There are plenty of cultural assumptions about what Thanksgiving is supposed to be like, and the expectations are pretty high. Unless you live inside a Norman Rockwell painting, there will likely be opportunities for disappointment, conflict, anxiety, and embarrassment and crankiness as well as the requisite joy, love, gratitude and peace. Here's hoping that your Thanksgiving day includes more joy and gratitude than bickering and humiliation! And if any culinary or social disasters occur, may they at least make for an entertaining story to tell next year.
So there will be no tips from Cranky Fitness about how to eat "light" tomorrow, or how to make every item on the table super-duper healthy, or what you should do with the leftovers, or how it's already time to start Christmas shopping and what you should do to get organized about that.
Instead, I suggest you just cut yourself a few acres of extra slack. And try to enjoy the day and the company you're with--even if this year it's just your wonderful own self and a peanut butter sandwich!
I have much to be grateful for in my own life, but rather than bore you with my list like last year, I just wanted to say a brief thank you everyone who stops by Cranky Fitness--you are such a supportive, clever, warm, thoughtful bunch of folks!
And special thanks to cobloggers, past and present. Cranky Fitness would have long since gone silent without Merry, Gigi, and Jo bringing great advice, encouragement, good cheer, and, of course, a good dose of crankiness to this odd little health blog.
Or, if you're of the American persuasion, Happy Thanksgiving! We are currently away from the computer, but we wanted to leave you with a random post, as a thanks to all of you for coming here and for leaving such terrific comments! We really do feel grateful.
Word of the year: is it an omen?
Last year we informed you that the word of the year was "Woot." This year, I don't feel I'm jumping the gun to tell you that Merriam Webster has already decided on the word of the year: "bailout." No, I'm not making that one up, alas. (Do the Word of the Year choices mirror the economic mood, like hemlines are supposed to go up or down based on how the market is doing?)
My question is -- why only obese people? The airlines really do try to scrunch as many people as they can into the smallest possible space. What about tall people? One of the few times I'm glad to be vertically challenged is when I'm sitting in an airplane. It must stink to be a tall frequent flyer.
Not only obese getting scrunched by the airplanes. This link takes you to an article that talks about the different seat sizes you'll find on different airlines. Turns out some airlines are more into 'scrunch' than others. Personally, I think everyone should be entitled to two seats. So long as both seats are right next to each other. (Sudden vision of a bureaucratic airline assigning me two seats: 1A and 57B.)
Eat meat, get Alzheimer's?
This is a study that fell into the interesting-but-not-a-whole-post-interesting category: Fatty acid levels affect Alzheimer's. Turns out the fatty acid in question is our old enemy arachidonic acid. (Mentioned in last week's review of Dr. Sears' book Toxic Fat.)
One researcher said, "The most striking change we discovered in the Alzheimer's mice was an increase in arachidonic acid and related metabolites [products] in the hippocampus, a memory centre that is affected early and severely by Alzheimer's disease."
His theory is that too much arachidonic acid could be responsible for excessively stimulating brain cells, and that lowering the levels of archidonic acid might allow the cells to function normally.
Me, I believe it.
Throw another shrimp on the Barbie?
I always wondered why Australians like to pile shrimp onto Barbies.
Turns out Oregonians are even stranger.
Crazy Oregonian researchers decided that shrimps need more exercise. They introduced the shrimp to a treadmill. (Didn't know shrimp could run, did you? See, reading Cranky Fitness is educational.)
No! Not another shrimp! (Tragic photo courtesy of Migraine Chick.)
The resulting video is a smash hit sensation on YouTube.
Shrimp on a Treadmill!
One last note on gratitude
Thanksgiving is about exactly what the name states -- giving thanks. If you read Crabby's post yesterday on gratitude, you probably took a moment or two to think about the things you're grateful for. I've been reading the Fat Cyclist blog for awhile now, and I challenge you to read his gratitude list. I don't think it's possible to read it without receiving a swift reality check to the head. We all have a lot to be thankful for.
