Author Archives: ybenner

Fitness Post: Fighter Diet challenges and losing weight is a mind game

I’m back!

It’s been a long time! The last few years have been a whirlwind of kids getting older, parenting struggles, work struggles, and mental health struggles. It’s been a challenge, but I have learned to put my best foot forward at all times.

I’ve learned quite a bit from the last 3 years,  especially about myself and how I wasn’t doing ME any favors. I’m a “carry the world on my shoulders” type of person. I thought I needed to do it all. I need to take care of the home, be a beauty expert, be a professional chef, have a great career, be in great shape and a wonderful wife. Yeah, that’s impossible, at least my idea of who I needed to be was impossible.

Now I strive to be the best person I can be. To do things that I like to do, not just what is expected of me. Fitness is something I have always enjoyed. I love lifting weights. I love Soulcycle. I love feeling sore the next day because I had a great workout.

But I also love food. Like alot. I can eat all the food. Going to a new restaurant and enjoying a decent meal with a glass or 2 of wine is extremely gratifying. Trying a new a new cookie recipe woofing them with the kids is a guilty pleasure.

This is my dilemma. I have weight I would like to lose. However, my love of food outweighs my desire to lose weight. What in the heck should I do? I have to remember that weight loss is a mind game and I need to find a way lose weight while balancing my mental gratification for good food.

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Pauline Nordin from Fighter Diet

I tried fitness a 12-week challenge on Fighter Diet. Pauline Nordin runs Fighter Diet and she is very motivated to get you fit. She puts together a wonderful exercise program and diet plan to get you through your 12 week journey. every week you need to take progress photos to see your results. You are also part of a fitness group on Facebook with other participants to get you motivated to keep on getting lean and building muscle. This program can provide real results. Most participants will likely need to do more than one challenge to see the results they desire to see. As they say, fitness is a lifestyle not a journey.

My negatives with Fighter Diet is that fitness is a lifestyle change and the Fighter Diet lifestyle is a very strict lifestyle. Each challenge has a set menu that they want you to follow to the tee – You can make adjustments using the Fighter Diet food pyramid, but it is discouraged. It can also be tough to navigate through all the information if you are new to the process. Fighter Diet is mainly about volume eating, so you eat huge plates of good that are not calorie dense; think massive bowls of cabbage or green beans mixed with a lean protein source. Bread is not Fighter Diet approved, nor is  full fat cheese (there are certain options/brands that are available if you ask the right questions and can navigate the FB group well enough to search). My concern is that when you are done with the challenge, will you have the correct tools to use to keep the weight off. If you continue to use the Fighter Diet principles as a lifestyle, you should be okay….but what if you want to drink beer, have a slice of pie or eat a grilled cheese sandwich – How do you balance that? This was my main reason from moving away from Fighter Diet to a IIFYM approach. I also feel it can be triggering if you are battling food disorders.

All in all, Fighter Diet is a great system with a wonderful workout plan and an active facebook support system. I think the system really works if you can stick to the diet and Pauline Nordin is very passionate about what she does. She is someone that truly wants you to succeed with your fitness goals. I just feel that the diet is very difficult to stick to for the long haul.

 

Paying for Our Own Oppression

Really interesting discussion!

Dances With Fat

Fat MoneyI was in an interesting conversation on Facebook where people were discussing whether or not, as Size Acceptance activists and/or Health at Every Size practitioners, they buy “diet’ products and why or why not. This is something I’ve thought about a lot.

There is a quote by Anna Lappe that says “Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.”  As an activist, that rings really true for me – the way that I spend my money is a form of activism.  I can spend money in a way that supports companies that support me, or I can fund companies that do something between ignoring and outright oppressing me.

First, to be clear I’m not talking about a boycott –  boycotts have absolutely proven to be effective tools in the right circumstances, and it’s true that if everyone stopped buying products that attempt…

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My lunch

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I’m so bummed this came out blurry, but this is an example of the lunches I’ve been bringing to work recently. I chopped up 4 baby bok choy and a handful of spinach, mixed with a bit of ginger dressing from Trader Joe’s, mixed nuts and a little bit of chow mein noodles.

I love adding the nuts because the salad tend to stick with me longer and I don’t feel starving two hours later. 🙂

A day in the life.

