Back in skinny jeans

Better Than Nothin': Enjoying Slivers vs. Slices

Better Than Nothin' Tuesday is the day when we give you all a high five for making tiny changes or taking small actions in the direction of your health goals.

We're of the belief that a bunch of smaller actions over time will reap you higher long term success because you've made changes that are virtually undetectable to your Inner Resistance Monster. And, doing something tiny like eating one less piece of cheese, or taking the stairs versus the elevator is better than doing zero.

Now, we're in the throes of holiday food gluttony. There is food EVERYWHERE, and it's almost impossible to avoid it, and forcing yourself to not eat any of it is really an unnecessary battle. Being food jolly doesn't mean that you have to end up jiggly. As soon as you start feeling deprived, that's just going to trigger your cravings even more, so it's better to appease the cravings versus taking a Nada approach.

One thing that can help you enjoy some of your favorite foods is to take slivers versus slices.

See the pie chart of pie. Having a sliver of something will give you the opportunity to enjoy some of the pie without breaking your caloric bank account for the day. The sliver approach is also very helpful in buffet type scenarios because we know just how quickly a plate can fill up and stack up.

So, partake and feel guilt free. Even if you over do it a bit, that's okay. Tomorrow is another day and you can cut back on that day or go exercise a little bit longer. The key is balance and being kind to yourself; the best gift you can give yourself this holiday season.

Do you find that the sliver approach has helped you to enjoy yet avoid over indulging?

7 Ways to Help You Make It Through the Thanksgiving Insanity

Don't get me wrong. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year because one it's all about celebrating gratitude for the abundance we have in our lives, and two eating! But along with all this goodness also comes the insanity: relatives and the awkward social situations, the crowds all trying to buy the same turkey fixins, and let the holiday stress games begin!

Some of us are not drinking that spiked cider just to be merry if ya know what I mean. And the hair, well, we just might be pulling ours out after being asked one more time, "When you gonna settle down? When you having a baby? When you getting a real job?"

So, here are 7 things that you can {or at least try to} do on Thanksgiving day to help keep your sanity in check and your joy levels higher:

• Thanksgiving is basically one big homework assignment. You said you wanted to become more patient, understanding, forgiving, and loving. Well, this is your biggest chance of the year, and even better, you can get some two for ones in there. Remember in Evan Almighty? God doesn't give people patience, he gives them opportunities to become a patient person. You only become by practicing, so remember that when the irritants begin.

• Don't give your fears & insecurities more power than your happiness & joy. Who's really in charge? It's you! And why spend your day miserable? What will you gain? Wouldn't you rather experience joy even if it's just a small dose over nothing. Again, everything is perspective, and you have the power to look at your family and this Thanksgiving day with a whole new set of lenses. The day can turn instantly just based on one decision you make to look at it and everyone involved differently. Remember last week when Nathan talked about how one day you can look into a mirror and see a superstar, and the next day see a haggard. It's the same face looking in the same mirror, so what's the difference? Perspective. That's it. You choose how you look at things.

Quote on the meaning of Christmas

Taking Christmas week off, but enjoy these quotes

Happy holidays folks! I'm going to take Christmas week off to enjoy the seasons and take a much needed break plus doing some running for the half marathon I'm running in February. But in the meantime, each day this week, I will have a new quote of inspiration and joy because so many of you enjoy the quotes.

It's been a very eventful year of blogging here at Back in Skinny Jeans, and I'm going to re-fuel the juices because when I get back it then becomes you know what: "New Years Resolutions" time of year, and we all know what tops the lists for most people, "Get back in skinny jeans." Oh yeah!

But for today, enjoy your holidays, open your hearts, give yourself and others a break from perfection and judgments, and just enjoy being. That's it "being." Just be!

Happy Holidays!

P.S. I Thank You
To all my readers, your readership and support are a gift to me. I am very grateful for your time and insights ;-)

Holiday Skinny Tip #8: Forgiveness. Let go of the grudge to stop feeding your hurt

One of the best gift's you can give yourself  this holiday is forgiveness. One of the leading drivers behind emotional eating is hurt. Now you may think that anger is what is really keeping you from forgiving that person who you are mad at, but it isn't. The true emotion is hurt. That person did, said, or didn't do something that disappointed you, betrayed you, or humiliated you, and the result they produced in you truly is hurt. Simplistically, they hurt your heart.

