Are your friends making you fat?

Of course the real answer is, “NO” it’s not your friends that make you fat; it’s the decisions you make and execute that lead to the results you realize in your life. However, did you know that your choice of friends may contribute to weight challenges? (Don’t lose sight of the difference between ‘contribute’ and ’cause.’)

If you hang with people who eat at greasy, fast-food, establishments you are obviously more likely to frequent those places, especially when you are in their company. Also, if your friends regularly order things like the mega-burger, jumbo-fries and wash both down with a large milk-shake, it ‘normalizes’ the behavior of making poor nutrition selections and sort of gives you ‘permission’ to do the same.

On the other hand, if you hang with people who generally choose more reasonably sized selections of nutrition-dense foods, and they often leave some of the food uneaten on their plate, you are more likely to behave in a similar fashion.

The lesson here is: Be aware of the behavior patterns of the people with whom you hang. Do their choices support or sabotage you?

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Healthy, Wealthy and Wise (or at least happy)

Where does happiness come from and what does it mean to be wealthy? It seems like the older I get, the more I appreciate the fact that wealth is not just a money thing. Oh sure, it’s easier to feel at peace if you aren’t worried about how you are going to pay the gas bill, or put food on the table. Without a doubt, money is NECESSARY but in and of itself, it’s not SUFFICIENT. In fact, I could cite many a famous person with more financial resources than you or I could imagine spending, and yet they lack happiness.

So what does it mean to be wealthy? I would invite you to expand your thinking about wealth to include wealth in multiple areas of your life–spiritual, financial, relationships, health, purpose etc. In my mind, true wealth comes from a state of well-being. It comes from living your life in such a way that you do not neglect any of the important areas. In essence, it comes from within.

Think about that for a minute. If true wealth and happiness comes from living your life with passion and in reasonable balance, then YOU are in the driver’s seat. Therefore, when you look in the mirror each morning, you are looking at the person most responsible for your personal happiness.

The realization that I’m in control of my life, and I’m responsible for my happiness level caused me to take inventory of my life and ultimately led me to this journey—

What every husband should (almost) never buy his wife for her birthday.

I celebrated my birthday the first part of February and was blessed because both our sons were able to join us for an early birthday celebration. After enjoying breakfast together, my husband presented a box for me to open. Almost immediately, I could sense nervousness and almost ‘back-pedaling’ on behalf of both my boys. They even said things like, “We were surprised that this is what dad bought for you.” Needless to say, my interest was peaked.

Upon opening the box, I knew exactly why my boys were so uneasy about the gift selection, and I kind of smiled a little inside because I knew we had raised them well. They certainly understood that it generally would not be wise to buy your wife a bathroom scale for her birthday, even if it was an electronic scale with bells and whistles. Of course, what they didn’t know was that I told my husband earlier in the year that I’d like to purchase an Omron Full Body Sensing Scale in the near future.

It’s a bit early for me to share a full opinion about this scale, but I can tell you, it uses a hand to foot technology which is supposed to be more accurate than just taking measurements through your feet. It measures 7 fitness indicators including body fat, visceral fat, BMI, skeletal muscle, resting metabolism, body age and body weight. I’m certainly a person drawn to data, and while I may find the data this health monitor provides is overkill, at this point I’m enjoying tracking the numbers.

Whether you use your bathroom scale, the size of your clothes, your overall energy level, or other health indicators, I would suggest you need some way of tracking your progress. After, all if you have no way of measuring progress, how do you know you are moving in the direction you desire?

Thinking precedes Action

I usually turn the local news on every morning as I get ready for work. However, on Tuesday of this week, as I prepared to change the channel, I was struck by the message that Joyce Meyer was sharing in her morning ministry. Essentially, she suggested that before you can change your actions, you have to change your way of thinking and speaking. This obviously resonates with me because I’ve come to appreciate how powerful our unconscious mind is when it comes to manifesting in our physical world what we have ‘told’ it is true.

