Burpees + Honesty

So I haven't blogged since last Wednesday and I'll spare you most of the details as I'd have a lot to write from the past 4 days (the title tells it all). Thursday I worked in Alpharetta, which I'll end up doing about 2 days a week now. Work was fine. I had prepared food and brought everything with me I needed to eat. Paleo all the way. Got downtown early to get ready for the big wine event at Ga Aquarium. Arrived and the first thing we did was get a glass of wine. Then off to the food - the food was pretty good and at the beginning I did great. I got beef and grits from Dogwood and didn't eat the grits. I tried to pass on pastas, asked for no buns etc. I did alright in the main ballroom, but then we moved out to the rest of the aquarium. = failure. I ended up having some sweets on my own accord. I tried some lobster bisque and other non-paleo items. I knew when I picked them up what I was doing. I caved. But, I also think that I've learned over the past few weeks that I can make the choice to eat something or not to eat something. I have more will power now. Also, I didn't want my $125 ticket go to waste ;) Regardless, I cheated and I owe burpees. Blargh. Friday I planned to stay in - as you could guess my Friday AM started late and I was in a lot of pain from all that wine. I ate paleo at work for the few hours I went in for. Somehow, I was talked into going almost straight to the Eagles concert. I like the eagles, and I definitely wanted to go, but I really had my heart set on doing Friday’s CF workout and NOT drinking and eating paleo the whole day. Well, the workout didn’t happen. We ended up at Park Tavern where I ate some cheese dip and sushi and had sangria and other drinks. Yes, I felt bad. Yes, I still feel bad. Well, that led into Satuday where I did decent at the tailgate, but I think my drinks Saturday night were sugar packed and I had a bit of this and a bit of that. Well, Sunday AM I woke up feeling like shit. And I mean shit. It was definitely partly because of all the alcohol consumed since Thursday night and I think it was because I reintroduced items back into my diet that hadn’t been there in 2-3 weeks. My body was not happy. I had cramps and just wanted to be sick and pass all this nastiness out of my body. Sunday night I finally was able to eat and didn’t feel as bad as I had so I made a turkey chili with all natural and organic ingredients – not a single processed item. YUM. Woke up this am and had a breakfast of champions. Hardboiled eggs, bacon and a bit of prosciutto. Had a bit of coffee with cinnamon and coconut milk (soy and dairy free). Just finished having a snack of applesauce. For some reason I’m still feeling nauseous. I think my body is still pissed off at me, and it should be.

So, let me focus on what I’ve learned.

1. I’m not as young as I used to be and drinking really tears me up. DUH. Not only that, but sugary drinks really take a toll on me. I made the decision to drink and I can make the decision to not drink.

2. When I put crap in my body after being so good to it for 2-3 weeks, I feel like crap. You are what you eat. Well, I felt awful all day Sunday and I think the stomach pain was mostly from what I had eaten. And again, I made the decision to pick up the food and put it in my mouth. I know I have stronger will power and I need to exercise that.

3. I feel guilty from eating poorly. I’m one of those people that never lets things go. When I would get in trouble, I’d think about it constantly instead of moving on. This is taking a toll on me. I feel guilty and bad, I’m waiting for someone to yell at me and tell me how I’ve screwed up 3 good weeks of work and eating for nothing.

4. …what I’m waiting to learn: eating poorly 1 weekend or 1 day or 1 meal won’t mess up my 3 weeks of good work. (again, this would be because I’m harping on the number on the scale). It’s a number, fine. Surprisingly, my clothes still fit loosely and I haven’t had to go back to those ‘fat jeans’. Regardless, eating poorly over time WILL put me back at a place I have no desire to be at.

Overall, I’m taking it all in stride and I really want to learn from this weekend and my mistakes. I’m trying to listen to how my body feels and react accordingly. I’m nervous that my fall back could haunt me and that I’ve given myself the green light that it’s okay for just a small cheat. Right now the goal is to get through the 30 day challenge, and then adapt afterwards. I think another thing I’m worried about is my upcoming trip to NY this weekend for my birthday. I want to have the best pastas, bread, bagels, seafood, pizzas, deserts etc. It’s my birthday, why not. Well, I know how I feel when I eat poorly and I don’t think I can go all out. I want to enjoy myself, and I plan to, but I will definitely make the smartest decisions possible (I do know I’ll be drinking wine, but I plan to stay away from beer and sugary drinks).

The one thing I’ve learned from the challenge so far is that I have the decision to eat healthy and to disregard unhealthy food in front of me. I’ve proven that to myself and I plan to adapt it in NY. Also, I want to set myself up for success and not failure as I don’t plan to be 100% paleo after the challenge ends, I want to find a good medium that works for me, but I do see myself staying very close to the paleo diet as the food is pretty tasty and I feel good on it.

