Week 10 in Review

Living a Paleolithic lifestyle (well, kind of).

I never thought that I would feel so fabulous not eating dairy or gluten.  The only grains I ate this week were quinoa, teff, and oats.  I have found that my body does really well without those other glutenous grains. I have also found that the paleo recipes that I have tried are pretty family friendly. I just add some noodles or rice to theirs and quinoa to mine and everyone's happy.

This week I tried to push myself with my workouts, BUT I'm just bored to tears with them right now.  I think that I have to mix up my weight lifting regimen every 3 weeks. I ended up running longer, slower runs. I still continued to lift, but I felt a little bit burnt out.



Friday night at my house, can you guess which dessert is mine? Even though I have given up sweets, except for maybe once a month at book club, I still crave a cookie once in awhile. I have done pretty good with eating fruit instead of dessert, but enough's enough!!! So I went searching online for a paleo cookie recipe. I found this recipe on Everday Paleo

Nutty Cookies
2 bananas smashed
1/3 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup almond butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup raw walnuts
1 apple finely chopped
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp cinnamon (or more if your 2 year old is measuring…)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to smash the bananas to baby food consistency. Add the coconut flour, almond butter, and baking soda and mix well. Using a hand held chopper or food processor, chop the walnuts and apples to a very fine dice. Add the walnuts, apples, coconut milk, and cinnamon to the bowl and mix in remaining ingredients. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper and spoon heaping tablespoons of the cookie mix onto the parchment paper, placing an inch or two apart. Back for 25 minutes. Makes approximately 20-22 cookies.

I had to make some adjustments though. I used almond flour instead of coconut flour; natural peanut butter instead of almond butter; and almond milk instead of coconut milk. After I mixed it all together it was a little runny so I added some coconut flakes. They are super yummy!!!

Part of the Elite

"In my mind, anyone who enters, and trains for, and finishes a marathon is part of our sport’s Elite. We are all finishers. We are all Kenyans."  HAL HIGDON

Hal Higdon rocks!!!  Seriously, I love that guy.  I started using his training schedules several years ago.  I have used his marathon, 1/2 marathon, and "off season" schedules.  I have tried others (Jeff Galloway and Runner's world) and I always go back to Hal.

Week 10 goals

I'm 2 months into this process and I'm so glad that I started. I really believe that you have to want to change in order to lose weight. If you want to see change, you have to make it a lifestyle, not a diet. Not only is my body changing, I'm changing. I have such a different relationship with food. When I plan my meals, I think of what nutrition I'm going to need for the day. Rita Catolina said that you have to work hard for your carbs, don't just eat them because a piece if paper tells you to. And the carbs she includes are quinoa, sweet potatoes, squash, and brown rice.

As I stated in my last post, I'm making some changes to my program. Last night I started my daily goal journal. Since today is my rest day, I don't have any workout goals, but I have nutrition goals. At the end of the day I will reevaluate how I did and then set my goals for Monday.



My goals for the week:
Nutrition: I'm going to start implementing the paleo way of eating into my diet. I will still eat 5-6 (or 7) meals per day. I like sweets for breakfast, so I'm going to continue with Teff or oats with fruit for breakfast. I'm going to eat 2-3 fruits per day. I usually have berries and 1/2 banana with breakfast and then the rest of the banana in a smoothie for my mid morning snack and an apple or pear for my afternoon snack. I have been adding spinach and pumpkin to my protein shakes to help me get my veggies. This week I will get all of my servings of veggies per day. Since I have a "target outfit" to fit into, I'm going to tighten up my diet and be more strict on my portion sizes. I have been eating a little more than I should lately. I recently read that if you wake up hungry, then your body has a caloric deficit, which is what you want for weight loss. This is my goal for the week: to eat enough of the right kinds of food during the day to promote weight loss and muscle gain and still feel fabulous.

Exercise: I'm swapping my Wednesday and Saturday runs so that I can continue to run my long runs with Priscilla. I will move my bicep/tricep training day from Saturday to Wednesday. I'm also going to find ways to add more squats and lunges to my upper body days, since training these larger muscle groups burns more calories. For instance, adding wall squats to my bicep curls. I'm also going to continue to add more core exercises to my routine. I found some killer core workouts that I did on Friday and Saturday. Sometimes I get tired of planks and crunches, so these new exercises have been a nice change.

