Smoothies on the Go

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / August 12, 2010 9:45 AM

Making Mark Hyman's UltraSimple Detox Diet work for my busy schedule required smart preparation. I would've loved to take the week off to journal and take leisurely walks, nap when my body needed it, visit the sauna every day and take hot baths before bedtime. Dr. Hyman recommends this in chapter 8 of his book, if you follow his enhanced version, but I had a hard enough time clearing my social schedule to avoid happy hours, so I had to save this schedule for another round of detoxing. It sounds dreamy, though, and I'd love to hear from those of you who've committed to the extended program. Although I'm guessing you may be so über-relaxed that you have difficulty operating the keyboard.

As a gal on the go, my favorite trick for transporting my morning detox smoothie came from Experience Life senior associate editor Kaeti Hinck, who read about using Mason jars with your blender for make-and-take mixes. Just follow these simple steps:

1) Add filtered water or milk/soy milk/almond milk and your goodies to a large Mason jar (you can use a small one, but the larger quart size is easier to load). I used brown rice protein powder with my water, fresh or frozen organic mixed berries, flax oil, ground flax seeds (I buy them whole in bulk and use my coffee grinder to break them down to a powder), and ice. *Note: Ground flax seeds absorb water quickly, so if you add them, your shake will get thick -- not always the easiest beverage to drink! Try using less, or save the ground flax seeds for an afternoon or evening shake, when you have more time to sit and drink your smoothie immediately.












2) Unscrew the base and blade from the pitcher, place the blade on the mouth of the Mason jar and screw on the base.



3) Flip over the Mason jar with blade and base affixed and start the blender.

My Life on the Detox Diet

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / August 9, 2010 5:35 PM

During the month of July, I was on Mark Hyman's UltraSimple Detox Diet, which you can find in the July/August issue of Experience Life magazine. Even though this program is only seven days, I say month because there are some crucial steps involved in order to have success. According to Hyman's plan, I needed to:

• Cut back on caffeine, eliminating my still-occasional soda consumption and daily coffee habit
• Remove sugar from my diet, especially my weekly stop at our local bakery for cupcakes which I'd bring to events and BBQs, just so I had an excuse to eat cupcakes
• No more wine or cocktails, which is challenging when several emails in my inbox inquire about get-togethers with the subject line "drinks soon?"
• Dump processed foods I keep in the freezer for convenient dinners after a long workday
• Delete all takeout and delivery phone numbers from my cell phone, and stop referring to the hostess at our Chinese delivery place as my friend Sarah
  

Of course, these are very specific references to Hyman's list of "foods" to eliminate, but you get the point. He notes to cut these out one week prior to the UltraSimple detox in ALL CAPS in his book for a reason: eating poorly for months (years in my case), then dramatically making all these changes at once is the quick path to failure. I've found this to the be case before, and talked about it in my last entry on July 1, before I began the detox diet.

With the right planning and controlled environment, following the detox diet was easy. I cut back and eventually eliminated sugar, alcohol, processed and fast foods, and caffeine (it took me almost two full weeks). By July 11, I was eating clean, organic, non-allergenic and non-inflammatory foods as Hyman outlines in his plan. I brought food with me to work and kept a cooler with snacks in my car when we went to parties. I even Tweeted about my success and challenges @ComingCleanBlog. (Note: I'll still be Tweeting here on a regular basis, post-detox diet. If you're on Twitter, it's a great way to do a quick check-in with each other to stay motivated. See who I'm following, too, for more inspiration and health information.) And eating before events helped a lot: When I found myself at a salad-less party, I could drink water and grab from the veggie tray, but wasn't so hungry that I felt I was missing out.

The biggest challenges, of course, are social gatherings or going out to eat with friends. I confess, I'm still struggling to master these circumstances, and will no doubt examine them again as I continue to learn new strategies. It's really near impossible to eat the UltraSimple detox way if you have an event to attend, unless you bring your own food or only hang out with similarly particular eaters (how frequently can you get a group of people who all want a diet that is dairy-free, gluten-free and sugar-free, not to mention chemical-, antibiotic- and hormone-free?), but you can sometimes get close. I'll be highlighting some of my favorite tips this week, so make sure to check back.

