After the Thanksgiving feast: now what?

Okay, we have eaten.

Odds are, we have overeaten.

So, what now?

If history is any judge, most of us will now segue into a syndrome known as “Holiday eating fugue.”

Holiday-eating-fugue syndrome, aka HEF, is characterized by the willful suspension of any recognition of the basic dietary law of the universe, which is: calories in taken must be balanced against calories expended.

When this law is not observed, weight gain ensues.

Some relevant facts:

Most people consume more than 3,000 calories on Thanksgiving Day.

The average 150-pound person burns approximately 325 calories in 90 minutes of shopping—a popular activity the day after Thanksgiving, which is what retailers refer to as Black Friday. This means that the average person would have to shop for dang-near the whole day on Black Friday, just to make up for the damage inflicted on Gobbler Thursday.

Historically, attendance at Weight Watchers meetings falls off at Thanksgiving, and doesn’t pick up again until after New Year’s Day. Whereupon, the membership drive becomes a Joining Jubilee.

The average American gains a pound between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. (Actually, that’s good news. Most people assume that the average American gains more like eight pounds between the holidays.)

Gym memberships, which languish during the holidays, go into RRP mode (Rabid Renewal Period) post-January 1.

What to do?

Here are some things you can try to ward off the HEF blues:

· Put the one-day feast-fest into perspective. No matter how much you ate on Thanksgiving, it’s not going to impact your long-term weight journey—if you get right back on the healthy eating and exercise horse.

· Get physical. One of the major causes of weight gain during the holidays is lack of activity. Time is spent doing holiday errands, which makes us more tired, less motivated, and not wanting to stick to our routine.

· Don’t “diet.” Don’t launch an overly restrictive program during this period. Stick to your tried-and-true eating plan.

· Be choosy about your treats. Those siren sweets hang out on every rock during the holiday months. Go ahead, enjoy. But be selective! And don’t think the right approach is to replace your high fat, high calorie faves with lowfat substitutes. A teaspoon of real butter on a roll is more satisfying than a ton of fake buttercrap.

Whine of the week: The Biggest Loser loses Kae

Why, oh why did Kae get voted off The Biggest Loser?

Okay, I guess I know why: she didn’t lose quite as much as the others in a single week’s measurement, and the other contestants were afraid of her. But I think the algorithm of The Biggest Loser’s “win number” should factor in the weekly loss in the greater context of overall fat reduction and health improvement. Otherwise, it underscores a very unhealthy emphasis on daily progress on the scales, rather than the weight loss journey.

In fact, while we’re fantasy-tweaking the show, let’s make the weekly “win” based on an overall health index that includes weight loss, fat loss, and the other major barometers of health improvement. That would vault The Biggest Loser into the next (and needed) level—a true reflection of the contestant’s overall health improvement. You could “reveal” a health index score each week, just as dramatically as the number on the scale.

Because after all, weight is just a number.

And what audiences really want is to see the true winners win. And that’s what Kae is, a winner.
From the feedback I’m reading, I think that The Biggest Loser is going to have to kick it up a notch in this manner to maintain its popularity with viewers.

And yeah, I know: "It's only reality TV, Kathryn. Why are you wasting your time watching it?"

Sorry, but it's my guilty pleasure. As someone who graduated from a couple of diet boot-camp programs (you'll see fictionalized shades of those experiences in DYING TO BE THIN, and next year's A KILLER WORKOUT), I can't help rooting for the competitors, like a die-hard Red Sox fan during the World Series!

You can see The Biggest Loser's web site here at:

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/episodes/

On the road for DYING TO BE THIN: week two

This past week has been incredible.

My week-that-shall-live-in-fond-memory started last Friday, when I attended the book launch party for DYING TO BE THIN. And what a party! The hostess, Mary Farrell, pulled out all the stops to make the party a night to remember. She brought in an awesome caterer, Jen Sweet (gotta love that last name), who produced Whoopie Pies wrapped in ribbons that were made from the text of my book (you have to read the first chapter of DYING TO BE THIN to understand the Whoopie Pie thing); Jen produced to-die-for empanadas, as well as dessert “cones” made out of facsimiles of the book cover. I’ve never before been to a party with such imaginative catering—I hereby nominate Jen for next year’s Top Chef!

