Here I am, mojo in tact. I found it somewhere around the holidays. It was a combination of an ionized bracelet, a classical cd that is designed to motivate you subconsciously and the fact that I was in the mood for all things holidays this season. Or just the mental benefits of knowing I was doing something to find my missing vitality. Either way, it came back with a vengeance and I was thrilled to see it again. Like a long lost friend.
But even though I'm feeling better mentally and emotionally, I still feel a little fatigue physically and lacking my conquer-the-world-daily attitude that got me to the gym 6 days a week. Still looking for that...I have a half marathon on Sunday and to be honest, my training has been lackluster at best. I'm thinking I could be low in some vitamins (due to lack of knowledge for my activity level and what my body requires under such duress) and also perhaps a little overtraining in all of that. And breaking my training routine has shaken my confidence. It's been cold as all get-out around here lately and the roads have been frozen, so to make matters worse what long runs I've done I did on the treadmill. I ran 8.5 miles this morning on my treadmill at a good effort pace and I feel just fine, so it really is just mental. I've run 4 half marathons and I work out harder than most on an almost daily basis, so I need to be okay with the fact that straying from my plan is okay and the outcome is up to me mentally, not really so much physically. I have almost a week to get my mind straight.
On the upside, I've been cooking. Yes, me. The girl who admittedly is missing her domestic gene in a big way. The thing is, I actually like to cook, as long as the subject matter isn't too disgusting to handle pre-cooking. I just don't have a lot of spare time. I work crazy hours and cooking takes even more time. But I'm making an effort and am building my repertoire of clean dinner recipes.
My latest endeavor is Clean Beef Stew, taken from the October 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine. It was very easy to make, it takes a long time to cook (90 minutes). The meat was a little tough, but the stew tasted really good and believable, for a clean recipe. Perhaps I cooked the meat too long? Will do some further investigating when I make this recipe again.
Makes 6 servings
323 Calories, 7g Fat, 27g Carbohydrates, 6g Fiber, 37g Protein
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled
1 1b carrots
1 medium yellow onion
2 lb top sirloin
3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp oat bran
1½ cups low-sodium beef broth
1½ cups water
Pinch chopped parsley (optional)
Preheat oven to 325.
Chop vegetables and meat into large chunks.
Combine soy sauce and oat bran in a large baking pan.
Add meat, tossing to coat. Add vegetables, broth and water. Cover and bake for 1½ hours. Top with chopped parsley, if desired.
As I find recipes that are clean and really tasty, I'm adding them to a custom cookbook I am making for myself on Tastebook's website. My cookbook will be entitles "Eatin' Clean in a Dirty World" and so far I'm up to 8 recipes, 2 of which I've shared on here so far. This is a fun endeavor, because when my cookbook is compiled, I'll have up to 100 clean recipes bound in a nice book and they will all be recipes I will make and enjoy. Also, since I've already entered recipes into Tastebook, for now, when I need one of them I can just log into the site and read my recipe off my phone. Efficiency!
So, what now? Well, after my half marathon on Sunday I plan to revamp my workout plan to start conditioning myself for the full marathon I signed up for late this year. Also, I will be committing myself to some sort of Clean Eating Challenge, details of which are still TBTOAP (to be thought of and posted).
For now, my plan is to fuel up, rest up and move my feet like the wind via masterful mind control on Sunday!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Where's My Mojo?
I have a problem. I'm in a rut. Since about Labor Day-ish. I woke up one morning without my Mojo. My usual moxy - sunny attitude, lots of smiling and laughing, oodles of self confidence (or contentment at least), gazelle-like intensity in my work, at the gym and in life in general. .
Sad thing is I've yet to find it. What the heck happened to it? How do you just lose your mojo? Perhaps if I knew I would know how to get it back.
I knew something was wrong during my last half marathon. About 10 miles in I literally couldn't figure out what I was doing there. Not a disoriented demented sort of a deal but literally like, what is the purpose of all this? It was hard for me to finish that race. I blew it off as we all get our mental "walls" during things like that and I figured that was mine. But it's crept into pretty much everything. Now my eating wants to slide, I'm tempted to blow off the gym. This is how people gain their weight back so easily. So quickly. How does the momentum shift so suddenly and with such force?
The key is to not numb myself to the frustration that is a lost mojo. I think that is what happens. I tune it out and wake up 50 pounds later only to be shocked and disappointed at what I let happen to myself. I'm not going there again. But I have got to figure out a way to stop the slide.
So, the reward signs are posted and the hunt for the mojo is on. In the meantime, I am literally writing myself a prescription for a clean diet and exercise. A holding pattern until I have the resources to charge ahead again. Get through it and trust the mojo is doing an Eat, Pray, Love sort of a deal and is coming back, better than ever.
If you see it, send it home, would ya?
Sad thing is I've yet to find it. What the heck happened to it? How do you just lose your mojo? Perhaps if I knew I would know how to get it back.
I knew something was wrong during my last half marathon. About 10 miles in I literally couldn't figure out what I was doing there. Not a disoriented demented sort of a deal but literally like, what is the purpose of all this? It was hard for me to finish that race. I blew it off as we all get our mental "walls" during things like that and I figured that was mine. But it's crept into pretty much everything. Now my eating wants to slide, I'm tempted to blow off the gym. This is how people gain their weight back so easily. So quickly. How does the momentum shift so suddenly and with such force?
The key is to not numb myself to the frustration that is a lost mojo. I think that is what happens. I tune it out and wake up 50 pounds later only to be shocked and disappointed at what I let happen to myself. I'm not going there again. But I have got to figure out a way to stop the slide.
So, the reward signs are posted and the hunt for the mojo is on. In the meantime, I am literally writing myself a prescription for a clean diet and exercise. A holding pattern until I have the resources to charge ahead again. Get through it and trust the mojo is doing an Eat, Pray, Love sort of a deal and is coming back, better than ever.
