Taking the Stress Out of the Holidays

I typically hate the holiday season. From Thanksgiving through New Year's, I'm one tied up ball of stress, ready to snap at any moment. Christmas music makes me cringe, because it does nothing but remind me that the season is coming. Rather than enjoy the best parts of the holidays, the time with family, the smells (oh my goodness, do I LOVE holiday smells), the beautiful decorations, etc., I find myself instead  running to the nearest computer to check my bank account and figure out just how fast our hard-earned savings is going to disappear. Between Thanksgiving dinner, my sister's birthday and the mountains of Christmas presents for everyone we know, by the time New Year's rolls around, I'm begging for our tax return. 

Even things that should be enjoyable, like spending time with family are stressful. My husband works a lot during the holiday season, and my in-laws all have crazy schedules, so planning any kind of celebration is always last minute. I'm one of those people who can't function unless I have everything planned out weeks, if not months, in advance, and I typically don't know what we're doing for Thanksgiving until the week of. It drives me insane. Then, if I have to cook at my house, nothing ever seems to go right. The food doesn't come out the way I want it, I spend tons of time on a new dish and no one even tries it, or I go way overboard and end up eating leftovers for the next six months. 

My biggest problem is with holiday shopping. I'm a gift whisperer. I apply so much effort to selecting the perfect gift for everyone on my list that it drives my husband crazy, especially after they open it. If they don't look absolutely ecstatic, I feel like I failed and I'm depressed for days. And, although I know it's not fair, I kind of expect the same effort out of others, even though whenever someone asks what I want, I always say, "nothing." Like most men, my husband doesn't think about things like gifts, so every year, we go through the same argument. He asks what I want, and I tell him I want him to apply some effort and think of something, or else I'll just pick it out myself. I'm sure he'd prefer if I did. Picking out our daughter's gifts isn't any easier. I tell him what we're getting her, he says she won't like it and he'll pick something, which he never gets around to, so I just end up getting what I had originally picked. Gift giving is an awful painful process. 

As you can see, I get a little crazy at holiday time and that much stress is never good, not for your health and not for your soul. Last year, I eased my holiday stress by making homemade gifts for pretty much everyone on my list. I bought tins and baked and baked and baked, then loaded everyone up with enough baked goods to last them all year. Not only did it save lots of money, but it required much less effort on my part. It's a lot easier to bake than scour stores and the internet for the perfect gifts.

This year, I'm tackling a stress-free Thanksgiving. Since my husband works as a retail manager, he has to be at work at 10:30 Thanksgiving night, so I've already put my foot down and decided that I'm not doing a big family Thanksgiving. He's going to sleep until dinner time, then get up, eat and head to work. There really isn't time to go visit family or even visit with them at our house. Since neither he nor I are huge on the tradition of turkey, stuffing, etc., I saved a lot of money by not buying a turkey (he wanted ham anyway). I went to the store and found an individual packaged huge slice of ham that's just enough for the two of us, with no leftovers. Then I'm making green bean casserole, which is the only holiday food I care about, biscuits and for dessert, since we each like different kinds of pie, I picked up a couple individual serving pies from the freezer section, berry for him and pecan for me. Our daughter's three, so she'll just pick at what's available.We still get our "Thanksgiving Dinner", but it'll take me all of about 45 minutes to throw together. Plus, with all the money I saved, I get to have mulled wine AND champagne with cranberries - to unwind just in case any tension does manage to creep in. :) I'm sure the in-laws will be sad, but this will be one pleasant Thanksgiving for me!

Giving Up Sodas

If you've read any "how to lose weight" articles lately, then you know people everywhere are harping on the necessity of breaking with the soda habit. I read somewhere recently that drinking even one soda a day can raise your chances of obesity by up to 65%. I don't know if that're true or not, but what I DO know is that every soda you drink adds 200-300 calories to your daily caloric count. You'd have to run for 30 minutes straight to burn that off.

Diet sodas may not have the calories, but the sweeteners in them confuse your body and trigger it to think that you're hungry when you're not. Plus, just like white sugar, artificial sweeteners just aren't good for you. They weaken your teeth and bones, and it's best just to stay away from them.

