No-Oatmeal...So Good!

I really wanted some comfort food for dinner, something warm, easy to make, something I could cuddle up to.  Perfect time to try the recipe I found for No-Oatmeal (pronouced notemeal).  Since I don't each grains anymore, I don't eat my old time favorite steel cut oatmeal, but this was just as good (although I might add more cinnamon next time!).  Here is the recipe...give it a try!

• 1 small handful of walnuts
• 1 small handful of pecans
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed (I used whole flax seeds, couldn't find ground, still was good)
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I think it could use more)
• 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• 1 banana, mashed
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (add more if you prefer it a little runny)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds
• 1 handful of goji berries or fresh berries (I used frozen, its all I had)

 Directions:
Add walnuts, pecans, flax seed and spices to a food processor and pulse it down to a course grain, making sure to stop before it’s totally ground into a powder. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and almond milk until the consistency thickens a little bit into a loose custard. Thoroughly blend together the mashed banana and almond butter and add it to the custard, mixing well.
Stir in the nut mixture.

Microwave or gently warm on the stove until the “no-atmeal” reaches your desired consistency; this should only take a few minutes. In both cases, stir the mixture frequently as it cooks. (I microwaved it for 30 seconds, stirred, 45 seconds, stirred, 45 seconds, stirred and added berries)

Sprinkle pumpkin seeds and berries on top. Add more almond milk if you want. Lick the bowl clean!
Complete recipe and pictures can be found on Mark's Daily Apple

Here is a picture of my final product (I ate every last bit and was perfectly full and comforted!) I added a bit more coconut milk after it was done 'cooking'.

HFCS - Be Gone!

As you start to pay more attention to food labels and more attention to what you put in your body, you'll  become increasingly aware of how HORRIBLE all the marketing and media is out there telling us its okay to eat that (fill in the blank) because of (x).  The first commericals that pops in to my mind are the ones promoting high-fructose corn syrup.  You know the one with the guy and girl at the park, she has a popsicle, asks him if he wants some and he says no because it has HFCS in it.  She then proceeds to tell him it's okay in moderation, its no different than sugar.... First of all, this commerical is so transparent, if you look at who is sponsoring it (I believe its the corn growers association so something predictable like that).  Second of all....NO.  Don't tell American's it's okay to eat this crap, it's not.  Now I'm not perfect, I've eaten my fair share of HFCS, but I am REALLY trying hard not to.  Its crazy to see how many products they put HFCS in, things you wouldn't even think, like BBQ sauce (guilty as charged, but plan on making my own)!

So to my point, a Princeton University research team conducted research which shows that not all sweenters (and processed sweet crap) is made equal.  In fact, in their study they found that HFCS led to abnormal increases in body fat ...wait for it, it gets better...especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides (A Sweet Problem)

If you have a few minutes, scan this article.  I bet you will start double checking those labels once you do!

PS -Here is a small list of common products that contain HFCS (note no complete this is published on the internet, I think it would scare us all straight to the produce aisle!)  Also, on this list are some things I would make/eat because they were healthy, or I thought they were, or at least were a better alternative....

Kellogg's Special K®
Stove Top Stuffing - Chicken
Hanson's All-Natural Soda (all flavors)
Hanson's Tonic Water
Sara Lee Heart Healthy Whole Grain Bread.
Thomas English Muffins
Heinz 57 Sauce
Heinz Ketchup
Hunt's Catsup
Miracle Whip
Delsym Cough Suppressant (Thats right, cough syrup, I NEVER thought to check the labels when I'm sick!)
Nabisco Wheat Thins - Reduced Fat
Yoplait Yogurts

Just about I was about to hit publish, I found this article (with quotes from the Corn Growers Association, hmm) Gross Errors in Princeton... Okay so maybe there are issues with the study, but to suggest that our bodies can process HFCS the same way would sugar from a beet....not buying it. It also seems sticky (pun intended) that the first source cited is from the corn growers association, an unbiased source.  Anyways, food for thought I guess.  I know that I, for one, am doing my best to elimnate all processes foods/chemicals from my body, regardless of what the media tells me.  Cheers!

Meet and Greet

This blog is meant to help track my progress and share ideas, lessons learned with anyone who actually reads it? However, I also want to use this as a way to share my journey to becoming a cycle instructor at a gym near you! I’ve been messing around with putting together a ride for awhile now and finally feel like I have 1 solid ride put together. This ride will be the first ride I teach and is intended to introduce my students to me as an instructor. Here is the ride, including music and cues. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave me a comment and let me know what you think, I am always open to suggestions. If you take cycle classes, please share what you like/don’t like.

