Why French People Stay So Thin

When the topic of international food comes up, soemone never fails to ask how it can be that French people stay so thin when they eat a diet of croissants, crepes, cheese and wine? (Before we go too far, research is showing that obesity is slowing becoming an epidemic there as well--just not as fast or as widespread as in America.) But, having spent a week and a half in Paris last month, I can say that almost all Parisians are very thin--I remember thinking a few days into the trip that a very overweight person would almost stick out in that population. I've got a few theories as to why they keep their weight in check even amongst the deliciacies of French food (as seen here):

1. Portion control. You don't see people eating large amounts of food, even at dinner time. The meat portions were significantly smaller than ours. Even their McDonalds are healthier than ours: their "large" versions of fries, sodas and McFlurries would be America's small size. Free re-fills are unheard of anywhere. Unlimited soft drinks, neverending pasta bowls, endless shrimp and bottomless fries are phrases that you would never hear there--and really, do any of us NEED a second bowl of pasta at dinner or more fries than what originally came out? You might say that you need a few refills on your soda, but would you say the same if you had to pay for each one?

2. Leisurely eating. Studies show over and over that when you rush, you overeat. We've all heard that it takes around 20 minutes for the brain to signal to the stomach that you are full. French people are notorious for sitting around at dinner for 2-3 hours, and when you are in no rush and have nowhere to be, you have more time to savor each bite and get an earlier signal that you are full. A very common sight in Paris is someone leisurely eating at a sidewalk cafe while they read a book or catch up with a friend (granted, they light up a few cigarettes in there too, but that's besides the point here....).

3. All-natural ingredients. True, French people may eat a lot of breads, desserts, wine and rich add-ons like Nutella and Bearnaise sauce, but what you don't see in restaurants or sidewalk food stands is an abundance of processed food. Croissants are made out of the real stuff: eggs, flour, sugar, cocoa, milk, etc. Not diet this or fat-free that, and in general, no overdose on chemicals that you can't pronounce. If you order a pizza at a restaurant, it's fresh dough, baked with fresh meats, cheeses and vegetables--not something that's been pre-made and then loaded with preservatives to make its shelf-life longer.

What if we thought less about "diet" food how much we're "allowed" to eat in a day and thought more about eating real food and eating intuitively?

Food for Thought

If you think you can always trust the FDA to tell you how many calories you're consuming in some of your favorite prodcuts, think again. Here are a couple tid-bits I learned from Jillian Michaels' Maximize Your Life tour. This is not meant to bash any of these products, but rather to learn tricks that companies are legally allowed to use to better market their product....but negatively affect your waistline.

Take, "I Can't Belive it's Not Butter" spray for instance. (Personally, I love to use this product with corn-on-the-cob. Spray the butter with one hand while you spin the corn with the other. Genius.) It says zero calories, and why would you think to question that? Here's why you should: if a serving size of any food/drink has less than 1 calorie, they are allowed to round down on the nutrition label. One serving size of this butter spray is 1 1/4 spray, which has 0.9 calories. So, the FDA allows them to call it zero. Consider that if you spray your baked potato 10 times, that's basically 10 calories--pretty insignificant, but Jillian says the entire bottle has something like 1,200 calories! Much different than the "zero" on the label.

This one is pretty obvious, but it's something I hadn't really thought about until Jillian said it. We all know that nutrition labels list the ingredients in the order of highest amount. On any given granola bar nutrition label, you'll see that the main ingredients are things like oats, flour, etc. Seems like actual, real food, huh? But you might also see names like dextrose, fructose, sucralose or any other "-ose" word. New flash: these are all names for SUGAR. So, why do they include 4 different kinds of sugar in one product? Because if they only used one, it would be listed as the MAIN ingredient. But, when they use smaller amounts of different kinds of sugar, the main ingredients are still allowed to be listed as things like oats. Sneaky.... If granola bars are one of your staple foods, you're better off making them yourself. Try this homemade granola bar recipe.

To Go Organic or Not Go Organic?

That is the question. Often in the world of health, it's just assumed that organic is always better. It's become this belief that if the O-word is in any part of the food's name, it's automatically "cleaner," "more natural," and less likely to cause disease, obesity, you name it. You can't blame the people who assume this, because in a world of information, how does one decipher the truth unless you have formal education on the topic? Some people choose organic just for the trend. Others might want organic, but can't afford the price sticker. Still others (probably most) are just confused on the whole thing.

