Confession: I'm overweight...about 50 lbs overweight. I haven't always been heavy. As a matter of fact, I was generally pretty trim and fit most of my life until I became a mother -- that old story, you say? Well, not quite. I was still comfortably wearing size 8 short shorts at 6-months-pregnant with my first child. Then something changed: I gained 20 lbs in 2 weeks during my 3rd trimester without any explanation or change in my routine, I continued to gain another 20-25 lbs for a total of 60 lbs. When I gave birth, I weighed in at 209 lbs, the heaviest I've ever been in my entire life. I was only 22 years old.
Suddenly, I had a colicky baby and was recovering from a c-section in a strange city with no family or friends around to give me regular breaks from the exhausting round-the-clock care he required. It was the first in a long line of situations where I felt compelled to put everyone else's needs first and ignore my own. In retrospect, this was a very bad precedent for me to set so early my marriage and motherhood. When women subserviate (I know this isn't a word, but it should be) themselves to their families and completely ignore their need to exercise and have grown-up, non-family time to relax and recharge their emotional & physical health, they short-change everyone in their care.
It's not that I haven't tried to lose weight in the last 11 years. I've tried several times with varying degrees of success: the Slim-Fast diet that sent me to the hospital with abdominal pain I thought was appendicitis -- an allergic reaction to the shakes; Ballet Class had good results until a serious renewed injury forced me to give it up; the Grapefruit Diet couldn't last, when red grapefruits went out of season I couldn't bring myself to eat the regular ones and I only lost 5 lbs anyway. Weight Watchers brought the best success -- I lost 30 lbs in 6 months before getting stuck on a plateau and eventually giving up my membership when money got tight. I gained back 25 lbs in a year.
Right around the time I gave up on my first turn with WW, I discovered my sensitivity to Soy had become a full-blown allergy...I wonder if all those low-point soy-based convenience foods I was eating had anything to do with that.... There are studies that show Soy can actually boost your estrogen levels and trigger your body's signals to hold onto fat, making it harder to lose weight. If you're allergic, not being able to lose weight while consuming soy can be a symptom of the allergy. Suddenly I didn't know what to eat, and had to focus all my energy on my family's eating habits: I bought a bread machine (no more store-bought loaves), I spent hours on-line doing research, I revamped most of my recipes to make them soy-free, and started baking the kids' treats a lot more frequently at home. Just happy to be able to eat anything, I probably over-indulged in many of the things that I could find to eat, and it took a really long time for the cravings for gummy candy to subside. I'm not giving in to Swedish Fish and Twizzlers, but I did buy a tub of soy-free gummy stars at Whole Foods once, and...well, I ate the whole thing within 3 days.
What all of those weight loss failures had in common was that I failed to combine diet changes with an exercise routine. Even when I was doing ballet, it was only one class per week, and the movement is basically anaerobic, so you will tone muscle, but generally not burn a lot of calories. As a kid, I swam, played tennis, rode my bike every chance I got, danced in musical theatre; I was even in the marching band...being active was so easy. In high school, knowing I wanted to be a performer, I started doing daily tv exercise programs. At one point I could do Denise Austen's Daily Workout, Bodies in Motion with Gilad Janklowicz, and Basic Training with Ada Janklowicz, all in a row without even getting winded. I was in the best shape of my life that summer, and I was a healthy size 6. College reduced my activities quite a lot, but I was still fairly trim when I graduated because my lifestyle still required a lot of walking and dancing, though getting to the gym at the college next door was not high on my priority list.
Long story, short -- it's 11 years later, and the most exercise I get regularly is climbing the 2 flights of stairs to my apartment. Even though I don't eat fast food anymore, I drink tons of water, and get my 5-6 servings of fruits & veggies everyday, I haven't been able to lose more than 3-4 lbs on my current Weight Watchers lifestyle program. Without any exercise in my routine, I haven't been able to break through this plateau for weeks.