 

MEET AND GREET

 

Boston – More Than a Feeling, 58 BPM

This is our warm up, match tempo and start adding resistance

 

Breaking Benjamin – Breathe, 91 BPM

We are going to work between a zone 2 and 3. We’ll start seated for the first minute, at a zone 2 (challenging but comfortable). Then we’re going to add a BIG turn (or a few), and stand, keeping tempo reach zone 3 (challenging and uncomfortable). Hold this for 30 seconds and return to a zone 2.

• 0:00-1:00 seated zone 2
• 1:00-1:30 standing zone 3
• 1:30-2:00 seated zone 2
• 2:30-3:00 standing zone 3
• 3:00 – end of song, seated zone 2

Alannah Myles – Black Velvet, 91 BPM

This is a hill climb, we’re going to add big turns to get in to a zone 4 

• 0:00-0:55 seated zone 3, this is challenging but not max effort, pace yourself for a zone 4(breathless, winded but not max)
• 0:55-1:15 BIG turn, stay seated, zone 4 for 30 seconds
• 1:15-1:55 return to zone 3, still on the hill, still working
• 1:55-2:15 BIG turn, stay seated if you can, zone 4 for 30 seconds
• 2:15-3:00 return to zone 3, still on the hill, still working
• 3:00-3:45 BIG turn, stay seated, zone 4 for 45 seconds, recovery is coming soon!
• 3:45-end of song, active recovery, stand if needed, still working but recovering

 Kings of Leon – Be Somebody, 67 BPM

This is a steady zone 3 song, challenging but not breathless. This should be hard, pace yourself, you have 3:47 of work here, stick with it. Focus on your breath, adjust resistance as you get tired, keep tempo!

 

One Republic – All The Right Moves, 73 BPM

Lets stand up, you have a bit more recovery if needed, otherwise grab resistance and get to tempo. We will recover standing and work seated

• 0:00-0:52 – zone 2, recovery
• 0:52-1:18 – seated, take it to zone 4, work hard, add resistance as needed
• 1:18-1:45 - stand, don’t touch the gear unless you didn’t put enough on in the first place!
• 1:45-2:11 – Seated, zone 4, push yourself hard!
• 2:11-2:50 – Stand, active recovery, keep tempo
• 2:50-end of the song – Seated, zone 4, go to the end, recovery is just around the corner!

Del Amitri - Roll To Me
This is an active recovery, catch your breath, drink some water, grab some resistance and get to tempo when you're ready

Team Intervals!!  We'll be working with two songs here.  The right half of the room will be Team A, the other half Team B.  Each team will take turns sprinting.  A sprint is not about speed, but rather about putting on enouch resistance to experience a noticeable change how hard your breath is working.  Do your best to keep tempo, just add enough resistance so you are working hard in a Zone 4, don't worry about your neighbor
Song 1 - Foo Fighters - The Pretender 86 BPM
Song 2 - Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart, 90 BPM

To start, I want everyone to get to tempo, stand or seated, doesn't matter
Team A :35-1:00
Team B 1:00-1:25
Team A 1:25-2:25
Team B 2:25-3:25
INSTRUCTOR'S TURN!  3:25-4:25
Team A 0:00-1:00
Team B 1:00-2:00
Team A 2:00-2:30
Team B 2:30-3:00
EVERYONE!! 3:42 to end of song

Gnarls Barkley - Gone Daddy Gone, 82 BPM
Active recovery, catch your breath, drink some water, grab resistance and match tempo when you're ready.  Get to a zone 2 when you're ready

Shiny Toy Guns - Ghost Town 97 BPM
Seated intervals, recover in zone 2, work in zone 4
1st interval 0:57-1:27 SPRINT (add resistance, work hard)
2nd interval 1:57-2:41 SPRINT
3rd interval 3:13 to the end

Black Eyed Peas - Rock That Body 62 BPM & Public Enemy - Bring The Noise 63 BPM
We are going to work through both songs, standing intervals.  These are slower, make your breath work hard!
Stand for the work, sit to recover
30 seconds zone 3 (just below tempo)
45 seconds zone 4 (match tempo)
Options 15 seconds zone 5 (faster than tempo)
30 seconds down, recover
REPEAT THROUGH BOTH SONGS, ENJOY!

The Ataris - Boys of Summer 63 BPM
This is our last working song, make it worth it!  This is your workout, not mine, push yourself hard then we're done!  This is a steady zone 3 song.  Add resistance, keep tempo!  You have 4:18 left of work then we recover!

