Usually, my dental hygienist and I have conversations that sound like a couple of pals getting together in a coffee shop to chat. But yesterday, our conversation sounded more like a poorly scripted television commercial from the 1970s or ’80s.

Usually, we talk about dogs and crafts and fitness, or whatever music’s being piped in to the dental office in the half-hour I’m there, or she tells me about the fall-out when her in-laws gave her 16-year-old a brand new car without consultation, that kind of thing…

Yesterday — wonder of wonders — we actually talked about clean teeth and healthy gums. Dental health, in fact — go figure!

Do you remember those TV ads where the uber-annoying Madge kept sticking her ditzy friend’s hand in a bowl of dishwashing liquid, while disclaiming about its virtues? A fly on the wall (not that there was one, but if there was — and if it could understand English — do flies even have ears?) would have heard something like this:

Me: You probably won’t have much cleaning to do this time.

She [with one dubious eyebrow raised]: Why’s that?

Me: I’ve been trying out an electric toothbrush for the past month, and my teeth seem pretty clean to me…

She: What kind of electric toothbrush are you using? Is it the Oral-B Vitality? We usually keep some of those around here, for sale.

Me: Actually, I’ve been testing two different Oral-B toothbrushes. One’s the Vitality with a ProWhite head. The other one’s that super-dooper Triumph brush that does everything but pour the mouthwash for you…

[Dental hygienist nods knowingly]

Me: …the one with the wireless unit to monitor your brushing time and tells you when to move on to another quadrant, makes a smiley face when you brush your teeth properly?

[Dental hygienist nods knowingly]

Me: It’s got two different brush heads with it — ProWhite and Floss Action — they sound like dorky superheroes, don’t they? And different brushing modes for polishing and sensitive teeth and like that, base station, recharger that works in different countries with different power systems for when you travel, and a travel case, too… The flippin’ toothbrush has a bigger instruction manual than the one that came with my blender!

She: You do have a thing for gadgets, don’t you?

Me: Um, yeah…

She: My husband, too. He would probably be more fussy about brushing if he had one of those… but he just went out and bought himself a new phone, so he’s going to have to wait until Father’s Day to get a Triumph.

Me [mumbling because the dental hygienist has her hands in my mouth, poking about the molars with a pointy metal thing]: Mhmmphh.

She: You know, your teeth really are pretty clean — I really don’t have too much work to do here. Actually, I think we can skip your next appointment, if you’re going to keep using a power toothbrush.

Me: Mmm-hm-hmm-huh!

She: What’s that?

Me: I just saved 75 bucks!

She: Yeah, you can’t go wrong with Oral-B. Did you know that they’re the only ones who have that patented thing where the head of the brush oscillates and pulses, both at the same time? It oscillates and pulses! [I swear, those were her exact words -- told you, our conversation sounded a whole lot like a vintage TV ad!] And the small head on the brush makes it easier to get in there and do a good job on your back teeth, like this spot right here… see?

Me: Mhmm-hee!

She: Rechargeable, right?

Me: Mhmm. Yes, both of them.

She: What do you think about the vibration? Some people find it feels weird.

Me: The Vitality’s just got a nice little hum, kind of nice. But the Triumph has, I don’t know, the vibration is stronger or deeper or something…

She: Too much?

Me: No, not bad… but you wouldn’t want to use it with a wicked hangover.

She: Just a guess, but if someone’s that hungover, their dental hygiene may not be right at the top of their list, right at that moment. Coffee, more likely. Lots of coffee!

Me: At least they’d be able to get the coffee stains off their teeth. You know, later, when they felt up to it…

I’m pretty sure we’ll be back to the normal frivolous non-product-oriented chit-chat, next time I’m hanging with the dental hygienist — but here’s the bit that’s vitally important here, in case you glazed over and missed it:

I just saved $75 — being able to skip my next appointment for a professional cleaning, with the dental hygienist’s blessing — because the power toothbrushes do a better job of cleaning teeth than the old-faithful manual units that I grew up with.

Yes — like you — I laughed myself silly at the super-dooper Triumph when I first read about it — and rolled my eyes at the hefty price tag, too! (The suggested retail price is $179.99 — yikes! — but you can do much better if you shop around: Amazon has about the best prices I’ve seen, around US$107.)

Love gadgets as I do… honestly, I thought it was a case of Oral-B going mad with the microchips and accessories, trying to find a new-and-improved product that no one really needs all that badly. It seems that I may have been a tad hasty in that opinion, however… because it’s really quite something.

