Category: Running

Break Through Weight Loss Plateaus: My Journey

“When you get to a plateau, think of it as a landing on the stairway to your goal. And maintenance is a lifelong plateau, so a bit of ‘rehearsal’ for maintenance isn’t the worst thing in the world”. -unknown

Recently, I have been deeply reflecting on my journey. I have been in a plateau for the past three months and it was starting to wear on my mindset. When I hit 160, I was a mere 10 pounds away from my original target weight of 150 lbs. I was so excited and remember sending a message to my coach saying, “Say goodbye to the 160s!”. Not so fast my body seemed to say, for here I am three months later still here and weighing in at 164 lbs. How many of you can relate to this? So close, yet those last 10 pounds still the ever elusive target.

In the past, this plateau would have caused me to get frustrated and perhaps even give up. This time, I’ve been digging in and holding on, embracing my time in this maintenance period. I believe my body was asking me for a break and time to readjust. Instead of giving up, I decided to really dive into what I am eating and how I am moving, trying to uncover why my body has stopped losing weight. This week, I’d like to share my process and reflection on being stuck.

What is a Weight Loss Plateau?

When we hit a plateau, it feels like everything stops. We question ourselves and often become overly critical. I know I always think I need to do more and be better to reach my goals. What we don’t take into account is that this journey takes time and does not happen quickly. It’s a SLOW process!

I know right now you are thinking about how long you’ve been trying, because that’s where my mind went. I’ve been on this journey for a long time too. This most recent journey started back on February 1, 2023, almost two years ago. What I think gave me some perspective on time, was when I thought about how long it took me to become this unhealthy. Truly the answer to that is a lifetime, but the most recent weight gain was a solid five year time span. Five years to gain over 80 pounds. When looking at that perspective, two years to lose 65 pounds seems fantastic. Plateaus are normal to hit and how we respond to them will determine our outcome. For me, I am holding on and trying to find ways to get things moving along again.

I wrote about weight loss plateaus when I first hit this one, back in July. I think the post is worth reading to understand the evolution of thinking about my weight loss plateau.

Pushing Past Weight-Loss Plateaus: Tips for Success

You can also learn more about this topic here:

Metabolism and Reverse Dieting

What I’ve Learned About My Weight Loss Plateau

In my original post, I talked about metabolic adaptation, or our body adjusting to its new normal. When we reduce our caloric intake, over time our metabolism adapts to the new intake level. In order to achieve balance, our metabolism slows. Over time, this means that our caloric deficit no longer gives the result of losing weight. This can lead us to reduce our calories further and increase exercise, which can give us the exact opposite result than what we are seeking. That’s what happened to me and the result I’ve had these past three months.

When I spoke with my coach and dietitian, they kept going back to my food logs. I log my food on Cronometer daily, to ensure I am meeting my macros that were set for me. Being plant based, I’ve paid special attention to my protein intake and my target was 90 grams a day. I struggled to reach that goal some days and would add additional protein shakes, or meals to my day. This left me not hungry and feeling full. The ironic thing was that my daily caloric intake was only at 1100 most days, far too low, yet I wasn’t hungry. It was concerning and I kept telling them both that I could not possibly eat any more food. I was literally so uncomfortably full.

My newest blood work showed that my LDL had increased again and they all believe, including my doctor, that this is tied to my low caloric daily intake, coupled with my high daily energy expenditure.

I felt like this testing was the slap I needed. My body scans showed that the minimal caloric intake I needed (BMR) was 1526. This rate is just for my body to do the basic functions needed to live, and does not take into account the high levels of movement I do each day. My new daily target is 1600 on less active days, and as much as 2000 on active days.

Further examination of my daily logs revealed that I was eating about 55 grams of fiber each day. The average RDA for women my age is 21. Though this intake is not unhealthy, this high amount of fiber was causing me, at times, to feel uncomfortably full. In my attempt to increase my protein, I was adding silken tofu, flax seed, hemp seed and chia seed at the same time to each shake, which was way too much.

What I Did in Response

I went back to a lower caloric intake and then slowly began to increase each week. I originally went from 1100 to 2000 in a day and was truly uncomfortable. It was too much too fast (story of my life!). This slower and gradual increase has been life changing and allowed my body to better adapt. I am now eating 1600 calories with ease and actually look forward to my meals. Once I am consistently eating in a healthier range, we will begin to look at cutting back to ensure a deficit, but for now the focus is to improve my metabolism.

I also increased the number of weight lifting sessions I do each week. I originally was lifting heavy two days a week with a trainer. First, I added a third day and this week I added in the fourth day. That will be my target going forward, to lift heavier weights four times a week. Despite the plateau of my weight, I have continued to lose inches as evidenced by my weekly measurements and clothing size.

I cut back on the number of days I was playing competitive pickleball games. This was a hard decision, but after reflecting on the data in FitBit regarding readiness scores, I decided I was stressing my body. Readiness scores are provided to help us avoid injury and ensure we take needed rest days. I am an over achiever by nature and tended to ignore that data. In consultation with my coach, I finally understood that I was stressing my body. My Fitbit step counts were averaging 25-30K steps per day, seven days a week. That included long walks and pickleball. I am now playing an average of 3-4 times per week and my average step counts are between 10-15K a day. I do not take long walks on days I play pickleball, just a nice short walk in the morning to start my day. I’ve also added a full rest day, during which I do a short walk and consciously rest.

Finally, I purchased a body scan scale that gives me valuable data regarding the composition of my body. As a data geek, I love to watch the shifts as they happen each week when I step on the scan. I am now better able to study my body composition, including body fat and body muscle percentages. I also find the BMR targets helpful, as they are targeted specifically to my body. When I started my metabolic age showed at 71! I was horrified. Today it showed as 49!

