Recently, I received an email from reader Cary, which I got permission to share. I’m honored that she wanted to share her story with me. It’s a story of resilience; using a setback to ramp up instead of back down. If you have a few minutes, read the whole thing. I have no doubt some or all of it will resonate with you. (Edited slightly, bolding mine.)

Last Sunday I was about three minutes into my weekend long run (was planning to do 8 miles in Central Park) when I was hit by a cab and broke my ankle. I was obviously devastated, panicked, and shocked because a) I was in a ton of pain, b) I have no health insurance, and c) no running for at least two months!! Doctor’s orders. Heart-breaking stuff.  But then I took a little time to read about runners who’ve taken involuntary sabbaticals due to injury, and I decided that I wouldn’t let these 6-8 weeks get the best of me. I decided to treat this break not as a hellish spiral in sloth-like idleness and weight gain, watching my muscles atrophy, but I’d take control of the situation and come out on the other end with a new respect for my body and its healing processes.

A little backstory: I started running in 2003 as a freshman in high school. I had never been athletic but immediately fell in love with the sport. Thanks to a 24/7 salad bar at my sorority house and, after I got my own apartment, an enormous and inexpensive grocery store, I managed to lose 15 pounds and be the healthiest I’ve ever been. My eating habits were impeccable (at times a little rigid and neurotic), but I looked great and felt amazing. I ate like a runner should - fuel first, treats if I can afford them, run off the desserts with an extra mile later.

When I graduated and got a job, chaining me to a desk 9 hours a day, I also discovered happy hour and fatty foods. The one-time rabbit (nothing but salads, baby) developed a serious addiction for….bar food?! Jalapeno poppers, cheese dips, burgers, quesadillas, mac ‘n cheese. If it was loaded with saturated fat and/or deep fried, I was in heaven. Within six months I put on 10 pounds. Within the next year I added 7 more.

Despite the change in diet I continued to run, but I slowed down considerably (despite running the Hamptons marathon in September in my fastest time ever, 3:37). I felt gross. My skin looked bad, heart burn, general sluggishness and lack of energy. Disgusting. Not to mention a total lack of self esteem because I a) gained nearly 20 pounds, and b) could not seem to control my over-eating and new bad habits.

That all changed last Sunday.

When I broke my leg and became literally incapacitated, unable to do even light cardio for the next month, I had a legit epiphany. The only way I will be able to maintain my shape (I don’t care if I don’t lose weight right now) will be to eat right. So in the past week I have completely revamped my diet - with inspiration drawn heavily from your blog - and not only do I feel better than I have felt in months and months, but I look better too. My face has de-puffed, I’m less hungry for bad foods, and I finally have the self-discipline to stop eating when I am satisfied, as opposed to when I am so full my tummy hurts. Thank God for FreshDirect or else none of this would be possible. But last week I stocked up on fruit, a ton of veggies, low-fat yogurt, roast chicken, Fiber One Honey Cluster cereal, 1% cottage cheese, hummus, Amy’s Organic soups, whole grain bread. I feel like a new person.

I’m so excited to take these next several weeks to reacquaint myself with good food, build some new culinary habits, and get back on the trail in May with the outlook I lost a couple years ago. I feel no guilt about not being able to work out while I’m convalescing, but have managed to get down to the gym twice in the past week to lift weights, do a lot of crunches, and even ride a couple miles on the stationary bike while pedaling with just my left leg. (Funny sight to see.)

I cannot wait to rediscover running and start training for the next marathon with a body that has been transformed by a healthy little vacation, and I couldn’t have done it without your blog, recipes, and inspiration. Just wanted to share my story with you and say thanks.

(Source)

Reader Johana recently directed me to this post on her blog. In it, she describes how she’s been eating well and working out regularly for the past few weeks. But she says she’s just not seeing any results:

Considering I am exercising more than I think I ever have continuously, I am eating much better and healthy foods. Which means, cutting a whole lot back on carbs, sugars and just fatty foods in general. And have added plenty of vegetables to my daily eating habits. I don’t want to call this a diet because it’s not, I’m just eating better, and I don’t plan to return to eating as badly as I had been (although I never really ate horrible, but my choices weren’t always the greatest).

