It's Time to Kick Dieting to the Curb

Has this ever happened to you?  You've been very disciplined in your attempts to lose those last five pounds.  You've carefully monitored how you've eaten, sticking to a low-calorie diet, and you've exercised as planned all week.  You proudly step onto the scale to weigh yourself expecting to have succeeded only to find that you've actually GAINED weight!  What happened?  How can all this hard work equate to the opposite of the desired effect?

I've recently read a very interesting article that talks about our "set weight range" and "intentional eating" ("Why Diets Are So Last Year" by Anne Marie O'Connor in the February 2017 edition of Pilates Style). Our set weight range is the weight range that our bodies naturally want to be in.  For instance, your set weight range may be anywhere between 135 pounds and 150 pounds.  Your body just naturally gravitates to somewhere between these two points.  It's different for every person, but it's the reason that sometimes it's difficult to get the scale to budge.  It's usually fairly easy to lose weight to get into the set weight range, while it takes a bit more work to get to the lower end of the weight range.  To go below the weight range, however, it takes serious calorie restrictions - i.e., dieting.  This, however, can be extremely detrimental to your overall health and a major set back to weight loss. 

The article I read cites several studies that show that dieting can actually cause you to gain weight over the long run.  In one of the studies, 13 Biggest Loser contestants had regained all of the weight they lost six years after the program, and their metabolism was slower than when the show began - meaning that they now burn less calories than when they started.  Another study showed that twins who dieted regularly were five times as likely to end up overweight as compared to their twins who were not trying to lose weight at all. 

The explanation behind this phenomena lies in the effect that dieting has on our bodies.  When we overly restrict calories, our bodies go into starvation mode.  In starvation mode, our bodies want to hold on for dear life to any calorie it gets because the calories seem to be few and far between.  The metabolism slows to a snail's pace.  It's our bodies' way of keeping us alive - very helpful if you're on a raft with little food floating for days in the middle of the Pacific Ocean but not so helpful if you're just trying to lose a few pounds. 

So the next time you're tempted to go on a ten day cleanse where you eat nothing but spinach smoothies, think of the long-term consequences first.  Any immediate weight loss that you might have will be off-set by the slow in your metabolism as a result.  A year from now, you're likely to weigh more than you do now because of the slower metabolism, especially if this type of dieting happens on a regular basis.

Now that you've sworn off dieting (which is actually kind of a relief, right?  who really likes dieting anyways?), what are you to do if you want to lose weight?  Instead of dieting, focus on being on the lower end of your set weight range and being an "intuitive eater."  That means listening to your body.   When you're body is sending you signals that you're hungry, you eat until you are comfortably full (not uncomfortably stuffed).  The foods that you do eat should be nutritious and serve the purpose of providing steady energy for your lifestyle.  Think of your hunger on a scale of 1-10 (1 being starving and 10 being just finished Thanksgiving dinner).  You should strive to eat when you're at a 3 and only eat until you're at a 6.

If you stick to this intentional eating, you're body will naturally gravitate to its set weight range.  That's where your body wants to be. 

What if your set weight range is not where you want it to be though?  What if you still want to lose ten more pounds?  While some experts believe you can't change your set weight range, some experts do believe it is possible to gradually shift it to a lower weight range.  The key is to do it very gradually. You can make small changes at a very slow pace so that the changes will hopefully not send your body into starvation mode.  Once your body has reached the lower end of your set weight range (i.e., you have reached a weight loss plateau), the key is to make small changes one at a time, allowing your body time to adjust between each one, and the changes that you do make should be sustainable - not something that you can't maintain for more than a few weeks.  So you wouldn't want to cut your calories in half and add an extra five miles to your daily run all at once.  Instead, you would set a goal for one week to be mindful of what you are eating, being sure to eat slowly and make sure you're really hungry for what you're eating.  The next week, you may set a goal to take a walk outside three times a week.  The following week maybe you decide to set a goal of eating more vegetables. Spread over time, these changes are not drastic and will not have a negative effect on your metabolism.  The goals are healthy and are sustainable.

