Saturday, December 30, 2006

It's Not Gonna Kill You

Undoubtedly if you are reading this you most likely came through Rifsblog. That, of course, is my husband Mark's blogsite. He has a list of links to other blogs that he keeps up on, some more than others. I recently started to read other blogs looking for nuggets of knowledge, inspiration, and/or information relevant to my life, and I came across a good one (for me).

Tom Furman's blog had a post written by him titled "Don't Be A Sissy". I quickly read through it and it caught my eye because he referred to a person whose life was consumed by food, also known to him as "the dieter". Tom's straight forward style appeals to me because anyone who knows me would say that I also have a straight forward, blunt, no nonsense way of communicating.

Now I'm going to take this out of context but as he was describing this type of person ("the dieter") he writes " I have news for you, skipping a meal won't kill you. In fact skipping two meals won't kill you." This is something I've heard many times (from Mark) but seeing it in black and white had an affect on me. At first my reaction was "Wow this is a guy who's never had issues with food" and then I kind of chuckled because it seemed so logical.

All day long "it's not gonna kill you" kept resonating in my head.

After a 45 min walk this morning I was so looking forward to eating a nice big juicy fuji apple. In fact these apples are so good I had talked myself into eating two. But then I thought " why do you have to eat 2 (miss piggy)? One is enough. After all it's not gonna kill you (if you only eat one)." I only ate one and then forgot about it.

I ran some errands after my walk and didn't head home until after 12:00. I had already started to think about making soup when I got home and knew it would take at least 15 min., because I had to cook the kale (the butternut soup was already made and the chicken already cooked). I started to get upset that I would be waiting a whole 15 min. and I thought to myself, "don't be stupid, it's not gonna kill you (to wait)!".

Later that afternoon I went to the vietnamese grocery store to get some chicken bones to make stock. At that store they carry one of my favorite types of brown sugar candy. I was struggling with buying some or not, and then I realized that if I don't buy it I'm not going to die! It won't kill me!

Anyway, I don't know how long this new way of thinking will last but it has at least been entertaining. For now it has put a few things back into perspective and made me laugh.

9:00am 45 min. walk (3 miles)
AM weight 130.4

Sat. menu

5-11:00 coffee w/cream 155 cal.
10:30 lg apple 120 cal.
12:45 3 prunes, 4 almonds 120 cal.
1:00 butternut squash soup w kale and chicken 320 cal.
2:00 assorted roasted vegetables (califlower, acorn squash and golden beets) 300 cal.
3-4:00 misc. sweets 580 cal.
5:45 yogurt shake (1/2c. vanilla yogurt, 1c. frozen fruit, 2tbl. fiber, 1c.water, 1/4c. milk and ice) 250 cal.

Total calories 1845

Jan./ Feb. 2007 issue of Cook's illustrated magazine had a recipe for roasted cauliflower. It is more of a method rather than recipe, since roasting vegetables rarely includes more than olive oil and S&P. It was incredible. I don't mind cauliflower, it's O.K., but now it's going to be a regular on my menu! It's worth buying the magazine for.

Tomorrow KB's!!

4 comments:

Royce said...

Yeah that exact post hit me hard too. For more than just dietary reasons, although they were up there too.
I reposted it on my blog so I could refer to it whenever I needed a kick in the butt.
Great great perspective.

P.S.
No more artificial energy enhancers for me either, I was being too much of a sissy about my energy levels before working out.
I should have the discipline to train under any normal circumstances.

Tracy Reifkind said...

I know what you mean about artificail enhancers. Mine is sugar. Since I've been sick for almost a week now I haven't been eating alot of sugar especially before my workouts. I feel as if I've weaned myself a little bit from that habit. I going to try and continue this trend.

cayenne said...

Tracy,

I found your blog through Rif's, which I in turn found through DD.

Congratulations to you on your accomplishments, both external and internal.

I think the "It's Not Gonna Kill You" inner message is a useful tool. Moments after reading your blog I saw this interesting, to me anyway,:) article copied-because link would not "fit" - below:

(BTW, please note, as a person who utilizes Intermittent Fasting and Warrior Diet type protocols, I'm not posting the article to dispute the value of "sensible" fasting, just to show an interesting report regarding how some are doing it, perhaps not sensibly.)

Best to you for the New Year !

Eddie

From 1/2/07 Newsday:

Fainting dieters among cause of MTA delays
BY CHUCK BENNETT
amNY STAFF WRITER

January 2, 2007
"Sick customer," MTA-speak for a subway delay caused by an ill passenger, was the No. 3 cause of disruptions between October 2005 and October 2006, an analysis of agency statistics shows.

"You have women trying to get their bodies tight for the summer and they won't eat," said Asim Nelson, a Transit emergency medical technician based in Grand Central Terminal. "Not eating for three or four days, you are going to go down. If you don't eat for 12 hours, you are going to get weak."

Talisa McGraw, 17, sheepishly admitted to skipping breakfast and dinner the night before she fainted on a No. 4 train last month. "I felt dizzy and light and dropped down," she said.

At Grand Central, Nelson brought her to his small office, monitored her vital signs and waited for an ambulance to take her to a hospital for a check-up. In all, Nelson treated five women that morning, all of who fainted or reported feeling weak.

An average of 395 delays per month are caused by sick customers. Only track work and signal troubles triggered more delays.

While flu-symptoms, anxiety attacks, hangovers and heat exhaustion also strike passengers, Nelson said, they pale in comparison to fainting caused by missed meals.

The MTA, however, doesn't keep an official list of the nature of every sick-customer disruption.

Nelson is part of the MTA's Sick Customer Response Program, which consists of EMTs and registered nurses based at transit hubs, he said. When a rider becomes ill a conductor must stay with the person until paramedics or other appropriate emergency responders arrive. This can tie up train service, especially at stations that only have two tracks.

Bottom line: The MTA strongly urges all riders to eat something - anything - in the morning to keep the subway rolling.

Tracy Reifkind said...

Cayenne,

Mark says to say hi, he says you're a good guy.thanks for the interest in my blog, its nice to be read :))
I think there's a big difference between not having that extra apple or even missing a meal and that kind of silliness.
as you know from WD the more you fast the more you can fast.
thanks

Tracy.