If you see it, send it home, would ya?
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanksgiving Update
Well, I did it. Everything I set out to do to be clean and careful on Turkey Day worked out. I ran 5 miles on my treadmill this morning and after eating an apple, walked into Thanksgiving with a 500 calorie deficit. That helps! I ate my two crackers of crab dip and did all the things at dinner I said I would. My dessert cookies turned out to be delicious.
My sister hosted T-giving and was gracious about the fact that I BYOB (brought my own slice of whole grain bread). Also, my dessert cookies were determined to be good tasting by not just me but my husband, mom, sister and niece. And so, I survived! And it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It really, REALLY helped to have a plan in place beforehand. I'm not sure if I would've walked in with no plan that I would have made such good decisions. I would've been overwhelmed with the smells and feelings of holiday celebration. Crisis averted!
So, now, about these dessert cookies. The recipe comes from the November 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine:
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 20 cookies (not 24 like the recipe says)
1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well (I couldn't find unsalted almond butter so I went to the health food store and churned some up in their machine, actually I sent my husband to do it which could be a blog post in itself)
3/4 cup Sucanat (a derivate of sugar, it stands for sugar cane natural, grainy texture by itself but great for cooking)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz. dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together first five ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
* I should note the cookies will be extremely soft and mooshy at this point. They harden up once they cool, so it doesn't mean they are not done if they are squishy.
Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes (10 is better). Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.
110 calories, 8 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 10 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 2 g protein, 55 mg sodium, 10 mg cholesterol
What makes these cookies good is that they are clean. There is not one ingredient that will spike your blood sugar out of control and they are filling because they have protein in them. Also they are gluten free for those of you who are sensitive.
The magazine makes a special note to say researchers have found that the dark chocolate's antioxidants may bind with the protein in milk, so think twice about drinking milk while eating dark chocolate if you are eating it for the antioxidant benefits.
They taste enough like a "real" chocolate chip cookie to pass as a dessert you could share with others. My family seemed to enjoy them and noticed that they were very filling for a dessert item.
I would definitely make these again.
My sister hosted T-giving and was gracious about the fact that I BYOB (brought my own slice of whole grain bread). Also, my dessert cookies were determined to be good tasting by not just me but my husband, mom, sister and niece. And so, I survived! And it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It really, REALLY helped to have a plan in place beforehand. I'm not sure if I would've walked in with no plan that I would have made such good decisions. I would've been overwhelmed with the smells and feelings of holiday celebration. Crisis averted!
So, now, about these dessert cookies. The recipe comes from the November 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine:
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 20 cookies (not 24 like the recipe says)
1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well (I couldn't find unsalted almond butter so I went to the health food store and churned some up in their machine, actually I sent my husband to do it which could be a blog post in itself)
3/4 cup Sucanat (a derivate of sugar, it stands for sugar cane natural, grainy texture by itself but great for cooking)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz. dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together first five ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
* I should note the cookies will be extremely soft and mooshy at this point. They harden up once they cool, so it doesn't mean they are not done if they are squishy.
Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes (10 is better). Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.
110 calories, 8 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 10 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 2 g protein, 55 mg sodium, 10 mg cholesterol
What makes these cookies good is that they are clean. There is not one ingredient that will spike your blood sugar out of control and they are filling because they have protein in them. Also they are gluten free for those of you who are sensitive.
The magazine makes a special note to say researchers have found that the dark chocolate's antioxidants may bind with the protein in milk, so think twice about drinking milk while eating dark chocolate if you are eating it for the antioxidant benefits.
They taste enough like a "real" chocolate chip cookie to pass as a dessert you could share with others. My family seemed to enjoy them and noticed that they were very filling for a dessert item.
I would definitely make these again.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Doppelganger Drama and Stuffing Myself Like a Turkey
So, about the time I embraced my Facebook account, it was "Doppelganger Week". I didn't know what a doppelganger was and I sure as heck wasn't sure why all my friends suddenly greatly resembled celebrities in their profile pictures. Figured it out. But I couldn't for the life of me figure out who my celebrity doppelganger might be. I do know that I apparently have a doppelganger that lives in Salem because for years I have been mistaken for this alleged girl...I wonder if I met her if I would think we looked alike. To others, we look identical.
Anywho, this week my husband and I were watching "Rules of Engagement". And my husband blurts out that he is looking at my doppelganger - the wifey one, Megyn Price. The one from Grounded for Life. I had to take my hand and fish my jaw up off the floor. HER?! Seriously?!? WHY?!? I don't think much of her (maybe because she's me?) and was even more shocked that I just don't see it at all. Before copping a serious girl-itude I decided to sit with the information for a bit...and while I was sitting I frantically Googled her. Whenever she comes up the words "smart" and "hot" follow quite often, okay, my feelings are becoming a little more lukewarm to the idea. My mind is churning and I admit to myself, I have a tendency to not see myself clearly. EVER. I either think I am way better, but usually way worse than I currently am but rarely am I dead on. The only thing that really sets me straight for a brief time are photographs/videos and comments made by my husband. He knows me better than anybody, he knows my personality, feelings and struggles and he's very honest with the best of intentions and doesn't let the fact that sometimes I freak out at the comments sway him in his honesty. I appreciate that. So, I take it in. Megyn Price. My Doppelganger. Shocking but I'm trying to make peace with it until...he then says "well, she's a bigger gal and so are you". Sorry, girl-itude took over at this moment before rationalization could. I believe I started to foam at the mouth while my eyes became as big as saucers and my head started to rotate around on it's axis. "WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN"??? What he meant was that I'm not a 4'8" waif but a 5'7" fit girl. But I was already in full-on doghouse-flipout mode and there was no going back. That killed an hour in the name of proper self-perspective. Ah the joys of being an estrogen driven super freak. I need to work on seeing myself a little more realistically and also not turning into said estrogen-super-freak every time a comment about my physical being is on the table and being horrifically misconstrued by me and my warped perspective. Yikes.
