Off-Roading

I may be more proud of today than of any day on my two W30s and my W45 :)

In my entire time of dieting (roughly 15+ years), my periods of weight loss have been followed by periods of bingeing, when I let things completely spin out of control. And this isn't just with food - I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person with work, exercise, relationships, and eating. I don't do well with moderation, but I'd love nothing more than some moderation in my life. Well, today I took my first steps toward moderation.

After my morning run, I jumped on the scale and recorded my progress. YES!! Then I ran off to a restorative yoga class with a cup of coffee with cream & sugar in my hand. Normally, this would then lead into a full day of sugar, pizza, junk food, etc... which would then turn into a week or two off plan. Because I enjoy the structure and the way I feel on W30, I'd then go another 30 days, then repeat the cycle all over again.

Instead, I came home after yoga, ate the leftover pork-butternut squash-apple hash in my fridge with some avocado and W30-compliant hot sauce. I little while later, I went off to my shift at the yoga studio, did 50 minutes of heated vinyasa yoga, then came home for lunch - a couple Applegate Farms hot dogs and a green juice (kale, spinach, romaine, cucumber, celery, lemon, apple) from the local vegan juice bar. I lounged around this afternoon, ran to the grocery store to pick up food to make compliant meals, then cooked a steak with coffee-mocha spice rub, sautéed mushrooms (in ghee), and half a sweet potato mashed with sour cream. For dessert, I had some ice cream - not because I'm bingeing but because I'm testing how my body reacts to dairy after 45 days without (and if I'm going to test dairy, I'm going to test it with stuff I'd eat).  Other than the addition of dairy, this was a pretty typical Saturday for me on plan.

And my reward for completing a W45?  A beautiful new lululemon yoga mat. Not a pizza. Not a bag of Swedish fish. Not a bottle of wine. And definitely not an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's (but a serving - yes, it's possible to eat just one!). Instead, I gave myself a promise to continue down this path to health and wellness and yes, maybe even moderation.

Self-Evaluation of Goals

Here are the goals I set on January 1st and my self-evaluation:

Nutrition - I will complete the full 10+-day reintroduction schedule after completing this Whole 30.  [Although I've had a comprehensive blood panel for food sensitivities, I'd like to experiment on myself to see how my body reacts to reintroducing dairy, gluten, non-gluten grains, and legumes, as well as eggs and yeast.]

Tough to evaluate, since I haven't done the reintroduction schedule.  I'm still deliberating about this, and this may be a drawback of going 45 days instead of 30.  I'm a little burned out right now.  We'll see what tomorrow looks like.

Active Recovery - I will practice yoga at least three days a week, including one restorative practice.

Hit this one!  I've been on my mat at least three days a week, and I think I only had one week where I didn't get to a restorative class.  Moving closer to my half-marathon, I see a whole lot more yoga in my future, and with vacation this week, I'm going to finally go to the Deep Stretch class I've been eyeing!

Exercise - I'm thinking bigger than W30 here, more like 2013 goals:

1.  I will complete the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon on March 16th, preferably under 2:30.

2.  I will complete the Polar Bear Triathlon on May 4th in 1:40.

3.  I will complete the Tri for a Cure on July 21st in 1:45 (that is, if I win a spot in the lottery at the end of the month!)

4.  If I remain injury-free through the half-marathon and the Polar Bear tri, I will register for an Olympic triathlon.  I've got my eye on the Lobsterman Tri - 1-mile swim, 25-mile bike, 6.2-mile run - on Sept 14th, and my only goal would be to finish.

I'll get back to you on this ;)  For real, though, even with my nagging calf injury, I'm still on pace to complete the half-marathon on March 16th.  I'm hoping that a few more weeks of treatment with my new chiropractor make the training a little easier.

I'm not setting a SMART goal for sleep, but.... The Whole 9 encourages an absolutely dark sleeping space, which I tried during my September W30.  OMG!!  Who knew how much light my alarm clock gives off?!?!  I'm continuing to keep things as dark as possible and am trying to somehow keep ambient light from my living room out of my bedroom.

In addition to turning off the alarm clock light, I've added black-out shades in my bedroom and started pulling the bathroom door closed at night to cut down on ambient light.  The only other source of light comes in from my living room windows through the bedroom doorway, where there is no actual door, so I open my closet door to cut out as much light as possible.  

And??  I have been sleeping like I'm dead.  I pass out on my couch, sleep solidly at night and bound out of bed in the morning ready to attack the day.  Honest to God!  Except for the morning after bowling night.... even without drinking, I want to stay in bed until 8am.  

In addition, my skin is clear, my nails look awesome, and my immune system is firing on all cylinders.  I got a little bit of a cold during the blizzard.  It disappeared without me ever getting a sinus infection, bronchitis or even a headache.  I was sniffly for two days, then it disappeared.  I also woke up yesterday with a cold sore :(  I immediately doused it in the miracle cold sore cream I picked up in Argentina - great story there! - and it would normally be a disgusting eye sore and incredibly painful, causing me to want to hibernate for the next 5-7 days.  Nope!

