Make an Unusual Choice

Something’s been bothering me about my blog of late…it’s all about me. You guys probably noticed this a long time ago, but it has just dawned on me recently. As Eddie Izzard would say “God save the Queen? That is one saved fucking queen…” I am a saved queen myself. Although I have ups and downs (like anyone), I have done a pretty good job of keeping this 65 pounds off for some time now, and I don’t really need to be writing a blog that’s all about my own trials and tribulations.

So I want this blog to have a new direction: towards you! I want to use what little knowledge I’ve acquired to help you readers out there, to help you make changes in your own lives, and to love life a little more (and this change has been reflected in my new profile blurb on the right).

Of course, let’s be honest: there will still be plenty of whining and self-talk here, but now the whining and self-talk will be more geared to helping you. If you think that doesn’t sound like much of a change, you’re probably right.
But I’m going to do my best.

So, here’s my first attempt.

Make an Unusual Choice

I was out walking through the woods today (with a 70% chance of intermittent jogging), and I was thinking. To choose to change clothes at lunchtime, get my iPod loaded up, lace up my shoes, and go outside today was an unusual choice for me. I haven’t made that choice for even one day in the last month, but today I did. I can’t say for sure what made me make that choice, but I know telling several people I was going to do it made a big difference.

Life is just a series of choices. I’m pretty sure that’s a famous quote by someone. We make choices all day long, and they all lead to other choices. One day you make a choice that you later regret (like having 3 beers on a weeknight, for example, or eating half of an entire pizza). The next day, with that choice to go on, you make another choice that you end up regretting.

I have a suggestion: make an unusual choice! Do something you wouldn’t normally do. And if you want to change your life, make a lot of choices in a row that you wouldn’t normally make. My whole healthy journey started like this one day back in August 2009. I was so screwed up at that time, didn’t know how to make myself obedient to my own wishes… I decided that all I could do was make new choices. Here are a few that I remember making in that first 24 hours:

• Chose to go to the grocery store at lunchtime, to buy healthy food to stock my office with, rather than going to McDonald’s.

• Chose to go to a Pampered Chef party on a week night, leaving Bryan and the kids to fend for themselves for a few hours – this doesn’t sound like a healthy choice? Well, it taught me to practice taking time for myself when I need it.

• Chose to accept an invitation to go to a garden and reap a lot of free veggies instead of stay home in the a/c and play a video game.

• Chose to take a walk with my dog.

This is a challenge for you, Dear Reader! Go out today, make an unusual choice, and come back here and let me know how it made you feel. Do it just once, and see if it doesn’t lead to you wanting to do it again. 

A year between two avatar pics

I took a new avatar picture the other day, and when I went to save it I realized that I’d taken an avatar pic almost exactly a year previous. I have one named 052611, and another 052510. I decided to open up that older picture and see how I’ve changed.

Here’s the 2010 picture…

And the 2011 one…

They’re both taken in the same office, with the same WVU banner in the background… but a very different person is looking out at me.

First of all, I have new hair. My old hair was long and always pony-tailed. It’s short now though, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back. I love having short hair, and instead of being the same every single day, my hair pretty much reflects the way I’m feeling on any given day. I love that about it.

My glasses are also different, but only slightly. They’re almost exactly the same shape as before, but now I wear purple glasses; and when I’m not wearing those, I wear bright, multi-colored ones. I think this says that my old tastes are the same, but they’ve become brighter.

I’m showing my teeth in the new picture, and in the old one I wanted to appear… thoughtful, I think. I don’t care now though; I just smile my flat smile with those orthodontist-corrected teeth for the world to see.

My face appears almost exactly the same. I’ve lost only a little bit of weight between last year and this year, and my face has pretty much stabilized. It’s not the potato head it once was. When I look back at the potato head pictures of my past, I love but also feel a little bit sorry for that old, fatter me, but I’ve totally embraced this new me. This is the face I will grow old with.