Now to the real task at hand - preparing for Thanksgiving. Here's the deal. On a typical Thanksgiving I would eat a family's worth of servings of my sister's amazing crab dip on buttery Ritz crackers as an appetizer. Then, although I'm really too full to then have a Thanksgiving dinner, I would then proceed with modest amounts of turkey, larger amounts of mashed potatoes, yams, rolls & jelly and whatever else wandered onto the table. And don't forget dessert. A very healthy serving of dessert. Stuffed like the turkey on the table. And if I was currently on a too-restrictive diet at the time, then much, much more of the above food in the name of a cheat day. I'm sick just thinking about being that full. So full it hurts to move.
So, all my posts regarding clean eating and leaning out by all means do not mesh with the above scenario. Thanksgiving is not my privelege to cook this year, but even if it was I wouldn't subject my poor family to turkey, plain sweet potatoes, lots of vegetables, and perhaps a clean dessert of some kind if you could call it dessert. As much as I want to live my edible life a certain way, I certainly don't get preachy with others about it. To each his own, ya know? My problem is how to take care of myself on this food focused day. I'm thinking it through, making a plan and whatever I decide I'm making a promise to myself to stick to it in the name of my goals.
Turkey is fine. No skin, I don't like gravy anyway and I prefer white meat. Nada problem. Mashed potatoes are out. That's one of my favorites. It's going to smart a little. Candied sweet potatoes are coming to the party. I could eat a potato as plain as possible and try to avoid the candied part. That's going to smart a lot. Scrape the yummy stuff off so I can eat the plain tasteless part? Awesome. Stuffing, don't care for it, thank goodness, a gimme. Rolls and my sister's homemade jelly. I won't do it. Because even the wheat muffins are white bread in a tan disguise. Hmph. I'm tempted to bring a piece of my own whole grain bread just to have a sampling of the homemade jelly. I might budge on that one as long as I bring the bread. Crab dip. What the heck am I gonna do about that blasted crab dip?! I eat it twice a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel physical pain when I imagine not having any crab dip. So, I'll compromise. I'm bringing reduced fat Ritz crackers (unclean, but with the dip it makes the "perfect bite" and if I'm going to do it, let's do it right). I will have two. One for fun and one to bank in the memory. And no, the crackers will not be piled to the ceiling. Lastly, dessert. Nothing on the dessert list is even remotely clean. But as I sit here and think about it, nothing on the dessert list is something that I will feel really disappointed if I can't have. That's interesting, because I always would eat dessert and usually a lot of it. And yet it's not that high on my priority list. I probably will want to have something and I don't want to look exclusive of the group by not partaking. My solution is to bring a clean dessert to contribute and then just eat that. I've decided to try a clean cookie recipe: "Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies". Clean and easy to control the calories and nutrients. Plus, since it's not a pie, it doesn't compete with the other desserts and could easily be sampled by others if preferred or just skulk away in a Ziploc into the night.
So, I feel good about this plan. The important thing is to stick to it. I will get to have a couple of unclean treats, food I truly look forward to. I will eat clean otherwise and just not waste my appetite on food that really doesn't matter that much to me. I work way too hard busting my tail in the gym to just throw it all away on food that doesn't matter. This is a huge step in the right direction for me and I'm determined to stick to it.
Wish me luck...
Anywho, this week my husband and I were watching "Rules of Engagement". And my husband blurts out that he is looking at my doppelganger - the wifey one, Megyn Price. The one from Grounded for Life. I had to take my hand and fish my jaw up off the floor. HER?! Seriously?!? WHY?!? I don't think much of her (maybe because she's me?) and was even more shocked that I just don't see it at all. Before copping a serious girl-itude I decided to sit with the information for a bit...and while I was sitting I frantically Googled her. Whenever she comes up the words "smart" and "hot" follow quite often, okay, my feelings are becoming a little more lukewarm to the idea. My mind is churning and I admit to myself, I have a tendency to not see myself clearly. EVER. I either think I am way better, but usually way worse than I currently am but rarely am I dead on. The only thing that really sets me straight for a brief time are photographs/videos and comments made by my husband. He knows me better than anybody, he knows my personality, feelings and struggles and he's very honest with the best of intentions and doesn't let the fact that sometimes I freak out at the comments sway him in his honesty. I appreciate that. So, I take it in. Megyn Price. My Doppelganger. Shocking but I'm trying to make peace with it until...he then says "well, she's a bigger gal and so are you". Sorry, girl-itude took over at this moment before rationalization could. I believe I started to foam at the mouth while my eyes became as big as saucers and my head started to rotate around on it's axis. "WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN"??? What he meant was that I'm not a 4'8" waif but a 5'7" fit girl. But I was already in full-on doghouse-flipout mode and there was no going back. That killed an hour in the name of proper self-perspective. Ah the joys of being an estrogen driven super freak. I need to work on seeing myself a little more realistically and also not turning into said estrogen-super-freak every time a comment about my physical being is on the table and being horrifically misconstrued by me and my warped perspective. Yikes.
Now to the real task at hand - preparing for Thanksgiving. Here's the deal. On a typical Thanksgiving I would eat a family's worth of servings of my sister's amazing crab dip on buttery Ritz crackers as an appetizer. Then, although I'm really too full to then have a Thanksgiving dinner, I would then proceed with modest amounts of turkey, larger amounts of mashed potatoes, yams, rolls & jelly and whatever else wandered onto the table. And don't forget dessert. A very healthy serving of dessert. Stuffed like the turkey on the table. And if I was currently on a too-restrictive diet at the time, then much, much more of the above food in the name of a cheat day. I'm sick just thinking about being that full. So full it hurts to move.
