The Paleo Results!

It's over!  The 9 week challenge that I took part in is over!  Since I put all my business out on front street 9 weeks ago, I think I owe you a follow up.

You guys!  It wasn't as bad/difficult/gut wrenching as I thought it would be!  As for the diet aspect, I kept it simple...the wildest recipe I tried was making breaded chicken with almond meal instead of bread crumbs.  For breakfast, I absolutely ate the same thing almost every day.  For the rest of the day...there was a lot of grilled chicken, steamed veggies, sweet potatoes, eggs, bacon, tuna, fruit and almonds.

I never craved anything...though at one point after Halloween, I was cleaning the kitchen and picked up a chunk of a Hershey bar!  Oh my stars!  I covered my mouth with one hand and threw the chocolate at the garbage can!  Get behind me, satan! 

I'm sure I could go on and on about the diet, but I'll just hit the high points.  I exceeded my weight loss goal!  I lost several inches!  This sounds weird, but my fingernails are the strongest they have ever been!  My belly feels good all the time, which wasn't always the case previously.  Someday, I'll tell you what happens when I eat the turkey sandwich at Eat N' Park...The only time I felt hungry is when I didn't or couldn't plan ahead.  *There were a few hospital days with Trey when I just could not eat in front of him*  My skin is clear(er)!  Though, as a life long picker, this makes me sad.  Maybe I should include it under 'low points'.  But, truly, even Jay has complimented my skin several times...and this is the same husband that (years ago) didn't notice that I had taken out my nose ring for 3 weeks.  My times for each of the benchmark workouts improved!

As for low points, not too many.  However, we went to a wedding and let me tell you...I love, love, love weddings!  I knew that this day would be a "cheat" in my entries and I was okay with that.  I was eying up that wedding cake!  Seriously?  I DIDN'T like the cake!  It was too sweet!  (I know, I know!  Wah!  And my diamond shoes were too tight!)  But, really!  I was looking forward to that cake!  Bummer.  Another time, I went to dinner with friends.  Knowing that I wasn't going to use a "cheat", I looked up the menu ahead of time to find something Paleo friendly.  What did I end up with???  A stinkin' chicken salad with all the good stuff (cheese!) taken off.  I could've had that at home and not had to tip anyone!

Now that the challenge is over, I plan on sticking with the Paleo, though not as strictly as per the challenge.  And maybe on the weekend, I'll enjoy a "free" meal.  Since we rarely go out to restaurants (I mean, come on!  I went to ONE in nine weeks!), I will choose freely from the menu. 

But now, I know you've all been waiting for them...The after pictures!!!!  Let me refresh your memories with the before pics, too...

before

before

after!

after!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Hooray!  Can you tell by the pictures that I hate, hate, hate having my picture taken?  Ugh!  Anywho...look into Paleo if you're thinking of changing things up.  It's a challenge, but isn't anything that's worth it?

I Eat to Live

Here we go again.  I've blogged before about eating, weight loss and working out, and yet here I am doing it again.  The gym that I go to, Crossfit Pittsburgh, entered a 9 week Paleo team challenge.  Since I just started to get back into a routine of dropping the kids off at school and heading down to the "box", I begged off the challenge.  I'm not particularly competitive and I especially didn't want to let anyone down.  See, we've created a delicate balance at home concerning Trey.  Right now, today, he's doing fabulous.  Who knows what's going to be happening next week, month, tomorrow?  I didn't want to commit to a team challenge if I wasn't going to be able to hold up my end of the bargain.  But, my sweet friend Jenn called and said simply that she wanted me on the team with her regardless of the outcome.  How can I say no?  So, I signed my life away up.

Strangely, though, this challenge presented itself at the exact time that I had been lamenting to Jay that I needed something to kick my (ever growing) butt into gear.  This past year, my size has fluctuated about 10 pounds either way several times.  Some people eat to comfort themselves during stressful times.  I don't eat at all during these times.  Then, when I feel better, I make up for the lack of appetite by eating...everything.  Not healthy.  And right now, I'm just not comfortable, especially since I know what to do to be in shape.  When I had to go into my bin labeled "pre and post pregnancy clothes" for the next size up in jeans, I knew something had to change.   Do you need something in a size 2?  I have it.  Size 16?  Yep, that too.

Another factor holding me back from initially signing up is that I just don't care about food.  That's it.  I don't want creative or fancy.  I don't want to spend time cooking or shopping or preparing food for just me.  I could seriously eat the same thing everyday.  By 'the same thing', I mean processed, easy to make, comes in a box type food.  I own the phrase "I eat to live" not "I live to eat".  A couple of years ago, I did The Zone diet and had really amazing results!  But, sadly, that only lasted a few months.

