Author Archives: Katie Robles

23

Apr. ’16

Don’t Pop Your Tires

(This is a repeat, but a good reminder!)

I don’t remember which weight loss blog I read this on, but I’ll never forget the quote: “When you get a flat tire, you change it and keep driving; you don’t pop the other three tires”. Fabulous, right?

We all have times when we fall off the health wagon. Why did I eat that? Why did I eat ALL of that? Why did I stay up so late? Lifting sofa cushions to find the remote counts as exercise, right?

UntitledThere are weeks when my butt is firmly seated in the health wagon and I’m buckled up and facing front. There are also weeks when I’m more like a little kid who’s hanging over the side trying to hit the wheel with a stick. I’m still in the wagon, but I’m being stupid. I reach a little too far and suddenly I’m eating dirt. (Low in calories, but not recommended. It tastes awful, even covered in chocolate… I mean broccoli.)

What do you do when you fall off the health wagon? You get back on. Make better choices starting now, but don’t beat yourself up about the ones you already made. If beating yourself up counted as exercise, I’d say “Knock yourself out!” But it’s not, and that was a great pun, wouldn’t you agree?

picking-yourself-upIn ten years it won’t matter that you fell, it’ll matter that you didn’t stay down in the dirt. Is falling off the wagon frustrating? You bet. Painful? Sometimes. Embarrassing? Sure. But you still have three good tires. Each day is a new day and each morning you wake up on the wagon. And next time that little kid won’t lean out quite so far to hit the wheel with a stick. Perfection is not realistic, so we’re not aiming for perfect here, we’re aiming for not-stupid.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

How have you handled a fall from the health wagon? What helps you get back on or stay on?

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15

Apr. ’16

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

He loves me cartoon

He loves me cartoon_0001

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

Posted by . Categories: Cartoons, SEX: Sleep and Exercise. Tags: , , , . 6 Comments

08

Apr. ’16

Cheap Rx for What Ails You (Part 2)

Last week we began a journey from the top of our heads to the tip of our toes. We are exploring the role of water in our bodies and what happens when we don’t have enough. Thirst is not the only symptom of mild dehydration.water cheap Rx_0001

  • Water as key: Your liver stores glycogen (glucose) that your other organs can use for energy, but the liver needs water to make the glucose available. Less glucose means less energy and one of the first signs of mild dehydration is fatigue. This lack of energy can also cause food cravings, especially for sweets. Your body asks for sugar not because it doesn’t have it, but because it can’t unlock it.
  • Water as bulldozer: Your colon is (literally) at the bottom of the pecking order: when you’re short on water, the body steals H₂O from the colon first. Stool has water in it to keep it soft and moving along toward the exit. When your body sucks that water out of the stool to give it to the brain, your stool becomes harder and more difficult to move along so it stays put, wreaking havoc on your lower torso’s comfort. Think of a river at low tide.
  • Water as a mighty flush: Your skin is the largest organ in your body so it stands to reason that it’s also the largest eliminator of toxins in your body. Sweat carries the toxins out, but you need water to sweat. Lack of water leads to skin prone to irritations and dryness. Lotions can help keep moisture from leaking out of your skin, but if there’s no moisture in your skin to begin with, lotion’s not going to help for long. Chronic mild dehydration also leads to premature aging: your skin and your internal organs wrinkle like prunes.

2015 sibling visit 273It’s easy to determine your level of hydration. Just check your pee! The urine of a fully hydrated person will be somewhere between clear and slightly yellow. Noticeably very yellow urine means you’re 3% dehydrated. That might not sound like a lot, but more than 5% dehydrated is considered severe dehydration and turns your pee orange. Orange pee is a bad sign, like call your doctor bad. One note: when you first wake up in the morning, your pee should be bright yellow. This is normal because your bladder has been concentrating waste all night long. If your pee is still lemon yellow a few hours later, you need to drink more water.

“The average adult loses about 10 cups water every day, simply by breathing, sweating, urinating and eliminating waste, according to the Mayo Clinic.” What about the recommended eight 8 oz. glasses of water per day? The math-inclined are flipping out right now: 64 ounces equals 8 cups and we output 10 each day! It doesn’t add up! You’re right, but 20% of your water comes from the food you eat. Mystery solved. The 8 cup (64 ounces) recommendation is a minimum to maintain hydration and studies show most of us don’t drink that much. One estimate says that 50-75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.  We have symptoms that don’t include thirst, so we don’t look to water for a cure.

Is it possible to drink too much water? Yes, it is, but you’d have to try really hard to get it all down. Too much water can drown your body from the inside out, but “too much” is 1.3 gallons (or 169 ounces or 5 liters) of water in just a few hours. If you drink 1.3 gallons over ten hours—that’s 2 cups (16 ounces) per hour—you’ll be fine.

