Touching in the Gym: People Skills 101

I wonder what the Yoga Guru would have said about this kind of yogic touching.

My friends paid a boy to kiss me. I was sweet sixteen and never been kissed - a fact that I remain unapologetic about to this day - but my friends decided that the best birthday present they could give me would be a soft-lipped hottie to revoke my VL membership. It didn't quite turn out the way they had planned. First of all, the only person they could come up with was a random frat boy from the local university. I don't think any of us, least of all me, even knew his name. Second, they paid him $20 which given the state of his hygeine I think he should have paid me.

Much to my parents' amusement, my friends tarted me up (which in those days involved a lot of black eyeliner, ratty clothing and jewelry with spiders on it) and then trotted me off to meet said boy. He was behind a friend's house, half hidden in the shadows like some kind of pervert. Which, given his age, my age and the circumstances, he kind of was. Before I could even get a good look at him (floppy hair, acne, muscley arms), he growled, "So how you wanna do this?"

I snorted, adjusted my goth jewelry and growled back, "I don't know. I'm the amateur here, remember?"

And so I got a "cat's butt kiss" - aptly christened by my high school friend T to describe the similarity between my tightly puckered mouth and and the business end of a feline - for my first kiss.

"What was it like?" my friends all shrieked before The Hired Help was even out of ear shot.

"Like kissing my dad."

He hung his head. I blushed. Everyone was humiliated. Mission accomplished.

This little episode of Bad Touch 101 was brought to mind the other day when I asked a Yoga Guru a question and she gave me a totally unexpected answer.

My Yoga Question: "My instructor never adjusts me. Is it appropriate to ask her to do so? She seems to be "hands off" in general but otherwise a good teacher." (Backstory: I love yoga. In every yoga class I've ever taken, the teacher has always done little manual adjustments to my form. It helps. I can't see myself when I'm upside down. And a teeny adjustment can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of the pose.)

The Yoga Guru's Answer: Is very long. But in summary they basically said that I might be a perv. Or the teacher might be a perv. Or perhaps neither one of us are pervs but instead might have been touched by pervs in the past (which, as you all know, I have) and therefore might interpret any touch as pervy. It was all very My Body, My Rules from eighth grade health class.

Bad Touch
It was not what I had expected. But it sure did give me a lot to think about because gyms are a unique environment for touching, both good and bad. Most of the girls I know have had some kind of workout experience involving bad touch from a man - usually just a touch or a pat done accidentally-on-purpose. (Another classic is the boob-squishage hug also known as the reason I will only sweaty hug girls now.) My last memorable experience of this type involved a man who, over the course of a five-minute conversation, kept moving closer and closer to me. To which I responded by stepping farther and farther back. Until I was literally up against a wall. I actually had to duck under his arm and push him out of my way to end the conversation. Which thankfully he let me do. I don't think he meant me any harm. I think he was just oblivious. But it still made my heart pound in a very uncomfortable way.

The opposite may also be true although I don't have any first-hand knowledge of it. Any of you guys ever been on the receiving end of unwanted attention at the gym?

Good Touch
The thing is, the gym is a great place to practice good touching. A high five, a pat on the shoulder, a form correction or a close spot can all be good, helpful things. I've been known to give Gym Buddy Allison a big sweaty hug on occasion. And Gym Buddy Megan smacks my rear when she laps me on the track - a kind of combination giddyap-girl and friendly hello. Although you really have to be careful with the butt-smacking: I once had a boot-camp instructor smack the woman in front of me on the rear. I was so appalled I almost considered quitting the class right then and there. He must have seen my face because when he caught up to me on the next lap he explained the woman was his wife and that he would never, ever touch anyone else's tushie. And he's kept good on that promise, thank heavens.

Weird Touch
And then there's weird touch. Gyms are a hot bed of weird touch. Like when a male friend and I were running side-by-side in bootcamp one day and his arm hit my arm and whacked my hand down onto his thigh. Both of us blushed redder than the fire hydrant that he had dodged, which caused the embarrassing accident in the first place. He spent the next solid mile apologizing. And I spent the next mile after that telling him he didn't need to apologize.

Or just last week in Hip Hop, Turbo Jennie and I were dancing in near proximity to each other when she turned towards me at the exact moment I was doing some variation of the rodeo/who's-your-daddy move and it was all Girls Gone Wild up in there for about 3 seconds. "Keep it g-rated, Charlotte!" she yelled and I was so embarrassed that I flubbed the next 4 measures. Yeah, I accidentally freaked on my aerobics instructor.

Awkward.

Touchy Feely
So let this be a lesson to you: don't be me. Oh, wait. No, the lesson here is that there are rules and the rules are there for a reason. And the rules state that you are never to touch anyone, anywhere, for any reason. And if you decide to thwart rule number one, then you must publicly declare - preferably in writing - your intentions and the expected result. And if you still insist on touching, then at least offer to take me to dinner first.

So, enough of my embarrassing moments! Let's hear yours!! Good touch, bad touch or weird touch - what's your story of gym awkwardness? Can anyone top me for the worst first kiss ever??

Workout Leaving You Lightheaded? [The side effect of exercise no one talks about]

www.marriedtothesea.com

Gym Buddy Allison and I share many similarities: young children, a deep love of garage sales and thrift stores, and the same dark hair/light skin that always makes people ask us if we are sisters. Or just confuse one of us for the other. (Hint: she's the taller one with whiter teeth and shiny hair - basically what would happen if the Old Spice Guy knocked up the Pantene lady.) Recently we discovered we also share something else, albeit a mite more disconcerting than our preoccupation with our body fat percentage: We faint.

That's right, a condition normally associated with overly sensitive (or just overly corsetted) 19th-century rich ladies is felling super healthy Gym Buddies left and right. And it's not just fainting but general light-headedness, dizziness and blacked out vision. Before anyone wigs out, it's not as scary as it sounds, it only happens under certain circumstances and... it's perfectly normal. Um, what?

Called Orthostatic Hypotension, it's a seldom talked about side effect of exercise. While one of the known (great) side effects of exercise is lowered blood pressure, this can turn into a bit of a problem in situations that further lower your blood pressure such as suddenly stopping a vigorous exercise or suddenly changing positions. (I think I'm suddenly seeing a pattern!) Avid exercisers that already have low blood pressure are at particular risk for this. As ehow.com explains,

"Exercise can cause sudden changes in blood pressure. A change of 20 points in your blood pressure can cause you dizziness or even fainting. This happens because for that moment the brain isn't getting enough blood. Athletes and those who exercise regularly tend to have lower blood pressure and slower heart rate. So a sudden drop of 20 points could easily put an athlete into the realm of low blood pressure."

I found this out the hard way the other day while kneeling on my floor sorting ultra-adorable girly baby clothes for the Jelly Bean. (She has a silver tulle tutu! With silver patent-leather mary janes! Squeee!) I stood up to hang a dress in her closet and all of a sudden I'm hot, nauseated and my vision is all black. And next thing I know I'm slumped against the closet door on the floor with Jelly Bean staring at me with the cutest bewildered expression on her little squishy face.

This is not the first time I have experienced something like this. My normal blood pressure is usually around 85 over 60 although it's been measured lower and my resting heart rate is about 47 beats per minute. Because of this, my predilection to swoon has become a joke with my husband as I've fainted at least twice with each pregnancy. (Pregnancy is another condition that lowers your blood pressure.) But non-preggo fainting is pretty rare for me. More commonly I'm just dizzy, light-headed, nauseated and have spotty vision for a few seconds. It's remedied by remembering to stand up slowly and steadying myself with a wall or chair for a few seconds until the feeling passes. Except for the rare occasion when I actually hit the floor, these spells are barely noticeable and are not very bothersome to me.

