Thoughts on life at the intersection of menopause, weight loss and indoor rowing. Co-owner of UCanRow2, certified indoor rowing instructor and Precision Nutrition L1 certified. Proud of it all! Currently obsessed with two Jens, Sinkler and Sincero.
Indoor rowing is all the rage: rowing machines — also referred to as ergs — are making cameo appearances in commercials for all sorts of products, from fitness trackers to pharmaceuticals. Professional and Olympic athletes are touting rowing’s benefits for cross training and general fitness. Meanwhile, rowing classes are popping up in gyms, boutique studios …
UCanRow2's insight:
We are SO thrilled to be talking about rowing with Girls Gone Strong. Check out this article for new rowing machine workouts and tips on how to be more effective at rowing.
"The way nutrition is taught in America has fostered the disconcerting belief that there’s only one way. One way to cook a certain vegetable. One way to set your macros. One way to achieve your fitness goals and, if you want it, weight loss. This is troublesome. This “one way” ideology rarely allows the space and respect for the cultural cuisines of non-white American communities."
If you’re a nutrition coach - or anyone who is ever asked about nutrition (I’m talking to you, personal trainers, group ex instructors, etc.) - you NEED to read this post on Girls Gone Strong from Erika Nicole Kendall, author of the Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss blog. She’s lost a crap-ton of weight herself (170 lbs!), and has legit nutrition and personal training certifications.
The girl knows her stuff.
A really good nutrition plan for long-term weight loss, indeed I would submit the ONLY one that is worth any effort, allows the follower to meet their goals AND is sustainable over time. Cultural heritage and cuisine have a big part to play in that.
Erika nails it here: “Making someone’s cultural food traditions a central part of the discussion acknowledges their need for community, broadens the client’s understanding of what “comfort food” can be, and ensures that they develop a stronger sense of what’s healthy or not in a way that aligns with the ingredients they’ve grown to know and love.”
If you’re working on nutrition plans, for you or someone else, you must take food culture into account. The minute you ask someone to leave behind their cultural mainstays, you’re putting them on a “diet” and creating something they are very UNlikely to be able to stick with for life.
I’m not sure whose heritage (or even just their family traditions) includes a steady diet of boiled chicken and broccoli, but I bet it wasn’t yours.
“FOOD AS FUEL” - UGH
I’m going to come right out and say it, I hate the “food as just fuel” argument. If that were true we would all be satisfied with boiled chicken and broccoli and would never want anything else.
I can remember several Biggest Loser contestants gleefully exclaiming at the end of their time on the ranch that “Food is just fuel to me now, nothing more.” We all know how that turned out.
Yes of course, food is fuel and that should be its primary role. But let’s be honest: Food is a also big part of how we identify with our forebears, a big part of who we are as people. Whether it’s hot dogs, beans and rice, cornbread, curry or a stir fry, we’ve all got a dish or two that makes us feel just a little bit more connected. To our families, our ancestors, our people. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a good thing.
Speaking as someone who’s on the other side of 50, that desire for food freedom only gets more true the older you get. That includes having license to eat Nonna’s ravioli on Sundays, or your mom’s beans and rice every day for that matter. At this point in my life I’m sick of depriving myself and having “never” foods.
I’m not saying I eat with wild abandon, far from it. I’m just done telling myself I can’t EVER have another piece of crusty bread, as if that denial were the magic ticket to a 20-lb weight loss. Believe me, if it were, I would be doing it. It’s not.
MOVING THE MENOPAUSAL WEIGHT LOSS MOLASSES
Weight loss is HARD when you’re menopausal, and SLOW. As molasses. I’m sure some women at this stage have the intestinal fortitude to stick to a very strict “diet” until they lose the weight they want. If that’s you, good on you keep it up! However I have realized I’m a member of a different tribe, and I’m totally cool with that.
My plan is to eat mostly the food that makes me feel nourished and fueled, but also include reasonable amounts of those that make my heart sing. I am working on getting better at listening to my body’s cues on when I’m truly hungry and when I’ve had enough. I’m headed to Munich in a few weeks on vacation, you can bet I’ll be eating a big pretzel with a beer. Most likely more than once.
DIAL IN ON THE BIG ROCKS, SCREW THE SMALL ROCKS
I’ve already done my stint of boiled chicken and broccoli on the reg, many times in fact. Not going there again. Life’s too short. My focus now is on paying attention to my body’s cues for food and water, doing the best I can every day. Managing cortisol and stress on the movement and sleep fronts, too. Basically living in a way that I can maintain and letting the weight take care of itself.
That means letting go of expectations about getting down to a particular number or size. Scary stuff, but no matter what I do, the weight’s not going to vanish magically like it did when I was in my 20s.
My days of losing 10 lbs. in a month are over. So be it. Time to turn my attention to other things and make weight loss simpler and less crazy-making. Dialed in like crazy to the big rocks but letting the small rocks go completely for now.
Will my approach work for weight loss in menopause? I don’t know yet, I’m still in the “lab” testing.
Stay tuned, I’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, go check out Erika’s article, it’s a goodie!
