Monday, February 10, 2014

Drop 2 Sizes: Week 4

Hello everyone.  I hope the weekend was wonderful to you all.  Mine was very nice but definitely not long enough.

It never is.

Today marks day #1 of week 4 for my Drop 2 Sizes Challenge which means this is the last week of Phase 1 for me!

I'm doing ok with it.  I've missed a few workouts here and there but I'm still in the game.  I'm working out hard and doing my best to up my weights with each week that passes.  I can tell I'm getting stronger which is very encouraging.  I'm modifying moves less and less and I am able to push harder in the metabolic workouts.

Have I lost any inches?  Honestly, I have no idea.  I can definitely tell that my clothes fit better than they did January 2nd.  My tops look better on me and I've even had to start wearing a smaller bra (1 cup and band size smaller).  Oh and I've gone down a dress size.  So yes, clearly things are shrinking.  But pant sizes?

After a workout a little over a week ago I was feeling overly confident and grabbed 2 pairs of my "control" jeans to try on.  I think the adrenaline was still surging through my veins or something because I was positive my "goal" jeans were going to fit like a glove.

Yeah, they didn't.  In fact, I am almost positive they fit even worse then before I started.  Seriously, I couldn't get them off fast enough.  I'll be honest, it was deflating and a little heart breaking.  So I walked around my apartment and  came up with a list of reasons why this might have happened.  These were completely based on no basis of fact or reality but apparently it's what I needed to tell myself to not give up.

1.  My muscles were crazy swollen from lifting like the beast I am.
2.  I was retaining water due to my upcoming time of the month (this one ended up being true because I got it the next day).
3.  I tried on the wrong pair of jeans.
4.  My legs were really sweaty and that's why the fabric wouldn't pull up.
5.  The jeans shrunk.


I don't know.  I'm telling you this because this week is the week I'm supposed to do my jeans progress report and I don't want to do it.

I WILL do it because I need to know how I'm doing but I might put it off until the end of the week.  Rachel says in her book that either way, you need to put them on because they'll tell you how you're doing.  She says if you don't see a difference then you know you need to step it up.

It's like she is talking to me ;)


I do, in fact, need to step it up.  I feel completely ok with what I'm eating so I know I need to not be so accepting of skipping workouts.  So that's the goal for precious Week #4.  Do all of my workouts.

Wish me luck.

Today's Menu:
B:  Apple Cinnamon Almond Muffins
S:  Apple
L:  Baked Chicken with Broccoli Slaw
D:  Steak and Roasted Vegetables

Monday, February 3, 2014

Whole30 Round #2 Results

Happy February!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl yesterday.

I thought it was very uneventful.  Sad even.  It was like the Broncos collectively all had their worst game ever.  Like they were all drunk even.  It was weird.  Every time they showed Peyton close up you could tell from the look on his face that even he didn't know what was going on.

Like it was voodoo witch craft or something.  I was hoping for an exciting, close game so I was very disappointed to say the least.

You know what I was not disappointed in?  My Whole30.

January 31st marked my 30th day.  So that means this past Saturday was my first "normal" Saturday in this fine year of 2014.  And you know what I ate?

Rice.  Yeah, that's it.  I had some rice.  I had some yellow curry and instead of forgoing the magic grain, I decided to go crazy and eat some for dinner.  And that was the only naughty thing I ate for Saturday.  It didn't affect me that much.  I was a little more full than usual and I remember feeling sleepy (because I was so full) but other than that, it wasn't a big deal.

And then came Sunday.  And not just any Sunday.  SUPER BOWL SUNDAY.  We went to a friend's house for the big event and as you can imagine there was food everywhere.  And you know what I ate?

Some smoked pork, carrots, pea pods, broccoli, grape tomatoes, and fruit salad.  Oh yeah, I also had a small dollop of dip from the veggie tray.  And that's it.  And you know what?  I did it without thinking.  Well, that's not quite true.  I remember standing at the food table, surveying all my choices and as I looked at each food my brain automatically labeled it as a yes or no.  And then I took all the yes items.  And I did not feel like I missed out on anything. 

This is so different then my first Whole30 last year.  Do you know what I ate after I finished that Whole30?  I ate everything.  No lie.  I remember just feeling like I needed to eat everything.  I believe McDonald's and pizza rolls both played a vital role that time.

So what made this time different?  I have no idea.  It could be that I'm getting married later this year and I'm very motivated by that event.  It could be that I'm sick of feeling sick when I eat certain food.  It could also be something as simple as allowing white potatoes during my Whole30.  Or what I'm hoping it could be is that I do enjoy this lifestyle.  It's hard but I honestly do enjoy it.

All I know is that it's February and my menu for the week is very paleo indeed.  I'm definitely not sticking to the strict rules of the Whole30 because like they said in their book:
It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways

This isn't a way to eat 365 days out of the year.  And I totally agree with that.  There is no way I could personally sustain a Whole30 for longer than 30 days.  Heck, I technically didn't even do a "real" Whole30 because of the allowance of potatoes but I don't care.  The last 30 days apparently worked for me and I'm ecstatic. 

I lost 7.4 pounds.  As for pics and measurements, those coincide more with my Drop 2 Sizes challenge so I'll post those further along.  I kind of didn't care about the physical outcome (meaning weight and measurements) with my Whole30.  I did it to get myself back on track after the holidays and I feel like I was 100% successful on that front.

So what now?

I guess I'm transitioning into a paleo/primal thing but I don't want to label it either way.  I'll continue to leave grains out for the majority of the time.  If I do eat them, you can bet they will absolutely be gluten free.  I definitely will keep refined sugar out.  There are too many great alternatives out there not to.  As far as legumes.  I'm not too diligent about that one.  I'm not a big bean or peanut butter person to begin with.  I bought sunflower butter last week and I believe that might be my replacement for the rare times I want peanut butter.  And the only time I really eat beans is with chili.   And I make that maybe once or twice a year during the cold months.  So I'm really just not going to sweat it.  And then there is dairy.  My fiance does not do well with dairy so I'll leave that out when I cook.  As for me, since he's not eating it that will pretty much mean I'm not since I cook for the both of us.  And I have no problem with that.

This week I'll have at some point: tomato soup, a big salad to which I'll add meat, beef stir fry with vegetables, apple cinnamon muffins made with almond flour and the inevitable scrambled eggs.  Man, I love some good scrambled eggs.

I also will drink my coffee with unsweetened almond milk which I like just fine.  And beef jerky will make an appearance in the snack department as will an apple or 2.


And I'll just take each day and food choice one day at a time.







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30 Days to ... by JH is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.