On a budget, however, or for those whose very souls revolt at the idea of over-the-top technological wizardry in the bathroom cabinet, the modestly priced and lightweight Oral-B Vitality Pro-White is the winner. It runs about $25 in stores in Canada; I’m not sure if this exact model of Vitality is available in the US yet, but I think you might be able to fake it quite nicely with the Precision Clean model and just sub in the Pro-White replacement heads for that spiffy tooth-polishing effect. For my money, it’s effective, efficient, and not too self-indulgent a personal-care tool for this thrifty gal to face down in the mirror each morning.

In short, Triumph rocks for sheer macho gadgety-goodness, and I’m irresistably attracted to that for some reason; but the low-key Vitality was simply electric love at first brush.

Photo: Perfecto Insecto

So, you never touched a drop of vile alcohol last night — and sure, I believe you! — but still, this morning, somehow, you woke up looking and feeling like something Shrek barfed up?

Let’s review what went wrong, shall we?

Too much sugar!

For many of us, last night we experienced the North American cultural phenomenon known as the Halloween fancy-dress candy binge…

If you’re not reading this on November 1st, maybe you can’t blame Halloween — but do a quick memory check: was there a sugar binge in there somewhere? Maybe your night involved a box of chocolates and a chick flick indulgence. Maybe it was an awesome dessert buffet table that called your name once too often. Maybe it was a box of donuts just sitting there, calling your name, on a side table in a dull meeting.

Whatever.

The point is, too much sugar goes into your system — buzzz!! you’re revving on all four cylinders, fast and productive and jazzed with energy!

And then what? Crash!

See, sometime or other in the middle of a sweet-centered evening — maybe just slightly queasy and with the beginnings of a headache — you’re going to have to stop stuffing your face with candy and go to bed. You go to sleep. And through the night your sky-high blood sugar levels start to naturally drop… and drop…

A sugar high lasts maybe a couple of hours after you start feeding it, so that’s what happens while you’re asleep. If you were awake, healthy li’l you might be able to fend off some of the nasty symptoms by jogging around the block, drinking water, eating crackers or such — but you can’t, because you’re asleep. By the time morning comes, your blood sugar level is at a real low. And frankly, you feel like crap.

What’s your immediate urge? Grab a quick easy sugary snack or a big glass of orange juice and crawl on back to bed to sleep it off.

See, sugar is sneaky. And powerful. Scientists have proven that it only takes 10 days for lab rats to get hopelessly addicted. Physically addicted to sugar! — and the poor little critters are probably psychologically addicted to sugar, too, for all we know, but no one ever asks the rodents how they feel…

But at least they don’t have to worry about zipping up their jeans after a week on the sugar high merry-go-round.

You eat a whack of sweet stuff. Your blood sugar levels skyrocket. You stop eating sweets, and a couple of hours later, you crash. Low blood sugar… you start craving sugar again! This is the point where, if you grab another handful of candy to satisfy that craving, that old blood sugar teeter-totter starts going madly up and down in the binge-and-crash cycle. And meanwhile, you’re grumpy and dopey and headachey and queasy and all the rest of the Seven Sugar-Addicted Dwarves, all the time.

And how do I know all this, you ask?
Experience, sweetheart. Sad, stupid — infinitely stupid — first-hand experience.

So I’m begging you now — put down that mini Hersey bar!
Step away from the Halloween leftovers!
Moderation is key: Your mother was right. Go have a decent bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk, instead. Maybe, when you’re feeling a little better, a nice chicken Caesar salad — with just a small delicious perfect morsel of high-quality chocolate to savour slowly for dessert. Honest, you’ll feel better in the morning. And all your diabetic friends can stop laughing their asses off. And you’ll save a bundle on aspirin and Pepto-Bismal.

As a child, I was a soft-bellied sloth.

In my young-adult prime, a mix of healthy outdoor physical activity, all-night dancing, and obsessive weight-training created a woman who could appear in public in a bathing suit without making people think of beluga caviar.

Over the past few years, however, the sloth has returned.
Not satisfactory.

Because you just know it’s the start of an irrevocable downhill slide into physical decrepitude and stretch polyester from a discount department store.

Sure, a walking program and healthier eating habits have started to turn around the waistline expansion, but there’s still good reason why I flee from certain fashions — and have no upper-body strength to speak of. (Jello arm flaps are looming in the near future, I tell you!)

