Finding a good athletic bra that addresses all the mini and major miracles bras are called upon to do can be tricky. I, having bosoms of the bustier variety, need to consider support, support and more support. I can tell you first hand that bras with good support usually mean too many wires, pulleys and hooks — none of which are fun to wear when you’re trying to stay fit and healthy on vacation this summer.

Today I’m asking all of you out there to pull out your underwear drawers and let us see what you’ve got hiding in there. Good bras you’d like to recommend? Or bras you’d only let your cat see you in. Maybe we can help.

Here are some of the athletic bras that I’ve worn and loved, or bras I’ve heard great things about.

My current fav:  Wacoal Sports Underwire Bra 855170. Comfortable, extremely well made (as most Wacoal bras are) and very supportive. The price tag may be a bit steep but some things are just worth it. Bonus: can be worn to work out or to work. Sizes up to 40H. Love.

The Natori Sports Bra 7234439 is tried and true — ever sturdy, yet comfortable. A great bra in 100% cotton, so very absorbent with lots of support under the breast. Good for women who go at it a little bit harder. Sizes up to 42DDD.

Enell  NL100, the famous Oprah bra. Spendy, but secure, and maybe a few too many hooks for my taste, but this Enell gear gets very high marks from its faithful. I don’t think the gals will notice the bounce in your step in this bra. Enell now offers a LITE version, too. Sizes up to 50DDD.

The Champion 360 Degree Max Support Sports Bra 1612 is a popular bra sold here in the fitness department at Green Mountain at Fox Run. Sizes up to 42DD.

Once you’ve decided on one of these bras by trying them on in the department store, you might consider purchasing them on a site that offers lots of sales and discounts, such as Her Room, Bare Necessities or Amazon.

So, what’s in your drawer?

The post Fitness Friday: Feeling Booby-Trapped? appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

One way to keep these leaner meats moist is to incorporate high-moisture ingredients like minced vegetables. We add a variety of vegetables to our Green Mountain Turkey Burger (Note: hidden veggies are a great way to increase your vegetable intake). Feel free to experiment with this recipe below by adding other vegetables such as sautéed mushrooms, grated zucchini, or any others you can think of.  Enjoy!

Green Mountain Turkey Burger

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 1/4 cup minced onions
• 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon tabasco sauce, optional
• 1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon  minced fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon  minced fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried mustard
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 egg, whisked

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and portion into 4 equal patties.

On hot grill, cook  until internal temperature is 165 degrees and serve immediately.

I like burgers served open-faced topped with grilled vegetables. What is your favorite way to dress up a burger?

The post Turkey Burger – Fire Up That Grill appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

“Most people who have extra pounds attack their body fat as if it was some foreign and hostile invader. We honestly believe that this excess weight is “not me.” So, we do our best get rid of this unwanted yuk that seems to be ruining our ability to have a good time.”

The more we badger, blame and berate ourselves for weight gain and then focus on ways to lose weight, the more vulnerable we are to further weight gain because we haven’t looked at what the weight gain is trying to tell us.    

Marc David suggests that…

“Trying to get rid of weight by ‘losing it’ is like trying to get rid of paying a bill by ripping it up and throwing it out. It seems like such a great idea. Just get rid of the bill. The problem is, though, when you throw out the bill, another one comes in the mail, and this time with a late fee. Throw that one away and the consequences grow steeper.”

We blame ourselves for making our bodies the way we don’t want them to be. Often, the blame coats us in the blackness of shame where nothing else exists other than” I am bad” and “My body is bad” and “I did this to myself.”

What if the question is “How has this weight helped me?” rather than “How can I get rid of this weight and the faster the better?”

Weight can help us protect our sexual selves by helping  us to stay under the radar as women. Food can be a way of finally giving something to ourselves when we expend a ton of energy giving to others. Weight can be a way of making ourselves invisible so that we won’t be noticed. Weight can help us stay connected with our mothers and help us feel safe.

Is there a way that weight helps you?

The post If You Want to Lose Weight, Listen to It appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

This isn’t a vote for or against Christie, or weight loss surgery for that matter. Not the point of this post. I try as hard as I can to stay away from political arguments anywhere and especially on a blog. Because the decision to have weight loss surgery is such a big and personal one, we don’t discuss that on this blog either. We are glad to have in-depth discussions about it individually, however.

But when someone has made the decision to have it, or has already done it, we’re going to do our best to support their success. For Chris Christie — it’s no different.

So here’s our letter to Mr. Christie to help support him post bypass surgery.

Dear Governor Christie:

As you have shared publicly already, your struggle with weight has been a long one. We empathize.  It is hard to be a large person in today’s world, even for someone who is seemingly so strong that you can start and withstand political storms. That is no small feat. I can’t even imagine surviving in that world.