I will continue to monitor my journey, through weekly body scans, measurements and periodic blood work. I am extremely excited about the additional weight training session each week. I am seeing some nice definition starting and feel stronger each week. I am relieved that the increase of LDL was not something to panic over. I was truly feeling badly about that and it really helped to have a registered dietitian explain why it was happening and what to do in response.

Summary of Changes I Made

In summary, here are the changes I made:

  1. Slowly increased caloric intake to healthier levels
  2. Increased protein intake and split it evenly across 3 meals a day (50 grams at each meal)
  3. Increase weight lifting sessions to 4x a week
  4. Decreased cardio events each week to avoid over stressing my body
  5. Use of body scan to monitor body composition data

Next Steps

I hope this post gave you some food for thought about your journey. If you connected in any way to this post, please do reach out and share in the comment section below. I’d love to hear your experiences, as they always help me feel like I’m not alone on this journey. Feel free to answer any of these questions to help get a discussion going:

Why do you think your body is not letting you lose weight?

Are you currently doing weight lifting sessions each week? How many per week?

What have you noticed about adding in weight lifting?

What is your current daily protein intake?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your comments. If you feel more comfortable sharing via email, you can do so at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, or on Instagram.

Navigating Overthinking in Your Health Journey

“I thought about starting an ‘overthinkers anonymous group,’ but I couldn’t make up my mind.” – Anonymous

Hi, I’m Laura and I am an overthinker. I’ve been this way my whole life and it has both served me and held me back. When it comes to my health journey, recently it has lately been causing confusion and unnecessary complication. I’ll bet I am not alone on this path and that many of you will connect to this post.

Back in January of this year, I made the decision for my health to switch to a whole food plant based lifestyle. Like most overthinkers, I have strong analytical skills and used them to learn about this lifestyle. I enrolled in courses, became a certified health coach and learned new ways to cook. For me, learning is always stimulating and satisfying. Whenever I take something on, I fully immerse myself in the process. In fact, overthinkers are thorough and consider multiple aspects of a situation, which can lead to better decision-making and problem solving. This trait has served me well in my life and especially my career.

Overthinking can cause problems, as over time conflicting information, especially in the health and wellness industry, can cause confusion. There are multiple research studies to be found on any topic and all provide “scientific” evidence to support their claims. In my case, my need to ensure my health and wellness, led me to so much information and caused what’s known as analysis paralysis. This simply means that my overthinking led to indecision, which caused me to make unnecessary changes and ultimately led to confusion. My confusion caused me to over complicate my eating and then led to me doubting my ability to sustain this lifestyle.

Instead of changing course, I decided to seek someone out who could help fill in gaps in my understanding of my specific nutritional needs. I decided to work with a Registered Dietitian (RD) to better understand how to put information I learned into practice. You would think this would be an easy task, but it was most definitely not. It was very hard to find someone I felt comfortable working with who had a strong understanding of plant based lifestyles. Most RD programs do not have a specific focus on plant based foods, rather they cover it as one component in a holistic program. Sometimes this means spending as little as one week on the topic. When it comes to plant based and vegan lifestyles, it was important to me that I find a RD who specialized in plant based/vegan lifestyles, or was personally living it.

I finally found a dietitian that I feel comfortable with and am so excited to begin learning from her. I did, however, hit a few roadblocks along the way before I found her, so I want to share my experience to perhaps help you avoid making the same mistake.

Finding the Right Registered Dietitian For You:

  1. Search Your Healthcare Provider List for Participating Dietitians
    • This didn’t work well for me, as my search for Registered Dietitians mostly led to weight loss centers focused on surgery. It was hard to find one that didn’t specialize in that, and there were no plant-based RDs in my area.
  2. Search Online for Dietitians Near You
    • There were none to be found in my area.
  3. Search Online for Registered Dietitians
    • This search provided me with some leads. My next step was to set up interview meetings to see if we would be a good fit. This specific process led me to make a poor decision, but we learn from our mistakes.

Ensuring the Right Fit For Your Needs:

  1. Research Providers
    • It’s important to read through the provider’s website and ensure they speak to what you are seeking. I’d also do some google searching on the providers, as well as a social media search. See what others have said about working with them.
  2. Set up a Meeting on Zoom
    • I no longer work with anyone before I spend time speaking in a Zoom. If they are not providing a consultation meeting, then they are not for me. I would have know immediately that the first RD I met with was not a good fit for me and could have avoided wasting time and money.
  3. Be Careful of Programs
    • There are many programs out there that come up when searching for Registered Dietitians. They use the right words, but tread carefully. I had a consultation with one of these companies back at the end of August. I explained what I was seeking clearly and the woman I met with was just incredible. I signed up to work with this company, thinking I’d be working with her, for five months. I feel like it was a bait and switch routine, as the person I met with was NOT the person I work with. And, when I expressed my concern I was told I needed to trust them. When I emailed a second time, I received no response. This was an expensive lesson to learn, but learn I did. I just had a similar situation and knew enough to say no to this even more expensive program. Be careful as there are a lot of these types of programs. If it sounds like it’s too good to be true, it most likely is.
  4. Avoid Long Term Initial Contracts
    • I will no longer sign a long term contract to work with someone. There is no reason I would need to do this and I should have known better. I am paying monthly for a program that is not truly meeting my needs. If they are trying to lock you in, walk away. Reputable providers do not need to make you do this.