Roxane Gay has finally written the book that she “wanted to write the least.”
The author of Bad Feminist and Difficult Women says the moment she realized that she would “never want to write about fatness” was the same moment she knew this was the book she needed to write. The result is Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body.
Hunger, she writes, is not about wanting to shed 30 or 40 pounds: “This is a book about living in the world when you are three or four hundred pounds overweight,” she explains.
Gay traces her complicated relationship with her weight back to being a victim of sexual assault as a child. “I grew up in this world where fat phobia is pervasive,” she says. “And I just thought, ‘Well, boys don’t like fat girls, so if I’m fat, they won’t want me and they won’t hurt me again.’ But more than that, I really wanted to just be bigger so that I could fight harder.”
The memoir is also about living with contradictions: She describes growing up a daughter of middle-class Haitian immigrants, and not fitting into the narrative of blackness. She talks about being a feminist. And she explains why she identified as a lesbian even though she was still attracted to men.
The book is a confession, she says, and “having that kind of vulnerability in the hands of strangers really scared me.”
Gay spoke with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross:
Be Bigger, Fight Harder: Roxane Gay On A Lifetime Of ‘Hunger’
Using a 1-to-10 hunger scale helps you check in with your satiety cues, which can stop overeating.
Sometimes it’s just easier to have a few simple rules to follow. The hunger scale is about as simple - and reliable - as it gets.
Regardless of how you choose to eat (Paleo, counting macros, counting calories, keto, intuitive, eat what you want when you want) you actually DO have a plan for how you eat. Even the absence of a formalized “plan” is still a structure that guides how you decide what and when to eat each day, and when to stop.
After years and years of testing different plans, lately I’ve been feeling that I want something really SIMPLE. I’m sick of worrying about ratios of carbs to fat, or does what I’m about to eat have grains in it, or is it the right thing to eat before or after my workout, etc.
PUTTING HUNGER ON THE SCALE
Maybe it’s everything else that’s going on in my super busy life right now but I just need my eating plan to be EASY.
So it’s a nice coincidence that Ellie Krieger wrote up this column about the hunger scale. This is exactly what I’m working on in Girls Gone Strong’s Strongest You Coaching: Waiting to eat until I’m truly hungry, eating slowly, and stopping when I’m satisfied, not full.
The thing I love about this list is Ellie’s definitions of the various stages on the hunger scale, what she calls The Hunger Continuum. Of course this scale isn’t new, you’ve probably seen versions of it a ton of times too. But I’ve never seen the times to eat and stop eating described quite this way:
EAT when you are: Feeling strong feelings of hunger (vs. starting to get hungry or uncomfortably full)
STOP EATING when you are: Comfortably full (vs. nearly full or very full)
I know when my stomach is rumbling consistently, when I’ve gone ahead of that “Hmmm, I could eat” feeling. I also know when I’m aware that I’ve had enough, especially if I’ve taken my time to eat.
GUIDE YOUR EATING WITH TWO SIMPLE QUESTIONS
I’m not saying these steps are effortless and will put you on weight loss easy street. For me at least, it’s still work. The nice thing is that they’re straightforward, and not a lot to remember.
I just ask myself one question before I eat something: “Are you really hungry?” Or as my Strongest You coach Jen Comas likes to say, If you’re truly hungry, a piece of lean protein and steamed vegetables will sound good to you.
During a meal, I ask myself “Are you starting to feel like you’ve had enough?” If the answer is yes (more on how to tell in the next post), I take maybe one or two more bites -- sometimes I call these “goodbye bites” -- and put my fork down. Then I move on to the next thing as quickly as possible. The next meal will come soon enough.
Does this resonate with you? Have you ever tried eating this way? I would love to hear your stories of what’s working for you, or where you’d like help!
Sometimes, you eat healthy and workout. Sometimes you need pizza, beer and movie night. And thats ok. You need balance, but stay focused on your goals. Dont let your old habits ruin your future.
Anybody who knows me knows I love to cook. Throw some ingredients at me and I love to see what I can come up with. Wannabe Chopped champion.
These days I’m all about what I can do in my Instant Pot. Bone broth, hard-boiled eggs, beans, stews, healthy stuff. There was a time, though, when I was all about the desserts. I loved exploring intricate creations that would take me all afternoon on a Saturday or Sunday. I worked my way through favorite Ina Garten recipes, Spago Desserts (still an amazing cookbook), Creme de Colorado, or pretty much anything from Cooks Illustrated.
Canning the Cookies
I gave that up for the most part 8 years when I discovered the rowing machine and re-started my weight loss journey. It was just easier, and still is, to simply avoid going down that road. If I don’t make it, I don’t have to worry about the internal tug-of-war over eating it. On occasion I will still go there. When I’m on my game I do it with GUSTO. No guilt, all pleasure, savoring every bite.
The Slippery Sand Dune of Sugar
Sugar is a slippery slope for me though. I know that about myself. I just know that for me, a few unconscious bites of sugar - the kind I mow down only barely realizing it - can set me up for a full-on binge. Hundreds of calories go by in a flash. And not one of them eaten sitting down (One of the red flags that I’m in my danger zone, by the way).
