Cake Pops, Pushback and Success! Journal Entry #3 from Jennifer
Note from Greg: Jennifer is doing so well and right on schedule, encountering something I teach about in the Weight Loss Express–Sabotage. It comes in many forms, from the people who love us to total strangers as Jennifer will share with you. Part of her success, in my opinion, was that she took time to play out how she would handle these foods tastings which are a regular part of her job. Then she had fun experimenting. Her observations are brilliant and add another tool to her weight loss for the last time toolbox.
I lost three (that’s right, 3!) pounds this week. WOOHOO!!! It has been amazingly easy, I have not gone hungry once in the past week, and Greg’s plan is completely doable, because YOU get to choose how you do it.
That’s a critical component for me, because if you know me, you KNOW I’m not big on letting anyone else be the boss of me. If I can do this, anybody can do this! I’ll fill you in next time on how Greg is helping me restructure my eating and heal my poor sugared-up metabolism.
Right now, I just have to unload about this whole crazy tendency we, as a society, have to unintentionally sabotage other people’s diets!
Okay, I know I’m more than a little fixated on this cake pop thing, but they keep popping. Last night, I found myself standing between a three-tiered wedding cake made entirely of beautifully decorated cake pops, and a table full of gorgeous bite-sized cupcakes. The people who made these things REALLY wanted me to eat them. This is not an unusual situation for me. I’ve been working as an event coordinator, helping a dear friend who just opened an amazing waterfront event venue on Lake Norman (note my shameless plug for dear friend: www.travispointenc.com). So far, weddings make up our largest number of bookings, so we’ve been hitting a lot of wedding shows and networking events to meet service providers and learn more about the industry.
The problem isn’t that there’s temptation everywhere (okay that’s a minor problem), but that I’m getting pushback from total strangers when I opt NOT to eat their goodies. So, I did a little experiment last night. When someone offered me their sugar-laden fat bombs, I gave one of two responses.
Response 1: “Thanks, but I’m trying to lose some weight, and that’s not on my plan.”
Response 2: “Thanks, but I’m working out some blood sugar issues, and I can’t eat that right now.” (That’s totally true! If you’re overweight, you’ve got blood sugar issues.)
And – holy crap! – here’s what I found out: It is apparently WAY more acceptable to have some sort of perceived “condition” than to have the audacity to attempt to lose weight and regain your health. WTF?!
Response 1 garnered several variations on, “Well, I think you look just fine, and having one of these is not going to blow your diet.”
Response 2 was completely different! Across the board, sugar-pushers offered their support, saying things like, “Oh, I totally get that. I wish I’d brought something sugar-free for you!”
Here’s the thing… If I’m getting pushback from total strangers, how much MORE grief are we all getting from people who know us well and feel entitled to tell us our business? I have an incredibly supportive core group of family and friends who understand what I’m doing and why, but if that’s not the case for you, or you’re experiencing sabotage attempts, the answer may be in how you approach the issue.
It’s SO much easier to fend off Aunt Martha’s blue-ribbon apple pie when she thinks you’re doing it to safeguard your health, rather than your vanity. Less hurt feelings for her, less hassle for you. WIN/WIN!
If You Are At Midlife or Beyond This Book Is A Must Read!
How can I recommend a book to the entire midlife population when I’m always saying we are all different?
Because sick, healthy, average weight, low weight or over weight; everyone must learn the importance of balanced blood sugar or risk inviting the most common maladies such as obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, kidney disease, and on and on.
Dr. Mark Hyman’s latest book, The Blood Sugar Solution, can teach you how. This 423 page tomb is part lifestyle change, part change the world handbook. Dr. Hyman is on a mission to create a grass roots effort to spread the word about this problem. I’m on board as one of my missions is to reverse the rates of heart disease and diabetes in women around the world. His book will help me help more people. It’s the most comprehensive look at the subject to date.
Since I became aware of how damaging diabetes is, and how long people’s bodies are under attack before symptoms show up, the problem has grown in scale to exceed all government predictions.
Consider this from Mark’s book:
“In 2007, it was estimated that 240 million people worldwide had diabetes, and projected to grow to 380 million by the year 2030. Sadly, this was a gross underestimation. By 2011 the worldwide total was already at 350 million.”
“Ponder this” says the doc: “From 1983 to 2008, the number of people in the world with diabetes increased sevenfold, from 35 to 240 million. In just three years, from 2008 to 2011, we added another 110 million diabetics to the global population. Shouldn’t the main question be, why is this happening? instead of what new drug can we find to treat it?”
The term diabesity refers to diabetes + obesity. Most diabetics are overweight and all but a few overweight people will become diabetic. And diabesity, according to Dr. Hyman and others, is one of the leading causes of chronic disease today.