What is Paleo?  Some people call Paleo the 'caveman diet'.  Basically (in THE simplest form), Paleo is eating only the things a caveman would eat.  Lean meats, fruits, veggies, nuts and eggs.  No dairy, carbs, processed food or sugar.  As per this challenge, I must adhere to a strict Paleo diet, record my before and after pictures and measurements, and 3 'benchmark' workouts (I do 3 different workouts for time at the beginning of the challenge, then do the same 3 workouts for time at the end of the challenge and calculate the improvement)

So, here's where it's gonna get real. In the pictures I'm going to post below (be nice!), I'm wearing a pair of skinny jeans that I wore comfortably in the summer of 2011.  They're not so comfy now, but I hope they will be!!!

Please be kind!  And, check back to see how this challenge goes.  After these pictures, could it get worse?

Who Wants To Buy A Ticket On This Train?

How does one write a post about themselves without it sounding like bragging?  I am aiming for motivational, and simply using myself as the subject.  Fair enough?  We finally got around to updating our measurements and baseline test at CrossFit for the Zoleo Challenge.

Bust (aka boobies) -2"
Under Bust -1 1/2"
Naval -3 1/2"
Widest point (aka hips...for me, at least) -2 1/2"
Thigh -3/4"
Calf -1/2"
Bicep -1/4"

That's 11 inches off!!!!!!!!  Yipee!  Plus, about 15 pounds...Plus, I shaved about 2 minutes off my baseline test!

Who wants on this train???

Mindless Eating and a Sore Throat...

A month has passed since undertaking the Zaleo Challenge!  An update is in order!

After revamping the ol' diet, there have been some pretty remarkable changes and revelations.  Probably the most startling thing I learned was HOW MUCH MINDLESS EATING I was doing!!!  If you asked me to define my daily eating habits, I would have said healthy.  I'm a pretty boring eater, so I really don't mind eating the same things repeatedly...for breakfast, plain oatmeal with blueberries and cinnamon...lunch, either tuna with spinach or turkey...and dinner, chicken and a vegetable, lots of fruits throughout the day, etc.  Sounds good, right?  If we're being honest, there are several things I'm leaving off that list...

Take for example eating the little bits and pieces of food left on the kiddos plates at breakfast.  Then, handfuls of pretzels throughout the morning masked as "just getting snacks for the kids".  At lunch, for every sandwich made, a knife full of peanut butter is consumed (and I don't even love peanut butter!).  Since crusts are taboo to my children, I go ahead and make them "disappear" (the crusts, not the children).  A slice of cheese for the young ones equals a slice of cheese for the momma...and so on and so on.  One day, I realized there was some type of food in my mouth and I stopped in my tracks and thought "What am I chewing on?  I don't even know what's in my mouth!"  After dinner, here's a Hershey's Kiss for you...and one for me.  One for you, one for me.  Oh, I'm done clearing the table?  Have a Kiss.  What?  I left the bag of Kisses on the counter?  Well, I should eat one before putting the bag away.  Let's not forget the late night snacking which may consist of some salty treat like chips and cheese or a sweet morsel like cookies or maybe both.  And can we talk about Ranch dressing and it's creamy goodness???

Now, I realize that when looked at individually, some of these things are not inherently bad foods.  Pretzels, whole grain bread crusts, cheese?  Not too bad...BUT.  The amount!  It's no wonder I haven't been able to achieve the goals I had set for myself.  Namely, losing the baby bulge belly. 

So, in the past month, I have become acutely aware of what I eat, when I eat and how much.  At first, it was really difficult and I had to employ some pretty lame tactics that, embarrassingly, I stole from the Biggest Loser.  Chew Extra! Sugar Free gum to avoid senseless snacking! 

We have not taken any new measurements yet to compare to the original numbers, but I have gone down a jean size, lost some lbs, and been able to lift more weight!  We're moving in the right direction!

There is one thing that I cannot find an answer to, though.  Since eliminating refined sugar, I have only given myself 2 "free" meals where I can eat whatever I want.  Both times, I had some sugar and both times I immediately got a really sore throat!  Like, really sore!  What's up with that?  I tried to find an answer by surfing the inter web thingy, but to no avail.  Anybody have an answer?  Anybody?

I'm Hungry!!!!

I'm hungry and I'm going to be a great big baby about it!

