Just Eat Food (and other avant-garde advice)

Its time for many of you to be in the "resolution" zone...either making one, breaking one, or faking one. I'm here to remind you that sensible committed healthy practice really works. There is no magic and there are no secrets. We all keep looking for them but it really is this simple:

Food theorist and high priestess /scholar of nutrition, Marion Nestle has a simple message, "Eat less, move more, eat fruits and vegetables, don't eat too much junk food, and enjoy every bite you eat." (Nestle, What to Eat) The key here is ENJOY every bite. Don't eat crap. Eat great stuff and love it. I think PASSION (rather than compulsion) is the key to health & fitness. (On that note...Thanks, Juliet, for sending those sublime torrone from Modern Pastry in Boston's North End!)

Food journalist and author Michael Pollan sums it up simply, too. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." [In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Penguin 2008] His newest tome is another fabulous discussion of the cultural backdrop of eating in contemporary U.S. life. The title alone makes the book worthwhile to me but this gives you a sense of the Manifesto's message:

• "The first time I heard the advice to "just eat food" it...completely baffled me. Of course you should eat food--what else is there to eat?...Taking food's place on the shelves has been an unending stream of foodlike substances, some seventeen thousand new ones every year--'products constructed largely around commerce and hope, supported by frighteningly little actual knowledge.' " (Pollan, 147)
• "EAT MEALS. This recommendation sounds almost as ridiculous as "eat food," but in America at least, it no longer goes without saying." (Pollan, 188)

Michael Pollan is the Knight Professor of Journalism at Berkeley and award-winning author of In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire. Marion Nestle, Ph.D. is Professor of Nutrition and Public Health at NYU. What to Eat and Food Politics are among her many publications.

Read these books. They're food for thought. Oh... and keep running, moving, walking, etc. While not terribly exciting or sound-bite suited, these really are the secrets to my "After." So don't give up on those resolutions just yet.

NSV: Personal Best

Today's Edison Park (Chicago) Turkey Trot was a reason for me to be thankful for how far I've come in two short years. I ran in the snow and enjoyed a great race, making PERSONAL BESTS in every category:

- my fastest mile (ever!)
- my fastest race time (ever!)

My first mile out was just under an 8 min. mile (I usually train at a slow, steady middle-aged marathon pace of 11 - 12 minute miles). Within half a mile I was at the front of the pack with all the high school and college track kids and the marathon runners. It was great fun to see how incredibly strong and fast I have become in 2 years. I ran almost 35 % faster than my first race 2 years ago. And I cut just short of 10 minutes from last year's race time, shrinking last year's speed by another 35%. The real blessing of beginning health & fitness later in life: it's easy to log amazing progress stats!

In the end, my main personal goal was to finish in any time under 30 minutes for the first time ever. I met that goal and discovered how delightful it is to run faster than ever before at the "old age" of 44.

For that, I am grateful. Happy Thanksgiving!

Eating to Run: Pumpkin Mousse Pie

Want a healthier alternative as we fall into pie season? Here's an easy, no-bake, low-fat holiday treat that's only 4 POINTS (TM) on Weight Watchers--less than half the points of a traditional pumpkin pie. Stas' and I made it together and it was a yummy fall treat.

Pumpkin Mousse Pie

Ingredients:
1 reduced fat graham cracker pie crust
1 1/4 cup cold fat-free milk
1 package (4 serving size) sugar-free fat-free instant vanilla pudding and pie filling
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tub (8 oz) light or fat free cool whip, thawed
1 T. pumpkin pie spice OR 1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon, 3/4 t. ground ginger, and 1/4 t. ground cloves
1 beaten egg white (optional)

1. For tastier crust, brush with egg white and bake 5 minutes at 375. Allow to cool before filling pie.
2. In large bowl, beat milk, pudding mix and spice with whisk for 1 1/2 minutes. Whisk in pumpkin. Fold in HALF of whipped topping. Spread in pie crust.
3. Top with remaining whipped topping. (Or pipe on in decorative manner.)
4. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Garnish as desired. Store in fridge.