Last but not least: attitude. I'm going to continue to work on positive self talk. I really struggle with seeing only my fat rolls when I look in the mirror. I focus a lot on my stomach. It's what I look at whenever I pass by a mirror. Instead of thinking negatively about my appearance, I'm going to come up with something positive to say to myself each time I start to cut myself down.

Setting goals

I have been whining a lot about how I have been struggling these past few weeks.  I was complaining to Priscilla on our last long run about how in the past I have gotten to the 2 month point and then quit.  Usually it's because of the fears that I have written about in an earlier post. Also, it seems that I plateau after 2 months and I think "hey, my clothes are loser and I'm feeling pretty good, so that's good enough." She kindly reminded me that I was an idiot and that I needed to remember the whole "divorce you story" thing that I have written about before.  Okay, she didn't call me an idiot, but she did remind me that we weren't those people anymore.



After much soul searching and internet searching for inspiration.  I finally realized what I have been doing wrong.  I haven't had any concrete short term goals these past 2 weeks.  Yes, I have my long term goal of having that bikini body, but I don't really have daily, weekly, or monthly goals to challenge me. I read 2 posts on Facebook that really inspired me.  The first one was about buying a "target outfit."  Yesterday, like an insane person, I went to the mall (it was Black Friday).  It was really for my sister because she needed some clothes for a trip she is going on.  I have been looking for a dress for an upcoming wedding and because I haven't bought any "church clothes" for a long time, I ended up looking for myself too.  I actually found 2 skirts that I love.  The one skirt has an elastic waist and it fits just a little bit snug on my tummy.  The second skirt was a little tight in the size 6 (I could zip it up, but I had a little muffin top), but just perfect in the size 8 so I got the bigger size. When I got home I started to think about that "target outfit."  I love that size 8 skirt, so today I took it back and got the size 6.  My goal:  I have to fit comfortably in both skirts in 4 weeks!!! I am going to hang one skirt in my closet and one in my home gym for inspiration.
The other motivating post I read was by a woman who was celebrating her 35th birthday.  She wrote that she was in the best shape of her life.  On my 35th birthday, I was not in the best shape of my life.  In fact, I was pretty close to my highest, non-pregnant weight.  I was relatively fit, but I was also relatively fat.  I will turn 36 in 8 months and 3 days and I will be posting on facebook that I am in the best shape of my life.
In order to do this, I will have to set daily workout and nutrition goals. Every night I will write my goals for the next day and report on how I did for the day.  I will keep these daily goals in a hand written journal that will be readily accessible.  I will continue to make my weekly and monthly goals, but I am going to make them more challenging.  They also have been a little bit vague in the past, so I'm going to make them more specific.  Honestly, I'm starting to get excited again.  I just needed a plan, it's the type A part of my personality coming through!

End of week 9

As week 9 comes to a close, I am once again trying to focus on the positives.  I met all of my workout goals.  I had a fun time running my Turkey Trot with Priscilla.  Later at dinner, we were laughing because she had seen on Facebook posts about people running 3 miles to prepare for their Thanksgiving dinner.  We, however, ran 12 miles.  I felt like I did overeat somewhat (I ate another clean whole wheat roll that Priscilla had made after everyone had left), but it was nothing like last year.  We pooled our resources and came up with a very clean dinner, except for the gravy, which I did eat.  Priscilla even made clean pumpkin pie, which I have to say that her rolls and pie and pumpkin/peanut butter dip were my favorite, probably because I didn't make them.  I also pushed myself with my other workouts.  Priscilla told me about how her trainer kept telling her to do "3 more." So on Friday and Saturday I looked at what I lifted last week and then I made sure that I did at least 3 more.  I am so sore today from my Bicep/Tricep routine today, OUCH!!!
The most exciting thing though was my run today.  I have a route that I call "3 hills."  I warm up on a somewhat flat road for 4 minutes and then I start my HIIT.  And then I run up a hill that is a 130 ft gain and then I run into a neighborhood that has 2 smaller hills.  Then I come back on the road with the larger hill and run home.  I haven't ever ran this course before in under 10 minute miles, except for today.  Today I averaged 8:48!!! I know that the climb isn't much, but it still is pretty awesome to me.  When I reached the 2 mile mark, which is also the end of climbing any hills, my average was a 9:03 and then I ran down the hill and home, shaving off 21 seconds from my mile average.  This is seriously the fastest I have ever ran 3 miles.  I owe it all to my chia seeds:)