Taking a moment to listen to her story on her journey to quit smoking reminded me to be gentle with myself. This is a journey not a race. This is the new me. This is my new reality. This is not about reaching a pinnacle point and then being done. This is about living my life with joy and in abundance. It is about enjoying a vibrant, healthy and fulfilled life.

It is about ‘becoming’ the me I want to be.

Value of an Accountability Buddy

If you read my one-month update and the unveiling of my plan post, you no doubt already know that I have an accountability buddy. I will meet with her this evening and we’ll both weigh, which of course is one of my measures of success. I say, ‘one of the measures’ because weight reduction is only one of the ‘dipsticks’ I periodically check as evidence of success. I’m also monitoring my overall energy levels, the way in which my clothes fit, my improved sleep patterns etc. In other words, this change is more about an overall permanent, improved state-of-being, than it is a superficial, physical transformation. Oh sure, a side benefit will be the number on the scale and the ‘me’ in the mirror, but my WHY is much bigger than getting skinny.

If you’ve never had an accountability buddy, I’d highly encourage you to consider adding this element to your plan, regardless of the goal(s) you are working toward. I currently have a business accountability partner that doesn’t even live in this state, and in the past, I had one that didn’t even live in this country. In this case, obviously I live within driving distance of my health and fitness accountability partner.

So what does an accountability buddy do? First of all, as the name implies they lovingly but with a firm touch hold you accountable to the goal you’ve established for yourself. Their job is not to help you hide behind excuses or play the perfect victim to circumstances; rather, they hold a mirror (figuratively speaking) in front of you and call a spade a spade. They help you problem solve solutions for road blocks and challenges you encounter. They share ideas or new information they’ve come across that supports your initiative. Essentially, they keep you on track and help you create the life you most want to live.

In this case, I can tell you that knowing I will be weighing weekly in front of another individual, helps maintain my focus during the week, especially when I find myself at a point of decision. It causes me to remember who I am now, not who I used to be. It causes me to be more reflective about what I REALLY want and not let a fleeting moment keep me from the life I want. It keeps me from making mindless decisions that are rooted in past habits.

The bigger your “why” the harder you try.

Regardless of the goals you establish for yourself, whether they be health, financial, spiritual, relational or some other area in your life, the reason for undertaking the journey has to be compelling enough to keep you on target. Let’s face it. It is relatively easy to feel motivated at the onset of any journey, but when the ‘newness’ wears off, or when you hit the first bump in the road, it is the ‘WHY” that will carry you through. Obviously, then, the ‘why’ has to be big enough and matter deeply to you if it is to carry through the long-term.

So what is your why? Is it long-term or short-term in nature? Is it so important to you that you can not imagine NOT achieving it? Is it so important to you that you are committed to doing WHATEVER it takes to achieve it? I’m not talking about doing only what is easy, or what is convenient. I’m asking if your goal is SO IMPORTANT to you that the ‘fire in the belly’ that won’t let you fail to achieve it.

I want to caution you to avoid the dangers of building your goals around events. Think about it. By design, these tend to have a short-term perspective and remember from a prior post, your subconscious mind goes to work on your behalf. Whatever you tell it, your subconscious mind says, ” Your wish is my command.” Let’s say for example, you decide you want to lose 20 lbs before your class reunion, or before a wedding, or before the next family reunion, or other similar event. Once you lose the desired weight or after the event is over, you are very likely to gain the weight back. Why? Let’s think about what really took place. You told yourself (hence your subconscious mind) that our journey is to lose 20 lbs and attend the event for which this weight loss was important. This of course, implies that the journey is over once the event has passed, and you of course return to the person you know yourself to be.

I would suggest that you will be much better served by ‘rewriting’ the script about who you know yourself to be. Rather than focusing on a specific weight loss goal, you should focus on BEING the person who eats to nourish the body; who builds meals around healthy, low-fat selections; who practices portion control; who regularly exercises and who keeps well hydrated with water. Notice how this journey doesn’t have a beginning and an end. Rather, it promotes a state of being. It requires that you rewrite in your subconscious mind what you know to be true about yourself. Also, note that It is not possible to be the person described above and continue to regularly practice non-supportive, past behaviors such as eating to feed emotions, building a diet around fast-food takeout, living a sedentary, couch potato lifestyle etc.