I finally feel like I am back on solid footing and have a strong plan moving forward. I felt better just from my initial meeting with the dietitian on Friday. She explained my blood work in a manner that I understood and she eased my mind about the concerns I had. She cleared up some misconceptions I had and is currently mining through the data I sent her. I am a data geek and was so glad she wanted the information I have. I am cutting back on the information I am taking in at this point. I plan to follow her guidance and find more clarity around my plant based food choices.

Have you had a similar experiences with overthinking? or, looking for a wellness provider? Would you like to share your story? So many of us are on this path to reclaiming our health and I’d love to feature your story in a future blog. Please reach out to me and let me know about your journey. We all can gain motivation and help each other through this sharing. Reach out to me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram, or in the comment section below.

The Impact of Giving Up Running on My Health Journey: A Reflective Journey

“Movement will give you access to joy that will dramatically improve the quality of your life.” – Kelly McGonigal

I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on my current health journey. I feel like I’ve learned so much about myself through this reflection. It’s no secret that this last journey has been by far my hardest. There were many causes that led me to my lowest point, I can not just name one. It was like the perfect storm, a particularly bad or critical state of affairs, arising from a number of negative and unpredictable factors. In isolation, each event that happened was life changing. In combination, they served to wreak havoc on my mental and physical health.

The past four years have been some of the hardest in my life, but as they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I am finally in a space where I can reflect on all I’ve learned through my experience. To share, my perfect storm consisted of the following events coming together, 1) physical injury that caused me to give up running; 2) COVID pandemic; 3) death of my mother.

I’d like to reflect today on the impact giving up running had on my overall wellness, as I believe it was deeper than I ever imagined.

Physical Injury

I was always a runner. I was up and out early mornings with my father as we ran around the neighborhood park. The loop was 1 1/3 miles and we did 3 loops to start our day. Later, I ran track in school and found I wasn’t good at the short, fast events, but I could run long distance. I’ve run 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon races. Running was a great sport for me, as I loved the time spent outside in nature. It truly is meditative.

During 2017 and 2018, I was training for the NYC Marathon. Both years, I did not make it to the starting line as I sustained a femoral stress fracture up near the hip joint. This injury required 12-16 weeks non weight bearing, followed by physical therapy. In 2018, I also sustained three broken toes. My body was definitely telling me it was time to cut back on running, but I had always wanted to run the NYC Marathon.

In 2019, I knew I wouldn’t be able to cover the training distance needed to get to the starting line, but was determined to get there. I used a different approach that year, cutting back on training run distance and working more on my functional strength, stamina and cardio. I signed up for CrossFit and used that as my main method of training, coupled with shorter runs, no more that 10 miles. That year, I was able to complete my goal and finish the NYC Marathon.

As excited and proud as I am about that goal, I know that I sacrificed my body to achieve it. I finished this race with another femoral stress fracture and this one seemed by far to be the most painful. I was back on crutches and back to the healing process. I knew that would be my last race and promised my family I would give up long runs. What I didn’t realize was how hard it would be to give up running and what role running played in my health journey.

Mental Wellness

When I returned to work, following the marathon, I was back on crutches. I was mad at my body and mad at myself for doing this to myself again. I truly felt that my body had failed me and didn’t understand why. Knowing my training and running days were over, I seemed to have less interest in recovery or maintaining my fitness levels. I had what I describe as a pity party and ate anything I wanted regardless of the fact that I wasn’t moving at all.

Going through COVID shutdowns and the death of my mother a few months later, I had no motivation to heal or do anything. If I couldn’t run, I didn’t want to do anything. I gained so much weight during this time and looked like a different person. When I look back now at the photographs, I don’t even recognize myself.

I didn’t understand that movement, not just running, had played a pivotal role on my wellness and its absence would have a profound impact on me.

Movement

I now realize the role movement played in my life beyond just running races. Movement was critical to my overall wellness, both mentally and physically. If I look back, I was running 4 miles most mornings with my dad around the park before the sun was up. Training for long races, required me to do long distances before work, meaning I was up and running most mornings before the sun was up. I’ve seen so many sun rises out on the road and never realized how important seeing them was to my overall mental health.

When I knew I wouldn’t be running anymore, I gave all that up without realizing it was the glue that held me together. Post-marathon depression may not be a clinical diagnosis, but it’s real. To put it into context, when you accomplish any goal that you worked toward for years, it’s only normal that a letdown occurs when it’s over. Add to this the knowledge that it was your last running event and you can see how deep the loss is.

When I finally pushed myself to get back out there, I was walking. It was different for sure, both in distance covered and effort, but it felt good to lace up my shoes. I like to say walking saved me. I wish I had known just how important movement was to my health. I never acknowledged that, just saw it as training or a work out session.

I’ve learned that, movement is vital for overall wellness as it significantly improves both physical and mental health by reducing the risk of disease, boosting mood, managing stress, and improving cognitive function. Essentially, it contributes to a better quality of life across various aspects of health. My journey can attest to these facts. When I stopped moving, my health declined both physically and mentally. In its absence, I was not well. When I started moving again, my wellness both mentally and physically improved.

Movement can take many forms, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.  Movement can include things like, walking your dog, mowing the lawn, sweeping or raking leaves, working out at the gym, swimming, playing pickleball, taking a yoga class. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. The more time we spend moving and not sitting the better we will feel.

Movement in My Day

  1. Walking – I walk outside twice a day, once when I first get out of bed, before the sun rise and once in the afternoon. I do this regardless of the weather, but do have access to a treadmill should I need to stay indoors.
  2. Pickleball – I play pickleball almost every day, either drills or competitive games.
  3. Weight Training – I am currently lifting twice a week, but will be adding in a third session soon.
  4. Yoga – I try to grab a yoga class whenever I have time.