There are some low points about this week though.  I'm still trying to straighten out my GI problems.  I started to add more flax and that seems to be helping.  Also I have been mixing my ACV with water in the morning in a measured bottle.  I put the bottle on my counter and it helps me remember to drink my 2 tsp before each meal.  That's right, I'm drinking 2 tsp before all 6 meals.  It was a rough week, but so far today has been great.  I fell like a whole new person.

I struggled this week with snacking too often.  I'm totally into the whole 6-7 meals idea.  I eat whenever I'm truly hungry, even if it is only one hour after I last ate.  BUT, I have also been cooking A LOT this week in preparation for Thanksgiving.  I did so much "sampling" that it is totally ridiculous.  I have felt like I have fallen off the wagon these past 2 weeks and I finally realized why.  I'm a total control freak.  I love to have lists and to be organized.  What does this have to do with that stupid wagon (when my daughter read that I had written that I had fallen off the wagon, she asked if I had actually fallen off of a real wagon), these past 2 weeks I have been slacking on my food journal.  I don't know why.  Maybe I did just need a break, but I have to be more diligent with tracking what I consume.  My OCD personality seems to do better when I am meticulous about recording everything.  I know, I'm a little bit nutty.

A good day

This morning I did my weekly weigh in and I was excited that I had lost another pound (it's been 2 weeks since I weighed, so slow and steady). I moved our scale to the basement home gym since my husband wouldn't let me throw it away. As I was down there lifting, my husband came down to lift also. He weighed himself and he weighed 13 pounds more than me. What's the big deal? He has weighed either the same or less than me for the majority of our marriage, we have been married for over 15 years. He has gained about 7 pounds and I have lost about 13. I hated weighing more than him. It made me mad at myself and at him, which is silly because he has no control over my weight.

I had a great workout: chest and back and then a HIIT- I ran 3 miles up and down a hill. I kept on thinking challenge=change whenever I wanted to quit. It was a great motivator. I ended up running a 9:39 mile, which is pretty good given the hilly terrain;)

Then I spent the rest of the day getting ready for Thanksgiving. I shopped, baked clean cornbread (sooo good) for cornbread stuffing, clean cream of mushroom soup for green bean casserole, butternut squash soup for my dinner tonight and mac&cheese casserole for the family. And then I ran kids to their activities.

Whew!!! It was busy, but I really felt great all day. I know that it's because of the super nutritious foods I ate all day. Seriously, I love eating clean.

What's next for me: I have been researching the Paleo diet. I'm still struggling with Gastrointestinal issues so I downloaded a book about it. I guess it's worth a try.

Goals for week 9: Getting back on the wagon

Last week I really fell off the wagon.  I know that if I continue down this road, I will gain back the weight that I worked so hard to get off.  I really need to refocus, tighten up my food, and make my workouts more challenging. These are my goals for week 9.

Refocus:  I let my frustrations and stress get the best of me this week and I turned to food as comfort.  I have been on several diets in the past and I have always done really well for about 2 months and then I just gave up.  I think it's because my weight loss and changes in my body start to plateau at this point.  I need to recommit myself to this year of healthy eating.  I need to keep my long term goals in mind.

Tighten up my food:  This one is a little bit more difficult.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday I attempted to stick to the menu plans on the Stripped Diet.  On each of these days I followed the plans until about 3 pm.  After that I just ate and ate and ate.  Although it was clean foods, it was in larger quantities than I should have eaten and I continued to munch into the late evening.  I don't think that I'm ready for the stripped program.  I think that I need to stick with the cooler 2 plan and watch my portion sizes. I think part of the problem is that in order to follow the other plans, I would have to decrease the intensity of my workouts, which is the opposite of what I like to do. Most of all, with Thanksgiving this week, I'm just going to work on self control.

Challenging workouts: I asked Monica, an aerobics instructor, what higher intensity workouts I could do. She is going to email me some more challenging exercises that I can incorporate into my Tibata workout. I'm also going to continue to run 3 days- 2 days of HIIT and 1 long run. I will do 5 days of strength training, with 1 day including Tibata.

