Eat Your Wheaties

"Eat Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dinner like a Pauper."

I'm blown away by how many people don't eat any breakfast in the morning! Some people grab a double double and a muffin (low-fat kind *sigh*) on the run and eat it enroute to work, or pass through a McDonald's drive-thru for an Egg Mcsuckin with cheese and sausage or ham or whatever miscellaneous body parts they're utilizing these days and a deep fried tater. Sorry to pick on you McD's, the truth is I can't remember ever really eating fast food for breakfast in my life. Even in my darkest hour, despite massive amounts of junk throughout the day, I was always good about eating a decent breakfast. I just liked the way it made me feel. When I did eat breakfast, that is, which was about 50% of the time. I never liked sugary cereals that pretend to be breakfast but I also never really felt hungry when I woke up - usually from eating very late the night before.

I'm not sure what's more shocking for your system first thing in the am - eating high-sugar, fat-loaded, insulin spiking foods or eating nothing at all until your stomach starts howling. All I know is that these days I am so hungry in the morning when I wake up that I would eat the arse out of a dead skunk. I have mini dreams about my bowl of Bran Flakes and 1% milk starting around the time I hit snooze for Round One, and by Round Four I'm crawling out from under the sheets and making a bee line for the fridge. It wasn't always this way - in school I remember being hungry most mornings and famished by lunchtime, not to mention exhausted and grumpy.

Let's pretend your body was a car. Imagine how it would function if you avoided checking the oil and wiper fluid, ignored gauging the tire pressure (even when the tire looked low on air), disregarded the check engine light and never bothered to take it in for a tune-up. Now let's imagine your car was a Mercedes Benz SLR Mclaren, aka the Gael Garcia Bernal of cars (FYI he's my Brad Pitt). What a sweet car! A performance machine, made for speed and power; an extravagant luxury item worthy of only the best in TLC. Without a doubt, you've spent a ton of money on it and you're probably only going to ever own ONE, so why not treat it well? Maybe you're a bit tight on cash after such an expenditure. Premium gasoline is recommended but hey, regular's cheaper and it won't make much of a difference. You can also buy whatever tires are on sale at the time. And it doesn't *have* to go to a particular service shop when your buddy has an Uncle Moe who will take it in his garage for a quick tune-up. Sound ridiculous?

When it comes to catering to the basic maintenance needs of this beautiful chariot - your own body, you're skimping in places you should be SPLURGING. Screw the spa session, the weekly mani-pedis, the brand name make-up, the Ed Hardy tshirts - spend your money on REAL food - healthy, fresh, organic (when you can afford it), nutritious and full of life! What good is hitting up a car wash n wax or a getting a brand new paint job if your engine is busted? That shiny set of wheels is gonna look real nice sitting in your driveway all summer. Maybe you could push it around the block.

What you put in your body after you wake up from a night of hibernation really sets the tone for the day. If you eat a well-balanced, healthy breakfast you can even get away with eating more than you should for dinner, as you will have the whole day to burn a lot of it off. Or you could have a large, greasy-spoon brekky, the kind that leaves you full way past lunch and then starving at 2pm, by which time you are also experiencing that mid-afternoon slump so you are craving sweet or salty snacks, so perhaps a chocolate bar to tide you over til dinner and then you get home, too tired to make anything so you pop in a microwave dinner of pasta and make some cheesy garlic bread, wash it down with tall glass of juice, cause it's much healthier than pop (true, but *sighing again*) followed by leftover cheesecake for dessert and you end up going to bed feeling like you ate a small child and he's trying to escape.

If you want to have great car mileage, what do you do? Bare with me on the car analogies here ok, I was told my blog may be a little too "female focused" so it's my feeble attempt to balance that. So what do you do? You look at all the little things that might help - keeping your windows rolled up, checking your tire pressure regularly, empty your trunk of unnecessary junk and don't drive too fast. Before you know it, you'll have 30% better mileage on a tank of gas. Not hungry in the morning? Don't eat late at night. Stop at least 3 hours before your bedtime and avoid eating heavy meals for dinner. I eat very little carbs at this time, but quite a bit throughout the day - I NEED to, for energy. And so do you. I eat my cereal with eyes barely open, go to the gym, come back and eat a large breakfast of fruit, eggs, sprouted grain toast with peanut butter and tea. I feel so good afterwards, it makes me want to continue eating healthy all day. Because I like feeling good. Seems obvious doesn't it?