In our experience, here are three important strategies for surviving weight storms, with or without bypass surgery. To accomplish them successfully, they pretty much need you to not be focused on your weight. That is certainly hard when everyone else is. These strategies, however, can help you place your focus where it will really help you.

1. Start with mindfulness. Mindfulness is about being present in the moment, and being in charge of what you choose to focus on. You may not be up to speed on the research that shows you can be larger and still be healthy. Getting up to speed on that can help you keep your focus where it will help you. Pick up a copy of Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight.  As an aside, we could use a public figure like you to help spread the word about health, not weight.

Another important point about mindfulness has to do with eating. Mindful eating (aka intuitive eating) helps lead people to their natural, healthy weights; for many, this means weight loss. It’s key to stopping the yo-yo cycle of weight loss and gain.  And it’s key to supporting your success with gastric surgery. I hope your treatment team promotes mindful eating. If it doesn’t, give me a call.  I’ll be glad to work with you.

2. Focus on feeling good. Your — and maybe everyone else’s — concern about your weight and health brought you to the point of weight loss surgery. But the research is clear — weight doesn’t necessarily mean ill health. And the continued pursuit of lower weight can mean that.  So start by focusing on how you feel, and throw in standard health indicators for good measure, e.g., blood sugar, cholesterol, etc., levels.

It may take a while to become really clear about this if we’ve dieted a lot, but two major things that make us feel good (and keep health indicators in a good range) are eating well and moving our bodies regularly (not in a punishing way, but in a way that refreshes us). That sounds like diet advice but it’s basic feeling good advice. They are different, primarily because there is no restriction involved in the feeling good advice. Instead, it’s about tuning in and finding what works for you, not what a diet tells you is supposed to work for you. We all know that rarely does. But what we all don’t realize is that  many, if not most, people today define healthy eating according to diet rules. If you don’t know the difference between the two, again, I can help you start to eat well without feeling like you are on a diet.

3. Look for and manage stress.  Stress can create all kinds of problems for successful weight management.  Now I imagine you have lots of stress in your life, just from the work you do.  I hope you are good at managing that — it seems it would be hard to be successful in your world if you aren’t.  But what about the stress of eating and weight worries?  How are you doing with that?  When we try to follow diet rules, it just adds to those struggles.  I refer back to #1 and #2 for what to do instead.

Our best wishes for your good health,

Marsha

Is there anything else you would tell the governor?

Photo courtesy of Office of the Governor

The post A Letter to Chris Christie on His Weight Loss Surgery appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

Since my teen years were long ago, I couldn’t remember what that pound of greens looked like, so I measured more today, hence the photo in this post.  There is NO WAY I could eat that many greens in a day, but there are plenty of ways to increase your green leafy vegetable intake without sitting down to a monster bowl of salad.  Here are a few tips for eating more green leafy vegetables:

•  green smoothies –  fresh kale, spinach, chard, beet greens, leaf lettuce and turnip greens work well in fruit smoothies
• pasta dishes – add greens at tail end of cooking pasta, strain and top with your favorite sauce
• mashed potatoes – julienne raw kale, chard, or beet greens and stir into hot mashed potatoes
• tomato sauce – add frozen cut greens to tomato sauce before warming
• kale chips – curly leafy and dinosaur kale work best for these.  Here is a link to our kale chips recipe

What ways to you include green leafy vegetables in your meals and snacks?

The post Green Leafy Vegetables – 5 Ways To Eat Them More Often appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

Wendy N., a recent participant at Green Mountain at Fox Run, gave us 40 recommendations we can all use when the food is calling and the need is something different than physical hunger.

Here is the list of quick and longer-term ideas Wendy uses to feed her spirit.

1. Feel and see sunlight
2. Look at, listen to, and be near water:  rivers, streams, lakes, ocean
3. Stretch, as in Streeetchhhh
4. Be outside
5. Hike in the woods
6. Walk on the beach
7. Watch a sunset
8. Listen to bird songs
9. Listen to emotionally stirring music
10. Hold hands with my husband or think about his arms around me
11. Participate in a fun and/or worthwhile activity with others
12. Call, email text message or have a meal with a fun friend
13. Help someone out
14. Talk with my daughter or just think about her
15. Feel strong in my body
16. Have a friendly conversation with a stranger
17. Watch children or animals play
18. Train, walk or play with my dog
19. Sing!
20. Create art work or crafts
21. Cook a new recipe
22. Fix something in my house
23. View art works
24. Learn and use a new skill
25. Start something new
26. Smile and enjoy seeing a smile returned
27. Visualize an enjoyable trip
28. Take a long walk, bike ride, etc.
29. Hug my mom, my daughter, or a friend
30. Give someone a gift
31. Visit my elderly aunt
32. Watch an emotional movie
33. Enjoy loving and being loved
34. Laugh
35. Share happy or intellectual energy with others
36. Notice when I feel free and write it down to read later
37. Sit in and savor a beautiful courtyard
38. Design a schedule that includes time for me
39. Eat the thing I really want with no judgment and pleasure
40. Connect with my Green Mountain me by reading my binder

Do any of these ideas speak to you?  Do you have any other suggestion to fill your spirit that others might use? 

