Misconceptions About Healthy

February 24, 2014 / ktbuchs87

I believe that there is sometimes a common misconception when it comes to eating well: healthy diets must contain organic foods. They also assume that because of this idea, eating healthy is expensive. These two ideas about a healthy diet can cause people to shy away from changing their current eating habits. Either they don’t have the money to buy all organic all the time or they don’t even have access to organic food. They keep eating the same way and tell themselves this is the only way that they can eat. I’m here to say that this just isn’t true at all. I want to help people see that a diet full of delicious and healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive and it also doesn’t have to be 100% organic.

Let’s start with the organic idea. Thanks to marketing and media, the word organic has taken on the association of healthy and that just isn’t necessarily true. Don’t get me wrong, I am not here to bash organic food. I fully support the organic movement, but not everything you see labeled as organic is good for you. I have talked before about the “health halo” that words like organic, gluten-free, and all natural assume. But an organic candy bar is still a candy bar and a candy bar is not doing anything good for your health. Sure, you can feel good that you aren’t eating pesticides or factory made preservatives, but don’t think that the organic candy bar is going to miraculously change your health. Be careful in thinking that as long as everything you buy is organic, it’s healthy. Packaged and processed organic food is still inferior to whole and real food.

Expense is the other issue that hinders people from changing their eating habits. The fact is organic food is more expensive. I wish that we lived in a world where organic practices were the norm and everyone could afford it. Unfortunately that isn’t the case, but that doesn’t mean your health is doomed. I don’t buy all organic food, yet I still manage to have a healthy diet. We are on a tight budget and we can’t afford to buy all organic. Many of you are probably in the same boat. This doesn’t mean that you can’t eat well, it just means you have to be smart about how you shop. When it comes to produce, you can use this chart to choose which foods to buy organic and which you can buy conventional. Generally foods that you peel or discard the outer layer can be bought conventionally without too much worry. Because I have a limited budget, I tend to favor those foods a little more. I buy plenty of bananas and oranges and other citrus, but I also don’t worry too much about buying the other foods non-organically. I just make sure to wash all my produce thoroughly. In the end, a conventionally grown apple is still an apple and it will still trump processed food any day.

That same idea translates to other foods as well. If you can buy organic, that’s great, but don’t stress out about it. As long as you are avoiding the food-like substances that you can find in the aisles of the grocery store, you can still have a healthy diet. Check out this post and this post, to get some more tips on how to be a savvy and healthy grocery shopper. The biggest key is to have a plan and know exactly what you need/want before you get to the store.

When I tell others that they need to eat whole or real foods, I don’t want them to immediately jump to the organic conclusion. I don’t want people to think that I am saying the ONLY way to be healthy is to eat organically. It isn’t the only way and no one should feel stuck in their eating habits because of money or availability. There are ways to eat better, shop better, and ultimately feel better. It’s totally ok if it isn’t an overnight transformation, as slow and steady wins the race. When faced with the choice of what food to eat or buy, make the best choice possible available to you. If that means buying the conventional lettuce, buy the conventional lettuce. A conventional salad trumps organic junk food every time!

You’re a Bully

February 17, 2014February 17, 2014 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Battle the bulge. Fight flab. Annihilate your arms. Crush your core. These are all fairly common phrases when looking at articles and websites on how to lose weight or exercise your body. You’ve heard or read these numerous times whether you realized it or not. You probably don’t pay much attention to them, but could they be affecting you anyway?

In the past few weeks and months, I have been working hard on learning to love my body. I have shared before some of my insecurities and past issues with my self image. It’s tough to try to retrain your brain to actually see what’s in the mirror and not what you think you see. It has taken me a lot of practice to be proud of what my body can do, rather than trying to change my body into what I think it needs to look like. Amongst all this working on my self image, I have come across a lot of tips, articles, workouts, and diets that use words and phrases like those above. At first, I really didn’t think much of it. As I kept seeing these things and kept working on my own issues, I felt like maybe these things were affecting me more than I realized. I have a tendency to be very harsh and critical of my body. I know that many other people struggle with this as well. We all think that we can be better, we can do more, and we believe, for whatever reason, we aren’t good enough or think we look the way we should. To be blunt, we’re bullies. We’re bullies to our own bodies.