To be sure, you won't lose ten pounds in a week like you would with drastic dieting, but you also won't suffer the boomerang effect that dieting has on your body, where you end up heavier than when you started.  So the next time you're tempted to try one of these gimmick diets where you starve yourself for some short term goal, just say no!  It's time to say goodbye to starving yourself and say hello to healthy, intentional eating - for the sake of your current self and your future self.

Things to Do

These two have been keeping us on our toes lately.  With them both being walkers (er...runners) now, they're both little whirlwinds of destruction barrelling through our house at an ever increasing speed.  Things go missing - remote controls, make-up, combs, measuring spoons, books, cups...basically anything that is within their reach - and they are often never seen again.  At least, until we look in the tiniest nook in the darkest corner of the house.  Or (pursuant to Murphy's Law) after we've already bought a replacement for whatever was lost. 

Tony and I joke that they have a to-do-list that they must accomplish before the day ends every day.  It usually looks something like this:
- Throw as much food as possible on the floor at mealtimes
- Remove every mixing bowl from the cabinets and place strategically in places along the floor where they will cause the most trips and stumbles
- Fling all the shoes in the shoe cubbies into the floor directly in front of the front door
- Relocate all items in the bathroom drawers to unexpected locations throughout the house
- Shove all books in Mom's reading area directly to the floor - bonus points for making the books fall such that the bookmarks fall out
- Eat some of Mom's make-up
- Eat some dirt from Mom's plants and/or rub some dirt into the carpet
- Go through the office desk drawers and sprinkle Mom's business cards all over the office
- Smoosh face into all glass doors and windows
- Distribute little cars all along the floor throughout the house (a la Home Alone)
They're serious about accomplishing their goals, and they usually cross each item off the list each day.  It's a good thing they're so cute...

Judson has also become quite adventurous.  So much so in fact that he recently stood atop his riding turtle (meant for bouncing on, mind you), which resulted in him tumbling to the ground...but not before hitting his eye on the turtle's handles on the way day, giving himself his very first (and hopefully last) black eye.

 Not two days later, he was so elated to be outside that he tripped over his own feet as he ran down the driveway, adding two more bruises and scrapes to our prize fighter's face.

He's been a good sport about it all.  After the initial cry, he hasn't even acted like the bumps and bruises bother him. 
We've been (jokingly) telling people Wren beat him up.  Truthfully, she probably could have done it to him.  She has quite a mean streak these days.  The other day, she was banging a car on Judson's head because he was trying to steal her seat.  And just last week, as I was carrying her down the stairs first thing in the morning, I must have annoyed her somehow because she channeled her inner Susan Lucci and soap-opera-style slapped me across the face.  If she had had a glass of water handy, I'm pretty certain she would have thrown it in my face too.  She may be the strongest willed of them all, which I think is a good thing.  We'll just have to work on focusing her strong will a little more. 
She's usually pretty fun and sweet though.  Here she is making silly faces with Mommy.

We've also had some fun trips to get ice cream lately.  We've all agreed that we can add that to the to-do list any day.

These two are certainly hard work, but, as I remind myself often, they're totally and completely worth it.  (Please remind me of that when I slip and fall on a small car some day in the future.) 

Caleb's Prayer

Every night when I'm putting Caleb to bed, we say our prayers.  Usually, I do the praying, and Caleb chimes in at "Amen.".  Tonight, Caleb asked if he could pray, to which I of course agreed.  What followed was one of the most precious prayers I think I have ever heard.  I came downstairs and wrote it down immediately lest I forget any of his thoughtful words.  Here they are (with no editing from me):
"God,
Thank you for Jesus.  Glory fy him and God.  Whatever is noble, right, pure.  Christ's name is Jesus.  Amen."
Knowing what he meant, my heart about burst with love for this boy as he spoke his own original words.  Yes, Caleb, I agree.  Thank the Lord for Jesus and for Caleb.  May he glorify God in all that he does, and may he always keep his mind on whatever is noble, right and pure.
Here's our sweet boy singing and "playing" his guitar:

One Year

I can hardly believe that it's been exactly one year today since Judson had his heart surgery.  At the time, we had no idea how effective the surgery would be, what repercussions we would have as a result of the surgery itself, or what life would be like with a little baby who just had open-heart surgery.  We prayed for the surgeon to have wisdom and steady hands as he maneuvered the tiny organs and bones that were a part of our precious little baby boy.  We prayed that God would sustain us as a family as we struggled to take care of all of the little ones he has blessed us with, even while one was in the hospital.  We prayed that Judson's oxygen levels after the surgery would rise to a level that would sustain his activity level and that he would continue to grow and thrive.  We had no idea what the future held for us, but we prayed...

And God heard our prayers and answered them above and beyond what we asked for.  Today, Judson is perhaps the most active of all of our kids.  He walks, runs, loves to play peek-a-boo, throws balls, and does everything else a little boy his age should be doing.  I love to see his pink cheeks after he's been running around because that means that his oxygen level is good.  His little personality is so cute, and he melts my heart when he sweetly says "Mama."

Glory be to God for all that he has done for Judson and all of us. 

Up and at 'Em

I think we're all morning people in our family.  Tony and I (mostly) like getting an early start on the day, and our children appear to as well.  Usually right when Caleb's clock hits 7:00, we can hear a loud thud (his feet dropping to the floor from the bed) and then a series of louder thuds (him racing to the door of his room), ready to see what the day holds for him.  Likewise, you can often hear Wren in the early mornings cooing and jingling her babies around in her crib, as though she were telling them, "Rise and Shine, Babies!"  Judson is a little less subtle.  You can often hear him rhythmically banging the side of his crib when the hour to awaken approaches.  Sometimes you can hear him singing too (or at least what sounds like singing to me).  When we greet them in the mornings, they're all pure sweetness - full of cuddles and kisses and giggles.  And the bed-head.  It's epic...especially on Wren. 
Here's one of our favorite morning activities (bed-head and all):  everyone cram into the laundry basket!

And since we all love mornings, we of course also love breakfast.  All day.  Hence, IHOP is always unanimously approved for dinner.

Speaking of being "up and at 'em," this girl is officially walking!

Every morning I'm so thankful that I can start my day with these blessings!

The First Snow of the Season

It was this time a week ago that we were all snowed in...or I guess it's more accurate to say iced in.  We received an inch or two of snow, followed by some ice.  It wasn't much snow, but it was enough to make the roads in our neighborhood impassable for a few days (and enough to cancel school Monday and Tuesday).  Caleb finally got his first taste of sledding, which he loved, of course.

 

On Sunday morning, Caleb and I went on a walk in our own Winter Wonderland.  We took the trail down to the lake and back, enjoying following the animal tracks we found in the snow and playing hide-and-seek behind the trees along the way.  The sunlight shining on the untouched snow made it look like the earth was covered in tiny diamonds.  It was beautiful!

Our fingers, toes and noses were frozen by the time we made it back home.  
While the babies did come out in the snow every now and then, they mostly spent their time indoors.  But they still had a great time...
Riding their ponies...

Rubbing their food allover...

Dancing at the baby disco...

And getting into general chicanery.

Wren and Judson said that next snow they're heading outside to sled too!

The Myth of Spot Training

We've all seen the posts on Pinterest:  "Do These 10 Exercises for a Flatter Stomach."  "What You Should be Doing Every Day for Leaner Inner Thighs."  "5 Exercises to Keep Your Bat Wings at Bay."  Always accompanied by a super skinny and scantily clad woman doing said exercises.  The implication is clear:  if you do the prescribed number of these exercises every day, you'll look just like this svelte model. 