Even though I found post-detox dieting life challenging, I'm still glad I stuck to the program for seven days and followed Hyman's suggestions for transitioning out of detox. After four weeks, I lost 6.5 pounds, plus an inch off my waist and bust -- more than I did after three months following a popular points-counting system. Within a few days on the detox, I felt less "puffy," and noticed that my frequent upset stomach or headaches I previously quelled with food (thinking I was still hungry for the former or low on sugar for the latter) had vanished. My energy undulated throughout the month (my acupuncturist credits all the toxins leaving my system as a reason for my exhaustion), but I became more aware of how I felt and how food affected me. I now scrutinize labels before I buy or eat, and I study menus before I go to restaurants -- something I once did religiously but have been neglecting as of late.

With this thoughtful assessment of food, however, my friends have declared me that girl -- the one who has very specific requests to her order in restaurants, who suggests alternative locations if the menu lacks healthy options; who always asks what's on the menu at parties and if there's anything I can bring, that item always being a salad or veggie and bean dish; who won't accept a prepackaged foodstuff without reading the label first.

But why shouldn't I be that girl? Why shouldn't we all? These eaters are sometimes referred to as fussy or picky, but we are simply discerning. With all of the information available on the food industry, and all that I've learned and read and watched in documentaries, I can't just gobble down a plate of food without wondering about how it was cooked and from where it was sourced. I may get a little obsessed at times, but it works better for me on my path to wellness. (If anything, taking a moment to think about all this stalls the entire eating process, thus making me question my choice of creamy pasta dish or deep-dish pizza or "Buffalo kickers" in the first place). I'm finding it to be one of the easiest first steps in cleaning up my diet: Always choose the highest quality food you can. Real, organic food is delicious and packed with nutrients. Sitting with a plate of organic greens and hormone-free, free-range chicken with olive oil and lemon makes me feel fuller and more satisfied than, say, greasy fried chicken, which I could've easily devoured in the past and still felt hungry. So if I can do only one thing when it comes to eating, I will choose real, wholesome food.

Although I still miss cupcakes, I feel like I can have them occasionally in the future without getting back on the wrong track. For me, the UltraSimple way of eating, for the most part, is sustainable, and when a wedding or birthday party or reunion comes up with an unpredictable menu, I'll feel like I can eat the healthier options but still have a (small) piece of cake if I want it. There are a lot of diets and suggestions for ways to eat out there, but I've gleaned some good tips from Dr. Hyman's plan.

What have you learned from the UltraSimple Detox Diet? Share your triumphs and challenges with me here, or follow me @ComingCleanBlog on Twitter.  

UltraSimple Pre-Detox Prep

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / July 1, 2010 9:47 PM

Detox diets are a relatively trendy concept. Although they've long been used by naturopathic, holistic, and integrative-medicine doctors, detox diets have been distorted by many (my friend continually confuses detoxing with fasting). Within the past few years, celebrities have claimed that detoxing -- usually they mean the Master Cleanse, which is more like fasting while drinking a lemon, cayenne pepper and maple syrup beverage during the course of 10 to 14 days; or they mean colonics or, gulp, coffee enemas -- has made all the difference in their bodies and appearance. Sadly, if this is all you think of when I say the word detox, then of course you'll assume I'm a little extreme.

When I speak of detox (and when it's discussed in the magazine -- see Ann Gittleman's piece in October 2009 and Courtney Helgoe's discussion on detoxing in April 2010), I'm talking about elimination/reintroduction diets, where your daily menus consistent of whole, organic foods that are generally non-allergenic and non-inflammatory. Various supplements can (and should) be taken to make up any missing nutrients, and, over the course of several weeks after the "detox" period, foods are reintroduced. This is the basic formula -- some naturopathic or integrative-medicine doctors also suggest hot baths, steams or saunas, skin brushing, or contrast showers to aid in the elimination of toxins from the body.

