Six Tricks and Tools for a Lifetime Of Good Health

I will stand up and admit that Snowpocalypse or Snowmegeddon or whatever we’re calling the Great East Coast Blizzard of 2016 has DESTROYED my New Year’s health resolutions. The days of being stuck inside, the vacation-like atmosphere created by everyone being home, and the primal imperative to layer on the fat have vastly overwhelmed the call of my Fitbit or my WeightWatchers points tracker. 

But it’s one week in a lifetime. Rather than looking at the past week as a crater sinking my health goals, I have to look at it as a minor divot in a lifetime of healthy-choice opportunities. I’m beyond the age when I can look at my health as a diet or an exercise class or a jeans size.

My father was plagued with ill-health connected to food, weight and inactivity for the last 25 years of his life, and last year I started dealing with some of the back issues that affected him. It was a chilling wake-up call. To have a life without pain, a life where my body is empowered and not restricted, I have to view healthy habits as a lifestyle, not as something I do for a month. Or just after the new year. With that in mind, here are six simple steps and tools I use for a lifetime of good health.

1. Plan meals.

It’s so much easier for me to eat healthy when I know what I’m making that evening, and I have all the ingredients in the fridge. I grocery shop once a week using Peapod grocery delivery service, and I keep a consistent theme to make planning meals easy -- Meatless Monday, crockpot or salads on Tuesday and Thursday, Mexican on Fridays, we eat out on Saturday, and I double whatever I make on Sunday for lunches and leftovers. My friend and client, parenting coach Paige Trevor, has an awesome blog about making meal planning easy.

2. Be mindful of what I eat.

I’ve been a member of Weight Watchers online since I turned 30. Weight Watchers works under a simple premise -- you can eat whatever you want. You just have to "track your points." Be accountable for it. Woman up. And when you realize that the cookie has the same amount of points as an entire healthy meal, it changes your opinion about how often you need that cookie. Weight Watchers offers me a simple, painless, common-sense way to be mindful and responsible for what I'm eating. 

3. Do something active every day.

The dog wondering when he's going to get his walk

Everyday, I try to walk the dog, weight lift at my gym or go to my kickboxing class. These are not heroic acts; the dog is used to getting gyped, the 5-pound weight gets a lot of use at the gym, and I often hear "Hey, you're back!" when I show up at kickboxing. But when I cannot push myself to leave the house -- say, during a blizzard -- I have Daily Burn. Daily Burn is an app that provides one gazillion workout videos featuring knowledgeable trainers leading every workout style you could want. From dance to high intensity tabata to weight lifting to yoga to prenatal exercise, Daily Burn offers a workout that meets every interest and ability.

4. Be mindful of my activity.

Weight Watchers helps me keep track of what’s going in. Fitbit helps me keep track of what’s going out. When I first got the step-tracking device, I was astonished how far away from the recommended 10,000 steps-per-day I was. The average American only gets 2,000-2,500 steps-per-day. And I, like many Americans, spend a lot of time sitting on my butt typing. I don’t always hit the magic number, but my Fitbit makes me mindful of how much I'm moving, of the necessity to take a quick walk around the block or to park at the back of the parking lot.

5. Get help with healthy meals.

This Tuscan Ribollita Soup was a Blue Apron success!

So when I get too busy or the after-school chauffeuring gets out of control, Step 1's meal planning and cooking goes out the window. This is when I turn to Blue Apron for help. For about $10/meal, which is less than we spend when we eat out, a Blue Apron box shows up at my door with the recipe and all of the ingredients for two healthy meals for my family of four. I'm still cooking, but all of the thinking, deciding and buying has been taken care of for me. Sometimes, the simple relief of not having to make a decision is all I need to stay on a healthy course.