I used to be a religious Diet Dr. Pepper drinker. I never really drank a lot of soda, but I had to have my one Diet Dr. Pepper everyday, and I'd probably had that ritual since high school. Then, about six months ago, I decided to kick the soda habit for good. In that endeavor, I realized something. I don't think it's the taste or the caffeine in the sodas that we crave. I think it's the carbonation. Sure, when a craving hit, I could imagine the phantom taste of that magical drink on my tongue, but even when that faded I still craved the soda.

I decided that I needed to replace my sodas with something else that didn't have any of the negative aspects that I was trying to get rid of. That led me to sparkling water. I've NEVER been able to stand the taste of mineral water, but I knew that if I could flavor the water, then it would essentially be a healthy version of soda. So, what do you add to disgusting sparkling water to make it taste good? Juice!

As a rule, I don't drink juice, because it's typically full of sugar and calories and it's healthier just to eat fruit, but a splash of juice wouldn't throw off my whole diet. Just find a juice that you like, but make sure it's 100% juice, not a juice blend or cocktail. I found that I really love the pomegranate-blueberry juice that Minute Maid makes. So I started replacing my daily soda with sparkling water + a splash of juice and I found that not only is it just as tasty and refreshing, but it has no added sugar or caffeine and a fraction of the calories. I even got my husband hooked on them.

We've both been soda-free for six months now. About a month ago, I actually took a sip of a soda and I didn't even like it anymore. It was too sweet for my taste. So, if you decide to kick sodas and need an alternative, take my advice and just try my replacement. It really does work. Now, if only I could get my daughter to drink it... but lucky for me, she's just as happy with plain water as sodas. For now, anyway.

Fitocracy is Where It's At

A few weeks ago, I read an article about how video gamers excel at fitness, because the same skills that are required to be a great gamer, are needed to stick to and reach fitness goals (the example they used was Vin Diesel who was an avid Dungeons and Dragons player). The article introduced two guys, who were gamers-turned-bodybuilders, and a website they had created - Fitocracy.com.

Fitocracy is a points-based "game" of sorts, where you get points for each exercise that you log. The harder the exercise and the more you challenge yourself, the more points you get for it. Your points are accumulated to help you "level up." There are also quests you can do for additional bonus points, like "Do 50 crunches at the end of your workout" and achievements you can unlock for really pushing yourself. For $4.99/month, you can become a Fitocracy Hero, which allows you early access to new content and the ability to earn titles, which you should be familiar with if you've ever played a game like World of Warcraft.

Fitocracy is really geared for people who thrive on competition, as it allows you to not only compete against yourself, by highlighting personal records, but allows you to compete against others in the Fitocracy community. There's even a Leaderboard for bragging rights. Statistically, people are more successful at fitness plans when they have someone to workout with (which is part of why I never stick to one), so when your friends join, you have the feeling of workout buddies, even if you aren't physically together when you exercise. You can still tabs on one another's activities and give encouragement when needed.

For those who lose focus easily, it helps to have the smaller goals of a quest or a new level to target. For those who are just starting out or lack confidence in their workouts, there is a social platform that allows you to make notes on your exercises and recieve feedback from your followers. It's a great way to tap the knowledge of people with more experience than you.

The site is still in beta mode right now, so joining is strictly by invitation only until they get all of the bugs worked out. I was invited by a friend a few days ago, and I'm already hooked. I'm an admitted workout procrastinator, but now I literally wake up every morning ready to knock out some squats or pushups and start accumulating my points for the day. Throughout the day, I find myself looking for quick things I can do to rack up more points. I never would have thought I'd be this motivated to exercise. The game turns working out from a chore to an accomplishment for the day. And even though I'm far from new at the fitness game, I find myself scanning the database of different exercises (which is pretty extensive and contains instructions for how to do each one) looking for new moves that I've never tried. I also love that the Fitocracy community is so diverse. The members range from elite athletes to couch potatoes.

This is the first time I've ever been this excited about fitness, and definitely the first time I've ever really wanted to shout a recommendation from the rooftops. The site is amazing and I'm so glad that it exists. If anyone's interested in checking it out, the URL is http://www.fitocracy.com/ . You can sign up to be notified when the site goes public. I also have a few invitations left, so if you'd like one, just send me an email and I'll shoot you one if they're still available. My email is kim.graydiaz@gmail.com .