But I didn't have any energy. I could never get up in the morning, frequently dragged my aching self out of bed after my kids left for school during the year, and going back to grad school made it easy to chain myself to my desk all day. Even the household chores required too much energy for me some days. Being overweight and out of shape makes it so much harder to start exercising. If you don't have the energy to get through your day without exercise, you're not going to want to do anything that will make you even more tired.
That's why I am so grateful to my new friend, Kim, for introducing me to AdvoCare. I am able to have AdvoCare's SLAM in LemonAid and Strawberry without any reactions. There is no soy, no vitamin E, and no artificial flavors in these two flavors. I dilute the SLAM because the caffeine boost in one little bottle will keep me up for 24 hrs straight, but I'm super sensitive to caffeine. I pour one serving of Slam into a reusable water bottle and add 16-20 oz of water. I keep this bottle in my fridge and take a few sips first thing in the morning, right before I work out, and if I find myself lagging in energy later in the day. This way, one bottle lasts me 5-7 days.
Last week I started getting up early in the morning -- before my kids (with a lot of help from SLAM) -- and going for a 30 min walk every other day. My goal is to make this walk my daily routine by the end of the month. I know I'm going to hit challenges along the way. My life in theatre & grad school demand late nights, intense work days, and I'm always going to have the instinct to deny my own needs when time and money are tight, but with support and positive results I think I have finally made the necessary lifestyle change.
This morning the scale had a happy number for me; I broke through my plateau by 1/2 lb, and with my new-found energy, I know I can make my short- and long-term weight loss goals this year.
Searching for other Soy-Allergen Free products from AdvoCare, I found Calcium Plus Vitamins, Catalyst & ThermoPlus in their weight-loss line, their sleep aid Zzz, Clear Mood which helps to promote relaxation & stress relief, and ProBiotic RESTORE ULTRA.
Explore the Advocare lifestyle here.
Sincerely,
Soylesse Greenapple
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Cosmetics - Mine Field of Soy
Doing a little shopping the other day, I was approached by a cosmetics salesperson in a department store. I don't really wear much daily make up, as a general rule -- not really my thing, but I do recognize the benefits of a good foundation, and a few natural enhancements with a skillful pencil or brush. I'm also in theatre where, for a performer, make up is a necessity.
I will say that I have a good foundation. I use Bare Minerals Foundation & Mineral Veil (no, I'm not being paid to say that), and I found a similar foundation at Macy's the other day that goes on with a dry sponge & may have better coverage, but the brand name I neglected to write down. The other products she wanted to apply to my face unfortunately all contained at least one ingredient known or suspected to cause a reaction for those with soy allergy. I will probably go back at some point this fall and purchase the foundation for stage/photo use, but I couldn't justify the added expense at the time. I was on a mission to find a cute pair of everyday earrings, which I did + a funky pair, but I digress....
On my way out of the store, I was headed back through the cosmetic section when a sign caught my eye: Clinique's skin care products were claiming to be 100% Allergy Tested. Blissfully hopeful, I picked up a little blue box and turned it over to read the ingredients, only to have my hopes dashed. Every single product I reviewed had some ingredient or other that was suspect or in a few cases even read "Soy ____".
The ladies at the counter assured me that I was welcome to purchase a product, take it home, and if I had any kind of reaction I could certainly return it for a full refund...all $96 worth! Like I'm really going to spend nearly $100 on a gamble like that. Obviously these ladies were not trained to understand the meaning of the word "allergy," and about 15 minutes into the conversation, the Asian lady in a lab coat who spoke with a thick accent...wait for it...upon seeing my claddagh ring (my Irish wedding ring) instantly proclaimed: "Oh! You Irish! You have red face; lots of freckles! You need this!" I was handed a package of rosacea treatment & freckle fading cream, which actually contained soybean oil!
