InSanity~Normalize, Don't Stigmatize Mentall Illness.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Get Healthy Bloghop!

Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh, Stephen Tremp, L. Diane Wolfe, and Michael Di Gesu for today’s Get Healthy Bloghop. “The Objective: Share with everyone something you have done that affected your health in a positive way.” 
 
You never know...When I added my name to this bloghop, I couldn't have imagined I'd be writing about health and fitness on the heels of major surgery. But I'm back with a smile to reinstate my motto: Life is hard. Eat chocolate. Dance it off.
As the big 4-0 menaced from afar, a decade or so ago -- gulp, I decided to get fit. But I'd do it right. I'd keep eating chocolate. And I'd ignore all the hoity-toity diet gurus like Scarsdale, Atkins, Calesta Flockhart, and the Olsen twins. Instead, I'd make the changes that I knew I could live with.

Upon quick research, I was elated to discover a little known but highly relevant fact: one teaspoon of fat equals nearly twice the calories of one teaspoon of sugar. A chubby sweet-tooth's dream revelation! So I readily took to avoiding saturated fats. Easy. The pounds started shedding. 

Next, I needed to cut down on sugar intake without reducing quality of life. Back then I survived off of fruit juices: tropical pineapple banana-y mango madness with kiwi and a twist of lime-infused grapefruit. Yeah, you think they're healthy, but they're packed with enough sugar calories to send you soaring to Uranus and back (That quip's for you, AlPenwasser.) Substituting teas and flavored waters was another easy fix.

Third, I joined a gym. Everyone does this, but I actually used my gym membership to workout 3-4 times weekly. Still do. It was slow and embarrassingly painful at first. Once you get your body into an exercise routine, though, it shouts at you when you stagnate for any length of time.

Now, ten years later, I've maintained a 15-20 pound weight loss. (I'm only 4'8" and 100-ish pounds, so that's pretty significant.) I still enjoy chocolate and sweets whenever I have the need or craving, which is virtually all the time. I'm rebounding from a surgery that was more grueling than anticipated. (I started chronicling it here.) The doctor calls me "tough" and can't believe I was living pain-free with a monstrous fibroid growing at light speed. But all's good now; I'm recovering smoothly. The fibroid was benign and removed. My brilliant doc advised me to ask my friends for money and food. I interjected chocolate, so he revised the list, with chocolate as first priority. Thought I'd toss that out there. Doctor's orders and all.

In sum, here's to a healthy you. Enjoy chocolate or bacon or bacon flavored chocolate or whatever gets you through the day. Then dance it off by doing the Chicken Dance, Night ClubTwo-Step, Argentinian Tango, Hungarian Hokey Pokey, Peruvian Polka Pole Dancing Gangnam Style, or whatever is your thing. Be well! 

54 comments:

  1. Inspiring post, so glad you are on the mend. I think it is important not to deny yourself those pleasures in life *chocolate* because it only makes you crave them more! As you say, dance it off and everything in moderation.

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  2. Very inspiring post. The key to weight management is watching our diets and working out. Everything in moderation and regular work-outs is the key to good health.

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  3. hello my sweet and wonderful friend!
    thank you for this inspiring post.
    i must admit dark chocolate is my weakness consumed in moderation can be good for our health.

    always a delight to pop by your lovely spot for a visit!

    ...and as you say, dance it off!

    xoxo

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  4. Welcome back, Robyn!!!
    You did it the smart way. And yes, the body gets twitchy when it doesn't exercise. I hit the gym several times a week and can't imagine not going.
    And short is cute. Live with it!

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  5. The body sure does crave exercise once you start

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  6. You did it the right way! Keep active, eat smart and continue to enjoy the treats that make you happy. I've been doing this for years and it works like a charm!

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  7. Great post and really enjoyed the humor, especially the nods to famous diet gurus like the Olson twins. Talk about anorexics!!! Like you, I try to do everything in moderation and I can't imagine life without chocolate or exercise.

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  8. Chocolate is good for mental health! Glad to hear you're doing well after the surgery - must have been horrid.

    I find it much easier to exercise these days because I have the bike and a multi-gym in the study downstairs. My husband has also started to drag me out of the house for walks on occasion :).
    Tasha's Thinkings

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  9. My husband and I hit that moment mid-30's! We made some lifestyle changes - no stupid diets - and both lost weight and kept it off. Now and then it starts creeping back, and we have only to look at the crap food we're eating to know the source.