RECOVERY - SONGS NOT INCLUDED, SUBJECT TO CHANGE

FYI - In case you are wondering about the zones, they are defined below:
Zone 1 - Easy warm-up and recovery
Zone 2 - Challenging but comfortable, steady aerobic pace
Zone 3 - Challenging and Uncomforable
Zone 4 - Breathless, not maximum but winded

 

 

Feeling Great

Short post as it's Friday and I am trying to finish up my remaining work to-dos so that I can enjoy the weekend.  I just wanted to comment on how great I've been feeling since I switched over to the paleo diet.  Some might think, no grains, there is NO WAY I could do that.  However, I challenge you to give it a try.  Do your research, stalk up on good foods and give it a try!  I don't crave any processed foods/grains (except Ice Cream and chocolate but I will probably always crave those and I'm okay with that!).

However, I am fine not eating rice with dinner.  Why eat rice when you can grill yellow squash on the BBQ!?  By the way, our new favorite dinner addition!  I have just as much energy as before, my workouts have not suffered and here is the bonus, I've been steadily losing weight and I don't even feel like I'm on a diet or that I have to track calories.

I eat protein and healthy fats with each meal along with plenty of veggies and fruits!  I actually CRAVE water and healthy foods right now.  At night I endulge in fresh strawberries with some dark chocolate, but as a whole I would say we both do really well at getting there 80% of the way!

So rather than doubt your abilities to make the change to a paleo diet, I would encourage you to just do it.  Start researching, visit Mark's Daily Apple as there is a lot of great information about how to slowly make changes to your lifestyle. What have you got to lose, except some excess body fat and weird chemicals that are in the processed foods most of us eat daily!

Have a great weekend, I promise I'll do some more reading and provide some more insightful posts in the near future!

PS - Yesterday I had what might be my most favorite and hardest workout at Elite Kettlebell!  I have been focusing so much on the nutrition part of this blog that I have neglected to share my workout routines.  I will share more this weekend to give an insight in to what I do, and don't do anymore!

Not me and not my gym, but I did this yesterday, minus the lifting over my head.  The thing weighs 85 lbs though and was just a small part of what was an amazing workout!

The (almost) naked truth

As promised, both to myself and the 1-2 avid blog readers out there (just kidding, maybe there are 4 of you!) here are my before pictures.  Before I start with the before pictures from today, 3/24 at 153 lbs, lets discuss where I was at just a short 7 months ago.  I would post a picture but I made sure to work the angles and used the awesome invention of digital camera's where you can delete pictures you don't like, so there really isn't a whole lot of evidence.  In September I weighed 170.5, my heaviest weight.

Please note, I am not sharing this so someone will tell me I wasn't fat, I'm not fat etc.  I appreciate it, but thats not the point.  The point is, that for me, I was at my unhealthiest and unhappiest with my self image this last summer.  That is real, I am okay with that.  I worked really hard since September and have kept off a solid 15 pounds!  However, I know I can do more with my body, I can be heathlier than I am now.  Which is why I took these before pictures and am sharing them.  Not because I want to hear from everyone that you look great, you don't need to work out, you're not fat.  I'm not saying I'm fat, and I appreciate it when someone says I look great.  I enjoy working out and this is a new challenge, not the see how fast I can run a half marathon type of challenge (although a good one!).  This is a, see how I can change my body by making healthy lifestyle choices type of challenge.  So without further delay, the before pictures:

The last one is for good measure, since I like to flex.  My muscles look so much smaller in this picture than I picture them in my head :)  Anyways, I thought long and hard about drinking a bottle of wine before taking these pictures and posting them, but you know what, I'm proud of what I've accomplished and I'm not ashamed to show what is real.  I'm also really excited to now have a benchmark to measure my progress against!  This morning when I weighed myself I weighed 153.8 lbs.  I got my body fat measured at the gym this morning and it was 25% (I am going to assume a +/- .5% on this since it is up from when I last got it measured yet I have more muscle tone and weigh less....).  Anyways, there you have it folks, the almost naked truth about what I look like right now!  You don't have to give compliments, but please don't poke fun :)

Without enough sleep...

...we all become tall two-years olds. (JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom)

What a great quote, I totally become a two-year when I haven't slept enough.  Don't touch me, don't look at me, don't talk to me.  There is a great McDonald's commerical where the guy won't let people interact with him until he's had his coffee.  A little dog barks at him and he sharply says back to the dog "No".  I love it!  I have a point here, I promise.  Today's article on Mark's Daily Apple talks about sleep.  Have you ever considered adequate sleep as part of your healthy lifestyle?  Or are you like most American's where sleep is a nice to have, not a need to have. 