A recent chat with a fitness expert revealed that Johana is only consuming between 1000-1200 calories a day. The expert pointed to that as the reason for her seemingly few visible results. Johana also admitted that besides boot camp, she hasn’t been doing much strength training. She asked me for my feedback, so here it is.

• Your kickboxing instructor was right! You’re consuming dangerously few calories, and your body doesn’t want to allow any to be burned off! Here’s a trick I use: to lose 1-2 pounds a week, use 1200 calories as a BASE. Then, estimate calories burned through exercise and add that to the 1200. If you’re working out at a moderate intensity for 40 minutes to an hour every day, that should give you about 1500-1700 calories. I can also refer you to this post, which explains how to find your “sweet spot” in terms of calorie intake.
• I’ve always recommended at least two hours of strength training per week. Boot camp-style classes are great, but they’re more cardio with a bit of toning thrown in. You also need to devote some time to heavy lifting. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I don’t ever see results from cardio alone. Cardio burns calories, but strength training can help mold the shape of your body. You will definitely NOT bulk up!
• Patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to weight loss. Remember: the slower you lose it, the more likely you are to keep it off. I recommend 1-2 pounds a week. I know it’s painful at times to go that slowly, but it’s SO much more likely to last during the “maintenance” phase.
• Johana, I’ve seen your pics, girl! You look fab already. You’re clearly already at a healthy weight for your height, and you’re clearly already very fit. So if all else fails, try working out your acceptance muscle. One of you amazing readers summed it up so well a few weeks ago:
  
  • “WHEN I lose [weight], that’ll be great, but I can’t wait to start living when I get to some number. Most people can barely tell the difference. I keep finding myself thinking, ‘I have to postpone this date until the end of the week so I’ll be skinnier,’ ‘I don’t want to go to that dinner with my family looking like this…’ But, where I am is fine! I’m fine! I can be better, and I will be, but there’s nothing wrong with where I am.”

I get these kinds of questions from readers all the time, and I know how frustrating it can be when you’re putting in the work but not seeing results. Here are some other posts that might come in handy:

• Busting Out of a Fitness Rut
• Veggie Booty’s Guide to Style & Eating
• Lose Weight Fast! Melt Away Trouble Zones!
• Falling Off the Wagon… And Then Getting Back On
• NPR’s Top 10 Reasons Why the BMI is Bogus
• Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat
• The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating
• Burn It: Mixology

I recently got an email from reader Meghan:

I’m at a basic level of fitness now, and I joined Planet Fitness (I don’t know how familiar you are with their franchise) and I love their 30 minute circuit room, but I have no idea how many reps/how much weight to use on the machines.  They have trainers there to help, but they’re only around during the day when I’m at work.

If you know any good workout plans, or where I could look them up, it would be great! I love the trainerpack ipod videos for home workouts but I’m looking for a gym routine now!

I’ll teach you how to create your own routine! For strength workouts, the general rule is to pick a weight that is challenging by around the 8th rep. I would start with three sets of 10-12 reps for any given exercise, but as my trainer says, don’t limit yourself to a number! If you feel like you can do a few more reps on a given set, do them. But, if things are TOO easy, you may have to up your weight.

Try to focus on two muscle groups for each workout rather than trying to hit all of them on the same day (you risk overtraining certain muscles anyway). Pick two to three exercises for each muscle group. Here’s a good schedule, based on the one my trainer made for me:

• Monday: Chest & Biceps

Choose from: Bench Press (with dumbbells or machine), Incline Bench Press, Dumbbell Flys (or use machine), Push-ups, Bicep Curls, Hammer Curls, Concentration Curls

• Wednesday: Shoulders & Triceps

Choose from: Side Lateral Raises, Shoulder Presses, Upright Rows, Rear Delt Pec (machine), Lying Tricep Extensions, Tricep Dips, Tricep Dips off Smith Machine

• Friday: Back & Traps

Choose from: Lat Pulldowns, Seated Rows, Rows under Smith Machine, Back Extension (machine), Shrugs

• Saturday: Legs

Choose from: Squats, Lunges, Straight-Leg Deadlifts, Standing Calf Raises, Abductor (machine), Adductor (machine), Leg Press (machine)

On strength days, I still warm up with 10-20 minutes of cardio, depending on how much time I have. On the off days, I do light cardio or rest. I also sometimes switch it up and do circuits. These are great! To create your own circuit workout, alternate the above moves with 1-5 minute bursts of cardio. Your heart rate will be up the whole time, but you’ll get some good toning moves in, too. For the cardio, choose from:

• Butt Kicks
• Jump Rope
• High Knees
• Mountain Climbers
• Burpees
• Squat Thrusts
• Kick-Boxing
• Sprints
• Jumping Jacks
• Any cardio machine, but turn up the intensity!