Before I started working at Experience Life, I had learned about Gittleman's Fast Track Detox Diet from a former equally health-minded colleague. So I gave it a go in early 2008. I hadn't taken the time to prepare myself, though, so I was still drinking wine a few days a week and three to four cups of coffee a day. Days 1 to 4 were hell: I had horrendous headaches and extremely low energy. But by day 5, I started to feel better. When day 8 came around, which required me to not eat for the entire 16-hour day but instead drink a cranberry-cinnamon tea (which was actually pretty tasty, especially when hot), I wasn't phased by the lack of food. Really, during the other 13 days, I ate pretty well -- and frequently. So when I heard about Hyman's UltraSimple plan, I thought it would be easy. Seven days?! No problem.

Or so I thought. I tried the UltraSimple detox in March and only made it to day 4. But again, even though I was drinking far less wine and coffee, and had cut back on sweets, takeout and fried foods a little since starting at Experience Life in January, this detox was a shock to my system. And after my failure, I went back to eating the same -- from what I recall, I may have even had a jucy lucy that weekend. I ended up feeling much worse.

I knew I had to try it again. After the Gittleman detox, I felt so great; with Hyman's plan, I knew I could achieve similar results -- or better. And I wanted a clean slate for my digestive tract (clean up my life, why not my GI tract, too?). But I knew I needed to be better prepared. Any success (however short-lived) I've had on diets, preparation has always been key.

So I began cutting out all the foods I depend on too frequently: lovely dairy (how tragic to take cheese from a Midwestern girl!), sweet treats and dark-and-rich black gold, er, coffee. Coffee was the hardest to kick, mostly because I count on my morning pick-me-up. A coworker mentioned overcoming a severe coffee addiction with the homeopathic remedy coffea cruda (chamomilla may also be suggested by your homeopath for habitual coffee drinkers), and although my symptoms aren't as severe this time as the Great Winter Detox of 2008, I may have to find out more if I find myself hooked again.

Now, if you find yourself too attached to these treats, like me, you may have to use a full two weeks to eliminate them from your diet. (Especially if you, like me, have trouble getting away from the mindset of "the last meal" and use yours to include Chinese takeout, polishing off that bottle of wine, or a cupcake splurge with your pregnant friend in her kitchen before the husbands discover us...does specificity always equal truth?) I've been careful to retrain my thinking -- this is for my health, I'll feel better by improving my diet, I can eat those foods again in moderation, etc. -- so that, while the UltraSimple detox is temporary, the change in diet that it's creating is not. I'm seeing it as the beginning of better eating.

Week 8: Breathe In, Breathe Out

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / June 24, 2010 7:15 PM

When I was 13, I had a huge crush on Keanu Reeves. I had seen the movie Speed that summer, and I imagined I was Sandra Bullock, driving the bus to save those passengers while I fell in love with that dreamy cop. I cut out photos of Keanu and pasted them to my notebooks, and drew hearts around his face. Then, I began watching every movie Keanu has ever been in -- the good, the bad and the horrible, the Bill & Ted movies included -- stumbling across a low-grossing little gem that came out in 1993 called Little Buddha.

Most may not recall this under-the-radar flick, so I've included a clip for your viewing pleasure. This scene in particular intrigued me, and so fascinated me that I began a lifelong interest in expanding my spirituality. The concept of reaching enlightenment through meditation -- in that I could sit still and block all distractions and gain a better understanding of myself and this world -- has always seemed like an awesome achievement. I spent my youth routinely returning to the principles of Buddhism, and peppered my education with philosophy and religious studies classes to deepen my knowledge. (And to think my curiosity all began with an infatuation with Keanu Reeves.)

  

When week 8 of the Take Action Challenge asked us to simply breathe, I thought about my desire to practice meditation on regular basis. It's funny: As easy and obvious as this challenged appeared, it really surprised me how much I neglect to sit quietly and focus on breathing every day. I think everyone assumes they do this, but consider how often you rest, just rest, without it intended to serve another purpose -- reading a book, sleeping or watching TV, for example. I think it stems from the same reason some of us can't go to the movies alone, or sit and have lunch without reading a magazine. We seem to place value on busyness (or simply looking occupied), and because we are social creatures, when we are busy together, all the better. I'm not saying I'm a shut in or that I don't adore my friendships, but the moments when I'm alone and the house is quiet are really special. If my city block is also near silence -- my neighbor isn't playing the drums, the kids aren't yelling down the street, my dog, Chloe, has stopped barking and no one is mowing the lawn -- it's like I've struck gold. It's the perfect time to meditate -- and to simply breathe.