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One child is easier than 2. Look at how happy my baby was when he was the one and only.

Here is a rant I posted on my facebook the other day. Thought I would share:

I’m so tired! I had last week off with the kids, but it felt like more work than work itself.
Here is the run down:
You wake up
Feed the kids breakfast (with Katy this requires lots of prep having to chop everything)
Pester the big kid to get dressed and brush his teeth
Keep the little kid for climbing on the dining room table and killing herself.
Wash the dishes (or throw them in the dishwasher while the little kid is trying to climb into the dishwasher in a futile attempt to grab the knives)
Get little kid down for a nap
Get big kid off of the Wii so he can clean his room and see the sun.
Prep for lunch
Have one of the neighbor kids come over right as you are about to serve lunch
Have the big kid eat like crap because he’s mad that he has to eat lunch and not play RIGHT THEN.
Have little kid start throwing cut up mango all over the floor.
Clean up floor with steam mop while little kid is trying to scald herself with the steam.
Give up trying to mop the floor because the little kid is climbing on your computer chair and changing all your file names to “////////]]]]{kjki”
Big Kid is playing with his friend in his room and you are picturing the mess that is being made.
Little kid is screaming at his door because she wants to play too.
You send all the kids outside because you think it’s easier.
Little kid picks up clods of dirt to taste them.
Big Kids start playing “football” and being a bit too rough and they start whining telling on each other.
Little kid starts ripping out the flowers in the planter.
You send everyone back inside.
Neighbor kid goes home. You are kind of relieved, but then your big kid gets bored and seeking attention from you.
You realize that you didn’t clean up dishes after lunch and kitchen is going to be super messy once you are done with dinner
You prep for dinner.
Little kid starts pulling on your pant leg and pointing to the bag of M&M’s
You start to wonder if you are a good parent if you feed your 13 month old M&M’s.
Your big kid starts whining that his dinner is too “spicey” even though it is the most bland spaghetti dinner ever made. Also the strawberry lemonade tastes like it’s “too ripe.” You threaten to give the kid water instead of juice. He drinks the lemonade. The spaghetti also becomes palatable once it’s covered with about 2 inches of parmesan cheese.
Little kids starts dropping cauliflower on the floor and pointing at the goldfish crackers.
You wonder why you left the goldfish crackers on the counter.
You get all the dishes in the sink and forget trying to wash them for the time being.
You get little kid bathed and in pajamas.
You fight off the big kid’s excuses to not take a bath and brush his teeth.
You get little kid down for bed.
You hang out with the big kid for a little bit and play Mario Kart.
You and the big kid take turns reading a bed time story. Big kid goes to bed.
You don’t know what to do with yourself and sit down on the couch with your iPad.
You fall asleep on the couch using your iPad as a pillow. You her your husband come home, but that iPad is just so comfortable.
You wake up just enough to change into sleepwear and a half ass attempt to brush your teeth. You wonder if maybe you should read, but your neck hurts from sleeping weird… Maybe you should take a shower? This might be your best chance.
The baby wakes up. You fall asleep rocking the baby.
Good Morning! Rinse. Repeat.

the Maria Kang phenonmenon

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I was avoiding posting about Maria Kang. I had mixed feelings.  I think we should all strive to be healthy, but what is the real meaning of healthy? All I know is that if Maria Kang could see me now, she would disapprove. Fitness is most definitely on the back burner. Last night I had a blueberry muffin for dinner. My tummy has a jiggle to it due to loose skin and weight I haven’t lost yet.

I’m not worried about it though. Right now, my main focus is to get enough sleep. I can’t function without proper sleep and my 1 year old is still not sleeping through the night. My next priority is establishing a day-to-day routine for the kids. I think that we finally have this squared away, but it took awhile to us to adjust to the new house. Both of these will establish an opportunity for workout time in the near future. Right now, when I’m alone, I just want to meditate, read a book or get extra sleep. I feel that this is necessary to establish a healthy me, just as important as getting on treadmill or picking up a kettle bell.

My eating habits need to get better. This is an area where I have slacked and  I have no excuse for this. I can take time to put together a salad instead of cramming a muffin down my throat. I have to find the will, during the middle of dinner with my kids or my “work lunch”  to eat a little bit better. Both these times have their struggles…getting my kids to eat or working at my desk. I just need to carry healthy options. I’ll feel better once I do.