There was a big, festive crowd, and everyone had a blast! On hand were Sisters-in-Crime LA Chapter Prez Diana James, SiS LA V.P. Susan Kozar Beery, writer-comrade Kathy Kinston, and Diana’s husband, Darrell James, who won the 2007 DEADLY INK award for his work, Trust A Dead Man To Keep A Secret. Also in attendance were my writing critique group members: Elizabeth Ralser, Lynn Schwartz, and Warren Deasy, who helped organize the event. Our critique group’s fearless leader, Lyn Stimer, could not come due to a family illness, but she was there in spirit! Oh, and Pamela Eells, the Emmy-nominated writer of Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, was also there. She’s been my best friend ever since our Wellesley College days!

On Saturday, I appeared with fellow Killer Hobbies blogger, Linda O. Johnston, at the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore near San Diego (check out Linda’s newest book, Fright of the Iguana—it’s a great read!). Even more fun than selling books was getting the chance to meet the bookstore staff, both of whom are named Linda. We had three Linda’s in the house!

On Sunday, I gave a talk at the San Diego Public Library. The talk was titled (somewhat self-importantly) as “From daydream to reality: one writer’s journey to publication”. But in reality, it was a fun discussion of anything and everything about the writing process. Lynn Whitehouse and her entire staff, including technical guru, Alan Bugg, made me feel very at home.
Upcoming

The fun continues this weekend:

This Saturday, October 13th, I’ll be signing DYING TO BE THIN at 1 p.m. at The Mystery Bookstore, 1036-C Broxton Ave in Los Angeles (aka Westwood), California.

I’ll appear at another signing that same day in Valencia at 4 p.m., at Borders Books and Music #297, 24445 Town Center Drive.

Please stop by for a visit at either location, and say Howdy!

How long did did happily-ever-after last for Cinderella?

This week, I’ve been thinking about Cinderella.

I’ve been thinking about her a lot, wondering how long she stayed "happy" after she landed the Prince and the castle? Was it eternal bliss, or did she eventually go back to worrying about more mundane matters, like pesky royal in-laws, or her pecking order at court? In a real-life example, Princess Diana certainly showed us that sometimes there's nada happily ever after.

By way of background, I should say that, of late, things have been going pretty darned well for me. Maybe not fairy-tale well, but definitely “pinch me—is it real?” kind-of-well.

Here’s a partial list of my current blessings:

My family is healthy and happy (this one has to come first on anyone’s list).
I have several great friends.
I have a new mystery series coming out.
I was recently gifted with a second house, a killer sports car, and some enviable bling.

Life, as they say, is good.

So you’d think that I’d be wandering around the house all the time with a big, goofy grin plastered across my face.

Instead, I find myself scrabbling for things to worry about. Like, how do I guarantee that my second book will surpass the first? Is my college-age daughter locking her doors at night? When is the Big One going to strike California (and what’s the deductible on my earthquake insurance?).

When nothing else works, I’ll watch CNN and fret about global warming, wondering if I should have eschewed my nice little Z4 for an earth-friendlier Prius.

I once read about a study that found that people have a default level of happiness—or unhappiness, whichever applies. This study posited that, long term, a change in an individual’s life circumstances is irrelevant to his or her “happiness” level. Oh, their moods will have ups and downs, depending on unknown and unpredictable factors such as a sudden trauma, or winning the Lotto. But according to this study, almost no matter what happens, most people eventually return to their original state of happiness. I recall the researcher saying that even someone hit by a devastating injury, such as Chris Reeve, probably eventually regained a semblance of his original level of happiness.

That must be why my mind is foraging for things to feel down about: life has removed some of its former obstacles, and somewhere in my brain, a gray cell is itching to even up the score. But from now on, whenever it does that, I’m just going to shout it down. Down, avenging brain cell! Down!

One reassuring thing: Cinderella seemed happy as a person, even before she met the Prince (at least, she was in the Disney version of the story). So odds are that this particular couple did live happily, ever after.

Anyway, that’s the fairy tale.

What about you? Do you have a “level set” of happiness (or unhappiness) that you eventually return to, no matter what brickbats or bouquets life throws your way?

Guilty pleasure of the week: The Biggest Loser

As a former fattie (okay, granted—I still have a ways to go—but at least I’m no longer morbidly obese), I experience a vicarious thrill whenever I watch Bravo TV’s The Biggest Loser.

As I watch a three-hundred person lug to the top of a seven-story tower, huffing every step of the way, a part of me cringes inside, thinking, “How can they put themselves out there like that?” But a part of me cheers them on, and gets caught up in the suspense as they step onto that scale at the end of the week to find out which team lost the most weight.