On Practice
The Life Time Fitness in Highland Park has been offering meditation classes twice a week with Eddie. This week I went and found this form of "exercise" to suit me well. The hour-long class starts with deep silent breathing, then moves on to audible breathing (saying "om" aloud) and lastly, Eddie walks the students through visualization, incorporating all the practices save the vocalization. I found myself so relaxed that I dozed off -- not drooling and snoring sleep, but where my stillness gave way to looseness that surrendered to sleep. Eddie had us create a picture in our minds of where we at peace, and I imagined a pasture near a creek, similar to the one Kyle and I recently visited on a fly-fishing trip in Lanesboro, Minnesota (below). Anytime I feel stressed, I picture this scene and slow my breathing in and out until that lurking deadline or aggravating phone call fades in severity -- to be completed, yes, but not to ruin my day.

The End of the Take Action Challenge
I hope, like me, you found easy ways to make big changes in your day -- and, in turn, your life -- through the Take Action Challenge. When I started this in May, I figured I would be encouraged to run laps or cut out all sweets and do yoga twice a week. (In time, I may run a few laps and cut out some sweets and do yoga once a week.) But what I appreciate about Experience Life and the philosophy of the staff is that small changes do add up. If you are coming from a place like me, where working out is rare and eating processed foods are commonplace, even taking a daily walk seems like work (when will I find the time?!). Although I've been more active and munched on more veggies in my past, returning to it or starting fresh can be equally paralyzing. But the little changes add up -- and make a difference that is sustainable for a lifetime. And soon nothing feels like a chore (or a challenge), but is instead how you live -- a happy, healthy life. Doesn't that sound nice?    

Week 7: Foods on the Color Wheel

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / June 18, 2010 1:00 PM

I'm finding the easiest way to eat more colorful fruits and vegetables for this week's Take Action Challenge is with a crunchy salad, which I love in the summer. (In the winter, I prefer warmth, so I sauté greens and tomatoes and zucchini in 1 tablespoon olive oil and crushed fresh garlic, then add some sea salt and a squeeze of lemon. If I'm really hungry or if I make this for dinner, I add that to whole-wheat pasta or barley or quinoa, but it's good enough on its own.)

I happen to work across the street from Lund's grocery store, and I frequent it for soups, a great deli, snacks, and a large, diverse salad bar. Here was today's delicious combo:

Spinach
Broccoli
Cherry tomatoes
Beets
Mushrooms
Carrots
Green onions
Dried cranberries
Slivered almonds
Rotisserie chicken

Dressing: Balsamic vinaigrette

Week 6: Somewhere in That Stack of Papers...

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / June 10, 2010 10:15 AM

I wouldn't consider myself a pack rat, but I definitely have a problem. You don't always see it all because I have it cleverly hidden in places I've long forgotten. My parents noticed it during college when I lived in an apartment in Uptown Minneapolis: I collect paper. Newspapers, junk mail, old magazines, receipts. I still have textbooks from college, essays and notebooks from my favorite seminars -- my collection of financial paperwork dates back to my teens. The other day, I was cleaning in my closet (a multi-day project for our Take Action Challenge decluttering week), and I found a drawing from grade school that was addressed to my grandparents. I'm guessing they kept it and returned it to me in case I, say, scrapbook (I've tried and stalled too many times, but intend to do this glorious expression of creativity when I retire), but still, why I thought to keep it is beyond me.

Even though I keep a bounteous collection of paperwork fit for the Museum of Historical Moments in Courtney Lewis Opdahl's Life, I still know where most things are. Generally speaking, anything in the land of misfit records is meant for the filing cabinet, but that's becoming too full as well. Anything that needs action remains near the front door or in my work bag, so that I'm constantly reminded to respond. (Almost all of our bills are done online now, so the digital world has greatly helped decrease my clutter collection.)