So it's a day early for a Thanksgiving post, but heck, it's close enough, right? At least I'm not blogging about Christmas yet, be thankful for that.
I'm mindful that it's traditional when writing about Thanksgiving, particularly if one is female, to pick one of these tried and true topics:
How to Prepare a Sumptuous Thanksgiving Feast
How to Not to Eat 15,000 Calories in One Meal and Subsequently Explode
How to Avoid Becoming Psychotic With Stress and Killing All Your Annoying Relatives
How to Rationalize the Fact That Decades After the Advent of Feminism, Women Still Pretty Much Slave Away in the Kitchen While Men Get to Sit on Their Asses And Watch Football
Or, most traditional of all: Time to Feel All Thankful and Shit.
If you had to guess, which one would do you think I’d pick?
So, did you pick "Time to Feel All Thankful and Shit?"
Yes, this is Cranky Fitness, but even the Crabbiest of Crabs has to occasionally acknowledge some Awesome Things to feel grateful for. But don't worry; this will be gratitude with a lot of swear words mixed in, because why the hell not.
Gratitude is Good for You!
First, a bit of science to class up the blog:
(I know, I use this picture all the time. I just like it.)
Gratitude research (yes, there is such a thing--doesn't that almost make you want to go back to school?) says that:
People who kept gratitude journals exercised more regularly, had fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives, and were more optimistic than those were were told to record "hassles" or neutral life events.
The Grateful Group was also more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals; and,
Self-guided gratitude exercises (no, sorry, not a euphemism for masturbation) increased alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy.
I used to keep a mental gratitude list, and then got out of the habit. But I gotta get back to it, especially with such cool bonus benefits like better health and energy and goal attainment. Selfish Gratitude? Sounds like a concept I can get behind!
Making a Gratitude List
I think the trick here is to do it often, so you can make it short and mix it up a little each time. At least that's my theory. Because if I tried to be comprehensive my list would run 97,023 items long. (I'm one hella fortunate Crab). You'd all get bored and go off to watch tv or pick a fight with your in-laws or something, and I'd never get to hear what you're grateful for. So I'll try to keep it short and maybe save up some gratitude for next year.
So here goes a very personal, abbreviated list of things I'm grateful for:
1. The Lobster Always number one. 2. Family and friends This totally includes "online" friends. Y'all rock! 3. Merry Sunshine, who Single Handedly Saved Cranky Fitness from Obscurity, Abandonment, and Ill Repute. Besides teaching me all kinds of interesting things, totally cracking me up with her great posts, and being a blast to work with, Merry's joining up as a coblogger kept this blog going! I would have seriously quit by now if I didn't have her to pal around with. Or I would have turned it into a lucrative fitness porn site or something. (Seriously, we get googled for "fitness porn" all the time, there must be some money there).
By the way, Merry's One Year Cranky Fitness Anniversary was this weekend! Dang, I shoulda organized a surprise party.
(And speaking of blog anniversaries, another favorite fitness blogger just had one and wrote a Very Special Anniversary Post).
4. Peanut Butter, Dark Chocolate, Olive Oil, Red Wine, Avocados, Eggs, and Coffee And all the other yummy foods we were warned away from by the "experts" that turned out to be good for us after all.
5. Good health! I know how much pain and disability some people are afflicted with. Even though I may whine about a runny nose or achy knees, I do get how lucky I am to be in overall great health.
6. Great Blogs to Steal Ideas From! Read and Admire! I can't even begin to list all the awesome blogs I read and enjoy or we'd be here until next Thanksgiving. (And I know I am horrible about linking, commenting, blogrolling, and otherwise properly acknowledging all of them. But I hope you know who you are!)
Just as one example: if you're a fan of thankfulness as a concept, and think it's useful for more than one day a year, then Leah over at the Goat's Lunch Pail serves up hot fresh gratitude every Monday!
