The plateau is officially broken!  according to my unofficial weigh ins I'm already down 2.8 lbs this week.  Yay!

I have a chart where I track when I achieve a certain weight - a weight is achieved when I've been at or below that weight for three days in a row.  To give you an idea of how 'stuck' I've been - it took me 25 days to get from 212 to 210 - and it had taken me 16 days to get from 216 to 214 (I hit 212 and 214 on the same day)- so basically it took me 41 days to get from 216 to 210.  I'm all for 'slow and steady' weight loss but that's just ridiculous!

So, what's the difference?  Well, I've added cheese back into my diet.  For some reason, when I'm craving something sweet/snacky or whatever a piece of cheese seems to do it for me almost as well as a chunk of chocolate and it means I can grab something when I'm a little hungry that isn't nuts (and thus a little lower in calories).  At home I stick to grassfed hard cheeses. If you haven't already - you really should try the Kerry Gold products!

The other thing I did was made myself some daily goals.  It's been obvious that once I get to my goal weight I'll be able to eat by the general paleo/primal principles and stay healthy, happy and fit.  But when I'm trying to get my body to burn this fat I need to be a little more focused in my intake.  (I've always know this with other diets, but was hoping it wasn't true with paleo) So my goals are now, eat quality meat, cheese, fat and vegetable matter AND stay in ketosis.  What this has meant is I've told myself; no sweet potatoes just cause they are 'paleo'.  No Reese's "Big Cup" just cause it doesn't have wheat... and many other small but important decisions.  I've always known I was metabolically deranged - but this experiment this week has proven to me just how out of whack my system is.  "Just one" really does hurt.

This weekend will be interesting - Nigel and I are taking a trip down south so that we can take care of some 'official business' for his Mom.  Travel has always been a trigger for me.  I love to eat while driving or riding in the car.  8 hours in the car also usually means several stops at fat* fast food places - so earlier this week I started to work on a food strategy.  Now we have packed up and ready to go, almonds, cocoa roast almonds, pistachios, string cheese, roasted chicken (that I made last night), roasted pork loin (left over from last night) and about 16 hard boiled eggs.  Once we get to Nigel's Mom's house we'll just pop over the the grocery store and pick up some eggs and bacon and we'll probably be set.  My goal is to come back from this trip and weigh in Tuesday morning less then I did today.   And, I've got my keto strips with me to make sure I stay on track :D

PS:  my 5k is next weekend!  Please don't let it rain!

*Freudian Slip perhaps?

Was feeling good after my ride yesterday :) and since Rose always has such adorable pictures on her blog -- I wanted to join in too!

Today was ok - I hit the gym, did a weight workout (back and traps) my pull-up program and then left.

The bummer is that I was planning to go for a run tonight, but then my evening fell apart and that didn't happen.

Food was good though - eggs and sausage for breakfast, leftover meetza and cauliflower for lunch and chicken stir fry for dinner.

Best thing is that I think my weight is going in the right direction again - Yes, I believe we might have progress!  (The three week plateau was getting me down)

Jumped on my bike for the first time since August.  I took it easy, just trying to get my 'bike legs' back.  What was nice was that even taking it easy I managed to average just under 12 MPR.  12 MPR is kind of my 'default' speed so to be so close to that without trying is cool.

In the 41 minutes I went 8.16 Miles - the perfect first ride.

Food today was interesting.  I started with eggs (of course) and then later in the day I had a spinach, olive and marinated artichoke heart salad.

Dinner required a little creativity again.  I had pulled out chicken but it didn't defrost in time, so I went to my handy dandy stash of ground beef.  But, what to do with it?  Taco meat just wasn't hitting the spot and most other things required the meat be defrosted first, what to do?

I remembered an old recipe from my Atkins days that was going to scratch an itch I've had for a while -- Meetza! (recipe via the link).  It was yummy and perfect for a Sunday night. (and will be fabulous for lunch tomorrow)

Made it to the gym yesterday morning.  I was planning to try out a new gym because it had a swimming pool.  I arrived and was immediately concerned.  The place was HUGE and very 'fancy' looking.  When I checked in my concerns were confirmed.  My membership didn't cover this gym -- ah well.  They let me workout at the the place "just this once"  and I got my leg workout in at least.

Barbell Squats: 5 reps x 160lbs, 5 x 175, 8 x 185
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 5 x 125, 5 x 145, 10 x 155
Lying Hamstring Curl: 5 x 60, 5 x 70, 12 x 80

However, the workout wasn't without it's own issues.  My brain was so foggy that twice I tried to lift a bar that had different weights on each side... I felt like an idiot, but finished and built some muscle I'm sure.