But this brings up a good question: What does one keep and what does one toss when it comes to paperwork?

For financial records, I found this interesting article in Kiplinger's. A few takeaways:
     • Keep you tax returns for life, but only the supporting documents are needed for three years (the time the IRS is allowed to audit)
     • Save all records pertaining to your home as long as you live there or own it
     • Shred or toss your pay stubs after you get your W-2
     • Shred or toss any monthly bills, unless you keep them for tax purposes (which then, I'm assuming, you can discard after you file your taxes, or to be safe, after that three-year mark for possible audits)

In my closet, well, that's a whole other story. There are multiple sizes of clothes, shoes that don't fit or are uncomfortable, accessories I no longer wear, a Winnie the Poo blanket I used as a baby and that I'm saving for my future child, and a black feather boa -- you know, just in case. I have these twisty hot rollers I bought for my hair after seeing an infomercial, an electric foot bath, and a package of brand-new white athletic socks for when I become a runner. When I saw my basenji, Ladybird, staring back at me from a pile of old pillows and blankets, I became worried. I almost lost my dog in this mess?! She may be comfortable, but I'm not. Cleaning out this closet is a HUGE undertaking, and one that will definitely take me more than a week, but little by little, I'll get there.

Speaking of clutter, my diet could use an overhaul as well. You should have (or soon have) your July/August 2010 issue at home or can read it online at experiencelifemag.com. I'm committing to the UltraSimple Slimdown by Mark Hyman, MD, after the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Dr. Hyman recommends starting on a Sunday, but I'm going to start Monday the 5th. I attempted the UltraSimple Detox Diet in February and only made it to Day 4, but I have a better plan of action this time, namely to start cutting back on sweets, caffeine and alcohol at least a week in advance, if not two. Here's your heads up for those of you interested in trying it with me. Find tips for eliminating sweets and more, plus the entire detox here. I'll be discussing my progress and hurdles on my blog all week from July 5 to July 11.

Week 5: Meal Planning

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / June 3, 2010 9:00 AM

One of my favorite discoveries in the past few years was Google calendar. I came to it a bit late (as I do with most technology), but I quickly embraced it. I love planning and calendars and organizing my life into blocks of time. I'm very detailed, breaking down when I will work out, when I will get ready for the day, even when I will eat. I tend to be so scrupulous in my planning that I even give myself reminders in my notes for just how to carry out those tasks. Extraneous, yes, but for me, so satisfying.

I previously used Franklin Covey planners, noting all my tasks and to-dos and daily appointments on paper. While I'm still a fan of Stephen Covey's system, I found I was becoming discouraged when I had to erase a chore because I ran out of time. I switched to pen, but found I was making a mess of my calendar by crossing off items I couldn't complete -- was I not getting anything done? Or more accurately, was I not getting anything I truly cared about done? Of course, at the time I was asking myself these larger questions, I was too swamped with work to make a change, so I switched to Google calendars where now, if I don't get something done, I simply delete it. Less guilt up front, perhaps, but overall, I still don't accomplish everything that I value.

This came to mind for week 5, when we were packing healthy meals, because I found I needed to add a block of time to my Sunday nights: planning my week's meals. More specifically, planning and preparing the ingredients I would need for the week, and packing meals and snacks in Tupperware so I could add it to my bag and go. Any "diet," no matter how off base, suggests a set plan for meals, because this is the way to success. Based on my experience with dieting, I agree with this finding completely.