The gym, however, amplifies these - both in intensity and in danger. For instance after doing Tabata sprints around the track with Allison one day, we both reeled to the floor in a strange, slow fall. It seems to have been a combination of working so hard and then stopping so suddenly (we were not going to run even one extra step at that level of exertion, much less take a cool-down lap!) that brought both of us momentarily insensate. Similar to that, while doing my long runs I'm fine but the second I stop running (which of course I do immediately because I'm a "sprint to the finish line" kind of girl) I usually have to sit down for a few seconds on the end of my treadmill and wait for my vision to clear before I can walk to the paper towel dispenser and spritz my 'mill down with ineffective-yet-mandatory cleaning spray.

So what about you - have you ever fainted? Locked your knees during your choir concert? Forgotten to drink water during gym class in a heat wave? Do you get dizzy etc. upon changing positions or stopping intense exercise? Any other good side effects of healthy living that end up bad?

Fasting: How Religion Influences Exercise

We've been one Gym Buddy short in the gym this past month and it's not because she got sick of us randomly drinking out of her water bottle. (Dear Target, when you decide to sell BPA-free water bottles at a ridiculously low price please have more than two colors available as we are easily confused, especially after running Tabata sprints. Sincerely, The Gym Buddies.) Ramadan, the month-long fast observed by most Muslims, is the reason Gym Buddy Krista has temporarily gone M.I.A.. For some reason she doesn't feel like working out when abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours which, since Ramadan falls in August this year, means she fasts from about 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. - gotta love living on the 45th parallel!

Hmm... which one is Krista? I'll give you a hint: she's wearing black.

I can relate. In a previous post I mentioned how, as a Mormon, I fast at least once a month for a full 24 hour period. Sagan of Living Healthy in the Real World, asked me to write a post about my experience with voluntary starvation.

Spiritual Benefits
First, I would like to say that for me, fasting is primarily a religious endeavor, a matter of faith. Fasting isn't just about not eating and drinking but is primarily about building a closer relationship with God. The 24 hours is supposed to be a time of prayer, meditation and study. In addition, we donate the money we would have spent on food to the poor and needy in our area so as to keep our focus on serving others. I'm not going to lie: going that long without food or water isn't easy and sometimes it makes me seriously grouchy but I'm not perfect and if anyone knows that, it's God. I figure He's pretty forgiving when I make the kids eat PB&J's because I don't want to cook them something I'm going to have to smell and drool over.

Physical Benefits
That said, there are a lot of benefits to fasting (or intermittent fasting, "IF", as if is often referred to) that extend quite firmly into the physical sphere. Long considered the purview of the incense-and-nutritional-yeast crowd or filed under The Weird Things Hollywood Types Do, fasting isn't generally on most people's radar. But recent research shows that this primitive survival technique may actually have some impressive health benefits.

New research from the American Heart Association found that people who fasted were 39% less likely to have coronary artery disease. This study looked at a sample of 4500 men and women, 90% of whom were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons. Previously researchers had thought that the Mormons' lower risk of heart disease was due to their religious prohibition against smoking but researchers were surprised to find it most correlated to the monthly 24-hour fasts that adherents practice.

In addition to the heart benefits, Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple and guru of all things IF cites a study that showed, ""health benefits... in insulin resistance, asthma, seasonal allergies, infectious diseases of viral, bacterial and fungal origin (viral URI, recurrent bacterial tonsillitis, chronic sinusitis, periodontal disease), autoimmune disorder (rheumatoid arthritis), osteoarthritis, symptoms due to CNS inflammatory lesions (Tourette's, Meniere's) cardiac arrhythmias (PVCs, atrial fibrillation), menopause related hot flashes." Mark is so convinced of the benefits that he has made fasting one of the primary points of his Primal Blueprint and encourages everyone to try it. Many other studies support the health benefits of fasting including increased insulin sensitivity, faster healing from injury, cellular rejuvenation, decreased blood pressure, reduction in oxidative damage, less type 2 diabetes, less cancer, less cardiovascular disease, protection against heart disease and - the holy grail of health nuts - decreased fat mass. Who wouldn't want all that awesomeness??

Psychological Benefits
Another benefit of fasting, according to Dr. Judith Beck, author of the popular Beck Diet Solution is that it helps you to see that "hunger is not an emergency." So many dieters derail from their carefully planned meals when the hunger pains strike because they think they are starving. They think that if they don't eat immediately then they will be overwhelmed by their hunger when the truth is that hunger waxes and wanes and you will not die if you don't eat for a few hours. Dr. Beck points out that once her patients fast for at least one meal, they see for themselves that they can survive and thrive despite hunger that their cravings have less power over them and it becomes easier to stick with that diet.

But...
Many people, especially hard-core fitness types (ahem, my name is Charlotte and I'm an addict...), fear if they don't get some nutrition every 3-5 hours then they will lose muscle and kill their metabolisms. Actually the opposite is true, according to Mark Sisson (the man with all the answers). "It all makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, because our predecessors almost certainly went through regular cycles where food was either abundant or very scarce. The body may have established protective mechanisms to adapt to these conditions by sensitizing insulin receptors when it was critical that every bit of food be efficiently used or stored (as in famine), or by desensitizing them when there was a surplus, so the body wouldn’t be overly-burdened by grossly excessive calorie intake."

Food is great. It's delicious (usually) and fun to eat and everyone, everywhere needs to eat it. Going against this primal urge is difficult, especially at first. While there are, of course, reasons why some should not attempt fasting (if you are struggling with an eating disorder, for instance, or diabetic or hypoglycemic) for most of us it can be an awesome experience on many levels.

To try it, pick a day when you don't have a lot going on (the day of your big presentation or your final exam is probably not the best time to start this) - I usually choose my rest day so I don't have to worry about dying of thirst after a run - and just plan to skip a meal*. Then try skipping two. The type of fast you do - juice, water only, full abstinence - is up to you. There are as many types as there are people. Just take careful note of how it makes you feel and what, if any, differences you notice. Fasting may be the cheapest and simplest health "products" out there! (Note I did not say "easiest".)

Caveat: When people discover that I fast, they generally say "Oh, you must lose so much weight!" This would not be true. Both Krista and I have noticed that fasting does not cause either of us to lose weight. While the research shows that fasting, over a long period of time, can help you maintain a healthy weight, it doesn't work like a crash diet dropping 10 pounds in 10 days.

Have I convinced you to try it? Have any of you fasted before? What kind did you do and how did it make you feel? Do any of you have religious practices that affect your workout? Ever drank out of a stranger's water bottle by mistake?

*Be smart. Check with your doctor first if you have any health concerns. I am not a doctor, a nurse, a guru of anything or even all that smart sometimes (as evidenced by my massive collection of ridiculous footwear). If you start to feel sick, stop immediately.

5 Things to Consider Before Going Vegetarian

Thanks to high-profile celebs like Alicia Silverstone (vegan), Posh Victoria Spice Beckham etc. etc. etc. (vegetarian), and Amanda Seyfried (raw foodist but hates it since she's only doing it to stay Hollywood skinny), going vegetarian or vegan is all the rage these days. Despite my general skepticism of anything touted by a celebrity, since I happen to be a vegetarian-by-choice-vegan-by-force-and-yes-I-still-eat-fish-atarian (For those of you keeping track, with the center free square I totally have a bingo! It spells C-R-A-Z-Y.) this is one trend I can get behind. So you'd think I'd be one of those exhibitionists standing in Times Square in a lettuce bikini and holding up posters of slaughterhouses. (Anyone else question the motives of the painted, dramatic, naked PETA girls? Meat whatever, oooh look there's a camera!)

The thing is, I'm a non-militant vegan. I'm going to end up on PETA's naughty list (like the no-fly list but with way more cavity searches) but I have to say it: being a vegetarian is not for everyone. And that's ok.

This weekend a good friend stumbled across Alicia Silverstone's blog (that's based off her book which I haven't read because honestly I already mostly eat that way and I'm not going to take fish out of my diet no matter how many times she tells me they squeal in psychic pain so I'll save my $20 thank you) and decided that she wants to try going vegan. So she did what any rational person would do: she got as far away as possible from me. No, actually she asked me - the girl with so many food issues I got on TV twice to exhibit all my crazy - for advice. Over a text message. For the love of little green apples girl, I can't even tell you my shoe size in a text much less explain my philosophy on food! So instead of an 8-word answer you get an 800-word one.