So what is your WHY? Is it important enough to you to carry you through thick and thin? Is it so compelling that you KNOW you are willing to do whatever it takes to become the person you need to be to create the life you want to live?

Whole Grain Baking Book Review

I stumbled on to the King Arthur Flour Company as the result of finding a wonderful Whole Wheat Hamburger Bun Recipe in the August/September 2009 edition of Mother Earth News. After having exemplary results with their products, I purchased their book on Whole Grain Baking. It is absolutely one of the most comprehensive books I’ve run across on this topic. I’ve tried many of the recipes and they’ve all been wonderful. I’m not exaggerating when I say this resource has recipes for, flaky croissants; airy cakes; moist brownies; scrumptious cookies; not to mention many wonderful breads buns and crackers. All the recipes use whole grains.

This is an absolute MUST HAVE for any baker serious about using whole grains.

Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns and Review of King Arthur’s Whole Grain Bread Improver

These are absolutely the most delicious homemade, whole-wheat hamburger buns I’ve ever tasted. Unlike many whole-wheat recipes, these buns are not heavy, although they have a full rich texture and flavor. I was not familiar with the King Arthur’s Whole Grain Bread Improver until I found this recipe in an issue of Mother Earth News (one of my favorite magazines). Now I rarely bake breads without using it. I’ve found my whole grain breads raise better and it takes very little to make the difference. In fact, you only add 1 tsp per cup of flour in your recipe. I highly recommend it.

WHOLE-WHEAT HAMBURGER BUNS

TO MAKE THE SPONGE –(Best if done the night before.)
1 cup warm milk (If you need to proof your yeast, reduce the milk to 3/4 cup and proof yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.)
4 Tbsp unsalted butter (I used Smart Balance/Butter blend)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
*2 Tbsp potato flour (I substituted instant potato buds)
*1/4 cup King Arthur’s dry milk
*3 tsp King Arthur’s Whole Grain Bread Improver

TO MAKE THE DOUGH
1/4 cup warm water
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt

*These additives are optional, but yield lighter, more flavorful buns. IF you don’t use them, add an extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. I used all three of them.

The night before baking, mix sponge ingredients and allow to rest at room temperature overnight, or for at least 2 hours. Scrape the contents of the bowl to the bottom, and push plastic wrap down over the sponge to keep it from drying out. Cover with a towel and leave out in a draft-free area.

In the morning, mix the yeast into the warm water, and work that mixture into the sponge. Then mix in the remaining dough ingredients. Knead the dough (in a stand mixer or by hand) until it is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes in a mixer). If the dough is unmanageably sticky, add a few more tablespoons of flour. If it’s too dry add a little water.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap first, and then a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm spot for about an hour, until it has doubled in bulk.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 6 pieces. (I divided it into 8 pieces as the buns were too large for my liking when I made this the first time.). roll each piece into a smooth ball and place it in a lightly greased bun pan. (I don’t have a bun pan, so I just shaped them and baked them on a cookies sheet. It worked fine.) Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and a towel, and let the buns rest for about 10 minutes. Then remove the towel only and press down on the tops. Replace the towel and let rise until puffy, about an hour.

Just before baking, remove the plastic wrap.

Pre-heat the over to 375 degrees and bake the buns for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Delicious Fiber Rich Muffins

In the product review for Hodgson Mill MultiGrain Hot Cereal, I mentioned a recipe on the box that sounded good. I tried it and they are better than good. They are DELICIOUS!

FIBER RICH MUFFINS

1 cup Hodgson Mill Multi Grain Hot Cereal
1 cup Unbleached White Flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup carrots, shredded
1 cup apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup milk (can be skim)
2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease muffin cups.

Blend together dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix until blended. Batter will be thick; spoon into muffin cups. Bake 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.