But  most importantly, and probably most noticeably (other than the hair), I look more free. The lighting doesn’t hurt… but I think the lighting actually tells part of the story. I’m not hiding at all. In the first picture it looks like I’m in a cave getting my body “ready” to show the world. In the new picture, I’ve shown it—and the world is pretty much indifferent, just as they should be. My body and my face are mine; I’m the one that cares so much about them. I feel now like it doesn’t matter what other people think. I’m not putting on a show for them. I’m living my life, and I’m damn proud of who I am: the part of me that has always been, and also the part of me that is brand new. 

Thinkin' about buyin' Larabars

I love bars. It started back with Nature Valley bars, which I still love, but don't often buy anymore. They are a little high in sugar for me, a little low in fiber. I also eat 90 calorie Quaker bars sometimes--I usually buy them for the husband and kids, but sometimes I'll have one if that's all we've got. They're tasty. I like Fiber One bars too, because sometimes a mama just needs a butt-ton of fiber--literally. After being spurred on by a Phish song, however, I decided to jump into the world of Clif bars.

I seriously used to think that Clif bars were "too fitnessy" for me, particularly because of the dude hanging from a mountain on the package. I could never do that, so I figured I would never "deserve" a Clif bar. Well, I got over that, and they are delicious. A little high in calories for me (because as I said, I do not hang off of cliffs for a living), so I then tried the Kids version of Clif bars (the ZBar). They're also delicious, and smaller with less calories.


Then came the Luna bar, which is made specifically for women. I thought that notion was silly, and my first step after trying them was to give one to Bryan, so that I could say "That's delicious, right? Doesn't taste like it's only for women..." He agreed. We buy them all the time now. My favorites are Chocolate Peppermint Stick and Cookies 'n Cream Delight. I like the amount of calories, which is within 10 calories of 180 for all of them, I believe. I like that they have a decent amount of fiber, and not too too much sugar.

So, when an online blogger whom I love (Roni Noone) suggested Larabars, my love of bars led me straight to the Healthy Bar isle at the grocery store to check them out. I grabbed the first one I saw, and was dismayed to see that it contained 240 calories. I don't like to use over 200 calories on a "bar," because I don't like to use them as a total meal replacement. I like to have a bar as a mid-morning snack (if I've had a tiny lunch), an afternoon snack, or sometimes as a way to get through a long car ride. 240 just seemed like too much for me. I've heard great things about Larabars though, so I decided to look more closely at their numbers:

Bar Name	Calories	Fat	Fiber	Sugar	Protein
Larabar Apple Pie	180	10	4	17	4
Larabar Banana Bread	220	11	5	17	6
Larabar Blueberry Muffin	190	8	3	17	4
Larabar Carrot Cake	200	8	5	24	3
Average of Larabar	198	9	4	19	4
Luna Berry Almond	170	3	3	11	9
Luna Blueberry Bliss	180	5	3	13	8
Luna Caramel Nut Brownie	180	6	3	12	8
Luna Chocolate Chunk	180	5	3	11	9
Average of Luna	178	5	3	12	9

I picked the first 4 bars on each respective website (they were in alphabetical order) to compare. While I'm sorry to say I have yet to try a Larabar, I see in this table exactly why I will probably continue to prefer Luna bars. Basically, Luna bars have less calories, as I already mentioned. They also provide about twice the protein of Larabars, and half the fat. While Larabars provide a little more fiber than Luna, they consistently contain more sugar. 

In conclusion, I will try a Larabar, if only because after all this effort I have to at least see how they taste. I'm sure they are delicious. I'm also pretty sure they're a pretty hip company, since they helped sponsor Roni's Fitbloggin conference last weekend. Luna, on the other hand, is ultimately made by Nestle, who is a huge conglomerate that has cornered the market on many types of food, and has bought out more small food companies than I could count. I'm not totally against that in itself, because I would hope that the smaller companies sold for a good deal. So, I will try Lara... but the Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bar in my drawer is calling my name right now. And at around 3 o'clock this afternoon, it will have my full attention. 