As I start digging more and more in to Mark's book, I am realizing that an overall healthy lifestyle is the only way to ensure I live a long, healthy life.  Part of that equation is sleep, something I've never really considered except when I'm really tired and I grab another diet pepsi or cup of coffee to keep me going.  What does this do to our health in the long term (both caffine addiction and lack of sleep). 

As Mark discusses, every hour we lack in sleep takes its toll on our health.  Our cognitive abilities suffer (memory loss, inability to process complex problems, think on our feet), our immune systems suffer, our athletic performance will suffer.  Sleep is a very important aspect of our overall health as it is a very 'active' time for our bodies.  During sleep "we undergo all manner of growth and repair processes through a dynamic biochemical orchestration".  I highly recommend that you read the full article, The Definitive Guide to Sleep and consider going to bed earlier tonight.  Making sure sleep is an essential element of your healthy lifestyle rather than something you'll do when you die (reference to the quote, I'll sleep when I'm dead).

I, for one, went to bed earlier than normal, leaving some of my favorite shows on the DVR to enjoy another night!  I felt better when I woke up this morning.  Not great, but better than yesterday morning and better than Monday morning.  I am going to make an honest effort to get more sleep, I'm already seeing those dark circles under my eyes fading!  This is one of those areas where you can learn from your pets, they love sleep, just look at Remi and Po!

Oh and don't worry, I am taking my before pictures tonight, I always keep my promises!!

Looking back

After logging everything in Fitday and feeling pretty good at my attempt of putting what I've learned in to practice, I decided to look back at previous entries in Fitday.  I had to go back to January as I  haven't been using it, but I am amazed at how much protein and carbs I was eating, yikes!  More importantly, look at the lack of veggies!!!  For your enjoyment, my before paloe attempt at eating healthy:

251 grams of carbs, you've got to be kidding me! Ah well, whatcha gonna do except live and learn.  I will try to post more Fitday examples as I go along, although its pretty time consuming to track every little thing, so it won't be every day!

Sometimes it's nice to know

I have been glued to my book at night, and have found that reading at night is such a great way to fall asleep. I used to do it all the time but life has gotten in the way of that! I was actually reading about the importance of sleep and figured I should probably stop reading and go to sleep. I got a full 8 hours of sleep last night and am focusing on being better about making sure I get enough sleep. I figure getting more sleep is better than buying more makeup to try and cover the dark circles under my eyes, cheaper too!

The idea behind the Primal Blueprint is not to count calories and obsess over how much of this or that you’re eating. Rather it’s to focus on eating the right stuff and listening to your body. However, if you are trying to lose body fat, like me, then sometimes it’s nice to know how much you are eating vs. burning so you can get a better idea of where you might need to make adjustments. So for today, I am tracking everything in FitDay to both get an idea of how I’m doing as well as understand where I need to make adjustments. I figured I would share them with you, just with caution that I am still learning so can’t say this is a great balanced day! This is more as a learning experience for me and hopefully will help me in the coming days put together better meal ideas to ensure I’m getting enough protein, carbs and fat in order to meet my goal of losing body fat! **Note: I will update this blog tomorrow morning after I have dinner, as I’m not sure what that will be yet**

**Second note – I will be posting a follow up regarding calculating my calorie range as well as average weekly amounts of protein, carbs and fat I should be consuming, which will help highlight areas of improvement regarding my diet. I am starting by targeting about 84 grams of protein and about 80 grams of carbs, but this may get adjusted once I learn more**

I almost forgot, I FINALLY bought a food scale! How else could I possibly figure out how much I was eating of everything without it!!??

Breakfast

• Coffee with 2 tbsp half/half, two packets of splenda (not Paleo but one step at a time!)

• Three pieces of natural bacon

• 2 eggs over-easy

Snack

• Trader Joe’s Trail Mix packet

Lunch

• Salad with shredded chicken and homemade dressing

Pre-Workout Snack

• Muscle Milk Light

• Apple

Dinner

• Not sure yet

What’s crazy to look at is that with all that food, I’m only at 1,493 calories. Granted I need to figure dinner in to the mix, but not bad!  Next posts will start to outline some of the guidelines around determining how much protein, carbs and fat I need and how I was able to figure that out.  I do know that my calorie range should be between 2000-2300, next post will show how I calculated that.