6. Partake in the occasional cleanse. 

For me, a cleanse doesn't mean cayenne water or juicing — those are unrealistic for my lifestyle and family. But there are times when I need to right the ship, in terms of my food intake. I found the 17-Day Diet several years ago, and it's my go-to source whenever I need to enforce some healthy eating. Essentially, the 17-Day Diet focuses on lean proteins (chicken, turkey and fish), vegetables, two servings of fruit and probiotics for 17 days. No bready carbs, no sugar, no alcohol. I always lose weight and I always see quick results, which makes me continue with healthy habits. 

What are some of your favorite tools and tricks for maintaining a healthy lifestyle?

Like this post? Click below to "Share" or click here to subscribe.

Resolving to Find the Fun in 2016

Me in 2014.

2015 kind of sucked for me.

I dealt with painful "getting old" back and leg issues, my son was immersed in junior/senior year stress (and we all went along for that ride), and my Dad died. There were many blessings, too: a trip to Vegas, a great writing conference, new clients (yay!), and the continued health and contentment of most of my family.

But in 2016, I want to focus on being happy again. I believe happiness takes a certain level of mindfulness, and I want to be mindful of discovering joy, rather than passively suffering through the misery. At my age, I know joy doesn't consist of just vacations and mani/pedis. True joy is found in your day-to-day, in taking care of your family, partnership, health, work, friends and home.

So, to succeed in this year's theme -- "Find the Fun" -- these are the New Year's resolutions I've made to be responsible for my happiness and to kick the blahs out the door. I only succeed when I'm held accountable, which is why I'm posting them here. I'll blog again in February about how I'm doing.

Family resolution

I resolve to create more moments when we can be together as a family. 

It's amazing, when your children are teenagers, how easy it is to live with people that you never connect with. We're home together a lot, but the boys are working as hard as I am on "the future," and when we're not working, we're relaxing on devices -- I'm as bad as they are. I'm trying to keep this resolution simple, i.e.. accomplishable: I'm resolving to eat more meals at the table and to plan one event a month that gets us out of the house together. I've already got this month's event on the calendar: We're going to the Harper Macaw chocolate factory tour in northeast D.C. Could there be a better lure? And yes, there will be a blog.

Marriage resolution

I resolve to find one new adult event to explore every month with my husband.

My man's a blast, he's pretty much up for anything with only mild convincing, and we have a lot of fun together. But with the stress of last year, we went out less and less, and when we did go out, it was generally to the same place. We both enjoy life with a few surprises, so in 2016, I'm committed to finding the Kennedy Center performances, bourbon tastings and hiking trails that will offer them.

Health resolution

I resolve to feel better.

Resolutions about weight and health are rife with controversy, and I thought long and hard about how to phrase this one. But the thing is, I don't feel good at the weight I am. I think it's hard on my frame. The end of last year was a "eat-and-drink-my-pain" fiesta and in the four days that I've been eating better, exercising every day, drinking more water and cutting back on alcohol, I already feel better. The proof is in the pudding, even when I can't have any.

Work resolution

I resolve to post to social media every day, skill build two hours a week, blog every week, and make a certain amount every month.

As a busy social media manager who helps my solopreneur and small business clients learn, plan and post their social media, I forget to do my own learning and planning and posting. The prime directive I give to all my clients is to take control of their marketing and messaging. And yet, I can let my messaging passively dribble out, too. However, with a child soon in college and a directive about how much I have to make in 2016 from my financial planner, my business and income is something I can no longer be passive about. Need help with your social media resolutions? That's what I'm here for.

Friends resolution

I resolve to entertain more and be more entertaining.

Oh, my lovely friends. Does it feel like your digits are gathering dust on my phone? Friends and their information, advice, laughter and love inject a huge dose of fun into my life, and I will use the excuse, "I'm sooooo busy," no longer. I've already got a couple of gatherings at our house planned -- look for your invite -- but I'm also going to remind myself that seeing my friends does not have to be a production. Over coffee, with a glass of wine, or during a joint trip to Target is a great time to enjoy my friends.

Home resolution 

I resolve to do what our financial planner says.

