The hour is early; well at least for me but apparently not of the neighborhood birds that are squawking louder than what I can sleep through. Don’t those feathery creatures know that it isn’t even 5:00 am?

As I toss and turn trying to figure out a way to muffle their constant chirping I can’t help but think of everything that is on my plate for the day, the balancing act that is my life.

What needs to be done for the day? Work, home and then of course when will I get my workout done and how much time will I have to devote to it in the few hours that I can call my own.

So I sit here typing before the sun comes up because the birds were so loud this morning that sleeping really wasn’t an option. And so my day begins.

I went to the local cement-swimming hole yesterday and enjoyed every minute that I got to spread my wings and glide through the water. I love the freedom that swimming allows me, especially the quite it provides me to just let my mind go and my thoughts run wild as the water washes over me.

There are only two months out of the year that I can make my early morning swims a part of my daily workout routines and I try to fit it in as often as the weather and my schedule allows. The fact that my morning crawl at 50 yards a minute burns about 540 calories per hour is a great plus for me.

I know that swimming isn’t for everyone but walking in water helps take the pressure off aching joints and provides 12 times the resistance of air. The calories you could burn can equal my efforts of doing my morning swim.

Every morning the pool is filled with older women walking back and forth for hours. The 86 year-old woman that walks beside my swimming lane is there every morning and she often comments to me that she is just glad to be there every day and smiles about how she looks forward to just waking up tomorrow and getting her feet wet.

I just smile back at her and smile and tell her that I couldn’t agree with her more and then we are off to enjoy our summer workouts.

Follow my blog and others with great words of wisdom at ….http://www.sharewik.com/blogs/89524

My favorite season has only a few short months and all I can do is think about how I am going to fit in all the warm weather things I love to do in such a short period of time; walking, farmers markets and of course my first love, swimming.

Enjoy the fruits of summer

I moved back to my beloved Ohio nearly 15 years ago after a long stint in South Florida. I think I moved back just to be near the fresh tasty riches that come from the fertile fields of my homeland.  Buying produce right out the hands of the farmers that grew the treasures is not only good for the economy but for your waistline as well.

My grandmother instilled upon me at an early age, “Honey if it doesn’t smell like what it should taste like, then don’t buy it.”

The first farmers market opened this month and I was all to eager to take a walk at lunchtime to see what was available early in the season.

Tables full of strawberries were the first things that I spotted as I approached the handful of stalls. The smell of the farm-fresh berries was intoxicating. I bought two quarts and happily passed by the booths with yummy baked goods knowing that I had something better to eat in my sack.

I went back to the office and washed them off and polished off a quart at my desk. A coworker stopped by and commented that they couldn’t believe I ate the whole quart but the irony was that person was holding a bag of chips from the vending machine. I pointed out that the chip bag had more calories than the quart of pure nutrition that I just devoured. I am not sure that person really got the message, oh well, their loss.

Summer time is here and those lush fragrant sweet berries were just the beginning of what is to come, I can’t wait for peach season.

My advice: Take the time to visit your local farmer’s market meet the people that grow the sweet treasures of summer.

Well it is time to go hit the pool and do some laps. The TV is off for the summer and it is truly the season of perpetual motion for me.

Enjoy!

Follow my blog and others with great words of wisdom at ….http://www.sharewik.com/blogs/89524

The great weight debate

True confession: I love to channel surf. You know that mindless act of letting the world pass by you with the slight movement of your thumb on the television remote control.

One afternoon recently, I was indulging myself with this simple pleasure and the television roulette wheel landed on an episode of Dr. Phil. Not too unexpected, everyone on the set were yelling at each other about how fat people were being treated on airlines. The loud discussion was focusing on how large people should purchase two seats if they spilled over into another paying customer space.

I could relate to the panelists that were offended that they were being singled out because of their size. I remember a flight when the attendant followed me as I entered the plane waving a seatbelt extender behind me until I found my seat and then made a scene making sure that the whole plane knew that I needed extra material to strap me in during the flight.

The sticks and stones that were being thrown around the Dr. Phil set rang all to familiar to me.  I watched in fascination waiting for the arguing fractions on the great weight debate to put on their boxing gloves and start punching each other. 

One side, the “skinny” people, Jillian Michaels, trainer on The Biggest Loser; MeMe Roth, president of the anti-fat organization National Action Against Obesity; Michael Karolchyk, owner of the Anti-Gym; and on the other side of the bench were the “fat” people, Peggy Howell from the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance; Marianne Kirby, author of Lessons from the Fat-O-Sphere; Erica Watson, star of the one-woman show “Fat Bitch”. In the middle of the clashing sides, sat Kelly Osborne trying to tell the story from both sides of the issue. Osborne looks fabulous by the way, and she really seems to have a handle of what it takes to stay a healthy weight.