5 Things to Consider Before Going Vegetarian (Or Vegan or Raw)

1. Your motivation. Your reasons for going veg are going to be really important in deciding if this lifestyle is for you. You want to save the animals and/or the environment? Good answer, as long as you're really passionate about it. That reasoning sounds great until you're confronted with Uncle Lloyd's famous BBQ at the family reunion and you think, "Well heck this pig's already dead - at this point it will best benefit the environment in the form of manure via my brown-sugar-and-special-sauce poop!" Or perhaps you want to lose weight or get healthy? Those are great reasons but know that a veg diet isn't going to magically make those things happen. A Diet Coke and french fries are vegan but that doesn't make them health food. Bad reasons for going veg include "Because [insert celebrity] is doing it", "Because I've heard my poop won't smell" (Alicia Silverstone's on crack - your poop totally will still smell because it's made out of bacteria. You should worry if your poop doesn't smell.), or "Because I need to lose 10 pounds by Thursday."

2. Your social circle. It is a lot easier to eat veg if lots of your friends and/or family members do too. I'm not saying it's impossible to be the lone raw foodie at the annual hotdish potluck but it will be uncomfortable. And you will end a lot of dinner parties hungry. Unless you have the cajones to show up with a little tupperware of your own food, which I have never quite had the nerve to do - rather I just try to eat dinner before we go anywhere to dinner. Yes, it's as crazy as it sounds. So if you live in Cali and get stroll past that little vegan cafe every day on the way home from surfing, then this will be a lot easier transition than for those of us who live in the land where there has never been an event where sausage has not been served.

3. Your feelings about vegetables. You would think that this would be a given but I have known more than a few "vegetarians" who hate vegetables. I had one friend whose diet consisted solely of white flour, cheese and tomato sauce (i.e. spaghetti, cheese pizza, and tater tots with ketchup). And I used to shop with another vegan friend who filled her cart solely with prepackaged food-in-a-box. (Hint: white flour and sugar are still white flour and sugar even if the box says "organic enriched wheat flour" and "brown rice syrup.") If you want to reap the vast health benefits of the vegetarian lifestyle you need to eat vegetables.

4. Your free time and money. Like most healthy eating lifestyles, going veg will take either more of your time or more of your money. At first, probably both. Yes you can do veg very cheaply but it takes effort. Coconut oil is 8$ for a teeny little bottle but butter is $2 for the same amount. Lots of the specialty food items like nutritional yeast, tempeh, etc. can only be found at pricey health foods stores or on the Internet. Also, it is possible to go veg by eating an Amy's Organic frozen dish for every meal but chances are you are going to have to devote some extra time to looking up recipes and cooking. The other time-suck is if you have a family that you cook for, very often you end up making two meals - one for you and one for the omnivores - unless your whole house is ready to make this change. By far most of the vegetarians I know live in a meat-eating household and end up making some concessions to that.

5. Your tolerance of change. Are you a tiptoe-into-the-pool kind of girl or a rip-the-bandaid-off-and-cannonball-into-the-water gal? (If you are the latter, you'd better not leave that bandaid floating in the pool is all I'm saying.) Going vegan whole-hog (hee) is a huge lifestyle change. Pretty much everything that you are used to eating will be gone. The way you have learned to cook will be useless. All the items in your pantry become suspect. 99% of cookbooks won't apply to you or will need modifications. A simple trip to the grocery store can take you 3 hours as you interrogate every product you pick up (just ignore all the people staring at you talking to that eggplant - they're just jealous you can hear things they can't.) Some people like this total life overhaul and find it refreshing. Others get so freaked out when they realize how much animal products permeate their lives that they run screaming away and never look back.

I don't say all of this to discourage anyone from going vegetarian. I write this to manage your expectations because you'll have a better experience as a veg-head if you know what's coming down the pike. My advice to anyone is to give this lifestyle a try! There are enormous benefits to a plant-based lifestyle. But maybe work into it slowly. Try adding a vegetable to every meal. Try going meatless one day a week. Or three. Whatever you think you and your family can handle. Try a few vegetarian/vegan substitutes for foods you normally eat to see if you like them. (Me, I don't tolerate processed soy at all well - helllooo rancid gas! - so I avoid all the "burger" type stuff, soy milk, tofutti cuties and the like.) Try out some new veg recipes like the ones from Heather Eats Almond Butter or Averie of Loves Veggies and Yoga.

You don't have to go cold turkey (hee!) unless you want to. Something I have learned over the years of eating meat, not eating meat and everything in between is that there is a lot of judgment about food out there. There will always be someone freaking out about something you eat or don't eat so find where you are comfortable and where your body feels the best and then ignore everyone else.

What's your opinion on vegetarian diets? Have you ever tried one? What would you tell my friend? What do you think of vegetarians who will eat meat every once in a while? Should it be an all-or-nothing lifestyle?

Written By Charlotte Hilton Andersen for http://thegreatfitnessexperiment.blogspot.com only! Not to be re-published without permission.

Random Foot Pain While Running [Help a Reader Out]

People run funny. It's true. If you've ever set up camp next to a track and watched the funny mammals go round and round then you'll know that you don't need retinal scanning to uniquely identify someone - you just have to watch their running gait. (Although I hear it's hard to make dead bodies run so perhaps there is still a need for fingerprinting and the like. Or Voodoo.) I remember one woman at our Y known solely by the moniker "Pam Who Runs On Her Toes." And Pam was truly a sight to see, boinging up and down around the track like a gazelle wearing moon boots. Her legend lives on passed down from runner to runner despite the fact that I don't think she's worked out there for 3 years now.

The net result of all this weird running - besides good stories - is weird foot pain. While I myself have experienced shin splints and corns, and the Gym Buddies have had bouts of plantar fascitis, Reader Joshua's (of TechnicalParent) pain was all new:

I've never been a runner. Exercise wasn't something my parents instilled in me as a child. So, I've just started running and am kind of enjoying it. The only problem is that my feet are starting to hurt; not the arches, but the tops of my feet close to my toe joints. Do you know anything about the physiology of running? Am I doing this wrong in some way (obviously)? I guess I mean in terms of hitting the ground too hard, or not using my full foot and putting too much weight on the balls of my feet. Any help/advice would be appreciated, mostly by my feet, but the rest of me, too.

I replied oh-so-helpfully with three suggestions:

Congrats on taking up running! I'm glad you are enjoying it so far! I'm not an expert on foot pain but I do have a few ideas for you to consider:
1. Your shoes. Are they old? Are they actually running shoes (not cross trainers)?
2. Your stride. Have you ever had your stride analyzed? Are you a mid-foot striker? A heel-striker? Heaven help you, a toe runner? Most specialty running stores will analyze your gait for free and give you suggestions to make it more efficient.
3. Stretching. After each run, do "towel pick ups" to strenghten and stretch your toes. Drop a hand towel on the floor and then pick it up using your toes. Repeat... oh I don't know, a bunch of times:) I also like to write the alphabet with each foot to stretch my shins & feet.

Don't continue to run on it though if the pain is getting worse!

I should have just said, "Wow you're a freak! I've never heard of that!" and then shut up because really I have no idea. But I bet one of you knows what he's talking about! Have you ever had weird foot pain while running? Did you run through it or take a rest? What did you do to get past it?

Healthy Eating on a Budget (No Coupons Necessary!)