Here is my stance, as a fitness professional and also someone who works at a large agricultural company. I've learned that when used properly, many chemicals, pesticides and genetic modifications have NO adverse effect on the human body. The company I work at engages in very responsible care of their products and techniques and have employees whose sole job is to study and report any adverse effects. We all hear horror stories of what goes into non-organic food...things like human feces, garbage, any chemical under the sun. You might as well drink a can of bug spray, right? However, when you look at specific case studies of where negative impacts were found on human health, many times it's because the offending product was used in a way that it was never intended to be used, like in too large of an amount that obstructed the product's directions for use. Can you always be sure that the food you buy was grown properly? No. But I would tend to blame the parties responsible for growing the food, not the product or company of the product itself.

I am by no means an expert on crop growing or organics--I leave that to the people who make it their profession--but here is what I can say. After working at this company for 5 years now, I have never met more educated, innovative people who are passionate about science and health--not just today but also for the future. If there was any question as to whether or not what they are doing is harmful to anyone's health or welfare, they would not be doing it. Is it too hard to believe that in 2013 we are capable of making chemicals that don't harm your health? No!!

Taking a different angle, choosing whether or not to eat organically is fine for someone in a country such as America where we have that luxury. Consider the fact that without any form of chemical or modification for crops, an overwhelming percentage of the world's food supply would be gone. Wiped out. Again, for America, food supply is never an issue, but imagine how quickly conditions would deteriorate worldwide with attempts to only go organic.

The world needs both sides, organic and otherwise, to function at its best. My only request is to do your research. When you say you are researching going organic, are you also researching the other side? Not many people do, leaving them with a very "educated," one-sided viewpoint. If you do choose to buy organic, do you know why you are doing so? If your answer is simply because you truly prefer the taste, that's fine, as long as you have a reason! If you are buying organic foods because you are concerned about chemicals or poisons in your body, then are you also doing the same for any other products you put on your body? Shampoo, soap, makeup?

Read. Research. Repeat.

2013 Fitness Highlight Reel

After a 6 week stretch of no blogging, I'm back! For the sake of time, I'm going to highlight the biggest events of the past month and a half and answer the most FAQ's from my friends and co-workers...

What happened to Insanity? I tried my best, I really did. But as I've mentioned before, trying to tackle an Insanity workout 4-5 days per week, plus Mini training, plus that other thing called my JOB where I teach classes all week did not work out. After dealing with a lot of lower back pain, multiple colds, and a constant feeling of exhaustion, I had to give Insanity up completely. Chad, however, kept at it at least 4 days per week and saw great results. He didn't lose many pounds, but his percent body fat, overall appearance and stamina really improved for just a 60-day time span. I would like to incorporate one Insanity video per week into my workout schedule--on a day where I'm not already teaching spin class or doing a long run. You're always guaranteed to get a great, hardcore workout, and we all need someone like Shaun T telling us what to do every now and then for a good kick in the butt!

Did the weather during Mini training ever improve? Short answer: no. On our 11 mile run, starting at mile 2, we had a torrential downpour, thunder and lightning. Although the rain cleared off into occasional light sprinkles after that, we were drenched for the entire run. Like clothes sticking, shoes sloshing, WET. Surprisingly, bad weather aside, the 9, 10 and 11 mile runs were all great ones for me--comfortable pace, felt good on my body and the time always seemed to fly by each week.

Then, something called vacation happened. And not just any vacation, but an international trip to Paris where my total time off work (and exercise) spanned 12 days. I returned to work on April 24th: the night of our 12 mile run. It was a day where we had a late April cold snap, but at that point, we were all used to running in frigid weather, so the low 40's didn't feel so bad. I had only intended to try to do around 8 miles, but at 8 I still felt fine, so I just kept making deals with myself: get to 9, then you can have your gel pack as a treat, get to 10, then leave the group if you need to. Then, once I made it past 10, there was no turning back, because my only choice was to keep running to get back to our starting point where my car was. It wasn't pretty towards the end, and my legs felt like concrete, but I ran the whole 12.67 miles that night (the person who mapped our route underestimated the mileage a bit.....).