And that’s why I’m cursing Kristen Healy.

Runner, knitter, spinner, geek, and otherwise quite a perfectly lovely person, KCH refused to let blissful ignorance lie on soft pillows.

Note the runner bit — that implies a modicum of fitness, and a good headstart on this 100 Pushups challenge she’s unaccountably sucked me into.

The only running I ever do, these days, is away from a camera…

But I digress.

Here’s the deal, for anyone else with a masochistic yen for self-improvement who might care to follow along (yes, misery does love company):

To improve your strength, fitness and general health all you need to do is commit about 30 minutes of your time per week, and follow the push ups training program as closely as you can.

It’s a 6-week program, beginning with an initial test –

Once you’ve collapsed in a sweaty heap on the floor and your arms have stopped trembling from the exertion, make a note (mental or otherwise) of how many, or how few, push ups you were able to perform.

Right.
And from there, we go to week 1 and choose the program that matches our starting rank.

Steve Speirs, the sadistic mastermind behind the challenge, claims that it’s possible to reach the 100 push-up mark in that six weeks, even if startng from my own level of astonishing lack of fitness.

Who is this guy, anyway? I’m all tired and wobbly from just looking at the website! But hey, a challenge is a challenge… and even a soft-bellied sloth can rise to a challenge, if you poke it hard enough with the mighty stick of potential public humiliation!

Whee-ha!
So… who’s in?

Originally uploaded by sahua

In times of stress and angst, my mother always prescribed a deep calming breath and a Nice Cup of Tea.

In times of big stress and angst, however, too many of those Nice Cups of Tea can send your over-caffeinated nerves a-jangling and tank your coping skills all the more.

So, how much caffeine is in a cup of regular black tea?

In part, it depends on how strongly your tea is brewed, how many tea bags or spoonfuls of tea laves in relation to how much water, and how long you let it steep before drinking.

(My grandmother used to let tea stew on the back of the stove for half the day, adding another splash of water or handful of tea leaves from time to time so the pot never ran dry. Her tea could bring a strong man to his knees.)

Health Canada’s recommendation is a maximum daily caffeine intake of no more than 300mg, or a little over two 8-oz (237 ml) cups of coffee, for women of childbearing age; and no more than 400mg for other healthy adults. As a general rule of thumb, you can figure that, for each cup of coffee, you could have 2 -3 cups of black tea, or 6-8 cups of green tea as the caffeine equivalent.

Not too bad… and tea in moderation has all kinds of health benefits that you’ve probably heard way too much about already.

But we’re talking about caffeine here, and whether our bodies can handle it when we’r ein crisis mode. We know that too much caffeine can keep you on edge and make you irritable, interrupt your sleep, and make your heart race the same way anxiety does. And now the medical types are telling us that caffeine will mess with your blood sugar levels, too.

Luckily, it’s not the caffeine that makes us turn to tea in a crisis, or when we’re pausing for recovery from a crisis. The comfort factor of the proverbial Nice Cup of Tea comes in large part from the heat of the liquid — iced tea just doesn’t have quite the same effect. Too, it’s the reassuring familiarity of the tea-brewing ritual, and even just cradling that warm mug in your hand.

So I’ve been expanding my supply of caffeine-free herbal teas.

I’ve mentioned Stash and their wonderful Lemon-Ginger tea before, I believe, as my first choice for soothing a sore throat and unstuffing a stuffy nose. But it does a good job of settling a nervous stomach, too. In fact any kind of ginger tea (or licorice, if you’re into that flavour) will calm an upset stomach that’s tied in nervous knots.

Chamomile tea is soothing beyond belief, but it tastes like boiled straw. Or, at least, as I imagine boiled straw would taste — that’s certainly not a beverage I’ve tried! It’s a lot more potable when blended with other herbs, like peppermint. And peppermint’s another herb that is traditionally used to treat insomnia, as well as a host of other complaints. Refreshing and calming, both at the same time!

Besides the symptoms of tension, headaches, upset stomach, nervousness and insomnia, we know that stress can also really take a toll on your immune system. Any little germ that’s going around, the stressed-out person will catch it! Hibiscus flower, rosehip or citrus-based herbal teas rich in vitamin C can help to fight back. Echinacea tea, too, of course — and Celestial Seasonings makes a pretty good Complete Care Wellness Tea that I can recommend trying: an echinacea blend with a lovely hint of mint.