When your body isn’t feeling right, turn first to the cheapest medicine in the world: water. Drink up, drink again, and see what water can do!

 

He (Jesus) said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.” Revelation 21:6 (NIV)

 

 

http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/unusual-signs-of-dehydration/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dehydration/basics/symptoms/con-20030056

http://www.waterbenefitshealth.com/symptoms-of-chronic-dehydration.html

http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/are-you-chronically-dehydrated

http://www.livestrong.com/article/550244-can-drinking-too-much-water-damage-your-lungs/

 

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01

Apr. ’16

Cheap Rx for What Ails You (Part 1)

You’re craving sweets, your mouth feels sticky, and you’re tired even though you slept eight hours last night. You eat some chocolate, but your symptoms don’t go away. Your first instinct is to eat more chocolate—that is, after all, your first instinct in most situations. You decide to give your chocolate coated neurons a break for the moment and consider the problem logically.

2015 sibling visit 274Your body is craving something that it lacks. Something that lubricates your mouth and helps your organs release glycogen (stored glucose i.e. sugar) that gives you energy. Surprise! You’re mildly dehydrated and your body is craving water.

Most of us assume that if our body lacks water we’ll feel thirsty. While this is often the case, thirst is not the only indicator that our liquids are low. When water is in short supply, our body sends it to the most important parts first—like the brain—and allows less necessary parts to go without, all in the hopes that more water is on the way and it will eventually be able to function at full fluid capacity. This redistribution of water can lead to symptoms that we don’t always associate with lack of water.

water cheap RxLet’s take a look at what water does in our body and the symptoms we experience when things go wrong. We’ll start at the top.

  • Water as airbag: Your brain is surrounded by a sack of fluid that acts as a cushion so your brain doesn’t bump against your skull. Your brain is roughly 70% water and the fluid is, well, fluid. When there is less fluid in the sack, your brain bumps into your skull more easily causing headaches.
  • Water as lubricant: Your mouth is lubricated by saliva. Less water equals less saliva which leaves your mouth feeling dry and/or sticky. Think of a slip and slide with the hose turned off. Saliva also has antibacterial properties; less saliva means you don’t have enough antibiotic spit to kill the stinky microbes and you end up with bad breath.
  • Water as fire hose: Your blood is roughly 50% water (55% of blood is plasma and plasma is 92% water), but if that percentage drops, your blood is thicker and harder to pump and your blood pressure goes up.
  • Water as pump: Your lungs are about 85% water. (Who knew? Water in lungs = bad, lungs made of water = good.) When water is in short supply, your airways shrink or constrict a bit. This can aggravate allergies and asthma.

Next week we’ll continue our journey down the body as well as discuss an easy self-diagnosis technique to determine your hydration. Water we waiting for?!

 

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35 (NIV)

Posted by . Categories: SOUP: Water and Vegetables. Tags: , , , , , . 2 Comments

16

Mar. ’16

Oh Danny Boy, Please Eat Your Greens

 

imageOh eat your greens, the greens, the greens are calling

From head to toe they do a body good.

The vitamins and nutrients are flowing.

Tis you, tis you, must eat and I must too.

 

But come ye back for more greens on your plate.

Some mustard greens, spinach, kale, and chard.

Cholesterol goes down, they help my arteries.

Oh leafy greens, Oh leafy greens, I love you so.

 

And if you eat your greens with all that fiber,

They help your colon clean out all the junk.

Greens help your bones because they’re full of calcium,

So kneel and thank our God for making greens.

 

And I shall eat my greens for their B vitamins

That turn to glucose; gives me energy.

Greens boost my vision health. Oh, greens are wonderful.

I’ll simply eat my greens until you come to me.

 

If you’re not Irish, eat orange vegetables and fruits!

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:1-3 (NIV)

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12

Mar. ’16

Tortoise Wins With Substitutions

tortoise-hareMost of us want to eat healthier than we do now and in general there are two ways to go about it: the Tortoise and the Hare. The Hare jumps in with both feet: throw out the junk food, learn to cook tofu, and say goodbye to bread, dairy, sugar, fat, and caffeine. The Hare is quick and passionate and her way works well unless you really want to eat bread, dairy, sugar, fat, and caffeine. It’s hard to say goodbye forever. I prefer to say “I need some space! But we can still be friends so don’t leave town.”

The second way to eat healthier is the way of the Tortoise. You take one step at a time towards healthier eating, plodding along with good decision after good decision until one day you look back and see that you’ve moved leaps and bounds. I’m not going to call them baby steps because they can be big steps, just taken one at a time.

