Doing another 30 days of strict paleo ala Whole30 guidelines. Figured it would do me some good to reflect on why in the world I would want to get back on that bronco and ride it into the sunset. (This post inspired me to do so: http://whole9life.com/2010/12/ten-things-i-learned-while-doing-the-whole30/).

1. I feel more energetic.


2. I have much better post-workout recovery.


3. I sleep better.


4. I don't need coffee (but I still like a little in the morning).


5. I like saving money. (Between eating out and buying pre-packaged food, I actually spend more than eating clean.)


6. I enjoy cooking.


7. I like the taste of real food. (So much processed food is way too salty!)


8. I feel satisfied when I eat Paleo - no constant hunger, no odd swings, just feel like my body gets what it needs.


9. I don't want to feel crappy just because I indulged in some chocolate/sugar thing. (Even though I so enjoy the taste of chocolate, the post consumption torrent of off balanced emotions and chemistry running through my body is so not worth it.)


10. I still have plenty of body fat to lose. (Though I'm going to do my absolute best in completely ignoring the scale this go around.)

I'm going for the strict 30 just because I know I do better when I don't give myself the wiggle room to cheat. I have a highly developed system for justifying cheats when I let my guard down. So much so that eating clean can easily become the exception rather than the rule. So ... back to strict for me. Also, even though carbs no longer have a huge hold on me, chocolate still does. It's like kryptonite for my will power.

Happy New Year to all of ya'll. Here's to our continued journey to health, wellness and killing WODs.

Moment of honesty

I'm thrilled to be 20 lbs of pure lard lighter. 5.6% lost my first go around at Paleo. Not bad right?

Two weeks ago several co-workers even remarked on noticeable weight loss. That felt great. Last week I started noticing more definition in my arms and was consistently using a new notch on my belt. Again, felt great.

I should be thrilled. But I'm not.

Why? Because I've been stuck at this weight for the last two weeks. Up a few pounds, down a few pounds, up again. I've been burning up grey matter trying to figure out what in the world I've been doing wrong. I've only had one cheat meal for crying out loud. Was it my not eating enough last week? Didn't have an appetite as I was sick and missed a few workouts. Was it my apple almost every day that I started adding into the rotation? Was it the fish oil I started taking or the colostrum that helps me fight off colds, but has a little soy in it? How have I been screwing this thing up? (Can you smell the smoke from my brain?)

Thankfully had a little chat with Sheena today as I was hitting the rower and determined to move some heavy stuff (you're a life saver woman!). Maybe my body is trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing and if it can survive on this stuff. Maybe I have more cortisol running through my body as I've had a few nights of little to no sleep due to hacking up a lung or two. Maybe it's the stress of trying to make some wise decisions lately.

Bottom line: I like how I feel when I eat Paleo. I like cooking this way. I like this life-style. So even if the next 20lbs don't melt away like the first, I need to keep going. My body will just have to adjust to my will on this one.

I read a great quote this week from a guy I really respect (and share a birthday with): "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will" (Mahatma Gandhi). I haven't reached my goal of cleaning and jerking 125 lbs yet. I still can't do a pull-up. I still need much work on my snatch ... but I'm focusing on what's ahead, and tackling whatever gets thrown at me in the WODs and OLY as best as I possibly can. I trust that this will bring progress, just as I trust eating Paleo is more beneficial than any other way I've eaten over the last few years. (As a side note, a friend doing Weight Watchers just told me that they changed their point system and made it much more beneficial to eat the way that I'm eating. Maybe they are catching on?)

So where does that leave me? Tonight I'm having a cheat meal. In fact, I'm just not gonna care what I put into my body today. Then I'm back on it, because I want to be back on it. For the holiday's I'm going to let my standards be a little looser and not be so strict at every meal. Not planning on going over board, but if a homemade desert is offered me ... I'm giving myself permission to enjoy it. But only if I really want it. If someone offers me something I don't think is worth it ... well, then it's on a different spectrum on the F*** Off scale, and I'm going to remain steady in refusing to be guilted into eating these deadly foods (http://whole9life.com/2010/12/the-healthy-f-off-scale-version-2-0/).

There is one more anchor I'm choosing to hold on to: "So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up" (Gal 6:9). This principle of sowing and reaping is one I've seen proven again and again my life and many others'. Living on a farm for a few years I became intimately acquainted with the fact that you don't sow and reap in the same season. Instant gratification rarely is worth it. This is one more reason to keep on keeping on. The harvest will come ... one day, I'll hit those goals. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but surely faster than if I went back to eating crap.



PS: I debated posting some pics, but don't want to cause anyone to hurl. I will say that the side shots actually do show how much belly fat I've lost ... and that makes me excited!

You are free to eat!

Monday I had my pre-planned, much anticipated first cheat meal of the challenge. I was looking forward to the office Christmas party at Los Napoles with greater and greater anticipation. The guacamole, chips, sauces, rice, beans ... cheesy enchiladas ... oh my. In my mind, this was going to be a huge feast. But I was battling a cold accompanied by a sore throat, so I almost didn't even go.

You guys ever seen Kung Fu Panda? There's this great scene where the Master is giving a sort of final lesson to his student, who happens to love food. The Master used that love of food to train the big Panda. In this scene, the Master tells the student he is "free to eat" ...



