Are nutrition facts making us fatter?

Did you know that obesity rate among adults in the US has increased from 15% to 36% since 1990?

In twenty years, the percentage of obese adults has increased by over 20%. Do you know how ridiculous that is!?

I blame this guy:

 

My issue with the nutrition label is simple: by breaking a food into micronutrients, you are reducing something that is cultural, enjoyable, and part of life to a series of numbers. What’s more, you’re trying to summarize the pros and cons of a food in black and white. This isn’t normal.

It causes the human mind to equate a large banana to a a bowl of fruit loops. A piece of chicken to a York peppermint patty. Rice to French fries.

These things are not equal, and yet the nutrition label – particularly the calorie count – makes us think they are.

But there’s more: Since the nutrition label was mandated by the FDA in 1990, we have seen obesity increase exponentially. Which begs the question: is this correlation, causation, or chance?

Could it be that our growing obsession with “being healthy” has caused us to forget how to eat? That we have lost our instincts for choosing foods that are good for us because we rely so much on the package? Perhaps it means that we are choosing more processed foods instead of real foods solely because we are able to easily count the calories or points when it’s printed on a package.

I am not a nutritionist. I am a 23 year old who spent nearly seven years of my life trying different diets, depriving myself of the foods I love, and spending countless hours on the elliptical trying to get to be the size I wanted to be. I finally got on track to being healthy and loving my body this past year, when I lost nearly 35 pounds without counting calories, cutting carbs, or doing activities I hated all in the name of losing weight.

I am happier, healthier, and fitter than ever. And maybe I’m just one person, but I think it’s a discussion worth having: causation, correlation, or chance? What are your thoughts?

We're all in this together: Reflections on Newtown

How do you adequately reflect on what happened in Connecticut on Friday?  There's been a lot of conversation on social media, in the news, and among Americans. 

I think it comes down to this:

Our country needs more: more human connection, more love, more helping people who are hurting. More smiling at strangers, more random acts of kindness, more listening when you ask if someone is okay.

And we need less: less judging, less gossiping, less hating.

We need to listen to and learn from each other. To create communities, grow together, and reconnect based on shared values.  

Most of all, we must genuinely care about each other. Each of us struggles and succeeds, and the overall well-being of our country is dependent on the well-being of our people. 

So smile at a stranger, let someone merge in front of you on the highway, and just remember:  

we're all in this together.

Five tips for Bikram beginners

My Bikram studio recently did several Groupons. This is great, because Bikram yoga is wonderful for your mental, physical, and emotional health, and everyone should give it a try! That being said, I've realized there are a few things that I wish someone had told me as a beginner, and so I'm sharing them here.

If you're going to try your very first Bikram yoga class, here are five things you should know:

1. It's super important that everyone can see part of themselves in the mirror. If you're anywhere but the back row, be aware of other yogis in the class, and stagger your mat so that they can see themselves as well.
2. The yoga room is a silent place. The Bikram community is wonderful, and talking in the lobby is totally encouraged, but a lot of people come early to class to zone out, get their meditation on, or just enjoy some silence. Even if you're coming to yoga with your friends, try not to talk inside of the room.
3. It's totally okay to sit out a posture. Or seven. Yoga isn't a competition, and it's about the journey. If you need to sit down and take a breather, do it. Noone is judging you, I promise.
4. People don't wear a lot of clothes, and it's more than acceptable to join them. You know why? Because it's cool. Literally. You are sweating in a 104 degree room for 90 minutes, and you're going to feel a heck of a lot better in a sports bra and short shorts than leggings and a t-shirt. Like I said, noone is judging you.
5. Come back the next day. So maybe your first class was rough. Maybe you felt hot and sweaty and not flexible. Leave the room, sign up for the next day, and come back. Flexibility, inner peace, happiness... all of these things take time. You're never going to heal yourself physically, mentally, or emotionally unless you keep coming back.

Anyone else a Bikram yogi? What would you tell a newbie to the practice?

Happiness is a choice.

 

Here’s a shocking fact: bad things happen to everybody. Okay, so maybe it’s not that shocking. But for a few months earlier this year, it was shocking for me.