    I'm 5'3" and about 123 pounds. Want to join me in designing a clothing line called "Elfin?"

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  10. Most inspiring, great tips for a healthier you. Thank you.

    Yvonne.

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  11. Yeah the best thing to do is exercise of some kind and cut out all the crap food.

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  12. I love chocolate and would rather give up fatty food and keep the chocolate.

    And thanks for mentioning dancing. What a great way to burn calories and have a great time doing it!

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  13. fruit juices come with a lot of natural sugar already in it. If they add more, watch out.

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  14. Congrats on the weight loss success and for 10years. Well done. great tips here, especially the chocolate :)

    Rhonda @Laugh-Quotes.com
    Visiting today from the bloghop

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  15. ummm Robyn did you have a sex change in between those pictures?

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  16. Baygirl, oh shoot! Does it look that way? They guaranteed results and said my breasts would grow back. Excuse me while I check the refund policy.

    Thanks, all.
    Be and stay well.
    xoRobyn

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  17. LOL... great post. I only gave up chocolate because I had to do it to survive. Believe me, if I can ever eat it again.... I will and do it happily.

    You must be doing something right if you have kept the weight off for that long a time.

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  18. I have some serious suspicions Robyn, I think that the lady in the first photo is pregnant and that the person in the second photo is a man! Shock horror haha, on a serious note congratulations on the amazing job that you did with the weight loss, 100 ish pounds is actually so thin as it is and that's absolutely brilliant, plus you've still been able to enjoy chocolate which is awesome! I'm with you on the gym thing, better go go three times a week for life than go 7 days a week for a month.

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  19. I'm a big believer in, no matter what diet changes I make, the day should always end with a little piece of chocolate! Darker the better.

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  20. I took up exercise because I wasn't going to give up chocolate. Best decision ever, because it changed my life :-)

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  21. As I stare down my final year in my 40s I'm at much the same space-- trying to find a healthy and normal relationship with food and my body that isn't extreme.

    Hope you continue to recover from your surgery.

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  22. Glad to hear you are on the road to recovery but sad to hear that it was more grueling than anticipated.

    Great advice to allow yourself some pleasure but dance (or run, or walk, or move) it off.

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  23. Hi, Robyn. I enjoyed reading your post. Everything is better with chocolate. ; )

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  24. My Journey, I will likely be told at some point that I need to cease the chocolate, if I value my life. I'm not sure what I'd do in that case.

    Yeamie, you mean you can tell? Damn. I really need my money back. Results were supposed to look natural. Actually, yeah, it's a fat pregnant Jessica Simpson in the first photo. The caption read "Short but Sweet." I don't think so, not even with my face attached. =) I don't know who the second one is, but I'm pretty sure it's a he.

    Julie, it's a lifelong struggle. Isn't it?

    Thanks, all.
    xoRobyn

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  25. I like your attitude as well as your advice.

    And, as a general rule, I think it's always wise to ignore the Olsen Twins :)

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  26. Hi Robyn,

    Firstly, help, another blog hop! Okay, I feel better now :)

    The most resonating part of your thoughtful posting is that you are utilising healthy resources. A healthy attitude, finding positive distractions and eating well, are, as you know, vital to our mental and physical well being.

    I'm heartened to know you are recovering nicely from your ordeal. To celebrate this, I shall tap dance naked while eating real chocolate, as in British chocolate. Okay, technically, I'm not totally naked. I'm wearing my tap dancing shoes!

    You be well and darn it, keep smiling.

    Hugs,

    Gary :) x

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  27. I love your post! I am sorry you had to have surgery~
    Yes, dancing and chocolate sounds like fun to me~

    YOU are always fun :D

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  28. I've always liked dance, too. It's better to have fun while staying fit.

    My preference now is for weight-training. Good luck with your recovery. Surgery is never fun (at least in my experience).

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  29. LMAO! If I'm craving something I tend to eat it. Why? because otherwise I will eat everything under the sun trying to fill the craving need. I learned that most of the time, a craving can be satisfied with a small bit.

    I keep those toll house dark chocolate bits around. Fills the need when I feel it. I love chocolate.

    You'll be up and at 'em in no time.

    thanks for the laughter and good sense.

    Sia McKye OVER COFFEE

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  30. Ah, surgery is hard. Hope you feel 100% real soon!

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  31. I love chocolate and to live without it would feel like punishment. i dont do well with punishment. lol

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  32. Four foot eight inches and 100ish pounds? Oh to be eight years old again!