So, all my posts regarding clean eating and leaning out by all means do not mesh with the above scenario. Thanksgiving is not my privelege to cook this year, but even if it was I wouldn't subject my poor family to turkey, plain sweet potatoes, lots of vegetables, and perhaps a clean dessert of some kind if you could call it dessert. As much as I want to live my edible life a certain way, I certainly don't get preachy with others about it. To each his own, ya know? My problem is how to take care of myself on this food focused day. I'm thinking it through, making a plan and whatever I decide I'm making a promise to myself to stick to it in the name of my goals.
Turkey is fine. No skin, I don't like gravy anyway and I prefer white meat. Nada problem. Mashed potatoes are out. That's one of my favorites. It's going to smart a little. Candied sweet potatoes are coming to the party. I could eat a potato as plain as possible and try to avoid the candied part. That's going to smart a lot. Scrape the yummy stuff off so I can eat the plain tasteless part? Awesome. Stuffing, don't care for it, thank goodness, a gimme. Rolls and my sister's homemade jelly. I won't do it. Because even the wheat muffins are white bread in a tan disguise. Hmph. I'm tempted to bring a piece of my own whole grain bread just to have a sampling of the homemade jelly. I might budge on that one as long as I bring the bread. Crab dip. What the heck am I gonna do about that blasted crab dip?! I eat it twice a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel physical pain when I imagine not having any crab dip. So, I'll compromise. I'm bringing reduced fat Ritz crackers (unclean, but with the dip it makes the "perfect bite" and if I'm going to do it, let's do it right). I will have two. One for fun and one to bank in the memory. And no, the crackers will not be piled to the ceiling. Lastly, dessert. Nothing on the dessert list is even remotely clean. But as I sit here and think about it, nothing on the dessert list is something that I will feel really disappointed if I can't have. That's interesting, because I always would eat dessert and usually a lot of it. And yet it's not that high on my priority list. I probably will want to have something and I don't want to look exclusive of the group by not partaking. My solution is to bring a clean dessert to contribute and then just eat that. I've decided to try a clean cookie recipe: "Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies". Clean and easy to control the calories and nutrients. Plus, since it's not a pie, it doesn't compete with the other desserts and could easily be sampled by others if preferred or just skulk away in a Ziploc into the night.
So, I feel good about this plan. The important thing is to stick to it. I will get to have a couple of unclean treats, food I truly look forward to. I will eat clean otherwise and just not waste my appetite on food that really doesn't matter that much to me. I work way too hard busting my tail in the gym to just throw it all away on food that doesn't matter. This is a huge step in the right direction for me and I'm determined to stick to it.
Wish me luck...
Saturday, November 13, 2010
An Apology and a Fresh Start
Well, I've done exactly the thing I hate about the blogs I've been excited about. They just stop. They get this momentum happening that is exciting and fun and I tune in each week to catch up on the latest and bam. Nothing. Cyber-abandonment. It's irritating and I've gone and done it to you.
All I can say is I'm sorry and I won't do it again. I'm going to find regular, reoccurring time to carve into my busy life that makes my blog a part of it. Because I love my blog. It's therapeutic and helps me get back to the task at hand. And I appreciate the feedback my readers have given me thus far. I know to varying degrees, we are all in this together. There are parts of a woman's cuh-razy mind that are universal.
So, let me give you the catch-up: I stopped the Courthouse Nutrition Plan. It was nothing personal. Financially, I needed to cut the $50 a month. But it wasn't exactly a hard breakup. After six weeks my weight was virtually the same and although it looked like my body fat percentage was starting to decrease, I just felt like my caloric intake was still up in the air and that at times, my NT was as baffled by me as I was with myself. Lots of people exercise a lot. Lots of people try to lose weight. They see this more than anyone else I know. So why were my calorie needs a mystery? I've met some other people at the gym that have had really great results and others who are in my boat. I guess it is just like anything else - if it works for you, it's golden. If it doesn't, there IS something out there that will. Ya just need to find it.
I did learn from it that I need to consume more calories. Especially if I want to run half marathons and take vigorous classes and weight lift and do all the things I wanna do physically. No 1200 calories plans for this girl.
So, my search continues. In the process I've found a few things that are helpful.
1. I went on vacation and literally all bets were off. No structured workouts - instead I swam in a resorty swimming pool and walked beaches. It was lovely. My eating went from clean to very, very dusty to extremely filthy. It tasted great but for the first time, I felt icky from it. And the changes that type of eating makes to my body are almost immediately noticeable and I felt icky about that too. For once, it wasn't worth it to eat whatever my heart desired. Hmm. Interesting. The quote "it doesn't taste as good as being fit feels" rang true for the first time.
2. My interest in weightlifting and now leaning down with diet inevitably lead me to the website bodybuilding.com I feel that this website is brimming with my peeps and their generous offerings of experience and advice. It's nice to have a forum of people that subscribe to the same set of guidelines I am applying to myself to achieve the same general form of physique. A bodybuilder's lifestyle I have apparently gravitated toward and am comfortable living. Who the heck knew.
On this site is an area called "Bodyspace". Kind of a MySpace for fitness types. I ran across a profile called "chickentuna". This gal has an awful lot of people who are inspired by her and the name is actually what led me to check her out. I instantly thought of Jessica Simpson and her "Chicken of the Sea" debacle. But this lady named herself this because she eats super clean and people razz her all the time for eating tuna and chicken a lot. Her website is currently my motivation. I don't want to be as extremely lean as her. I actually am shooting for a lean physique but with a layer of softness still on it. But what motivates me is she speaks the cold, hard, ugly truth: If you eat crap, your body will look like crap. It's true and the closer I get to being lean, the more I realize how much it's true. It's disappointing as all get out, but true nonetheless. People who say it's just calories in and calories out and it doesn't matter what the calories are composed of are dead wrong. Try it, you'll see. Anyway, I find that all I have to do is say to myself "chickentuna" and I've got some much-needed motivation in times of trial (which are often these days).
