Does it Matter?

Today I read this article about counting calories and how "it doesn't matter."

I'm kind of conflicted by it, actually.

I get what the author is saying, in a way. But I also feel like the article is misleading in that its directed at people who are interested in maintaining their weight, not losing.

I think counting calories DOES matter. I have tried every weight loss gimmick on the market and the only thing that has EVER worked for me was counting calories eaten vs. burned.

Working at a calorie deficit works. Its science. And the thing of it is, is that is doesn't necessarily mean working out every day for hours. A friend from high school and I both used this method differently, with similar results. We both counted calories we ate and calories we burned. I did about 30-40 minutes of cardio every day with very little weight lifting and lost 20 pounds. She walked her dog twice a day for an hour or more and lost the same. She didn't go to the gym once. She chose to do longer, lower impact things to keep her moving and I chose shorter high impact workouts and they both worked.
Being mindful of calories is what we both did the same.

When you are trying to lose weight, calories DO matter. I'm not suggesting you kill yourself to account for every sip and bite. But (I think) having a nonchalant attitude about calories is what resulted in me putting back on the 10 pounds I had already lost. A daily calorie surplus of 250 calories each day will result in the gaining of half a pound in a week. I'm not making this stuff up. 250 calories a day may sound like a lot, but its only a small non fat latte with no whip cream.

I am not suggesting restricting anything. As a former eating disordered person, I know that restriction leads people down dark and dangerous pathways, many times without them even knowing it.
I'm suggesting working the things you love into your daily calorie goals. Its a give and take and you can do it without over eating. I remember there was one night where I was just hankering for a soda. I never have cravings for soda but when it didn't go away for three days, I decided to give in. All I did was take the half and half out of my coffee that morning and skipped the feta cheese on my salad. I got to have what I wanted and I didn't blow my day by tacking on extra calories.

Just to be clear, I do not advocate counting calories for a lifetime. (Who even has TIME for that?) But while you are losing, it is the most effective way (I've found) to get results. (Disclaimer: I am not an expert. I am just a regular old person trying to lose weight safely and effectively.)

Once you are in maintenance, then you can adopt the "it doesn't matter mentality" that the article refers to. That's just my opinion but this is my blog, so deal.
Although I am always interested to hear what y'all think, too. :-)

Surgery is a total bummer, yo

Today is November, which means the holiday season is officially upon us.

I love Christmas music and things that smell like cinnamon and pumpkin and all that good stuff. I love the holiday season.

And for the past few holiday seasons, I have managed to not turn into a total cow through the cunning use of exercising whilst enjoying all the tasty treats of the season.

But, this year, on December 2, I'm having surgery. Which means exercising is going to be out of the picture for at least a week. I know I sound totally psycho, but I seriously cannot go more than 3 days without exercise. Its a mental health thing, really. I'm not "too" worried about that one week of total rest, as I fully intend to spend it in bed completely hopped up on Vicodin. I'll probably feel more like sleeping and chatting about my drug induced dreams instead of eating, if past experience is any indicator. ( I had a similar injury circa 2003).

Its the several weeks after that one week that I'm panicking about. Because I know I'm not going to be able to just hop on the treadmill and take off, good as new. I'm looking at months of physical therapy and I'm TOTALLY bugging out about it.
Especially with all that delicious food/wine/beer/general merriment everywhere!!

Sooooo I'm in the market for some good post-op workout ideas. I am sure that walking will be a large part of it. But if anyone has any other suggestions on how to burn some calories without there being any weird jerking motions that could mess up my good 'ol 'bow (elbow)....please let me know.
Because, by the time that surgery happens, it will be t minus 5 months until my wedding and I really can't afford to buy a bigger dress.

I know it is going to take a lot of energy to stay positive and eat as cleanly as possible post-op. But I am committed not only to that dress fitting, but to not blowing all of my hard work away on a pity party for myself. I will just remind myself that when I'm all better, I'll be able to lift even more than a could before, since my elbow will no longer be as messed up as it is now.

Injuries definitely suck. Surgeries are a total bummer.

For People Who Are Far Busier Than I Am

Now you can subscribe to this blog via RSS feed!

The fancy technology thing will send you new posts in your e-mail so you don't have to keep coming here (and being disappointed at the lack of posting I'm doing).