7. Broccolini It's apparently a hybrid cross between broccoli and Chinese kale, but whatever. It's good for you like broccoli (full of cancer fighting isothiocyanates, sulforaphane and indoles) but it's much tastier. Plus it's fun to say. Actually, it should be sung rather than spoken, to the tune of "Mona Lisa." Broccollllinniii, Broccollllinniii, I adore you... (I know those are not the actual words to Mona Lisa.) (Also, I would sing the Broccolini song only at home and not when you're at the store asking the produce guy if they have any, which at a normal grocery store, they usually don't anyway).
8. Trader Joe's They usually DO have broccolini! Plus, TJ's has prepackaged but reasonably fresh pomegranates to keep you from going crazy peeling the little f*ckers. And they have cute little dark-chocolate covered graham crackers! And whole wheat tortillas and tasty blue corn chips and Fage yogurt! I could go on, obviously.
9. Obama and the Democrats winning the election This isn't a blog about politics but screw it, I'm really pleased about this. I wasn't a big Obama fan at the very beginning (I was for Hilary, as his lack of experience troubled me), but now I'm a big ol' fan. A thoughtful, intelligent, grown-up in charge of the country, hooray! Despite our Supremely Screwed Up Economy, I actually feel optimistic about the future of this country. (OK, maybe not the immediate future... it's gonna take a little while to undo the last 8 years).
10. Running to Cheesy Songs on the iPod. It's all about the beat, and I will listen to the most embarrassing crap imaginable as long as it gets me pumping. There is nothing that compares to running on a beautiful trail with a motivating tune, a caffeine buzz, and an endorphin rush. Even if it means listening to Mouret's Rondeau (the Masterpiece Theater Song) set to a synthesized disco beat. Seriously, I have that one and it's awesome. It's worth totally ruining your knees over and having to spend the rest of your life using a walker. Um, I think. Check back in a few years, I may have changed my mind on that.
11. Blog Sponsors If you are a blogger and invest quite a bit of time into blogging with the delusion goal of earning a little income, you know how difficult and discouraging it can be. I'm so grateful to our current sponsors, particularly the independent ones, Fit Couture and Mio! We're hoping folks check 'em out every now and then and that they decide to stay a while!
12. Drag Queens. And all of the other wonderful things about Provincetown, Massachusetts. Like the Rock Walk, and Tea Dances at the Boatslip (yes, we're probably too old to shake our groove thangs; but no, we don't give a crap and we dance our asses off anyway), Right Whales frolicking off the coast, and inspirational local legends like Mary Oliver and John Waters and Michael Cunningham. Oh, and being able to get legally married and all. That was cool.
13. Cupcakes.
I do not need to explain cupcakes.
14. Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me If I didn't check in with my buddies at the always entertaining NPR quiz show, how would I ever hear about such, um, innovative fitness inventions such as the SpeedFit?
15. Cranky Fitness Commenters Truly you folks are the best. Who else would write hilarious poems about fake twinkies? I love reading what you have to say--you always surprise, entertain, inform, amuse me, and warm the cockles of my Crabby little heart.
So is there anything you're grateful for this Thanksgiving?
Ah, the holidays. A time of shopping and tinsel, when being a big guy in a red outfit giving away goodies to children will probably not get you arrested.
A time to get together with family and indulge in the usual family occupations: food, watching The Game, and revisiting old memories -- like the time cousin Joe got into a fight with aunt Susan over who really was supposed to have inherited Grandma Mary's lamborghini.
Sorry -- a bit of Christmas fantasy crept into that last paragraph. I'll try to stick to the basics.
Adding insult to insulin...
The truth is, love 'em or loathe 'em, family can be hard to take. Lots of hugs, laughter, and old times revisited. Also usually some snippy remarks, poisonous as mistletoe and just as traditional. And to add insult to insulin, just at a time when you're emotionally wound up, there's humoungous spread of comfort food spread out in front of you.
Running away from my problems
I've taken to developing new traditions.
