Ten Steps to a Bigger and Thinner Life.

Earlier this month, I was given the opportunity to try Michelle Hastie's Ten Steps to a Bigger (and Thinner) Life weight-loss program. I first came across Michelle in an article she wrote for Divine Caroline called, "Tackle Your Food Fears," which piqued my interest, as I was just starting to learn the ropes of intuitive/mindful eating. I also started following her blog, and quickly learned that she's a personal trainer and weight-loss coach who discourages typical forms of dieting, self-hatred and extreme exercise and encourages self-love, balanced eating and appreciating your body's ability to move.

The program I reviewed is an extended version of this Ten Steps post on her blog, complete with audio/video files and homework sheets that provided an opportunity to apply what I learned in each step to my own issues with food and weight.

As for my criticisms of the format of the program, my only suggestion would be to include additional notes (either on the slides or on separate sheets) of the information provided in the audio track. There's a lot of great information that Michelle says that doesn't necessarily make it to the list of key points on the slides. If I heard something I felt was critical, I would pause the presentation and write it down, but it may be more helpful for others to have such information in a more accessible format. Other than that, I enjoyed listening to the step components in detail.

Let me just say, Michelle's program is like therapy in a box! Over the years, I've read my share of diet/weight-loss books, articles and magazines. Very few, if any, have dedicated a decent amount of time on trying to get you to sort out your personal issues and be happy with yourself first, before even trying to take on the task of losing weight. And that's exactly what Michelle's Ten Steps forced me to do. By taking notes on the information presented in the step slides and truthfully answering the questions she asked in the homework sheets, I found there were several issues and realities that I had refused to deal with, in the past and into this month. Because I allowed so many of my negative behaviors to persist and flourish, my issues with food and extra weight continued for years and into the present day.

I've read some self-help guides in the past and usually ignored the author when they assigned homework activities at the end of each chapter. Obviously, I didn't do myself any favors in ignoring those assignments. Why? Because I thought I had myself all figured out and that there wasn't any uncharted territory to discover, in terms of my emotions or self-knowledge. Well, if I had myself so figured out, why was I reading a self-help book in the first place?

Since Michelle's program isn't your typical rule book ("eat x calories/day, only eat foods off of this list, do x types of exercise for x minutes, most days of the week," etc.), I knew I needed to buckle down, focus and dig deep to answer the questions in the homework sheets. The information Michelle provided in the slides set me up (in a good way) to really think about all of the Why's in my life: Why did I gain weight? Why do I sometimes eat so fast? Why do I think negative things about myself when I look in the mirror?

Forming honest answers to these types of questions wasn't easy, but doing so was incredibly rewarding. In terms of food, activity and self-respect, life has seemed a lot more balanced this week than it has in a long time. There are still some issues I'm working on (self-criticism) and others I've happily kicked to the curb (recycling my role as "the victim," not taking the time to breathe, letting food/health/diet/exercise information overshadow other hobbies).

When it comes to food and exercise, Michelle keeps things simple: eat foods that fuel your body and make it (and you!) feel good; learn to appreciate movement by exploring activities you enjoy and won't dread when performed on a regular basis. The past couple of weeks, I've been successful in reminding myself that no food is off limits and any food I ever want will always exist (for the most part). By doing so, my out-of-control cravings have subsided and my urges to overeat have decreased. I've managed to make room in my life for chocolate and Napoleon Cake this week, without going overboard on guilt and extra servings. I also re-discovered my love for spinning and zumba and look forward to challenging myself at BodyPump this weekend. Not because of the calories getting burned, but just because they're fun and I love the way my body feels when it's active. Instead of saying to myself, "I have to workout today," I've been trying to change my tune and instead ask, "How do I want to move around today?" Makes a difference in my attitude and performance.

While the overall goal of the Ten Steps program is to help you to lose weight, there are also several emotional, psychological and physical milestones Michelle wants you to accomplish to ensure that your weight-loss journey is done without the typical tortures of strict dieting, mindless exercise, stress, exhaustion and self-defeating thoughts.

If you've found yourself trapped in the same cycle of fear, stress, self-bashing and guilt when trying to lose weight, I would definitely recommend Ten Steps to help you break down the underlying issues causing such emotions and gain a gentle, healthier perspective on weight-loss (and life!). Many thanks and kudos to Michelle for developing such a fresh and unique program!

My not-so-secret Secret to Weight Loss.

