Ready to run!

I'm running a race this Sunday with Christina.

The best thing about races is that you're competing against yourself. Even better, I didn't train for my 5k in September so I feel this will set a good example as to how far I've come.

My ultimate goal in this race is to run without stopping.

Feel the burn!

This has been my favorite saying during a race for years. When my mind says break time, I just remind myself to FEEL THE BURN! Seriously, this is why we all run, right? To master running for self achievement but to also get/stay in shape! Why not feel the burn?

Anyhoo, it's a saying that amuses me for no particular reason after a race with a co-worker. Three weeks prior to the race, I didn't run at all. On race day, I did not have my head in the game. My co-worker wasn't having any of my excuses.

I was told to get my ass out there, run and shut up. I listened.

Cheers!

A life lesson.

I love this.

This is the most important lesson in life, love yourself! I found this on pinterest and

I'm glad that I did because it's a good reminder that all of us need to love ourselves more.

This is the reason that I'm on this fitness journey, because I need to love myself.

I need to be proud of who I am and comfortable in my own skin.

Like the old saying, if you don't like it, then change it.

 

Well, I'm changing it and in the process, I'm becoming more

comfortable with myself and loving myself!

WEEK TWO - Paleo

I didn't lose any weight on Week TWO of Paleo, mostly because of Thanksgiving. I ate things not on plan on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The good thing is that I didn't gain any weight.

As a result, I've decided to keep my distance from desserts, oreos, whip cream and pumpkin pie, when I feel the surge of holiday festivities come on!

Why Paleo?

I can give you one good reason right now.

Yesterday, I ate paleo all day long. The last meal of the day was at 5:30 p.m., which was baked ham slices, a sweet potato and steamed veggies.

It's 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday and I am just now eating my breakfast, which is eggs, sausage, turkey bacon, onions and green peppers. I'm not necessarily even hungry yet. I just don't want to get suddenly hungry and eat something that I will regret, so I intend to get food in me now.

Very yummy! The news on waking up without being ravenously hungry was too good to pass up posting about.

Your attention please...

Favorite Paleo Foods

The Paleo BLTA

Have you ever heard of a BLTA? Neither have I. Actually, I just made it up because it made sense, as I gave the BLT, a make-over. I'm sure, someone has else has already experimented with this and blogged about it but here's my version:

- Diced cooked bacon
- Diced tomatoes
- Avocado chunks
- Lettuce wrap

Take the bacon, tomatoes and avocado, then wrap the lettuce around it for your very own Paleo version of what was a BLT. Very simple lunch to make!

Commitments

I'm making a lot of fitness commitments for 2013. Talk about having some serious faith in myself! A few weeks ago, I signed up for the June 2013 Tough Mudder in VA Beach. Now, I just signed up for the May 2013 Warrior Dash in MD. Usually, I don't plan this far in advance for races but making plans with friends to do these things, kinda of encouraged the early commitment.

So watch out 2013, I will be kicking your butt too. :)

This means war!

Make no mistake about it. Changing your eating style is going to war, against yourself.

Yes, war.

You will be fighting yourself because no one else is going to be standing between you and the cabinet or the fridge containing whatever you shouldn't be eating. At this point in life, you're an adult. You should be able to control what goes from the plate to your mouth (good lord, I hope you aren't eating out of the carton!). With that said, if you're reading this post, then you know what I mean. No further explanation is necessary.

'nuff said.

The thing about the war on yourself, to change your eating style, is that you need an army accompanied with an arsenal prepared to fight this war. There are people that just wave the flag shortly into the war. They become overwhelmed. They become scared. Then, they just flippin' give up.

They had plans, hopes and dreams but they failed to execute them successfully. Then, there are others that come in prepared with a complete army. They're the ones you read the success stories on. I want to be the one swooping in with the complete army because I plan to succeed.

So let's plan a successful war with that army on our side.

Okay, wait, I haven't succeeded yet so I am planning my complete army with my arsenal to execute my very sneaky strategic tactics to win.

Necessary items for war on yourself:

#1. An adviser.

I have one. By sheer accident, did we come across each other in a Mom's group but I'm very glad we did, as we certainly kick ass and accomplish a lot together.

You touch base with your adviser. Furthermore, the adviser lets you know how to proceed when you've arrived at a touch and go scenario.

Example: Your back is sore. Should you take a few days off from my training or keep on with it? Personally, I sometimes over do it so it's good to have someone tell me to take the rest. Some people abuse the "oh, I have an ache" to skip out on a workout. Sometimes, you need that "adviser" person to keep you on track. The adviser can determine if you're just trying to get out of working out. Said adviser will weight in on the subject to decide.

Your adviser also serves the role of cheerleader. Sometimes, we need some cheer in our corner. Getting back into shape can be a very lonely road with lots of ups and downs. It's great to have someone there during an up for that positive reinforcement.

#2. Goals.

You need some goals. Something you aspire to achieve. This is your motivation. Well, I want to achieve my goals, aka tough mudder and a half marathon BUT I also just want to wear a bikini next summer without scaring anyone or turning heads for the wrong reasons. Yes, sheer vanity.  My goals, will essentially help me reach my ultimate goal. I set my eyes on the physical accomplishments because there is no exact science to ensuring I have a bikini friendly body by a certain time, unless I pay a surgeon.