YIELD: 8 servings
4 WW POINTS each

Recipe adapted from Keebler Co. & Weight Watchers Magazine

Graphic & Photo (c) 2007 Ann Hetzel Gunkel
Digital Supplies: Bump in the Night Collection by Erica Hite at Scrap Girls; Software: Adobe Photoshop

BOO! Here Come the Holidays

Boo, Scary!! For runners and health enthusiasts, Halloween can be a marker of impending doom. It's not just the fun-size Snickers that mark this scary season. In my nutty holiday-maniac universe (Just call me Jingle Dell...did anyone else see Wild at Heart?), 12:01 a.m. on November 1st marks the beginning of the entire holiday season. Just three weeks until Thanksgiving and it all goes wild!

Many people who are watching their weight and health find the prospect of coming holidays to be the scariest part of Halloween. But it doesn't have to be that way. Just remember what Stephen Gullo noted,

"No one ever gets heavy from one meal. It happens when you start a 30-day free-fall buffet on Thanksgiving Day."

One meal won't make you fat. But one meal that leads into a 6-week season of unconscious eating sure will! Start planning and strategizing now, so you can enjoy and indulge in a mindful way. There's no reason not to enjoy life (.....she says after her fun-size Reese's!)

On a personal note, I had the best Trick or Treat ever. At my Weight Watchers meeting, I hit my personal best goal weight. My BMI is now 23 (down 40 percent from my highest BMI of 38!).

I am now a total of 90 pounds less than my highest weight 5 years ago. And I've lost 62+ pounds with Weight Watchers. Spooky! I weigh 30+ pounds less than my wedding day 17 years ago! And much less than I weighed in high school! Having been plus-size my whole life, I have not weighed this since GRAMMAR SCHOOL! (Now, that's scary!)

HABITual Offender

Before embarking on my fitness and health journey, I was convinced that diet and exercise were a matter of gargantuan will-to-power, a triumph of the will beyond my abilities.

Not to diss my old friend Freddy Nietzsche, but there is no such thing as willpower. Drop this notion from your lexicon fast! (Existential Aside: Wille zur macht is a useful concept in critiquing the metaphysical drive to truth. I heart Nietzsche. But it's useless in thinking about the physical drive to sit on the couch.)

Here's what I learned about the myth of willpower:
We spend lots of time, hours, days--maybe even years?--gearing up for that moment when we will finally possess the strength to bypass brownies and run a marathon. The waiting never amounts to much. It drains the life out of you, though. You wait and scheme...and hope and wait... and convince yourself that tomorrow is the day. An hour from now is the time. A week from now, I'll turn it around.

I spent a lot of time burning psychic energy waiting for the magic of will power to arrive. Yeah, you already guessed it: the parcel of willpower is never delivered.

Did it take gargantuan willpower to will myself to sit on the couch? Nope. Don't think so.
Did it take an epic burst of commitment to will myself to be sedentary? Nope. Don't think so.

What it took was the HABIT of sitting around. The HABIT of being sedentary. The HABIT of mindless eating. Not an effort, a struggle or strength of character. Why should the reverse be any more true? Don't let the lie stop you from making the changes you want to make. It doesn't take strength of character or epic effort to be active and fit. It takes the HABIT of being active and fit. Sorry to disappoint those fellow philosophers among me, but there is no will-to-power in the health & fitness universe. There is simply habit. Good habit, repeated without undue psychic energy.

If you hear this message, "I'll just get myself psyched up and then I'll go run." Stop! This is a dead end. Just go and do it. No willpower is necessary. Just do it. And then do it again. And do it again. And soon the neural pathway of habit has you doing what you need to do. No struggle, no willpower, no torture needed. It really is that simple.