Running away from my problems is one of them. Literally. On Thanksgiving morning, I've signed up for a Turkey Trot at the Zoo. Apparently you don't need to be an actual turkey to participate. Not the kind with wings, anyway.
I like the idea of working off all the calories before the feast. And even if you're stuck in the kitchen hoping that dang bird cooks, why not let the non-cooks tackle the dishes, while you take aunt Margaret for a walk? Work off that gravy by pounding the pavement rather than ending up face down in the pecan pie.
Are there any Canadians who have helpful tips they could share about their T-Day experiences in the trencherman trenches?
Does anyone have clever exercise plans for T-day? Or are you going to try to go low cal on this traditional day of gustatory excesses? Or are you going to simply chalk it up as a high-calorie day and work off the calories by fighting the crowds on Black Friday?
Cranky Fitness was going to skip doing a "how to get through the big holiday meal" advice post, because everywhere you look, from newspaper to television to blog to podcast, someone's offering up suggestions, tips, or warnings about Turkey day.
Why add more noise? Because, well, Thanksgiving is tomorrow and Crabby loves to give advice! The temptation, much like the golden brown crunchy layer of marshmallows sitting atop the candied yams, is proving irresistible.
But rather than issue dire warnings about overindulgence, Crabby is feeling contrary this year and wants to suggest sort of the opposite. Instead, consider this:
Thanksgiving is Just One Day of the Year. So while advance planning may keep you from overdoing it to the point of puking and/or self-loathing (always good things to avoid), don't stress too much about what you eat for one dang meal!
Yes, Christmas is coming too, and there will be other holidays to contend with. But to repeat a point made previously about Halloween: the problem most people have with unhealthy eating does not come from thoroughly enjoying a holiday celebration. It comes from treating every damn day of the year like it's a holiday.
Traditional Thanksgiving dinners mix a lot of healthy ingredients (turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, green beans, fruit, etc) with more nutritionally questionable ones (butter, sugar, cool-whip, marshmallows, gravy, white flour, mayo, etc). Sometimes you have control over the ratio of healthy to unhealthy, and sometimes you don't. But as long as you don't totally pork out to the point of pain, and try to lean towards the healthy stuff that you actually enjoy, there's only so much damage you can do. So cut yourself some slack!
Maybe you can go ahead and have a roll and even put butter on it. Or pour some gravy on your spuds if you love it. Or whatever the particular pleasure is that you usually deny yourself. And perhaps the best motivation for not going totally overboard at dinner-- is so you can save some room for a small slice of pie for dessert!
But then it's probably NOT a good idea to treat the special Thanksgiving meal as an excuse to eat gravy-soaked mashed potatoes and stuffing and pie and other decadent leftovers in huge quantities for the next four or five days. Thanksgiving, like Halloween or Christmas, works best when it's celebrated as a Day and not a Season. (And sure, enjoy some leftovers later--but after the Big Day you may want to load up on the healthier items, skip the worst offenders, and supplement with salads and new veggies, etc).
Thanksgiving is already a healthy holiday in a lot of ways--it's about giving thanks and appreciating the people you care about, whether you all get to sit at the same dinner table or not. Maybe you can make it even healthier by going out for a nice crisp fall walk or run, perhaps joined by family or friends. Or not! Don't stress if it's just not practical that one day of the year.
Seems like it's a good day to focus on the positive, rather than making it a test of will power that you must not "fail" at. Just one Crab's opinion.
Crabby hopes, however you choose to celebrate it, that Thanksgiving finds you with lots of things to feel grateful about. (And high on Crabby's list of things to feel thankful for is getting to know, at least a little bit, all the wonderful people she's met through the blog!)
So have an awesome Thanksgiving, unless you are from somewhere else and are not celebrating it tomorrow. In that case, have an awesome Thursday!
***IMPORTANT BLOG UPDATE!*** There will actually be a new post up tomorrow (Thursday) and it may even contain an Announcement! So if you're around, please stop by Cranky Fitness to see what's cookin' besides turkey and candied yams with marshmallows.
Photo: Zellaby