Possible Movement at Work

  1. Walking – Walk around the block after you park your car before entering the building. Walk at lunch.
  2. Walking pad – They now sell walking pads that you can place under your desk to allow you to get your steps in. I haven’t used one to recommend, but here is a an option that looks portable enough – Walking Pad Compact Size
  3. 1 minute Exercise sessions – Set your timer for 60 minutes. When the timer goes off take a short walk, or do some air squats, or wall push ups in your office. Just get up out of the chair.

Conclusion

I find being outdoors walking in the early morning, before sunrise, to be magical. It’s so quiet and still out there and it’s truly unlike any other time of the day. I’ve been starting my day like this for over 50 years now and didn’t realize how critical it was to my health, until I stopped doing it. I am so thankful to be back out there and know that it’s helped heal me. I hope you find time to experience that time of stillness and beauty in your health regime. There are many proven benefits you will get, mentally and physically. For further reading, consider this article:

6 Proven Scientific Benefits of Walks at Sunrise or Sunset

I’d love to hear about your journey. What has helped you along the way? What roadblocks are you facing? Feel free to reach out to me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comment section below.

Move to Live

“…but I now consider exercise to be the most potent longevity “drug” in our arsenal, in terms of lifespan and healthspan. The data are unambiguous: exercise not only delays actual death but also prevents both cognitive and physical decline, better than any other intervention.”
― Peter Attia, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

When I was an educator, we had an initiative called, Move to Improve that was instituted by the city as a means to draw attention to health and wellness. The main focus was on the benefits of exercise to student health and its connection to improved learning. When I think of moving these days, my focus is still on the connection of exercise to my overall wellness, but also am focused on healthy longevity. Nutrition is often thought of as the most important of the health pillars, however, movement could actually be far more important. Dr William Sears, lists movement as a key component in his pillars for healthy living and states, “sit less, move more, live longer“.

Doing less sitting and moving more, can be tied to living longer. Replacing 30 minutes per day of sedentary time with 30 minutes of physical activity at a light intensity was associated with a 17% lower risk of early death in a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Thirty minutes (30) would be your minimum movement per day and is a good starting point for many beginning a health journey, after long periods of being sedentary. It can be an simple as a 30 minute walk per day to begin. It is where I began my journey as well, and a commitment I made to myself, that no matter what the day brings, I would get at least a 30 minute walk every day outside in nature. I have kept this promise to myself for over a year now and it has had a huge impact on both my physical and emotional wellness.

Obviously, the hope is that you continue to increase your movement as you feel healthier and more able. I will share my journey to increase movement over the past year below. I would caution you to ease into any new routine and always have a physical with your medical professional before staring any exercise program.

Walking

Terribly out of shape, this former long distance runner needed to start slowly after a year and a half of not moving following a running injury. I made a commitment to myself to walk AT LEAST 30 minutes outside in nature every day. I simply walked my dog for 30 minutes every day. Being outside in nature is great for mental wellness, so please do leave the headsets home and enjoy the sights and sounds.

Tracking Movement

I’ve shared before that I wear a Fitbit tracker on my wrist every day. I now shoot for 10,000 steps each day, but when I started out I shot for 5,000, then increased to 8,000. It’s best to set goals that you will meet at first, because that will motivate you to continue. The tracker counts all movement, so even just walking in your house will get you credit. I never realized how sedentary I truly was until I wore the tracker. The one I linked is currently on a great sale now at Amazon at 25% off. I also wear this to bed to track my sleep (see my post on sleep here) every night, so it’s a win win device for wellness.

Yoga

I was far away from the shape I was in when I used to do daily power yoga classes, but that was just fine. I returned to my yoga practice, taking it slowly. I started out with very gentle Hatha yoga classes, which involved seated poses and stretching of muscles. As I improved, I moved to gentle flow classes and gradually increased the difficulty. Yoga is truly a key to my overall wellness program. It keeps my muscles supple, strengthens, improves breathing through breath work and improves my emotional wellness. I highly recommend yoga to anyone seeking to improve their wellness. It is accessible to any one, as you can modify it to suit your body. You can even take a chair yoga class when starting. Don’t hesitate to take yoga, you don’t have to be “fit” to start, just start. (Read my post on yoga here.)

Strength Training

As we age we lose muscle mass, strength and function, starting as young as 30 years old. The good news is that we can offset these loses through strength training. You don’t have to join Crossfit to build muscle, though it is a fabulous workout. Light weights, body weight movements, or use of circuit machines are a great option to add into your wellness routine. I try to do light weight training, combined with body weight exercises at least 2x a week. I did not start this immediately when returning to exercise, rather, when I felt ready, added it in. I use light dumbells, the Smith machine barbell at the gym, push ups and hanging pull ups mainly in my current routine. Start with a 3 pound dumbell and work your way up from there.

Aerobic Exercise

In order to improve fitness, strength, stamina, mood and cardiovascular health, I worked my way back to including aerobic exercise in my weekly exercise routine. It took me several months to get there, as I slowly increased my readiness. I love playing pickball and play at least 3 times each week, year round. I would love to get back to running regularly, but will never run long distance again. It’s just not necessary. I have been running one mile occasionally and it does feel good. Building our aerobic capacity is an important component of your wellness journey, so begin to think about what you enjoy doing. There are many options including, swimming, biking, interval training, running, tennis, pickleball, etc.

Balance

Balance is key. Do not overdo fitness, especially at first. Remember, we are in this for the long term, quite literally. Make a plan for your week and ensure you include rest days. That doesn’t mean you are sedentary, you still should have at least 30 minutes of movement. Remember walking is the easiest and most powerful tool in your fitness regime.