Food substitutions are one of those big steps you can take toward better health. Simply substitute a healthy food for an unhealthy food in your diet. Here are some examples to get you going:

 

-Pure maple syrup for fake syrup: Most pancake syrups are high fructose corn syrup with some flavoring added. Pure maple syrup is just as sweet, but has the added benefits of antioxidants, riboflavin, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Pure maple syrup is a concentrated form of the sap of maple trees. That sap is the tree’s food so sap—and therefore syrup—has all the good stuff a tree needs to grow.

maple-syrup-pouring-spoon-white-background-34723030The taste of real syrup is a little different than the fake stuff. If your kids balk at change, try mixing the real and fake maple syrups. I started with a 50:50 ratio mixed in a squeeze bottle. Each time the mixture bottle ran out of syrup, I filled it with a slightly higher ratio of pure syrup to fake: 60:40, 70:20, etc. until I eventually set out that same bottle with pure maple syrup and my kids didn’t notice. Pure maple syrup is more expensive, but your kids will be pouring minerals and antioxidants on their pancakes; totally worth it. To use less syrup, give each kid a small bowl of syrup and have them dip each bite of pancake into the bowl. No more cries of “my syrup is gone! I need more!” as it soaks into the pancake.

 

– Whole wheat flour for white flour: white or all purpose flour has most of wheat’s goodness sucked out of it. Add that goodness back into your baked goods by substituting half of the white flour in a recipe with whole wheat flour.

 

– Lettuce, chard, or steamed cabbage leaves for tortillas: tortillas are yummy, but they’re also surprisingly high in calories; a medium tortilla has the same calories as two slices of bread. If you’re trying to figure out how to cut a few hundred extra calories per day, tortillas are a good place to experiment.

 

– Avocado for cheese: I love the texture of gooey cheese on a sandwich or in a salad. Avocado gives me that creamy happy-mouth feeling but with healthy fats.

 

2014 Aug angry birds 015-Veggies for noodles: noodles are delicious, but most of the time they’re smothered in some sort of sauce and we can’t taste them, so why not smother vegetables instead? Layer sliced eggplant in your lasagna, grate zucchini into your ziti, and sauté some thinly sliced cabbage for spaghetti sauce and meatballs.

 

-Cauliflower for rice: Food process raw cauliflower until it looks like rice grains and then sauté it for a few minutes. Serve it the same way you serve rice. You can ease your family into the idea by making regular rice and mixing the two. “The rice tastes funny tonight, Mom.” Yes, it does, son. It’s muscle building rice. When you eat it, your muscles grow.

 

The Hare and the Tortoise both made it to the finish line and that’s important. Don’t despair if you’re not a Hare; Tortoises take longer to get healthy, but we get there nonetheless. Slow and steady wins the race.

 

“The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” Isaiah 9:10 (NIV)

 

Please leave a comment below if you have a substitution idea. I want to learn what’s worked for you!

 

http://blog.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/2014/11/02/pour-it-on-maple-syrup-is-good-for-you/

 

Images courtesy of: www.tmcnet.com (tortoise and hare), www.dreamstime.com (syrup)

Posted by . Categories: Interesting Tidbits, TWO FISTED EATING: Portion Control and Enjoyment. Tags: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

04

Mar. ’16

Get Sweaty, Feel Sexy

funny-sweatStudies have shown that a good tough workout primes a woman’s body for sex… for about fifteen minutes. Ladies, that means that if you want some great lovin’, you and your hubby should go jogging together and then hit the sack right away. While that makes scientific sense, the reality is that I don’t feel sexy when my face is red, my muscles hurt, and sweat is dripping from my elbows. Thankfully, I feel sexy later.

Exercise makes you feel sexy, regardless of how you look. People who exercise regularly—not necessarily daily, just regularly—view themselves and their bodies more positively than people who call pushing a grocery cart a ‘killer workout’.  Exercise makes you feel thinner, even when the number on the scale hasn’t budged.

2015 Headshots White Clay Creek 044When I say exercise, I’m not talking about one workout (and when I say workout, I mean any kind of exercise: dancing, walking, swimming, etc. I don’t want you to picture sweat bands and spandex if that’s not what you enjoy.) If you’re just starting to get into exercise, then one workout can leave you feeling tired, sore, and discouraged by how limited your body is. But if you keep at it and make exercise a habit, you’ll see and feel improvements: you’re less sore, less tired at the end of the workout, and you can perform your workout better. These improvements are what improve your self image. I did it! I’m strong. I stuck with it. I am woman. Hear me roar!

You and your body make a positive connection when you exercise. You’re making positive changes together – positive memories, if you will. You feel like you like your body more because it’s working with you, working for you. It’s an asset, not an enemy. It’s a classic road trip buddy story staring your body and you. At first you can’t stand each other. Your body tunes the radio to Rock and you prefer Classical, you bring a GPS and your body prefers to ‘wing it’. Your series of workouts is like a cross country road trip. When you reach your goal, all of your battles with flat tires, broken GPS systems, sweat, soreness, and biker gangs have brought you together into a mutually beneficial partnership. You’re sharing a map and jamming to Classic Rock.