As luck would have it, for our very last training run before the Mini, the temp was in the 80's and humid. Even though it was just 3 miles for taper week, it was the only run where I actually had to stop to walk a couple times because I thought I was going to get sick. Just when you think you're well-trained, throw in one tiny element like weather you're not used to, and you feel like such a weakling!

So, how did the Mini go? The race went well--I felt good the whole time, I had 2 friends from work that I ran the race with, and I was happy with my finish time. It was my second-to-worst time ever for a half-marathon...2:06. But I'm not disappointed, because with the slower pace that I had been training at (9:30), the way my last few runs had gone, and my overall attitude this year of not really wanting to run the Mini in the first place, I knew there was no way I was going to break 2 hours. So, that automatically made it my worst time ever, since the only time I've been over 2 hours was my very first Mini when I finished in 2:15. But, not every year can be a PR. To finish and to run all 13.1 is an accomplishment any day! This is the headband I bought for the Mini, which pretty much sums up my feelings this year.



What is Jillian Michaels like in person? Yes, one of my life-long dreams to see Jillian Michaels was finally realized. Between that and going to Paris, I can now die happy. (I'm just slightly exaggerating.) She is pretty much the same on-stage speaking as she is on Biggest Loser. Not quite as mean, but not exactly someone you would call lovable. But the woman speaks the truth, and is pretty comical on-stage too. This was her Maximize Your Life tour, so I didn't really know what to expect, nor did I really care what she talked about, as long as I got to be in the same room as her. It turned out to be a 2.5 hour session where she spent the first half talking about all the nutrition and exercise basics (sort of like sitting in a college class for me) and then saving the second half for her motivational speech about getting out of ruts and obstacles to realize the life we all deserve. Most of what she said about nutrition dealt with not eating "poison." Instead of stressing what types of food groups to eat, it was about eating on a scale of 1-10 where ones are "superfoods" (blueberries, almonds, spinach, salmon, etc.) and tens are absolute junk like soda and donuts. So, the goal is eating more 1-5 foods, and avoiding eating chemicals in your meats, dairy and produce. Here are the lists that she left us with. I will be writing another post shortly about my stance on organic, but for now, here are Jillian's lists for produce shopping:

What Half-Marathon Training is Like in Indiana

We Hoosiers complain about it all the time...the weather. It's too cold (like wind chill of -20 this past January) or it's too hot (100+ degrees last summer). So I'm not going to bore everyone by complaining about the weather again. What I AM going to complain about is the fact that in the past 3 months, the snow and/or freezing temps always choose to arrive on Wednesday. It's like the curse of nasty-weather Wednesdays. Which is unfortunate for me and my co-workers, because that is the night of our Mini Marathon training. Let's take a look at my "weather journal" for the past 9 Wednesdays:

1/30: 3 mile run. Alternating between snow and rain, with wind so hard that when the snow hits your face, our participants described it as microdermabrasion.
2/6: 4 mile run. Just plain cold.
2/13: 5 mile run. Just plain cold.
2/20: 6 mile run. The day's high temp was in the 20's. SO incredibly cold that I could not feel my legs, fingers, lips or eyeballs. Until I got back inside and everything thawed out and BURNED.
2/27: 7 mile run. Warmer (30's! Woo!) but with a constant downpour of huge, heavy snowflakes that blew in our faces the entire time no matter if we were down-wind or up-wind. By far the most soaked I've ever been after a run.
3/6: 4 mile run. The day after a big snowfall, so although it was not falling during the run, we were running ON snow and ice patches.
3/13: 8 mile run. Just plain cold.
3/20: 9 mile run. Temp is currently 31--highest it's been all day--and windy. What I can only expect will be another miserably cold, numb run.

At this point, I would just be happy with high 40's or any temperature that eliminates the need for my hat, gloves and thermal fleece vest.

And, because it's Indiana, this date last year was 85 degrees...which I would not have wanted to run 9 miles in either....

How Much Exercise is Too Much?

Ok, I finally admit it. Agreeing to do Insanity every morning with Chad before work was a bad idea. I'm still mustering up as much energy as I can each day to exercise with him for the accountability and encouragement, but speaking for my own fitness and health, it's really NOT working out. To think that I could do Insanity 5x/week, combined with Mini-Marathon training 3x/week and Jillian Michaels' Hot Bod in a Box 1x/week (this month's boot camp series) on TOP of teaching my group fitness classes was really overestimating the strength of one human body.