In his book, Outlive:The Art and Science of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD provides us with a guide to understanding why and what we should be doing to potentially offset chronic disease and live a longer and healthier life. He writes and explains in quite clear and understandable language. I am truly grateful to have come across this book and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I highly recommend you become more informed about aging and longevity, even if you are under 30. It is critical to understand that the choices we make have implications on us in the future. Changing our stance from treating illnesses we develop later in life, to living better now to prevent their development will serve us all well. I for one have been on this path for quite some time now and am still far from an expert. I am just living my best life and planning for my future self. I hope you’ll take the time out to read this book, but if not, I hope you’ll take time out to reexamine your daily movement and exercise routines. Your future self will thank you, as will your family who will enjoy more quality time spent with you.

If you have any questions, or comments about my blog, please do feel free to reach out to me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram, Facebook, or in the comment section below.

*As an Amazon associate, I may receive compensation for any of the links I have provided. This helps offset the cost of running my blog, so I thank you in advance.

Just Breathe

“Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down.” – Jigar Gor

John Hopkins Medicine released the following list of nine health benefits resulting from engaging in a yoga practice:

  • increased strength, balance and flexibility
  • helps with back pain
  • eases arthritis symptoms
  • benefits heart health
  • improved relaxation and sleep
  • increased energy and improved moods
  • manage stress
  • connection to supportive community
  • promotes better self-care

The health benefits of yoga are truly remarkable and include more than just the nine listed. In fact yoga, when practiced regularly, can improve many more aspects of your life. I have practiced yoga on and off for over thirteen years (13) and am still learning just how beneficial it is to me on my health journey.

Branches of Health Journey

I like to think of my health journey as containing three distinct branches:

  • Nutrition
  • Movement – including yoga practice
  • Connection to Nature – including attitude

Nutrition

Nutrition is the driving force to our health. I’ve discussed in past blogs how proper nutrition is critical to our body. For me, right now, I am in week six of my shift to Whole Food Plant Based eating and my gut health has improved. I have more energy and my sleep seems to have some bright spots. I never thought I’d be able to shift to this lifestyle, but I have and I believe it has made an improvement. I will follow up with lab work and a doctor visit in the coming weeks to check in and make adjustments as necessary. That said, I have also discussed that one lifestyle does not work for all bodies. You will need to find what works best for you, under the guidance of a health coach, nutritionist or doctor.

Connection to Nature

Connection to Nature is a critical component of my health journey and one I have also wrote about in past blogs. I believe our bodies and mental wellness are connected to the patterns and beauty of nature. I ensure I get a minimum of thirty (30) minutes each and every day outside in nature, irregardless of the weather. That said, I would not go outside and walk in a hurricane or any other extreme weather pattern. I would go outside in the rain and snow though and do quite often. There is calming of my mind to be found outside, especially on the wooded trails and at the beach. These walks have a meditative quality for me, settling and grounding me emotionally. I highly advocate you make this one of your health goals.

Movement

Movement is one of the secrets to longevity. Dr William Sears stresses that we must move our bodies to maintain our health. Of course, genetics, nutrition, overall health are to be considered, but we must move to stay healthy. Movement doest not need to be extreme exercise, something I’ve learned the hard way. Rather, we simply need to commit to move our bodies daily for a minimum of thirty (30) minutes. You can pair this goal with your connection to nature goal, as they both require a minimum of thirty (30) minutes daily.

Crafting a Health Plan for Movement

When I craft my health plan for movement, I include some weight training, daily walking, short run 1-2 times a week and pickleball. The key to my movement plan however, is my yoga practice. Whenever I move away from yoga, I notice a huge difference in my physical and emotional well being. Yoga is truly a mirror to our current state of health.

When we have certain health concerns we may be sent for an MRI or X-ray, which allows our doctor to see what is happening inside our body. Yoga, can allow us to see inside our selves. Whenever I step on my mat and begin a practice, I can notice my breathing patterns. I can also feel tightness in certain parts of my body. I think of this as noticing where I have blockage, or what is holding me back. As you learn and practice yoga more often, you will learn a lot about yourself. You learn how to quiet the endless chatter in your mind, through breath, which can help you reduce stress or anxiety. You will learn how to concentrate better and move through the places where you feel stuck. You will truly connect with your body and mind in ways you never experienced before.

Yoga

Yoga is transformational for your body in so many ways. I highly recommend when crafting your plans for movement you add it to your program. Yoga is for every body and there are many options for you to choose from. If you are physically limited right now, look for chair yoga options, or use the props provided, such as straps and blocks. Personally, I like Hatha classes and traditional Iyengar yoga classes. I have indulged in and enjoyed Baptiste Power yoga classes, though they are quite physical. The options are there for you to select from. I recommend starting with gentle classes to learn the proper alignment for poses and that you work with a highly qualified yoga instructor. When I first started, I had some private sessions with a yoga teacher who worked with me on my alignment. I am far from perfectly aligned in my practice, but that is why it is called a practice. The key is to be consistent and continue learning. I am currently at the next stage of my learning and adding Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Teacher to my health resume. I learn by doing and by teaching. I look forward to sharing my practice with others in the future.

Dag Hammarskjold said, “The longest journey of any person is the journey inward.” I believe our journey to reclaim health should include the study of self in a yoga practice. It is my hope that you join me on the mat and begin that study, for I believe that is where many of the answers we are seeking are to be found.

Looking forward to hearing your comments about this week’s blog. Feel free to email me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog , on Instagram or in the comment section below.

Importance of Rest

“If you don’t give your mind and body a break, you’ll break. Stop pushing yourself through pain and exhaustion and take care of your needs.”