Confession time

Last year, when the producers of The Biggest Loser tempted the show’s dieters with a malevolent tower of cupcakes, I wanted to throw my diet tools in their general direction, to exact some payback.

So…?

So here’s the question: why am I so drawn to this show? I think it’s because it amplifies the everyday drama of my bathroom scale—Am I up? Am I down? Am I winning the battle? Losing?—writ large. Writ very large.

Fat people, it turns out, are the stuff of prime-time drama. And if you don’t believe me, I’ll sign off with a quote from no less an authority than The Bard himself:

Let me have men about me that are fat,

Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights: Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.

On the other hand, I suspect that Cassius was a much more dramatic character than the “men…that are fat.”

Food for thought.

Getting the lard out

This week brought about a sea change in my approach to personal fitness.

Prompted by last week’s faux health scare, I’ve done a lot of soul searching. The upshot is that I’ve taken charge—really taken charge, this time—of my fitness goals. And I’m not just talking about losing weight—I’m talking cardiovascular health, muscular flexibility, and any other health index that I can impact favorably with diet and exercise.

To brainstorm a plan of action, last Friday I met with my family doctor. After taking my vital readings, he fixed me with his best Stern Doctor’s-eye, then socked it to me with some strict lifestyle prescriptions.

To achieve a decent level of fitness (not to mention to achieve a minimal level of eye-candy appeal), he told me that I must do the following:

• Rid my larder of any foods that contain hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and anything containing enriched (nouns). Those ingredients, it turns out, are serial killers of cardiovascular health.
  
  Okay, I thought. Granted. Except—do you know how hard that is? Practically everything in my cupboards contains those ingredients. Especially my beloved, convenient meals-in-a-box. You know, the ones where you just add chicken or beef, stir in a cup of water, and—voila! Dinner for four.
  
  Turns out those box-meal babies are loaded with artery-clogging hydrogenated oils. Without those culinary fallbacks, I might—gasp—actually have to cook! How can I be expected to cook on deadline?
  


• Walk thirty minutes a day. Every day, up and down steep hills, or their equivalent on a treadmill.
  
  I really hate this one. ‘Nuff said.
  


• Work out with weight resistance.
  
  I dusted off the free weights that have been rusting under my bed, and started alternating upper body and lower body workout days, using Body for Life by Bill Phillips as a guideline. There hasn’t been a dramatic transformation yet, but it does seem slightly easier to carry a 10-pound bag of kitty litter in from the car.
  


• Take up a stress-relieving pastime, like Yoga.
  
  Here’s the scoop on me and Yoga—whenever I pretzel my limbs into an Awkward Chair Pose, I have to combat an overwhelming urge to burst into giggles. All right, then—sheesh—maybe I’ll try Tai Chi. But wait—some Falun Gong practitioners hang out on the beach where I walk every morning. Maybe I can join forces with them, and become a fellow Enemy Number One of the Chinese Communist Party. At the very least, becoming a political cause célèbre would keep me from dissolving into a gigglefest every time I do my Uranus poses, or whatever-the-heck they call them.
  

High points of the week

After just a week on my new regimen, I’ve noticed some encouraging results:

• I feel a surge of new energy.


• My system has become more regular (I’ll spare you anything further on that).


• I feet…lighter. Substantially lighter, even though I lost only a pound.


• I feel less stress.


• My blood pressure has gone down.


• I feel more present in my body (don’t ask me what the heck that means. But it feels good).

Low point of the week

On Sunday around noon, I was overwhelmed by a sudden, sharp craving for a hot dog. I piled into my TR6 and drove up and down PCH until I found a place called Waldo’s Woofers, whereupon I downed Waldo’s Barkin’ Dog Special, a twelve-inch hot dog laden with chili, onion, and mustard. It was as if my system was experiencing nitrate withdrawal, and demanded a fix.

I sincerely regret that.

Guilty pleasure of the week

Am I the last person on the planet to discover Bravo’s TV series called Work Out, starring Jackie Warner? She’s a personal trainer who runs a gym called Skylab in Beverly Hills. Skylab is a fitness camp where you can immerse yourself in a regimen of fitness and nutrition. If only I were within reasonable driving distance of that gym, I would sign up!

Their web site is:
http://www.bravotv.com/Work_Out/index.shtml

Go forth this week, and get fit!