End of week 8: What Happened?

Wow! I really back tracked this week.  I don't know what happened, but I feel like I totally fell off the wagon.  It started with being out of town and off my schedule last weekend.  I may have eaten clean for the majority of the week, but I didn't watch my portions and I did a lot of snacking in between my meals.  I also ate way too many protein balls.  Saturday (Nov. 17), was book club and I was really stressed out about what I was going to do about dinner.  I knew that some of the foods were loaded with fatty creams and sauces and I knew there was going to be dessert.  I stayed away from the bread, but I did have a small portion of homemade mac and cheese.  I also had dessert, fruit pizza.  I vowed a few weeks ago that I was not going to eat sugar for the year.  I may have to change that to once a month, for book club only.

Instead of getting frustrated, which I am, and beating myself up, which I am, I'm going to be positive.  I'm going to look at all the things that I didn't do, such as eat chocolate chip cookies and pizza at my sister's house.  I didn't eat out, except for Quizno's on our way home from Las Vegas.  I kept my food clean.  I turned down the opportunity to eat unhealthy foods each day this week. There are a lot of positives about this week, but the negatives are making my pants feel tight. I need to get my game face back on!!!

I also followed my workout plan, except for Monday, which was a travel day. I combined Monday's lifting with Tuesday's, so I did get all my strength training for the week.

If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't CHANGE you

Quote by Fred Devito

I used to hate Facebook.  I would get on there and everything was political or just plain stupid (with a very few exceptions).  About a month ago, I started to follow Tosca Reno and The Clean Diet on Facebook, but I would get irritated because I would have to sift through all of the other junk to get to my favorites.  Finally it dawned on me, why not un-follow all the other people that bug me and only follow those that I really am interested in reading.  Now I follow about 10 people, mostly family and a few friends and clean eating and exercise sites.  I love Facebook now!!!

Where am I going with this?  I actually almost forgot myself (I have been hopping up every 5 minutes to stir the pumpkin seeds I'm roasting).  I have gotten so much inspiration out of the quotes that people put on Facebook.  "If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't CHANGE you" is one of them.  I  was so inspired by this quote.  I wrote it on my dry erase board in my weight room this morning.  Every time I wanted to quit and just do the same number of reps as last week (or only half of the military pushups) I reminded myself that my body isn't going to change if I don't challenge it. Then I went for a 3 mile run (I love my 3 mile runs) and did a HIIT, 30 seconds at 85% and 1 minute at 65%, and I had to remind myself that I'm not going see changes in my speed, if I don't challenge myself to run faster.

Who I "like" on Facebook:
Tosca Reno
The Eat-Clean Diet
The Gracious Pantry
Oxygen Magazine
Fit in Heels
Rita Catolina

Please comment if you have any"likes" that you want to share.

Also, I tried whole grain teff this morning and I loved it!  The recipe called for 1/4 cup teff cooked in a cup of water, with 1 cup strawberries (but I used blueberries because I love them), a sliced banana, flaxseed, and cinnamon, with almond milk and 2 TBSP pecans poured over the top.  This made 2 servings.  I am excited to eat the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow (I didn't add the fruit and toppings before I divided the teff for leftovers).

Aha moment

I have been struggling with my abdominal girth for many, many years. My husband is very sick of hearing about it. I'm sick of obsessing about it. I really just want to get rid of it. I have been reading a lot about how to get a flat belly. Just like everything else with weight loss it's 80% diet. I have been keeping my food clean and I have been watching my portions. However, I know that I have areas for improvement. For instance, tonight I could not eat another veggie today. Instead of making myself dinner, i ate Greek yogurt, blueberries and granola. Which wouldn't be too terrible if I hadn't eaten 4 protein balls first. So I realize that I need to reign it in a little bit if I want to see changes.

While I was working today I was thinking about a conversation that I had with my husband yesterday. I, of course, was lamenting that I wasn't seeing any changes with my midsection. He reminded me that my abdomen is where my body stores its fat and that it's just going to take time to get rid of it. As I was thinking about how frustrated I was with that statement, I had my aha moment. I realized that I made some huge changes in the first few weeks and because of these changes I dropped 10 pounds pretty quickly. But now my body is getting used to these changes and the weight loss and toning is going to take a little more time. Unless I want to really be miserable and hungry, I need to be patient and just continue to make good choices. Along the way I'm going to make mistakes and I'm going to get frustrated, but I need to remember that this is a process. I can do this!!! But THIS might take awhile.

