26 January 2013

Feeling much better


I really felt horrible yesterday. Looking back at it, I can't believe how bad I felt. After calling in sick yesterday, I went back to bed and slept until 9am. I never sleep that late. NEVER!!!! So that was a giant red flag. Not only did I sleep until 9, I took a nap, and I was in bed by 8:30pm. Of course I was up this morning by 4:30am, but I was expecting that :)

I spent the day yesterday drinking water and eating real food. For lunch I had a giant hamburger with lettuce, tomato, and onion and some mayo that I had made. I had a pretty early dinner of chicken breast, sausage, veggies, and cauliflower rice all fried together. And I ate the whole thing and felt good. I woke this morning feeling a whole lot better then I did yesterday, so I'm pretty sure I got it figured out. I did not even go to Crossfit last night because I wasn't feeling it. Today it's back to normal with Crossfit at 9am.

I did step on the scale yesterday just for the heck of it and I saw a great number. 179.2. Yes!!! I broke through that 180 barrier. I have a goal of 170 by the time this challenge is over at the end of February. That's 9 pounds in 5 weeks. Totally doable. It was exciting to see that number.

Okay,I'm hungry, so I'm going to make breakfast and then it's off to Crossfit at 8:30am. Have to ride my bike there!!!

25 January 2013

Not enough food


I do this. I get into an eating routine and I slowly stop eating as much food as I need. I don't really notice it until I start to get all draggy and down. And that's what happened this week.

Last weekend I had a bit of a headcold. Nothing serious but I was sniffly and tired all weekend. By Monday I was feeling much better. When Tuesday rolled around and I headed back to school, I just wasn't feeling myself. I was still tired and really, really dragging. I put it down to the lingering effects of my slight head cold and just carried on. But it never really left me. I felt down and dragging all week. Also, it's been cold here and I have not been able to get warm for days. I woke this morning and said that's it, I'm staying home and kicking whatever the hell is bothering me. Since I don't really feel sick, it's more tired, I decided to try and figure out what's wrong. A clue came when I ate breakfast and it made no difference in the way I felt. Usually eating gives me a little jolt of energy. Today, nothing. That got me to thinking. So I just went to a calorie counter and entered my typical food for a day. I'm eating less than 1,000 calories a day. I did not do that on purpose. It is something that I do every so often, especially if I get sick. I have to force myself to eat and gradually I just eat less and less until I'm not eating enough. When I'm not eating enough I don't feel like me and I have no energy. Thankfully the problem is easily solved.

So I have the day off and will work on eating food. I'm going to force myself to walk to the store and pick up some things. Then I will make a big lunch with lots of meat and veggies. Sounds good already and my stomach is waking up. I love when I figure out what's going on.......

21 January 2013

It's not about the number


It's really not. On the whole, weight loss is not about the number on a scale. As I well know as both a scientist and a long time dieter, the number on the scale only represents your relationship with gravity at that particular moment in time. Move 2 feet to the left and it may change. Wait 5 minutes and it may change. So logically I know, it's not about the number at all. But it is hard not to get excited about a number. The number I saw today I have not seen in a long, long time, at least 3 years - possibly longer.

So let's focus on non-number things. This week I fit into pants that I have not worn in easily 3 years. I'm pretty sure i haven't worn them since we moved into this house. And it's not one pair, it's 3 different pairs. One of the pairs I hardly wore when they "fit" because I didn't like the way they fit. Not a problem now.

I'm feeling amazing. I have energy and want to do things and am just overall happy. I love the feeling of my stomach not sticking out but actually being able to suck it in. Nice.

I'm getting so much stronger. At Crossfit I'm doing things and pushing myself to new levels. Something I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to do again. That's an amazing feeling.

My arms have muscles. For the first time in forever, my arms do not look fat and flabby. They are starting to get shape and definition. It is an amazing thing to see. I love looking at and feeling my arms.

My whole attitude has changed. I am my normal positive, upbeat, generally happy self and I love it.

On Saturday I woke with a slight head cold. Instead of getting crazy and start pumping medicine, I decided to let it runs it's course. I'm eating well, probably the best I've ever eaten, and I'm working out. I knew my body could handle this. And it did. I woke up today feeling almost 100% normal.

So yeah, the number on the scale is not what it's about. But it sure was nice to see 180 this morning. 3 pounds down from last week. Yeah!!!!

20 January 2013

A small paleo rant


Before I start this, I need to make something very clear. I have not tried these and I have heard nothing but good things about them. I'm sure they are delicious and nutritious and all that good stuff.

One of the things I take-away from the whole Paleo diet thing, is the move away from processed packaged food. The way I see it, the whole thing is designed to get you to take control of what goes in your body by cooking and fixing it yourself. Yet, I'm seeing more and more of these types of things now. Packaged, pre-prepared Paleo food items. There is a line of Paleo dressings among other things. I don't have anything against packaged foods once in a while in an emergency, but to plan and make it part of your Paleo program?? I just think it goes against the whole premise of Paleo and it's defeating the purpose.

A little under the weather


I woke yesterday morning with a scratchy throat and some slight sinus pressure. Signs I might be getting sick. Bleh. In spite of that I went to Crossfit and gave as much as I could. Then I followed that up with a rings class and tried out some new and exciting things. The rings class was fun and I'm glad I went. I did things like skin the cat:


And the forward lever:


I did not do any of these things by myself, but with the help of spotters. It felt awesome and was definitely fun.

So what else happened this week? Well, I got accepted into a PhD program, I start in March. I got asked to speak at a Catholic Schools Conference. I started another Paleo challenge at a higher level and it's going great. And I think I even managed to teach my students some chemistry. So overall it was a pretty good week.

One thing that happened this week was in my mind. Jeez, that sounds weird. But when I started doing Crossfit and Paleo and I started losing weight, one thing I promised myself is that I would not look back and beat myself up. I would not bemoan the time I wasted and the mistakes I made. I would just look forward and keep moving forward. This week was really good and I actually fit into some pants that have not fit me for 3 years. And in some bizarre, twisted way that made me feel bad. I got to thinking about all the time I wasted and how I spent so much time just talking about it. Well, that pissed me off and I had to slap myself. I can't get back the time I wasted not taking care of myself, but I'll be damned if I'm going to waste more time being sad about it. So I shook myself off and put those thoughts behind me.

That was the first time I've really had those thoughts since starting this whole journey. Up until now I've been very positive and upbeat about the whole thing. This week was the first time a little bit of negativity has crept in and I didn't like it. I prefer the positive me.

So there you have it. My week in a nutshell and some minor navel gazing.

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...