L.O.G.

Once again I failed to get a picture taken, but I did this today. Cleaned and pressed the 85 lb log, over my head at the end of my workout.  I did it twice and got scared I would drop it, so stopped.  To me, this is awesome.  Motivation, found.  Enough said.

S.E.L.F

A few weeks ago I went wine tasting with friends and family, and had a blast!  At our last stop, by dad insisted on buying me something from this lady selling hand-made jewelry.  I picked out a fun necklace with a zebra colored stone and never thought twice about how something so seemingly simple can give a big confidence boost.  I normally look in the mirror and go straight to what I don't like about myself. This morning - Ugh, I picked at my face and now have sores to cover up, I am down one pound but up 4 from a few weeks ago, I wish my hair was longer, I wish my teeth were whiter, I wish I was skinner....you know, the normal drill.

I finished getting ready, got dressed and reached for that necklace my dad bought me.  As soon as I put it on, I felt an instant boost of confidence.  It didn't make me skinner, it didn't make my hair longer, but some how this simple piece made me feel better.  Maybe its the compliments it gets, but how can something so simple contribute so highly to my feelings of self worth?  You all probably have that dress, that pair of pants, a piece of jewelry, something that makes you feel like a million bucks when you put it on.

Why can't we feel this good about ourselves all the time?  Why do I focus on my faults rather than celebrate my strengths?  I am getting better at it, but I still find myself picking myself apart, in my head, in the mirror.  In my search to figure this out, I found an article that talked about self-compassion.  All too often we value high self-esteem, which is based on our accomplishments and can result in us feeling bad when we come up short on a specific goal, make a bad decision, or fail to measure up to our own standards.  Instead, we should practice self-compassion, a concept that is easy to give to others, but often hard to give to ourselves. 

Here is a quote from the article, written by Dr. Leslie Becker-Phelps.

"It's not that high self-esteem is bad; it's just that an overemphasis on achievement leaves people vulnerable. Rather, we are better off basing our relationship with ourselves on self-compassion. In this way, we will always strive toward being kind to ourselves, valuing ourselves as human beings, feeling connected with others, and actively pursuing our best interests. With this as our base, we can enjoy the momentary boosts to our self-esteem when we succeed, but endure the hits to our self-esteem when we fail."  You can find the full article HERE.

I, for one, need to be much nicer to myself.  I am so hard on myself, which only results in me making more bad decisions and feeling worse about them.  Can you forgive yourself for making a bad decision, for falling short of your healthy lifestyle goals, or do you also come down hard on yourself?  This is definitely an area I will work on improving!

Back in the Swing of Things

I'm not sure where it went, or where I found it, but my motivation is back.  Maybe its the fact that Mexico is fast approaching.  Maybe its that I realized how good it feels to be sore after a hard workout.  Maybe it was the awesome Blazer game 4 win! I don't know, but it's back and I'm running with it.  Well not literally running, I kind of hate running (don't remind me that I'm running Hood to Coast this summer!)

I got up early this morning and went to an EKG class at 6:00, got an early start at work and am feeling great!  My plan is to head to 24 this evening and begin practicing and putting together 1 of my several 1 hour rides. 

I was so sore this morning from the Quest FIT class and my soccer game that I ALMOST went back to bed. However, work is getting stressful again so it was in my favor to get up early and get to work early.


I was also coming off a high from this weekend.  I had a great workout, which made me realize that I have a lot to gain in terms of getting in better shape.  I also had a great soccer game in which I channeled the energy from the Blazers, as they won game 4!!!  I am taking that energy with me in to this week and I am going to need it.  Work is crazy busy, my final for Global Management is due by Sunday, I need to get in several quality workouts and then there is the rest of my life as well. 
 
The lesson learned here is that motivation comes and goes.  Will power can be strong however there are days when that _____ (fill in the blank) is worth more than fitting in to your pants at the very moment.  I gave in to a lot of those moments and am now playing catch up.  We all lose our motivation, who knows where it goes to.  Its not easy to get back in to the swing of things, but sometimes an extra hard workout, a sporting victory (in my case Blazers and my soccer team) or just that extra bit of energy you happen to wake up with, is all you need to get your motivation back. 
 