ANYWAY - After years and years and YEARS working on weight loss, I’ve finally achieved a higher level of awareness of how this all goes down for me. And I’m finally ok with who I am when it comes to food. No judgment at all (Miracle #1) just very aware that I have to watch my mitts around the sweet stuff.
Slap Some Structure on that Day!
Which winds me back to the original topic of this post, my go-to breakfasts. I know that I feel much better when I keep my protein and veggies higher and my sweets and processed carbs lower. I also know that it’s easier FOR ME to have a few go-to meals that I don’t really have to think about. Ones I know I like, that have the components that make me feel the best, in quantities that don’t make me want to take a nap after.
My Go-To Breakfasts
Both of the breakfasts below keep me going for a good 3-4 hours, without feeling hungry or depleted. Honestly, I hardly think about food after I’ve eaten them. Miracle #2 and you have NO idea how big of one.
They’re also both super quick and can be prepared in advance. Lets me get on with my day and leaves me more time to contemplate fancy meals for the weekend.
Go-to breakfast #1 is at the top of this post. A turkey brat and a crispy fried egg on a bed of baby arugula drizzled with a little olive oil and some apricot-peach balsamic vinegar (mixed to order at Drizzle in Fairhaven, WA).
Go-to-breakfast #2, above, is plain Greek yogurt and frozen berries in equal quantities, half a scoop of vanilla protein powder and a tablespoon of peanut or almond butter. So, so good and I can mix it up in my sleep.
Try them and see what you think. If you have go-to meals I would love to hear about them, too. You can never have too many easy meals to make.
Here’s everyone right now: I’ve got a lot to do. New year, new me. I’m going to do this and that and this and… It doesn’t work. You end up running in a lot of circles, or at best, you hit a lot of smaller goals, but nothing that really moves the needle. Right? Let’s …
UCanRow2's insight:
The fitness business is so competitive, it's easy to get caught up in worrying what your competition is doing. Stop it. You do you and let the rest take care of itself. Your tribe will thank you, and you will preserve your sanity. Win-win.
With so many options out there, it's sometimes hard to figure out the best diet to improve your health and transform your body. In this article we explore 5 steps to finding the best eating approach for you.
Having lost a lot of weight, and being in the fitness biz, and because I’m getting my Precision Nutrition certification, people ask me about diet and nutrition a lot. A LOT. Particularly when it comes to losing weight, and rowing and weight loss. Everybody wants the quick fix, it seems. The “Do this and it’ll work, guaranteed, 100%, every time.” Damn, me too.
The fact is there’s no such thing as quick-fix weight loss. In our heart of hearts we all know that, right? We just hold out hope that one day, SOME day, someone will figure out what that foolproof program is. Yep, me too.
Let’s be honest: We are all different: In the ways we eat and how we process food. In the ways we exercise and which combination works best for us (high intensity, endurance, weights, walking, etc.). And of course in our age and genetics (Menopause: UGH).
What we have in common is that we’re all in the weight loss/weight loss maintenance adventure together. Personally, I’ve figured out some pieces of my puzzle but certainly not all of them. So I love it when I can compare notes with others who are also riding this rollercoaster. Some days I love the challenge and find it even exhilarating, others it’s exhausting. Kinda like life!
The article I’m sharing here is a good one if you’re feeling pulled in one direction or another nutrition-wise and don’t know what to do. While the popular eating approaches differ wildly, there are some helpful commonalities, and that’s what this piece looks at.
It comes from Precision Nutrition, a company you may have heard of. I’ve been involved with them in one way or another for more than three years - first in their year-long coaching program, then in the beta for their Pro Coach program, and now in their certification. I’ve had a lot of time to experiment with their approach to nutrition. I’m a fan (Yay research and science!). They’re all about figuring which approach, or combination of approaches, works best for you and your goals.
By the way don’t be put off by the promotion of their program. It’s great, I got a ton out of it and highly recommend it, but they push it way too hard in their articles IMHO.
The Hunger Scale: Mindful Eating for Weight Loss | Pritikin Spa
See on Scoop.it - Indoor Rowing
Discover The Hunger Scale, and the best mindful eating tips for weight loss and better health. How you're eating is just as important as what you're eating.
UCanRow2's insight:
The hunger scale is a popular and very effective way to manage your eating if you're following a mindful/intuitive eating approach. This description is the bomb; makes it especially easy to understand the different stages, and especially the sweet spot from level 3 to level 6.
Chicago and Portland Welcome Erg Ed® to Public Schools -
See on Scoop.it - Indoor Rowing
This school year, the Erg Ed program will run in over 44 schools across the country, almost double the schools of two years ago. The two newest school districts for Erg Ed, Chicago and Portland, were awarded Erg Ed grants this summer and began teacher training this month. Both of these public school districts are …
UCanRow2's insight:
Erg Ed, the best program out there for rowing in schools, is now up and running in Chicago and Portland, OR. If you have any interest at all in getting ergs in your schools, this is a great model to follow.
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