The truthful yet necessary reality you need to see is that the grudge you hold against that other person, group, company or yourself, for that matter, affects only you. Continuing  to be angry, bitter, and resentful hurts only you and keeps you trapped. The offending party has gone about their business and moved on. Beating yourself up is getting you no where except more suffering.

The longer you hold onto the pain and the hurt, the more your life passes you by. Ever know someone who has held onto a grudge for years or even decades? Did holding onto that anger bring them more happiness or even vindication? In most cases, no. In most cases, that person got more anger, more resentful and more hardness. What you focus on is what you grow and bring more of into your life.

When you forgive you are letting go of the weight of that pain. And yes, emotional weight can have physical manifestations as well. Ever know someone who finally forgave an ex-lover or parent and then mention that they just dropped 5 pounds days after the forgiveness?

When you forgive, you no longer need to feed that pain. The gorging at the holiday parties could really be you trying to comfort the hurt your grudge is fueling. When you forgive you will feel lighter and happier. There will also be more room in your heart for new people and loves to fill you with joy. At any time, you have a choice to be happy or be angry, so give yourself the gift of forgiveness this holiday.

Holiday Skinny Tip #7: Indulge without the bulge

With all this delicious and decadent food that only comes once a year, is it possible to indulge without gaining that 8 pounds of bulge most people gain during the holidays? Absolutely!

According to the dictionary, indulge means "To yield to, satisfy, or gratify (desires, feelings, etc.)." It doesn't say to yield to, satisfy, gratify until you have to unbutton your jeans because you've gorged in gluttonous rapture. There is a big calorie difference between enjoying one sliver of pumpkin pie versus inhaling half the pie. Sipping half a cup of Egg Nog is not going to break your calorie credit like swigging the whole carton.

The reason many of us will gain a bulge over the holidays is not because we let ourselves partake in the goodies and scrumptious home cooked meals. We gain weight because we devour holiday food like we're going into hibernation compiled with the fact that we are not balancing the extra food consumption with more activity, exercise, or movement. Because it is colder outside and the days get darker sooner, we are more inclined to sit in front of the computer or TV than go for a Winterland stroll with our sweetie or ice skate in the park with friends.

This holiday indulge in your favorite foods and drinks because life is too short not to luxuriate in delicious food. Just be conscious of portion control. Nibble versus gobble. And don't forget another delectable indulgence, kissing under that mistletoe. All that smooching is a merry way to burn calories.

The healing curve: You may still be ahead even if it may feel like you're going backwards

Healing from anything whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual is a process that takes time, and involves ups & downs. However, the down times can sometimes feel demoralizing and frustrating. In fact, there are times when you probably feel like you are actually going backwards instead of moving forward and getting better. This typically happens when you've been doing the work for quite awhile, and have been enjoying continued progress, then for whatever reason you stall, plateau, or worse feel like your doing a reverse.

Awhile back, one of my healers, showed me the healing curve which helped me see the bigger picture during a time when I felt like all the hard work I was putting into getting my physical and emotional self better was going to waste. I was hitting some new challenges in my healing and was feeling like I was "messing up" instead of getting better. The perfectionist in me was berating myself, and not able to see the bigger picture.

My healer drew me the healing curve, and when I saw that in the grander scheme of things I was actually still way ahead from when and where I started, my inner critic died down, and I felt much better again about my progress. It's easy to get lost and frustrated in the woods when you can't see the whole forrest.

In your weight loss journey, if you are currently going through a period where you are either plateauing or gaining back the weight you shed, draw yourself a healing curve, and see visually if you are truly going backwards. If on your curve, you are still above where you started, then you are still ahead. If you find yourself below where you started, then you have gone backwards and need to re-examine.

For example, if you started out at 200 pounds and dropped down to 150 but then went back up to 170. You may feel like you're failing at getting to your goal of 140. But if you drew your healing curve, you will see that in the big picture, at 170 you are still ahead of the 200 where you started. You are still a weight loss winner. The 20 pound weight gain is merely a dip in the overall process of you getting to your 140 goal. Now, you will have to examine why those 20 pounds came back on, and what you can do to get back on track.

So, what do you do if you find that you are below where you started?

Are cornstarch based sweetners making it harder to get back in those skinny jeans?