While being in our 40s doesn't make my husband and I feel any closer to adulthood, we are trying to behave like adults. We finally met with a financial planner at the end of last year, and she has given us our marching orders. It's calming to know we're driving down the road of our financial future with our eyes wide open, rather than squinted shut while hoping everything is going to be okay. It's also nice to know someone is there to help us handle the dips, rises and inevitable potholes. 

---

What are your resolutions for 2016? Do you have any suggestions to help me with mine? Please comment below. I need all the help I can get.

And please check in again in February to see how I'm doing. 

Real Women Box at Title Boxing Club

I joined the Title Boxing Club in late August to work off the summer cocktails; I’m so sick of the gym and I wanted to work my body in way that felt useful and functional.

But news of NFL players using their warrior strength to abuse the women and children around them has made me think about women feeling vulnerable and defenseless. Has made me think about how much stronger my thighs and upper body and core have gotten in the three weeks I’ve been going to the boxing gym. Has made me think that if, god forbid, I’m in a position where I have to defend myself, I might now have a better idea of what I’m doing.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think it’s a woman’s responsibility to prevent herself from being hit. It’s a man’s responsibility to not hit. But the jab, cross, hook, uppercuts that I’ve been giving the 100-pound bag at the Title Boxing Club might give me an advantage I hadn't had against an attacker I hope I'll never have to face.

Heidi Dallman, trainer at the Title Boxing Club in Falls Church, said that while the club isn’t inherently teaching self defense, the moves learned can give someone the confidence they need to discourage a would-be attacker. “You have muscle memory, and that memory might hold someone off.”

The newly opened Title Boxing Club in Falls Church is not what you imagine when you think of a “boxing gym.” It’s clean and gleaming and light-filled, without the gross 40-year-old couch and the guys yelling, “Adrian,” that Heidi remembers from her first boxing gym. The trainers are friendly and encouraging, pushing you to give a little bit more with enthusiasm and without the drill sargeant. The membership is a cross-section of fit Millenials, suburban moms and dads, and teens and tweens coming in with their parents. And while the hour-long boxing and kickboxing classes are intense, a person of average fitness ability (me!) can complete them and feel like a badass when she’s done.

“Ninety-eight percent of the people who join have no aspiration to get into the boxing ring,” Heidi said. What they want are those incredible boxer bodies, so Title Boxing Club emulates boxing workouts in order to give members those. “There are so many cardio kickboxing classes out there, but you have to be hitting that 100-pound bag to really see changes.”

Smashing elbow into bag = awesome bruise

A typical boxing or kickboxing class is broken up into three parts: a 15-minute warm up session that involves lots of high-energy cardio; a 30-minute session of working the bag, broken up into intervals with quick 30-second breaks; and 15-minutes of core work and cool down. Heidi recommends that people attend classes at least three times a week in order to see results.

She tells the story of a young woman who saw results in less time: The woman had recently joined that old, grubby gym Heidi used to go to. The woman had only been to the gym once or twice, couldn't fight a lick, when, crossing a dark parking lot, a guy ran at her with his skateboard raised over his head to hit her. The woman jumped into her fighting stance, raised her fists, and said, "Bring it on." The guy ran off.

That attack wasn't victimless; the woman cried as she told the story the next day. But when you hear the stat that three women are killed by their intimate partners every day in the United States, you understand how much worse it could have been. Whether it's a stranger or a partner, no real man hits. Real women have options. One of them is to fight back.

If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, please call The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. 

---

Title Boxing Club

Falls Church-area residents can check out the new gym at 450 N. Washington St. Falls Church; others can click here to find a gym near you.

In-Between Tip: On Saturday, Sept. 27, from 2:30-4 p.m. Title Boxing Club Falls Church will host Safety Blueprint, a women's personal safety workshop. Shawn Rafferty, with 20 years of experience in the public and private security sector, will teach women ways to avoid being a victim. Contact the Falls Church club at 703-992-6888 to reserve a spot. The workshop cost is $50 per person.