So for those of your out there struggling with motivation, try to find that one thing that will bring it back.  Its different for every person, and even for one person, like me, it isn't always the same thing that motivates me each day.  Have a great day!!  GO BLAZERS!!

Fit Fitter Fittest

What better way to tackle a fitness plateau than to try something new!?  I've been talking to Matt for awhile about going him at Team Quest for a fit class and it finally worked out for me to go today!  What a workout, as I sit here writing this I can feel the pain setting in to my shoulders, hips and abs.  Its a good pain, but will make my 6:00pm soccer game this evening a bit difficult!

I still love working out at the Elite Kettlebell/Spinach, but needed something to push me in a different direction.  I also love cycle classes, but that still wasn't cutting it.  So now the plan is to teach my two cycle classes a week (yeah, I'm an instructor now!), workout at the EKG 2-3 times a week and go to the Saturday fit classes at Team Quest.  If you haven't heard of them before think Randy Couture, meets local MMA fighters meets something for everyone.  You can check them out here, Team Quest, they have several locations in the area, with a possible new location in the works!

What I've learned in the past few weeks is that it is much easier for me to maintain healthy eating habits when I'm working out and pushing my body to the limits.  When I lose time to get to the gym, I start to make bad decisions that quickly add up to 5 lbs gained!  Yes I am crazy busy these days, but that just means I need to start going to the gym in the morning again, that way I can use the excuse, work was stressful and I'm tired, I didn't get off work in time, I have homework, I need to walk the dogs etc.  If I go in the morning, like I used to do religiously, then life doesn't seem to get in the way as much.

Today we did a tabata workout, which believe me, may sound easy but is T O U G H!  We did 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest.  This was done 10 times for each exercise.  We did Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Squats, Situps, Pushups and Squat Jumps.  GREAT WORKOUT!!

I feel my motivation coming back and it is such a good feeling.  Now if only the Blazers could get motivated to win like I am motivated to lose (weight that is!)  Go Blazers!

Taking a step back to reflect

My last few posts have been rushed and have likely provided a glimpse in to how unfocused I have been on my nutrition. I let myself cheat way to much and now am feeling the effects of drifting away from my healthy lifestyle.  I went out to MDA (Mark's Daily Apple) for some inspiration, ideas or just something to help me refocus and this was the article he had posted for the day: The 80/20 Principle: When 20 Inches Toward 40.

It was like he read my mind!  I fall victim to both life getting in the way and a loss of motivation.  I set really high expectations and goals for myself and when I don't reach them right away, I begin to give up, which I did yet again.  This is life, it happens.  Before I would have fallen way off track and it would have taken weeks if no months to refocus.  This time it was about 2-3 weeks and I'm back on track feeling good about things.

I had a small cheat last night for the Blazer game, and it took all my strength not to bury the sad sad loss in a bowl of ice cream.  However, on a whole, I am back on track and the lbs are once again slowly going away.  I think part of it is that Matt and I have been eating the same things every day, we need new ideas!  I ordered the Primal Cookbook and am hopeful for some great ideas and inspiration.  I am also hoping to finish up my assignment for Global Management so I can once again get some quality reading time with the Primal Blueprint, I still have a lot of reading to do.

I have one more week left of this class, 6 total weeks of school left, 7 1/2 weeks until our Mexico trip...AND I am now a cycle instructor!!  I had a great audition and was given two classes, YAY!! 

My strategy for getting back on track is just to focus and organize.  I am good at planning ahead, but I am also good at taking on too much all at once.  For the next few weeks I am going to practice saying no and try to focus on the things that HAVE to get done so I can finish school, stay on track with my goals and save some pieces of my sanity.  So if I seem unsocial or too busy, just know that I am trying to focus on my goals and need to take a step back, I need to stop taking on so much stuff all at once that makes it impossible to stay on top.

Trying to achieve balance

Low

Time for some honesty.  I. GAINED.BACK.WEIGHT.

There it is, out in the open.  I am back up about 5 lbs, rather than being down another 5 like I wanted.  My audition is on Friday and rather than feeling fit and healthy, I am feeling fat and sluggish.  COLD. HARD. FACTS.  This all my own doing, I have been cheating too much, binging too much and not in control of my diet.