3. Jamie Eason. God Bless Jamie Eason. She's a hot chick with a bodybuilder lifestyle and she offers up all kinds of advice for living the life. Her recipes and tips are saving me. And because she walks around looking like my idea of physique perfection all days of the year, I trust what she says much more than someone who looks nothing like "goal" but claims to know what they are talking about. I just read an interview with her recently and uncovered another ugly truth: she states that to really get that impeccable, lean body, you really can't schedule in "cheat meals/treats". It needs to be pretty much never that you indulge. I needed to hear that because unfortunately I am one of those people that suffers from every cheat meal/treat I eat. I just don't have the bodily resiliency to have it not metabolize into a big old mess onto all of my hard work. It's also a huge letdown of truth, but I needed to have it spelled out for me. That is not to say I will never eat crap food ever again, but I can't sit here and complain about lack of results if I'm eating whatever I want 2 out of 7 days each week. The silver lining is the more I eat clean, the more I truly enjoy some of these clean foods and it actually isn't grueling to eat like this anymore. I think the key is to just keep consistently doing it and it becomes your "new normal". The reset button we try to do with crash dieting but don't do it right or give it enough time to stick.
Anyway, officially today I'm back on track. As I tell my husband "it's me and chickentuna against the world". Maybe not, but it sure sounds good. :)
All I can say is I'm sorry and I won't do it again. I'm going to find regular, reoccurring time to carve into my busy life that makes my blog a part of it. Because I love my blog. It's therapeutic and helps me get back to the task at hand. And I appreciate the feedback my readers have given me thus far. I know to varying degrees, we are all in this together. There are parts of a woman's cuh-razy mind that are universal.
So, let me give you the catch-up: I stopped the Courthouse Nutrition Plan. It was nothing personal. Financially, I needed to cut the $50 a month. But it wasn't exactly a hard breakup. After six weeks my weight was virtually the same and although it looked like my body fat percentage was starting to decrease, I just felt like my caloric intake was still up in the air and that at times, my NT was as baffled by me as I was with myself. Lots of people exercise a lot. Lots of people try to lose weight. They see this more than anyone else I know. So why were my calorie needs a mystery? I've met some other people at the gym that have had really great results and others who are in my boat. I guess it is just like anything else - if it works for you, it's golden. If it doesn't, there IS something out there that will. Ya just need to find it.
I did learn from it that I need to consume more calories. Especially if I want to run half marathons and take vigorous classes and weight lift and do all the things I wanna do physically. No 1200 calories plans for this girl.
So, my search continues. In the process I've found a few things that are helpful.
1. I went on vacation and literally all bets were off. No structured workouts - instead I swam in a resorty swimming pool and walked beaches. It was lovely. My eating went from clean to very, very dusty to extremely filthy. It tasted great but for the first time, I felt icky from it. And the changes that type of eating makes to my body are almost immediately noticeable and I felt icky about that too. For once, it wasn't worth it to eat whatever my heart desired. Hmm. Interesting. The quote "it doesn't taste as good as being fit feels" rang true for the first time.
2. My interest in weightlifting and now leaning down with diet inevitably lead me to the website bodybuilding.com I feel that this website is brimming with my peeps and their generous offerings of experience and advice. It's nice to have a forum of people that subscribe to the same set of guidelines I am applying to myself to achieve the same general form of physique. A bodybuilder's lifestyle I have apparently gravitated toward and am comfortable living. Who the heck knew.
On this site is an area called "Bodyspace". Kind of a MySpace for fitness types. I ran across a profile called "chickentuna". This gal has an awful lot of people who are inspired by her and the name is actually what led me to check her out. I instantly thought of Jessica Simpson and her "Chicken of the Sea" debacle. But this lady named herself this because she eats super clean and people razz her all the time for eating tuna and chicken a lot. Her website is currently my motivation. I don't want to be as extremely lean as her. I actually am shooting for a lean physique but with a layer of softness still on it. But what motivates me is she speaks the cold, hard, ugly truth: If you eat crap, your body will look like crap. It's true and the closer I get to being lean, the more I realize how much it's true. It's disappointing as all get out, but true nonetheless. People who say it's just calories in and calories out and it doesn't matter what the calories are composed of are dead wrong. Try it, you'll see. Anyway, I find that all I have to do is say to myself "chickentuna" and I've got some much-needed motivation in times of trial (which are often these days).
3. Jamie Eason. God Bless Jamie Eason. She's a hot chick with a bodybuilder lifestyle and she offers up all kinds of advice for living the life. Her recipes and tips are saving me. And because she walks around looking like my idea of physique perfection all days of the year, I trust what she says much more than someone who looks nothing like "goal" but claims to know what they are talking about. I just read an interview with her recently and uncovered another ugly truth: she states that to really get that impeccable, lean body, you really can't schedule in "cheat meals/treats". It needs to be pretty much never that you indulge. I needed to hear that because unfortunately I am one of those people that suffers from every cheat meal/treat I eat. I just don't have the bodily resiliency to have it not metabolize into a big old mess onto all of my hard work. It's also a huge letdown of truth, but I needed to have it spelled out for me. That is not to say I will never eat crap food ever again, but I can't sit here and complain about lack of results if I'm eating whatever I want 2 out of 7 days each week. The silver lining is the more I eat clean, the more I truly enjoy some of these clean foods and it actually isn't grueling to eat like this anymore. I think the key is to just keep consistently doing it and it becomes your "new normal". The reset button we try to do with crash dieting but don't do it right or give it enough time to stick.
Anyway, officially today I'm back on track. As I tell my husband "it's me and chickentuna against the world". Maybe not, but it sure sounds good. :)
Friday, August 13, 2010
Book Review - Sculpting Her Body Perfect
After countless books that feature workout plans that I've tried, I like author Brad Schoenfeld. He is concise, gives the science behind the theory and provides workouts to give you the results you want.