Thanks for sticking through this long rant of feelings and thoughts. Although I find this weekend as an overall negative and failure to the challenge, I realized what I’ve learned about myself and the diet.

--- On another Debbie downer note, I pulled a neck muscle yesterday in kickball (yes, kickball), and now my neck is really sore and stiff – definitely not what I needed before going to NY. I wanted a week of good workouts. So, if anyone has any suggestions on quick remedies or workouts that I can possibly do, please send them my way. J

PS – I’ll try and post the turkey chili recipe later too. It’s great for leftovers (my lunch today!)

End of day 17

So lunch was yummy, I had some unsweetened applesauce and added cinnamon in it as a snack. For dinner I browned my garden turkey burger and had most of that. I also had a banana about an hour later. After work I went shopping for a new dress for Aqua Vino tomorrow. I was feeling good about how I've been eating and I wanted to get something special. I still haven't lost a ton of weight, and i don't feel much skinnier, but I do have more confidence and my clothes fit better. The dress was cute - now just to bump it down a size ;)

I was sore today and took the day off from the gym, I went the last two. By the time I got home from shopping I was feeling guilty about not working out, so I changed into my workout clothes and got outside in the nice weather and ran for a bit. It ended up being about 2 miles, but I was proud that I did it - especially since I had decided I just wanted a night to relax and not workout.

I've already made my food for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. I've hardboiled eggs and grilled another chicken breast. I have a bit of leftover turkey which I'll probably eat with my eggs in the am. Other than that I plan on bringing a banana and almonds with me to my new client ... so easy!

For aqua vino I plan to be as paleo as possible. 1) I don't want to disappoint myself. (I think I can pass on cake, but tuna tartar on a cracker.... it could be tough! 2) There's no way in hell I want to do 100 burpees as a punishment. Wine however...again, thank you Robb Wolf for saying if we're going to drink, vino is good ;)

I'm looking forward to tomorrow for more reasons then just the evening - it should be another good day of healthy eating!

Day 17 - I feel good, empowered.

Went to bed last night tired as junk! The last two days of workouts have been brutal on my 'i'm used to traveling and not being at CFPT' body. I woke up this am really sore. When I went to get ready for work I looked in the mirror and thought 'hey, i'm noticing a small change'. I stepped ont he scale and once again, it hasn't budged under 132. But, when I went to pick out my clothes for work I chose a top I hadn't work in awhile. Maybe I was feeling adventurous or maybe there has been a small change. Regardless, I actually feel confident in my body. Regardless of the weight on the scale, I feel better about myself then I have in the past year and a half and that means a lot to me. It encourages me to work out and to continue eating healthy!

I was talking to a fellow crossfitter at work today and was telling her about how my weight hasn't changed, but I feel good. She commented that I look a bit better too. Now, who knows if she was telling the truth or making me feel good, but the overall idea is that it's not the number on the scale. To get away from that, I'm going to stop trying to weight myself 2x a day. Yea, 2 x a day may seem like a lot, but I really want to succeed and want to see the change. But like I said before, I've gotten over excited about how fast I lost weight the first week, and that i thought it would just keep up. That wasn't the right assumption. I need to focus on putting good thing in my body and working out.

Speaking of, I had a bit of OJ this am, 2 eggs and 3 strips of bacon. A few walnuts as a snack. I had a small fruit bowl around 12 and am now eating lunch. For lunch I have a chicken breast which was marinated in chili oils from Fresh Market and 1/2 an avocado with some seasonings. I'll plan to eat my garden turkey burger tonight for dinner and grill the other piece of chicken for tomorrow's lunch. I'm on the road tomorrow so I'll pack my lunch and breakfast to ensure a healthy meal.

However cheesy this is, I leave you with my thought of the day: Eating healthy leads to a better you. Inside and out. :)

Over 1/2 way there!

From lunch time to 8:10pm tonight everything has gone well. I had some almonds and grapes as a snack and then I was able to leave work at a decent time to get to the gym for the 5:30 WOD. I was already sore but I pushed through and it felt great to finish. I did HSPU's with 2 abmats and I felt decently strong doing that. Next thing is to work on 1 abmat. I was kinda able to get my toes to the bar in that part of the WOD, although I had more of a swing, and my legs weren't kept straight, but it's better then I've been able to do. Heck, I usually have trouble with kees to elbows! The weight for the backsquats was 45#. I should try and work on those and up my weight!

After the workout I went to Fresh Market and Kroger to get some more paleo foods. Check out my grocery list:
-nitrate/gluten free bacon
-unsweetend almond milk (for coffee)
-salmon (for dinner)
-good olive oil
-organic bananas
-organic baby spinach
-organic
-cherry tomatoes
-organic balsamic vinegar

Great list!

