The Elf Blog

Do Entertaining and Dieting Mix?

Last month, I discussed my diet. I still hate it, but I'm having good success so far. But I really wondered if I would still be able to throw parties without destroyng the diet. I love entertaining. It's a part of me. I'd hate having to give it up -- more than I hate limiting my pizza intake.

On Easter, I'm attempting to host brunch without blowing the diet. I modified a few of my go-to recipes and pulled others from the Cooking Light website. I'm doing several salads instead of several desserts. In shopping today, I also took much more care in limiting the quantities of ingredients that I purchased. Hopefully, that will mean that I won't have tons of leftovers that will tempt me to pick. I've also decided that whatever I have left will either go into the freezer, in to work, or into my lunchbox within the first few days of next week.

I'll report back how it goes.

Spring Forward

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday. That means you need to set your clock forward an hour before going to bed Saturday night. Yes, you will lose an hour of sleep (booo), but there will be sunlight left when you get home from work. This means I’ll be able to run outsie more!

Ode to My Diet

On Ash Wednesday, I started a diet. I need to lose about 30 pounds (and, more importantly, keep it off). Overweight elves make the reindeer work harder.

I’ll be honest. I hate everything about being on a diet – everything. But, the last ten days have helped me identify some useful tips that I thought I’d share:

1) Being mindful of your eating is really important. Without mindfulness, it’s all too easy to munch
your way through a box of Girl Scout cookies without even realizing you’ve done it.

2) It’s not as much what we eat as how much we eat --which is what makes dining out such a challenge. The portion sizes are enormous, usually at least twice what you should have. That’s fine when you are at home and can make it two meals, but when you are traveling, if you don’t have access to a fridge and a microwave, you either waste food or order an appetizer or a kid’s meal.

3) If you feel hungry, get yourself a no or low calorie drink like water or a cup of unsweetened tea. Often, that’s enough to quell the hunger.

4) If you have healthy foods you like easily accessible, you are more likely to eat them. You’re
just not going to make a late night trip to the store to get carrot sticks. You’ll eat the ice cream instead – unless you have pre-sliced fresh pineapple!

5) I find that having strong flavors are more satisfying: some chopped gardineria on a sandwich, a cornichon as a snack, a squirt of siracha sauce on a piece of fish. They make me happy without adding
a ton of calories.

6) Measuring matters. Keep the measuring spoons and cups right next to the stove.

What tips would you like to share with me?

Leap Day is Coming!

Next Wednesday is Febraury 29th! Leap Day – the day that comes only once every 4 years! So, since you have an extra day next week, use this weekend to plan how you’ll spend it.

An extra day deserves an extra treat. What will yours be?

As an aside, I have decided to give Weight Watchers a try. If you know any particularly tasty recipes I should try or any helpful strategies, please let me know.

And yes, there will be an Oscar Fashion Roundup on Sunday!

A Long Weekend

For many people, this will be a three-day weekend. So let’s use it well.

When you get home tonight, there’s time for a Friday Tidy so the house will be in good order, no matter what you choose to do. Here are some suggestions:

• Invite some friends over to watch the playoffs on Saturday or Sunday. Refreshments don’t need to be fancy: pizza, salad, chips, veggoes and dip, brownies, and beverages.

• Spend one day cleaning one room thoroughly or running your errands and then just enjoy the other two.

• Build a fire, make some cocoa and cookies and catch up on your reading, letter writing, or movie watching.

• Start a new winter craft project.

• Plan your garden.

• Do the mending or the hand laundry that stacks up.

• Get together with friends.

• Begin gathering documentation to do your taxes.

• Bundle up and get outside for a walk, a run, or some skiing or sledding.

What will the Elf be doing?

Friday Tidy. Grocery shopping, finishing an editing project, writing, and putting the Christmas decorations back in the attic.

Being Prepared

Being prepared just makes your life easier. For example, right now, I REALLY want chocolate. Unfortunately, I failed to prepare and I don’t have any chocolate available in my office. (The work provided hot chocolate isn’t cutting it.) If I woere better prepared, the chocolate covered cherries or the peanut clusters or the truffles I have sitting at home would be on my desk and this crisis would be averted.

Being prepared can also help you develop healthier behaviors. You can keep healthy snacks like fresh fruit and baby carrots (not chocolate) easily accessible. You are more likely to eat them if they are easy to grab. Keeping a pitcher of water with citrus handy in the fridge will likely lead to drinking more water. Having a set of workout clothes ready to go and sitting on your bed makes it easier to get the exercise you know you need. Having to find your sneakers just gives you another excuse to be lazy.

Planning ahead to do what you know you should do makes it more likely that you’ll succeed!

Fall (Over) Eating

Today is Halloween -- the beginning of the fall overeating season.  It starts with the leftover Halloween candy, moves to the Thanksgiving feast, Christmas parties, Christmas cookies, and the Christmas feast.  For some of us, the indulgence continues through New Year's Eve, Super Bowl parties, and Valentine's Day.  Busy-ness makes it too easy to grab fast food or to eat in a mall food court.  And when is there time to exercise?