Food for the day was a little odd.

I started the day with my normal cup of bacon and eggs.  For lunch I had an amazing salad of spinach, carrots, almonds, olives and some marinated artichoke hearts.

It was so pretty and good!

I

I had also brought a can of chicken breast so I ate that too.  Once I was done - I was stuffed and really not feeling that well.  That unwell feeling stuck with me the rest of the day.  Slightly nauseous and burping 'chicken' - bleh.  I didn't feel like any dinner and didn't eat any.

Today I woke up and hit the WW scale.  Same weight for the third week in a row - bleh again.

I came home and had some yummy eggs.  Later in the day I had a few pieces of a home made paleo "Candybar"  (cocoa, coconut oil, ground nuts and coconut flakes mixed together and stored in the fridge)  to satisfy my sweet tooth.

By afternoon I was ready to go for a run  so I grabbed my running partner once again

and we were off.

I strugged.  My legs hurt from my workout yesterday and I generally felt like doo.  I didn't know if I was going to finish the first mile, much less all 2.75.  But I kept on, telling myself 'just a little more'  and eventually, I finished!

2.75 miles in 35 minutes - 2 minutes faster the almost the same route on Wednesday.

Dinner - I had some chicken set out but wasn't sure what to do with it.  With a little creativity I managed to put together some amazing Orange Saffron Chicken (recipe via the link).

Official weigh-in. Exactly the same as last week. That's three weeks in a row! Stupid plateau

So, I'm back - like I said I would be :D

Eats for the day were clean!

I started with my standard breakfast of bacon and eggs, lunch was chicken curry from a few nights ago with a side of broccoli and coconut oil, and had a snack of hard boiled egg before driving home.

I was not happy when I left for my run. I had planned to leave work at 5:30 but got stopped by the receptionist. She had lost her keys and I stopped to help her look for them. So, after hanging at work 'til 6:10 then driving in traffic to make it home, then getting frustrated with my hubby (the closest we ever come to a fight), I was finally off for a run with the dog at 8:00PM. It wasn't easy. My shin started hurting, then my IT band, then my whole freaking leg. But I made it through the whole 2.75 miles.

2.75 miles - 37 minutes - 13:24 pace

Not blazing fast, but I've done worse.

Once I was home I grabbed a quick dinner of bacon and eggs with a little cheese on top (I know, twice in one day, but I needed something fast) and then sat around 'til bed time (now) recovering.

Total WW point for the day = 37 - right on track

Good news is, I'm in ketosis and I'm burning fat. I'm not hungry and I'm getting my workout in. Now to try and get some sleep.

'Night All!

If you didn't know already, my weight loss progress hasn't been what I had hoped. My nutrition hasn't been 100% clean and I've been feeling crappy and depressed. The scale has been bopping up and down and up and down, and even more scary has been the gradual trend UP when I look at weigh averages. Not what I'm going for.

Sooooo - I went back and took a look at Dec/January to see what I was doing when I was seeing losses and feeling better. It's pretty clear to me that the 'just one won't hurt' thing has got to be at least part of the reason. When I got sick mid January I 'allowed' myself a bit of a pity party nutritionally and things really haven't been the same since.

I was also blogging my food daily back then so I'm going to go back to doing that - it seems to keep me a bit more accountable. Probably boring to any who happen to read my blog, but hey, I gotta do what I gotta do.

On other fronts -- well --

Sleep was crap at the beginning of this week and it caught up with me yesterday. I ended up sleeping in and said 'to heck with it' and skipped the gym and worked from home.

Managed to oversleep this morning too, but I forced myself to go to the gym anyway and get in some kind of workout. Hit bis and tris.

barbell Curl: 5reps x 40 lbs, 5 x 45, 10 x 50
Triceps Press-Down: 5 x 50l, 5 x 55, 10 x 60
Alternated Dumbbell Curl: 5 x 15, 5 x 20, 10 x 25

Then I did my 20 pull-ups program - week 3, day 2

Sets of: 4, 5, 3, 3, 10 for a total of 25 (with 155 assist)

I've actually gotten to over 20 total! yay!

I've committed to myself that I'm going to do my run tonight when I get home. I need to get those miles in and I can't push it out anymore or I'll screw up the rest of my schedule.

So, expect to hear from me at the end of the day w/a run and a nutrition log!

Was up and in the gym early, again this morning.  I didn't sleep well for the second night in a row last night and I'm wondering if it has something to do with overconsumption of alcohol.  I'll have to go back and review some logs with that in mind.