Planning Ahead

I am not a morning person, just ask Matt!  I woke up this morning and was so confused as to why my alarm was going off so early.  I hit snooze....twice!  The second time is when it hit me, it is going off because I need to get to the gym this morning! CRAP!!  I left myself with 10, which ended up being 15 minutes to get ready.  My mornings feel like the movie Groundhogs Day.  I get up, wake Po up off his bed in our room.  Walk in to the living room, let Remi out of her kennel, put the dogs outside, let Phoenix out of his kennel, go to the bathroom, let the dogs back in making sure to wipe the mud off their feet, put Remi in her puppy area, make Po lay on his bed, put food in Po's bowl, release him from his bed to eat, feed Remi, feed the cat, feed myself....

This morning, I didn't have much time, so I was speed walking around the house.  When it came time to feed myself I was so glad I had planned ahead last night.  See not only did I need to feed myself before the gym, but I also needed to make sure I had food to take to work.  Yesterday I cut up tons of veggies and cooked a chicken enchilada meal (minus the tortillas), I also packed my lunch so all I had to do was grab my Turtle Ridge tote!  I also knew that Monday morning is the worst, so I thought about what I would make for breakfast so it was just instinct when I got up.  I made myself a protein shake which consisted of vanilla protein (26 grams), 8 oz coconut milk, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 banana (I know not something I should be eating every day on paleo but they are going to go bad if I don't finish them).  It was so good AND since I was running late, I was able to drink it on my way to the gym.

I have found that in order to live a healthy lifestyle and make healthy choices each day, I HAVE to, I mean absolutely, 100% have to, plan ahead!  If not, I get stressed because I'm always running late, again just ask Matt.  So try it this week, plan ahead, pack your lunch, make extra dinner so you don't even have to think about it.  Cut up tons of veggies so you can just grab a little of this, a little of that and before you know it, you have a huge, wonderful, colorful salad.

Planning ahead also allows you to feel in control and likely get more sleep as everything is ready to go.  My nightly habits include not only packing my lunch, but if I am going to workout, I also put together my bag so all I have to do in the morning is go through the feeding ritual.  Once you start planning and preparing things ahead of time, you'll find it saves tons of time and, at least to me, is such a rewarding feeling when you walk out the door with your healthy food choices!  I guess I'm never walking out the door though, its usually an awkward speed walk with 3-4 bags (Purse, gym, laptop and lunch bags) slung over my shoulders as I'm trying to make up for lost time!  You get my point though!

Menu for today:
Breakfast - Protein Shake
Post-Workout Snack - Muscle Milk Light Protein Drink
Lunch - Salad with balsamic dressing (homemade), leftover chicken enchilada meal

Snack _ Grab and go Trader Joe trailmix (1 bag), Apple (if needed)
Dinner - Hmmm thinking oven roasted chicken (I have a whole chicken) with grilled asparagus (Bonus, the leftover chicken can be shreaded and used for salads!)
Dessert - A piece of dark chocolate with the most wonderful strawberries I found at Trader Joes!

I Cheated

Over the past few months several people have told me that I am an inspiration to them.  I'm nYesot sure I've ever inspired anyone before, and if I have I didn't know about it.  I never intended to inspire anyone and am not sure I am worthy of such an honor as I'm just me, nothing special.  I am not writing this to make myself feel good, but rather because I want to share with everyone that I am not perfect.  I have cheated on my diet, that is real, that is me.  I ate pizza, drank wine, drank beer, had chips and most recently, dark chocolate.  The importance of this 'cheating' is that I did not beat myself up, and neither should you.  It is OKAY to cheat, just make sure if you're going to do it, you enjoy it!  Let me tell you, that pizza was REALLY good!!
This whole blog is about a new perspective, and if just one person is able to change their perspective on nutrition and health then I will feel accomplished! 
Yes I am doing this because I want to lose weight, however I'm also doing this because I want to be HEALTHY!  I want to feel good, I don't want to get sick all the time, I want to have tons of energy and glowing skin, strong bones and joints, toned muscles.  I want to live a long, healthy life!  How about that for a fresh perspective!  However, I can't lie, I also am pretty vain and want to look BOMB in my bikini this summer, which is just around the corner!
So here's to starting the week with a fresh perspective.  Making food choices that will better our health.  Reading lables. Buying organic. Eating natural foods (including fat). Not letting perfect be our enemy.  Not beating ourselves up when we indulge.  Enjoying our endulgences, knowing they are occasional and okay. Moving our bodies.  Ultimately, feeling good and being healthy!

