Am…musings

Money, religion and children … they’re hot topics relationship experts say a couple needs to discuss and come to terms with to be successful. Among many couples I know, there’s another subject that can create relationship waves … weight. This revelation has occurred to me because … well … I’ve instigated a joint diet with S.

As I mentioned in the fried chicken post, S. has been traveling a lot and sort of fell away from the healthy eating habits he started before I met him. Because I’m weak, I fell with him … and truth be told, haven’t been eating very healthy for a while.

I’m tired of feeling slothy and sluggish and asked S. if he wanted to work together at it when he’s finished traveling last weekend. Now I’m thinking this might test our relationship a bit and I’m wondering how we’ll weather it.

There are a few things in our favor:

• We love and accept each other the way we are. I think the weight-challenged relationships are those where one person is pushing the other to lose weight because they aren’t happy with the person’s appearance.
• We’re doing this for ourselves because we want to be healthy and feel better … again, not because one is pushing the other to look better.
• S. is a coach and instructor and knows how to motivate and push the right way.
• We’re both pretty roll-with-the-flow. Even though weight is a sensitive topic, I think our flexible natures will help us overcome issues.

We hit our first minor road bumps Friday night:

• Because he’s a little goofy (one of the reasons I love him), S. has been calling his diet “operation shredded beef.” It makes me laugh, but doesn’t work for me when we’re talking about my diet. He quickly came up with “operation slim fast” for me. I love it.
• His diet approach in the past has included eliminating alcohol, which doesn’t sound like fun to me. We’re compromising with low-sugar, lower-calorie cocktails only on the weekends.

We started today. I’ll keep you posted.

There’s just no delicate way to say it … my face is full of pimples. I swear nearly the minute I started Dr. Hauschka’s daily routine a couple of months ago they disappeared. The problem is … I can’t pinpoint the cause of the blemishes because I didn’t conduct a very good scientific study.

The recent warm up and start of the grass-mowing season sent me straight to Whole Foods for some SPF (Dr. H’s doesn’t have it). Most SPFs cause me to breakout so I could easy blame my current condition on that. But … about three weeks ago I began using Dr. H’s ridiculously expensive Rhythmic Night Conditioner. I think a few slight breakouts started then … and I’m guessing the added SPF may have just pushed my skin over the edge (not to mention that the simple change of season alone could have instigated the breakouts as sensitive as my skin is).

My plan is to cease all SFP application, stop the Rhythmic Night Conditioner and (hopefully) let my skin get back to its pimple-free state. At that point, I’ll try the SPF samples and see what happens.

In the meantime, I should have some news to report on the lip-balm front soon.

A month or so ago, my friend Chrissie wrote a Facebook post about her allergies, including one to sodium laurel sulfate (SLS). Our friend Val chimed in that she had the same reaction to SLS. I don’t have many traditional allergy issues, but I do have sensitive skin and wondered if SLS might be the culprit. I’ve also always wondered about products with petroleum … how healthy can they really be?

After a little online research and a query to Chrissie and Val on the SLS-free products they use, I made a trip to Whole Foods (WF), which is one of the only places in the ‘Lou that I can find organic products.* Here’s the scoop on my experiments so far:

• Overall … I’ve always felt WF was ridiculously over priced (hence the nickname … Whole Paycheck), but I do believe you get what you pay for and I don’t think my local grocery store would provide half the customer service I get at Whole Food. Proof positive … testers as WF aren’t just something to experience in the store. If you ask the extremely helpful employees, you’ll get a generous sample to try at home.
• Face – Val recommended Dr. Hauschka’s. It’s not for the faint of heart … it’s pricey and figuring out which products to use is a bit daunting. But I was willing to give it a try … partly because the approach made sense to me and mostly because I was a bit desperate. As a teen, I had pristine skin, but the second I hit college … bam … breakouts galore. They haven’t stopped since … even though I’m nearly 40. After a few days of Dr. Hauschka’s, my skin cleared up. My staples are the Cleansing Milk and Facial Toner at night and the Cleansing Cream, Facial Toner and Rose Day Cream Light in the morning. The Cleansing Clay Mask once a month is fun, but in my honest opinion, the Facial Steam Bath and the waaaay-over-priced Rythmic Night Conditioner aren’t worth it … although I’ve only tried them once and may give them another shot.
• Hair – Check your shampoo and SLS is likely the first ingredient. After switching to organic shampoo, my hair seems healthier. I have lots of fine curly hair that I can wear curly or straight so I like to have a few shampoos to choose from. For curly days, Kinky-Curly Come Clean shampoo works great. I pair it with JASON’s “thin to THICK” conditioner, which I swear is doing its trick on my mane. On days I straighten, the JASON’s conditioner with the “thin to THICK” shampoo is a good combo. Unfortunately, Avalon’s nourishing lavender shampoo is a bit too heavy for my fine hair, but I know Chrissie’s daughter Michaela loves it … and it smells awesome.
• Body cleanser – I discovered L’Occitane Shea Butter Milk Soap at little shop in Winter Park, Fla. It is a bit pricey, but smells wonderful, lasts forever and does good things for my sensitive skin. Trader Joe’s had a similar version at a lower price, but hasn’t stocked it the last few times I’ve checked.