Just click on the "Subscribe" thingy over on the right.

A shout out to Andrew for helping me with this. I am so far from tech savvy, its just embarrassing.

I Fought the Law

Okay, not the law.

The PPA.

For those of you not from around these parts, that's the Philadelphia Parking Authority. You may have seen them featured on a terrible show called "Parking Wars" on A&E.

They're dicks. There is no other (polite) way to put it. They take absolute pride in issuing tickets to meters that have expired only seconds before. They find insane joy in booting cars (sometimes even in front of the person's own home-ahem). They LOOOOVE to tow cars to the impound lot and then stare blankly at you when you provide 5 types of proof that your car was parked legally.

They are notoriously nasty, cruel, indifferent, miserable human beings. I'm not kidding or exaggerating. Ask anyone who lives in Philly.

So a couple weeks ago, when I had to drive to an appointment in the rain, I brought 3 dollars in quarters with me for an hour appointment (note: in this particular part of the city I was in, 1 hour of parking equals one dollar. But its different everywhere. Another reason the PPA sucks.).

Anywhooo, I park at a meter and put in my first quarter. The meter reads 15 minutes. I put in my second quarter. Nothing. I put in my third quarter. Nothing. I put in my 4th quarter, it gives me 15 more minutes! I put in my 5th quarter. Nothing.
So it goes on like this. I put my ENTIRE 3 dollars of quarters into the damn meter and ended up with a little less than 1 hour (after I had wasted 6 minutes or so fussing with quarters).

So I write a note to the PPA man and leave it on the windshield. It reads " Dear PPA Man, I just put 3 dollars in quarters into this machine and it only gave me an hour of time. Time now 4:15, back in 1 hour.
I then return 1 hour and 4 minutes later and on my windshield, right under the note, is (you guessed it!) a TICKET!
I said every curse word I could think of and got in my car (pissed as all hell) and drove home.

But instead of just paying it like I would have maybe 3 years ago, I called the damn PPA to report a broken meter. The woman on the phone advised me not to pay the ticket. She said they would send someone out to investigate my claim and let me know of their decision in writing.

I was about 98% sure I was effed. Because, really, these people are evil and it would be totally easy (and like them) to just tell me that the meter works fine. But then, about two weeks later, I got this:

THEY AGREED WITH ME! I WON!!
It was pretty much the most exciting day ever.

It can be done, folks. At least the administrative side of the PPA is honest.

But I still HATE the stupid PPA ticket writers. They are total jerks.

Swine Flu, Maybe?

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I think I'm getting sick. It always starts in my throat, with that weird phlemgy, scratchy feeling. And then it moves on to aches, and that god-awful symptom where your skin kind of hurts (does anyone know what I'm talking about?)

Anyhow, I didn't get a flu shot because I never get flu shots (my immune system is a beast!) and this whole Swine Flu pandemic (or whatever it is) doesn't actually concern me that much since I'm not a toddler or pregnant. I'm not worried that I'm getting Swine Flu (even though it has been discovered all over Philly and at some local schools). I'm just super pissed that this cold-potential-flu threatens to ruin my camping trip this weekend!!!!
'Cuse there's nothing that sucks more than shivering through a fever in the wilderness.

I even got new hiking shoes!

So, right now, I am chugging herbal tea and Emergen-C, and munching handfuls of echinacea drops (like cough drops, but better) to ward it off. Tonight, I'm staying in and taking Nyqil...just in case (and also because it makes me have the coolest dreams!)
I'm going to run today but I may skip lifting tomorrow so I don't take any energy or resources away from my immune system.

Please, pleeeeease, PLEASE don't let me be sick on this trip! Ordinarily, I would welcome being a little sick. I never mind having an excuse to curl up on the couch with tea and watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Usually, when I'm getting sick I just ride it out, take some Nyquil, start a bubble bath (ooh I should do that, too!) and call out of work for a day or two.
But I REEEEEALLY want to go camping this weekend! (said while running upstairs for a glass of OJ)

I hope all my attempts to fight this off work! Anything else I should be doing (drinking/eating/sniffing)? Do you fight it when you know you're getting sick, or do you just go with it, put your cell phone on silent, and cozy up with the remote?