I'm BAAAACK!

I know I've been on a long hiatus, and I apologize for that. I just lost focus for a bit, because things were not going as I had hoped. Despite my clean diet and plenty of exercise, I hadn't lost any weight since March and I didn't really feel like I could share any advice that wasn't working for me.

A couple months ago, I started to notice that my temper was getting bad. I'm normally pretty even-keeled, but my fuse seemed to be getting shorter by the day. I was easily irritated and feeling depressed. Then I noticed that my thought process seemed to be slowing down, along with my reflexes. I started looking into seeing a therapist, but when I started GAINING weight, which shouldn't have even been possible, I knew there was something physically wrong with me.

I did some research online, and I came across a forum where a guy listed a ton of symptoms, most of which matched mine, and asked if it could have something to do with his thyroid. I knew that my dad suffered from a thyroid disorder, so I called him to ask what his symptoms were. My dad actually has hyperthyroidism, which means that his thyroid is overactive, which makes his metabolism overactive and he loses weight very quickly. He said he was pretty sure I had hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid, which apparently, my grandmother and my uncle both suffer/suffered from.

I made an appointment with a clinic to get my thyroid levels checked, and sure enough, I have hypothyroidism. My body was using twice as much T4 hormone, which the hormone that controls your metabolism, as it should have been and it wasn't creating any of the T3 hormone, which controls things like your mental faculties, mood, sex drive and cell turnover (so my hair and nails were thinning and my skin was looking rough). So, for the last few months I've been on medication and the doctor's been playing guess-and-check with my dosage, until finally, over the last 2 weeks, I've started to feel like my old self again. Now I feel like I'm back to the land of the living and I can continue experimenting and dishing out my awesome know-how! Lucky you. ;)

Family Meal

I know that, at not even 3 years old, my daughter is young and there's a lot that I shouldn't start stressing about until later on, but I already worry about what kind of school she should attend, what her behavior will be like as a teen, and whether sneaking vegetables into her food will cause life-long resentment. I also worry about the fact that we rarely ever have family mealtime. I hear all the time about the importance of family mealtime to a child's well-being. Studies show that teens who eat with the family 3-4x a week are less like to drink, do drugs, develope eating disorders or suffer from depression or suicidal thoughts. They're more likely than their non-familytime peers to maintain good grades, have strong friendships and delay sex. So, I suffer with the guilt of worrying whether letting my daughter eat in the living room is going to turn her into a teenaged boozy, druggy delinquent. It's not that I don't like family mealtimes, my family ate dinner together every night. It's just that with her age and my husband's unpredictable work schedule, it's hard to get everyone together at a decent time. I typically feed her earlier in the evening, then I cook myself something, and my husband eats whenever he feels like it.

Plenty of families have the same predicament. So how do you implement family mealtimes when everyone's schedule is so whack-ado? ... I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. I guess I could feed Alex a little later and eat with her at the table. It's not quite "family time", but it's 2/3 of it. Maybe I could bring the dog in too...

Another problem with family mealtime in our house, is that we all have different diets. I've tried everything to figure this one out. When I was doing my weightloss challenges with my group, the biggest obstacle that a lot of the women had in eating right, was that their husbands weren't onboard with the idea, so they were forced to cook to their husband's preference, rather than their own. I told them that my rule was, "If you don't want to eat what I cook, then you can provide for yourself." Apparently, that doesn't work for everyone. I guess a lot of husbands are scarier than mine. It also only worked in my house for a little while. I still had to make a separate meal for Alex, because even if she could cook for herself, I don't trust her with most cooking utensils, and her meals would consist of fruit snacks and juice boxes. And I quickly found out that Nate can rack up quite the fast food bill. From a monetary standpoint, it wasn't my best policy. Fortunately, he's now trying to eat a little healthier, and even though he's on a pretty strict diet, it's done in a way that I can find a compromise. I cook for him, and then tweak the food a little to suit my lifestyle. For example, last night, he was on a "no carb" day, so he made ribeye steaks. Ribeye is a really fatty cut of meat, so instead of eating a whole steak, I cut a few slices off of one of his (Yes, I just said one of his. He ate two.) and made a ribeye salad for myself. Then, I didn't have to cook two separate dinners.