From the skinny side of the bench: “To believe that fat people are discriminated against, you have to believe that obesity is an innate state, like race, like sexual orientation. Obesity is not an innate state,” said MeMe Roth.

From the fat side of the bench: “My body is not public property. It’s no one else’s business to tell me what I should be doing with my body,” said Peggy Howell.

The heated debate was so involved that it was subject for not one but two episodes. The more the heavy people talked the more they were shot down for their opinions on the great fat debate. It was truly the fat people vs. the skinny people.

I just sat there listening to the jabs as they were thrown over the great weight divide. I have lived my life on both sides of this heafty debate. I remember how hurtful the insults were as they were thrown in my direction like when would I walked down the street and someone would yell out lard ass. I know all to well that there is a bias in this country toward the obese.

People should be able to live their lifes as they choose but as a lighter person, I know that I am healthier for my efforts of losing my great burden there is no debating that point.

 Follow my blog and others with great words of wisdom at ….http://www.sharewik.com/blogs/89524

What do you mean there isn't a diet magic wand!

Time to acknowledge that there were consequences for those cheeseburgers and chocolate chip cookies that were just too hard to pass up and as a matter of course those extra calories ended up on your hips like glue. If you were brave and stepped on the scale and were disappointed with what it revealed you more than likely put getting healthier on your to-do list for 2010.

There isn’t a Hallmark card to signal the beginning of diet season just the changing the calendar year. But make no mistake, diet season it is and its time for everyone to weigh in on what is going on in the multi-billion dollar diet industry. It is hard to separate the facts from the fiction about what plan to follow. We all want to believe it is as easy as the popping the newest diet pill but deep down we know or should know that it all a matter of math, calories in and calories out.

This diet season, NBC has launched its ninth season of the “Biggest Loser” marked by the heaviest contestant to date weighing in at 526 pounds. The show is an inspiration to me and I must admit I follow the contestants wishing that I to could spend three months on the ranch with all the tools that are made available to them. Great trainers and endless time to spend in a well-equipped gym that doesn’t resemble rush hour for jocks would be a real joy. Just once I would love to see a double-digit weight loss for a week but in the real world that doesn’t happen. But what the program does show us is that season after season the age-old theory of calories in and calories out does work.

I was disappointed to see that Jillian Michaels, the relentless trainer on the show, has joined the diet pill pushers with a new line of her own. I thought she was one of the good guys that believed that hard work and calorie counting was the way to go to lose weight but that isn’t the way to make money in the diet business. Her ads for her weight-loss website appear on my site from time to time but that is guided by what ads Google sends my way.

Along with all the newest gadgets and plans that surface are the all the reports that join in on the diet season frenzy. Here are just two that caught me eye:

•  A published study in the January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association revealed that food at popular chain restaurants and in the frozen food aisles have as much as 20% more calories than advertised. The report was featured in a “Today Show” segment and their experts revealed that this skewed calorie count could lead to a 30 to 40 pound weight gain if you took the advertised calorie count into consideration.
•  At the University of Southern California lab, scientists are developing wearable wireless sensors to monitor overweight people workout and eating habits. The Associated Press reported that the experimental devices are designed to keep track of how many minutes they work out, how much food they consume and even whether they are at a fast-food joint when they should be at the gym. The goal is to cut down on self-reported answers that often cover up what’s really happening.

I know I should tune out the bull but the truth is, knowledge is power. The fact that diet meals aren’t really diet meals is a good thing to know. The knowledge that they are developing a GPS tracking system for fat people is a bit disconcerting but yet interesting. I just wish that researchers and trained professionals would put the time and energy into more sensible ways of teaching people that you are what you eat and getting regular exercise is the way to a longer and healthier life. Too simple, I guess for a headline during diet season but yet the truth.

Follow my blog and others with great words of wisdom at ….http://www.sharewik.com/blogs/89524

Jerry and I taking a walk along Lake Erie.

Exercise is a very important ingredient in any successful weight loss program. If I didn’t know this before I changed my lifestyle, I sure know it now. 
 
Every morning, I go for a long walk along the lake in Cleveland. Rain or shine. My dog, Jerry, a 9-year-old Golden Retriever, knows the routine so well that while I’m pulling on my work-out clothes, he heads downstairs and waits for me by the door. 
 