Started out with my chest and calf workout.  Barbell bench press came up on the exercise list again and that makes me happy.  I injured myself once doing dumbbell presses so it always makes me nervous when I start to get to failure on that one.

Still finding this new workout routine to be really easy.  It's really strange to be lifting these lighter weights and not going to failure to every set.  I almost feel as if I'm not doing a 'real' workout.  I'm sure it's going to get a lot harder as I progress.

Bench Press: 85lbs x 5 reps, 105 x 5, 125 x 12
Incline Bench Press: 85 x 5, 105 x 5, 115 x 10
Assisted Chest Dip: 5, 5, 11 x 155 of assist
Calf Press: 190 x 5, 210 x 5, 230 x 10
Seated Calf Raises: 95 x 5, 115 x 5, 115 x 10

Then I went over and did Week 3 Day one of my 100 Pushup program.  That was NOT easy, and I didn't finish all the reps of every set.  Not being able to do push-ups makes me feel like such a girl!  My mind can't even begin to wrap around the thought of doing 100 in a row!

Reps: 10,8,7,7,8 = Total 40

After that I hopped on the stationary bike (not recumbent) plugged into a podrunner mix of 180BPM (so that it would make my ride 90RPM) selected the 'random hills' program on level 6 and went for it!  :D  ended up doing 8.8 miles in my 24 minute workout.  It was enough!  I had forgotten how many 'unused' muscles get used when you bike.  I was feeling it at the end.

Food has been spot on for two days now.  Made stir fry with grass fed beef tip steak for dinner last night and it was A-MAZE-ING!  So tender and good!  It was great to bring it in my lunch again today.

Now, I would just like to make a little progress - please?

Ate popcorn and drank too much Sangria last night.  Needless to say, that 5:00AM came way too soon :(

But, I got up anyway and made it to the gym.  Started my new weight training program - it felt way easy, which was a good thing since I was tired and still felt a little drunk :P

Lat Pull Down: 5reps x 90lbs, 5 x 105, 12 x 115
V Bar Pull Down: 5 x 90, 5 x 105, 10 x 115
Dead Lift: 5 x 75, 5 x 85, 11 x 95
Dumbbell Shoulder Shrug: 5 x 65, 5 x 70, 15 x 75

20 pull-ups:  Week 3, Day 1:  2,3,2,2,10 pulls-ups with 155lbs assistance

Then I went over to the treadmill and tried to roll through a few miles.  I had forgotten how boring it is to run on the treadmill at a steady speed.  I may have to figure out a better way to run in the future... Made it through 2 miles though and it took about 29 minutes so I was pretty happy with that.  Planning to be up to 2.75 miles before the end of the week.

Official weigh in today at WW - didn't gain and didn't lose.  Considering the up and down week I've had, I'm ok with that.

By the way - did you all know that cooking is dangerous?

Yeah

Last night I was cooking up some yummy stir fried chicken.

I wanted to give it a little kick, so I figured I'd add some fresh ginger to the mix.

Now, for those of you who don't know - ginger root looks like this.

it's tough, and fibrous, and not the easiest thing to work with.

Luckily I have this amazing kitchen tool called a microplaner.  It's like a grater only the 'bladed' portions are smaller and sharper.  Like, amazingly sharp.

So, I lean the microplaner against a plate, put the ginger against the blade and push really hard (cause remember that the ginger is really tough).  I manage to do this well about twice before the ginger slipped off the blade and I managed to slam my knuckles against the blades on the microplaner --- Yeah  I grated my hand....

So - who wants chicken??

Kilax asked about my upcoming races...

My two "Focus" races right now are:

Date	Race	Type
Feb 27th	LMJS - Couples Relay	5K Run/Relay
June 4th	Tri for fun - Rancho Seco - #1	Sprint - Tri

I'm keeping a list of all the races I'm hoping to do here

2011 Races

and as I complete them I'll update with results.

I look forward to sharing my journey with you!  Any questions - please feel free to drop me a line.

Oh! and if you want to know a little about how I eat - I'm throwing a few recipes on another blog here - Confessions of a Cooking Imbicil

Since I cannot WAIT to get back to working out next week, I'm going to post my training plan, just so I can look at and smile in anticipation....