In college I had a coworker tell me she fed her family of 5 for less than a dollar a day. My first reaction was to be impressed because I as a single girl couldn't feed myself for a dollar a day much less anyone else. But then I remembered that this was the same woman who believed me when I told her at the company Christmas party that I had made the sugar cookies with the Santa face in the middle by painstakingly tinting three different colors of dough, shaping Santa Claus by hand and then rolling it all up into a log before cutting and cooking them. Yeah, they were totally those Pillsbury cookie rolls (that always remind me of the packages of liverwurst my dad used to eat on crackers) that the lazy among us use when we don't feel like cooking. So her judgement might have been a bit spotty when it comes to food, is what I'm saying. Sure enough my suspicions were confirmed when she invited me over for dinner. It turns out you can eat for less than a dollar a day - no telethon needed! - if all you eat is 25 cent mac-n-cheese and 8-for-a-dollar "hot dogs."

It has long been stated as fact by hand-wringing politicians that part of the very real toll on poor people's health is their lack of access to affordable healthy food. While I don't wish to minimize the plight of the poor, there are ways to eat cheaply while not getting rickets. I do not claim to be an expert at budgeting, cooking or, well anything really, and yet when I got this e-mail from Reader Brittney I got all giddy:

I know in the past you have mentioned having a grocery budget and your home baking (bread, etc) to help keep costs down. Would you mind sharing more of your cost saving tips with me? I searched your blog (maybe I missed it if you did a past post please let me know) but couldn't find one about that topic.

Brittney, girl, you are not alone. Who among us hasn't needed to do some belt tightening these days? Thanks to my good friend and money mentor Shellie, grocery budgeting has recently become my passion. See, Shellie manages to feed her family of 6 on a budget of 3-4$ per person/day and still stays true to her priority of feeding her kids organic fruits and veggies, whole grains and organic dairy. Here are a few tips I have picked up from her:

1. Make a month's menu in advance. It's really not as daunting as it sounds, especially when you consider that you eat the same 15 or so meals over and over again. Make a calendar and write down your dinner for that day. I like to add in some fun by making theme days like Fish Friday and Mexican Monday (we're not Catholic or Mexican but I can't resist a good alliteration!). I also have a crockpot day, a soup night and a vegetarian night where I shamelessly try to wean my family off their dependence on dead animals. Plus the kids each get to pick a meal each week that they choose, prep and help me cook.

2. From your menu, come up with a master grocery list and do ALL your shopping for the month in one ginormous trip. You can buy all your non-perishables for the month in one fell swoop and then just have a short list of 5 or 6 perishable items like produce and milk that you buy each week. At the beginning of each month I hit the super-discount food store Aldi first. Then I buy whatever I can't find there at Costco and Target. It's a lot of work but I leave the kids with my husband, buy myself a smoothie and call it a mini vacay.

These two steps alone have helped me slash (so violent!) my spending by HALF. It's amazing what having a list and sticking to it will do for your budget. Some people prefer to plan out two weeks in advance rather than a whole month and I say do whatever works best for you but keep in mind that every time you enter a store, you are going to see things you want to buy so just minimize the number of times you have to go in each store. (i.e. If I had to go into Costco every 2 weeks instead of once a month, I'd have to leave one of our children in hoc to pay the bill. Yeah, I love Costco that much.)


3. Cook more. So many things - but not everything! - are cheaper to make than to buy. While I totally suck at cooking, I do actually kind of enjoy it so it doesn't feel like a burden to me to cook a lot. Out of the 21 meals we eat every week, I cook (and clean up, SIGH) 20 of them. My good friend Beth rescued a used bread maker for me and I use that thing almost daily. I also make our breakfast foods in big batches so I can freeze them and reheat them for quicker mornings. (Apparently I'm obsessed with themes and alliteration because our breakfasts are: Monday muffins, Tuesday Toast & eggs, Wednesday waffles, Thursday (French) Toast, Friday Free-for-all meaning oatmeal, chicken sausage, soy patty "mcmuffins" or whatever. Saturday is the only day the kids get to eat cereal and then I make them mix the sugary stuff half and half with a healthier variety. Sundays are protein Smoothies.) I also make my own yogurt in the crockpot (not that I can eat it any more). Make the crock pot your new best friend. Home cooked meals don't have to be elaborate to be healthy and tasty!

4. Don't be afraid of discount stores. One of you commented on my post about food snobbery that you buy fresh produce at the dollar store. While my dollar store doesn't sell produce, they do have nuts, beans (canned & dry), canned fruits and veggies that are usually a good deal - not to mention the large array of cheap costume jewelry that I simply cannot resist. (Do the math though because sometimes the dollar store rips you off in container sizes.) Farmer's markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes - for those of you who live in an area where food can actually be grown (i.e. not Minnesota in the winter) - can be a gold mine of fresh*, local produce. Check out Asian and Hispanic markets in your area as well as specialty items are often much cheaper there. Plus you can call it a cultural experience and practice your "Donde esta el servicio?" skills!

5. Once the money's gone, it's gone. This is the hardest step. I spend over half my budget during that one massive shopping trip at the beginning of the month and if I haven't planned well and the money runs out before the next paycheck then I just don't buy anything else. It's tempting to whip out the ol' credit card but then you just start the next month in a hole. You'll be surprised what you have left in your fridge and cabinets! You may have to get creative but you probably won't starve.

You may have noticed one thing not on my list: coupons. There are lots of you out there who are much better homemakers than I am (probably all of you actually, you should see the state of my kitchen right now - you'd think we live in the Roadhouse Cafe what with all the pistachio shells littering the floor) and who have figured out the whole coupon thing. Whole websites exist dedicated to the art and science of couponing whereby you get free stuff - and sometimes even get them to pay you! - by combining store sales with coupons. Gym Buddy Allison is the Zen Master at couponing and I'm constantly amazed by what all she manages to get but for myself, I haven't figured out a way to do it in a time effective manner. I simply have too many kids to drag them into 6 different stores every week. So while I applaud those of you that do, I don't coupon. My point: You don't need to be a master cook or a coupon expert or a dumpster diver to eat very well for very cheaply.

This method works for me. It's not for everyone - there are many different ways to stretch a penny! Let me know your best healthy eating on a budget tip! Do you make your own pasta? Share a CSA box with a neighbor? Grow a garden? Ferment your own vanilla in a bottle of vodka hidden in the back of your closet??

Note: This tip courtesy of supermodel Angie Everhardt will save you money and help you lose weight but I wouldn't call it healthy. Turns out she lost all her baby weight by "going 3 or 4 days without eating." Nice.

*Thanks to all of you who pointed out in the comments of my Food Snobbery post that the purpose of eating organic foods is not just their possible health benefits but that it is better for the environment and is more sustainable in the long run. You are, of course, exactly right and I regret my overly narrow focus.

Changing a Negative Self Image [Aplogies All Around]

It is not often I feel genuinely sorry for celebrities and yet - have you seen the video of Giuliana Rancic pestering women on the red carpet at the Golden Globes about their diet secrets?! Jezebel provides a helpful mash-up:

Click thru to see the vid - it doesn't allow for embedding. Sorry!

It's a veritable body-image gauntlet. How is it that the most important question a reporter can think of to ask an actress is what her diet and exercise routine really REALLY is? Especially when said reporter is so waifish herself. Just watching it was like being sandblasted with body snark, jealousy, insecurity and shallowness. I can't imagine what it must have felt like in person. Made me love Christina Hendricks though with her, "Maybe you should eat more food and lay off the booze" admonition!

Actually, watching this vid made me think of how things have been around here at GFE lately: a hail storm of body image woes. A sweet reader recently e-mailed me saying, "I wish you wouldn't be so hard on yourself. Because when you're hard on yourself, it makes me hard on myself." Unless it's from joy, I don't often cry reading your e-mails (usually I snort liquids and make embarrassing noises trying to stifle my laughter) but this time I did.

I forget sometimes that I walk a fine line here by sharing all my deep-seated crazy - and there's been a serious uptick in insanity since the Jelly Bean has been born, I'm not going to lie to you - and holding all of you hostage on the crazy train with me. You should know that for every weight-loss thought that I write, I think 100 (1,000?) in my head. It's an illness, this self hatred.

