Things that make me go hmmm..

I have come to the realization that I am a sugar and processed carb junkie. Really no different than an alcoholic. Let's just say that I am not the best me today! Day four of no sugar or processed carbs and very, very tired yet experiencing insomnia, almost no patience and on the verge of tears, feel depressed and completely unmotivated to do anything!

The thing that puzzles me is why I keep falling off the wagon. Why do I keep repeating this vicious cycle.... I feel phenomenal when I eat paleo. Tons of energy, no afternoon burnout and sleep awesome. Then I have a cheat day and all hell breaks loose! I spiral out of control and gain a ton of weight. As soon as I reintroduce myself to strict paleo... I detox the crap and then am on the upswing of feeling better.. I am challenging myself to stay committed and focused and with God's help get out of this vicious cycle. I CAN'T keep doing this to myself!

Goals:
1. Write down everything that goes in my mouth.
2. Live strict Paleo for the next 90 days.

Day Two - Paleo

I am so stinkin excited! Today was a much better day and I know they are only going to get better. Even with Evan and Jenna waking me up every 30 minutes from 10:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. attempting to climb in my bed and getting up at 5:45 a.m for work.... My mental clarity and energy greatly improved from today over yesterday. I didn't need to come home and collapse in the chair until it was time to make dinner. I actually felt motivated and awake enough to do something.

I ate clean all day, however got weird looks as I ate my trader joes red curry w/chicken for breakfast and lunch. :-) I found that if I cook a bunch of meat on Sunday night for the week ahead, it is so much easier to stay the course. The other thing I noticed, I don't feel the as bloated in the my lower abdomen as I do when I eat normal standard american diet. I feel lighter, and stronger which I contribute to the lower insulin levels.

So here it goes:

Bkfst:
1 serving: Trader Joe Red curry with chicken, acorn squash, onions, mushroom, fresh tomatoes, and a head of garlic. Small handful of mixed nuts. Cashews, macad., almonds.
coffee/heavy whipping cream/cinnamon... mmmm..my coffee....

Lunch:
1 serving: Same as above. 1 white peach, small handful mixed nuts.

Snack:
white peach, mixed nuts

Dinner:
Sliced tomatoes/New Seasons nitrate free sausage and scrambled farm fresh eggs (thanks mom and dad).
1 - 3 oz glass of red wine.

Recipe:

Sauteed in cast iron dutch oven the following:

8 sliced chix breasts
1 sliced vidalia sweet onion
1 head of fresh garlic (slice the top off, wrap it in a wet paper towel and microwave for 30-45 secs until soft)
fresh tomatoes sliced - as many as you like.
Sliced mushrooms - again as many as you like.
Add the whole jar of Trader Joes Red Simmer Curry
Simmer until chicken is fully cooked.
Add the already baked acorn squash.

Yummy Baked acorn squash:
Microwave the acorn squash until it can be easily peeled.
Preheat oven to 475.
Cube the squash and toss with olive oil and cinnamon.
Bake until soft.

I have found that I miss potatoes in some dishes, however acorn squash takes on the potato consistency when added. Enjoy!

Back in the Saddle - Day One of the Rest of My Life

It has been a while since I posted last. Sorry about that, but I needed some time to regroup.

During my hiatus, I discovered that food has been my weakness, my drug, my crutch, my shoulder to cry on, and most importantly my best friend (or so I thought). More importantly, I thought I had made more progress than I actually had.

The truth is I have been using food to escape life and it was easier to blame the food than myself. Like - The food looks and smells so good, I can't help myself... It is calling my name... The best one I have said a million times - I deserve it.... Actually, I don't deserve what poor nutrition does to my body, mind and soul. It sucks the life right out of you.

I have been working very, very hard to establish my "line in the sand" and now I am calling the shots, period. With that said, Mitch (my absolutely wonderful husband and best friend) and I have decided to commit ourselves to improving our health and anyone else that will listen. Not just talking the talk, but walking the walk.

For the next 30 days we are committing to only eating nutrient dense food in the forms of Leans Meats and fish, Veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds, little starch and no sugar. Yes that means, no dairy (except a little half/half in my coffee), grains of any kinds, or legumes (that includes peanuts). My personal exercise commitment is crossfit 3 days a week.