Okay, I feel better.  Today I decided I would do a 24 hour fast, but you know what, it isn't working as well this time.  I am STARVING right now.  I'm sure my cubicle world neighbors can hear my stomach.  I ate at 6:30....its only been 8 hours.  I am feeling defeated and think I will end up eating dinner tonight because the point isn't to punish myself, but just get back on track.

I really need to refocus my thinking and find new and exciting things to eat.  Thats all for now, just wanted everyone to know that I am not perfect, far from it, but am refocusing and will evenutally have some "After" pictures...one of these days!

Slacker

Just a quick update as I have totally been slacking both on my blog and my diet, yikes!  Life is really busy these days, just trying to hang on for dear life.  My current MBA class is full of BUSY work, only two more weeks left then 1 week off then 5 more weeks and I'm DONE!  My audition for becoming a cycle instructor is on Friday and I'm super nervous!  Work is crazy busy, the dogs are a pain (but I still love them) the house is a mess, I don't get to see my husband enough, I honestly think I made plans with several people for this next weekend but can't remember any of it plus I have a indoor soccer games and puppy training...whew I'm exhausted thinking about it all.  However, as Matt like to remind me, it's all self inflicted!  Anyways I promise to start posting again soon, I just need to get my head above water, finish out this stupid global management class, get through my audition and then things should get better!

It fits!

This morning I had one of those days where you look in your closet, and although there are tons of clothes, you have nothing to wear! I can’t blame it on a ‘fat’ day, as I was actually feeling pretty good about my progress, I just didn’t like my clothes. I know all the girls out there can relate. Usually when this happens I turn to things I haven’t worn in a long time, thinking I may find the solution to my problems. Today I was sifting through the hangers and found a blue, button up shirt that I haven’t worn in years. Why? Because it was too small and it puckered when I buttoned it, making me feel even worse about myself. However today, when I put on the shirt and buttoned it up, it fit!! It fit!


You know the saying nothing tastes as good as skinny feels? Well I disagree, I think dark chocolate and pinot noir taste pretty good. Same with ice cream, pizza and fries. HOWEVER, it does feel very good to fit in to something that used to be way too small. So why am I sharing this with you? Because I want everyone to know that eventually, your hard work and dedication to a healthy lifestyle will pay off. For me, this has not been an overnight transformation. I started this journey back in September. Once I lost 15 lbs I took all my ‘fat’jeans in and got them altered, so I no longer have ‘fat’ jeans and instead have jeans that flatter my thinner waist line! I am not saying that everyone needs to aim to be skinny, I was just using the quote as I haven’t heard one about being healthy, but I would change it to say although a lot of food tastes really good, feeling and being healthy is a much better, longer term feeling!

I am not a patient person and in the past, I hoped for overnight change. Of course that never came and I would give up and go back to my unhealthy lifestyle. However this last time around I realized that I’m not getting any younger (note – I’m not saying I’m old here) and if I didn’t get a grasp on a healthy lifestyle, I would continue gaining about 5 lbs a year and it would only get harder to lose it. I made a complete lifestyle change and focused on making choices that would benefit my health instead of hurt it.

I know this whole paleo diet seems extreme. The most common response is, I could never not eat bread, I love bread! Or, I need my oatmeal, I can’t get going in the morning without it. Or, so what can you eat if you can’t eat grains. However, I urge everyone to give it a try, just focus on taking processes foods out of your diet and eating natural foods, that you prepare yourself. You don’t have to be perfect, and if you need some bread here and there, or you can’t totally cut dairy out, or you are only able to do it a few times a week, that is okay! Anything is better than filling our bodies with processed foods and chemicals we were never intended to eat.

I feel great, I have not noticed any negative changes in energy levels, however some many notice differences during the transition. I’ll admit, I’m having a hard time not putting some splenda in my coffee, but I think I can safely say I aim for 100% and usually get there, but somedays it’s more like 80% and that’s okay.

Do me a favor and just read all the nutrition labels for what you eat today. What was in your food? Do you know what everything means? Where did your food come from? Awareness is the first step to making the necessary changes to remove processed foods from your body.