The scale, the calories, the inches, the percentages: for years these numbers ruled my life and I don't want to go back there. Truly, I don't. But you should also know that every recent resurgence of my disordered eating has been after the birth of one of my children. Hormones, sleep deprivation and baby weight combine into this trifecta of evil that makes me so very hard on myself. Plus this time around my therapist, whom I loved dearly, is now working for the prison system and alas I am not a criminal.

And so I blog about all this trying to keep it transparent, thinking that if I'm accountable to all of you then perhaps I can avoid repeating past mistakes. But I forget that some of you are fragile too. And some of you are just sick of hearing about this. In retrospect, I don't know that it is helping me much to indulge in the negative self talk. Making excuses for my bad behavior just allows me to wallow in it instead of making the necessary changes.

I asked my sister today if it is possible to change one's entire personality. To let go of my Type A insanity and embrace a more mellow me. She said she believed I could with a lot of work. I hope so. I'm going to try. I'm not exactly sure how to go about it yet but I hope to be gentle in the process.

My sincerest apologies to those of you I have made sad, mad, crazy or just otherwise irritated. I'm going to cut the negative self talk in the future. I won't be perfect but I'm going to try. I love you guys too much not to. Hopefully I'll learn to love myself that much as well.

Thanks for your patience with me. We're all in this together, right? Where do you draw the line between a healthy dialogue and pointless obsessing? Anyone else want to smack Guiliana??

The Dreaded Weight Loss Plateau

You know the word. People whisper it furtively while tossing salt over their shoulder, knocking on wood and never letting Jon Gosselin cross their path. Men tear out their hair, women shriek and babies cry at its mere mention. It is the single most feared word in health and fitness circles.

Jillian.

Kidding.

It's "plateau."

As anyone who has ever lost weight, gained weight, lost muscle, built muscle and/or obsessively watched 24 knows, eventually all good things must come to an end. It the case of 24 that means Jack Bauer will be tortured but for the rest of us non-spy folks, it's a different kind of torture - the fitness plateau. Whether you are stuck at a certain weight or that you can't break through a specific performance barrier, the #1 question I get asked on this site (Why do people ask my advice? I'm as baffled as you are!) is "How do I break through a plateau?"

We've all been there. When you first start a new nutrition or exercise program you often see big results at the beginning. Then the excitement dies down and you settle in to moderate progress. But then - and it is inevitable - all progress ceases and try as you might you can't get any closer to your goal. You work harder, read more and annoy all your friends with your incessant whining and yet you are still stuck. You have plateaued.

I may not be an expert at plateau busting but I do know one thing: the psychological impact is immense. Tears, anger, bitterness, depression and even apathy are all common reactions. Nothing is more frustrating than feeling like you are doing everything right and having it not work. Not only are you stuck but you might even be backsliding a bit. It feels like all your hard work up to that point was for naught. What is the point of continuing to deny yourself the peanut butter brownies and dragging yourself out of bed to hit the gym before work when it isn't helping anyhow?

Some people fight plateaus for a few weeks before their body either kicks back into gear or they figure out an effective change. Others however ending up fighting it for much longer - months or even years. It can be downright crazy making. But rather than just giving up, I offer you these few tips:

1. Know you are not alone. Plateaus happen to all of us. Everyone will hit one at some point in their health journey. I know that doesn't help you lose those last 10 pounds but misery does love company (and, also, chocolate).

2. Remember how far you've come. Whether it's losing 10% of your body weight or finally being able to run a mile without stopping, every little bit helps. All your hard work was not in vain. You may not have accomplished everything you wanted (yet) but you certainly have accomplished something and in regards to your health any improvement is worthwhile.

3. Reexamine your goals. Perhaps you just aren't meant to lose those ten pounds. Are you healthy where you are at? Are you happy? Perhaps that is your body's way of telling you you're good. Or try changing your goal to a performance goal. Quix recently did this, after losing over 100 pounds she has been struggling with a plateau for some time now. Rather than chuck all her healthy habits in frustration, she has decided to give herself all of 2010 as a break from worrying about losing weight and is instead focusing on her new passion for running.

4. Change it up. This is the sole reason I started this website. The only good advice I've ever heard about breaking a plateau (and I've heard plenty of bad advice - diet pills anyone?) involves changing your routine. Shock your body. Try lifting heavier. Or a new class. Go vegetarian. Or take out sugar. Try interval cardio. Play around with your macronutrient ratios. Have more sex, even! There are many many variables to play around with.

5. More is not always better. Especially when it comes to exercise. This is a lesson I'm still learning I'm afraid. This weekend I got an e-mail from a reader at her wit's end with a plateau. Like me, she had been consisting upping her exercise to be longer and more intense hoping it would fix the problem. And yet the opposite was happening. There is a sweet spot when it comes to exercise and we need to find it. Rest days are as important as workout days. (PS. This philosophy also applies to dieting! Cutting more calories is not always the answer. Sometimes you need to eat more!)

6. Hire a good personal trainer. Sometimes you just need a fresh set of eyes to look at what you're eating and how you are working out.

I know how heartbreaking a plateau can be. In fact, I'm at one now. Like I predicted, I lost most of the baby weight pretty quickly but am now stuck with The Last 10 Pounds - a battle I will be fighting for the foreseeable future. At the very least it will be until the Jelly Bean weans as my milkshake brings all the babies to the yard. And possibly longer. So I know how much a plateau sucks. It can make you question every healthy change you've made. It can make you think you are a failure or that the universe hates you. At the very least it is a severe annoyance. But don't let it drive you into a severe depression (that's what Judge Judy is for!) and give up your healthy lifestyle. Because you are worth taking good care of!

Since I know that we all think that everyone else has it easier, I've created a little plateau poll to (hopefully) prove my point:

poll by twiigs.com

(If you get this via e-mail or through a feed reader, click through to take the poll!)

So what is your experience? Are you stuck in a plateau? What tips do you have for busting a plateau? Anyone else feel bad about the world after watching Judge Judy (where do they find these people??)?

A Users Guide to Your Skin in the Gym

Sweat. Expended energy. Stress relief. Weight loss. Heart health. Friend time. Or alone time. An excuse to wear the ridiculously cute new workout duds from Nike Dance Line. I mean, really, what's not to love about working out?

Well, there is one part of you that doesn't appreciate your dedication to exercise - and I'm not talking about your butt after an hour of Spin class. I'll give you a hint: it's the largest organ in your body. (Bonus are-you-smarter-than-a-fifth-grader question: What is the closest star to earth*?)

Your Skin in the Gym
Not only is your skin great for showing off those new muscles you're building but more importantly your epidermis is there to protect you from all the germies waiting to get you. So what do we do to it? We lay it on ancient bodily fluid filled mats. We recline in puddles of stranger sweat on the weight bench. We use public restrooms. We bite our nails while using the elliptical. We hold dumb bells that 3 generations of gym goers have sneezed on. We even scrape it on Gym Buddy Allison's nails when she blocks us from making a basket whilst playing horse. (What, you too??) Frankly, you'd think we'd treat it better.

For all the abuse we subject it to, most of them time it still manages to serve and defend - and if we're really lucky get a nice glow. Until it doesn't.

I've Got Sweat in Strange Places
I got an interesting reader mail the other day. Reader L writes, "I have an exercise problem. I hate working out because every time I sweat it runs down my back and gives me seriously bad bacne. (That would be acne on the back for those of you not linguistically hip and/or not avid fans of ProActiv infomercials.) It turns into a vicious cycle because I don't want people to see my bacne so I cover up more. Which makes me sweat more. Please tell me I'm not alone! What do I do?"

Before L brought the subject up, the extent of the Gym Buddies and my conversations about sweaty skin issues was limited to making up silly and slightly perverted names for the weird sweat marks we get working out. Gym Buddy Jen came up with "swack" for sweaty crack and Turbo Jennie coined "swoobs" for boob sweat. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination as this is a family friendly site. I'll just leave you with this: there's a reason nobody should ever work out in tight gray pants or shorts. If that's all you ever learn from me, my work here is done.