Getting “fit” is really about the whole picture – making sure that you physically and emotionally prepared to take on the next challenge. I wouldn’t worry about your excuses for not looking like a fitness professional less than 1 year postpartum. I would make sure that you are emotionally ready to begin your journey into becoming a healthier you.

When do you become emotionally ready? It’s really up to you. This can start with eating right. Maybe start eating a healthy breakfast and once this has become routine, add on a healthy lunch….baby steps. Once you have established good eating habits, try to start walking daily….or 3 times a week. The point is to do what you can and to feel comfortable with it.

Good for Maria Kang for looking so great postpartum, but this isn’t the norm. Don’t let this discourage you. If this inspires you to get fit, don’t take your regime to the extreme since there is a greater likelihood for failure. Remember. Baby Steps.

Parenting…It’s hard!

I feel like the internet has been in the trenches of Mommy Wars lately. Who has the tougher job, a stay at home mom or a working mom? One blog post sways one way and another blogger states another opinion. Well, here’s my take. PARENTING is hard. Yes, for both mommy and daddy.

My husband and I have two beautiful (most of the time) children, a 7 year old boy and and a 1 year old girl. We both work. We do what we can to manage. This kind of teamwork takes balance. My husband is home in the morning, He gets breakfast ready, takes our son to school, Has daddy-daughter bonding time, gets her to nap and then hand her over to the sitter for a couple of hours. In the afternoon, I pick up our kids, make sure our son does his homework, have play time with the kids, get dinner ready and then bedtime. We are constantly texting each other with chores (Can you pick up some fruit on the way home?) When my husband has a day off, he makes sure to get bonding time in with our son as much as possible. My father also helps at times when the sitter is there. Sometimes I recruit my friends and family, because it really takes a village to raise our family. lol.

My husband and I do the best we can in our given situation to raise our children. That is what parenting is about. It’s a very individual experience. Every child is different, every family is different. Having a stay at home parent may work for some families, it might not for others for various reasons, whether financial or emotional. There are times, when we struggle or when our friends/family struggle with parenting – we experienced this recently when my mom suffered a stroke. We do what we can to help one another. What ultimately matters is that the children are growing up happy, healthy and getting a proper education.

We don’t have to be an internet hero for our kids, we just have to be present…supplying hugs and kisses as necessary…or saying NO when we need to.

I’m sure I’m missing an important point somewhere in this post, but that is how I feel at this moment….eta: Main point. LOL. Let’s stop trying to one up each other  or cut each other down. Let’s help each other out….as I’ve already said, it takes a village.

Getting back on track

It’s been tough for me to get back on a fitness schedule with the baby in the mix. Nevertheless, I have to do it. Albeit, in baby steps.

I’ve broken out the jump rope and am pledging to do 15 minutes of jumping rope a day. Using my interval trainer app, I’ve but in 18 reps of 30 seconds high intensity jumping and 20 seconds of downtime for squats. That’s my week.

Getting the diet back on track is in order too. Since I’ve been nursing my daughter, I’ve given myself a bit of freedom diet-wise. I didn’t want to mess with my supply and I have successfully nursed her for 10 months so far. We plan on making it to 1 year, but I need to get back on the horse so to speak.

This week we’re focusing on fresh veggies. It doesn’t take long to steam veggies and to grill up some meat. So that is what is on the menu most of the week, We do have a fast food night coming up (long day for everyone), but I’m hoping to go out for Lebanese instead of a burger.

I’ll check back in to report progress.

Still here

I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve neglected this little blog. Everything is fine on my end. We recently sold our condo and bought a new house. Moving is such a traumatic experience for me. I just needed time to get back in sync. We have lots of home projects going on, so I still don’t have much time to post, but I’ll try to pen a few quick and dirty messages here and there.

I haven’t been as healthy as I should be, but right now life has been about keeping our head above water. Life is hectic with a baby girl, a seven-year-old with tons of energy, parents that need help, and making the new house our own. I haven’t even dreamed of exercise to be honest. 🙂 I have managed to keep my stress and anxiety in control, which is a good thing.

I’ll post more about my new house soon and we’ll see where life takes us this summer.