Let’s set the record straight. I don’t run. Never have, and I really don’t care to in the future. My arthritis is too bad, and because I didn’t start my active lifestyle until I was in my mid 40’s, I have learned to listen to my body, which is happier with a long, brisk walk than with a run.
 
To walk regularly, you need good walking shoes. Every spring, I head to my neighborhood running store and treat myself to a new pair of shoes. Since there are so many choices, and it’s always hard to pick just one, I set up a wish list: fit my foot, stay in budget and hope it’s a shoe that isn’t too ugly.
 
I’ve made plenty of mistakes. As hard as it is to admit, I am drawn to brightly colored shoes. After I suffered through blisters, I learned color is the last thing I should be concerned with. I also learned you don’t need to spend a fortune to buy a high-quality, good-performing shoe. A great shoe can be had for around $100.
 
For the first couple of years, a pair of Asics fit my criteria each time. But this spring, I left with a pair of Reeboks. The best fit outweighed brand loyalty. 
 
In the first few months, I added a pedometer to keep track of my steps and an iPod filled with my favorite tunes to make my walks more enjoyable. I often tell people I have literally walked my butt off in my lakeside community. I even keep a pair of walking shoes in my desk at work so I can get active on my lunch hour.
 
I cherish my walking time. Not only do I get fresh air, but I also use the time to think through problems and plan my day. “Time for me,” is the way I look at it. I am not setting any speed records, but I do try to keep a good, consistent pace – stopping only to be a good neighbor or to pickup after Jerry, my four-legged walking companion.
 
Cross training is also included in my daily routine. I have incorporated biking, swimming, weight training and Pilates into my new life. I’m not sure what I can bench press, but my clothes look good on me, and that is what counts to this middle-aged chick.
 
I even turned the empty space in my basement into a home gym. It isn’t anything fancy, but it’s worked for me.
 
Here are few of the readily available tools I have found useful:
 
• ACCUSPLIT AE170 Pedometer with Steps, Distance, and Calories Burned. My dad gave me my first pedometer. I have used this brand for over five years, and I just love it. Every journey starts with a single step, and this product has helped me keep track of my progress. 
• The Biggest Loser Workout, Volume One— Great workout that will tone and shape. Good place to start. 
•The Biggest Loser Workout: Power Sculpt and Cardio Max — This two-DVD series is a wonderful second step in getting fit.
• Gaiam Pilates taught by Ana Caban — Pilates is much easier to learn from a DVD than yoga. Half the time while learning yoga you are bent like a pretzel making it hard to see the TV. Plus, Ana is great instructor. In order to fully utilize the video, make sure to grab a Covered Resistance Cord Kit at the same time as the DVD. 
• Core Secrets by Gunnar Peterson — Good whole-body workouts. Focuses on building a strong core and overall flexibility. 
• Bring your bike inside and put it on a stationary rack 
• Hand weights and toning bands 

I’ve made plenty of mistakes….to read more….http://www.sharewik.com/blogs/89524

I finally made it to Greece, the number on destination on my bucket list. But when the photo came back all I could see were the extra pounds that had found there way back to my short frame. Time for a new year and a new resolution to get back on track.

Like millions of other women, this is the time of year I look back over the past 12 months and begin to list my expectations for the New Year. First on my list:  I need to take better care of myself. 

Last year, I gained 30 pounds and now, I can barely zip up my fat pants (you know the ones you keep, just in case). Yes, that’s a lot of weight to gain in one year. But what makes it even more disheartening is that I know better.  Since 2005, I’ve lost almost 200 pounds and promised myself I’d never put it back on.  

I am mad at myself. I thought I had beaten my weight problem. I thought I had taken control over my food-addiction.

I used to be that woman that people on airplanes prayed they wouldn’t sit next to.  I was the woman about whom people would not-so-quietly-whisper, “That woman has a pretty face but her backside is the size of a cow.” 

I couldn’t argue with them.  I weighed 340 pounds. There was no denying my food addiction.  It was there for the world to see.

There was no magic pill.  Over the course of four years, I lost half of my former self by teaching myself how to eat healthy and work out. 

My salvation?  The old adage, “Calories in and calories out.”  But, along with everything else I learned about a healthy lifestyle, one fact kept haunting me:  Ninety-five percent of the people that lose weight gain it back; of the 5% that succeed, the failure rate over five years is high. 

That statistic often kept me awake at night because deep down I knew the numbers weren’t in my favor.   

Juggling school (I am pursuing certificates to become a wellness coach and personal trainer), a new boyfriend and working ever-changing shifts at work (I am a designer for a newspaper) consumed my time and I forgot to take time for myself.