Up next … facial SPF, lip balm and body lotion testing.  I’ll keep you posted!

*My beloved Trader Joe’s offers organic products, but they seem to have become a little stingy and are only stocking their store brand. I’m sure their “key message” on this “store brand” thing is that it keeps prices down. But as I dip my toe into the Au Naturale waters, I’d like to be able to compare the higher-priced versions with the store brands and make my own decision … which WF allows me to do.

I just had another “shut the eff up” moment. I decided to wrap up the “cleanse” a few days early and move on to the more reasonable week two of the Body by Glamour diet. It’s the same principles, but additional whole grains and some sweets are allowed. There’s also a daily “treat” … one ounce of dark chocolate, frozen yogurt, a glass of wine. Homemade microwave popcorn was also on the list. Huh?

Even reduced-fat package microwave popcorn has a fairly long list of ingredients that don’t sound very healthy, including added color. The Glamour recipe … 3 Tbsp. popcorn kernels. Place them in a paper lunch bag. Fold the top of the bag down a few times. Microwave for two to three minutes or until popping slows (mine took less than a minute and a half.) Add your favorite popcorn topping (I’m going with a few sprays of Pam, a touch of salt and hot sauce … healthy hottt corn!)

I was a bit skeptical of the whole paper bag thing and of popping the corn without any fat, but it totally worked! And it has to be a ton cheaper and much healthier than the packaged variety.

I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I prefer sweet breakfasts over savory ones. I tend to crave a little something sweet after a meal. And sweet drinks are no exception. For a girl who doctors up her coffee up like candy and adores Southern sweet tea, a sip of unsweetened beverage (besides water) pretty much made me want to gag.

For the most part, I’m an artificial sweetener fan … Sweet & Low, beginning as a kid, and recently Splenda. But I’ve always been concerned about the chemicals. And recent studies are showing that our bodies don’t know the difference between sugar and the fake stuff, which could contribute to weigh gain. Here’s a good explanation from Dr. Katz, who is featured on Oprah.

So when my February Glamour magazine featured a week-long “cleanse” with no sweets or added sugar or sweeteners as part of its Body By Glamour diet and exercise series, I was intrigued. The series focuses on healthy, reasonable eating rather than fad-diet extremes, and the “cleanse” is no different.

It includes three smaller meals and two snack, consisting of lots of veggies and fruits, lean protein and dairy, select whole grains and healthy fats. The following should be avoided:

• Packaged foods
• Soda
• Bread, pasta, crackers
• Butter and cheese
• Red meat
• Caffeine (yeah, no caffeine is a goal of mine, but I haven’t gotten here and wasn’t about go cold turkey; instead, I went had a cup or two of unsweetened coffee and then a few glasses of unsweetened iced tea)
• Alcohol (ok … I cheated a bit here)

So … my first sips of unsweetened coffee and tea were … ok (I swear). Of course, the coffee wasn’t quite as yummy as “candy,” but not horrid. Each morning I’ve had a cup of unsweetened oatmeal with a half cup of berries, a few walnuts and a little milk. It’s pretty tasty, and most importantly … I’m not hungry until lunch, which is rare for me. I chalk it up to the fact that I’m not experiencing the drop in blood sugar from the sweet meal I’d normally have. In fact, I haven’t been all that hungry all week, despite eating smaller quantities of much healthier fare. And my energy levels have been good … no afternoon “I need a Diet Coke” lulls.

The “cleanse” is just for a week, but I plan to definitely stick with no soda, no-added-sugar/sweetener breakfasts and unsweetened coffee and tea. If you’re interested in checking it out, the whole plan is outlined at Glamour.com (you do have to sign up, but can opt out of receiving e-mails).

New Year’s Eve has never been particularly high on my holiday list. I always have a great time, but it seems like the hype and expectations are usually much higher than the reality … which tends to make it a bit of let down, no matter how much fun I have.

This year my expectations are pretty low. I anticipate hanging out with my parents, sleeping lots and taking copious amounts of prescriptions drugs.

What? Well … it seems I’m a bit of a withholder when it comes to health info. When I finally told you about my fibroid surgery (seven days after it happened), I wasn’t entirely forthcoming. I said “all went fairly well,” but didn’t elaborate. Well … “fairly well” meant there was a possibility I might need a second surgery. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that … and figured why worry you needlessly or bore you with the details.