And last but not least, here are the numbers:

I lost 12.6 pounds (possibly more - going to check weight again when I'm not retaining water) and a mind-blowing 5.5% body fat!!  This has me down 37 pounds since June - the lightest and leanest I've been in at least 8 years.  So happy :)

Day 45 - The End of Days

It's here!  It's here!  Some highlights of Day 45:

• Kicked off the am with a shift at the yoga studio.  Namaste.
• Seriously tested my Lenten resolution to quit complaining at a before-school meeting.  Worked on changing my attitude instead - easier said than done.
• Made it through the last day of school before February vacation without screaming at anyone or threatening any bodily harm.   
• Had a student stick a one-pound bag of Swedish fish (probably my favorite candy ever) in my face and offer me some.  I scoffed at those fish.
• Bowled for two hours.  I'm a degenerate bowler, apparently.
• Had an 8-year-old give me finger pistols at the bowling alley.  Hilarious!
• Feasted on lobster for dinner to celebrate the end of my Whole45

Breakfast - Pork, Butternut Squash & Apple Hash, Pomelo
Lunch - Sirloin w Fig-Pistachio Butter, Mashed Golden Cauliflower
Dinner - Lobster w Ghee, Garden Salad

100 Ingredient Challenge

At the beginning of my Whole 30, I posted the following:

Toward the end of my first W30, someone posted "Oh my God, what DO you eat?" on the W30 forum:

http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/3506-oh-my-god-what-do-you-eat/page__fromsearch__1

Which then inspired me to keep track of the different ingredients I was using, which in turn inspired me to try new things.  Pretty cool!  I used 112 different ingredients during my Oct/Nov W30, and I've got a running of a total of 131 ingredients that I've used so far.  I'll definitely continue doing this for W30#3!

I ended up with 150 different ingredients in my Whole 45 - more than my previous two W30s combined.  I'm most excited with the 60 different vegetables that I worked into my diet this time around.   And this gives me a grand total of 207 different ingredients since I started working with Whole 9.

You can check out my lists here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3SEPKsx-RXbaElORGV1WEF2MXM/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3SEPKsx-RXbdnZEaTBISm9LbUk/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3SEPKsx-RXbT1JvV2p2ZHlDSkU/edit

Day 44 Log

Day 44 :)

I kicked off my day with 3.1 miles in balmy 40 degree weather - definitely did not need my UnderArmour this morning.  My calf is still a little wonky so I'm babying the hills, but my time was pretty good (about 30 seconds off my recent best 5K time).

I was showered with love at school today <3 This includes a chocolate rose which hasn't tempted me once (but I might save for the weekend) and the greatest Valentine's Day card I've ever received.  High school kids are hilarious, and this is the major reason why I love my job!

I finished off the day with a double-red donation at the Red Cross for SheJAMS, then ran home to make this Sirloin w Fig-Pistachio Butter (with a few modifications) - http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2013/01/27/sous-vide-moroccan-sirloin-w-fig-pistachio-butter/
I don't sous-vide, so I pan-seared the steak, then finished it in the oven.  And I passed on the Moroccan spice and Sweet Potato Home-Fries, but kept the butter.  OMG!  Heaven.

Breakfast - Pork, Butternut Squash & Apple Hash w Hot Sauce
Lunch - Butternut Squash Lasagna, Garden Salad, Strawberries
Dinner - Sirloin w Fig-Pistachio Butter, Mashed Golden Cauliflower

Day 43 Log

Run didn't happen this morning - my wagon was dragging from last night, so I slept in.  Tomorrow morning I'll be ready to rock a 3-mile run!  And the early morning runs are getting a little easier as I get a little more sunrise each morning :)

After school, I hit the bowling alley for some practice - most consistent yet.  Why can't I do that on league night?!?   I had to head home to prep for this week's caveman lunch:  http://www.health-bent.com/beef/paleo-butternut-squash-lasagna The fellas will be psyched, for sure!

I'm scheduled to do a double-red donation for a blood drive tomorrow.  I completely prefer giving two pints since they replace your fluids at the same time.  But, you need to have higher-than-normal iron levels, so I usually load up on clams, oysters, and leafy greens.  I haven't done anything different this week - kind of interested to see how my iron is.

Breakfast - Italian Sausage w Tomato Sauce, Spinach Salad w Blackberries
Lunch - Smoked Paprika Chicken Thigh, Roasted Kabocha Squash, Blood Oranges
Dinner - Butternut Squash Lasagna, Spinach Salad w Figs & Avocado

Day 42 Log

Day 42 :) I'm dreaming about a cup of coffee w cream & sugar on Saturday....

I went to see Casey today and am optimistic that she's going to be able to work things out with my legs.  Apparently my hips/pelvis are all out of sorts, and I feel like we got a lot accomplished in an hour.  She okayed running, so I'll give it another go tomorrow.  Fingers crossed!!

We also had an amazing night of bowling!! Can't wait for next Tuesday night & finally being able to tip a few back with my team - woohoo!

Breakfast - Italian Sausage w Tomato Sauce, Spinach Salad w Blackberries
Lunch - Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs, Roasted Kabocha Squash, Green Beans
Snack - Apple w Pecan Butter
Dinner - Roast Pork, Oven Roasted Parsnips