For those small stressful events, by all means have a nice pick-me-up cup of regular black or green tea. They’re both said to be brimming with health-giving antioxidants, after all. But when life throws you a whole big series of major curves, do dial back on the caffeinated teas and give the caffeine-free herbal teas a try.

On top of losing 7 pounds in 10 days — yes!! yes, that happened! — one of the best things about doing my 4-week Healthy Eating Challenge is discovering new cool guilt-free recipes.

Low fat, low calorie, high in all sorts of dandy nutrients and vitamins, and pretty frugal, too… This recipe, discovered in the PC Healthy Living Recipes vault, is definitely going into the regular rotation in our household:

Chicken Thighs in BBQ Sauce

Combine:
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
+
1/2 cup barbecue sauce for chicken and ribs
Put on an oil-sprayed pan.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 400°F, turning once.
Eat.

I’ve been enjoying the BBQ Chicken Thighs with a small baked potato and a hefty side salad, as called for in my 1500-calorie Menu Plan. Now, what could be quicker and easier for a healthy supper?

It’s true. No threats, no bribes, no whips and chains were required — not even any withholding of chocolate chip cookies — to get He Who Hogs The Power Tools to snack on a breakfast cereal with soy protein in it.

(PC Blue Menu Soy Crunch Multi-Grain Cereal, in case you’re wondering. It’s one of the new foods I’ve been trying as part of the Healthy Eating Challenge this past week.)

Honestly, when I started out on this 4-week adventure, I was bracing myself for a certain air of quiet martyrdom from the meat-and-potatoes man who shares my fridge.

Oh, sure, he was saying all the right things:

Really, whatever you want to do, I’ll support you. Yes, dear, this is a good thing. Yes, I suppose we should be getting more healthy foods and watching what we eat… Whatever you want to do, really, no, it’s fine…

But I wasn’t convinced that his heart was in it.

You should have seen us shopping for the motherlode of Healthy Groceries! Toddling around the store, menu plan in hand, I’m loading up with fruits and veggies and are you sure you need that much yogurt? …

Telling you, I’d have paid good money for one of those quick-snap photographers to be on hand to catch the expression on HWHTPT’s face when he saw me pick up the umpteenth healthy fibre-rich low-fat feeling-all-virtuous food product with Soy in its name!

So today, here we are, cruising the sunporch, watching the Sunday afternoon go by and having a cup of tea with my visiting mother.

HWHTPT suddenly clears his throat:
I made a sandwich yesterday with one of those Soy Deli Slices.
It wasn’t bad. Tasted a bit like bologna.

Silence. We turn to stare at him. He won’t meet our eyes.

After a minute he looks up, takes a deep breath, and says:
I’ve had a couple bowls of that Soy Crunch Cereal, too.

Pause.

I kind of liked it. Actually, it would be okay if we got some more of that stuff. It’s a pretty good TV snack… I’m not sure how much is left in the box.

Score one for the humble soy bean — magically transformed into a form of tasty low-fat high-fibre nutrition that even a Cookie Monster man will choose to eat.

Before:
Soft ‘n’ Squishy Not-So-Fit
Virtual Jen

So, I mentioned how keen I am to get on board with the Healthy Eating Challenge, right?

Brace yourself, we’re ready to rock!

And, by the way, nuts to those of you who expected me to post a real-life “before” picture! My Virtual Model here will do the job for now.

Besides, there are more motivations to eat healthy food in sensible amounts than a photo could show.

You know, like feeling all perky and fit and firm; and walking uphill without having to call for a tow-truck; and not having your mother try to slip a bottle of vitamins into your coat pocket whenever you drop in to visit her… all that sort of Quality-Of-Life thing.

Moving on…

I had my first chat with a Loblaw’s dietician this morning, picked up a few good food pointers, and I’m ready to head on over to PC.ca to pick out a menu plan for the next 4 weeks.

Feel free to follow along, by the way. The menu plans (and recipes and healthy eating tips) are available for anyone to use, not just us Loblaw’s groupies.

How many calories do I need in a day?

So, we’re looking at 3 different 4-week menu plans there, for three different calorie-intake levels.

Fortunately, there’s also a little questionnaire form to help you pick the right plan. Enter this info:

• gender,
• age,
• height,
• weight,
• activity level, and
• weight goals.

So far, so good. (And you might as well tell the truth for the first few of those, since no one’s looking. I won’t ask, or tell.)

Activity level?