Let me show you what a sample strength/cardio circuit workout would look like on a bicep/chest day:

• 5 minute easy cardio warm up
• 3x10 Bicep Curls
• 1 minute Mountain Climbers
• 3x10 Hammer Curls
• 1 minute jumping jacks
• 3x10 Push-ups
• 5 minutes high-intensity elliptical
• 3x10 Bench Press
• 1 minute Jumping Jacks
• 3x10 Dumbbell Flys
• 1 minute Butt Kicks
• 5 minute easy cardio cooldown

That workout would take you around 35-40 minutes, and I guarantee you’d be sweating the whole time!

Reader Amy says: “I really love all your advice and meals you eat (I’m highly jealous of most of your meals).  Are you a small, thin person naturally or do you have to work at it to keep your body how you want it to be?  Have you had body issues before?  What made you so interested in food and nutrition?”

I actually get her last question a lot. Since my job has nothing to do with food or nutrition, people wonder how I got so interested in it. I suppose it’s just something I’ve always been naturally drawn to. I remember being fascinated by health and fitness magazines in high school and college (not to say all advice dispensed in those magazines is so great!).

I think I’m mostly interested in nutrition because of all the misinformation out there. How do we define what’s “good” for us? A food that’s good for us calorically speaking may be horrible for us environmentally or nutritionally speaking (think of one of those 100-calorie packs, for instance).

I have no formal education in nutrition, though I don’t necessarily think all formal nutrition education is a good thing (many RD programs are not quite as progressive and up-to-date as you’d think). All my knowledge is based on my own research, meaning it’s totally fallible. But most likely, I’ve double- or triple-checked my info (and have sources to back it up!)

Anyway, on to the first few of Amy’s questions.

I’m absolutely NOT a naturally thin person! I come from a family of foodies and big eaters. Naturally, I think my body likes to be fairly curvy. I tend to fluctuate between a size 6 and a size 10, depending on how much I’m eating and working out. To be a size 6, I have to cut back significantly on treats and work out really consistently. Sometimes it feels worth it and sometimes it doesn’t. And then I go through periods where I reject my size 10 self and get really frustrated by it. But as my boyfriend can attest, I also often admire my muscles in the mirror (I tend to build muscle and tone pretty quickly, so a few weeks in the gym makes a big difference on me!). He makes fun of me because I try to give him tickets to the gun show wayyyyy too often. :)

I think what really makes me love my body is seeing what it’s capable of. Having never played a single sport in my life, I was so proud of being able to train for and run a half marathon. And every time I’m able to lift just a little bit more weight, I get so excited. The human body is an amazing specimen! Just last night on The Biggest Loser, contestants that couldn’t run a single mile five months ago ran a full marathon. That, my friends, is pretty outstanding.

If you don’t always love your body for how it looks, at least love it for what it can do for you. Be thankful if your body efficiently turns food into energy, carries you from place to place, allows you to perform all kinds of activities, from standing at a podium to holding hands to driving a car. Some people’s bodies don’t do those things. And trust me, I realize how cheesy that sounds, but sometimes you just gotta go there.

Reader Seth recently emailed me with an amazing tip for all of you out there who prefer to count calories. Seth says:

You might have heard of WolframAlpha, but it’s basically a search engine that can do calculations. If you type 2+2 into Google, you’ll get an answer - Wolfram does the same thing, but way, way more calculations are possible.

I just figured out that Wolfram is great with nutritional based data, it can very easily give you nutritional statistics on food that you prepare.

Here are a few of the ingredients from my recipes that I have plugged into Wolfram, click the links (or copy and paste them) and you’ll see what I mean by how helpful this site can be if you’re concerned about calorie intake or breakdown:

• Burgers
• Salad
• Eggs

Such a great find, Seth! I’m excited to try it out.

