My first exposure to this type of thing was around age 12 or 13, when I first really noticed my female peers obsessing about their body images. My mother never counted calories. Her biggest thing with food was to only eat when you're hungry, and that food should be closest to it's natural state. Ha! I bet she didn't realize I'd be taking that to the most literal meaning now as an adult. Thank the heavens for my Mom, both my parents really, and the firm foundation they set for me in nutrition and health.
But my peers. I remember noticing girls looking at calories on food packaging. I hated it. I don't know why, but it felt wrong to me. It was as if it made food, a natural, normal, and delicious part of every day life, into a worry, and I didn't like that.
So even though I spent the majority of my formative years in a weight room with my football coach/fitness teacher father, started teaching aerobics at age 12, then spent several years as a personal trainer, pilates and yoga instructor during college; I was still hugely resistant to counting calories.
But since my current intention is to feel and be in my highest health, and since Marcus (who's an even more intense fitness dude than I am), keeps telling me all the body builders and fitness model types he's ever known have all been meticulous about their food, I finally decided to let go of this one prejudice.
Now before I go into it, let me tell you a little what my resistance about counting calories looked like of late. When I would talk with Marcus about getting my body into even better shape, he would tell me I would have to start counting calories, my ire would immediately rise and I'd say something like, "I don't want to do that. I've never been obsessive about food and I don't want to start now. Why are you trying to make me into one of those crazy, calorie-counting women who are obsessed with all of their food. I don't want that!"
I had serious issues with it.
What changed? Well, being someone who is willing and even likes to try new things was in direct conflict to my unwillingness and downright aversion to the idea of counting calories. So, considering my intention about health, and my proclivity towards trying new things, and Marcus' steadfastness, the idea of it crept into my mind. After a few weeks of back and forth about it, I let go of my prejudice. Maybe 7-10 days ago. It took us a few days to put together my approximate BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), which I plan to verify at some point via a fitness center that has a machine to test that, and my schedule - how often I'd eat since it's likely I'm a little hypoglycemic. I tend to get a little cranky and can't think straight if I haven't eaten for several hours; when I do eat again, I feel like a different person. Also called "low blood sugar," this has actually very little to do with sugar and more to do with utilizable protein. Anyway, we figured out my daily calorie needs, as well as a schedule for eating based on my energy and potential hypoglycemia.
Here's what I found.
I actually like tracking my food. (I'm calling it "tracking my food" instead of counting calories.) I've found a FREE online program to help me so it's friendlier that also works on my iphone so I can update from my computer or iphone.
But I must admit, I'm shocked. I LIKE IT!
Why? Well, it probably appeals to the nerdy scientist in me. It's like a science experiment. Also, since I'm eating every three hours, I'm not experiencing the energy or mood peaks and valleys that I used to experience eating more haphazardly. Also, with the website I'm using, I can also enter exercise and it calculates the likelihood of losing weight. Now this might be another thing for me to get over, but I'm not all that interested in weight or pounds. I'm more interested in how I feel and look. Ever since puberty, I've been a muscular person and so I've always weighed more than people with the same body because I've had more dense muscle mass...but I would like to look even more like a lean, mean, fighting machine! I get that, I don't care what I weigh.
Anyway, here's a link to the program for anyone who's interested in it. It's an open program so you can add foods, which is great for me since I eat mostly organic and raw, so I can enter my raw milk, cheese and eggs and the program doesn't wig out. I like it. Plus, it's free and there are other paid programs out there that personally don't seem worth it to me. (One note: Their calculations for your daily caloric needs seem to be a little off, so please check with a professional before proceeding.)
One last note. I travel to see my family in August and I'm going to try some of this out on my parents. It's funny that this is coming full circle. My father was the fitness guy growing up, but I distinctly remember my mother running in the morning (she'd be absent when I woke up in the morning and would come home all sweaty), and my mother has always been into dancing and fitness, so I'm extremely lucky I have it from both sides. But they've both been feeling a little discouraged about their bodies and fitness. My mother has a hip that's been sore, so she's been unable to do a lot of the activities she loves at her normal level; my father is as strong as an ox (he bench pressed around 250 lbs on his 70th birthday!), but he carries extra weight in his mid-section, and admits to being "in a rut" around his fitness. So, when I'm home, I'm going to help them with tracking their own food and adding some interval training into their fitness routines. (More on interval training on another blog, but the more I study fitness the more I realize how vital interval training is. Maxing out for just 30 seconds helps create vital growth hormone, whereas more low-level, steady cardio actually discourages the creation of natural growth hormone!) Anyway, it's intriguing to me that this is coming full circle. My parents were the first health and fitness influences in my life, and now I'll be supporting them in achieving better health and fitness. (I can hear The Lion King Music - The Circle of Life in my head as I type this.) It's really perfect. To people who've given me so much, it's the least I can do to give back to them. Plus, it's totally selfish since I want them around as long as possible, and want them to feel and be happy, healthy and fulfilled. That's all we can really ask for our loved ones, isn't it?