That may sound kind of ridiculous. I mean, you aren’t knocking your own books out of your hand and demanding lunch money from yourself. But think about your inner monologue when it comes to your body. Would you say those words out loud to someone else? Would you want to hear those things coming from your friends or family members? Is what you’re telling yourself helping you achieve anything positive? For me, I can tell you it wasn’t true.

Wednesday’s I have my long run day. Lately, I have been getting in a little over 10 miles, which is really exciting for me because I have never run in the double digits before. A few weeks ago, I had just finished my run and was about to get in the shower and I started to do my normal nitpicking of all the body parts and areas that I didn’t like. Is my lower stomach as flat as I think it should be, is my butt a little too big from all my kettlebell work, are my arms as defined as they were two weeks ago…. then I stopped mid-thought. My body, the one I was bashing with negative thoughts, had just finished carrying me over TEN MILES. It had just done a 7 minute plank workout. It had popped up into a headstand with ease (and might I boast a little grace) and held it for over a minute. And here I was beating it up and telling it that it wasn’t good enough. It dawned on me how crazy I was acting. As weird as it may sound, I apologized (out loud) and thanked my body for all it had done just that morning. That day was my a-ha moment, and it really helped me turn a corner in truly appreciating my body and all that it does for me.

Do I think that the people who use phrases and words like “battle the bulge” or “fight flab” are deliberately trying to be mean? Not at all. They want to motivate their audience and give you the power to change your health and your life. I am all for motivating everyone to make the healthiest decisions possible, but I am also for being kind to our bodies. How much better and easier would getting healthier be if we all loved ourselves just a little bit more? Instead of fighting our bodies, let’s work with them and listen to what they need to live healthier. When you really start to think about all the things you ask your body to do day in and day out, it’s amazing. As cheesy or silly as it may seem, I’m going to ask you to talk to your body just a little bit nicer than normal. Thank your body for carrying you through this life and give yourself props for making choices and taking steps to be healthier each and every day. That little extra kindness can stretch a long way and give you the tools to see how truly awesome you really are!

Fear

February 3, 2014 / ktbuchs87

On my new Jillian Michaels yoga DVD, she gives a little pep talk at the end of the work out while you’re lying there in a pool of your own sweat. She is pretty much just motivating you and telling you that you can do this. Most of the time I am not really listening, I know I can do it, I just finished the workout didn’t I? There is one thing she says though that always catches my attention. She says, “I never expect you to be fearless, but I do expect you to live without regret as much as possible.”

The first part of that line got me thinking about fear. I’m of two minds on this one. On one hand, I totally agree with Jillian. It isn’t realistic to never have any fear. In fact, sometimes fear is a good thing. It can motivate you or keep you safe. On the other hand, we know that fear can be debilitating. It can keep us from being great and doing amazing things. It can also keep us from being healthy.

When it comes to health, the good side of fear can be motivation. Maybe you are afraid of disease or illness that can come with bad health, so your fear motivates you to fight that outcome. But the fear of bad health can be a double-edged sword and can even cause you to be unhealthy despite your best efforts. This is the kind of fear I want to talk about today because it is the kind of fear I have.

I am scared that everything I have worked so hard to accomplish health wise will somehow go away. I know that this is an unrealistic fear because I won’t just suddenly gain all of my weight back overnight. I know that barring an injury, I won’t be able to run 10 miles anymore or be unable to do a forearm stand. Those things typically just don’t go away instantly, but I have this fear nagging in the back of my mind that they will. This fear doesn’t motivate me to do my best like it used to, but rather feels like it is keeping me back from being truly great. I tend to over analyze decisions when it comes to my health, because what if this one choice will be the undoing to my good health? That is no way to live a healthy or happy life.