Yes, I want to be healthy and keep up with my son. Being overweight is not easy when you have a very active four year old that you sometimes struggle to keep up with!

#3. How To.

How am I going to look good in a bikini? Well, I will be using old faithful: diet and exercise.

First, I need to run 3-4 days a week and cross train with Jillian's Total Ab Workout at home for the time being. I've been running 3-4 days a week for awhile now. I also plan to start CrossFit at a gym in town come January.

Second, I will follow the paleo eating plan hardcore for the next 6.5 months. Theoretically, I could do "primal" which allows for some "breaks" in the eating plan. I think, for the time being, paleo is fine for me. I have a lot of weight to lose right off the bat so I think indulgence isn't something I need to do yet. Watch me eat my words though (pun intended)!

That's my how to. How do you plan to accomplish your goal?

Dessert? Try apples with Cinnamon

Dessert on paleo doesn't feel like it will ever be the same. I guess that's a good thing. 

I really do not want to use a host of substitutions to make food taste like non-paleo food. In my opinion, it defeats the purpose. Additionally, I can't use some of the substitutions because I am either allergic to them or haven't had the test to see if I'm not allergic to them. I'm severely allergic to nuts but also allergic to pineaplle and bananas. It's still up in the air if I am allergic to coconut. I had something last March with coconut in it but ended up in the hospital. The doctor wanted to verify with a blood/skin test but I didn't get around to it. It's on the agenda to iron this out in December!

With that said, I went for a very basic first paleo dessert:

 

• 1 apple sliced
• Sprinkled cinnamon
• Baking dish
• Oven set to 350 degrees

I decided it was done when the apple slices were soft but not mushy.

Apples are naturally sweet so it takes very little to enhance the flavor to meet my sweet tooth needs while on paleo. Just baked apples with cinnamon is awesome. :)

I also tried it with dots of butter on the slices, even better!

WEEK ONE - Paleo

Have you heard of paleo?

I think everyone, at this point, has heard of it. At least, one way or another.

I learned about paleo through friends, blogs and the news. I was very hesitant to try it due to going too far outside my comfort zone, plus my son would hate it and I have food allergies to boot. With that said, I am still unhappy with my weight so obviously, I need to do something different, so while watching friends have success of paleo, it became clear to give it a try.

Alright, so onto the subject at hand....

WEEK ONE....on paleo is over! What have I learned?

My body likes avoiding grains and dairy! More importantly, my constant hungry feeling decreased significantly. I've noticed that I am hungry only at appropriate times, rather than all day long, like I was before. This is only week one accomplished, so I can't say for certain that I will always feel this way. Right now though, this is my body's reaction to the changes.

The first day or two was very overwhelming because I decided to jump into this style of eating with both feet first. I felt that if I tried to learn every detail about it prior to doing it, I would never do it. A few days in, I purchased a book called The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf, which gave me the insight that I needed to understand the basics. Truthfully, as long as you understand the basic concept of Paleo, I think you can make day to day decisions and learn as you go. Otherwise, it's really too overwhelming and too much information at once. Also, if you're a perfectionist, it kind of sets you up for failure because when it comes to eating and life, failure will happen. We just need to accept that it's life when it happens and move the silly nilly on.

One of those failures that came for me was while I was eating sweet potatoes for dinner one night last week. It didn't occur to me until ten minutes into dinner that a sweet potato is likely, not a vegetable. I mean, it is a vegetable but it's a starchy vegetable. I sat there and debated in my head whether they were paleo or not. The logic went like this...."are sweet potatoes a starch or a vegetable? Well, does it really matter because it's not like I put sugar on them, nor was it even sweet potatoes that got me fat in the first place. Maybe, I should continue eating them?" I love those moments when you're starting a new eating plan but you're not sure if you had a well intentioned screw up or not.

There was one ill intentioned screw up. Come Saturday, I had cravings for anything from mint chocolate chip ice cream to just a slice of bread. Yes, cravings galore. This was not necessarily being hungry but more, desire for what I hadn't been eating all week. I satisfied it with popcorn. Processed popcorn from one of those microwave bags. Hey...sometimes, you have to compromise between your brain and your body. I had something I wasn't suppose to have but it wasn't the ice cream or the cake that would possibly have killed any dedication that I had to staying on plan.

Week one is over and I'm very satisified with all that I accomplished that week, even the 4.5 lb loss!

Cheers!

I'm Here.

Where is here and why is it important?

First, here is the starting point.

I've been at the starting point for awhile. Not only have I been here awhile but it took awhile to EVEN get here. For some, they never reach the starting point. Others, it takes a little bit of re-vamping the brain to wire it so it wants to get in shape, eat healthy and lose weight.

Now that I'm here, I will likely make progress but will inevitably encounter a debacle that will derail my focus. Then I will need to get to the starting point all over again. Takes FORever. But, I'm here now.

Right now, for me, here has been going on for a little over a week. I've been doing paleo with some great progress (as well as screw ups!) but I've lost 5lbs so far. I've had the help of a friend to get to this point too. We both signed up for Tough Mudder next June and plan to run several races between now and then, as well as do crossfit. I'm not an accomplished runner but I have aspirations to do so at some point in the future. Crossfit for me will be at a gym starting in January. I've tried Crossfit at home but it isn't for me.

Second, since I'm here, at this starting point, and I have a good direction with a strong will to succeed, let's hope that I stay here. That's the important part. :)


Cheers.