If you want more information, I highly recommend The Primal Blueprint. You can order it on Amazon and it provides so much more information than I could ever hope to explain on this blog.

So I am going to leave you with a recipe. I haven’t made it yet, but since I LOVE pancakes, I plan on making it for breakfast very soon!

Almond Flour Pancakes

• 1 cup almond flour

• 1/2 cup of apple sauce

• 1 Tbsp coconut flour

• 2 eggs

• 1/4 cup water (consider soda water for slightly fluffier pancakes)

• 2 Tbsp oil

• a pinch of salt

• garnish with fresh berries

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. The batter will be appear a little thicker than normal mix.

2. Drop by 1/4 cup onto a lightly-oiled, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. You might want to shape the pancake with the scoop to keep them from being too thick.

3. Flip like a normal pancake, about when the bubbles start showing up on the top.

4. Put on a plate and add berries

Not my picture and I won't be using syrup, but will be using lots of fresh berries!

A Successful Fast

I'll admit when I started my fast on Sunday, after a breakfast of eggs and bacon, I really didn't have confidence in myself that I could do it. I was scared as I didn't know what to expect, I wasn't sure how my body would react and wasn't sure if I was up for the challenge. However, it really wasn't that bad at all. I am very proud of myself for my 22 1/2 hour fast. It would have been 24 but as I mentioned, I woke up earlier this morning than on Sunday.


So you ask, why did you do this? Well first because I am always up for a challenge and in all honesty, wanted to see if I could do it. Second, because I wanted to start of the next phase of this diet (the more ramped up, less indulgences phase) with a clean slate (or empty stomach, same thing!). I did a lot of research beforehand and made sure that I ate really well on Saturday and had a protein rich breakfast on Sunday. I allowed myself to drink water, which ended up being 100 FL oz plus one cup of fasting tea (not in the plan, but I had it on hand and it seemed fitting).

*As a side note, this type of fasting is called intermittent fasting and is mentioned as part of the paleo/primal blueprint diet, since Grok (our cave man mock person) likely went days without food, our bodies are capable and may even benefit from fasting every now and then as well. You can learn more by visiting MarksDailyApple.com or other paleo diet websites**


The biggest challenge of this fast was the fear of the unknown. I've gone before where I've missed a meal and I become irritable, dizzy and low energy so I was scared that would happen. However, since switching to the paleo diet, I've found I don't go through the typical ups and downs with my blood sugar. So as the hours started ticking away I sat there and wondered when is this going to get bad. Around 2:00 I started to feel hungry (I ate at 8:30) so I drank a bunch of water, took the dogs on a walk (a slow once since I hurt myself at my soccer game on Saturday), went to the grocery store, cut up all my veggies for the week, BBQ'd steaks (this was difficult as it smelled really good and I was hungry), folded laundry, delivered said steaks to Matt at work, worked on homework and all of a sudden it was 10:00pm! Wow, I NEVER felt like I was going to faint, in fact my body seemed to have shut down the hunger cues and was working efficiently on its own, sans food.

As I finally laid down at 10:00pm to go to bed, I realized I had done it. All I had to do was go to sleep and when I woke up I could eat! I then realized that I hadn't had hunger pains or a growling stomach for a really long time. I felt fine, I had a lot of energy, I wasn't dizzy, I was fine! This was amazing! My body was able to tap in to more primal functions and use stored fats to sustain me through this fast.

The most amazing part was when I woke up this morning at 6:15, I WAS NOT hungry! I figured I would be starving, but I wasn't even hungry. So I showered, had a cup of coffee and started getting ready for the day. I finally made breakfast around 7:15, knowing I had a busy day ahead of me and would eventually need food. I made a 3-egg omelet with turkey sausage, spinach, red/yellow/orange peppers, green onion and sweet onion. Sprinkled a little cheese and salsa on top...so good! However, not the kind of good I thought it would be. It was satisfying, but I didn't devour it like I hadn't eaten for 24 hours.

I think the key thing I learned during this process is that my body, given the right foods, can sustain itself with no food for long periods of time. Going through this fast successfully has helped me better understand to listen to the signals my body is sending. This becomes most relevant when tackling my late night snacking! If I can go 24 hours without food, I certainly don't need that late night snack after dinner!