I don’t expect all of you to totally understand this fear, but I know that for some of you this is an all too real scenario. You live in this constant fear of being your former unhealthy self. It doesn’t seem that long ago that you were eating cheetos on the couch instead of doing a new challenging workout or making a delicious healthy meal. What if that former self starts clawing it’s way back into your life? What if you can’t fight it this time? Will you always have to struggle? Will it always have to feel this hard?

No, you won’t always have to struggle. I have decided that I won’t let this fear rule my life or choices any longer. I am going to start trusting myself. I have maintained a healthy lifestyle for over three years now. I have made such amazing strides in my physical abilities. I have done things that I never thought I would do. I have made goals that I will never be able to reach if I keep living in fear of failing and going back to my former self. You can make that decision too. Fear does not have to rule your life or make you miserable. Whether you are just starting out on your healthy journey, in the middle, or have been at this for a long time don’t let your fear sideline you. Believe in yourself and your abilities. I know that you can do this and I bet that deep down inside you know it too. Like Jillian says, I don’t expect you to be fearless. It’s ok to have a little fear, but don’t let that fear consume you. Instead take control of that fear and show it that you mean business and you can overcome what ever may come your way.

Kitchen Nightmares

January 20, 2014 / ktbuchs87

Life doesn’t always go according to your plan. In fact, it likes to do it’s own thing regardless of what you would like to happen. This concept has always been a source of struggle and stress for me. I am a person that likes to plan and organize and know exactly what is going to happen. I tend to get a little anxious (ok, make that a lot anxious) when things do not go according to my plan. This is something that I have been working on and one of my goals this year is to be able to go with the flow more. Well, life heard that and decided to throw me a curve ball this week.

Last Sunday my oven broke. I know this might not seem like a huge problem to some, but I rely heavily on my oven. Not only do I use it for dinner every night, on Sunday I usually do a lot of my meal prep for the week so that I have easy access to healthy food no matter what. I was a little stressed last Sunday when I realized AFTER I had made a bunch of things to put in the oven that it wasn’t getting hot. I was even more stressed when the repair guy came on Monday but wouldn’t be able to actually fix the oven until Tuesday. And I might have had a small meltdown Tuesday night in the middle of cooking dinner when I realized that the oven was no longer regulating the temperature and my food was burning to a crisp, error codes on the oven were shouting at me, and all the smoke detectors were going off at once.

Luckily, my oven did not catch on fire… yet

Yes, it has been a little bit difficult here in the Dawson kitchen this week. My oven is still broken, but after my panic attack on Tuesday, I took a deep breath and realized everything was going to be just fine. I could still eat and eat well, I would just have to get a little creative. This is where having a well stocked pantry and freezer come in handy as well as having some know-how in the kitchen have really saved the day. I wanted to share some of the tips and foods I had on hand so in case you have a kitchen nightmare, you can also have a back up plan and won’t have to worry about eating well.

Leftovers, leftovers, leftovers. This was a big help to me this past week. I usually make bigger dinners and use the leftovers for lunches or sides for other meals. Having those extra servings of food helped to round out some of the meals I made this week so that my husband and I had full meals even without the food I usually prep on Sunday. I also have a freezer full of soups, stews, and chilis that I have made in my slow cooker. Again, it was really helpful to be able to pull a healthy meal out of the freezer and heat it up. I’ve said it many times, leftovers are your friends and they have certainly saved my butt this week.

Beans, grains, and legumes, oh my! Having a good stock of dried/canned beans, grains, and legumes like lentils on hand is another great way to make filling healthy meals. You don’t have to use an oven to make these and they fill you up with tons of healthy fiber. Plus they are easy to throw into any meal, and you can season them to your liking. I usually always have black beans, chickpeas, white beans, and lentils on hand and throw them into anything from frittatas to lettuce wraps. If you don’t have time to use dried beans, canned works well too. Just make sure you read the label and rinse the beans before you use them.