Recently, I whined to Emily about my problem with blisters. I seem to get them on all my long runs! Emily, who’s training for a marathon, gave me some great advice I wanted to share:

• Use Body Glide on your feet.  I used to only put it on my arms and thighs, but I now slather my toes, my arches and the insides of my step with Body Glide.  It really does help.
• Thick socks might help…but there is a chance the socks are actually part of the problem.  I SWEAR by Balega socks.  They are great for long distances because they fit snugly (meaning they don’t move around much) while still having enough padding that it provides your feet some cushion from the road.
• Runner’s world ran a pretty good review of the best types of socks…you might want to check that out too: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-320—12456-2-1-2,00.html.
• Finally, treat yourself to a pack of ”Band-Aid” Brand Blister Band-Aids.  I don’t run in them, but they work miracles on my feet the rest of the time.  They actually dissolve into the blister and help heal it much quicker.  At first these things freaked me out, but my dad (who is in the medical industry) basically forced me to use them and they have cut my blister recovery time in half!

Thanks, Emily! I know I’m going to stock up on those blister band-aids and some Body Glide asap!

Reader Shanna writes:

I’m a cardio JUNKIE (seriously… i LOVE road runs, the tread mill, the elliptical, whatever, doing cardio gets me happy and makes me feel great) so I pretty much do cardio hard 6 days a week for about 45 minutes a time. I introduced a weight lifting element to my workouts after reading your advice to others, but I know I’m not getting 120 minutes of weights like you recommend. Should I give up one or two of my days of cardio to focus solely on weights?

Shanna, I used to be the exact same way! I’d skimp on strength training in order to focus on cardio, which I liked doing a lot more (partially because I actually felt like I was burning calories). But about six months ago, I focused on adding more strength training to my workouts and immediately saw positive changes in my body. I tightened up, got more muscle tone, and felt so much stronger and more confident.

If you’re not ready to give up your cardio completely, work up to it gradually. To start, on two to three days per week, do 15-20 minutes of cardio instead of 45 and spend the rest of the time weight training. Gradually increase the time you spend weight training so you eventually end up with two to three strength-focused days. 120 minutes per week is what I recommend because it’s what I had to do to get the results I wanted, but it’s just a ballpark. Do what you feel comfortable with. Just keep in mind the many benefits of strength training! I promise that the more you do it, the more you’ll like it.

Angela says:

I have a little different situation where I’m actually trying to ‘gain’ some weight.  However, I don’t want to have to stuff my face with just fudge and ice cream all the time.  Do you have any suggestions of what major food groups would help acheive a steady, but balanced weight gain?
P.S. I feel like I’d still need some exercise in my life, just not major calorie burning ones.  Any ideas?

For people who tend to be naturally underweight, gaining weight can be just as hard as losing weight is for others. And Angela is absolutely correct that consuming high amounts of unhealthy fat and calories is the wrong way to go about gaining. So what are some safe ways to gain weight without compromising health?

1) Eat more calories! Increase your intake gradually by incorporating plenty of healthy calorie-dense foods into every meal and snack. The most calorie-dense foods are fats, but make sure to choose the healthy ones, such as avocado, nuts/nut butters, and plant oils. Calorie-dense fruits and veggies include bananas, potatoes/sweet potatoes and other starchy vegetables, and any dried fruit (you can eat more dried fruit since you won’t fill up from the water that’s in fresh fruit). Other calorie-dense foods to seek out: beans, high-calorie cereals like muesli or granola (stay away from any cereal with a lot of added sugar), and low-fat cheese.

A good example of a high-calorie meal upgrade: to a salad, add an olive oil-based dressing, plenty of beans, a sprinkling of nuts, and half an avocado. You can easily add 600-800 calories to a salad with these foods alone!

2) Drink caloric beverages instead of no-cal ones, but keep them low-fat and watch out for added sugar. Some options are low-fat milk or milk substitutes, 100% juice or pure fruit smoothies, or coconut water.

3) If you fill up fast, try eating smaller meals frequently. Shoot for six small meals per day.

4) In terms of exercise, don’t cut out cardio completely, but focus on strength training. This will ensure that as you put on weight, you add muscle instead of fat.