Finished a complete Whole 30 a few weeks ago!  Dropped 10 lbs in the process and showed myself I can stick to a goal if I work hard enough for it.  A great thing about it was I chose to complete this while I was completely out of my normal routine--off from work and doing a play at night (so my habits were out of whack anyway, a great time to start some new, better habits).

I had my depression meds increased a bit.  I'm anxious about my child switching to a new school and about increasing demands at my job--I will need to keep a lot of plates spinning in the air, like most moms, right?  So after moping around for a day or two as I get ready to return to work, I laced up my sneakers and went out to do Couch to 5K, Week 1, Day 1.  I just decided I must take control of my mood.

Off to run Week 1, Day 2 now.

Whole 26 update

I am leaner & meaner.  I did a Whole 26 without gluten, alcohol, grains, soy, legumes, sugar, or dairy.  And I dropped 10 lbs.!  

Am I going to dietary h-e-double-hockeystick for making it a Whioe 26 instead if Whole 30?  I hope not, because a lot of good came of this month-long whole food fest:

1. Il dont need wine/pasta/bread daily to get through busy weeks.

2. Spaghetti squash is awesome!  Coffee is still awesome!

3.  Processed food and grains bring me down in every way--mood-wise, bloat-wise.

My pot belly is closer to gone, my pants fit more closer to fine...

Ok I feel a twinge of guilt for not pushing through it for 4 more days, but I never, ever thought I could eat clean for this long.  

My happiness project.  January was about food, real food.  In terms of taking over my happiness and well-being, what will February be about?  Music?  Exercise?  Reading?  Stay tuned...

Whole 30, Update Day 16

Just passed the halfway point of my first Whole 30.  I'm enjoying cooking on the weekends to stock up for the week.  January is a great month for this because things are a little slower (read: no soccer or baseball season) around here.  Some great resources are getting me through.  Well Fed w has been indispensable, as has It Starts with Food? And he website clothesmakethegirl. 

Here is what HAS passed my lips in the last two plus weeks:

Salad

Veggies

Meat

Nuts

Fruit

Eggs

Water

Black coffee

Selzer water

Herbal tea

Here is what has NOT passed my lips (as far as I know!):

Processed food

Soy

Dairy

Gluten

Added sugar

Grains

Legumes

Peanuts

I'm in a groove now.  The first week+ my brain was I a fog! it felt like I was a little tipsy!  But the fog cleared after Day 10.  We had an early dismissal here today due to the snow, and I was going to run up and take a cat nap, it was such a cozy, cold, gloomy day for it.  But when I came I to my bedroom to catch some zzzzz's, I looked around and realized the I wasn't tired.  This is new!  I've bee up for a good nap as much as anyone in the last few years...

So yes, 2 weeks to go from today.  The thing I miss most is ice cream, but I'm doing ok, not having crazy bad reams about ice cream that I can recall. This process is a healing if my body and my heart, I truly. believe that.  So I'll stick it out for two more weeks, since my husband is supportivea and since, as a nice side-effect my pants are getting looser!

See you on the other side.

New Year, Whole 30?

Can I do it?

I'm bloaty.  Tired.  Rushed.  Overstimulated and overtired from December.  Something has to give.

I did 10 days of Paleo last summer when I was not working FT.    My major concern (besides no grains or gluten) is my realistic ability to shop frequently, plan and prepare real food each day while working FT and running a Cub Scout den, starting to perform in a folk duo, and perform my daily minivan route to and from kid activities. I won't be able to just open a box of Hamburger Helper if I get short on time.   My Paleo trial last summer yielded some benefits, the biggest of which is that I still to this day drink my coffee black.  But it was a lot of food prep work as well.

So today, the first day I've had all December to finally reflect, I've just about decided to try it.  I'll want to set myself up for success from the get-go, so I'll need to precook things on the weekend so I can just grab & whip up during the week.  Sounds so doable now that I'm off for a week, but I'm nervous about getting it done when life returns to normal next week.  

I'd like to give it a try starting January 2, I'm about 95% decided to do it...

Paleo! Day 9

A series of fortunate events...

A few months ago, saw a post on FB asking, "So who's in for the Whole 9 30 Day Challenge?"  I checked it out, and when I saw everything that you couldn't eat, I chalked it up to a crackpot diet.  Who wants to eat like a caveman, he's extinct, give me more pasta!

But it got me thinking...

So at the tender age of 40-something, I've decided that I'm tired of:

-being tired all the time

-aches and pains--I actually have a sore hip, I feel like I'm twice my age

-higher-than-usual bp (still normal, but not my usual low-end-of-normal normal)

-muffin top.  It just appeared!  I never knew quite what that was then I saw it in my mirror a few months ago and then I understood what muffin top was:(

-this nagging, stubborn extra 15 lbs

-etc., etc.