Oh, how I wish all I had to do for a flat stomach was a one minute plank and 30 bicycle crunches every day!   Unfortunately, that's just not how it works.  Most people who set off on a mission to get thinner thighs or a six pack fail.  How can that be?  They did everything Pinterest said they should do, so why does it not work?

Doing exercises targeting a specific muscle for the sole purpose of making that particular part of the body smaller, leaner or more cut is what is called "spot training."  The best example of this is when people who want a flatter stomach or a six pack focus all their efforts on doing crunches.  It happens all the time when I'm teaching a class.  We'll be doing some total body exercise at the end of class when one person decides she wants to do crunches instead.  After class, she tells me it's because her stomach is too big and she needs to work her abs.

What this person doesn't understand is that you can't spot train - you can't tell your body where to take fat from to burn as energy.  It takes it from wherever it sees fit (and that's usually not from where you want it to come from... at least at first!).  So while she may be getting some benefit from the crunches she's doing in terms of stronger abs, she is most certainly not telling her body to burn the fat that is covering her midsection.  Since crunches are such a small movement that do not involve many large muscles and do not generally require a large amount of energy, she is not really even burning many calories or much fat at all.  She would have been better off doing the total body exercise everyone else was doing.  Why?  Because it involves large muscle groups and requires more energy (i.e., calories) to complete (and is probably working the core more effectively than crunches).  The more calories she burns during her workout, the closer she will get to her ultimate goal:  a flatter stomach and less bulk around her mid-section because her body will eventually get around to using those fat stores for energy.  That's probably not true if all she does is crunches...crunches don't require that much energy.  Sure, her abs would be strong (at least if all she needs to do is trunk flexion), but if that's all she's doing, she would likely still have a lot of laundry on her washboard abs and nothing to show for her efforts.

So what's a person to do if she wants a flatter stomach (or lean arms or a smaller backside)?  Something that causes you to move your entire body, something that uses large muscles, something that gets your heart rate up, and something that makes you breathe hard.  For a six pack, work your legs.  For lean inner thighs, do high intensity interval training.  For shapely arms, go for a fast run. 

Does this mean that you should never work your abs or other smaller muscles since working them by themselves doesn't really get your heart rate up?  No, of course not!  You still need to work all of your major muscles on a regular basis, including muscles like your triceps, rear deltoids, abs, lower back and calves.  Just don't expect that these exercises alone are going to get you where you want to be.  These types of exercises will ensure that once you start to shed that layer of fat what's underneath is toned and strong, will increase your overall muscle mass (important to a fast metabolism), and will help improve overall strength and functionality.  But the money exercises - the ones that will reveal those lean muscles - are those that leave you dripping sweat and breathing hard.

Next time you're tempted to do an hour of abs, why not get more bang from your workout and try one of my favorite types of workouts:  cardio and core.  Here's what it could look like (the cardio portion could be anything that gets your heart rate up:  walking, running, stair climber, elliptical, mountain climbers, burpees, rowing machine, etc.):

5 minute warm up (fast walk)

1 minute plank (drop the knees to make it easier)

30 second side plank (each side)

20 back extensions (lay on your stomach and raise your upper and lower body off the ground at the same time)

30 bicycle crunches (lay on your back, head up chin to chest, one knee pulled in towards your chest, other leg extended out, reach the opposite shoulder across the body towards the knee that's pulled in, then quickly switch legs and arms)

5 minutes cardio intervals (30 seconds high intensity, 30 seconds low intensity x 5.  The high intensity portion should be just that - super high intensity!  30 seconds should be all you can do at that intensity level without a break.  No cheating...this is the most important part!)

Repeat the core and cardio segments above 3-5 times (with no breaks in between, if possible)

5 minute cool down (walk)

I know it seems counter intuitive at first, but I promise if you can incorporate this type of workout into your routine, you will see greater results than simply doing the exercises targeting specific muscle groups.  Give it a try!  You may be sweaty and tired, but you won't be sorry you did!