Yesterday I organized the big basement freezer and mucked out the fridge, in preparation for doing this Challenge — is there a physical activity category for “stupidly exhausting”?

The National Institute of Health gives some helpful examples of moderate physical activity: washing your windows for an hour, say, or walking 2 miles in 30 minutes. (Given that choice, I’ll be going for a walk!)

Okay, now, do I want to gain weight {*snorf*} or lose weight, or maintain?

I know what my waistband is telling me. And that Virtual Mini-Me picture. And — here I go again with the confessions — on the weekend I tried on my dear old black jacket, that faithful old companion of the road adventures of my misspent youth. Ah, memories… But it wouldn’t fasten up!!

Yeah, I think we could use a little trimming down and tightening up on the way to better overall nutrition and health. But let’s get all scientific about this, shall we? and see what story the body mass index (BMI) has to tell.

BMI is a measure of body fat that’s based on height and weight (kg / m²) — but never mind wrestling with the math, just use an online BMI calculator to get the number, then check what range your BMI falls into. Since we’re in such a confessionary mode today, I’ll tell you that my BMI is 25.7 (yes, that’s in the overweight category). See? That’s what a normally semi-fit woman gets from a long hard winter of potato chips and sitting on the couch!

Granted, the BMI index is more of a guideline than a commandment (and sometimes reality makes BMI a joke)… but still, I’d like to kick mine back into the normal range.

Normal is good.
I’ve heard.

1500 Calories, eh?

So I’ll be going for the 1500-calorie Healthy Eating plan. Three meals and three snacks a day? Wow. I’m not even sure I can eat that much…

Looking ahead…

The biggest challenge for me is going to be portion control — that, and doing the breakfast thing.

Yes, yes, we know. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The nice Loblaw’s dietician I talked with on the phone this morning says a lot of people have a struggle to make themselves eat breakfast. That’s because we snarf down a big snack at 10:00 at night — yep, guilty as charged! — so we’re not hungry in the morning.

So, that’s one eating habit I’ve got to change — less late-night snacking, more breakfast.

As for the portion sizes, there are a couple of thing going on here. One is that restaurants have been super-sizing our meals for so long now that we’ve lost all sense of how much food we really need.

Also, as usual, it’s the man’s fault.

Live with a man and you’ll get fat — studies prove it! Naturally, men can eat more than women without porking up, so dining with He Who Hogs The Power Tools has led me into the habit of matching what’s on our plates when dishing out the food. Not so good.

So that’s the second major change — reading the package nutrition labels, and getting out the measuring cups, and generally trying to re-learn what a proper healthy portion is supposed to look like.

Next step:
Play with the drop-down selections to finalize my Healthy Eating Challenge menu plan, print out a shopping list, and try to hook up with the local grocery store’s dietician… Wish me luck? There could be a roasted-veggie lasagna involved, if I play my cards right!

Lately, now that we’re finally starting to peel off mega-layers of winter clothing, unpleasant surprises have come to light. Look away now if you’re squeamish. (Or skip down the page to something far more visually rewarding, if you prefer.)

It’s this pasty-pale end-of-winter body — so long covered up in wool and fibrefill and fleece — so long neglected because, really, who cares when all you want to do is hibernate? Now there’s a hint of spring, of sunshine, of the possibility of weather warm enough to want to wear shorts and little sun dresses and dare-to-dream a bathing suit, perhaps… so I’m suddenly aware of a certain softness at the waistline…. A certain avoir-dupois in the rear end…. A certain alarming lack of firmness about the inner thighs…

What, too much information?

Sorry. I’ve been hanging out with CardioGirl too much lately, and listening to Claudia boast about finding her hip bones when Karen whipped her back to the gym…

Peer Pressure + Vanity = Healthy Eating

Long story short, I’ve signed up for the President’s Choice Healthy Eating Challenge.

This means setting some goals for health and fitness and whatnot, and then dragging my cushy tush into town once a week, to meet with a Loblaw’s dietician and confess my chocolate sins.

The idea is that I’ll follow a 4-week healthy eating plan that’s based on the PC Blue Menu line of products, while Loblaw’s kicks in for groceries and nutrition counselling. Which all works out pretty well because (a) I lack the gene for self-denial and self-control, and (b) I like most of the Blue Menu foods I’ve tried — can we say “Roasted Vegetable Lasagna”?

So, it looks like this will be starting up in the next week or so…

Must confess, I am a bit nervous.