Since we cooked one dinner together last night, my husband and I were actually able to eat at the same time. Normally, Nate always eats at the dining room table, only by himself. By the time I eat dinner, Alex is usually done with her's and wants me to eat in the living room, while she watches her evening movie. Last night, however, she seemed to be content with what she was doing, so I set the table for the both of us. No sooner had we sat down, then Alex came into the dining room to see what was going on. Instead of whining for me to go join her on the couch, she went back to the living room, came back her plate of peanut butter toast, set it on the table, climbed up into a chair and proceeded to eat dinner with us. I think it was our first family dinner that didn't take place in a restaurant. And it was nice. Maybe instead of worrying about bringing family mealtime to my family, my family will bring mealtime to me.

Recipe Wednesday - Lizzie Symon's Granola

Chef Michael Symon raves about his wife, Lizzie's, granola, and apparently he got a lot of requests for the recipe, so he posted it recently on The Chew's facebook page. I've always liked granola, especially on yogurt, but I've never really loved granola. Typically, granola's very fattening and heavy-handed in the calorie area, so I've avoided eating much of it. Lizzie's recipe does contain a bit of fat, in the form of nuts and olive oil, but it's all very heart-healthy fats, and since breakfast should be a hearty combination of all of the macronutrients (fat, protein and carbs) this recipe is a great way to start your day! Just don't overdo it. It's very filling, so a cup of granola with a little skim milk is surprisingly satisfying. Plus, the flavor is awesome. It's the perfect mix of sweet and salty. I'll give you fair warning though - it's extremely addicting!

Lizzie Symon's Homemade Granola

Ingredients:
4 cups rolled oats
2 cups unsweetened coconut
2 cups almonds
1 cup cashews
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt

Toss together to coat and bake on sheetray at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden. Let cool completely in pan. Add 2 cups of dates and dried cherries & serve or store in airtight container and add dried fruit to order.

NEW - Just announced today, (05/22/12) you can pre-order Michael's new book, "Carnivore" for almost 1/2 off! 

Don't forget to check out my entertaining new ebook, "What Does That Even Mean?!: A Navigational Guide to Understanding the Health Hype" - available at the Kindle Market for just $3.99! 

Purchase it HERE 

The Joy of Shopping

Ok, time for a personal confession. I've always hated shopping for clothes. Take all of the angst we women all feel during that dreaded time of year when we have to go swimsuit shopping, and just imagine feeling it every time you go shopping for clothes in general. Like a lot of people, I held on to clothes for years longer than I should have, just because I didn't want to have to suffer through the depression of buying new ones. Since high school, every time I entered a store, I wondered if anything was going to fit. Then, I just started shopping at stores that offered bigger sizes (but were definitely lower quality) just to avoid the embarassing moment when I found out that they did not. And I wore clothes that were too small, just because I didn't want to go stores like Lane Bryant and have to admit my real size to myself. I never even tried clothes on until I got home, because I'd go to a dressing room, I'd imagine that some security officer was watching their camera and throwing up in their mouth a little. I didn't want to be responsible for the retinal scarring of any innocent store employees.

Up until today, I was still wearing oversized clothes and workout gear because I was afraid that if I went shopping, I'd discover that I still couldn't shop at the stores I wanted to. But, I'd been feeling kind of down on myself lately, feeling kind of frumpy and ugly, so I decided to brave it. I needed a pick-me-up and the mall usually does it. So, I did, and I have an announcement to make. I can officially shop in any store I want! Even my boobs, which I was convinced would never fit into normal shirts, have gotten small enough to wear a Large. It's a glorious day! I even bought my first pair of skinny jeans. They're cropped, but I have freaky short legs, so they sit just above high-water length, and I have to roll them up a little extra.

Today feels good. I'm glad I made my shopping trip. It was just the morale boost that I needed. I'm back to feeling like my usual pretty, confident self. Thanks for that, new clothes! :)