Now, while I don't get bacne, I do have a cyst on my back that at its largest was the size of a golf ball. That is if the golf ball was red and painful and filled with a "cheese-like substance" and shoved tortuously under my skin. The doctor said that it could easily have been caused by a sweat duct that got clogged and infected. Thankfully the second doctor I saw (not the one who so vividly described the cyst's innards by the way) gave me antibiotics and now it just looks - like I explained a few days ago - like an overly aggressive hickey. Or maybe a rabies shot. I'm sorry to say that I never did get a picture of it in its inflamed glory so you'll just have to trust me that it was really really disgusting.

Anyhow, I wasn't sure what to tell L. I gave her some lame response involving the brilliant "shower right after you work out?" and the obvious "make sure you wear wicking clothes" to the spendy "buy one of those sports bra with the mesh back." Surely you all can do better than that!

Invasion of the Super Bugs
Bacne and cysts are tame compared to what else lurks in your gym. A girl I go to boot camp with got impetigo on her face from resting her cheek on a yoga mat. Lice has been found in improperly laundered gym towels. Athlete's foot has been around as long as there have been athletes. The bacteria that cause yeast infections has popped up on spin cycle seats (for the love of little green apples people, wear underwear!). But the scariest bug of all is CA-MRSA.

Community acquired multiple resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is the long way of saying "an infection that has no known cure." Once found only in hospitals, this antibiotic-impervius germ has started cropping up in public spots, most notably gyms, where it can be quite contagious. My family has had a couple of close brushes with this bad guy and both times the victims ended up in the hospital. Even once the victim has gotten over the infection, the process of sterilizing the home is quite the production. It involves a special anti-bacterial body wash that all members of the family must use for weeks in addition to top-to-bottom cleaning and even swabbing the nostrils with antibiotic ointment.

My brother got the infection in his face. It started out as what he thought was a zit and then quickly became infected and spread over his face. The excruciating pain sent him to the emergency room where they tried one antibiotic after another to no avail. At last, when he was looking at last resort surgery, something worked. An antibiotic or his body's natural defenses finally started overcoming the infection and today, thankfully, he is all clear.

What To Do
Basic rules of good hygiene apply here, whether we're talking acne, psoriasis or CA-MRSA:
- Try to shower as soon as you can after working out.
- Change out of your gym clothing as soon as you can.
- Launder all clothing and towels appropriately.
- Wash your hands frequently and/or use hand sanitizer at the gym (don't worry about looking nutso - there are lots of ways to look crazy and looking OCD is the least of your worries, really.)
- See a doctor immediately if you get any weird rashes or bumps start to look infected.
- Sanitize all equipment that you use and/or lay down a towel to provide an extra barrier.
- Protect any open cuts with band-aids.

That covers most of the common sense stuff, so I'll add the stuff that I know you're secretly asking:
- Don't exercise nude. I don't care if everyone else is doing it.
- Don't eat and workout at the same time. A swig of protein shake from your sports bottle is okay. Using a weight bench as your picnic table is not.
- Don't pop your zits in the mirrors on the weight floor.
- Don't suck your thumb.
- Don't sniff your fingers after sticking them in your bellybutton. I know it smells funky. But, seriously, that's gross.

There you have it! So, I know some of you have got some better advice for Reader L. Any of you suffer from bacne? Have some good tricks for avoiding or getting rid of it? Anyone else get a weird skin condition from the gym? Lastly, anyone else have a funny word to describe their sweat in inappropriate places??

*Bonus question answer: The sun!

This post look familiar? Every Friday (yeah, I changed it) is Greatest Hits Day here at GFE. This post originally ran January 2009.

Decoding Heart Rate Zones

Today an old friend and I were reunited at the gym. It was a glorious moment - shouts of delight, introductions all around and a tight hug. A really really tight hug, right around my chest. No it wasn't Charlie Sheen on the rebound again. It was my trusty heart rate monitor, dug out of my sports bra drawer (what? Not everyone has an entire drawer of sports bras?), enlivened with a new battery and strapped on my person. What was the grand occasion? Lindsey's interval workout from h-e-double hockey sticks. (Side note: I had a high school teacher who insisted on spelling "sex" s-e-c-k-s every time he wrote it on the board. It was strange on so many levels, not the least of which being that to this day I still confuse "sex" with "socks.")

As part of January's Great Fitness Experiment, Personal Trainer Lindsey had us do 15 minutes of 30 second all-out-run-till-ya-puke sprints followed by one minute of recovery walking. Lather, rinse, repeat 12 times. It was a pain in the butt. Literally. Because yesterday had us do a torturous routine called a "pulse pyramid" that involved so many squats my butt cheeks remained involuntarily clenched for the rest of the day. And running wind sprints on sore buttocal - I like to make up words - muscles is excruciating.

Sore butts (and quads) aside, the Gym Buddies and I were all kitted out in our finest gadgetry for one purpose: to make sure our heart rates were in the right zone. (Okay, two purposes - we also like to compare calorie burns. With each other. With the machines. With our other heart rate monitors *cough*Krista*cough.) Because as everyone knows, when you are all-out sprinting your heart rate should be in Zone 5.

What - not everyone knows that?! Of course almost nobody knows that. Figuring out one's heart rate zones is akin to trying to locate all the noble gasses on the periodic table. While running top speed on a treadmill. And unlike the periodic table, heart rate zones are mushy science at best.

Which is why when Reader Joanne wrote me I got all excited. Well, that and she flattered me - I'm a sucker for a compliment. She writes:

"I was wondering if you'd be able to do a post about heart rate zones? I have a heart rate monitor I love - but I'm struggling with where I should be aiming for when I exercise. I get that not every session should be all out - but really I'm clueless, and while thinking about this the other day I thought of you. I love the blog and you have a skill at putting technical stuff into layman's terms."

What Are Heart Rate Zones?
Joanne, the first thing you need to understand is that fitness people are, as a rule, compulsive neurotics. And being one you know I say that with love. We love numbers. We love workouts. And therefore we love our workouts to have numbers. Basically, the heart rate zones are a set of 5 "zones" comprised of a range of heart rates, measured in beats per minute. They were designed as a way to gauge know how hard one is working (or should be working) during any given activity. Before the attack of the zones (not to be confused with the attack of The Zone, as in Barry Sears' prolific diet), people could only measure their workout intensity by their RPE, or rate of perceived exertion. This was problematic because people are notorious liars, especially when it comes to working out.

What are Your Heart Rate Zones?
This is where it gets tricky. Each zone, 1 to 5, is defined by the amount of fat being burned for fuel versus carbohydrates. You may have heard someone say, "Don't both with high intensity workouts, you're only burning carbs!" or perhaps, "If you want to burn fat, you have to stay in your fat-burning zone." So how do you know at which heart rate you reach that mythical fat-burning Shangri-La? Short answer: you don't. Not really.

Long answer: Everyone's body is different and therefore so is the rate at which they burn fat. This makes heart rate zones slightly different for each individual. In addition, people's metabolisms change over time so your heart rate zones will too. The only way to find your zones for this point in your life is to get a comprehensive metabolic test done. This involves running full tilt on an inclined treadmill with a gas mask strapped to your face until you either reach your peak heart rate or suffocate to death. It's actually a lot more fun than it sounds. Once you've done this test - and its partner the resting metabolic test - you will get a fairly accurate picture of where you burn the most amount of fat proportionally.

If you don't want to spend the money on getting regular metabolic testing done - and those tests can be very spendy - scientists have made a handy dandy chart listing the zones based on the average of people of a certain age. You've probably seen these posted on various flat surfaces at your gym. Something similar to this (chart courtesy of Polar):

click to enlarge

How to Use Them
Fit instructors, personal trainers and specific workouts will often call for a certain workout intensity. For instance, HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts like we did today call for working at your maximum ability for short periods followed by recovery periods at a low intensity. On the other hand steady state cardio asks you to stay at a moderate intensity for a prolonged period of time. So what exactly is "moderate," "intense" and "low"? You can guess based on how you feel but most people aren't honest or self-perceptive enough to get it right. So instead of guessing, you can strap on a heart rate monitor and use the number to tell you how hard to push it.