I have a vision of these weekly dietician visits as something like being called into the high school principal’s office — “Just where were you, young lady, when you should have been in your third period Home Economics class?!”

But if you could see what happens at my belt line when I forget to suck in my gut (and just be glad you can’t see that, really), you’d know I’m not just doing this because Loblaw’s is picking up the check.

And no, I’m not just doing this because Galen Weston’s hot, either.

Although he is.

Especially for the 30-something exec of a grocery chain. It’s sort of like that boy-next-door thing that John Denver worked like a gold-plated mule about a century ago — but updated with a sophisticated hint of urban geek chic. Bonus points for having a billionaire daddy, naturally. Points off for turning in his Eligible Bachelor status a couple years back…

But hey, who’s counting? Put the man in a crisp chambrey-blue shirt up there on my TV screen, talking PC Organics with a dimple-cheeked baby –

Yeah, I’m watching the commercials.
And not eating chips.

So now for you, my dears, here’s the oh-gosh charming outtakes reel:

Welcome back to our Food-and-Drink aficionado, Guilherme Zo’C, guest-posting with another fresh perspective on all things edible from his home in Italy — a look at a healthy and delicious cuisine that blends the best of two continents. Enjoy! ~ Jen

The Mediterrasian Way:
The World’s Oldest Health Revolution

I have just finished reading The Mediterrasian Way, a book I was willing to read since before it was published. The book is the brainchild of Ric Watson and Trudy Thelander, a couple from New Zealand who also run a site called Mediterrasian.

I first landed on Mediterrasian.com about two years ago, googling for a recipe of Pesto Genoese (which can be also found in page 278 of the book) and was first impressed by the gourmet approach to food, rather than plainly copied and pasted recipes we usually find when looking for food.

In total amazement, it might have taken me an hour before I realized the main purpose of the site was healthy food rather than gourmet food. In fact, not even that, the site was about healthy living.

Ric and Trudy are supporters that Mediterranean and Asian (thus Mediterrasian) diets are the healthiest in the globe, and also delicious, so it is like they live on a permanent diet — and are loving it.

As an added benefit, the fact that it is plain natural to eat like they do, not only delicious and healthier, but probably even more practical than regular western medical or weight control diets.

The book is beautiful from the very cover and is not just a collection of recipes. The first part explains the Mediterrasian philosophy, backed up with medical facts and history, and an actual plan to follow a Mediterrasian way of life for 14 days. (As someone currently living in Italy, I can say living like this for far more than 14 days is anything but a pain!) The second part is a catalog of delicious recipes showcased with beautiful pictures that, by a historical coincidence, happen to be great for your health.

The approach of the book is brilliant and it is so delightful to read that you actually want to get into the kitchen to put in practice. And the good news is that you should, because this is not a candy book that has to be enjoyed in moderation. This book can be enjoyed in every single meal and, in fact, I would recommend that.

“Welcome to the world’s oldest food revolution,” they say, and so it is. There is little need to look for synthetic ways to become fit and healthy if we start by not choosing to be unhealthy in the first place.

Guilherme is a Web Designer and works freelance in northern Italy. His past work life includes also developing software prototypes for Sony Ericsson mobiles, teaching Photoshop, compiler design and photography. He is happily married to Anna, and in his free time he enjoys cinema, traveling, cooking and eating.

Can the way you shape your family’s Christmas traditions help your kids to avoid those adult diet pitfalls? Our favourite guest foodie, Guilherme Zo’C, thinks so — and he makes a compelling point about the role of food in our holiday memories. ~ Jen

Start a Healthy New Holiday Tradition

How your Christmas celebrations can help your children to succeed with their New Year’s resolutions

Christmas is upon us and at this time of the year we are often full of the fondest memories of childhood, of simpler times, of delicious Christmas feasts, of a time where, for most people there was no concern about the weight. But also these days, in some cultures, it is time to see that another year has passed and maybe it’s time to include, once again, lose weight into the New Year’s resolutions list.

I have seen, time and again, people who are on some kind of weight control make a break during Christmas celebrations because, in theory, it is too hard not to abuse of food on Christmas. Christmas is this time of the year when all should seem magical and effortless but requires us a lot of effort to do it so.

Going through Christmas without food abuse seems a complete betrayal of our childhood memories, and we must sacrifice something to honor them. After all, this kind of memories help us to hang on when difficult times arise along the year and they deserve to be as special as they can.