This is the second book of his that I have read and tried out. This is a perfect book for someone who wants to start weight training but doesn't have much experience or is coming back to it after time away.
This book was originally published in 2000, it was revised in 2008 and I find all the information in it to still be relevant to the workout world today.
A unique feature of this book is that it comes with a DVD to demonstrate the proper form for most of the exercises it prescribes. This is a great feature, because still photos sometimes do not show enough to do a move properly. Also included in the front of the book is a chart of exercises and it gives the page number it appears in the book, the type of equipment it uses (i.e. body weight, exercise ball, dumbbells) and if the exercise appears on the DVD. Very nice feature and a real time-saver when you are heading to the gym and can't remember the details of an exercise.
The author reminds us in the book that exercise is a science and as such there are certain rules that are finite. He busts through some common myths, such as there is no such thing as spot reducing and anyone who tells you there is is lying to you, and explains why women have a different set of rules for working out due to our hormonal makeup to get the results we desire.
He divides the workouts into three stages to take you from a beginning weight trainee through to advanced. I strongly urge a newbie to take his advice. I did not know the importance of this when I started and of course, living in a world of denial did some biceps curls with more weight than I should've. Two weeks into my gym membership and I discovered I had given myself a hernia in my left abdominal wall. I had to wear an abdominal binder (kind of like an ugly corset) for SIX WEEKS while I worked, lifted anything, exercised, etc. I did and it healed, but my left side is shaped slightly differently than my right now because of it. Do yourself a favor and give yourself the time he suggests to acclimate.
If you are someone that does not have access to gym equipment, he gives at-home options for all workouts.
There are a few special interest sections that address pregnancy, cardio, and maintaining your physique.
The beginning phase, called the Body Conditioning Phase, is meant to be done for 3-6 months and offers a 3-day split giving full routines for each day. A great full-body conditioning workout.
The intermediate phase, called Toning and Shaping, is just that. This phase will last at least 6 months and will build your foundation of muscles and just as the name implies, tone and shape you.
The advanced phase, called Targeted Bodysculping is like a tapas menu of desirable body attributes: Sexy Chest, Hourglass Back, Shapely Shoulders, Beautiful Biceps, Toned Triceps, Defined Quads, Lean Hamstrings and Glutes, Diamond Calves, Six-Pack Abs. Pick your poison and get to work!
This is an all-around great place to get your feet wet with weight training. This book could keep you busy for at least a year.
This is the second book of his that I have read and tried out. This is a perfect book for someone who wants to start weight training but doesn't have much experience or is coming back to it after time away.
This book was originally published in 2000, it was revised in 2008 and I find all the information in it to still be relevant to the workout world today.
A unique feature of this book is that it comes with a DVD to demonstrate the proper form for most of the exercises it prescribes. This is a great feature, because still photos sometimes do not show enough to do a move properly. Also included in the front of the book is a chart of exercises and it gives the page number it appears in the book, the type of equipment it uses (i.e. body weight, exercise ball, dumbbells) and if the exercise appears on the DVD. Very nice feature and a real time-saver when you are heading to the gym and can't remember the details of an exercise.
The author reminds us in the book that exercise is a science and as such there are certain rules that are finite. He busts through some common myths, such as there is no such thing as spot reducing and anyone who tells you there is is lying to you, and explains why women have a different set of rules for working out due to our hormonal makeup to get the results we desire.
He divides the workouts into three stages to take you from a beginning weight trainee through to advanced. I strongly urge a newbie to take his advice. I did not know the importance of this when I started and of course, living in a world of denial did some biceps curls with more weight than I should've. Two weeks into my gym membership and I discovered I had given myself a hernia in my left abdominal wall. I had to wear an abdominal binder (kind of like an ugly corset) for SIX WEEKS while I worked, lifted anything, exercised, etc. I did and it healed, but my left side is shaped slightly differently than my right now because of it. Do yourself a favor and give yourself the time he suggests to acclimate.
If you are someone that does not have access to gym equipment, he gives at-home options for all workouts.
There are a few special interest sections that address pregnancy, cardio, and maintaining your physique.
The beginning phase, called the Body Conditioning Phase, is meant to be done for 3-6 months and offers a 3-day split giving full routines for each day. A great full-body conditioning workout.
The intermediate phase, called Toning and Shaping, is just that. This phase will last at least 6 months and will build your foundation of muscles and just as the name implies, tone and shape you.
The advanced phase, called Targeted Bodysculping is like a tapas menu of desirable body attributes: Sexy Chest, Hourglass Back, Shapely Shoulders, Beautiful Biceps, Toned Triceps, Defined Quads, Lean Hamstrings and Glutes, Diamond Calves, Six-Pack Abs. Pick your poison and get to work!
This is an all-around great place to get your feet wet with weight training. This book could keep you busy for at least a year.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - Week Five Summary
Hmm, can it really be a month down already? I'll be honest, I was hoping to have at least 5 of my 10 pounds of fat gone by now. And I'm still the same weight as when I started. Like with anything fitness/weight loss related, I must be extremely patient and trusting in the process. Because it's like erosion. You chip and chip away and nothing. And then one day...something. Progress. A goal being met. Something concrete that makes you wanna celebrate your own awesomeness for being successful at something that's been such a tormenter.
Some of those milestones for me have been:
1. Pointy Elbows
K, I totally get the confusion on your face right now. I didn't even know pointy elbows were something to strive for. I didn't even know I didn't have pointy elbows until one day I found them. I was in the weight room at the gym and my arm was bent and I spotted it in the mirror. What the? Why does my elbow look funny? Then, a closer look revealed a very pointy bone, one I had only read about in A&P textbooks, showing itself all pokey-like through my skin. I wanted to run up to random strangers and show them my discovery. I ran home and tore through some magazines I have and sure enough, lean people have pointy elbows. Who knew?! I waited with baited breath all day until my husband got home. I told him "Look! I have pointy elbows!!" He said "oh yeah, you always did have round elbows". HUH?!?! I did? How have I managed to miss this? A MAJOR victory on the fat-front and I didn't even know to look for it. This discovery made me start really studying the bodies of people, namely fitness-competitor types that I gravitate towards in magazines to start "shopping" for body attributes I want.