P1000582Habitual exercise helps you feel better in your own skin, but there’s another benefit for your love life: more enjoyable sex. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense that sex and exercise go together. Sex is exercise. When you exercise regularly, you experience increased energy and decreased stress. Fatigue and stress are two major intimacy inhibitors. Exercise also give you improved blood flow (the steam engine that makes the sex train go), flexibility and muscle control (no, I will not draw you a picture; do a few stretches and figure it out), and endurance (oo la la!). In other words, if you work out regularly, then sex is an enjoyable recital that your body has been practicing for, and not akin to being pushed on stage to sing karaoke.

 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)

 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/loves-evolver/201102/exercise-better-sex

http://www.fitness.com/articles/1019/the_top_3_ways_exercise_boosts_your_sex_drive.php

 

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26

Feb. ’16

March Ab-ness Returns

Spring is in the air, so soon we will be bare!

Well, not totally bare, but shedding the concealing layers of winter clothing and stepping out in short sleeves leaves me feeling bare and suddenly self-conscious each spring. I’ve found a solution. Salt water! That joke’s for you, chemistry teachers.

My solution for feeling good in fewer clothes is March Ab-ness, when we challenge ourselves to strengthen our abdominal muscles in the month of March. Strong abs are not just good for looks, but also for strutting and lifting. Working your abs— or core—makes them tighter, which makes your clothes fit better, which makes you strut your stuff with confidence.

A strong core also helps support your lower back. When I slipped on ice last year and injured my lower back, my physical therapist recommended ab strengthening exercises as part of my recovery. Its’ all connected, folks. If one part of your body is weak, another part works harder to make up for it. The back and the front of your abdominal area are two sides of a sea saw. A strong core supports a strong back which is equivalent to two kids having fun on a balanced sea saw. A weak core is a two year old whose feet don’t touch the ground and your back is the parent trying to make the sea saw go up and down by straddling the board and doing squats. She squats sea saws down by the sea shore.

Two years ago, the challenge was to do 3100 crunches in 31 days. 100 crunches takes about 3 minutes to complete—including pauses to catch your breath, moan, groan, and get back at it. In order to include a variety of abdominal exercises—crunches, planks, etc.—the challenge this year will be based on minutes. Three minutes of abdominal torture per day for 31 days: 93 minutes total. I’d love for you to join me in this challenge and see how three minutes a day can change your core! And yes, I do feel like an infomercial.

Before we start, measure your waist and write that number on your calendar or somewhere else you’ll remember it. Your waist is between your belly button and your ribs; if you stand up straight and bend to the side, your waist is where the crease forms. I measured my waist while standing relaxed and while sucking my gut in as hard as I could. There’s a two inch difference between the measurements, and I’m curious to see if both numbers change.

I find it helpful to make a chart and mark off the minutes each day. If I miss a day (life happens), I make up the minutes in the next day or so. The three minutes can be done all at once or spread out during the day. Here’s my chart:

 

Day Minutes Day Minutes Day Minutes
1   12   23  
2   13   24  
3   14   25  
4   15   26  
5   16   27  
6   17   28  
7   18   29  
8   19   30  
9   20   31  
10   21      
11   22   TOTAL 93

 

If you’re willing to join me in this challenge, say “YES” in a comment below. Bring on spring! We’ll be ready! The challenge begins Tuesday March 1st.

 

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)

 

Images courtesy of: www.3tresidence.com (how to plank), www.dreamstime.com (sea saw), fitdocs.com (core muscles), www.pinterest.com (baby)

Posted by . Categories: Interesting Tidbits. 8 Comments

19

Feb. ’16

Dear Jane Letter

dear Jane letter illustrationsIt’s not you, it’s me. I’m no good for you. They say size doesn’t matter, but I’m just too big. You need someone smaller.

I know, I know, we’ve been together since that sale in ’04, but it’s time you moved on, looked for someone new. You have a lot to offer: spacious cabinets, a working dishwasher. You’ll be okay, Kiddo. You’ll be better than okay.

I have a 12” diameter, for crying out loud! The box said “dinner plate” but I’ve always felt more like a serving platter. A 10 incher would be good for you. 34.5 fewer square inches—that’s the volume of four slices of bread. Truth be told, I could see you happy with a slim 8” model.

dear Jane letter illustrations_0001Salad, shmalad, if you put dinner on it, it’s a dinner plate, right? An 8” plate would hold less than half the volume that I do. Less than half!

You won’t miss me. You won’t notice the difference after a few days, but your body will.

Is there someone else? Not yet, no, but there’s the dream of someone else—like a sumo wrestler or a teenage boy.

 

Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: holy to the Lord. Exodus 28:36 (NIV)

Posted by . Categories: Interesting Tidbits, TWO FISTED EATING: Portion Control and Enjoyment. Tags: , , , , . 4 Comments