My Weight-Gain Story, Part I
After my high-school graduation, I was looking forward to my first year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I was young and in love with a boy that went there, so, not knowing where else I wanted to attend school or even what I wanted to do other than write, I had applied and been accepted to Michigan the previous year. The spring before I graduated, I winnowed "write for a living" to journalism, which seemed like a good fit -- I could make a little money while doing something that I enjoyed, and could move with my work, wherever in the world it took me. Once I discovered that Michigan didn't have a formal journalism school, I started to reconsider my options (and my relationship -- was I going there for him or me?). When I learned I could still attend my safety school, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, which has an acclaimed school of journalism, I made the choice to stay close to home. It took me a few years to realize the U was the best school for me (far from a "safety school," what was my back-up application encouraged me to grow in ways I couldn't have imagined), but at the time I made that life-altering choice, I was devastated. My college plan shifted in a matter of weeks -- I had made a major decision and I was terrified, and I was going through a break-up. I needed comfort, and I found it in food. I quickly gained 40 pounds that summer and fall.

Lady with a Plan
Now, there were a lot of lessons I learned about that first big weight gain that I'll share later, but the most enlightening, which pertains to this week's Take Action Challenge, is: When I don't have a plan for food, all hell breaks loose. I eat anything and everything in my path like Cookie Monster, usually because I haven't eaten at regular intervals so when I do, I'm ravenous. I'll go to the drive-thru at fast-food joints -- it appears to my food-consumed mind as a beacon of light in the distance to which my car inevitable steers off course. Or I'll go to the grocery store, where I head to the deli or frozen-food section, seeking anything warm and creamy and cheesy and ready in an instance, with little prep work required. When I go into my kitchen to prepare a meal, I stare blindly into the fridge while Kyle searches the pantry only to conclude that we don't have any food. We have all of the ingredients, mind you, but it hardly seems like food yet -- the effort to make it into something tasty seems too exhausting. I give up easily. And in the end, delivery or takeout wins.

BUT, when I did loose weight successfully the first time, I was packing all my meals the night before. I was in my last year at the U, but I toted an extra-large refrigerated lunch bag with an ice pack and lunch, snacks -- even dinner sometimes -- with me all over campus. I ate smaller meals of lean proteins, vegetables, and fruits every two to three hours (I was missing two important food groups, healthy fats and complex carbs, but it was a flawed diet, hence why I gained the weight back and then some). With all that baggage and walking (I also started a light circuit-training program with resistance bands), I lost the 40 pounds in about 4 1/2 months.

Like I said, that's a little unrealistic -- and unhealthy -- for most people, and my metabolism is much different now than it was when I was 22, but packing those meals on the go was key to my success. It allowed me to control what I was eating and, unlike my Google calendar, I won't "delete" a meal -- I love food too much to waste it.

When I didn't pack snacks this week, I would stop at the grocery store and seek out vegetable-broth-based soups, fruits such as bananas or organic apples, unsalted nuts, or sugar snap peas. In a pinch, I found hard-boiled eggs at the gas station (yummy with a little sea salt and pepper or sriracha). If I did stop at the grocery near my work for snacks, I'd grab several to store in our work refrigerator to eat all week.

While it may seem like one more thing on my to-do list, I'm finding it's the most important task I have. If I can plan and pack my meals for the week, I have a better chance of eating healthy meals and keeping the Cookie Monster within at bay.

Disclosure: I've fallen a bit behind with my updates, so those of you on my email list will be getting a surge of updates all at once. They are posted to the corresponding Take Action Challenge week to make sense to future readers.  

Week 4: Me & My TV

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / May 31, 2010 7:00 PM

I didn't have any preview to our Take Action Challenge prior to the calendar that was sent in Week 1, but it almost feels like its creators knew what I struggled with most so that I would be forced to raise my sword to my lazy ways and shout en garde. Although I've made progress, there hasn't been a clear winner in this duel -- more of a draw à la The Princess Bride. I'm just hoping I'm the Man in Black and not Inigo Montoya in that battle royale so I can move on to the Thieves' Forest where the Fire Swamp -- for me, television -- awaits me and sucks me in.

By my movie reference, you can assume that I know a lot of film trivia. I love movies. And I love TV. Lots of TV. So much so that I frequently begin conversations with, "Have you ever seen that show...?" to give relevance to my story for the listener. I don't assume they can compare it to something similar they've experienced in actuality, but if they've seen the show, then of course they can understand. My friend, David, who doesn't watch much TV, and who has told me this on different occasions, receives the same line regardless, only because it completely eludes me that he doesn't watch TV.