Eat Lots of Plants and Animals!

I am been waiting to write this entry all day but now that I sit down I don't feel creative at all.  That is not going to stop me though!  First off, the original plan was to start this paleo adventure whole heartedly on April 1.  However, as you've learned by now, I am an all or nothing kind of gal!  So, I spent the entire day SHOPPING!  I went to Costco, Trader Joes and Whole Foods and am equipped to go primal!  I shopped for hours, lugged my findings home and opened the fridge to find I really didn't have any room to put all of my wonderful food.  What better opportunity to cleanse the house of processed foods!  Below is a picture of the food I got rid of (mostly donated to friends, some got thrown away):

There isn't as much here as there would have been a few weeks ago.  I would have had to add in crackers, protein bars, oatmeal etc. However, one thing I noticed looking at this pile of food was all the bring colors and words in the packaging.  Everything is so commerical and convinces you on the package why its good for you.  This is a key thing to note with the next two pictures which show all the good food I bought:

Notice the lack of branding, colors and words convincing you why the products are good for you.  These foods are natural and healthy and don't need fancy branding and marketing to convince you.  We all know they are good for us!

In my pictures of good foods you'll find coconut milk, almond butter, VEGGIES, fruit, chicken, eggs, more veggies, more fruit.  Yes it was an expensive trip, but I am honestly so excited to dig in to everything this week.  I also bought some dark chocolate (70%) which goes great with the wonderful strawberries I bought!  What you won't see, fancy packaging, processed foods or grains.  Everything is organic as part of eating primal is removing toxins from our food. 

I almost forgot, I received my book yesterday and have been digging in.  My next post will hopefully walk through the process of determining how much protein, fats and carbs I should be eating in order to lose weight and look fabulous!  Which brings me to the before pictures, I am having Matt take my before pictures on Wednesday (his first night off) and I will post them as soon as I replace our mini USb cable which Remi kindly recycled for us.  As I mentioned before, I usually pose just right so as to hide my fat and insecurities from everyone.  I am putting myself out there and although not as scary as my cousin Ricky's solo for PGMC, which he totally rocked, still scary for me!

Striving for perfect

I'm still thinking a lot about this idea of striving for perfect.  I honestly have a horrible habit of the all or nothing diet approach and I've made great progress to move away from it, but its not easy.  If I indulge on something, I am more likely to think "well this day is shot, I'll be good again tomorrow".  This got me in to bit trouble because tomorrow was never a good day.  Anyways, once again as I start to dig in to a new diet I am overwhelmed with the need to do it all the way or not at all.  I am managing this impulse, but its still there, in the back of my head.
I was thumbing through the book Primal Body - Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas and she wrote the following, which I think is a great way to approach nutrition and health. "Become very conscious of food and beverage choices.  Live consciously, are you eating something that is likely to promote your health or constitue a backslide.  Read labels carefully. Do not fear occassional indulgences,  just make them occasional and be fully aware of the choices you make".  I love the line about not fearing indulgences, yet be aware of them.  What are you eating and why.  Sometimes the answer is going to be, in my case, chocolate because I'm stressed and I want some, and thats okay!  I don't have to feel bad about it and I don't have to feel like I've ruined my progress because I ate something that was more of a backslide nutritionally. 

An idea I am toying with and will wait until I get my book I ordered and can read more, is intermitant fasting, which is something like, don't eat for 24 hours, or maybe 18 hours, or maybe start with a smaller timeframe like skipping a meal.  Do this once a week or once a month.  The idea is to become more tuned in to your body and learning to not fear hunger.  Do you fear hunger?  I know I do sometimes, but why?  I've never had to go without food.  I've never been starving.  Yet somehow, I fear being hungery and need to eat anytime I think I feel hungry.  Our culture is conditioned to fear being hungry, finish whats on our plate, eat grains because its in the pyramid, eat this eat that.  I am very interested to see if I can do it first of all.  Why not!?  It won't kill me, thats for sure.  I will write more on this later and will definately write up my experience when I decide to try it, likely a few weeks from now.  I know Matt would have no problem as he already skips meals and goes for long periods of time without eating because he forgets or is busy.  Not sure this counts as listening to his body vs ignoring what it is telling him because he is busy, but either way, he will do much better at this than me, I'm sure of it!
Thats all for today, just needed to do a little brain dump.  Oh yeah, haven't had grains since Monday and I don't crave them or feel deprived of them because I've been eating so much great food!