"Divorce your story"

That's a quote by Tony Robbins, a motivational speaker. I have been thinking about that a bit lately. I feel like I have separated myself from my past unhealthy habits, but I haven't severed all ties. This is somewhat difficult since the people that I love the most are not clean eaters. While in Las Vegas, I was surrounded by sweets and treats galore. I did not eat anything sweeter than clean protein balls and fruit, but I did not keep my diet "tight.". Although I am somewhat discouraged by my lack of self control, I'm still committed to eating clean. I need to focus on all the things that I did right, especially since I made more good choices than bad. I also stuck with my no sugar commitment.

A side note:
I edited my November mantra from treat yourself to don't reward yourself with food. In my reading of clean eating, many people encourage treat meals instead of cheat meals because treat has a more positive conotation than cheat.

Las Vegas Ragnar 2012

All 12 of our Ragnar team.



Van 1: Glayds, Sarah, Megan, Lauren, Amy and Me

Caution:  There is a lot of complaining in this post.  I don't want to sound like a complainer, but after the Ragnar, I am thinking that marathons are the way to go.

 

I have ran 7 half marathons, 3 marathons, and a handful of fun runs.  All of the races that I have done in the past were so much fun and well organized.   Whenever the organizers said that they would have water stations at designated area, I knew that I could count on them following through with that statement.  Case in point, I paid $40 for the Pocatello Marathon last year.  At every aid station they not only had the products that they promised, they also volunteers to hand everything to you.  I paid $118 for the Ragnar.  We were told at the safety meeting and on the Ragnar's website that there would be water stations on any runs over 4 miles, which all of mine were.  My first run was a little over 8 miles, with no van support.  I figured that I would be fine becuase we were told that there would be water on this run.  There were 2 water stations on that run and they consisted of a table with the big orange water containers and paper cups that were in the bag lying on the ground.  Luckily, I learned from that experience and decided that I didn't want the inconveince of bending over to get my water cup and filling it up, so I took my own on the next 2 runs.  I was lucky because there was nothing on my other 2 runs. 

 

Complaint #2: on my longest run, I ran 8 miles down a dark, country road by myself without anyone within 400 yards of me most of the time.  In Las Vegas, or probably anywhere for that matter, it is not safe for a woman or even a man to be alone on a country road at 10-11 at night.  Seriously, what were these organizers thinking.  Once I came closer to the city, I found that the course was poorly marked and the city streets that I ran on were also dark and deserted.  I was very dissapointed with how this race was put on.  I really don't understand what my $118 went towards. 

 

Complaint #3: The weather was terrible.  It was cold and windy the entire time.  Last weekend was warm and next weekend is forcasted for great weather, but we just happened to get the one weekend so far this fall with terrible weather.  On my first run I had a headwind of 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 40 miles per hour.  Amy was the first runner and she ran in blowing snow and hail.  The only thing that saved her was that her run was downhill with a tailwind.  My run on Saturday was the most pleasant.  There was a slight breeze, but after the wind on Friday, I was ok with it. 

 

After all that complaining and boobing, I really did have a fun time.  I think that I might do another Ragnar, but not in Las Vegas. My sister, Amy, did the Wasatch Ragnar and she said that it was a lot better organized than the Las Vegas one. I really love to run, so the actual running part of this race was great.  Even though it was difficult, I was glad that I pushed myself and tried something new.  It was good to get to meet some of Amy's friends and to spend some time with my little sister.  I was really glad that I volunteered to run the longest legs, I like to "do hard things," and this really pushed me.  The hardest run was the second run because I had not had any sleep and I felt fatigued, which is probably why I didn't run as fast as I should had.  Overall my times were decent considering the terrain and weather.  As I stated before, my first run had a head/side wind and the first 6 miles were over a gradual incline.  I ran 8.23 miles at a 10:37 min/mile.  The second run was 10.33 miles it was a gradual downhill, I believe that it was an elevation loss of about 800 feet and I averaged 10:03 per mile.  I really felt like I could have ran faster, but I was really nervous because it was so dark.  I guess that I didn't mention before that I forgot to replace the batteries in my headlight before the race and they started to dim more and more the longer I ran.  Run #3 was 7.57 miles of  rolling hills with an elevation gain of 259 feet.  I averaged a 10:20 min/mile for that run.  I really wanted to stick to 10 min miles or less, but I was just so tired and the weather was so bad for the first run, that I feel like I gave all the runs everything that I had.