The zones range from 1 (walking slowly) all the way up to 5 (I cannot maintain this level of exertion for more than 30 seconds without dying, puking and/or seeing stars). Depending on the goal of your workout - anything from fat loss to increased cardiovascular capacity to increased speed to rehabbing an injury - you can select the appropriate zone to aim for.

Are They Useful?
This is the real question people should be asking. I will admit to some skepticism in this area. While heart rate monitors are certainly useful for pushing yourself, beyond that I'm a little leery of their ability to make a difference that would be noticeable to anyone but professional athletes. Sure research says that doing HIIT torches way more calories both during and after than steady state cardio. But research also says that long low-intensity cardio is correlated with longevity while high intensity workouts can correlate with earlier death (chant with me: correlation is not causation, correlation is not causation...). And sure the research shows that you burn more fat in a certain zone than in others - but research has not linked the "fat burning zone" to long-term weight loss. So is it really important to know which zone you are really in?

I also think that the concept of heart rate zones makes money. The watches, the charts, the metabolic testing, the special programs, the trainers to interpret the results and design the programs - all these things cost money. Lots of money. And I have yet to see a single study that shows heart rate monitoring leading to significant athletic gains or weight loss in any but the most elite athletes. But that might just be me being cynical. I do come from good conspiracy theorist stock, I'll have you know.

Verdict
I have a heart rate monitor. I use it. You know I love numbers. For about a year I ate, slept and breathed that monitor. (Seriously - Gym Buddy Allison and I once wore ours for 24 hours just to see what our heart rates did over the course of a day.) And then I got tired of always strapping that thing on under my bra and doing jumping jacks outside the door to the child care because I couldn't end on a "weird" number of total calories burned so I stuffed it in my sports bra drawer and forgot about it. Having been on both sides of the heart rate zone loving, I will say that it can be a useful tool if you use it to motivate yourself to work harder or to calibrate your intensity to a specific workout or just keep yourself honest. However, don't expect it to produce any magical results and if you use the numbers to drive yourself nuts - or to an eating disorder - then you should ditch it.

But that's just this girl's opinion. Do you use a heart rate monitor? Love it or hate it? Do you find the heart rate zones useful?

Vitamins For Better Health! Or Death! Whatever! [Help a Reader Out]

Recently my friend N joined a gym. As part of his new gym experience, he got a meet-n-greet with a personal trainer. This gym, being of the swanky variety, offered him something better than a New Gym Smell car freshener. (No, I've never heard of those being offered but can you imagine how motivating that would be if every time you got in your car you smelled B.O., rubber and Head & Shoulders?) No, N's personal trainer-for-a-day started him out with a standard spiel and then worked into recommendations that went something similar to this (I say "similar" because I wasn't there and also I enjoy making up dialog for people.):

Personal Trainer: So if you really want to see a difference you need to take a really good multi-vitamin, some quality fish oils, a solid protein powder, some creatine...

N: Wait, wait, do you sell all this stuff?

PT: Of course! We have an excellent line of supplements!

N: Well, I have a problem taking supplement advice from people who sell them.

PT: Wha...? Why?

N: It's called a conflict of interest.

PT: You are no fun.

So then N did what any reasonable person would do - he asked me for advice. Because I am a good friend and because I delight in giving opinions on things which are not in my area of expertise (which is apparently obsolete computer skills), I gave him my best answer: "I don't know."

To Supplement or Not To Supplement
That is the question. And it's a valid one. Long touted as a way to fill in the "gaps" in one's nutrition, multi-vitamins and other supplements have been pushed on every demographic imaginable. Prenatal vitamins alone sell millions of pills a year. And for pregnant and lactating women, the advice is supported by research. But what about the rest of us who either don't have a uterus or aren't using it except for chocolate cravings every 28 days?

This is where it the research gets mixed. Individual vitamins have been studied and found to have many positive effects but it is nearly impossible to isolate the vitamin from the food that delivers it and from the interactions with other substances and/or lifestyle issues in human beings. Take vitamin E for instance. For years it could do no wrong and was touted as a wonder "nutraceutical" for everything from scar tissue to high blood pressure. People were encouraged to eat more almonds, yes, but also to pop thousands of milligrams a day in pills. The vitamin E bubble popped when researchers showed that excessive amounts of the vitamin actually increased mortality from all causes, by up to 20%.

The news about multi-vitamins is similarly disturbing. Researchers in Copenhagen found that in a meta-analysis of several large vitamin studies, taking a multi actually increased the risk of an early death. Critics, notably those in the supplement industry, have called the study flawed and warn that people who do not get adequate nutrients from their diets need to supplement for good health.

To further muddy the waters, some vitamins seem to really have a positive effect. Fish oil's life-lengthening properties, for example, have been born out in several studies. And vitamin D, like I have discussed before, while it has not been shown to necessarily increase life span, a deficiency has been shown to decrease it thereby throwing it in many people's minds into the "better too much than too little" category.

For me, the fundamental question in all of this is: Is it possible to get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs to be healthy from a balanced diet? Surely not even the most enthusiastic vitamin-peddler would say that a vitamin could make up for the ill effects of subsisting on junk food and watching back-to-back marathons of The Real World. But what about those of us that eat healthy most of the time? Is it enough?

Anecdotal Evidence
A year and a half ago when I decided to stop taking Wellbutrin I also decided that I was done with pills altogether and quit taking my multi, calcium, fish oil, and vitamin C at the same time. What happened? Nothing. Of course I am a healthy eater most of the time. And, also, 6 months might not have been a long enough experiment. I know that I liked not having to take a fistful of pills every day. However, I also know that I am still in my fertile years and spina bifida is not pretty, so even though I'm no longer pregnant I'm still taking my multi. Plus a fish oil because it's good for the baby. And a vitamin D because, you know, all the kids are doing it.

In the past I have experimented with almost every supplement out there. I've done L-Carnitine (which works for some people), CLA, all the B vitamins, creatine, protein powder, Bragg's amino acids and many others in addition to the standard ones. Nothing has ever made a noticeable difference in my health. And yet because I didn't notice anything doesn't necessarily mean they weren't helping on some cellular level, right?

It is in the midst of this confusion that the supplement industry has stepped in. I think that they take advantage of our uncertainty and the lack of definitive research and then play off of our worst fears. The net result is spending a lot of money on things that we probably don't need and may possibly be hurting us.

Unless they're helping us.

PS> N - "chelated" in reference to vitamins apparently means firmly bonded to some other compound. Is that a good thing? According to this expert, "For some minerals, a chelated compound is better than some other forms. For some it is similar or worse and therefore a waste of money." So, yeah, there you go.

Your Chance to Help
Reader Shellie recently wrote me asking, "I have always been against diet pills. They don’t tempt me because I know they are a scam. I don’t bother with health supplements because I am cheap. But I am actually considering trying Acai berry supplements. I thought you did a post on this, but I can’t find it so I am asking you. What do you know about these things? What I have read almost sounds too good to be true, so I am skeptical. But my weight slowly keeps creeping up and even though I haven’t had my cholesterol checked in a while, I have a feeling it’s back up to where it’s not supposed to be, too. What do you think?"

Acai is one of the few I've never tried in supplement, although I have bought the dried berries before from Trader Joe's - they're delish! Any of you tried? Seen results? So what's your opinion on vitamins? Do you take anything? If not, what would your "Gym Smell Car Freshner" smell like?