I NEED to get back on the diet bandwagon. I need to start making time for myself to exercise.  This time I am going about it as if this is the rest of my life.  There is no thinking, “When I lose x-amount of weight, I can eat…” 

This time I have to deal with the stress that makes me reach for food more than anything else.  This time I am going to manage it instead of letting it overtake my life.

6 Tips to Get Back on The Diet Bandwagon and Keep My Weight off:

1:  More sleep. At least 7 hours a night. More if I can, but at least that.

2:  Portion control my food and keep a food journal for the first two weeks. I have to catch my mindless eating and get back to proper portions. Portion distortion led to my own distortion before I lost 200 pounds.  It is part of my problem now.

3:  Calories in and calories out. Simple but yet effective.

4: Working out. I used to love it but when you get out of the habit, it’s hard to get back into it. So I will begin with just one hour a day; more on weekends. Strength training, Pilates, cardio.  Just do it, Lisa. Set the alarm clock early and go to bed early.

5:  Posting a picture of the old me on my refrigerator and at my desk at work. I can’t forget what I went through to lose 185 pounds.  I don’t want to have to start over and I do NOT want to return to my old ways.

6:  Pitch my fat pants when I get out of them. Maybe I’ll burn them. No, wait.  They’re made of polyester and the fumes are toxic.

I would love some company as I make my way back to the “New Me” in the New Year.  Send me your list of tips, add to my list.  I would love more suggestions. 

Check out the great video that Sharewik did about my weight loss advice:

Starting in 2010 I will be doing a regular blog for a new website called sharewik. It is being started by a former coworker, Diana Keough. She is a very thoughtful health reporter and has gotten together a great collection of people with expert insights in different medical areas. Here is just a bit about the new site where I will be appearing and sharing what I have learned about weight loss.

What will I find on ShareWIK.com?

ShareWIK literally means share “what I know.”

ShareWIK.com provides personal and intimate accounts of situations, conditions and experiences. We are a community, a safe place where you can be real, ask questions and share what you’ve learned. And learn from others.

Everything on ShareWIK.com is grounded in solid medical research and scientific data but they exhibit a personal, experiential approach to storytelling.

Who is ShareWIK.com for?

ShareWIK.com is designed to target the person who makes most of every family’s medical decisions: women between the ages of 30 and 60.

ShareWIK.com wants to equip women as they address their own medical and health concerns, as well as the issues facing the men in their lives, children and aging parents.

Diana Keough, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, is a former medical reporter for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. While at the paper, she garnered a Pulitzer nomination and an armful of national, regional and local awards for the numerous high impact, front-page and multi-day series, as well as for the breaking news stories she wrote. Before joining the paper full-time, Diana’s work appeared regularly in The Christian Science Monitor, Reader’s Digest, Beliefnet.com and Living Without, a national healthcare publication. Contact her at Diana@ShareWIK.com.

Matt Clement, Co-Founder & Executive Producer, has been in the television and production business for almost 20 years. He has written, edited and/or produced over 200 episodes of television that have been seen on networks such as NBC, ESPN, FOX, PBS, TBS, Golf Channel and Speed. In 2002, Matt started the production company Matjik Creative, which focuses not only on broadcast television, but targeted new media opportunities in the online space.  Matt can be contacted at Matt@ShareWIK.com.

I always dreamed of going to Greece and for my 50th birthday it was a way to celebrate leaving behind the old Lisa.

There is nothing special about me. I am a middle-aged, Mid-western gal who accomplished an extraordinary feat through patience and perseverance: I lost 185 pounds by eating healthy foods and exercising regularly.  

Before I began my journey, I was defined by my addiction to food.  When you weigh 340 pounds it’s hard to deny food isn’t a problem. I had let eating become too important for me—a comfort for bad days, bad jobs and lonely nights. My weight was defining my lot in life and I couldn’t ignore the words “morbidly obese.” I was well aware that being overweight led to a litany of health problems that could put me in an early grave—-heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, gall bladder disease and several forms of cancer.  

I knew that.  Weight loss options I tried didn’t have lasting results nor did the flimsy solutions hawked by the circus of snake-oil salesman.  That didn’t stop me from trying most of them.  With every passing year I was gaining more and more weight.  I knew I didn’t want take a permanent dirt nap in a piano box.  I had to do something. 

So I did: I put down my fork and started moving my butt. 

In this weekly column, I want to share how I learned to live with food and stopped letting it control and run my life. We’ll talk about how to clean out your pantry and become a smarter shopper.  We’ll also discuss different types of exercise and how to cook healthy food, as well as smart dieting tips that will help you tackle those extra pounds.  