I've toyed with the idea of reducing/eliminating gluten from my kids' diets for years because they are, um, exceptionally energetic.  They are addicted, I'm sure.  Then I started developing all these little nagging problems and it hit me perhaps I should eliminate it from MY diet first (physician heal thyself)!

Read the book Wheat Belly (http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373388149&sr=8-1&keywords=Wheat+belly) and things started to click.

Then came across the word "paleo" and was intrigued.  Stumbled upon http://www.marksdailyapple.com and paleo/primal seemed like a good idea but I didn't know how to start.

Fortuitously, I then received an email from http://www.savingdinner.com (a meal planning site) about their 30 Day Paleo Challenge, complete with 5 wks of menus, shopping lists.  In short I plunked down the US$15 to save myself some thinking--and so far so good!

I had a brief tummy ache and cold sweat experience on Day 4, but I chalked that up to eliminating all the processed stuff from my system.  

On Day 8 left for a quick getaway with the family and totally fell off the wagon few days.  But I'm back!

So I'm trying to make it all the way through one of my wacky challenges without bailing a week into it.  Since I paid US$15 for this one, I would really like to ride this out and see if eliminating ALL grains, soy, processed sugar and dairy makes a difference in how I feel.  

End of summer update

Here's the update.  Been a long time.

Had a horrendous end of the school year.  Terrible friction with higher ups, that is all I am brave enough to say.   Lost 5lbs from not eating (and I NEVER don't eat). 

But then yay, went to Hawaii with family, all on frequent flyer miles from a credit card deal (sign up for an airline card, get like 100,000 miles kind of deal).  

July - Came back from vacation, ran regularly for a solid month while working each day trying to reclaim our two "hoarders rooms" that have become the catch alls for my parents' house stuff (sold that three years ago), unopened birthday toys for kids, the land of misfit furniture, etc.  I managed to reclaim one room, a partial victory!  Got it painted and ready for one kid to move into!  Progress.

Had another significant disagreement with higher ups, faced it head on and went to them to talk about it, and this issue solved.  I think...  Optimism.

Decided not to try local tri.  And stopped running end of July once that decision was made.  And haven't really exercised since.  Went for a checkup and was also diagnosed with depression--started taking Zoloft in July as well.  Not sure if it's working/helping yet, but I'm willing to give it a go.   Husband has been very understanding through it all, I am blessed.

August - Went to Haiti on a mission trip to an orphanage.  Witnessed life changing poverty coupled with a mind-blowing faith in God.  It was hot as all get-out, but I have a feeling I will be going back, kids at the orphanage were orphaned by their terrible earthquake 2 1/2 years ago, and they are incredible kids.  Hurricane Isaac hit less than a week later and severely damaged the orphanage we stayed at.  Haiti cannot catch a break.  Really puts life in perspective.

Getting ready to head back to work.  Doing a play.  Getting kids on track, getting me on track.  Peace.

Spring...successes....failures....choices

I trained for a HM...and made it to 9.5 miles, then decided I was bailing on the HM.  Too many tummy troubles while running over 3 or 4 miles.

It's a bittersweet thing, to drop out a month before the HM.  On the one hand, I feel like a quitter, of course.  But on the other hand, a few positives emerged...
1.  I made working out a priority 3x/week for 3 solid months.  Didn't miss one run.  Cut one or two short due to having to pick up or drive a kid somewhere, but it just became understood that Tues & Thurs were "gym days" and that was going to happen.  I am grateful to my kids & husband for supporting me getting healthier, HM or not!
2.  I proved to myself that I can jog for a couple of miles non stop--I am a proud (and uninjured) Gallowalker, I practice running with scheduled walk breaks of a minute (proposed and taught by Olympic marathoner Jeff Galloway).  So I had sort of brainwashed myself that I could not even make it more than 5 or so minutes without a walk break.  Well, mind over matter--blew myself away in February when I ran for 30 minutes straight on a whim, just to see if I could do it.  So you know what?  This Gallowalking actually did build up my endurance!  30 min!  Learned something new and amazing about my what my tired, 40-something body can accomplish and how my mind affects it!
3.  I realized I don't have to prove anything to anyone but me.  A HM is not in my tummy's cards right now, ok.  Now I can seek out shorter races, maybe that local Tri a little voice in my head has whispered about each year when it said, "You should be doing this..."  Maybe a Muddy Buddy...  So new, shorter distance, more diverse opportunities are out there. 

I also entered a 30 Day Shred Challenge on FB.  Yes, again.   I can tolerate Jillian and her torturous ways for about 2 weeks then my ADD kicks in and I can't do it any more!  So I'll try that again.  As long as I am doing SOMETHING to exercise, that is a positive too, right?

Spring has sprung, optimism abounds.  I am blessed to have choices.