 

I was really glad that I heeded Priscilla's advice and that I used walk breaks every 5 minutes for each run.  Everyone else on our team was limping or hurt except for me.  Except for being exhausted, I felt great!!!  I really could have even ran another leg if I needed to.  I also kept all of my food prior to and during the race 100% clean.  Several of the other women had digestion issues and a few were very ill, but I believe that by keeping my food clean I was not only able to have more energy, but I also didn't have any tummy troubles.  I snacked on fruit, natural peanut butter, dates, nuts, proteing shakes and protein balls.  I ate my normal breakfast on Friday and Saturday and I was able to come back to my sister, Caryn's house to eat a salad and tuna pita for lunch.  After we were done running on Saturday, we did go to lunch for my "cheat" meal and then my husband and I got soup and sandwiches for dinner.  I tried to make the best choices, but i decided that after all that I did on Friday and Saturday, I could cheat twice in one week.

 

 

 



 

On our way to Ragnar

My husband and I are on our way to Las Vegas for the Ragnar. I have my big cooler packed with food for the next 4 days and a smaller cooler for today. I spent yesterday planning, shopping, chopping, and packaging up my food. I made some protein balls too (they are at the very bottom of the cooler and I really wish they were within reach). I have been super snacky today. I'm not sure if it's pre-run jitters or what, but I'm really glad that I came prepared with celery and peanut butter, fruit and nuts, cucumbers and hummus I'm also glad that I put those protein balls at the bottom of that cooler, so I can't reach them;)

I also came prepared with inspirational reading materials.  I brought some Tosca Reno books and I bought the Oxygen magazine. I'm all set!!!

Is Clean Eating More Expensive?

I have been pondering this question for some time now.  I went grocery shopping last Monday and the total did exceed my two week budget.  I did buy several items from the bulk foods section that will last me for the rest of the month, such as nuts and oats.  I also bought the "unclean" items that my family still won't give up and I don't want to starve them.  I also bought twice as many fruits and vegetables as I would have.  But is it more expensive?  I estimate that I was spending $40-50 a week eating out.  I usually ate lunch with my coworkers two to three times a week at about $15, then I ate lunch with my sister = $10, and I would usually buy two pizzas for the weekend =$25.  Also I was buying a "fountain beverage" at about $1.25 per day, 6 days a week. That was costing me $7.50 per week. I have been a lot more conscientious lately about planning and doing prep work for my family's meal, so when we get home at night it has been easier to throw a meal together, so I haven't been tempted to get pizza or fast food.  Also, I have started freezing leftovers and making large batches of soup on my prep day, which I can just pull out of the freezer and use.  I also have been experimenting with freezing foods, like I did with my chicken and tonight I am trying the same thing with bananas.  I cut 4 bananas in half, that were just about to turn too ripe and I spread them out in a pan lined with wax paper.  When they are frozen I will put them in a container and then I can pull out a banana for my smoothies.  I also used some spinach that I needed to use before it went bad in our soup tonight (I made the soup last Monday and froze).  Instead of making cookies or cake tonight like I would have done in the past, I baked 2 pears that looked a little sad with some maple syrup and chopped walnuts.  I put Greek Yogurt on mine and the kids had ice cream.