 

It’s not like I’ve never had anything bad happen to me; of course I have. But the way I felt was new – and for two months, I wallowed, I pity-partied, and I told everyone who would listen about my plight.

 

At some point, I got sick of being the only person at my pity party, and decided that I could create the life I wanted. I signed up for a marathon, I registered for my first pageant in three years, I started blogging more. And in the last several months, amazing things have happened: I landed a fantastic job, I ran a marathon, and I earned my way to the Miss Virginia stage – somewhere I never thought I would be competing. All of those things have happened not because I am special or lucky, but because I refuse, on a daily basis, to allow things I cannot change impact my attitude.

 

Bad things happen to everybody. And most of the time, they’re bad things that you have zero control over: getting rejected from your dream college, someone breaking your heart, someone saying something mean. But you know what I’ve learned in the last nine months? While you have zero control over what happens, you have 100% control over how you react to it.

 

Positivity is a choice. Being happy is a choice. Proactively going after everything you’ve ever wanted in life is a choice. Change what you can, accept what you can’t, move on from your past. Forgive people who have hurt you, and stop letting them take up your time, your thoughts, and your energy. All of those things are too valuable to be taken up by people and things that do not serve you.

 

Today, be kind to yourself. Go for a run, read a good book, eat your favorite ice cream. Call your best friend or your parents, make that recipe you’ve been dying to try from Pinterest, volunteer. Write down all of those things you’ve always wanted to do, and go do them.

 

Why not?

Bikram reflections: Days four and five of my 30 day challenge

Well,  so far I am five-for-five in my 30 day challenge, and as I'm writing this post, I'm preparing for class number six.

The last two classes have been pretty awesome. In a way I've never really experienced before, both classes felt like they went pretty quickly, and I actually kind of enjoyed every series of both of them. Bow (the pinnacle posture of the spine strengthening series) felt really strong both days, and I was kind of proud of how much better it looked and felt. Bow, just so you know what I'm talking about, eventually looks like this:

I am also finding that my practice is starting to feel like the "moving meditation" that it claims to be. I definitely am starting to fall into the rhythm of the practice, and I think that's probably what has been most helpful in making the 90 minutes enjoyable each day.

Scheduling myself time for my practice each day has been great. I love how Bikram makes me feel, how it makes me look, and that it gives me time daily to focus on myself. I'm sure I've blogged about this before, but I think that we sometimes forget how important it is to set aside time for ourselves each day. I don't just mean time to workout, I mean time to let all of our other responsibilities take a breather for a hot second (literally hot, in this case) and just let our mind have a break. We're all so busy all the time, and we sometimes forget that taking a breather is necessary too.

Here's to class number six.. after today, I'll be a fifth of the way there!!

Bikram reflections: Starting my 30 day challenge

I started my 30 day Bikram Yoga challenge three days ago -- and I am three for three so far! I'm doing my own little 30 day challenge for several reasons. Obviously, first and foremost, for my health -- to see what 30 straight days of getting my 90 minutes in the hot room can do for me. Then, it goes without saying that the competitive part of my personality thrives off of challenges. I've also been neglecting my practice a little bit lately, so it's definitely long overdue for me to kick it back into gear.

I'll be trying to reflect on my practice daily on this blog, but figured I would go ahead and combine the first three days. My three classes were all at different times (7:15pm, 8:15pm, and 6:00am), with different class sizes (five people in the 7:15 class, a full room during the 8:15 class, and then probably about 10 people in the 6:15 class), and with three different teachers. Here are my thoughts so far:

• I was really distracted during the 7:15 small class, when a gentleman was breathing really heavily throughout the practice. I did realize that this probably means I need to work on focusing on my own breathing, and not letting little things distract me.
• Holy cow is standing separate leg stretching pose hard. I always thought it was difficult (even though it looks like it would be one of the easiest poses), but after being away for so long, it's gotten even harder.
• The 8:15 class is for beginners. There's a lot of people, a lot of fidgiting, and a lot of groaning. Again, reminded that I need to work on focusing internally instead of externally.
• Conversely, the 6:00am class is for more experienced yogis. There's a lot less water drinking, and a whole lot more "class energy" propelling you through the series.
• The 6:00 class is also nice because I think it's too early for your brain to be awake. It makes it a lot easier to make the practice your "moving meditation" and control how much your mind wanders.
• I can do the whole spine strengthening series!! Yeah, it hurts, but I can do it, and I'm confident that I'll be doing locust correctly in no time :)
• Sometimes, increased humidity is worse than increased heat. More on this later, I'm sure.