2. The Lack of Butt Slapping During Running
One of the major disappointments when I started running was feeling my but shake, rattle and roll every step I took for miles. What a downer. It made me very hyper-aware of what I might look like, hoofing it out on the road for others to see. It made me focus on the size of my butt and what I had ignored in my life and let it become. And how unhappy I was with it in it's current state. Depressing thoughts like that are very counterproductive because what they make me want to do is drop everything and go hole up in the house all depressed-like and watch movies and eat cupcakes. It took a lot of internal dialogue for me to keep running. I tried to just be logical and explain to myself depressed cupcake gorging doesn't take away this butt slapping but to continue running does. So keep running. I had this conversation with myself like a broken record each and every time I ran for months. And one day, more recently than not, I noticed the absence of butt slapping during my run. I even threw my hands back there to feel it in motion to make sure I hadn't just tuned it out. Nope. It was gone. This is a major victory because I am of the firm belief that my butt has it's own metabolism and conveniently ignores any efforts I make to alter it. It's the final thing on the fat front to go and man, it's a doozy.
3. Push-Ups (the real ones)
Last year my goal was to be able to do a push-up, form perfect, from my toes. It seemed so impossible. Today, I did 60 of them. Split up into groups of 10 with a 20-30 second break in between, but still. 60! Form pefect, from my toes. Erosion, baby!
Whatever your personal victories will be, they ARE big and totally worth the wait. So, with the anticipation of more inspiring discoveries, I press on.
Here is my knight in shining armor, the long awaited but heavily anticipated 2,600 Calorie Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter Toast, Grapes (If you mix the grapes in with the Cottage Cheese and make darn sure you have a grape in every bite, the cottage cheese's rottenness is less noticeable).
Meal 2 - Banana and Yogurt
Meal 3 - Chef Salad - homemade with eggs, chicken, veggies and Light Cheese Fantastico dressing
Granola Bar & THREE plums
Meal 4 - Zone Perfect bar and a peach
Meal 5 - Hummus, veggies, almonds
Meal 6 - Chicken tenders, brown rice, veggies, fruit
Meal 7 - Quesadilla
The main difference is I get 2 afternoon snacks now instead of 1 and all the meals are more robust. All the things on the menu I like immensely this week, so that's in my favor.
Day 1 - Ahhh, to be back on track does feel really good. I was a little hungry after evening snack and I was stunned that after the gargantuan lunch they give me I was more than ready for my first afternoon snack, but I hung in there and that's a step in the right direction.
Day 2 - I swear when you actually stick to the plan, you start leaning out immediately. My abs are incredibly leaner today. I have a sneaking suspicion that underneath this last fat layer, I'm ripped. I could be wrong, but hints of it are starting to show as I continually get leaner and I think there's something awesome brewing beneath the surface. I'd like to find out for sure. I am a Plan Diva today!
I checked in with my NT today, we did my weigh-in and although I only weighed in 1 pound down in a month, we showed it was all fat. She also informed me my fat is getting squishier which means it's breaking up which means that the last month of suffering and thinking I'm faltering has actually yielded some positive progress after all. It's encouraging.
She asked for my commitment to stay on the plan for a whole week. I quickly said yes like it was no big deal. But ouch. Hopefully she doesn't think that was the issue for me. It really was just that I was hungry. She also is having me check back in in one week to get my stats again and see if 2,600 calories is where I need to be or if I need to go back to 2,300 and just increase the frequency of my meals. Double ouch. I'm sure she sees all kinds in the diet program. I know, because I used to be one of them that would cover up reality in denial so heavily that I believed I was really trying hard when I wasn't. And acting like I couldn't lose weight no matter what when really my mind wasn't in it and I wasn't ready to change. I get it. But I need to prove to her that's not where I am with this program. I'm just a hungry girl trying to make it all work.
Day 3 - Still on the plan. I'm determined. It's been good. I would not say I am a rabid cheetah, but at night, I tend to be more of a Savage Beast of Hunger. It's a step less traumatizing and I'm dealing with it fine. Today I noticed the scale moved. Up .2 pounds! Uh oh, I like the calorie plan, please don't make this be too much food! I honestly don't know how I will cope if I can't eat this many calories. I feel so much better.
Day 4 - Ah, the scale moved. I am now sporting a 1.2 pound weight loss from start of program, down 1.4 from yesterday. Thank you thank you thank you. But Houston, we have a problem. Now that my muscles are obviously getting food and not withering away from starvation, I'm experiencing some serious muscle growth. I lifted weights on Day 2 of this week and immediately noticed what I'd only ready about -a bodybuilder's "pump". After my workout, my biceps looked to me like the Incredible Hulk- they were all hard and defined and looked like they had grown instantaneously from the workout. Alarming to experience this for the first time and without intending to. I kept grabbing my arms all day and finding the same thing. Now, two days later, my arms are rocks. And if I flex, I have a serious bicep there now. Seriously?! And today, I did Lats & Pecs and I'm finding more of the same. As much as the instant gratification of musculature feels good, I am going to have to fix my workout routine STAT if I don't want to actually become the Incredible Hulk in the weeks to come. Holy moly. I'm like a chia pet of muscles. I wanna look fit, I don't wanna look like a dude.
