Take care of yourself

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

21 makes a good point about butter/cream. last night, a recipe called for half and half. i used skim milk. couldn't tell the difference, mainly because in my lifetime i've never been subjected to half and half. it called for four tablespoons of butter. i used two. my and girl were quited pleased with dinner. plus, i brought leftovers to lunch and will probably have it again for leftovers sometime over the weekend.
someone made a great point about diet. it's what you put in your body, not what you don't. i dropped 30 pounds by eating right. more fresh foods, not as much packaged food, hardly any fast food. it makes a big difference. and why it might be a tad more expensive, it's not that much more expensive, and you'll be thankful at 77 rather than worrying about your health at 55 because you didn't eat right. when we first started dating, i thought my girlfriend was a bit obsessive about what she ate. it's because i wasn't eating smart, like she was. now, i am quite thankful - healthwise and because now she really likes the way i look.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)


Try The New Professional Chef's Techniques of Healthy Cooking. It's by the Culinary Institute of America, the top culinary school in the country. The CIA also operates a number of restaurants at the school in Hyde Park, N.Y., which will be awesomely beautiful when the leaves start to turn.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Dooley, you're reading far too much into my posts. In feeling good about myself, I mean about my general state of health. Not that I look great (because I still could use some work). I feel healthy. I could care less how others perceive how I look. I stopped caring once I got out of high school.

I want to be in great shape in my 50s. If you don't develop good habits in your 20s, you'll never achieve that, and inevitably, you'll end up battling health problems.

I'm just trying to offer up tips to people who are interested. Remember the freshman 15 in college? Mine was the freshman 40, and I've paid for it for the last 10 years. If you think offering up tips is narcicisstic self-love, then that's your problem.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Can't manage the Krispy Kremes, eh Dooley?

There's nothing narcissistic about taking care of your health. You choose to believe that it doesn't matter whether you're overweight, that it's a waste of time, that's your choice.

You mentioned earlier that people are better off playing with their kids than spending the time in the gym. I would suggest you do just that, FOR your kids. You'll lower your stress, and most likely live longer, despite your bizarre theory to the contrary.

I doubt anyone here measures his or her 'worth' by how great they look naked. But given the choice, I'd rather lay off the fries and go for a run in the park.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Flag,
Like I said, I wasn't trying to trash you. I'm simply saying that the tone of this thread is that you can't possibly be happy if you're not living in a gym and not wallowing in the labyrinth of what you can and cannot eat.

As jr. said, moderation is the key, and good self esteem to boot. I feel good about myself and I'm not smoking and I'm not drinking and scarfing pizza every night and I manage life's stresses well, so I'm confident if I never step in a gym again, I'll still live a long life (tho thanks for the concern about my imminent demise).

Not trying to be bizarre, just offering another view.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Dooley, we're cool ... didn't mean to come off sounding arrogant.

To be truthful, I really only spend about 4 - 4 1/2 hours a week in the gym. The way I see it, it's a small time investment that will pay off for me down the road. I haven't been blessed with the best genes, and that showed in college when I put on weight so easily.

As far as life's stresses — especially in this biz — there's nothing better than jamming some Metallica and hitting the weights to get rid of some of that excess stress.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Dooley with all due respect you make it sound like going to the gym is a negative or worse work. Have you considered the possibility that some folkes actually enjoy working out?

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Seabisket have you done any studies on creatine?

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Dooley, I think that's the point, basically -- to feel good about yourself. But by the amount of traffic on this thread, it seems pretty clear that ours is a profession in which it's pretty hard to take good care of yourself. Between the hours and the travel and the stress, it's a decent challenge to get to a point where you can balance the demands of your job and the demands of your health. I personally have foregone the gym this week in favor of 12-hour days. Now I feel yucky. I wish I could have balanced better. Now I'm going to take Hockey_Goon's advice and go walk around the office.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I will certainly grant you that people can and do enjoy it. I just don't like the strong implication that has popped up that if you can't or don't, you'll be negligent, prematurely dead or, worst of all, a few pounds overweight.
Just offering another view that there's much more to life than the body.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Great thread folks! I hope you'll let this newbie ramble a bit, and since this is my first post I'll try not to sound too green ...