It's all about choices. I'm a big fan of this motto, and it's one of my many : SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS. If you find yourself making bad choices, your vessel is not going to function very optimally. It will voice it's displeasure. Again, first in whispers.

Next blog I will discuss the many ways you can set yourself up for success and avoid the sabotage pitfalls that we've all been through and the best way to avoid relapsing.

Remember, I'm here if you need me...

Do You Hear Voices?

For a few years now, I've been pretty consistent in my exercise regime, spending at least an hour 3-4 times a week doing SOME kind of physical activity. Sure there'd be stretches of time, sometimes even a few months where I wouldn't go to the gym at all, but I'd always make sure to find a way to break a sweat - whether it be running up the stairs in my building, swiftly and stealthily dodging my security guard who prohibts me from doing that but is too chubby to catch me, or blasting some Pink tunes and dancing while cleaning my apartment, or literally running to the grocery store as fast as my short legs will carry me. Hey, whatever blows your hair back. It's something, right? Exercise doesn't always have to be vigorous or lengthy to be of benefit, although it should at times be either.

What happens after a 2 week break from eating healthy and working out is that I start to notice changes in my body. Visually, it gets softer. Less toned and defined, more wiggle and wobble. Mentally, the changes are more apparent. I am unable to sleep. I lay in bed and my mind starts racing, even more than usual; I end up getting out of bed and start pacing the kitchen floor, trying to talk myself out of Kraft dinner and weiners (That was before. I'm reformed now, I swear). I start to go stir crazy from lack of a release for all of my pent up energy, my brain is on overload and I begin to feel like utter crap from eating junk food. My body gets confused, hurt, then angry, and basically commands I take action whether or not I feel like participating, forcing me against my will to run around the block or do yoga in my underwear at ungodly hours in the morning.

FitNut Kelly makes it known that this type of lethargic, unmotivated, chips-and-chocolate binging madness will not be tolerated, despite how badly BedLegs Kelly wants to "just for one more day". Nope. I will be dragged kicking and screaming back from the dark side before I sink deeper into watching Court TV and justifying my inactivity. (PMS. It's the weather. I'm tired. I just painted my toenails.) This feeling is what inspired the name of my blog - I truly am addicted to working out. It is my drug, my high, my sweet salvation. Without it I am withdrawn, tired, cranky, stressed and I actually physically start to hurt. My bones ache, my muscles nag, my body expresses its displeasure in a painful pinches and knife-like jabs. And believe me it gets heard.

I've always liked the expression " You better listen to your body when it whispers, because you'll damn well hear it when it screams." If you are in tune with your body, it will let you know what it needs. Whatever vitamins or minerals we are lacking indicate their low levels through what we recognize as a craving - sending a signal to the brain that a filet mignon would go down real good right about now. The body is such an amazingly complex machine, with such capacity well beyond what we will ever be able to comprehend. These signals, such as craving meat when you are low in iron, or even something simple as water when you are thirsty - these are your "Check Engine" lights. You wouldn't let your car run low on gas or oil and then wait for that light to appear before you fill up or bring it in for a tune-up, would you? Often by the time you feel the sensation of thirst, you are already experiencing dehydration. If you drink the daily recommended amount of water, 8-10 glasses per day (varies per person; more if sweating excessively or exercising), then this is an example of how you can be proactive in managing your health.

The problem is, most of society waits for the red flag signs before they take action. Obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes and a slew of other illnesses- for the most part are all preventable. Preventable illness makes up approximately 80% of the burden of illness and 90% of all healthcare costs.

Your body is your temple. You only get one. You only get ONE.