I posted this on my Facebook page earlier this month and decided to post it here as well for additional reference, since I've gathered some new readers recently:

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So for the past several months, people have been asking me how I've been losing weight. Well, to be honest, a) I can't cover everything I've done in a casual conversation in-passing, and b) as blunt as it may sound, I'm one dedicated motherfucker.

To start, I follow the Weight Watchers plan. I used to have an online subscription for about a year, but then canceled it when I figured out I can make my own spreadsheet to track points, use The Daily Plate as a free way to track my food in detail and make use of various free WW-related resources online (i.e., point and activity calculators, recipes, etc.). Keep in mind that I went out of my way to track food like this simply because of money issues. If you can afford a WW membership, by all means, buy one! If I had more disposable income these days, I would have kept it, but desperate times call for crafty methods.

I also blog about food and exercise everyday. See The Stretch Jean Incident. Older posts can be found on my old LiveJournal-based blog, That's Not Flab.

I wear a pretty snazzy heart rate monitor to accurately track how many calories I burn when I workout.

I have a gym membership at Accolade Fitness (only $20/month, no contract), as well as various workout DVDs at home. These include all 3 recent releases from Jillian Michaels, some Tae-Bo, and a few Biggest Loser DVDs. At my heaviest weight, I started out with the first volume of the Biggest Loser workout, mixed it up with some Tae-Bo and did walking/jogging/elliptical intervals at the gym.

Once I became more fit, I started taking on Jillian Michaels, full-out running and then incline training (if you've never heard of that, NordicTrack has info on their version of the torture device. My gym has a similar model, but I hope to buy the NordicTrack one someday).

As for equipment at home, I have a stationary bike, resistance bands, hand weights, a yoga mat and a jump rope.

I work out six days a week (four of which I get up at 5am and exercise before work) and track every damn bite of food that goes in my mouth. I do indulge from time to time, but I plan it in advance. And before I go out to eat at a restaurant (pretty rare these days), I always check for a menu online and nutritional information, if available.

We cook at home the majority of the time, so I've found that it's essential to have proper measuring spoons/cups AND a digital food scale. I can't stress the importance of a food scale enough, people. I quickly found that most pre-packaged chicken breasts are sometimes 2-3 servings per piece! Insane. I leave a few measuring cups/spoons in a certain spot in the kitchen so they're easy to find. Seriously, I measure and weigh food several times a day, everyday.

In between all of that, I also read a ton of fitness/health-related articles every week. I have a subscription to Fitness Magazine, but also read online content from Women's Health, Fit Sugar, That's Fit and most recently, Answer Fitness, just to name a few. More links on my blog page.

Lastly, supplements... I take a children's chewable multi-vitamin because the adult ones make me puke, even if taken with food. I also take a calcium supplement, a vitamin D supplement, a fish oil capsule and glucosamine (keeps my joints pain-free between runs).

Is my daily routine insane, neurotic and basically OCD? Yeah, pretty much. But losing weight is about breaking old bad habits and learning new good ones. All the steps involved in preparing/tracking food and working out don't even phase me anymore because they've gone from being special tasks to normal habits that have become ingrained in my daily routine. Just like brushing my teeth.

And, if it sounds like a lot of resources, it is. But keep in mind I've been going at this for 2.5 years already. I didn't wake up one morning and buy all sorts of equipment at once. I just invested in things as I learned more about what would help me reach my goal safely and effectively.

So that's the majority of it, in a nutshell. My aforementioned blog is the ideal place to go for details on exactly what I eat each day and what I do to sweat my ass off. It's pretty mundane after a while, but I wouldn't have made it this far without it.

As for where I'm at with my goal, well, that's been in a state of flux lately. My original goal was to lose 90 pounds. Then I thought, "Oh hell, just go for an even hundred!" Well, I've found that a 100 pound loss just isn't in the cards for me. After crossing the 80 pound mark, the rate of my weight-loss fell off a fucking cliff and I've been struggling ever since. So, I decided going back to my original goal of 90 pounds would probably be the best option. I'm about 5 pounds away from that mark, but I'm pretty sure it's going to take me at least another month or so to get there. In the meantime, you'll find me trying to turn my body into a machine by day and dreaming of cupcakes and wings by night. And for the record, when I do hit goal, I'm totally buying myself a gourmet cupcake. No, you're not supposed to reward yourself with food when hitting a weight-loss milestone, but I need to remember what it feels like to feed my soul with cream-cheese frosting.