Now, mind you, I have a close relationship with my TV. Before I ever fell in love with a man, I fell in love with TV. I have fond memories of watching Mister Rogers' Neighborhood or Bob Ross paint "happy little trees" in the morning. We didn't have cable for a long period of time growing up, so when a movie was on one of the broadcast channels, it was a real treat. It was my grandfather, who would read to us and tell great stories at the dinner table, always with such gusto, that inspired my love of storytelling (hence my chosen career). So seeing a dramatic sequence come to life right in my own living room seemed like the stuff of dreams -- a modern marvel, which could easily entertain me at any time of day or night.

 

The Challenge of the Challenge: Weeks 3 & 4

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / May 25, 2010 12:01 PM

For most of my life, I've danced along a duality. I'm biracial -- my father is black and my mother is white. I'm an editor and a writer, and have always been unsure of which mind rules me. I love cats and dogs equally (except when Ladybird gets into the garbage). In high school, I was in the band (I played the flute), then the next year I signed up for the volleyball team and hung out with the preppy "jocks," only to see my grades fall the next year when I associated with the wrong crowd (I rectified it senior year by studying hard and joining the Pep Fest committee). Yes, that's common with teens in high school, but it illustrates my point: I shun definitions and labels, and don't choose to declare myself as one thing or the other. It seems too limiting.

I will, however, resound a classification when it comes to seemingly immovable aspects of my life. If it's been too hard to change, I give in -- I throw up my hands and say, oh well, I guess I'm always going to be the one who is tardy. I'll always be the one that is a little bit messy. I'm not going to be the stylish one or the thin one or the artsy one or the one that sings well. Accessorizing is too complicated, working out and eating right all the time is too hard, crafts take too much time to make and singing along with Rock Band doesn't help me get onstage.

So with last week's Take Action Challenge, to start and end our days well, I felt defeated even before I began. Why? Because I am not a morning person. I can definitively claim that. Anyone who has ever lived with me can agree, and my husband in particular knows to keep his distance in the morning. He, on the other hand, rises chirping and singing and practically skipping into the day, which amuses me until it infuriates me because I don't feel the same. Give me an hour and I'll be in a better mood. Maybe two hours if it's raining.

Yes, I enjoy life and am generally positive and look forward to what the day entails, but my first thought upon waking is that I enjoy sleep more. I've always savored a good long night's rest -- always eight hours or more -- and don't find that I "ease into" my day because I'd rather continue sleeping. I must set an alarm clock, even on weekends, because when I don't, I've easily clocked the hours of a small child.

I knew I'd struggle with the mornings, as I inevitably did, because I sighed and admitted that it's just not me. I didn't allow myself to realize that I'm capable of change, that if I want to become something that I'm not -- in this case, a morning person, or at least someone who is tolerable in the morning -- I need to believe that I can and will do so. And I need to acknowledge each step toward change to stay positive and continue moving forward.

With that in mind, I looked to my evenings instead. I tend to favor leisure-bordering-on-slothdom after work, either by watching hours of television or paging through magazines. But I do do a few chores, organize my files and thoughts, and begin to "shut down" an hour before bed, a weekday cue I take from my mom, who for years has had the ritual of switching to "comfy clothes" when it gets dark. I felt good about that, but have found that the duration of my nighttime ritual has shrank dramatically in the past few months -- or worse, gets postponed so that my bedtime gets later and later. I squeeze a lot into my evenings, and generally find myself back to work until the wee hours. Or I'll start a chore that is too large to finish, and end up cleaning until I can barely keep my eyes open.

The good news, though, is that I'm watching less TV.

Looking ahead on the calendar to Week 4 of the Take Action Challenge, I assumed I would have to cut back on the hours I spend staring at the boob tube -- a term that definitely applies based on the outrageous and ridiculous shows I often watch, usually to appease the voyeur in me and to completely escape a stressful day by gaining distance from that which is normal or sane. Do I really have to give up The Real Housewives of New York City? How can I possibly NOT find out who Ali picks on The Bachelorette? Who's going to be The Biggest Loser? And Heidi just got all that plastic surgery -- if she and Spencer get divorced, how's she going to pay for all that?!