Great Gifts for the Fitness Fiend in Your Life [Help a Reader Out]

'Tis the season to be gifting and as many of you know, health nuts can be difficult people to shop for. The usual standbys of holiday goodies don't work unless you know whether they fall into the Everything in Moderation camp or the Sugar is the White Satan camp, something that can be hard to sneak into everyday conversation. On first thought, workout clothing might be a good option until you realize the minefield that is buying someone else tight spandex. Next up: workout gear from their sport of choice. Except that unless you also love the same sport you will have no idea what to get them thereby making you prey to any passing salesman with an eye on a fat Christmas commission. And while there are a few items that are universal to every sport, nothing says "never look me in the eye again" like a fur lined jockstrap:

Don't worry, the manufacturer says you will be girding your chilled loins with naught but the finest faux fur.

On the subject of gifts for fitness fanatics, Another Suburban Mom asks

"Could you please address good underwear to wear while exercising, as I find that my thong gives me a front wedgie during kickboxing. Also, what are good gifts for my aerobics instructors. I am thinking that a small loaf of my eggnog poundcake might be a faux pax."

Since the term "front wedgie" makes me giggle like a 12-year-old boy in the feminine hygiene aisle, I'll answer that one first: see above. Kidding! Others may disagree with me but I think thongs are the worst workout undies ever. Not only do they have the "front wedgie" (and back wedgie, duh) problem but they also give really weird lines under spandex if you have anything over 0.02% body fat. My solution for kickboxing is a nice tight (and opaque!) pair of capri workout pants. Preferably black so I don't get sweat stains that cause me to make up childish nicknames. For more on workout underwear, check out my Public Wedgie Picking post.

As to your second question, I am stumped. Although I am really impressed that you remembered to get your group fit instructors a present! (And also, please send me the recipe for eggnog poundcake. I have never heard of such a thing but now I must try it!)

VaMomof2 shares your frustration:

"I need Christmas ideas for my husband. Last year I bought him a TRX because I read about it here and he loves, loves, loves it. Anyone have any new ideas for great workout equipment or accessories for men?"

My first thought is P90X - it's pricey but men (and lots of women) really love it! Plus it would play so nicely with your TRX! But that's where my child-wearied brain poops out. So in order to save your loved ones from Just Another Gift Card, what are your best ideas for fit and healthy gifts? What do you guys give your group fit instructors/personal trainers/weight floor stalker? Any good gift ideas specifically for exercise equipment for men? What are your thoughts about thongs as workout attire?

The Every Other Day Diet Revisited

Whether it was some quirk of the Google gods or my Internet karma coming back to smack me for writing about Will Ferrell, a post I wrote about trying (and failing) the Every Other Day Diet has come back to haunt me. Some people get ghosts in chains that inspire them to buy large turkeys for Christmas. I just get visited by the Ghost of Diets Past.

Back in September of '08, I confessed to my epic fail of diets. It was a program I'd read about in a magazine where you eat whatever you want one day and then severely restrict (300-400 calories) or fast the following day. The idea was that you'd only have to diet half of every month and yet you'd still lose weight. It's not faulty on principle. I do think it would work if only for the fact that anytime you slash and burn calories like that you will see some results. Unfortunately for me it was a one-way ticket to the blood sugar roller coaster ride from hell. One week found me weeping on the floor pleading mercy. You can read the past post if you want all the gory details. (Warning: there is a candy massacre.) So that was it for me.

At least I thought that was it. Until about two weeks ago when I started getting daily comments on that ancient post. Pretty much every single one of them was to tell me what an idiot I am - and those were just the nice ones. Normally I let those comments slide; it's the cost of blogging and I'm cool with people expressing differing opinions than mine. I prefer it if they remain civil but I understand people get worked up about certain things. And this diet is apparently one of those things. Want to really offend someone? Criticize their favorite diet. So in an effort to appease my Google SEO and to put some offended minds at ease, I'd like to clarify.

1. [correction: Jon Benson also wrote book called "Every Other Day Diet", not to be confused with Dr. John Daugirdas who wrote a book called "The Every Other Day Diet"] The books both seem to describe how to follow his diet. I have not read this book [either of them]. Ever. The plan I followed I found in a magazine although I'm guessing the mag was parsing his book. So when I criticized the EODD, I was criticizing the diet-one-day-feast-the-next principle, not Dr. Daugirdas' or Jon Benson's books.

2. It didn't work for me. Please note: for me. I didn't like it and I'm allowed to not like it. I'm glad that it worked for some of you because I'm all about finding what works for each individual person.

3. I'm not a professional diet guru or doctor or anything else. I'm one girl just sharing her experience so take it for what it is.

If I sound a little defensive and cranky, please forgive - I just spent an hour crawling through a McDonald's playland searching for my 3-year-old's shoes. Which we never found. And then he soaked his shirt at the water fountain and decided that naked is better than wet. No matter that it is December and there is snow. We went into McDonald's fully clothed and emerged wearing only socks - which I suppose is a good thing considering they won't let you in the Playland without them (the sign doesn't mention pants!) To top it off, the same child dumped out an 18-count carton of eggs on the floor and is now refusing to go to bed despite it being an hour and half past his bedtime. Oh, did I mention I have 4-week old infant? It's been a day. So please, enough with the crazy comments. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I LOVE other opinions. Please do share your experiences with me. But cut the profanity and name calling or I will delete it.

To my regular readers - you know I love you guys! To the visitors - I hope you stick around, whether or not we agree about this diet. (Also, can someone please tell me why this is suddenly so popular? Did this Jon Benson have an affair with Tiger Woods too?!)

So, if I haven't completely scared everyone out of commenting, here's a new thread. Lay it on me: What are your thoughts about the every other day diet (either concept or book)?

How to Choose the Right Fitness Shoe [Help a Reader Out]

Be honest: how many pairs of athletic shoes do you own? (Notice I did not ask you how many total pairs of shoes you own. I learned my lesson freshman year of college when asking that question found me helping my roommate pack up her 85 (!!) pairs into boxes on moving day. And those were just the ones she felt necessary for school. Not that I'm judging - I am a girl who loves her silly shoes.) At any given point in time, I own one pair of running shoes (Aasics as this is the only area I'm fiercely brand loyal), a set of cross-trainers for lifting weights and Crossfitting and whatnot (currently black & hot pink Nike frees - adorbs!!), a set of different cross trainers specifically for high-impact activities like TurboKick (Rykas at the moment) and a pair of smooth-bottomed dance shoes for Hip Hop and Zumba (Nike studio dance shoes but my sparkly silver or pink Chuck T's work pretty awesome too).

Yes I just confessed to owning 6 pairs of workout shoes. In my defense, I workout a lot. One could make the case that I'm in my gym clothes and shoes more than my street clothes. Never being able to get into the whole barefoot running craze, this also means that I go through a lot of shoes. I have even been known to buy my Aasics GTs in bulk. While I'm confessing my sins of extravagence, I also have a natty pair of gray and turquoise Pumas knocking around. They're the equivalent of taping paper to my feet but they match so many of my cute gym clothes!

Why so many shoes? Reader Rachael explains her (and my) quandry:

I am in the market for a new pair of workout shoes and thought I'd ask you what kind you like. I don't necessarily need a brand/model recommendation, but have been unsatisfied with many of my fitness shoe purchases so thought I'd try asking around. I used to do primarily heavy lifting so I got some Nike Frees, but those aren't making my feet happy for kickboxing. I bought a pair of running shoes and ran a 10K in them, but they aren't so good for tkb either, as I can't always keep my balance if we are doing slow kicks--it feels like I am trying to balance on marshmallows. So, should I just go get me some all-purpose crosstrainers or should I try out some martial arts-type shoes? Or studio dance shoes? I don't know what or where the shock-absorption is on either of those. I do lots of different sorts of activities and financially can't always have five different pairs of athletic shoes, so really should settle on just one or two different kinds. Gah. That was such a long-winded question.

It's funny how many times I have had this conversation in the gym! Turbo Jennie and another Turbo instructor swear by Nike Shox (only the closed shox) but I've never tried them. Can you guys help Rachael out? What kind of shoes do you swear by? How many athletic shoes do you own? Any tips on pairing the right shoes to the right activity?