Now, I won't suggest that anyone attempt losing weight over the next few months, but I do encourage you to try to avoid gaining weight.

Here are my tips (please share yours in the comment section):

• Get the leftover candy out of your house ASAP.  If you have to, dump it all in the last kid's bag.
• Don't waste your calories on things you don't love. Why have another slice of the mediocre Buche de Noel?
• Put extra servings of veggies on your plate.  It will leave less room on the plate and in your tummy for the bad stuff.
• Don't deprive yourself of food you really love.  If you can't have a serving of pumpkin spice latte cheesecake once a year, what's the point?
• Combat mall munchies by eating an apple or some graham crackers before you start shopping.
• Drink as much water as possible. It will fill you up and keep your skin well-hydrated.
• Conversely, watch the calories in the other things you drink.  Eggnog and hot chocolate pack a lot of calories.  So does the mulled wine, champagne, etc. that you'll find at parties.
• Try to work exercise into your day.  Take the steps instead of the elevator.  Park as far as possible from the door at the mall.  Take 15 minutes each morning for crunches, pushups, jumping jacks.
• If weather allows, go for walks on the weekend or in the evening to look at neighbors' decorations.  Or just play in the snow for a while.
• On Thaksgiving, before eating, go for a walk or a jog.  Play touch football or tag.  Just move to make room for the feast.
• In the weeks before Thnksgiving, cook a bit extra occasionally and freeze it.  If all you have to do is reheat something, you are less likely to go the fast food route.

So, what else do you recommend?

Some strategies

Fall Health

I woke up this morning to wonderful brisk weather, a harbinger of the autumn that arrives next week. As much as I love autumn, it is very important to take some precautions and make some plans to stay healthy. Keep using the moisturizer with sunscreen. Cold weather does not prevent sunburn. Time to buy new lip balm. Cold, damp autumn winds can leave you with very chapped lips. Take a good look at your exercise plan. As it gets colder, outdoor activities like running and biking will decrease. Most of us won't make up for that loss with skating and skiing, so we need to modify of our exercise program, using machines or focusing on exercises that can be done in limited space indoors (pushups, squats, crunches, etc.). As it grows colder and starts getting darker earlier, you may have to push yourself to get your workout in. Working against you from the other side is the fact that fall starts the unhealthy eating season. Instead of salads and grilled meats and veggies, there are rich stews and cobblers and caramel-dipped apples. And, of course, then there's leftover Halloween candy, the annual Thanksgiving excess, and the multitude of holiday parties. It's all about balance -- eating one piece of Halloween candy a day, not the bag. Accompanying a reasonable portion of stew with a nice bog salad. Maintaining some exercise program through the winter. While we want to enjoy fall's bounty, it's not like we need to put on fat the winter starvation (which used to be the case). Your local grocery store will have food for sale all winter. Exercising some balance and moderation should be the goal.

Travel and Exercise

As long as we're talking about travel, let's talk about exercising while you travel.  If you travel often, for business or pleasure, you can't afford to break your exercise program every time you go away.  So, you need to plan to exercise when you travel.

If you stay in a major chain hotel, the hotel is likely to have a gym.  Hotel gyms vary widely in quality.  Some have a few old machines -- half of which are broken.  Others have a wide range of top of the line equipment. In most gyms, however, you can at least find a treadmill for running or walking and/or a stationary bike.  That, plus some push-ups, squats, and crunches will make for a good workout.  If the gym has a stability ball and hand weights, you can do a very full workout.

Another option is to run outdoors.  It's a great way to get a sense of a city you may be visiting.  I find that asking at the front desk is a great way to get advice about safe and scenic running routes. Of course, not every neighborhood is safe for running.  And the weather and timing may not be good.

A final option is to develop a basic set of exercises you can do in a hotel room.  Pushups, crunches, squats, mountain climbers, leg lifts, and yoga don't require much space or any special equipment.  You can place a large bath towel on the floor to keep your face away from the carpet.

You just want to have something you can do in 30-45 minutes to keep your body in shape, even when your schedule is odd.

A Very Hot Weekend

In much of the country, most of the weekend will be extremely hot -- almost dangerously so.  That makes it a bad weekend to tackle those outdoor projects. (Though I will be in a 5K race Saturday evening.)

For those of you with more sense than me, this is a good weekend to catch a movie or to visit the local shopping mall -- both well air-conditioned spaces.

If you are shopping, keep your eyes open for things that are bargains at this time of year -- particularly grills, patio furniture, and summer sports equipment.  Stores are cutting prices to ensure that they will not be left with bulky, expensive inventory when the days grow colder.

I hate to say it, but many stores have started their back to school sales.  If you know what you need, shopping now may give you the broadest choice.