Sorry for the rambling post, but I am really proud of myself and realize now that food doesn't need to play such a significant role in my life. Just wanted to share the experience with everyone. This isn't something everyone will want to do, or will be able to do. However, if you make the switch to paleo, and feed your body foods it actually needs and wants, you can be successful with this as well. It’s a pretty powerful experience and allows you to gain control over your nutrition and lifestyle a little at a time.

Note - I will try to add this 24 hour fast in to my lifestyle twice a month for awhile. I'm thinking Sundays work best, specifically on days when I don't have soccer games!


Food and Images for thought:
We are living in a society where the rate of illness and disease is on a continuous rise, in America alone there are 23million people diagnosed with cancer every year, 41million people diagnosed with heart disease, 50million people with high blood pressure, 80million people with diabetes (and that’s expected to double in 2 generations) and 64% of adults in America are either overweight or obese.


Nutrition has the ability to take charge of our health, wellness and longevity. Whether the nutrition is good or bad, the foods we put into our mouth can dramatically alter our hormones, our energy levels and of course, our well-being.

Studies have shown that 70% of all deaths in America are diet related (http://www.livingpaleo.com/paleo-diet.html)

A FAST Easter

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I was thinking about doing a 24 hour fast, as part of taking this primal lifestyle a little more seriously.  Well we are now in April and it's time to get serious.  Over the next two months I really want to push myself and take things to the next level.  I have NEVER had abs so to speak of, I mean of course I have strong core muscles, but I've always had a steady layer of fat that hides those bad boys.  I want to lose enough body fat that I can start seeing these so called ab's.  Maybe try for a 2 pack or 4 pack!  Ha!

Anyways, although I've been eating paleo foods, I have not been moderating how much and often often I eat certain foods, like fruits and nuts.  So I am going to start tracking things better and attempt to dial my diet in enough to start seeing solid progress.  In order to get a clean start, I decided to do a 24 hour fast today, which just so happens to be Easter (no correlation, just worked out this way).  My plan was to eat breakfast and then fast until breakfast on Monday.  The fast will end up being a 21 hour fast, as I woke up later today than I will tomorrow and I need to eat before I go to the gym tomorrow.

I am doing a wet fast, which means I am able to drink water and tea, but am not eating anything.  I will post an update to this tomorrow and report on how it went.  For now, time to take the dogs on a walk to get my mind off the food I would like to eat right now.  This is more of a mental challenge than a physical one, I have never fasted before but know I can do this!  As a side note - I know that many people fast for religious reasons, and others to lose weight from the fast.  I am not doing this for either reason, but rather to start training my body to use the stored fat more effectively.  I will likely start adding this in to my lifestyle a few times a month, but only for 24 hours at a time.

Check back in later for updates!

No Time

I have been really busy this week, so I apologize for the lack of new posts, and this one promises to be short and boring as well.  Work has really picked up and I just started another MBA class, so my stress levels are high and my snacking urges, just as high!

I am so thankful for all my little cut up veggies and ready to make salad fixins.  Matt and I were just talking last night about how we actually look forward to our big ass salads we make almost daily!  We put so much goodness in there (Red, Yellow and Orange sweet peppers, onions, raddish, carrots, spinach, other mixed greens, avocado, feta cheese, pine nuts and/or pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, olive oil, balsamic vin).  Anyways, it just reinforces how important planning ahead is in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and sanity!

We went to the Blazer game on Wednesday and stopped for dinner, for a cheat meal.  Since making the switch to paleo, I haven't noticed big changes when I do cheat.  This time, it was not the case.  My body did not like the fact that I ate fries and had a wrap.  Its crazy to see how fast my body has changed and adapted to my clean eating habits, it didn't know what to do with what I had eaten.  Lesson learned, cheat days are no longer as tempting when I know I likely won't feel good afterwards.  Not to mention I also had a few beers, which probably added to problem.

Anyways, nothing too insightful or worth reading.  I am checking out for the day/night and possibly the weekend.  I'll try to post something useful this weekend....try being the operative word here.