... but fights him every step of the way. By the time the Panda wins the last dumpling, he doesn't even want it anymore.

That's pretty much how I felt after my first and much anticipated cheat meal. It's not even that I felt horrible. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Normally I would have devoured the chips and guac. but after 5, I was done with that. In fact, the part I enjoyed the most was the steak fajita! Everything was much saltier than I remembered, which makes me wonder how much I consumed prior to the challenge. Even the almond flan sitting in front of me was no temptation after two bites.

My big worry was losing control after diving into a cheat, but it's been easy to get back on the wagon. In many ways I'm ready to end the challenge ... because for me, I'm free to eat.

Off week

I've felt somewhat off all week. Though I started with a great weight that brought me down to 21lbs lost ... two days later I was up 2 lbs. Only thing I can think of was a tea I had in the evenings. No sugar or even "sugar" in it, but had a "proprietary blend of herbs" in it. Felt crappy for two days. Feel like I'm fighting off a cold.

Last night was the first night I felt "deprived". Some friends and I hit the Christkindle market downtown and all the smells of my homeland were beckoning me. But I said "no". Still frustrated to not be down again though ...

But then today. Today was simply awesome. Love the peeps at Windy City. Such an encouraging bunch.

Hit 2 PRs in the snatch (my second and third attempt) ... felt like I could have lifted more. Also PRd on the clean and jerk. Again, left me feeling like I could have gone up. Watching other lifters was like a little workout as I would hold my breath as they were lifting. Love this stuff.

And yes Sheena and Meagles ... I would take the PRs over ... well you know. ;-).

If I can ...

If I can make it through breakfast, then I came it through lunch ...

Watched a flick about rowing the other day. Not sure I'd really recommend the flick, but what stuck out to me was the dedication to the training this one dude had. During several scenes you hear him tell himself, "If I can make it out of bed, then I can make it to the bathroom. If I can make it to the bathroom, then I can brush my teeth. If I can brush my teeth, then I can make it to the car ..." That's breaking down tasks in a way I can get. Sometimes the big picture overwhelms me. But breaking it down ... I can handle that.

I'm almost at the 30 day mark and feeling great. No major slip ups. Ended up having two wee bites of potatoes yesterday, but only because they were hanging on to the meatballs that were served. Today is a banquet I must attend ... that may be the hardest task yet. As silly as it sounds, I plan to bring my salad with me. Just had left-overs and since I'm helping I can't really eat right before ... I'm determined to go prepared. (Think my salad bowl is becoming legendary at school and work ;-).

Despite being at a part of the month that is usually heavier than others, I'm now 2 lbs away from my goal of loosing 20 lbs during this 30 days. Best of all, I am sleeping better, and still feel like I'm progressing in my workouts. My response to the common question posed by Robb Wolf, "How do you look, feel and perform?" is, respectively: a little better, awesome, and improving.

I'm seeing this as more of a life-style change than I really expected. Planning, shopping and cooking are almost second nature to me now. I'm enjoying the process, and the results aren't too bad either (my kitchen has not burned down, and nothing has been completely inedible).

Just wanted to add some cheer from a decreasingly fatty newbie who's deranged metabolism is getting better ;-).

Green Eggs and Ham

Super G turned me onto this recipe. Tried it tonight. Yum. Went without bacon because I eat it pretty much every morning ...

http://paleogirls.com/2010/11/12/green-eggs-and-ham/

I took a short cut and bought hard boiled eggs at TJs. Took less than 10 minutes to throw everything together. Which was great because I was starving after OLY tonight.

whole9 workshop?

Anyone else interested in attending this?

http://whole9tricities.eventbrite.com/?ref=ebtn

$100 for early bird registration (until 1/7/11, then it's $115). It's out in the burbs, St. Charles, on Saturday, January 22nd. Figure end of January is about when my motivation seems to taper off and I start slipping on my New Year's resolutions.

~anja~

3 Days ... just three days

So far things have been going well. Yesterday I hit a wall where I really should have eaten before OLY, but made it through OK. (OK = resisting the temptation to stuff my face into a large pizza, or even slipping [diving] face first into the pastries at Whole Foods ...)

Thankfully, I feel uber prepared for the conference/retreat I'm running tonight and tomorrow. However, knowing the menu, I am packing a cooler. Thankfully the place we are going to has a kitchen, so I can do some food prep on my own.

Thursday lunch - planning on grabbing a salad somewhere on the road. (Usually this is my twice a year stop a great burger joint on the way ... resistance is not futile!)
Thursday dinner - salad, chicken (packing some of the pre-cooked stuff from TJs), mushrooms, peppers

Friday breakfast - eggs / bacon
Friday lunch - salad, as above
Friday dinner - will probably go out with co-workers, this will be my first test of seeking to eat paleo out.

Saturday breakfast - eggs / bacon
Saturday lunch - salad on the road
Saturday dinner - will be back, think i will go with a hamburger (sans bun of course) ...

snacks: carrots and almond butter. yum. also some dried veggie chip things (only questionable ingredient was "dextrose", but think someone said that was ok???)
emergency snack: i made a choice and bought some Larabars (don't judge, I have had a trunk full of chocolate crap riding around with me the last two days. I will have to assemble into 55 little baggies to give away -- all the while resisting the temptation to dig in). It's a choice. Bite me.

Ok ... at least I have a plan.