Day One - Paleo Challenge:
Bkfst:
chick breast w/olive bruschetta (Trader Joes), 1 apple, almond butter

Lunch:
Huge salad: chix breast, ham, red pepper, carrot, sheeps milk feta, onion, sunflower seeds. 1 white peach.
Dressing: Flax oil, balsamic vinegar, stone ground mustard.

Pre-WorkOut Snack:
handful of cashews, macadamias, almonds.

Dinner:
chix breast w/olive bruschetta, baked acorn squash sprinkled w/cinnamon and a drizzle of olive oil, smidge of applesauce.

Exercise:
Joint Mobility, #2 Warm-up, and "Isabel" (went ok, except I needed to use the 18 lb Kettlebell). I finished Isabel in 1 min 23 secs - much to quickly.

As the day progressed, my energy dropped into the toilet which I expected. By the time I got home, I was beat. However, I really wanted to workout tonight to keep my promise to myself of 3 days a week. No more lies.

Hi, Mitch again, if there is still anyone reading this, please take a look at my blog as well. I post a WOD(workout of the day), at least 5 days out of the week. It is based off of kettlebells(I am CrossFit KB Level 1) certified. I am also running a Zone Challenge with a few other people, we are all first responders that let our physical fitness/health totally deteriorate. If you find anything that you like about the blog, let us know and we can try and incorporate that into this blog as well. I also have a lot of good articles from the CrossFit journak about nutrition(The Zone), if anyone is intersted. Some very wothwhile stuff. If I could reccomend two books about fitness right now they would be; Enter The Zone by Dr. Barry Sears, and The Purposeful Primitive by Marty Gallagher.

Walking group

Shannon,
I was talking to my Mom and we thought it would be nice to invite anyone interested to join us for our Saturday morning walks. Could you post the following on your blog?

If anyone is interested in walking about 5 miles on Saturday Mornings we meet at 8:00am at the Walgreens in Vancouver on Ward Road. The address is 8611 NE Ward Rd Vancouver, Wa 98686. We walk down Padden Pkwy until it meets 117th and then turn and go back. If it is raining or looks like rain we will not meet. You can look for me, Michele Graves, in the parking lot by the Walgreens reader board sign. I usually have a baseball hat on will have a stroller too.

Michele Graves

If Not Now, Then When?

Thank you Mitch for posting to the blog. I have been playing the ostrich game which means I have not been doing well with my eating and exercise and don't want to admit it. Which then in my mind means I am not perfect. There, I said it. I admit it. I am NOT perfect. The fear and then relief I feel saying that is incredible. I am not perfect! No one expects me to be, but me....

There was something on my mind today as I took a walk during lunch. I didn't really know what was on my mind, but wow did I have an epiphany! I was thinking about Michele and her post. How happy I was to see that she was truthful about her wanting to quit. How glad I was that she reconsidered. How could I possibly help her stay focused?

The question I was going to pose was; If not now, then when will you be ready? Then it was like someone hit me upside the head....... The same goes for me!

1. If not now, then WHEN will I be ready? I refuse to start another diet on a Monday.
2. If not now, then WHEN will there magically be enough time for me to exercise? Never.
3. If not now, then WHEN will I not struggle with my food choices? Never.
4. Most important: If not now, then WHEN will I keep my promise to myself..... Starts NOW!

What an emotional lunch hour.

My committment:

1. Post my food and exercise journals daily.
2. Not break my promise to myself.
3. Plan my meals and schedule my exercise.

So here goes it, definitely not paleo/zone...
Breakfast:
-Starbuck tall double shot whole milk mocha
-1 ham/ciabatta bread/egg sandwich

Lunch - I was starving and craving weird food.
-Sweet and sour chix and fried rice... Ate it all.. felt horrible.....

Dinner - Still really hungry..
- Turkey meatloaf (Mitch made)
- Green beans.

Mitch again, welcome Michele, it's good to hear from you. Thank you both Claire and Michele for reading our ramblings. I know this is Shannon's blog, but I've got one as well, Code Zero Kettlebells, and I've been posting there almost every day for a while now. Anyway, I am doing essentially the same thing there with some friends as Shannon is doing here. We are trying to lose fat, and regain our physical fitness. The big difference is we are posting our results for all to see. The reason I bring this up, is doing that really keeps me honest. I refuse to fudge numbers, what good does that really do for me anyway, and I post whether it's been a good Zone day, or bad. I've found this to very effective. Please check it out, and maybe it is something we could use here if you are interested.