I've started to live in a constant state of lower back and hip pain/tightness from the sudden increase in running and then all of the up/down, bending over cardio in Insanity (things like burpees, ski abs, hit the floor drills, etc). I've been suspect to IT band sydrome in the past with running, and now with the overload on my muscles, I can feel major issues coming on in my left hip. As for my low back, the only time it's comfortable is either when I'm stretching it or when I'm sitting in my car with the heated leather seats on full-blast. Every time I stand up from my office chair, I have to hobble around until my back loosens up enough to stand up straight and walk normally. My saving grace has become yoga, foam rolling and weekly visits with the guys at CHAMP Chiropractic and our massage therapist Beth Weaver.

For the "Recovery Week" in between months 1 and 2 of Insanity, I did just that--recovered by NOT doing any of the videos. (Because of course I still had my weekly runs and classes.) Shaun T's definition of recovery is not at ALL the same as mine. You still do many of the same cardio drills but at a "slower" pace. Chad successfully completed all 5 days of recovery, and we're now into the first week of month 2. After Mon-Tues of incredibly hard Insanity videos (oh yeah, they're 60 minutes now instead of 40), I took Wed-Thurs off and made Chad go it alone. We will get in the 5th workout tomorrow (Saturday) since it dawned on us that we both are free--so why get up early and work out Friday morning if we can on Saturday around 11?!

I have to realize I'm not an Olympic athlete in training. While I would like to say that I completed the entire series of Insantiy, it's not looking like a feasible or wise choice. Training for the Mini has to be one of my top priorities this year, since I'm leading a pace group each week. I can't get injured this early into the training when we're only up to 6 miles. I'm still struggling to figure out how many Insanity workouts per week I can realisitcally do, and also which days.

As fitness professionals, we always preach listening to your body. But when our own bodies tell us to stop or slow down, we aren't as compliant.

Insanity Week 3 Updates

We're on week three of Insanity now. My body has at least adjusted to the early mornings--I now wake up between 6:30-7 (instead of my usual 8:00), even on days where we don't have to do the workouts. We've been finding oursevles going to bed around 9:30pm and being more conscious of what we eat for dinner, because you have to think about how it's going to feel in your stomach when you're jumping around doing a plyo workout the next morning. Chad and I have both gotten colds/fevers since starting Insanity, but that's hard to say yet if it's just because flu season germs are still going around, or if it's because our bodies are so exhausted.

The workouts themselves don't get easier; I think your body just gets more used to them. You can always go faster or harder to match the speed they are going at on the video, so as your fitness level improves on each workout, you can work harder and still be just as tired as you were in week one. Each day we do a video, we'll say "THIS is the hardest one." But we've narrowed it down to the Plyometric Cardio Circuits as the hardest/worst one, with Pure Cardio as a close second!

I have to say, I'm not a fan of a lot of the body positions Shuan T has you in. For instance, when you're doing hamstring and hip flexor stretches, he has you keep your arms straight out away from your body while you bend down. The first few days of the workout, I started having low back pain, and once I stopped holding my arms out the whole time, it got better. When I got my YogaFit certification, that was one of the BIG no-no's: having someone bend down with their arms straight out. It's usually recommended that you would do what's called a "swan dive" and bring the arms out to the sides of your body as you lower down for less strain, (i.e. shortening the lever).

I'm also not a fan of his Cardio Abs workout for that same reason: uncomfortable body positions. By the end of the 10-minute ab workout, I'm feeling it in my tailbone and hips because he has you sit in "C shape" the entire time (see below). Again, that was something we were taught as group fitness instructors; you can't have someone in the same body position for more than just a couple minutes, otherwise you start feeling the workouts in places like bones/joints, not the intended muscles.

What I do really like about Shaun T's style is his constant focus on form and the core. If we're doing high knees, he keeps stressing using your abs to pull up. His constant reminders make you focus on the whole body, not just "getting ripped" like you might expect from his personality and appearance. I treat core the same way when I instruct people--for example, even if you're doing a shoulder press, your abs should be engaged so the spine stays straight and the back doesn't arch. Constant attention and engagement of the core practically eliminates the need for standard crunches and traditional ab workouts.

That's my "review" so far. Still have to see what the dreaded month 2 brings...