The gym that I go to, Crossfit Pittsburgh, initiated a sadistic scheme...uh, challenge for the new year.  The torture is called the Zoleo Challenge.  Anyone choosing to participate got measured (ugh!) and weighed (worse!) and did a baseline test that consisted of a 500 meter row, 40 squats, 30 sit ups, 20 push ups and 10 pull ups for time.  All of this info is written down in my Hello Kitty diary with a lock that no one can ever find, ever.  About a month from now, we'll take all the measurements and weight again and do the baseline test to see if any of the numbers improved.  (If they haven't, you can find me at Taco Bell)

The hard part is the new "eating plan".  It's a combination of The Zone Diet and The Paleo Diet.  The Zone, to me at least, is very complicated to understand at first.  I had to calculate (based on my math history, even typing the word "calculate" makes me twitch) how many "blocks" of protein I need to eat in a day to be "in the zone".  Based on that, I build my diet to include protein, carbs and fat in a balanced way.  The word paleo comes from paleolithic or cave man.  Yeah, that's right, cave man....meaning if a cave man could eat it, then it's good.  If not, it's out.  No dairy, no artificial sugar, no grains.  Paleo is strictly lean meats, fish, veggies and fruit.  That's it.  Zone allows for a little dairy and grain, but still no sugar.  There is no weird supplements or pills to take and on both diets, you're encouraged to eat way more than you do right now.  It's a very "clean" way of eating.

Today was my first foray into this eating style.  And today, I'm miserable.  I'm sure my body is going through some withdrawals...I have a strong affection for Snickerdoodles, cheese and salt (Not all mixed together, though.  That would be gross.)  Hopefully, I'll adjust to this new lifestyle soon...ya never know, maybe I'll even convince YOU to jump on this Zoleo bandwagon!  I'll keep you updated on results....

In the meantime, I'll be thinking of my Word for 2010, nursing my pneumonia stricken baby girl back to health, warding off all ear infections from my baby boy and gnawing on the coffee table.

The Monster is Quiet

For anyone who has talked to me recently...my cliffhanger on the previous post was anything but. Of course I kept my appointment at the gym, I just couldn't think of a better spot to pause the story.

So, I met with Jenn (who is so beautiful you really don't want to like her, but then she's so nice that you have to like her. And while you're turning your cheek to this genetic slap in the face...in walks her identical twin sister!) Anywho, she walked me through the typical warm up routine (which left me sore for days) and we talked about goals and ability. She also explained how the exercises can be modified to my skill level.

My goals were (are) to A. fit nicely into a beautiful bridesmaid dress, B. be healthier, stronger, etc. in general and C. I've always secretly wanted to be able to do a pull-up! I can't really pin point why I have wanted to do a pull up...it's just always been in the back of mind that it would be really cool if I could do one. I'm a simple person.

After that first session, I started attending the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes. One does not just show up at this gym at any time and do whatever workout they want. There are scheduled classes and a specific "Workout of the Day" or "WOD". Everyone starts at the same time and does the same exercises (again, modified to each persons skill level).

The great news is that I have NOT thrown up, passed out, or peed. The last one is not entirely true, but after birthing 3 babies one does not jump rope 400 times without consequences. I have remained relatively injury free...I've suffered bruised shins (either doing deadlifts or just walking into a barbell), bruised forearms from doing ring dips, I recently ripped a callus off the palm off my hand (in an effort to cover the exposed area, one of the guys a the gym suggested New Skin liquid bandage...well, he did not tell me that it would burn my soul) and (this one is embarrassing) a blister on my tail bone...twice. Ya know the whole "Fool me once..." applies directly to this. I have also dropped 2 dress sizes and am the strongest I have ever been in 32....er, 29 years.

Recently, Jenn and Mike started to focus on one exercise to improve on after the "WOD" was finished. One week it was hand-stand push ups, another week it was double-unders (passing the jump rope twice under your feet in one jump). This past week, it was pull ups!!!! I was so excited! These are not straight up and down pull ups, but these are called "Kipping pull-ups". You use momentum (and strength) to swing into the bar and there are specific steps to doing these. Jenn taught us the first 4 steps and I actually got it!!! Not a full pull up yet, but I was able to get the feel of the momentum and what to do with it. I was so excited, when I got home Jay said it was like I was high. I was giddy! I didn't want to leave the gym that day...I kept trying, I was so close!

It was like a bat hitting a baseball perfectly, hitting a golf ball on the screws and crushing it, the "A" on a difficult test, the perfect shade of hair color....it was glorious. That was on Wednesday of last week, Friday is when I tore the callus on my hand because I kept trying over and over again. I CANNOT wait to be able to do it!!!

Now the Monster is quiet and I'm chasing the pull-up!!!!

Jay asked what I would do when I was able to do one.....and I said, "Work on doing 2."