Consider Yourself Reminded Healthy lifestyle battle soldiers on with simple mantra

I had the awesome opportunity to head to the spa at French Lick Resort last week with the 2009 Indianapolis Woman Dream Makeover finalists. It was a wonderful day of pampering full of new friendships and lots of laughs. These ladies all have an incredible story and are delightful to be around. I wish we could highlight each of them! Luckily, our Dream Team tries every year to provide some things to pamper all of the finalists, and French Lick leads the way in that effort.

On multiple occasions, a few of the finalists commented on how great they thought I looked. I had to stop myself from saying out loud, “Who … me?” To be honest, I’ve had a rough go of the healthy living stuff this summer. Lots of summer events, vacations and other things have led me to pack on a few of the pounds that I had previously taken off. Finally, one of the finalists made a comment, and I came clean with her about how much I’ve yo-yoed over the last six months or so. Her simple reply was, “Well, keep at it!”

How simply that sums it all up! While I don’t want to battle my weight my whole life, leading a healthy lifestyle is a lifetime commitment that will have its ups and downs. After seeing those ladies last week, I’ve rededicated myself to keeping at it.

Consider yourself reminded that this journey is not always an easy one but one that is important to leading long, happy and fulfilled lives. Keep at it!

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by Lindsay Eichelman

You Are What You Eat

I was having a conversation with a co-worker the other day that really made me think. He was celebrating a birthday and being a lover of sweet things, everyone decided it was a fantastic idea to bring him every kind of treat under the sun for his birthday celebration.

Delicious cake? Check.

Decadent chocolate? Check.

Scrumptious cookies? Check.

It really was a smorgasbord of delicious things.

I knew we all had a huge problem when this lover of sweets looked at me and said, “Even though this stuff is so delicious, it really does make me feel like crap when I eat it.”

And there it was: the plain, ugly truth. You really are what you eat! Although those delectable things tasted so good going down, eating too much bad-for-you food really does make you feel bad, both physically and emotionally. For me, not only does it sometimes literally make me sick, but I also figure out a way to thoroughly beat myself up mentally and emotionally for indulging so much. The temporary high you receive from tasting something delicious is far outweighed by the awful feelings you have when you overindulge.

The next time one of those delicious treats is presented to me, I’m going to try and remember that you really are what you eat. A taste of sweetness can’t do anything but make you sweeter. Overindulging, though, can have quite a sour aftermath.

In other news, I’m really trying to get back on track after a few weeks of concert hopping, birthday parties and all-around celebrating the end of summer.

Overindulgence was a definite. Good luck to you as you continue on the healthy living journey and enjoy these last few days of a beautiful summer! Where has the time gone?

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by Lindsay Eichelman

Journaling Your Innermost … Food Choices? Writing down what you eat can be extremely helpful

Food journaling is an important tool in understanding your eating habits. Personally, it’s not only important in helping me understand my eating, but it also holds me accountable to what I put in my mouth. Poor choices happen less frequently when I know I actually have to own up and write it down! This has been a very helpful tool to me for quite some time. A co-worker recently encouraged me to share this helpful tool with my loyal readers. (So Breyanna –– this one is for you!)

Food journals can be as complex or as simple as you want, but some helpful things to include in any food journal include the following.

> Food that was consumed including beverages. This is obviously self-explanatory.

> Various types of nutritional information. Like I said, these journals can be as simple or as complex as you wish. I loosely follow the Weight Watchers program, so in my journal I keep track of my Weight Watchers point values and calories. In the past, I’ve kept track of protein grams as well. There are many other types of nutritional information that can be tracked based on what goals you have.

> Time of day that food was eaten. This is helpful in beginning to understand your metabolism and how often you need to eat to have your body run at its best. Personally, I keep track of the time of day simply to be sure that I’m eating every couple of hours.

> Mood when eating. I don’t personally do this but have heard that it is helpful in deciphering emotional eating.

> Exercise/physical activity. I include all my exercise in my food journal to better keep track of what I’m accomplishing at the gym.

Lindsay’s Sample Food Log (Wednesday)

5 A.M.
- 48 minutes on elliptical (including four-minute warmup and four-minute cooldown)
- 4.88 miles/510 calories
- Ab routine
6:30 A.M.
- Omelet with Eggbeaters, low-fat cheese, green peppers and onions –– 4 points/233 calories
- Coffee –– 0 points/12 calories
9 A.M.
- Almonds –– 4 points/160 calories
11 A.M.
- Turkey, Laughing Cow cheese, green pepper and onion on sandwich thin –– 3 points/193 calories
- Grapes –– 1 point/110 calories
1 P.M.
- Hard-boiled egg –– 2 points/100 calories
3 P.M.
- ½ cup of 1-percent cottage cheese –– 2 points/80 calories
6 P.M.
- Tilapia fillet –– 2 points/100 calories
- Broccoli –– 0 points/30 calories
- Sweet potatoes with olive oil and parmesan cheese –– 5 points/310 calories
7:30 PM
- Weight Watchers ice cream bar –– 1 point/110 calories

Throughout day
- 128 ounces water

Total: 24 WW points/1,438 calories

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by Lindsay Eichelman