Photo by DaveParker

The post 40 Ways to Feed Your Spiritual Hunger appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

According to an article in Business Insider magazine:

“Retailer Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t stock XL or XXL sizes in women’s clothing because they don’t want overweight women wearing their brand. They want the ‘cool kids,’ and they don’t consider plus-sized women as being a part of that group.”

Indeed, CEO Mike Jeffries has a track record of alluding to his exclusionary vision. In a 2006 Salon article, he stated:

The post Our Turn to B**ch about Abercrombie & Fitch appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

Self-Bullying, on the surface, is about a person hurting just themselves. Or is it? What I sometimes fail to recognize when I’m in a self-bullying battle is that I’m not the only person that I hurt.

When I talk down to myself, neglect my desires and needs, and push my self-esteem down with all of my might, the people closest to me have an equally difficult, yet different experience as they stand by helplessly, watching me bully myself.

I see the girl that I want to be staring back at me in the mirror, but I also see that reflection in the sad eyes of the people who love me and wish they could permanently expel the bully. I have seen my partner’s face twist in pain as I put down, threaten, and abuse the girl that he loves, right in front of his eyes.

When my inner child finds her way to the surface and begins to comfort me, I immediately apologize profusely to him, but his response is almost always the same, “You’re not mean to me. You’re mean to yourself. Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to yourself.”

Because of “the way I’m wired” as I put it sometimes, unfortunately I often need an extra push to help me help myself. Knowing that someone else is negatively affected by my actions helps me see a different reality outside of my own personal bubble. My goal is to one day be able  to change solely for the good of the girl inside… because she deserves it.

Do you see how your self-bulling affects those around you? Or do you tend to self-bully when no one is around? Please feel welcomed to share any thoughts!

The post Self-Bullying Isn’t Just About Us appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

With sugar addiction or food addiction one might think they cannot have cake; however, research on managing cravings has demonstrated that complete abstinence triggers cravings just as over-consumption triggers cravings.

What’s your best bet for managing sugar addiction?  Moderation — and having cake from time to time would qualify. In fact, having cake as a dessert after a well-balanced meal that includes plenty of vegetables, protein, fat and whole-food carbohydrates may decrease the likelihood that a sugary food like cake could trigger more cravings.

It’s definitely worth experimenting with to see how how it affects cravings. And for your experimenting pleasure, here’s our fan-favorite carrot cake recipe.

View/Download 4×6 Recipe Card

Carrot Cake Recipe

 Serves 18

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4  cup whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½  teaspoon salt
•  2 ½  teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
• ¾ cups canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups grated carrots

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375° F.
2. Prepare an 8 by 13 inch glass pan with cooking spray.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
4. In separate bowl, mix sugar, brown sugar, and oil well.  Slowly mix in eggs and vanilla.
5. Blend wet and dry ingredients together, being careful to not over mix.
6. Once blended, fold in the carrots.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan
8. Bake in oven at 375° F for 30 to 35 minutes.
9. Let the cake cool completely before cutting.

Do you find that eating high sugar foods in combination with other foods helps manage cravings and appetite?  What are your thoughts on the abstinence model for managing sugar addiction?

The post Have Your Carrot Cake and Experiment with It, Too appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.

Yesterday was International NO DIET day.

Among them – Tiffany of More Cabaret – on not dieting as an ode to her father who fought his size his entire life.

Or the transformation of Mara Glatzel from someone who would do almost anything to be thin to a woman who proudly embraced her curves and began loving herself completely.

At Green Mountain, many of us have our own stories, too, but collectively we wanted to share with you 40 reasons we think you should stop dieting now.

Some of the reasons are based on our own experiences with dieting, but much of what we share is what we’ve learned after working with women for 40 years (since 1973) to help them reach their healthy weights. All the blood, sweat and tears we’ve witnessed of women trying  to mold themselves into society-approved body sizes, only for the weight to find them again and for them to lose their confidence and self acceptance in the process.

Please read our list of 40 Reasons to Stop Dieting Now. And then share with us your own reasons. After all, this isn’t a list that stops at 40. It’s just a start.

The post 40 Reasons to Stop Dieting Before You Start appeared first on Green Mountain at Fox Run.