So, back to the original question: Is clean eating more expensive?  I really think that in the long run, eating clean will be cheaper.  The $50+ alone that I am saving in not eating out or buying pop is making up for the increase in the price of groceries.  However, after I have figured out what I like and what I don't (I'm still experimenting with clean foods) I think that my grocery bill will actually decrease.  Also, since I am not wasting as much food as I was in the past, that will also save me time and money.  I haven't even started to consider the effect that it will have on health of my family.  On Sunday I was packing my cooler and my daughter's lunch for Monday.  My daughter, Abby, saw that I was making myself a salad with diced leftover turkey.  She asked if she could have a salad for her lunch too.  Then she wanted chopped tomatoes as a side and sugar free jello (I didn't even look at the ingredients, so I'm not sure if it's even clean) with berries as her snack. Then tonight, as I was getting our food ready again, she asked if she could have a salad again.  This was a priceless moment.  I was thinking today how much I wish that I would have known about clean eating when I was younger.  I can't go back and start this 20 years ago, but I can teach my children how to make better choices.  I can show them that clean eating can be delicious.  I'm not going to force them to always eat healthy.  I'm not going to throw out all the candy (the Halloween candy, by the way, is stashed downstairs in a drawer in our entertainment center.  Out of sight, out of mind).  I will sneak pumpkin puree, spinach and any other veggies into soups, sauces, and anything else I can think of.  I will make clean meals and they can choose to eat it or have a bowl of cereal.  I will also try to make cleaner substitutions for things that they won't notice, such as peanut butter and more organic foods, when I am shopping.

Although I don't think that eating clean is more expensive, it is really time consuming!  Sometimes, I feel like all I do is research food, buy food, prepare food, plan my coolers, pack my cooler, and then I do it all over again the next day.  BUT, it is paying off.  My complexion is better (I need to consider the cost of that, i.e. Dermatologist and ProActive), my energy is up, I have been averaging a weight loss of 1 pound a week since I started it, and I'm not using as much Ibuprofen and Tylenol as I used to.  I know that clean eating is not just a way for me to lose weight, it is also something that has and will improve my life. It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle!

Week 7: Getting ready for Ragnar

This is the game plan:  Monday and Tuesday I work, Wednesday I'll be cleaning my house and getting everything packed for the Ragnar, Thursday my husband and I drive to Las Vegas, Friday and Saturday are the Ragnar, Sunday will be R&R, and we drive home on Monday.  Today I'm going to make up a list of all my meals for Thursday-Monday.  I have a lot of leftovers (and my husband is out of town until Wednesday) so the kids and I will be enjoying quick and easy meals for those days.  On Wednesday I'm going to shop for the weekend and then dice and cook and get my coolers ready.  I'm going to stick with cooler 2 plan for this week, without any alterations.  For my exercise, I'm going to use my new strength training schedule for Monday-Thursday, with maybe a quick 3 mile run on Wednesday.  Other than that, I'm just going to keep it clean for the week!!!

Review of week 6 and another lesson learned

I can't believe that I am already 6 weeks into my year of healthy eating.  I honestly feel so much better than I have in a very long time.  I had a ton of fun running in the Just Cuz Half Marathon with my friend Priscilla.  I think that because I have been eating clean, I had more energy and that helped my get a great time, plus it helped to have someone to talk to for 2 hours.  I was able to do all the strength training that I had planned on for the week and I kept my food very clean.

And the lesson I learned (this is not the 1st time):
Last night, my husband and I went to dinner at my favorite Mexican Food Restaurant.  I ate a little of the chips, beans, and salsa and I decided to eat my 1st "treat" meal (I hate to call it that because I'm not rewarding myself with food), so I got what I would have ordered in the past: soft chicken taco and tamale.  Then afterward we ran some errands, and we went to Kiwi Loco (self serve frozen yogurt).  I got no sugar added raspberry topped with mangos, raspberries and blackberries and chopped peanuts.  I asked the guy working there if they added sugar to their fruit and he said they didn't, so I'm taking his word for it!  I'm sure that I drove Mike nuts because the closest I have come to a sweet lately is an apple or dates, so with each bite I told him how delicious it was.  Later that night and into today, I have just felt ill.  My stomach is just a mess.  I'm guessing it was the tamale or chips or maybe even the energy gel that I had during the 1/2 marathon.  Whatever it is, I'm staying away from "unclean" food for awhile!!!

November's Goals

November's mantra: DON'T REWARD YOURSELF WITH FOOD, YOU ARE NOT A DOG!

I love, love, love this quote.  I seriously have been debating putting it up in my kitchen somewhere, but I think that Mike (and our dog, Mr. Dude) would object.  I have stated before that I am going to treat myself in other ways than food and when I saw this quote it just all made sense.

I have some fun activities coming up this month.  I have the Just Cuz 1/2 marathon on Saturday.  I believe that it will be my 7th 1/2 marathon.  Then next week I will be running in my 1st Ragnar in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I'm excited for both and I'm also excited for both to be over!