Unknown

I am an overachiever by nature. I get excited about new adventures, jump in without a thought and often become obsessive about them. I know this about myself and have worked hard to manage my enthusiasm. It’s not always easy, but I have paid the price in the past for not doing this work.

Rest is a critical component of any health journey and one that many overlook. You know the pattern, you start exercising and go to the gym every single day, feel guilty if you don’t go, so you push through the signs that your body is tired. This pattern often leads to injury, causing you to stop going to the gym. When I was running long distance and training for marathons, I fell into this pattern as well. I used to run through pain, thinking I couldn’t afford to miss a training day and that the pain would loosen up as I went – think “push through”. What that led to, three times on three separate training plans, was a stress fracture. What that caused was me being unable to run at all for months.

After my third femoral stress fracture, suffered during the 2018 NYC Marathon, which I finished in spite of being in pain from about mile 20, I had a hard recovery. It really hit me mentally harder than the others. I truly felt that my body had failed me. I now realize, I had failed my body. My body was telling me it was tired, but I refused to listen. That day, in particular, I knew I was in trouble at mile 20, but refused to not finish. My injury could have been much milder, had I listened and stopped, but instead I faced 6 weeks on crutches, followed by months of physical therapy and a lot of mental anguish. I know now that the body needs rest and we need to listen to the signs when we are pushing ourselves too hard.

As Spring arrives, I know I will see many of you out there walking and running, so thought it was a good time to remind us all, that we need to build intentional rest into our wellness plans. Here are a few of the things I do that have worked to keep me focused:

Sleep

The first area we need to study and learn about is our sleep patterns. I have no issue falling asleep, but my sleep is restless and I wake super early – think 3 AM. I went to a sleep doctor to ensure I did not have any medical issues preventing me from sleeping. Following that, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went back to wearing my Fitbit watch and tracking my sleep. Fitbit has a great sleep app and while it may not be completely accurate, it gives me an idea of how I am sleeping.

In looking at my sleep, I noticed that my strengths were in my consistency. I have a consistent bedtime and spend enough time sleeping. My scores in those two areas are consistently high. My deep and REM sleep are usually within a good range. The area I needed to work on was the amount of restorative sleep I get each night. This explained why, despite sleeping a good amount of time, I was waking up feeling tired most days.

In order to address this, I began tracking my sleep in a journal and keeping track of what I ate, drank or did the day before, if my restorative sleep number was low. It was clear as day to see, that alcohol was one of the main culprits of disrupting my restorative sleep. Once I stopped drinking, I noticed an immediate improvement in this area. If I do have a drink now, I try to limit how late in the day I consume alcohol. These simple acts have had a good impact on the quality of my sleep.

Listening to My Body

Our bodies send clear signals when they are tired, pain being the most obvious. While muscle soreness is to be expected when starting a new exercise program, pain is not a signal to be overlooked. If you have a hard workout and feel sore the next day, take a rest day. This day can include some gentle stretching, gentle yoga, a sauna or hot tub session, hot bath or a slow long walk. It doesn’t mean sit on your couch all day, but it does mean you need to change your routine. I cannot state it enough, listen to your body’s signal and slow it down.

Fitbit also provides a readiness for workout score each day, based on your sleep patterns and exercise you’ve already done for the week. I found this information helpful as sometimes my body did not clearly a signal that it was tired, so I kept doing more and more exercise. Again, this doesn’t mean I sit on my couch all day watching Netflix. Rather, it means I intentionally choose different types of exercise to perform on days my readiness score is low.

I hope you consider taking a look at your sleep and perhaps tracking it, along with your exercise. This information can be extremely helpful in ensuring you are getting enough quality sleep and rest for your body to recharge. You will thank yourself for doing it and most likely feel better. My husband took a week off from pickleball this past week, as he kept telling me he felt “beat up.” After much insistence, he listened and took the week. When he returned yesterday, rather than coming home saying how badly he played because of the week off, he came home and said he had a great day. I am hopeful he now sees the benefit of intentional rest.

If you’d like to reach out to share your thoughts on resting as part of your wellness program, feel free to email me at laurakump@reclaiminghealthblog.com, contact me on Instagram, or in the comment section below. I’d love to hear how things are going for you as we move into Spring and what you have planned.

I Am Enough

“You are enough, just as you are. Each emotion you feel, everything in your life, everything you do or do not do… where you are and who you are right now is enough. It is perfect. You are perfect enough.” – Melanie Jade.

“The single most revolutionary thing you can do is recognize that you are enough.” – Carlos Andres Gomez.

This time of year always seems to put so much pressure on us all. Coming out of the holidays, where perhaps we ate and drank more than usual, we can be upset with ourselves for our lack of ability to control ourselves. Couple this with being inundated with commercials and advertisements for the new year and all its promise to change our ways and start anew. Deeply rooted in these promises are the premise that we are imperfect and in need of changing. The new year, new you machine has long been a multimillion dollar business that preys on our deepest insecurities. 

Gym memberships, diet pills, meal plans and quick fixes are so successful because we all want to believe that we can change ourselves into a better version. Sadly, come February we likely will confirm what we knew all along, we are incapable of reaching perfection. The gym trips will stop, the diet pills will go in the trash and we will settle in to the acceptance of yet another year of failed promises.

This year, I’d love to see us say no to this idea that we are not perfect. A few years back, my daughter gave me a coin and affirmation to remind me that I Am Enough. I have read it and reread it and really tried to internalize the message. I think I have finally reached a new year in which I am not striving to change myself. Amen!