Wow, so that's what racism feels like when you're on the wrong side of it! I've had the drinking jokes & bad accents thrown up at me over the years, but this is the first time I was put in a little box by someone of another ethnic group. I winced and consoled myself with the fact that she herself was unknowingly embracing a stereotype. Then I told myself that wasn't very nice of me.
Now, if you know me, you know that while I may sunburn easily on my pale face, I don't really have a lot of freckles (especially compared to my family members), and I certainly don't have rosacea or a ruddy complexion (maybe a little pink in my undertones), but nothing to require an expensive cream.
I had already explained my allergy, and said that I was just looking for a daily moisturizer with sunscreen...something I have not been able to replace as yet...but after that I just had to leave before I got angry.
Bottom line: Clinique claims its product are all 100% Allergy Tested. What that really means is that they have 600 people use each product 12 times, and they will not release the product if any of those 600 people has a reaction to it.
For me, this is just another example of a company that does not understand Soy Allergy, or consider it a real problem. Glycerin, most Tocopherols (vitamin E), and Gums (see previous blogs) are known to cause reactions for Soy Allergy sufferers.
When will a cosmetic company take notice and start making a full line of products free of Soy and Soy cousins?
Sincerely,
Soylesse Greenapple
I will say that I have a good foundation. I use Bare Minerals Foundation & Mineral Veil (no, I'm not being paid to say that), and I found a similar foundation at Macy's the other day that goes on with a dry sponge & may have better coverage, but the brand name I neglected to write down. The other products she wanted to apply to my face unfortunately all contained at least one ingredient known or suspected to cause a reaction for those with soy allergy. I will probably go back at some point this fall and purchase the foundation for stage/photo use, but I couldn't justify the added expense at the time. I was on a mission to find a cute pair of everyday earrings, which I did + a funky pair, but I digress....
On my way out of the store, I was headed back through the cosmetic section when a sign caught my eye: Clinique's skin care products were claiming to be 100% Allergy Tested. Blissfully hopeful, I picked up a little blue box and turned it over to read the ingredients, only to have my hopes dashed. Every single product I reviewed had some ingredient or other that was suspect or in a few cases even read "Soy ____".
The ladies at the counter assured me that I was welcome to purchase a product, take it home, and if I had any kind of reaction I could certainly return it for a full refund...all $96 worth! Like I'm really going to spend nearly $100 on a gamble like that. Obviously these ladies were not trained to understand the meaning of the word "allergy," and about 15 minutes into the conversation, the Asian lady in a lab coat who spoke with a thick accent...wait for it...upon seeing my claddagh ring (my Irish wedding ring) instantly proclaimed: "Oh! You Irish! You have red face; lots of freckles! You need this!" I was handed a package of rosacea treatment & freckle fading cream, which actually contained soybean oil!
Wow, so that's what racism feels like when you're on the wrong side of it! I've had the drinking jokes & bad accents thrown up at me over the years, but this is the first time I was put in a little box by someone of another ethnic group. I winced and consoled myself with the fact that she herself was unknowingly embracing a stereotype. Then I told myself that wasn't very nice of me.
Now, if you know me, you know that while I may sunburn easily on my pale face, I don't really have a lot of freckles (especially compared to my family members), and I certainly don't have rosacea or a ruddy complexion (maybe a little pink in my undertones), but nothing to require an expensive cream.
I had already explained my allergy, and said that I was just looking for a daily moisturizer with sunscreen...something I have not been able to replace as yet...but after that I just had to leave before I got angry.
Bottom line: Clinique claims its product are all 100% Allergy Tested. What that really means is that they have 600 people use each product 12 times, and they will not release the product if any of those 600 people has a reaction to it.
For me, this is just another example of a company that does not understand Soy Allergy, or consider it a real problem. Glycerin, most Tocopherols (vitamin E), and Gums (see previous blogs) are known to cause reactions for Soy Allergy sufferers.
When will a cosmetic company take notice and start making a full line of products free of Soy and Soy cousins?
Sincerely,
Soylesse Greenapple
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