Anyways, just wanted to get this up before I head to work. Always nice to start my day with a Bikram class :)

My first marathon: moments of inspiration

Well, it's been broadcast all over Twitter and Facebook, but I figured I'd do a different kind of race recap here. In case you haven't heard, I finished my first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, yesterday. Victory tasted pretty sweet:

My dad and I finished in 5:30:41. Considering he ran the whole thing with a broken toe, I would consider this time a success! Plus, we crossed the finish line hand in hand, smiling. They've started to load the official race photos, and I have to say, I look like I am genuinely enjoying the race in each photo.

For me, this marathon was about finishing. It was about pushing myself to achieve something I had never achieved, and proving to myself that I was capable of accomplishing something this big. And I have to tell you, this may be my greatest personal accomplishment.

Today, as I try to foam roll out the stiffness in my legs that is a constant reminder of yesterday, I wanted to take the time to blog about my experience, and about moments of inspiration from the race.

My race started at 7:55am. We placed ourselves in the 5:00 finish corral, which was silly because our strategy was to run the first 15 miles and then alternate walking and running (walk one mile, run two) to the finish. In retrospect, we should have placed ourselves in the 4:30 finish corral, which would align more with our running time. Instead, we ended up trying to make our way through the pack of people running at a pace 2-3 minutes per mile slower than us for the first three miles.

Being in this grouping brought our first pop of inspiration, when around mile four, we ran past a blind woman running the Marine Corps Marathon, guided by three guide runners. If that doesn't inspire you to be limitless, I don't know what will.

Somewhere around mile four or five, we also found a group whose shirts read "The journey is the reward, the marathon is the victory lap." Reflecting on my own journey, from where/who I was when I signed up for the marathon in March to where/who I am now is a pretty powerful thing. And they're right, the marathon was my celebration - a celebration of living a life that I love and getting a little bit closer to exactly what I want my life to look like.

Mile 11 brought us to our first views of the national mall, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The roundabout we went around was lined with spectators, cheering for friends and family members and random strangers. It was one of two times that I started tearing up, and really only out of sheer inspiration. Here I was, in a sea of 20,000+ runners, all achieving a goal - whether just to finish or to beat a time.

We then made our way to Haynes' Point, which was the most challenging part of the race for me. For miles 13-16, we were spectatorless, and I was hurting. I was pretty excited to cross the 13.1 mile marker at 2:15, which is a whole 15 minutes faster than the half marathon I ran in April, but other than that, I was just ready to start walking. Then, right when I was getting frustrated, I started seeing pictures of fallen soldiers. About 25-30 pictures of young men in their uniforms, smiling, with their names and dates of birth and death along the bottom. Following their pictures was a line of people, each bearing an American flag with a black ribbon, embroidered with a name. It was moving and humbling, and I found myself pretty emotional again. The Marine Corps Marathon is special in this way -- you are inspired by the hundreds (thousands?) of Marines cheering you on from the sidelines, as well as by the countless young men and women who never made it home.

The last ten miles were a blur. I know that my little Miss Greater Springfield princess, Hannah (who loves to run), was my inspiration during mile 21, and that my Girls on the Run girls were my inspiration when my knee started hurting during mile 22. I know there were donut holes at mile 24, and that I ran the last 6.2 miles (after "beating the bridge") with a huge smile on my face after seeing a sign that said "Smile and wave if this is your first marathon -- you are now a marathoner."

And at 26.2, they announced my name, and I crossed the finish line hand-in-hand with my dad, a huge smile on my face. Because my journey has been my reward, and the marathon truly was the victory lap.

I hope that if you're reading, you take away this: you are capable of anything you set your mind to. You are in charge -- of what you accomplish, of how you feel, of your life. It is never too late to decide what you want out of your life and to determine how you are going to go after it. Let the blind woman running the Marine Corps Marathon be your inspiration too -- the only limits you have are the ones that you create for yourself.

Can't wait for the next one.