The taste of food is strongly cultural, you learn to like food as you grow. That is clearly visible when you see how cuisines can be easily classified by geographical criteria, and how the taste of a culture is often linked to products available in the region: naturals as well as industrialized.

The very fact that Christmas food remains the same year after year is proof of that. There is no reason why some food is better on a certain day of the year, other than a cultural one.

Now, what if our fondest Christmas memories were linked to healthy food and healthy habits in healthy amounts? Probably it would be those habits that would help us overcome the difficulties along the year, and maybe we would reach New Year’s Eve without having weight-loss as a challenge for the following year.

Even if it seems impossible to change old habits and seems that is too late for us, the old ones, it is just the perfect time for those who are children today and will have healthier memories in their future. And because food taste is strongly cultural, there is no reason why a healthy Christmas feast can’t be delicious.

Guilherme is a Web Designer and works freelance in northern Italy.

He is happily married to Anna, and in his free time he enjoys cinema, traveling, cooking and eating.

If you have children — or even if you don’t have children, but you sense that something’s not quite right with the self-image and body-image messages the kids are being bombarded with these days — have a look at this powerful short video.

My web developer friend Guilherme (Zo’C) brought this video to our attention, and it’s really heartening to see the enlightened male viewpoint here and in his previous post, Dove Evolution, both about the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

Actually, you can be too thin

Meanwhile, in the news…

The Montreal Gazette just yesterday ran a story with that headline — Actually, you can be too thin — sparked by the organizers of this year’s Montreal Fashion Week who “have scored one small point for sanity in Canada’s fashion industry, by barring girls under 16 and overly skinny models from its catwalks.”

Organizers say knobby knees and protruding ribs and shoulder bones are out, which is sensible enough. The mystery is how they ever got to be in.

The title of the article comes from the famous Wallis Simpson quotation, words that women have (consciously or subconsciously) heard, absorbed, internalized, and abused themselves to live up to since the 1930s.

For the last 20 years or so, however, fashionistas have seemed determined to prove the second part of her aphorism is false. Even Simpson herself, who was seductive enough to coax a king off his throne, might be horrified at some of the wraith-like figures who sashay up and down today’s catwalks.

Does anyone else find it incredibly ironic? — we have girls literally starving themselves to death, trying to live up to a most peculiar ideal. And at the same time, obesity is epidemic! Whatever happened to just trying to be fit and healthy? Whatever happened to “Beauty is just skin deep”?

Thankfully, there are these small hopeful signs of change… and we’ll take what we can get, from whatever source, when the onslaught of advertising is so powerful.

As Guilherme says,

In face of models dying of anorexia and on the other hand, almost every woman that is not a model finding herself ugly, the Dove campaign for real beauty is not only a beautiful and brave advertising campaign, but is also an inspired humane one.

Can you believe this is the final day of the 4 Week Walk for Weight Loss?!

In one way, those 28 days seemed to take forever… but in another way, they just flew by! And I like it that the program ends with a good long steady walk.

It was a wonderful hour on the woodland trails, birdwatching and admiring the colorful autumn leaves and thinking about what’s been accomplished here this month.

Here’s what walking has done for me:

First, it has been empowering!

For whatever reason, I normally find it hard to sustain any daily program for any length of time — so the fact that I was able to follow through on this entire walking program is a real accomplishment for me. It’s good to feel like a winner!

Second, there are the physical benefits.

I’ve dropped more than 10 pounds just by going for a walk 6 days a week. I’ve had to start buckling my favourite belt on one knotch tighter, with more than an inch off my waistline… And there’s just a lot less “jiggling” all around, if you know what I mean!

There’s no doubt that my overall fitness level has improved. I find that I can keep up a physical activity for longer without getting tired or out of breath — whether that activity is raking leaves or walking the dogs or cleaning the house, whatever.

Third, I’ve found that regular exercise is a brilliant stress reduction method, and helps me to “stay on the sunny side” when Life starts throwing up obstacles and frustrations and worries…

As we head into the colder weather and darker days of the year — a time when many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression — it’s good to have a simple, inexpensive, easy-to-do remedy at hand! There’s just something about getting out for a brisk walk that clears the mind and raises the spirits…

Would I do a fitness walking program again?

Yes, absolutely.

I’m not sure that I’d follow this exact same walking program all over again, because I do like variety — part of what kept me going through this was the fun of looking to see what the “walking task” for each day would be — but the daily walking? Oh, yes!