The best advice I can give is that acceptance of yourself, AS YOU ARE, can and will lead you to a healthier space. There is nothing we need to change, fix or get rid of. Wherever we are in our journey is enough. Remember, I am not on a diet, nor looking to lose weight to be thinner, prettier or happier. I am trying to live a healthier lifestyle to be healthier and hopefully a longer and fuller life. 

Reminding ourselves daily that we are enough as we are is important work. The feelings of inadequacy are often deeply rooted in our being and our inner critic has been empowered for years. Taking back our power is the work to engage in during this new year. Reminding yourself daily, especially when self doubt creeps back in is your action plan. Every time you look in the mirror remind yourself that you are enough just as you are. Every time you feel the inner critic rear their ugly voice, remind yourself that you are enough.  Put a sign on your mirror, your closet, inside your front door and your refrigerator! Say it, breathe it, chant it and most importantly live it. Find others who will support you on this mission, for free. You are worthy and so am I. 

I truly believe in the power of positivity, though I cannot promise it to be the easiest road. It is not a quick fix, but it can be life changing. Let’s make a promise to ourselves this year to stay strong in our belief that we are enough, just as we are right now. We have nothing to change or fix. We are enough just as we are.

Have a healthy and happy New Year. I look forward to sharing your health journey in the coming months. 

Small Changes, Big Results

As part of my health coach certification, I learned many science based tools for healthier living. I’d love to share some with you, as I have found these small changes have had a big impact on my journey. I am a mere 18 pounds away from my target weight, a goal that once seemed impossible when I was 60 pounds away. I’m no longer focused on just my weight though, as I realize my health journey transcends more than just that number.

Over the next few weeks, I ‘d like to share a few of the tips I found most helpful on my own personal journey to wellness. This week, I’d like to share information about foods that help reduce inflammation in your body. Inflammation is a natural process by which your body protects itself from outside invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. Inflammation is often seen as bad, but it is the body’s way of protecting itself. The problems arise when we have too little, or too much inflammation in our body.

Many of us are battling chronic inflammation, due to our lifestyles, which isn’t healthy for our body. Diet, weight gain, illness, injury and life stressors can wreak havoc on our bodies, as my story has illustrated. Weight gain and inflammation affect the production of the hormone leptin, which works in your brain to regulate metabolism and control your appetite. Lower levels of leptin will make you feel hungry, adding to your inability to loose weight. In simple language, inflammation leads to weight gain and weight gain leads to inflammation. You are effectively stuck in this loop and seemingly unable to get out.

Your diet, meaning the foods you eat, can be considered an outside invader. Whatever you put into your body, must be processed by it through the digestion process. There are foods we can consume that will increase our inflammation, think an unbalanced diet with lots of processed foods, that contain ingredients that can activate an inflammatory response. These inflammatory foods are mainstays of the standard American diet, such as red meat, white bread, pasta, chips, pastries, soda and fried foods.

One of the most powerful ways to maintain healthy inflammation levels comes from the grocery store. Dr. William Sears, shared a simple way to think about what foods to eat when seeking to reduce inflammation as part of your health journey. It has been called the Six-S “Diet” to reduce inflammation, with the word diet being used to mean the food you eat, not a program.

  1. Seafood – primarily wild pacific salmon
  2. Smoothies – multiple dark colored fruits, berries, ground flaxseed, organic yogurt
  3. Salads – colorful, arugla, kale, spinach, red peppers, tomatoes, legumes
  4. Spices – turmeric, black pepper, ginger, garlic, rosemary, chilis, cinnamon
  5. Satisfying Snacks – grazing
  6. Supplements – ONLY as necessary to fill in gaps. Omega-3, Astaxanthium

For me, I found Dr. Sear’s list so helpful when planning my daily and weekly meals. I was severely lacking in variety in my meal choices, especially with fruits and vegetables. I’m a creature of habit and was eating a consistent diet of grilled chicken and chopped green salad. I’ve found that now my salads are more thoughtfully constructed, as I seek to add in spices and colors I was lacking. Grazing has helped me with my digestive issues and reduced cravings. The one area I still struggle with is seafood. I do not like salmon, no matter how much I tried. So in this case, I have been exploring other foods rich in Omega and have added in supplementation to close the gap.

My main focus is on the top four Ss listed above. When I plan the week, I am looking to ensure that my menu revolves around these choices. Yes, I do still eat meat, especially chicken, but it no longer drives the meal plan as the main event. As a known vegetable struggler, I have found soups, salads and smoothies serve as places I can increase my intake. I made a beautiful lentil soup this week, in which I added kale, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and pearled farro. It’s not perfect by any means, but this helpful information has given me some much needed guidance. Further, I believe it has helped reduce inflammation in my body, as based on my recent bloodwork and weight loss.

When planning your meals for the week, try to incorporate the six Ss listed above. Let me know how it goes and more importantly how you feel. I’m excited for you and look forward to hearing how it goes.

Keep it Simple

The food we eat,
The air we breathe,
The stress we feel,
Causes us to age faster.

The common denominator in these three items listed above is me. I am blessed to be in control of the food I eat. I have limited control over the air I breathe, but I can ensure I get outside in nature everyday, rather than sitting indoors. Lastly, I can control my stress and how much I allow it to take over. I know life is not always easy, having experienced the ups and downs of it, but I know now that the choices I make are what gives me control over my health.

This is a picture of me at my unhealthiest, as a result of poor food choices, lack of movement and an incredible amount of stress. I was literally stressed out of my mind, unable to sleep and experiencing brain fog.

This is a picture of me two months into my journey to reclaim my health. I had been making better food choices and walking for two months time. I remember I felt somewhat better, but still felt stressed, struggled with sleep and some brain fog. I felt like someone who was detoxing and wasn’t sure I could succeed.