10 Steps to Going Primal - Step One

The idea of such a radical change in how we think about our diet and nutrition is a bit overwhelming, at least for us it is.  I found a post on Mark's Daily Apple that walks through 10 baby steps to help you go primal.  I thought I would share these each day and explain how I've used the concept to help us make the transition.

Step 1 - Remake a meal
Here he talks about a meal category, so breakfast for example.  Matt and I both eat a lot of carbs for breakfast, so this is a tough meal to start with, but you can also start with an easy meal.  Maybe try dinner and instead of having brown rice with chicken, add extra vegetables to fill your plate.  Either way, the idea is to change a meal at a time.  Maybe you're able to change a meal each day, maybe you need a few weeks to adjust. 
I am already going down the path of too much too soon.  So I am going to take a step back as well, and focus on remaking my meals.  Breakfast to me is easy because there are a lot of breakfast type foods that I didn't eat because I thought they were bad.  I'm excited to eat eggs, bacon, sausage etc.  I still need to get some veggies in to my breakfast, but one day at a time right!?  That sounds like a perfect goal for tomorrow, remake my remade breakfast by ensuring there is protein, healthy fat AND vegetables (as I get enough fruit thats for sure).
Here is a recipe for making your own protein bars that might help remake that pre/post workout snack!  I am going to make these this weekend!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup pecans

1/4 cup almond or sesame seed meal

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup almond butter

1/4 cup coconut oil (check your local health food store)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp of raw honey

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup dried cranberries or blueberries

Method:

1.On a cookie sheet, toast nuts and shredded coconut until golden brown (you may need to shake the tray once or twice to make sure they cook evenly).

2.Once toasted, pour mixture into a food processor and pulse until nuts are chopped and the mixture becomes coarsely ground.

3.In a mixing bowl, melt coconut oil and almond butter (about 20 seconds). Remove from microwave and stir until smooth.

4.Add vanilla extract, honey and sea salt. Mix thoroughly.

5.Fold in nut mixture and almond (or sesame seed) meal until mixed thoroughly.

6.Fold in blueberries/cranberries.

7.Press mixture into an 8 by 4 loaf pan.

8.Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until firm.

9.Cut “loaf” width wise. Should make 6 good-sized bars.

10.Enjoy! (or, if you don’t plan to eat immediately, you can store the bars in the refrigerator, covered loosely with a paper towel and plastic wrap.

No grains!

Well I did it, I did NOT eat any grains yesterday, imagine that!  Now I did binge when I got home from cycle class, which is more related to my addiction to eating and snacking than the fact that I as hungry (I'll tackle this soon).  Our goal right now is to transition away from grains and to healthier foods.  I have a much bigger snacking problem than Matt does, so I'll let you know my strategies for fighting it!
Even more exciting, I did not eat grains this morning for breakfast.  I usually eat steel cut oatmeal, but this morning I had three eggs and one turkey sausage with a cup of 2% milk.  I know the milk has got to be cut back, but its my safety blanket right now.  To my surprise, I had just as much energy at the gym, if not more!  I can already see some truth to the paleo diet!  I just need to get my book so I can read up as much as possible so I cna figure out how to balance all this protein, one step at a time though.
On the menu today:

• Breakfast
• 3 eggs (over easy) and 1 turkey Sausage (it was a big one, about 160 calories)
• Post-work out snack
• Muscle milk light
• Snack at work (the additiction to snacking)
• Banana
• Lunch
• Steak and left over banana squash with onions, strawberries for desert
• Snack
• Apple and nuts
• Dinner
• Hmmm....not sure yet

I need to get better at planning more in advance.  I felt a little overwhelmed last night as I wasn't sure what to bring for lunch.  I know I have the fancy quote about not letting perfect get in the way of the good, but that is a hard thing to do!  I'm an all or nothing kind of gal, but I am learning to let go of the little things, not get overwhelmed and get back on track when I lose my way.  Boring post today, but I hope to share more later about what I've learned from my soon to get here new book and am planning to take before pictures next week!

Going Primal

I went grocery shopping last night with the intent to slowly change what we're eating. Our plan is that by April 1st, we'll have researched and learned enough that we can follow the paleo diet 100% (knowing we'll probably get there about 80%) of the time. Changes in what I bought:

 

No bread - I did not buy bread, yet somehow still managed to buy sandwich meat, guess I'll have to use it in a salad or two

 

Meat - I bought a lot of meat, chicken breasts, ground turkey, turkey sausage and steak. I don't really like to cook and get grossed out by the concept of meat. However, the foundation of the paleo diet is protein and you are encouraged to eat healthy, animal fats. So meat it is.