Let's Just Pretend

..that I was doing something TOTALLY amazing instead of just plain old not blogging.

It's been a month and a crap load of stuff has been going on, so I'll try to keep this brief and as interesting as possible.

1) I Overtrained
A few weeks ago, my body had a total breakdown. I did some research and determined that I was more than likely over training. I was actually starting to put weight on and my workouts were becoming a lot less effective. Turns out, its not a great idea to do an intense cardio workout before an intense lifting session. That seems obvious, bu for some reason I thought that I was "kicking it up a notch." I wasn't. So I backed off a bit, added in an extra rest day and separated intense cardio days from intense lifting days. I feel much better, my workouts are far more productive (except yesterday, but I was just not feeling it).
I don't know about you guys, but when I get into a workout routine, I get a little obsessed. I bug out if I take more than 2 days in between workouts. Its a problem because I never give myself enough rest. I think I'm really pushing myself if I workout everyday, but it really isn't doing me any favors. There are a bunch of competing theories on rest and how much is appropriate, but everyone in the interwebs agrees that rest (at least 1-2 days) is essential to great workouts. So I'm trying that now and it seems to be working. My performance is improving and I've been able to really stretch out my cardio days and do a solid hour of running or elliptical a couple times a week.

2) We Went to Some Weddings
We have been to a lot of weddings recently. I love weddings! (Going to them, not planning them).
We have had way to much to drink and have consumed far too many calories. But we danced! Oh, how we danced (and fell. And danced some more).







Only one more wedding to attend and then OURS! That means I have only one more chance to try and catch a damned bouquet! Ever!







3) I Have Been Working Like a Crazy Person
This time of the year is SUPER busy for my work. This means I have been running all over the state of Pennsylvania attending various events for my organization. I have probably had way too much coffee and have over done it on the free meals. On top of the craziness of my job, I have to find time to schedule in surgery on my elbow, attend various community events, be a coach for a seminar we have coming up, and find time to see friends (I know you're out there!).

4) Guests, Galore!
We also had some house guests. First, Matt came for a weekend (Hi, Matt! Look! A new post!). We did a power hour, ate pizza and watched movies. Totally unproductive. But fun!
Then Andrew's brother came for an entire week. I will not elaborate on this week other than to say that it was very, very, very long.

5) I Had Some Fun!
*We went to see Allison's show for the Fringe Festival and it was great! Hil. Arious.
*We attended a seminar on "Reimagining Vacant Land" wherein the city of Philadelphia took some pointers from Flint, Michigan. A sad day when Flint, Michigan is doing better than Philly. (No offense, Flint. Actually, props to Flint. They are efficient and effective. At least when it comes to vacant land. I was impressed.)
*We went to a fundraiser for Neighborhood Bike Works, complete with a happy hour!
*I had my first MRI. It was awful. I guess this shouldn't be under the "fun" category...
* We went to open mic light at the comedy club. The first acts were terrible but the later ones were GREAT! And it was free!
* I got a massage. It wasn't great but it made my mind feel better.
* We got an honorable mention in the City Gardens Contest! Not bad for our first year! It also gets us free tickets to the Flower Show! Score!
* I have had had some delicious Oktoberfests, and pumpkin beers, and apples! I LOOOVE fall!

Soooooo, that's what I've been up to. What about you?

On Beauty

By now, pretty much everyone has seen this picture:It is model Lizzie Miller. This picture appeared in the September issue of Glamour, and has since received attention across the globe.
The letters of praise have been piling into Glamour offices, thanking them for finally portraying an image of what a woman actually looks like. The influx of support has prompted the magazine's editor to give serious reconsideration to each of the images that go into the magazine and to pledge that they will continue to celebrate all kinds of beauty. (Don't be surprised if you see more models like this in upcoming months.)

I, personally, am in love with this woman. She is sexy, confident, and happy. And she's only 20!

I suppose that I could turn this into a debate about healthy body image, the media and why skinny sells, but instead, I'd just like to take the opportunity to give a HUGE shout out to a magazine who (maybe) actually understands that while we may be somewhat disturbingly obsessed with thin as a culture, underneath it all, what we really want is to know that we are okay just the way we are: unairbrushed, untouched, and unapologetically ourselves.

Kudos to you, Glamour!