I'm practically a Master!

Three years ago I started an endeavor to get a master's degree. At first I wasn't sure what I wanted to get, or what school to get it from. I considered taking night classes locally... then I found out that WVU has a totally online Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree through their Health Sciences School of Community Medicine. I thought that sounded pretty sweet, because I was sortof doing public health already with my work with E. coli and water quality. I studied and took the GRE, applied to WVU, and the rest has all fallen into place.

I did well in my classes, I got a few classes for free as a sort of scholarship, and I was invited to be a student representative on the MPH Board. Throughout the first year of taking classes, I was still at my highest weight. At some point though I realized that I couldn't keep living in a way that is in such contrast with what I was learning. I was taking "Worksite Wellness," learning how to develop a program to keep people healthy at work, and I was like 100 pounds overweight.

Being in the MPH program was one of the factors that helped me decided to start living a healthier lifestyle. I've lost 65 pounds since then, and have run in six 5ks. I've changed forever the way that I think about food, and although I still indulge when I really want to, I always remember that everything counts, food is fuel, and exercise feels GOOD.

After a very long, arduous semester, I am walking across a stage and receiving my Masters of Public Health degree on Sunday. My whole family (other than Beth and Andrew) will be there, we are going to party it up, and my kids will get to see me dress in a really weird costume and shake somebody's hand as I take a roll of parchment from them. They don't really understand what I've done, but they will know that it's important. They'll be proud of me someday.

The only thing left is to figure out how to delicately tell everyone at work and among my friends to call me Master Cooper from now on. Bryan and the kids can just call me Master. Yeah. It has a nice ring to it.

I need to move more!

I was reading a new post of Roni's this morning, and decided I need to post my response here at my own blog as well. The post was called How can we up our daily activity? She's talking about things that we can do that to just move more, whether it's purposeful exercise, or just burning an extra few calories here and there throughout our days.

Here's what I can do to move more:

• Walk to CVS when we need the "just one item" kinda thing. 
• Walk to the gas station to fill up  my gas can before mowing. 
• Mow regularly (push mower, and very steep back yard). 
• Bike to the grocery store when I have 40 minutes to spare, and we only need a few things.

Here's what I already do:

• Park far away when I'm shopping by myself (need to up this to every time, no matter who's with me). 
• Counter push-ups and squats while making bacterial media at work. 
• Volunteer for all outside field work at work, and encourage us to walk to the top of the mountain to get that sample instead of drive. 
• Get up early to either walk w/my sister, run by myself, or do Wii Yoga, strength training, or cardio (but I need to do this every day). 

So, that's what I'm going to do. Keep doing what I'm doing, and add some more "move mores" to my day. 

Oh, and by the way, I totally finished my Masters of Public Health degree yesterday by presenting my poster for the faculty and visitors who came by to see it. The whole day was just awesome, and I had so much support from my family and friends. Great day. I'll talk more about it later, I'm sure. 

Why I should go to Fitbloggin '11

Roni announced that Attune Foods is giving away a ticket to her conference, Fitbloggin '11, which I've so wanted to go to. I wrote the following this morning to make my case for a free Fitbloggin '11 ticket +$500 hotel and gas money. I hope I win! I'll find out next Friday. 

Why I should go to Fitbloggin '11

One beautiful July day in 2009, I decided I was going to change the way I live. I was over 250 pounds, I felt miserable, and I was afraid I would end up being a mother with diabetes who takes her kids to soccer practice so that they won’t turn into the same thing someday, but is actually teaching them by example to be hopelessly lost in food and apathy.

I didn’t want that. I had a vision for myself that had been developing in my mind for a long time… a vision of a thinner, energetic mom who plays just as hard as the kids, who beats them at races until they become teenagers and beat her back… a mom who grows into a grandmother who stays in shape, loves to eat healthy food, and wouldn’t go a day without a bike ride or a nice swim.