And I’ll be sprinkling in many dashes of humor.  Laughing doesn’t involve calories, so why not? 

I’m writing this for you.  Only a third of Americans are currently at a normal weight and the number of overweight Americans is expected to grow within a few years. 

Discouraged? Don’t be.

It can be done.  I did it.  I won’t be writing about a quick fix—but then again, when do quick fixes work? 

Ok, I will step off of my 185-pound soapbox.  But the reality is that our national addiction to food needs to be addressed before the crisis becomes as widespread as my former backside. 

And that’s just what I’m going to do. 

I hope you’ll join me, tell me your weight concerns and you’ll share with everyone tips you’ve tried that have been successful.  I hope you’ll be part of the discussion as we all put down our forks and start moving our butts. 

I look forward to hearing from you!  

340 pounds was my starting point.

Hesitantly, I lifted one foot and then the other onto the scale. It was the first time in months I had mustered enough courage to do this. I had a feeling the news wasn’t going to be good.

340 pounds. My moment of truth was revealed between my pudgy legs. I just stared at the number in horror.

How did I get to THAT number? How did I let my problem with food get so out of control? How was I going to bring that number down? How was I going to fix me?

It was time to stop blaming my gene pool for my problem with overeating and start putting a plan into action that would turn my life around.

I was 45-years-old and the excess weight I was carrying around was starting to slow me down faster than I wanted to admit. I had to do something. And fast.

But what? Where should I start?

I knew what hadn’t helped me in the past. The cabbage soup diet, low carb diet, grapefruit diet, Slim Fast and so many other things didn’t work for me. I am not one to join a group or work out my problems on a doctor’s couch. My gal pals are my harshest critics and most treasured confidants but I didn’t even tell them that I was embarking on a life-changing mission to lose at least 180 pounds. I had failed too many times before to overcome my obesity. So I quietly started to do my own research and didn’t tell anyone that I wanted to lose weight. A lot of weight.

This time was different. I was determined. I made the commitment and started to push my oversized butt up the proverbial hill. The harder I worked the lighter the load became.

Several months into the reduced-calorie-and-increased-exercise journey, I began to keep a journal. Paper and pen became my friend, my therapist and on some days, my worst critic. My mistakes, my humor, my reality were scrawled in blue pen as I embarked on a mission to lose the equivalent of another person. I was so tired of my overweight existence.

People ask me all the time how I lost the weight. Everyone wants the quick fix, the golden answer, a secret formula. But there isn’t one, except this: Start eating less and exercising.

My amazing transformation included a healthy dose of self-assessment and self-discipline and a healthy outlook on my relationship with food. It can’t be escaped or used as an escape from whatever is bothering you. Like many Americans I had let food overtake my body and it was starting to kill me.

I want to help you stop letting food overtake yours.

Tip 1: Face your fears and step on the scale. Every journey has a starting point.

Tip 2: Go to the bookstore and find a weight loss plan you think fits your lifestyle and tastes.

Tip 3: Make a commitment to take the time to do what it will take to change your life.

Tip 4: Make a commitment to no longer let food have power or sway over you.

Tip 5: Stay focused on your goal.

For me, Santorini, Greece is the spot where the blue sea kisses the blue sky.

Once upon a time, I dreamed of going to the place where the blue sea united with the blue sky, so secure in their grandeur that they blended into each other in blissful harmony.

Long ago,  I saw a photograph of the Greek Isles and that picture became the image of my youthful fantasy to see the world. But I allowed life to put obstacles where there shouldn’t have been. There was no need to become 340 pounds and I always wished that my burden would fade away into the blue horizon.

My excess weight hindered me from living my life. The being that dreamed of the place where the sea kissed the sky was too heavy to take the journey of her innocent dreams. Determination was the key that turned my overweight existance around for me. One step at a time, all the while believing that I had the power within myself to turn my life around and start making my wishes come true.

We are who we are, but it is the ability to make our desires  come true that make us what we are. Life’s crossroads help determine our final path more than anything. The simple turns are much more than that at the end of our road.

Turning 50 was my most recent crossroad. My determined steps had led me to being much healthier and active. A celebration was in order for the “normal-sized” me. The chance to acknowledge my escape from my life-long burden of being obese. I know that am not where I need to be yet, but the road ahead of is much less than the one behind me.

To mark my milestone birthday, I headed to the place of my childhood dreams to see the blue sea kiss the blue sky.

Mesmerized by its beauty, I spent hours gazing at the secernity that I had always longed to experience. There I was overwhelmed with the realization that wishes can come true if you believe in yourself and dare to make your desires become a reality.