Healthy Holiday Round-up: February style

While interning this summer, I was eager for opportunities to write, so when the web editor at Positive Thinking asked if I'd like to write a "10 Things to do in July" article, I responded with an emphatic yes! When the summer was over, he gave me opportunity to make it a monthly column (another emphatic yes!). An unforeseen side effect? It has given me a wealth of random facts and information (and to my friends dismay, an endless supply of "Hey guys, did you know that today/this week/this month is...?" questions). "10 Things to do in February" will be coming out soon, but I thought I'd take up some web space here for a few healthy observances that didn't make the 10-count cut.

National Carrot Day (February 3rd)

This low-cal snack (35 per 100 g serving) is loaded with Vitamin A, C, Folate, Iron and Potassium. With 3 grams of dietary fiber and 0 grams fat, carrots are a great option for healthy weight loss snacking.

National Frozen Yogurt Day (February 6th)

I just like any national holiday that says I can eat sweets, guilt-free! There are tons of great picks out there for delicious fro-yo and low-fat frozen treats--from chains like Tasty D-Lite and Pinkberry, to store-bought faves like Skinny Cow sandwiches and Smart Ones Sundaes. So treat yourself to a tasty treat in honor of the national holiday!

Pistachio Day (February 26th)
Go nuts for these nuts! 1 ounce (about 49 kernels) weighs in at 160 calories, and is packed with 13 grams of healthy fat (only 2 grams of the saturated stuff) and 3 grams of fiber--making it a perfect mid-afternoon snack. Added bonus? Their natural safety lock for fast snackers! Taking time to open each shell slows down your munching, helping you to satisfy your hunger without going overboard.

And for the finale, the month-long celebration...

Sweet Potato Month
(for full effect, this should be read with a Bud Light's "Real American Hero" pizazz. You know, like one of these):

This February we salute you sweet potato. Often forgotten and neglected, thought of as nothing but turkey's side dish, you swallow your pride every Thanksgiving and forgo your naturally delicious flavor to be dressed in melted marshmallows. How do people not see that you are best Au natural? A fully-equipped, mid-sized complex carb, complete with 103 calories, 4 grams fiber, 438% daily value of Vitamin A and 37% of Vitamin C (fat and sodium not included)--you in your most basic, baked state are a dieters dream. So this month, we salute you, sweet potato, because you truly are an under appreciated tator.

Learning to chill-out my workout

I have never, and most likely will never, be one to cringe at the thought of physical fitness. I am a product of endless sport seasons--swimming, softball, basketball, gymnastics, field hockey, lacrosse--and beside my brief stint at soccer (when the coach took my 5-year-old self out of the goalie spot due to my inability to focus, move, or want to do anything soccer related), I have loved every minute of it. It was time well-spent with my dad (aka Coach Steve) and what I did with my summers; in high school, it was part of my identity and my group of friends. In college, it gave me an instant family away from home and kept me out of trouble (and gaining the freshman 15!). But it also gave me a militant mentality that I never knew could sabotage the way I looked at exercise.

Our lacrosse program got cut (a whole other story in itself), and I had to trade in my "collegiate athlete" title for "active college student" instead. The first time I walked into our school's fitness center, I felt out of place. I was used to the flaky turf and 5-yard lines of our field. I knew the spots on the track that got slick after it rained, and I had become accustom to the rusty dumbbells in our weight room. To me, treadmills were a last resort for when it was snowing or raining too hard. The last time I had biked was when I was training for a 75-mile race, and the only time I had used the elliptical was when I was nursing a sprained ankle or torn hamstring. I didn't understand how walking or yoga constituted as exercise, and my workout garb was baggy shorts and over-sized T-shirts (hardly close to the "gym-fashionable" outfits other girls wore).

I didn't fit into the mold that many active young women did. They obsessed over pounds and numbers just like I did, but we measured very different things. For them, it was the falling numbers on a scale and the countdown of pounds; for me, it was dropping numbers off my timed mile or adding 40 pounds to my squat max.

This drive, this push that was deemed dedicated and determined on the lacrosse field turned out to be flat out unhealthy off the field. I didn't have to beat times or whistles or weight maxes anymore. For the first time, I could work out just because. But it didn't work out like that. If I wasn't dead and exhausted, or didn't spend more than 30 minutes at the gym, I felt like a failure. I was always having to out-do something or someone. If reports recommended 30 minutes of activity most days a week, I had to do at least 60 every day. I held races with unknowing competitors; if the girl on the treadmill next to me was doing 6.0, I couldn't be under 6.5; if the person across from me stayed on the bike for 40 minutes, I had to stay for 60. It's sad, pathetic, and flat-out creepy (believe me, I know), but it was my unconscious way of satisfying that relentless mentality I had.

It finally hit me. As much as I enjoyed being active, I had no idea how to do it just for fun. These insane, intense and unreal workouts had become my fun throughout the years. I lived for the workouts where you never thought you could make it, where you pushed your body past every logical limit and never thought twice. Those workouts, the ones you could only get though by gasping for air and encouragement from your teammates, were what I considered normal. When my new routines failed to meet that intensity, I was left feeling defeated.

I've had to work hard at re-conditioning my mentality on exercise, and I'm starting to get on the right path. I get out and run simply because I like the way I feel during and after, and when my busy schedule means missing a date with the gym, I don't stress about it. Exercise shouldn't be torture (even if you're sick like me and can find enjoyment from it). It should be a part of your everyday life, not because it has to be, but because you want it to be. For me, that means playing racquetball with Craig more often, taking a pilates class, or catching up with my best friend over a walk rather than a cup of coffee. For you, it could mean gardening, jumping rope, or yes, even cleaning your house! Whatever you choose, it is possible to be more active and actually enjoy it!