Be flexible on cooking methods. I learned this week that there are actually a lot of ways to cook things the way I like without using the oven. For instance, I usually roast sweet potatoes in the oven but found out they taste just as delicious cooked in a cast iron skillet on the stove top. Sauteing vegetables in a little EVOO tastes just as good, if not better, than roasting them in the oven. I had to step out of my comfort zone and go to other methods of cooking this week and it has worked out pretty well. Friday night I came up with a really yummy collard green wrap that I cooked on the stove top with a homemade sweet and sour sauce. I would have never thought of that if I had my oven working. Don’t be afraid to experiment in the kitchen and broaden your cooking skills. You never know when you might have to switch things up. Plus, it’s fun to eat your regular foods in a different way!

While I am really hoping that my oven will get back to normal this week, I have learned that I can survive (for a little while) without it. I didn’t have to totally derail my healthy eating or go hungry just because my normal method of cooking wasn’t an option. The same goes for you Just because something may come up in your day to day healthy eating plan doesn’t mean you have to throw your hands in the air and resort to McDonald’s. Take a second to assess what you have, be a little creative and flexible, and come up with a new eating plan for the time being. If life were always easy, we would never learn that we have it in us to rise above the problems thrown at us. Pretty neat lesson to learn from a broken oven, huh?

Have a great Monday everyone!

Healthy Doesn’t Have to be Hard

January 13, 2014 / ktbuchs87

Hopefully all of you made it through the polar vortex and have thawed out just a bit. Thankfully we made it through with minimal damage, only one pipe burst. It was fixed quickly and didn’t cause too much stress, that was good!

This past weekend I was thinking about my “health mission”. What did I want my message to be to the readers of my blog, people who come to me for advice, and eventually people that work with me one on one? I narrowed it down to two main ideas. The first being not everyone will become/stay healthy in the same way. I’ve talked about this before on the blog. We are all unique and our bodies function and work in different ways. What may work for me might not necessarily work for you, and that is ok! This goes for how you eat as well as how you exercise.

The second message I want to share is that healthy does not have to be hard. Many of you reading this right now are thinking otherwise. You have tried to get healthier numerous times, but always end up right where you started. Some of you believe that in order to become healthy you have to follow complicated rules, stick to strict schedules/menus, or buy fancy and expensive equipment. While you can do those things, they are not at all necessary to become healthier.

When I first started out, I also thought I had to get fancy. I figured that following a fad diet and working out with a special routine or equipment was the only way to be the healthy person that I wanted to be. By trial and error, I learned that it was actually much simpler than I first believed.

The biggest thing that you need to become healthier is the desire. You have to be in a place where you truly want to start this journey. Otherwise you will keep failing or quitting or not giving it your all. Once you find that motivation, the rest is fairly simple.

In terms of eating, you don’t need to buy into fancy diets or food systems or companies. Get rid of all processed food products and then start experimenting. Do you do well on a more plant based diet or do you thrive with more meat? Maybe you do better on a high fat diet full of quality, healthy fats. Or you find that more whole grains is your thing. Whatever it is, make sure you feel right and can go about your day without misery or gnawing hunger.

When it comes to exercise, there are so many inexpensive and simple options. The main goal is to move daily in whatever way gives you the most joy. Don’t like running? Then don’t waste hours on the track hating your life. Think yoga is crazy? Then don’t sign up for a hot yoga class. Again, experiment with a bunch of different forms of exercise. Maybe something as simple as walking gives you what you need or perhaps you learn that you love weightlifting because it makes you feel awesome. The most important thing is to figure out which form of activity brings happiness to your life and doesn’t feel like a chore.

When it comes down to it, these are very simple ideas and strategies. Yes, it can seem hard to completely overhaul or change your life. Start small. Focus on changing one meal a day or adding fifteen more minutes of exercise to your day. Once you master those add in more. Realize that this is a process and it can be a very simple one. What makes you feel happy and full of life and energy? Find that and the rest will fall into place!