Bringing awareness to this problem is critical if we are to avoid being crippled by disease as we age and for the sake of the children growing up in this obesogen rich, processed food, blood sugar spiking world. Dr. Hyman says that we are raising the first generation of children who will live sicker and die younger than their parents.
- Childhood obesity has tripled from 1980 to 2010
- There are now more than 2 million morbidly obese children above the 99th percentile in weight
- One in three children born today will have diabetes in their lifetime.
If you are thinking, “Meh, there are drugs to manage these things.” Let me encourage you to read up on the side effects of the drugs–which include cardiovascular disease–consider the price of the medication monthly for a lifetime, and the feeling of powerlessness that has to come with being tied to a blood sugar monitor and possibly an insulin shot once or more daily. Is that a way to live when 80% of this disease and the complications are preventable by lifestyle change?
Why not listen to Dr. Hyman. This will take you to a page with a 3.5 min video of him talking about why he is doing this and what all you get when you buy the book.
Life can be delicious as well as healthy. Books like this, coupled with coaching to help you succeed, can save lives. If reading about this, or watching his video speaks to you, if you think the person he is talking about could be you, don’t hesitate another minute. The book is a whole $16.50 on Amazon.
What could be different for you if you knew you were doing all you could to stay healthy?
Big Granny Panties and Cake Pops! Journal Entry #2 for Jennifer
This has been a strange and wonderful week! Tuesday, I hung out my big granny panties for all to see on both www.midlifewithavengeance.com, and my Facebook page. The outpouring of support both surprised me and validated my belief that this journey might resonate with someone besides me. Yeah, team!
I also had my first coaching session with Greg, and it was amazing. I expected that we’d talk about food, exercise, lifestyle — you know, the usual stuff — and that she’d outline all the things I have to do and can’t have (we all hate THAT part!), but it wasn’t like that at all. She asked me some questions, listened, made a couple of suggestions, answered all my questions, then asked me to ask myself the question that changed my week, and will change my life. How does eating THIS serve ME?
I do give some thought to how what I eat nourishes my body, but most of the time I’m just thinking about how hungry I am, and what I can snarf down that will do the least damage. It seems like I’m ALWAYS hungry! Greg assured me that we’re going to put the kibosh on that by balancing my insulin response, and once we do that, my body will settle down and know that it’s okay to let go of this extra poundage.
I know this is going to sound a little crazy, but when I hung up the phone after our first coaching session, I cried. I was a little startled by my reaction, but for once, instead of just sucking it up and getting on with things, I let myself have a little boo-hoo and I took the time to examine it. Then I smiled – a HUGE smile. It was the strangest experience, one of those laughter-through-tears moments, when it dawned on me that they were tears of RELIEF. I poked around a little bit and realized I was relieved because I am no longer alone in this battle, and because now I honestly believe that getting rid of this excess weight is completely DOABLE!
How’s THAT for a first day AHA?!
That night, I had a networking function at CRAVE: The Dessert Bar, of all places. The Universe has such a weird sense of humor! I scored a major victory for myself by passing up a cake pop and several other goodies! This may not sound like much of a victory, but I LOVE cake. Seriously. If the item begins or ends in cake (cake pop, cupcake), it’s coming aboard the mother ship. Or at least it WAS. Someone handed me the cake pop (it was IN MY HAND!) and I asked myself the golden question: How does eating this serve me? I had that critical moment of awareness, where I realized that the momentary pleasure of one buttery, sugary cake pop was not worth feeling like total crap the next day, and it served nothing. That made it SO easy to toss that thing in the trash! I have known for years that sugar gives me a horrible “hangover,” but have often (okay, mostly) ignored that fact.
Had someone put that cake pop in my hand on Monday, it would have been down the hatch in a hot minute, probably followed closely by a couple of its brethren. Awareness is such a powerful tool. I believe that when I’m consistently able to couple that awareness with a big serving of accountability to myself (not to mention you and Greg!) I’ll have a pretty good handle on this weight thing. I’m SO excited!
One Client’s Journey To Her Midlife Best
Every week or so, one of my clients, Jennifer, is going to share her process and journey with you. I love that she wanted to do this because I think some of you will see yourself, see what’s possible, and maybe be inspired to take action. We often try to “tough it out” when it comes to changing. Sometimes that can work though it’s a slow and painful route. Just like not taking pain meds when we need them delays healing and stresses the body, not getting help when it’s available can delay healing old wounds or get us out of less than optimal states of mind.
We welcome comments and questions. Jennifer and I are both happy to reply.