So here’s the scoop … when they went into remove the fibroids, they found endometriosis and removed what they could. But some of it was adhered to places it shouldn’t be and I wasn’t prepped for that surgery (ok, yes … I’m withholding again, but this time, you won’t be hearing about it later … it’s just a little too gross and personal to share). The verdict at the time was to wait and see how I was feeling … sometimes women can have endometriosis without even knowing it, as I did.

Unfortunately, a majority of the pre-surgery pain returned. I’d also met my very high deductible this year. I figured the endometriosis wasn’t going to get better … and given that I’d already invested so much into my health this year, it just seemed to make sense to have the second surgery.

I’m told the recovery time will be a fraction of the last surgery. And although it sucks that my (and my parents’) New Year’s will be ruined, at least I’ll have the extra days off work to bounce back. And the surgery prep, which starts Wednesday morning, will be like a fast at a fancy spa … perfect for recovering from the Christmas and pre-Christmas gluttony.

In addition to being the size of a thimble, I’m thinking my bladder is a sensitive, shy type that didn’t like being called out in my last post.

Thanks to it, I was up at least every two to three hours last night. By the fourth or fifth time, the sun was coming up and I was coherent enough to register the time and definitely know I visited the bathroom at 10 minutes to 6:00 and then again at 10 minutes after 8:00. At that point, I couldn’t fall back asleep even though it was a bit earlier than I wanted to rise on my day off.

I’m thinking it was my bladder’s way of saying, “Paybacks are a bitch, sister. Quit talking about me!” Or, more likely, my body is responding to waaaay too much Diet Coke yesterday … yeah, I’ve definitely fallen off the no caffeine/no soda wagon these days.

I still have the Far Side my friend Keith edited for me of the space shuttle launching with a speech bubble stating, “Wait! I have to go to the bathroom!” The altered caption: “Why Amber could never be an astronaut.” Yes, I have a thimble of a bladder. But twice lately, in a roundabout way, it’s meant I get a good breakfast.

In May, I was headed to a wedding in Louisville. Thanks to the bladder, I’d only made it about a ½ hour out of town and had to go. I also hadn’t had breakfast and figured if I had to get out of the car anyway, I might as well skip places with drive-throughs and went to Bread Co. (or Panera for those of you outside of the Lou.) The same thing happened this morning after a grocery stop on my way to work. Both times I had the Power Sandwich, which is quite tasty.

It’s egg, lean ham and cheddar on whole wheat. At 390 calories, it’s no lightweight, but it does pack lots of protein. It’s also a better choice than their other breakfast sandwiches with fatty meats on Ciabatta and the very evil, previously mentioned Cinnamon Crunch bagel.

It’s 5:57 a.m. as I type these words.

I typically say I am not a morning person, which isn’t technically true. Unlike many other non-morning people, I’m not a total crab-ass in the morning. After taking a little time to wake up, I’m normally in a positive mood and fully functioning (the fact that I’m writing a blog post after waking up 10 minutes ago is proof positive). So as opposed to an anti-morning person, I’ve deduced that I am a lover of sleep … a Dozing Diva, if you will.

As a Dozing Diva, 5:57 a.m. is not a time of day I normally see unless I have an early commitment. Today, I do not. Today, I’m trying a sleep experiment.

At work a few weeks ago, we were chatting about the number of hours of sleep we each prefer and actually get. I had always targeted (and usually hit) 8 hours a night during the week and 9 on the weekend. A co-worker mentioned studies had shown we should get sleep in 1.5-hour increments after the first 3 hours …. so sleeping for a total of 4.5 hours, 6 hours, 7.5 hours or 9 hours. The reason (in non-scientific terms): REM cycles last 1.5 hours and interrupting them is bad and results in feeling less rested.

My love of sleep means I gobble up every article I see regarding sleep tips, recommended hours, etc. and I was shocked I’d never heard that wisdom. That very night, I opted to hear the Wii Fit fitness tip (something I usually skip) and it was about the importance of sleep and sleeping in 1.5-hour increments. I figured it was fate and that I needed to test the concept.

Nine hours during the week seemed like a stretch so I’ve been shooting for 7.5 hours. One big change I’ve made is not sleeping around the snooze … I’ve always known that was bad, but now I have a basis for it. Instead, I’m forcing myself to slowly wake up using one or two snoozes.

It’s been a few weeks, and I think I feel a little better. I also feel validated by one cool thing I’ve noticed … on weekends, when I don’t set the alarm I wake up exactly at the 1.5-hour increment (i.e. my typical 9 hours on the weekend). Today, it was exactly at 6 hours. It’s rare that I wake up before the alarm during the week and normally, I’d go back to sleep. Unfortunately, the alarm was set for only an hour later so I decided to really test the theory. I normally crash in the afternoons/evenings after less than 8 hours, but now I wonder if it was actually because I hadn’t been sleeping in magic increment. I’ll keep you posted.

Veggies are typically freebies on any diet so here’s a free snack … cucumbers and salsa. I’ll admit I smirked when I learned about it, but I swear it’s surprisingly tasty!