I've been learning more about sweeteners, and I was surprised to learn how many common ingredients you see on labels are derived from cornstarch. According to the Sugar Association, sweeteners created through cornstarch hydrolysis include:

• Dextrose
• Corn syrup
• Corn syrup solids
• Maltodextrin, Dextrin
• High fructose corn syrup
• Crystalline fructose

Cornstarch, by itself, is typically used as a thickener in foods. It can also be found in baby powder and makeup. In my bid to shed these 25 pounds, I have done my darnedest to stay clear of foods with cornstarch in it like sweet & sour pork/chicken, creamy style soups, and gravies. I find that when I eat foods with cornstarch in it, I gain weight very easily and the extra lbs stick around stubbornly unless I stop eating it.

What I found surprising on this list was Crystalline fructose. For some reason, I thought it was derived from fruit, and who knows where I got that thought from. Crystalline fructose is one of the main ingredients in my favorite drink of late Vitamin Water. When I was weaning from the Diet Coke, I replaced the diet soda with the fruity Vitamin Water, and was drinking about 2 bottles of the stuff a day thinking that it was better for me than the Diet Coke, but now I wonder.

So, this week I did an experiment and stopped drinking Vitamin Water drinks, and stopped consuming any foods or drinks that had any of those cornstarch derived sweeteners in them. In 3 days, I dropped 1.2 pounds doing nothing different except laying off the cornstarch based stuff. Now, my curiosity is really piqued and I am going to continue to lay off the cornstarch based sweeteners and see if that will have any  affect on shedding these last 6 pounds that have been stubbornly not wanting to leave my body. It will be interesting to see no doubt.

Holiday Skinny Tip #6: Take a day and play hooky from work

It's end of the year and many of you probably have racked up vacation time or maybe you have some sick time that you haven't used. Do your waistline a favor and play hooky for the day.

So, how can playing hooky from work help you minimize holiday weight gain? There are multitude of ways:

• Playing hooky is fun thus reducing your stress. When your stress levels are lower you will not "stress munch" and your Cortisol levels will be lower. Cortisol is that hormone that can raise your blood pressure and blood sugar level when your stress levels rise. It also contributes to the growth of the fat in that muffin top.

• On your hooky day you can go out and do something that involves far more movement than sitting at your desk at all day. Shopping for gifts requires lots of walking through the mall. You could go ice skating, frolicking out doors, build a snowman, or go out and get your Christmas tree and start decorating your house for some holiday festivity. All that moving is burning calories.

• The office is probably loaded with sinful holiday foods because of gifts from vendors, customers, or the company. This time of year the office will be filled with cookies, candies, tubs of Carmel covered popcorn,  brownies, and whatever muffin top fueling foods that people can make from the Food Channel Season Eatings shows. Getting out of the office for the day will give you a chance to stay clear of the sugary fat buffets in the coffee room.

It's the holidays, a time for cheer and fun. Play hooky from the office and take a day of guilty pleasure just for yourself.

Random thoughts on skinny: Peppermint Oreo-like thingies

• I went to Trader Joes last night and in the sample area were Peppermint JoJos, their version of Oreos but with a peppermint creamy filling. OMG! These cookies were amazing. Normally I only take one sample per sample etiquette, but I swung back around when no one was around and swiped two more cookies. I know that's being a sample hog but it was better than buying a whole box.

• Is it possible to make a tasty low-fat, lower calorie egg nog without using artificial sweeteners?

• I eat pizza with ketchup because I like the added zesty sweet tomato flavor. Lots of people think I'm a weirdo for eating pizza with ketchup, but I don't think it's weird. Ketchup and sauce are all made from tomatoes so what's the difference? I had a college roommate who would eat potato chips with ketchup. I thought that was weird until she said that the chips were just extra extra crunchy flat french fries. Okay, makes sense to me.

• Chanukah is here and I miss Matt's grandma Bea's Kugel and Mandel bread. When you break up with someone it's amazing what simple ordinary everyday things you miss most.

• I couldn't help myself. I had to watch a peek or four of the Victoria's Secret show on TV Tuesday night. I was honestly mesmerized. How can you look at those girls and not feel some kind of insecurity, wish for a better body, or some kind of wish to just be able to feel okay as you are. Is there any Victoria Secret model kryptonite? I guess it's called "Don't look at the shows or the catalogs."