Live Well 360 Interview with Skwigg: Non-Food Lunatic, Happy-Go-Lucky, Healthy Blogger

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We are continuing our inspirational peeps series of interviews here on Live Well 360 with Renee, aka Skwigg, the fun, hilarious, self-proclaimed “happy eater” behind the bazillions of food pics and fun blog posts on Skwigg.com.

I’ve followed Renee’s blog for quite a while because I love her approach to life in general, her ability to laugh with herself, and her somewhat fearless mentality when it comes to food and exercise.

Sheila: Hi Renee. Welcome! Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your journey to where you are at now with health and fitness?

Skwigg: I’ve been an anorexic teenager, a pudgy and gullible diet ninny, a miserably obsessed bodybuilding and fitness fanatic, a crunched up and overtrained martial artist, and finally, at 43, a relaxed and happy fit person. I’ve learned so much, mostly the hard way! Luckily, I’ve been able to laugh at myself and share my adventures in the blog. Readers can relate.

Sheila: So, what does a typical day in the life of Skwigg look like now related to food and fitness?

Skwigg: I wake up and walk the dog 3-5 miles up and down hills. I love that! It’s my moving meditation. Breakfast is usually cereal, fruit and almond milk. I denied myself cereal for so many years that it seems like a special treat now. Sometimes I’ll have a green smoothie for breakfast, something like spinach, mango, banana and Sun Warrior rice protein.

After breakfast and e-mail I’ll do a total body strength workout three or four days a week, usually 30ish minutes of kettlebells, body weight, free weights or TRX suspension trainer. I also do Pilates for an hour a couple of times a week.

Lunch is whatever I want. Some favorites are pizza, pasta, beans and rice, or meat. The portion is usually fairly small and accompanied by a gorilla-sized salad and fruit. Dinner varies but when I pack something for work, I’m fond of sandwich combos. I use those thin sandwich rounds and lately I top them with hummus, cucumber, green onion, tomato, and romaine lettuce. I’ll also have chips, crackers or veggies, a piece of fruit and a cookie or two.

That kind of eating is very different from my years of six meals a day, high-protein, and living by an “authorized foods” list but I’m much happier and, ironically, ten or twelve pounds lighter when I trust myself and eat according to my own hunger.

Sheila: I know that you do not count calories, but do you use any form of measurement to “check yourself” or do you just not place any focus on weight or body image at all?

Skwigg: Oh, that one made me laugh! If I ever stop emphasizing weight and body image, you’ll know you’re dealing with some kind of alien pod person and not the real Skwigg. I am a psycho about such things. I know I can’t turn it off completely so I try to approach my OCD tendencies with humor and understanding. A few years ago I could have rattled off all of my skin fold caliper pinches by the millimeter. I’m not as nutso now but my idea of “relaxed” still involves stepping on a scale a few days a week. I also use the jeans-o-meter as a measuring tool. Skinny jeans don’t lie.

I’ve eliminated many of the things I used to obsess over – calorie counting, nutrition software, meal timing, food measuring, progress photos, body fat testing, tape measures, etc. (good riddance!), but it’s important to me to stay lean and fit, so I choose the least stressful methods to keep an eye on things.

Sheila: You mention on your blog that you now “flow” instead of “battle.” Can you tell us a little more about why you think this shift occurred… what triggered it?

Skwigg: I realized that your perception creates your experience. If you believe staying fit is complex, painful and time consuming, it will be. If you believe that you can trust yourself, love your workouts, and look forward to your meals, that will be true too.

The process itself has to be enjoyable. You can’t starve, torture and deprive yourself lean and expect to somehow be happy when you hit an arbitrary number. I think that’s why so many people regain the weight or fall off the fitness wagon. The process was a nightmare and keeping the weight off was just as miserable, so why bother?

Sheila: So true!

Skwigg: My ah-ha is that the happiness, flexibility and fun has to come first, has to be a key part of the journey. Then anything you accomplish is a joy.

Sheila: Wow, I love the way you put that. I think a lot of people forget to make happiness a priority. So, what is your definition of intuitive eating?

Skwigg: Trusting yourself to make mostly healthy choices, to eat what you like, to control portions, to know when you’re hungry and when you’re not. In the past, I’ve had bad experiences with intuitive eating because my intuition told me to eat nothing but cookies, or third helpings of pasta, or whole pints of ice cream. There’s a difference between being an intuitive eater and being a junk food guzzling dumb ass. Eating intuitively doesn’t mean giving up your fitness goals or sacrificing your health. It’s about finding your own path instead of blindly following other people’s rules.

Sheila: Speaking of cookies and ice cream, what’s your favorite healthy meal/snack?

Skwigg: I go through phases with my favorites. I recently bought a rice cooker so lately it’s a little something I call Chipotle-at-home. It’s brown rice, black beans, salad greens, tomato, onion, avocado and salsa all stirred together. Yum!

Sheila: Haha, you are like the third person this week that has told me they are now making healthier versions of Chipotle salads at home. Ok, if you had to name one person who is your greatest inspiration when it comes to health and fitness, who would it be and why?

Skwigg: There have been a lot of trainers, writers and coaches who have influenced me but the greatest inspiration has to be my mom. She broke her foot playing volleyball in her seventies. She started climbing mountains after that. She swam, danced, hiked, played, laughed and never ever held still. My parents were always healthy and active, trying new things, and having the best time. It was never about weight loss. When you’re a perpetual motion machine, weight isn’t an issue. Of course, like every kid, it took me a few decades to realize how smart my parents were.

Sheila: Aw, that is so sweet. In closing, what do you think is the number one lesson you have learned over your journey to where you are at now with health and fitness?

Skwigg: I’d say it’s learning to trust myself. It doesn’t matter what the fitness gurus, research studies and diet experts say. You can find a book, study or article to support absolutely anything and it ALL conflicts. So you have to embrace what works for you and disregard anything that doesn’t.

Become your own expert. It’s important to learn about nutrition, to study workouts from top trainers, to notice the underlying principles that effective programs have in common, but your own approach will be the best one for you. I remember reading that naturally lean people don’t eat what other people tell them to eat. That stuck with me!

Sheila: Thanks Renee! For more info on Renee (Skwigg), visit her blog at Skwigg.com.

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