Some of those milestones for me have been:
1. Pointy Elbows
K, I totally get the confusion on your face right now. I didn't even know pointy elbows were something to strive for. I didn't even know I didn't have pointy elbows until one day I found them. I was in the weight room at the gym and my arm was bent and I spotted it in the mirror. What the? Why does my elbow look funny? Then, a closer look revealed a very pointy bone, one I had only read about in A&P textbooks, showing itself all pokey-like through my skin. I wanted to run up to random strangers and show them my discovery. I ran home and tore through some magazines I have and sure enough, lean people have pointy elbows. Who knew?! I waited with baited breath all day until my husband got home. I told him "Look! I have pointy elbows!!" He said "oh yeah, you always did have round elbows". HUH?!?! I did? How have I managed to miss this? A MAJOR victory on the fat-front and I didn't even know to look for it. This discovery made me start really studying the bodies of people, namely fitness-competitor types that I gravitate towards in magazines to start "shopping" for body attributes I want.
2. The Lack of Butt Slapping During Running
One of the major disappointments when I started running was feeling my but shake, rattle and roll every step I took for miles. What a downer. It made me very hyper-aware of what I might look like, hoofing it out on the road for others to see. It made me focus on the size of my butt and what I had ignored in my life and let it become. And how unhappy I was with it in it's current state. Depressing thoughts like that are very counterproductive because what they make me want to do is drop everything and go hole up in the house all depressed-like and watch movies and eat cupcakes. It took a lot of internal dialogue for me to keep running. I tried to just be logical and explain to myself depressed cupcake gorging doesn't take away this butt slapping but to continue running does. So keep running. I had this conversation with myself like a broken record each and every time I ran for months. And one day, more recently than not, I noticed the absence of butt slapping during my run. I even threw my hands back there to feel it in motion to make sure I hadn't just tuned it out. Nope. It was gone. This is a major victory because I am of the firm belief that my butt has it's own metabolism and conveniently ignores any efforts I make to alter it. It's the final thing on the fat front to go and man, it's a doozy.
3. Push-Ups (the real ones)
Last year my goal was to be able to do a push-up, form perfect, from my toes. It seemed so impossible. Today, I did 60 of them. Split up into groups of 10 with a 20-30 second break in between, but still. 60! Form pefect, from my toes. Erosion, baby!
Whatever your personal victories will be, they ARE big and totally worth the wait. So, with the anticipation of more inspiring discoveries, I press on.
Here is my knight in shining armor, the long awaited but heavily anticipated 2,600 Calorie Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter Toast, Grapes (If you mix the grapes in with the Cottage Cheese and make darn sure you have a grape in every bite, the cottage cheese's rottenness is less noticeable).
Meal 2 - Banana and Yogurt
Meal 3 - Chef Salad - homemade with eggs, chicken, veggies and Light Cheese Fantastico dressing
Granola Bar & THREE plums
Meal 4 - Zone Perfect bar and a peach
Meal 5 - Hummus, veggies, almonds
Meal 6 - Chicken tenders, brown rice, veggies, fruit
Meal 7 - Quesadilla
The main difference is I get 2 afternoon snacks now instead of 1 and all the meals are more robust. All the things on the menu I like immensely this week, so that's in my favor.
Day 1 - Ahhh, to be back on track does feel really good. I was a little hungry after evening snack and I was stunned that after the gargantuan lunch they give me I was more than ready for my first afternoon snack, but I hung in there and that's a step in the right direction.
Day 2 - I swear when you actually stick to the plan, you start leaning out immediately. My abs are incredibly leaner today. I have a sneaking suspicion that underneath this last fat layer, I'm ripped. I could be wrong, but hints of it are starting to show as I continually get leaner and I think there's something awesome brewing beneath the surface. I'd like to find out for sure. I am a Plan Diva today!
I checked in with my NT today, we did my weigh-in and although I only weighed in 1 pound down in a month, we showed it was all fat. She also informed me my fat is getting squishier which means it's breaking up which means that the last month of suffering and thinking I'm faltering has actually yielded some positive progress after all. It's encouraging.
She asked for my commitment to stay on the plan for a whole week. I quickly said yes like it was no big deal. But ouch. Hopefully she doesn't think that was the issue for me. It really was just that I was hungry. She also is having me check back in in one week to get my stats again and see if 2,600 calories is where I need to be or if I need to go back to 2,300 and just increase the frequency of my meals. Double ouch. I'm sure she sees all kinds in the diet program. I know, because I used to be one of them that would cover up reality in denial so heavily that I believed I was really trying hard when I wasn't. And acting like I couldn't lose weight no matter what when really my mind wasn't in it and I wasn't ready to change. I get it. But I need to prove to her that's not where I am with this program. I'm just a hungry girl trying to make it all work.
Day 3 - Still on the plan. I'm determined. It's been good. I would not say I am a rabid cheetah, but at night, I tend to be more of a Savage Beast of Hunger. It's a step less traumatizing and I'm dealing with it fine. Today I noticed the scale moved. Up .2 pounds! Uh oh, I like the calorie plan, please don't make this be too much food! I honestly don't know how I will cope if I can't eat this many calories. I feel so much better.
Day 4 - Ah, the scale moved. I am now sporting a 1.2 pound weight loss from start of program, down 1.4 from yesterday. Thank you thank you thank you. But Houston, we have a problem. Now that my muscles are obviously getting food and not withering away from starvation, I'm experiencing some serious muscle growth. I lifted weights on Day 2 of this week and immediately noticed what I'd only ready about -a bodybuilder's "pump". After my workout, my biceps looked to me like the Incredible Hulk- they were all hard and defined and looked like they had grown instantaneously from the workout. Alarming to experience this for the first time and without intending to. I kept grabbing my arms all day and finding the same thing. Now, two days later, my arms are rocks. And if I flex, I have a serious bicep there now. Seriously?! And today, I did Lats & Pecs and I'm finding more of the same. As much as the instant gratification of musculature feels good, I am going to have to fix my workout routine STAT if I don't want to actually become the Incredible Hulk in the weeks to come. Holy moly. I'm like a chia pet of muscles. I wanna look fit, I don't wanna look like a dude.
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