2/21/12
Today I am embarking on a journey I never expected to take, and I’d like YOU to come with me. Today is my first day of weight loss coaching with Gregory Anne Cox. I never thought I’d need this kind of help, because I am someone who is generally pretty good at figuring things out for myself. In fact, I have a whole list of “I AMs” that seem to say I shouldn’t NEED any help.
I AM:
Strong
Smart
Well-educated on nutrition and how food works in my body
Self-motivated
Aware of old, self-limiting beliefs and well on the way to overcoming them
And, in spite of all these things, I AM overweight.
Why should you care about MY weight loss journey? Because there’s a pretty good chance that, if you’re reading this, I AM YOU. I’m a regular, garden variety, 15 to 20 pounds overweight , crazy-busy middle-aged woman, who, like you, juggles about three too many things, and not always well.
I’m not particularly modest about my issues. With close friends, I have mastered the art of hilarious TMI. With strangers, I tend to hold my cards a little closer to the vest. For me, this kind of disclosure requires the type of courage that only gladiators, and mothers of three or more children, can summon at will. I don’t have kids, so apparently I’m a gladiator. Who knew!?
Public accountability (let alone accountability to both myself and Greg!) is bound to be somewhat painful, but I’m hoping my journey will resonate with someone else and encourage them to take the necessary steps to become their best self.
I’ve been battling these extra pounds alone for about 20 years, and I’m turning 46 in May. I feel like I’ve finally come into my own (late bloomer!) and am ready to make the next stage of my life all about me. Well… me, my husband of nearly 24 years, the other people who count on me to hold the universe in check, our pets, world hunger, my plants, etc. BUT I AM PUTTING MYSELF AT THE TOP OF THE LIST, DAMMIT!
I really don’t want to spend the second half of my life in a body that is not a true external reflection of who I am on the inside. I want to be the best version of myself… for myself, and for the people I love.
Join me on this journey, and feel free to offer your feedback. I will be brutally honest about the physical and emotional aspects of Greg’s coaching experience, and I will expect that same honesty from you. Support and humorous sarcasm are equally welcome — I’m fluent in both!
Could It Be A Thyroid Imbalance?
Here at Rebellious Wellness HQ I’ve been pissed off into action once again. I’m not pissed at any one person, it’s the system once again. Throw in a few organizations that sell drugs and one or two that profit from medical procedures like surgery, oh and while we are at it, let’s include practitioners who haven’t upgraded the information they base a diagnosis on in a dog’s age and there you have it–a system failing millions.
According to Drs. Richard and Karilee Shames, authors, along with their daughter Georjana Shames, LAc, of Thyroid Mind Power, The Proven Cure for Hormone-Related Depression, Anxiety, and Memory Loss, millions of women and men are walking around with undiagnosed thyroid problems.
In my interview with Richard and Karilee last week, they told me that Endocrine organizations (like the AACE) estimate that up to 30 million people in the US have thyroid imbalance, but that half of them don’t even know it. It might matter to you to hear that 26% of menopausal women have it–one in 4 of us.
One of my pet peeves has been given a name by the Drs. Shames. When a patient wants help with symptoms they know are real are told by their practitioner “it’s all in your head” that makes me sad and nuts. The Shames call this twice wounded: first by the health issue and then by the practitioner dismissing them.
Why are so many undiagnosed? It’s a two fold problem. First is that the standard blood sample is insufficient for some people. One of the problems is the range means people on the outsides of the curve can be suffering but told they are within “normal” range. Second, some docs/labs are working on the old range 0.5 – 5.0. The current acceptable range is 0.3 – 3.0–much smaller. Even within the current range, the common TSH blood test is not the best way to determine hypo- or hyper-thyroidism . A full panel, including free T3 and T4, TSH, and thyroid antibodies will give a complete picture of thyroid function.
People spend years in therapy, years on medication, years suffering from anxiety, depression and other mental conditions that could be relieved had the thyroid been properly tested and the proper support implemented.
Some people need only the right supplements and lifestyle changes, others will need medication. If taking thyroid medication already, did you know that estrogen is a thyroid disruptor? You might need more medication at times of changing hormone levels such as puberty, post-partum, peri-menopause and menopause.
The Shames’s have identified 5 thyroid/mind types and boy did I see myself squarely in the center of one of them. I’m waiting for my blood spot and saliva tests to come back and meanwhile I’m looking at supplements to see what I can add–or take away–to support this tiny but powerful gland.
You can find more information at their site: Thyroid Mind Power. You can find out more about testing here.
I’m more and more convinced of the need for hormone testing at any age when certain symptoms present due to the environmental toxins we ingest daily but no time is it more important than at midlife and beyond.
Don’t suffer needlessly with symptoms or a doc who dismisses them.
Let me know if I can help.