So for dinner tonight I had salmon from Fresh Market and I made a small side salad. Now, I honestly HATE salad. I'm not a fan of lettuce or non-sauteed spinach. But this is a challenge and I'm trying to open myself up to new things. Okay, so for the salad. a very small handful of baby spinach. I drizzled some of my new olive oil over it and gave it a quick dash of balsamic vinegar. I also added grilled chicken, 1 hardboiled egg, bacon, and some cut up cherry tomatoes. Now, let me tell you, it wasn't that bad. It's definitely not something I want to order every day, but I'd consider making it for a lunch to add in some more veggies. I was considering adding in avocado, but I thought I had enough good fats already and enough flavor as well.

I will try to make that again sometime this week for lunch - that's my challenge to myself. Eat a salad for a meal. Uh, never thought I'd say that to myself.

While I cooked my salmon I also threw a piece of my marinating chicken in the oven. I took a few slices off of that for my salad and I'm thinking I'll eat the rest of the chicken for lunch tomorrow with a side of applesauce or fruit.

I am looking forward to trying coffee again tomorrow for the first time in 2+ weeks with my unsweetened almond milk and some fresh ground cinnamon!

I'm 1/2 way there! :)

Day 16 - Still on it!

Food update. So last night I had my salmon and some OJ, but i ended up not having any applesauce. This am I fried 2 eggs before work and had some OJ, I was really hungry when I got up. Mid morning I did some nuts. I'm eating lunch right now and am eating a piece of salmon I cooked last night (I cooked 2 pieces). Once again, it's so easy to stay on the paleo path if I pre-prepare my food. That'd actually be my first advice to anyone who is trying to switch or ease into Paleo. It makes going out to lunch during the workday so less tempting if you know you have good food already prepared.

I didn't touch any of the donuts that came into the office- but damn they smelled good. I've got fruit and nuts to snack on before the end of the day. I'm heading back to CFPT today for another workout, but man I'm still sore from yesterdays! I'll try and cook some of the chicken I have marinating from Fresh Market tonight for dinner and lunch tomorrow. Thursday I'm working in Alpharetta for the day. I need to plan to bring my lunch and breakfast that day since I know my new team will want to go out. Also, I'm leaving early to go to Aqua Vino. If you haven't heard of it, check it out here: AQUA VINO. I've gone the past 2 years and it's amazing. I really do plan to stay as paleo as possible since as of today I haven't really cheated (no beer, no bread, no wheat etc etc) I don't want to blow it! THANK GOD Robb Wolf says that wine is good - since it's a HUGE wine event :)

Really? Some random person just brought warm gooey donuts into our office...and I changed where I sit now, which happens to be right next to the kitchen! ARGHHHHHH!!!!!

End of day 15!

Survived the CFPT workout of Tabata This! I didn't put up the best numbers, and I did the workout on the smallest pull up band - but I pushed through and I'm going to be sore! Wowza. Welcome back to the gym Becky. After the brutal workout I went to Fresh Market like planned. I walked in and had a sample of Fresh Squeezed OJ. I checked out the ingredients and it only said fresh squeezed oranges. No sugars added, no preservatives and it was non-pasteurized. I picked up a 1/2 gallon as it was pretty tasty and I've been missing OJ. I googled to see if it was paleo - and it appears that it is. I know it's got some high sugar and carb counts - although these are natural and not like bready carbs. I plan to ask the CF gym tomorrow on the blog and see what their take is on it. I haven't really cheated on my diet so I want to make sure I keep it up! (No way in hell i want to do 100 burpees!) Anyways, other items I picked up at CFPT included 2 pieces of salmon, a garden turkey burger and two pieces of chicken in the sweet chili marinade. I also got some eggs and unsweetened applesauce and fresh ground cinnamon. Perfect shopping experience. Of course it's more expensive then a bowl of pasta, but the taste is there! Speaking of pasta, I'm really wanting to try kelp spaghetti. I couldn't find it at Fresh Market and last time I was at whole foods I briefly looked and couldn't find it. Perhaps I'll consider ordering it online?!

Anyways, dinner tonight is some OJ, a salmon, and a side of applesauce. Again, I'm feeling great about the way my clothes are fitting! I'm really noticing a difference, but after dropping those pounds fast I've hit a plateau and I've had no weight loss in about 5-7 days. Regardless, I feel good. But I had a goal weight of 125 pounds by my birthday (less then 2 weeks away). I'm not sure that'll happen, but as long as I keep working out and eating healthy, I'll be happy with the progress I've made :)

---post edit thought. The braves play tonight - GO BRAVES. And oh boy, wouldn't it be delicious to enjoy one of these while watching them play: AMAZING BEER