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  33. We should always take care of Uranus. Lest we get asteroids.

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  34. Definitely enjoy a little of chocolate - trouble is stopping after a little! Hope you're recovering post-op :)
    Suzanne @Suzannes Tribe

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  35. Life would be rather dull without alcohol and chocolate. Everything in moderation though, right?

    Yeah Right!

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  36. Could not have said it any better myself. It kills me when someone goes overboard on a diet - they swear off ALL chocolate. ALL bacon. ALL french fries. And then they crash and burn. Continue to eat what you love, but in small doses. Use it as a reward for eating well. Give yourself something to look forward to, don't turn eating into something you dread.

    Uh oh, that almost sounded like wisdom. We now return to retarded goats and fart jokes.

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  37. Hi, Robyn,

    SO GLAD TO READ you are well and eating chocolate.

    I am ALL for a piece of CHOCOLATE daily. I never miss one day. Since I work out ALL THE TIME and watch everything else I can easily burn off the calories from it.

    CONGRATS on your keeping the weight off for a decade or so.... LOL.

    I am only at three years now, but I don't ever see me gaining those 85 pounds I shed. I worked way too hard to get them off.

    Thanks for sharing your story with us.... and joining the HOP!

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  38. Mark, good thing the Olsen twins are hard to see. It makes it easier to ignore then.

    Gary, I want the pictures. Please.

    Stephen, in this size-ist world, it's not fun on any extreme of the bell shaped curve.

    Al, yes, we should honor and appreciate Uranus for its shimmering glow, concentric moons, mysterious aura...meteor showers, okay, but not asteroids.

    BnB, you can't hide the wisdom underlying all the retarded goat and fart jokes.

    Michael, thank you and thanks for co-sponsoring.

    Thanks, everyone.
    Be and stay well.
    xoRobyn

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  39. I like your diet and exercise plan. It is very similar to mine. When I wanted to get fit and healthy, I took the same approach. I signed up for the gym and use it. I also indulge in my sweet tooth cravings and don't feel guilty either. Reading labels and cooking a lot of my own food from scratch has been real beneficial in my weight loss goals.

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  40. Making changes you can live with, that's the key! I'm glad these steps were able to keep you as healthy as possible during your surgery and recovery. Hope that it all goes well.

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  41. aw, thank you so much my sweet friend.
    i'm honoured and appreciate it very much!

    be well,

    love ya!xoxo

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  42. OF COURSE the doctor prescribed chocolate! Any doubters to that? heh heh.

    Good to know you're fit, Robyn, and gyrating to the Chicken Dance!

    (aren't we all????)

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  43. Shaaya ShyYaAen't, since you have no known email, I'll state it here: Life by Chocolate strictly prohibits unwelcome visitors like you. Do not return. You aren't welcome here. You are, however, welcome to input money directly into my PayPal account or that of any of my good followers. Thank you.

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  44. O I agree -- chocolate and dancing! Thank you for sharing :)

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  45. I'm glad you made it through the surgery OK.
    I don't eat wheat and I am good with that. Chocolate is something else. Dark chocolate is not to be messed with or given up.

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  46. You make that "get healthy" stuff sound fun and easy. But I'm way too smart to be taken in by your clever ruse! lol

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  47. I think that's so awesome that you've maintained the weight loss all these years. Yay for you!!! I'm glad you're on the mend from your surgery and hope you get to feeling your spunky self, soon! :)

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  48. Thank you, everyone.

    Lexa, well, I didn't actually come through it all sans breasts - like in the photo. In retrospect, though, I don't think it's been that hard. I probably just forgot the pain. =)

    Yvonne, I'm getting there. Thank you.

    Gabrielle, so glad to have new visitors. Thanks so much. Sorry I didn't comment on your blog; couldn't figure out how.

    Be well, my friends.
    xoRobyn

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  49. Good for you, Robyn!! I'm glad you're doing well!! I'm glad you're recovering quickly. :)

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  50. I really need to catch up here! Glad to hear you are doing okay.
    Lay off the fat and eat chocolate instead. I can do that! It is a great thing that you have a regular exercise regimen, that is HEALTHY!

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  51. I just read your article, and I'm glad that everything is okay. I just got back yesterday, so I'm around if you feel like talking. I had the same procedure ten years ago, and I only went a few days without chocolate afterward. Your post was excellent, and I'm sure it will help many women. Take care of yourself.

    Julie

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