Yikes. Maybe I do need to stop watching so much TV. Or at least watch more educational programming to balance the guilty pleasures.

Luckily, this week is all about transforming your TV habits (vs. giving it up altogether). The main objective was to avoid snacking with activity during commercial breaks. I usually don't snack when I watch TV (if I have, say, chips and salsa, I portion it out in small bowls) and on occasion, when I know I'm hungry but want to watch TV, I'll grab an orange, the slow process of peeling delaying how fast I consume it.

But activity during TV? It's a little contradictory -- the whole point of watching TV is so that I don't have to do anything -- but it does seem like wasted time, well, at least for how much (and what shows, in particular) I watch. Activity seems like the perfect way to combat that overindulgence! I own a yoga mat, weights (both 5 and 10 pounds), a kettlebell, a stability ball, even an ab roller and mini stepper. We also recently purchased a used elliptical machine and, although I don't use it as much as I'd like, I have been on it when I'm watching TV. I enjoy listening to music, so that I feel like I'm "dancing to the beat" as I slide my legs and swing my arms back and forth (kind of like the running man), but prefer to stare at the TV in closed caption to pass the time. (I'd really like to read, but find the print in books too small to focus on when I'm active. One of my coworkers uses an eReader so she can increase the text size for the purpose of reading on the cardio machines. Good tip.)

So how well do I do with being active during the commercial breaks? Do I skip all snacks and drink my water? Check back later for my report.  

Take Action Challenge: Week 2

By Courtney Lewis Opdahl / May 15, 2010 12:20 PM

This was a particularly good week for me as far as the Take Action Challenge goes. When it comes to hydration, I'm an A student. I drink at least 6 cups of water a day, plus 2 cups of tea. I would go so far as to say that I love water. Water with lemon or lime, yes. Sparkling water plain or with berries, delicious. Water with mint or cucumber, yum. But what I crave the most when it comes to water is ice. I'm not sure what it is about ice (I don't chew the ice), but that extra bit of frosty coldness makes it oh so much better.

Of course, those of you following the Take Action Challenge know that it was instructed to not use ice in your water. It's thought that people drink less water when it's iced because it's too cold -- our reaction to the frigidity is to retract as our bodies are warm. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Yin likes the cold -- if you have an imbalance of energies, avoiding cold water would help Yang, which is hot, regain harmony. Ayurvedic medicine suggests drinking beverages at room temperature because ice water interferes with digestion. Some references even state that ice water impedes digestion, because the body needs to expend energy to warm it first. That conclusion leads me to understand that drinking ice water would burn more calories during digestion than drinking lukewarm water, but the number is insignificant. Looks like I can skip my plan to burn off that cupcake with several glasses of ice water.

While all this makes sense, I think I'm okay with limiting my ice water intake if I find that it interferes with drinkability. And, of course, to make my Yang happy.

Takeaway Tips From This Week

• Thanks to Mary who commented on my last blog with a helpful idea: When setting your alarm for activity breaks (I've dubbed them "Move it!" on my cell phone), also drink a big glass of water. Mary then hits snooze on her alarm so it reminds her to drink water throughout the day.
• My friend Jenny drinks a glass of water first thing, then keeps her Klean Kanteen at her desk and drinks it during her workday. That way, when she's immersed in a big project, she doesn't have the excuse that she forgot to get water -- it's right there, ready for her to drink.
• I'm treating ice water as a treat after my activity breaks (as I struggled with stairs last week, I've switched to a brisk walk around the block -- the spring flowers and birds chirping make my stroll even more invigorating). I've also tried to sub black tea for my morning coffee so that I cut back my daily caffeine consumption.
• For those who don't like plain water, fill a pitcher with one sliced whole lemon, one sliced medium cucumber, mint leaves and fresh ginger. Let sit overnight (I like mine in the refrigerator, but that's my cold addiction talking). The next morning, strain into a large travel container and take your flavored water with you to drink all day.