under our belts (I hate belts btw, where did that expression come from). I’ve noticed that the extraordinary success participants, in our Squeeze weeks, have doesn’t entirely depend on these things. It sounds so simple, and not groundbreaking, but one reason these programs are successful is because participants are focused on their food. I’ll explain..

We all talk about the juggle. My juggle is parenting and working and working out and cooking and walking the dog. I’m getting anxious just listing these items, so I’ll stop there. But we all have various things demanding our focus. Inevitably, some ball, or more than one, gets dropped during any period of time. If we have an important project at work, that gets moved to the top of the list. Our kids are going back to school (ahem), there goes a couple of workouts that week. You can relate, right?

During our week-long programs, our Squeezers move wellness to the top of the list. There’s also the financial commitment and daily accountability but I’d say the overall focus is paramount. Some Squeezers leave work earlier in order to have dinner at a normal hour (we suggest an early bird dinner on the Squeeze). Or maybe, on a typical week the wine, yogurt and old olives in your fridge are sufficient but this week, you’re going to get to that long, lost grocery store (see photo above)

Once you’ve signed on for a healthier week, the added structure isn’t overwhelming. You’ve carved out time and cleared, or somewhat cleared, your calendar. Even clients forced to travel during these programs find they have resolve they previously didn’t. So try it, you may have to plan it a few weeks out. Carve out 5-7 days to do all those healthy things that’ve been marginalized.

And if you aren’t satisfied with my “secret” I teased in the title, check out our September Newsletter, “Two, new must-have items for a September reset.”

Don't unfriend the scale

that's my little bamboo number lurking

The scale is a tricky thing. Some people are bff's with the scale, get together daily and enjoy its feedback. Others are highly sensitive to the scale's information, it has the power to ruin a day, or even a week. I'm "bi-scaleual" I've had times when I pop on each morning and others where I don't feel its necessary. I know this will fly in the face of intuitive eating but I think you can benefit from the scale, to some degree.
Our clients have us weigh them (facing away from the numbers) so we can track their numbers. I have friends who have personal trainers to monitor things. These are solutions to weighing without fixating on the number. I know you may be thinking jeans don't lie but they can fib. Your jeans may be a little different without you noticing. Do a little experiment, try on your "reference clothing" and see what you think, up, down or the same. Then, pop on the scale and see it it's in sync with your prediction. Anyone want to partner on a scale that simply has an up arrow or a down arrow?
On a personal note, my weight is fairly stable. I will tell you that my first visit with bamboo (see above) was mildly shocking. I was up four from my typical number. I remedied that (doesn't hurt that we're test driving our September Squeeze recipes). A long distance Foodstalking client summed it up yesterday, On our Monday food log we say "starting weight if you're a weigher." This client emailed me her Monday weight and said "and I have to weigh myself. Remember when I stopped? That is when it started coming on because I thought I was lighter than I was." I suggest taking a weekly weight or at least a monthly check in.

If the scale will send you over the edge, ignore what I'm saying. But if your behaviors have been a little off and you're open to it, see what the scale says. Oh and it's not broken.

Is this sabotaging your weight loss?

sometimes yes, sometimes no

I’ve spent hundreds, maybe even thousands of hours uttering phrases like, “stop beating yourself up” or “don’t be so hard on yourself.” And, chances are, I'll happily spend thousands more. Not only is self-criticism unpleasant, it also hurts you in the weight loss department. Let’s face it “you suck” and all its variants isn’t going to motivate you to do anything well. I think one of the most important things we do for clients, at Foodtrainers, is cheerlead a bit (the only form of cheerleading I’m on board with). Let's fixate on the positive...to a certain extent.

You want to know what’s just as bad as being too hard on yourself? It may surprise you because being too easy on yourself isn’t strategic either. Every week I ‘Foodstalk” a group of clients. These clients send me a report every night and I respond in the morning. This past weekend, a client we’ll call “A”, as in anonymous, send me a food log. It wasn’t a pretty one. I am always glass half full for others but there were no fruits, no veg, mostly fried and white foods. Usually, if a client goes off there “off-ness it is outweighed by their on-ness. So, if there’s a slip, there are many other things that show effort. Anyway, A commented “could’ve been worse.” If this wasn’t a pattern for A, I would’ve said nothing. However, “could’ve been worse” is not going to help A reach her goals.

So, I took a deep breath and said “I have to disagree.” Sure, it could’ve been worse but if your child gets a C- but could’ve received an F, you’re not going to look at the bright side. I don’t believe in perfection but you have to raise the bar to a level that is realistic yet leaves you progressing and pleased. Because I’m sexist when it comes to food behaviors, I’ll have you know that men subscribe to this “could’ve been worse” mentality more often. I explained to A the places I felt she could've improved things and the advance planning that would've helped

As often happens, A emailed me “you’re so right” when I take a step back there are a lot of things I could’ve done better. The point is not that I'm right but that, when pointed out, A realized a little effort would've helped a lot

In case you think I was mean. I’ll let you know that “better” would’ve been 1 or even 2 glasses of wine instead of 3 and skipping fries with the lobster roll. Fair? Anyway, it's National Tequila day don't be too hard or too easy on yourself, whatever that means for you. 

This is how I lose weight

I mentioned to a friend that I felt ick following a recent vacation. “Do you let yourself go when away?” The sad part is, I don’t. I tend to eat, more or less, the same way when I’m away. But..all meals are out at restaurants and there’s more booze, for sure. 
To compound things, when we got home, we didn’t have access to our kitchen (we refinished our floors which everyone says is a nightmare. I was convinced it would 't be that bad, I was wrong). My husband was thrilled to eat all meals out, that's his preference (even though he complains he needs to start to "watch" too). I missed home cooking. My body missed home cooking too. I decided to control what I could and really reign it in. At restaurants, I watched portions and skipped extras (cheese in salads etc). Guess what? I still felt gross. 

It wasn’t until this week that I could cook. I made simple, light dinners, didn’t have alcohol and it’s only been a few days and I feel back to me.

I can’t be out every night, even if I’m eating oysters and salads, and have a drink and feel good. My kids go to camp each summer and this is a lesson I've already learned, apparently not.

My mood dips if I drink too many days in a row and my clothes just don’t fit the way I like them to.

If you’re finding you don’t feel as lean as you’d like, take a few days and ensure all meals are homecooked. Skip all alcohol and I bet you’ll come to the not-so-new realization I did.