 

2% and whole milk - We ALWAYS get skim milk. Milk and dairy products are not always accepted on the paleo diet, but we're making slow changes here. The idea is that by cutting out grains/carbs, you run the risk of not eating enough, so bringing in healthy fats is important. I'll write more about what I learn on fats later

 

Eggs - Breakfast is going to be changing around here. No more crock pots of steal cut oats, nope no way!

 

Most importantly, the only inside aisle I went down was to get the nuts. Otherwise I stayed on the outside of aisles, where the fresh food is!

 

The paleo diet requires a lot more thinking ahead, at least for me, as I can't rely on processed, convenient foods anymore. So I cooked dinner and breakfast last night, and packed my dinner as my lunch, had a protein shake for my dinner etc. And yes, you can supplement while following this lifestyle, which I plan on doing!

 

Today's menu (notice the lack of grains!)

 

• Breakfast
• Scrambled eggs and ground turkey with a glass of 2% milk, coffee with half & half and splenda
• Snack
• Banana
• Lunch
• Chicken breast with oven roasted banana squash and onions. Strawberries for desert!
• Snack
• Mixed nuts (no peanuts though) and an apple
•  Dinner
•  Likely a protein shake, made with whole milk

 

That is my plan for today; we'll see how it goes!

The Modern Primal Blueprint

This is not my own thinking, this is taken from the website, Mark's Daily Apple.  Mark Sisson has a book, that I am waiting to receive, called The Primal Blueprint. 

Mark Writes:
"My basic premise is this: The Primal Blueprint is a set of simple instructions (the blueprint) that allows you to control how your genes express themselves in order to build the strongest, leanest, healthiest body possible, taking clues from evolutionary biology (that’s the primal part).


Sometimes we get so lost in the science of human biology we just can’t see the forest for the trees. We overlook the simplicity and ease with which we could all be achieving exceptional health and fitness"

He outlines 10 basic prinicples, which after reading, seem pretty obvious and easy to follow.  This will form the foundation of our Paleo diet/lifestyle:

1. Eat lots of animals, insects and plants
2. Move around a lot at a slow pace
3. Lift heavy things
4. Run really fast once in awhile
5. Get lots of sleep
6. Play
7. Get some sunlight every day
8. Avoid trama
9. Avoid poisonous things
10. Use your mind

This is a lifestyle I think I could get used to!  More to come in future posts!

It only took 25 years and 7 months!

As many of you know, I've been on a fitness and health journey as of late. I've seen a lot of great progress, stumbled, and landed back on my feet. The single most important thing I gained from this is a fresh perspective on health and fitness. I am not skinny, I am not a model, I have fat, I have cellulite, I have insecurities, I am not perfect. Before, these were the things that held me back. I let the goal of being perfect get in the way of being good. I couldn't put my health and fitness in perspective regarding what was realistic, what was necessary, or even what mattered. I would work out and eat right for a few weeks, look in the mirror, see that same person and quit.

So what changed? Why is this time different? In short, I don't know what is different, there is not one thing I can point to and say that was what made the difference. I just started small, I took a step back and looked at my life. Was I happy with myself, no. Did I feel good about myself, no. Were my insecurities getting in the way of my happiness and my marriage, yes. Did my clothes fit, no. Did I have energy, no. It quickly became clear that it was now or never. No more waiting until next week or next month to get healthy. The time was now.

Fast forward, 7 months and my life is very different, I am so much happier with myself. I'm stuck though and haven't been making forward progress. I have always struggled with my diet. I love being active, but I'm not sure what to do with my diet. So, knowing I need my husband's support, I asked Matt if he would be interested in trying the paleo diet/lifestyle with me.  We will be researching the paleo diet and working together to make some big changes in what we eat and why over the next few months. I am going to take before pictures and track my progress through this blog.

Now I can't take all the credit for my success in changing my lifestyle. My husband has been my number 1 supporter, cheering me on when I needed it most. He has been my solid foundation when I felt like giving up and has helped me celebrate my small wins, each and every one of them! He even lets me flex my muscles and acted impressed, even when there was no visibly change in flexed vs. unflexed muscle. That of course has changed as I now have muscles, which I still flex for him almost weekly.  My friends and family have also been very supportive and I know that tracking my progress publicly has helped me stay accountable and on track!

I also plan on writing about my experience as a cycle instructor (hopefully). The idea is that if I share everything I learn, I am both held accountable and hopefully provide insight and advice to others on the same journey.

So check back in a few weeks for the BEFORE pictures!