Goals for November:
1) I'm done with sugar!!!  Please refer to my blog about my sugar additction.  I have also decided to give up chocolate.  I was having one square of 85% dark chocolate a day, but it was giving me major digestive problems.  I have decided that as much as I love the taste, I do not love the after effects.  I am totally 100% giving it up for the rest of the year and hopefully forever.  Also, I'm not a dog and food is not a treat.

2)  I made up a strength training schedule for November that I will start on Monday.  I can't figure out how to get the computer program that I use to convert over to my blog, but this is the general layout.  I made it into a table so that I can track weight and reps.  DB=bumb bell, BB=bar bell.  I am starting with heavy enough weights that I can only get to 5-8 reps and I will stay with this weight and see if I am able to increase reps over the next 4 weeks.  Monday starts out as day 4 to fit my original Muscle Makeover plan, I had to switch around days so that Wednesday could be my long run day and Sunday could be my rest day.  I like to stay in 1/2 marathon shape, so I'm going to shoot for 6-10 (or so) miles on these days.


Day 4: Monday-Interval Cardio
Back: Reverse Back extension, Inverted row, Reverse grip BB row
Chest:  Push ups, DB flye, BB Bench Press
Day 5: Tuesday
Glutes: Step knee lift, DB hip ext, Plie Squat
Shoulders:  Overhead DB press, Lateral raises, DB upright row  
Abdominals
Day 6: Wednesday- Long Run
Day 7: Thursdays-Tibatas
Upper/Lower legs Tibatas:  Rev lunge-knee lift, Burpees, Jump squat, Lateral hops
Glutes Tibatas: jump squat to bench, Skaters leap, Mountain climbers, Step up
Abdominals  
Day  1:  Friday
Calves: Raises, Jump rope, Box jumps
Shoulders: Bent over lateral raise, Standing military press, Front BB raise
Upper back:  Bent-over BB Row,  DB Pullover, One-arm DB Row
Abdominals
Day 2: Saturday- Endurance Cardio
Biceps: EZ Bar curl, Concentration curl, Hammer curl
Triceps: Bench Dip, Military Push up, Lying DB extension
Day 3: Sunday-rest

3)  Pack a Cooler!  Since I am going to be going to Las Vegas for the Ragnar, it will be a good opportunity for me to experiment some more with packing my food in preparation for my trips in December.  I'm also figuring out how to make protein shakes for my mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals at work.  The mid-morning I'm able to make before work, but I'm not quite sure what to do for the afternoon meal.  I saw a mixer cup at WalMart that I might try out.  I'm also having a hard time with my Tuesday lunch at work, because of the drug reps bringing in lunch (see previous post on This is What I have to Deal With).  They set up their food in the breakroom and that is where the microwave is located. I feel stupid bringing in my food while they are there.  I like taking in leftovers, so I'm going to have to come up with some cold food ideas.

4) Prep work.  I have been doing most of my prep work on Mondays.  This Monday I cooked up a ton of chicken and then I froze it spread out on a pan.  Then I took the individual pieces and put them in a tupperware container and put them back in the freezer.  This way, I'm able to pull out individual pieces for my meals.  It has worked out very well.  I also made potato and leek soup and sweet potato soup.  I divided these up and froze some for next week.  I did my grocery shopping on Monday and I cut up all of my produce that would keep well, like cucumbers, zucchini, and peppers.  For November, I'm going to continue to use my days off to prepare for the upcoming days so that my meals will be all that easier to make.  

5) Diet: I was looking back on last week's food and I noticed that I wasn't eating many grains past my
lunchtime. It wasn't intentional, but I have been debating cutting back on grains, so I must have just chosen 
fruits/veggies as my carbs instead of grains. For November, I'm going to only have oatmeal for breakfast 
and then maybe a grain (pasta, rice, pita, or wrap) for lunch. I'm also going to combine some of Tosca
Reno's plans so that I will be eating from her Cooler 1, 2, and Stripped plans. When I was working with a 
trainer, she had me do 2 low carb days and then 1 high carb day. I want to experiment with one day on 
each plan. That way I will have 2 low carb days and 1 high carb day still and hopefully not feel so deprived.