This is a picture of me eight months into my journey. I have been consistently making better food choices and moving every day – walking, doing yoga and playing pickleball. I am sleeping better and not experiencing any brain fog.

The book Primetime Health, discusses the importance many of us place on planning for our future. Dr. Sears asks, How many of you have invested in retirement savings plans and IRAs? Like me, I’m betting many of us have planned in some way for our future finances. He then asks, how many of us have planned for our future health? Do you have an IRHA? Do you know what an IRHA is?

An IRHA, is an Individual Retirement Health Account. It is a plan for our longevity and wellness. I can tell you I never thought about making deposits into an IRHA account. I lived my life as I pleased and addressed any issue as it arose. The shift here is to live more proactively, ensuring that issues are less likely to arise. This shift brings us back to the food we eat, the air we breathe and the stress we feel. If we eat less processed foods, move daily and reduce stress, we can see success on our journey. That doesn’t come in a bottle, it comes from our choices and determination to make deposits into our health accounts.

What I have been doing is hard work for sure, but it doesn’t feel hard. I have kept things very simple. I love to cook and we eat most meals at home, though we do eat out at least once a week. I keep my meals simple, protein, complex carbs and vegetables. I move everyday and enjoy what I do. As I said last week, walking daily is my meditation time. It really helps me clear my mind and process any feelings that come up. Yoga is so good for the mind and body and I take classes three times a week. Pickleball feels like playing outside when you were a young child. We laugh, we play hard and we have so much fun. Enjoying the exercise you do is important to make it happen. Find something you love!

When I first heard about the IRHA account, I began to worry. I knew I made so many bad choices through the years. I also knew it is never too late to start again, one day at a time. My days are not perfect, but my choices are far better. Knowing that I am the one who controls my outcomes gives me pause to make better choices. There are many days I feel like just staying home and not doing anything, especially now that it’s colder. I push through that and remember I must make my daily deposit into my wellness account. There is absolutely nothing more important than that.

Please share what you are doing on your health journey. I’d love to deposit those ideas into my IRHA account. Comment below, send me an email or comment on my Instagram page. Together we are stronger.

Kritajna Hum: I am gratitude

My true self is always grateful. I am connected with everything else in the universe. I am like an ocean -- the deeper I go within, the more I connect with the stillness of my true self.

I have been revisiting mantras, like the one above, that speak of the importance of gratitude on my journey to reclaim my health. My focus on gratitude has been helping to shift my attitude about myself. As I discussed in last week’s blog, I had lost my sense of gratitude due to stress, which took a huge toll on both my emotional and physical health. I talked about my use of a gratitude journal to find my way back to grace, positivity and motivation. This week, I’d like to talk about the essence of the true self, the person we are at our core.

When we are born, we enter the world alone. When we die, we transition alone. In both cases, we are hopefully surrounded by loved ones, but we spend our entire lives with ourselves, 24 hours a day. Nobody knows our true self as well as we do, the good and the bad. Think about it for a moment. Who do you speak to every moment you are awake, all day, every day?, yourself! I wonder though, how often do we show others our true self?

Many strong, high level executive women struggle in their professional lives with something known as the Imposter Syndrome, which refers to their inner fears. The fear of not being good enough, that they will be discovered as not worthy of the position they were given. In my professional career, my colleagues and I used to talk about having to wear masks all the time at work. We needed to portray ourselves as strong confident leaders, at all times, to create safe environments in which students and staff could thrive. When I think back now to our mask conversations, I wonder how many of us had these same types of fears, questioning our worthiness.

When you dive deeply into your true self, what is at the core of your inner thoughts? Do you think you’re not pretty enough, thin enough, popular enough, etc.? Or, do you think you’re strong, beautiful, smart and worthy? If you were asked to remove your mask and introduce your inner self to me right now, what would you say? Would you list your titles of mother, wife, friend, lawyer, doctor? Or, would you list your hopes and wishes for your lifetime?

As part of your health journey, I strongly believe you need to address that inner critic and make peace with your true self. We all need to remove our masks and accept ourselves as we are, not strive to be who others say we should be. For far too long, I have been trying to change my outer self, without addressing my inner self. I think this is why I have failed, time and again with this health journey. Our true self, is the one we must come to accept and love. I have been approaching this journey from a place of weakness, thinking I am not good enough as I am, leading me to a self fulfilling prophecy of failure. Reframing my health journey from a place of acceptance of who I am at my core nudges me back to gratitude. I am grateful for who I am and don’t need to change that, rather I need to use that to help me stand strong on this journey to health. I am enough, you are enough, we are enough just as we are.

Walking with my dog Jasper

In order to stay grounded in gratitude and positive self talk, I use my daily walking time to honor any feelings, either positive or negative, that I may have. Many people use meditation to reflect, but I prefer moving meditations out in nature. I walk without headphones and music and I walk alone. If my husband joins me, he knows we are not having a dialogue walk, just a quiet meditation. It is the best part of my day to just be alone with myself in nature. I walk in the silence and am able to think and meditate on my successes and failures. This sacred time allows me to better process this journey I am on. Pairing this walking time with journaling has been powerful. The journal keeps me grounded in gratitude, which helps frame a more positive inner dialogue. The walking is a clearing time. It is when I can feel whatever emotions I’m feeling, which in the past led to negative talk and quitting, acknowledge them and then let them go. This process provides space for healing and also keeps me grounded in gratitude and positive self talk.

I hope you take some time to reflect on your journey this week in your journal and out on a walk. Please reach out and and share how it is going for you? I learn so much from your journeys as well.