So if you don't have any willpower. No problem. It is absolutely unnecessary. No kidding.


Layout & photo (c) 2007 by Ann Hetzel Gunkel. Software: Adobe Photoshop; Digital Supplies: 727 Collection by design butcher at Scrap Girls.

NSV: Becoming a Lifer

This week marked a major milestone in the health & fitness journey: I received my Lifetime Membership Key at Weight Watchers and I crossed my one year anniversary on the health & wellness road. The hardest part of the whole thing, I think, was overcoming my own skepticism regarding my ability to change. From the vantage point of a year ago, I couldn't have possibly imagined a whole new me. But voila! It actually works. Perhaps this is a good time to reiterate the saga behind On Beyond Running for those of you looking for some inspiration.

Exactly one year ago this week, I was a middle-aged, 40-something, couch-potato mom with a family, full-time job and a part-time career on the side. I'd been a plus size for most of my childhood and adult life. I was sure given the weight of four score decades of "proof," that I was doomed to be fat.

Presto! Chango! In one year, I've lost over 10 clothing sizes, 33% of my body mass, and gone from frump to fab. My former 2x self now wears size Small. My double digit jeans--hell, I didn't even bother with jeans; just too brutal!--are now a size 4. My frazzled and frantic --but completely unfit--lifestyle has transformed completely. I've run two 5k races, am training for my first half marathon and run between 30 and 50 miles a week.

On behalf of my awesome physician, who helped me on this path, I should also report all the good stuff vis a vis my health: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, BMI, resting pulse. Perfect. Every last one of them.

Unexpected and amazing side effects of these transformations: these lifestyle changes "pay it forward." My spouse is now 40 pounds ligher and hotter than ever! and my six year old kid sees the importance of regular activity (we just biked 20 miles together last week on a family outing!) and scorns trans fats and fast food!

Here's the deal, if you think it's too good to be true: None of this was done with fads or fanaticism. It took serious commitment, serious planning and serious work. None of it happened fast or easy. That being said, there is no secret that you've been missing. It was painfully simple: eat less, eat better, exercise more. Be mindful of what you are actually doing. Have a plan. Stick with it for the long haul. Between two poles: Weight Watchers and running, it was absolutely workable.

One year later--god willing--was going to show up anyhow. It could have shown up with the old me or a new & improved me. I'm really glad I chose to risk the new & improved version. One year later, as Labor Day approaches, I've never been happier about the work I've done.

Hi-Tech Training for the Type A Runner

You know its bad when it comes to this: a birthday arrives and there aren't flowers or perfume or other niceties. Instead, you unwrap a runner's GPS and think, "What a great gift!" (Thank you spouse & son!)

For all runners (like me) who are also documentation-oriented, this is a fun training toy. Till now, I've timed my runs every day with a plastic watch that doesn't always work. Now, the GPS kicks in, the timer rolls, and I can get mileage or time alerts on the road, glance down to see my pace or distance, and upload the whole thing for training logs to analyze.

And this is a gift that really keeps on giving for the Type A personality. Once the GPS is rolling and the run is coming to a close, I think, "Well....but only .3 of a mile more and that would be a nice round number." Or "Gee, that pace is faster than I thought, I suppose I could try a little bit harder." You get the idea. This device is not so much hi-tech as it is automated gadfly. Another incentive to push the limits (just a little.) The GPS induced goal for my next birthday year: log a minimum of 1000 miles in those 364 remaining days. (I probably already do that modest amount anyhow--but the GPS makes it seem official.)

I know it sounds like a bit much--and it is--but its fun. For me, the effort is real when there's data that follows. I can train against an imaginary partner, time splits, or not. More likely not. But I like the idea of it. And that's what gifts are for.

LO Details: Design (c) 2007 Ann Hetzel Gunkel; Software: Adobe Photoshop; Digital Supplies: Daydream Collection by Erica Hite at ScrapGirls