I knew that person was in me somewhere, but I didn’t know how to find her. I decided that day in July that I had to start somewhere—that I just wasn’t going to put crappy stuff into my body anymore. I knew right away I would need someone who could provide a great example for me, someone who knew how to straight-talk to people, someone who wasn’t a “professional.”

After opening iTunes and searching for “weightloss podcast,” I found Roni. I was in love with her way of thinking from the get-go. The first thing she taught me was that a “diet” is not a method of restricted eating; a “diet” is what you eat. That was an aha moment for me. I started listening to her podcast, reading her blogs, cooking her food, and the rest is history. I have lost over 60 pounds with Roni in my ear.

Last year I started my own blog, and I’ve realized that I really do love to write. I think I have a knack for it. I would love for more people to read what I have to say, because I have a lot to share, and I always tell it like it is. I would love to be able to go to Fitbloggin ’11 to meet other people like me, to participate in a 5k with them, to share with them, and to learn what successful fit bloggers have to teach. I thrive in environments like these: I love asking questions, provoking thoughts, and generally being engaged in the learning process.

I’m finishing up a masters in Public Health this month. I’ve been so busy with completing my degree that I haven’t been able to think much about Fitbloggin’, let alone plan how I would pay for such a trip. Fortunately, the conference takes place a week after my graduation, so I will finally be free by then. Unfortunately, I just can’t free up the cash to go.

So, soon I will be a Master of Public Health. I have taken classes in Worksite Wellness and Health Behavior. I’ve gone through my own journey of losing 60 pounds and keeping it off for a year now. I have a blog, but I don’t have the skills to share it with the people who may like to be reading it. All of these are great reasons to go to Fitbloggin‘ 11, but perhaps the one I most look forward to is giving Roni a hug, and telling her “thanks” in person. 

I'll Be Back Soon!

What a crazy hectic week it's been, and it's felt so loooong, too. I'm just ready for Friday, but Friday unfortunately doesn't end my busy-ness, .

I'm sure I've mentioned it here before, but I'm finishing up my Masters of Public Health degree this semester. It's taken me 3 years, and it hasn't been that easy. The program is all online through West Virginia University, and all in all I've worked pretty hard on it. Sure, there were days (weeks?) where I didn't do much of squat on anything, but other weeks were totally consumed with projects, papers, forum-postings, exams, finals, studying, writing, researching... egad, it goes on and on. This semester I've been pretty much consumed all of the time, but never as much as these past two weeks.

I've gotten a lot done in the last few weeks. I've turned in the final version of my 28-page monstrosity of a paper, started on and completed the accompanying poster for presenting the information, written the toughest parts of my grant (for grant-writing class), and have started working on the presentation to go with the poster. Not to mention, the Work work we've had lately. We're getting like 5 sets of 24 water samples per week now, and running them involves a lot of filtering, media preparation, washing dishes, rinsing dishes, autoclaving dishes... and going to the field to pick up the samples. And at home I mowed the grass and folded laundry last night.

See, I feel like I need to write these things down somewhere, because I've found that as I constantly strive for perfection (which I know I shouldn't do), the milestones are reversed in perspective. When they're far away, they seem enormous, insurmountable. As they approach, they look smaller. By the time you pass them, they seem insignificant, meaningless. You find yourself saying "Next Milestone Please!" as you sprint by. It's a crazy way to live, and I hope to lay some of this gusto down for awhile, chill and read fiction books and take it easy. Go to work 40 hours per week, come home and have every minute of my evening and weekend for me and the family.

But that's where I've been. I miss writing in this blog. As I shut down everything this afternoon, I realized I had 40 more minutes to go, and I thought "What should I do with all this free time? Wow, could I actually write a blog post? Sure!" So here I am to tell you (my one to two readers), I will be back soon.