This is a topic which has been near and dear to my heart (pun intended) since my first job. My very first SE tipped the scales close to three bills, and each night I had to watch him slam a couple of subs and at least three, 2 liter Pepsis per-night.

As a former college hockey player who was lucky enough to get a shot at the minors,I figured I had a pretty good idea of how to stay fit. But how horrified I became watching my newsroom collegues living little or no sleep, days-old coffee, doughnuts, pizza and whatever was rustled up from the corner deli. "Never. not me," I pledged.

Umm, yeah ...

The red flag came when I was invited to play in a media-NHL Alumni game and damn near passed out in front of a packed arena.

Long nights on the desk and those freakin' free eats PR staffs provide finally caught up with me, the way it sounds like it has with many of you. It's a demanding way of life, to be sure. But look at it this way, you're not going to break many stories hooked up to a cardiac monitor in an intensive care unit.

So here's what I did -- First, "86" the free eats. You'll be amazed at how clear and consise your copy will read when you're not worrying about dropping breaded pork chop crumbs, salsa or wing sauce into your laptop keyboard.

Second -- LEAN, LEAN, LEAN your diet(but not so much with the frozen "lean" meals - sodium and preservatives, yuck) I started the morning with one bowl of Wheaties (Breakfast of ... well, you know), then a diet shake when you're busy PMs (I chose "Slim Fast") then a normal, balanced dinner (chicken, pasta or lean red meat with a starch) with a salad. If you have to work eves like most of us sports hacks, eat dinner around 4 pm or so.

Third -- Workout! Now I've ALWAYS hated going to the gym, but my girl is a gym-rat, so it makes it easier to go lift. Stay away from the creatines or the fat-burner, stacker shakes. I tried creatine, and it only helps you build muscle if you work out like a muther for hours a day (time none of us have). As for stacker and the like, see Steve Bechler for details.

And do something you like, or hopefully love. My sked is busier in the winter than the summer, so I just play pickup hockey in the winter but baseball in the summer. Using this program I went from 240 lbs to 214, and my batting average went from .260 to .320. I can assure you it's not from talent.

Then again, the other day someone brought in some KKremes, and I went 2-for-4, so go figure ...

But you have to have the mindset to do this. We all have to meet deadlines, either to file a story, send a page off the floor, whatever. Make the time and think of this as a deadline that you HAVE to meet.

Good Luck!

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Tremendous thread, especially this week.

I've had a frustrating time of this myself lately. I began the year determined to lose 41 lbs (from 216 to 175). I turn 30 this year, and I figured it was time to get into exercise again and begin maintaining a healthy diet. Most importantly, my dad--who has had some health problems in his 50s--had a serious discussion with me last Xmas about how getting in shape now might allow me to avoid some of the problems he's having.

I was doing great for about four months. Got into running, played volleyball every week at the Y, ate well, went cold turkey on soda, dropped about 22 lbs. Found that a Lean Pocket and a yogurt after working out satisfied my hunger.

Then baseball season started. I still played volleyball once a week, but ran less, ate worse, drank a lot of soda and stopped losing weight.

Then the Y stopped offering free volleyball every week. Then I got a shitload of new assignments. Stopped running. Began eating like a pig. Began sucking down Mountain Dew by the bottle again. Began packing on the pounds. Pushing 210 now, and boy am I thrilled. Just got back from work and ate Pizza Hut, even though I was mad at myself with every bite.

The events of this week have really sobered me. Starting Monday, I'm back on track (won't start any sooner becaues I have a wedding to go to this weekend). Going to start running and lifting and hopefully playing volleyball soon. Maybe I can shed what I've gained by Xmas.

Stupid thing is I really enjoyed working out this year. I felt better about myself and enjoyed pushing myself a little bit further every day. So why the hell did I stop? Does anyone have advice on how to keep plowing ahead when you hit a wall or are tempted to eat the double order of Oreo Madness at Fridays?