Monday:
Wendler 5-3-1 - Week 1 -  Back and traps
20 Pullups - Week 3, Day 1
Run - 2.75 miles

Tuesday:
Wendler 5-3-1 - Week 1 -  Chest and Calves
100 Pushups - Week 3, Day 1
Bike - 24 minutes

Wednesday:
Wendler 5-3-1 - Week 1 - Biceps and Triceps

20 Pullups - Week 3, Day 2

Run - 2 miles

Thursday:

Wendler 5-3-1 - Week 1 -  Legs and Abs

100 Pushups - Week 3, Day 2

Swim - 20 minutes

Friday:

Wendler 5-3-1 - Week 1 - Shoulders and Forearms

20 Pullups - Week 3, Day 3

Run - 2.75 miles

Saturday:

100 Pushups - Week 3, Day 3

Bike - 40 minutes

Swim - 21 minutes

You might notice a few changes here (or maybe not - heh)

1)  I'm changing my weight training just a bit.  I've heard a lot about the 5-3-1 program and it looks fun.  Plus it's got De-Loading weeks programed in every 4th week, and I think I need that bit of rest.

2)  I'm running for distance.  I've come to the conclusion that I'm just too slow to run for time.  I've got to get a few more miles in before my race, so I've picked up the last few weeks of the Hal Higdom Novice 5K program so that I can push my endurance into that 3 Mile range before my 5K.

3)  I'm adding Biking and Swimming into the mix.  That's because I'm actually  16 weeks out from my first "A" Race Triathlon and that makes this week 1 of sprint training!  (EGADS!)  so I need to get back on the bike and in the pool.  I figured I'd split my bike training by doing 1 day on the trainer during the week, and on day out on the roads during the weekend.  The weekday ride will be pretty much to the minute with some alternating resistance to simulate hills and probably to Podrunner to work on my cadence.  The weekend ride will be minimum the number of minutes in my plan, and weather permitting, on the roads.  I plan to get in a short swim mid week, and then a longer one on the weekend.  The weekend swim may, or may not be as a brick with the bike ride, and the hope is to transition to more open water swimming as the weather gets better.  We'll see, I still haven't found a place to regularly hit the open water.

And, that's that! :D 

I think I'm back in Ketosis because yesterday I slowly, but steadily felt better during the day.

This morning I woke up groggy but not tired, and by the time I got to work I was bouncing with extra energy.  It's so nice to have 'me' back!

Positive thoughts are racing through my head and I can't wait to see what the day brings.  Whatever I'm doing now I need to keep doing, because I LOVE feeling this way :D

My tummy troubles have improved too.  Early yesterday the pain was at about an 8.  By the end of the day it was down to about a 3, and this morning?   I'm at about a 1.  I can live with that.

One thing I want to track though is what I did yesterday and see how it relates to my moods and most importantly my guts.  You all can skip this part if you like! :D

Pain level = 8-2
Energy level = 0-6
Calories = 2101 (Yeah, I enjoyed my dinner! two Bratwurst = 600 cals! wow!)
Fat = 136.7g - Carb = 72.5g - Prot = 135.7g  That's a 60/15/25% ratio - not too bad
Super Enzymes - 2 out of three meals (forgot at dinner, probably because I wasn't hurting as much)
Probiotics - check
Fish Oil - 2 out of 3 doses (forgot at breakfast)
Water - 1 Liter

I have to say, I am so excited about working out next week. I can not WAIT to get back into the gym!

The cliff notes version:

I'm still resting.

Still waking up tired.

My guts feel like crap and I'm about ready to do something drastic to try and get some relief.

I've gained 5 pounds since Saturday.

Pastured pork is awesomely good!

The longer version:


I fell asleep easily last night and slept until 6:30 this morning (when the alarm went off) and I'm still waking up, and worse STAYING, tired.  Even with caffeine I'm constantly dragging and sleepy throughout the day.  I actually feel worse this week NOT working out then I did last week when I was at least getting 45 minutes of exercise a day.  Still, I promised my body a solid week's rest so I'm sticking with it.  Although I hate getting up at 5:00 AM to do it, I'm looking forward to getting back into the gym next week.

My guts *sigh*.  Oh how I wish I could blame my issues on grains.  The sad thing is, I brought this on myself by not knowing any better.  You see, about 17 years ago I had a horrible gall bladder attack.  Something I know now was probably caused by a grain intolerance/autoimmune issue.  I listened to my Dr and had them yank out the offending organ.  After all, I don't really NEED it right?  Being young and stupid I listened to the medical community and did no research.  I just went in and did the deed thinking all my problems would be solved.  10 years ago I started getting level 10 gut pain.  It would hit without warning, leaving me doubled over and throwing up.  Problem was, by the time I would decide I should go to the Dr, the pain would be gone.  Trying to explain to a Dr that you WERE in pain and where it was and how it felt, when the pain itself is gone -- it's a lesson if futility.  After about a year of this I finally told myself that when it happened again, no matter the time I would go to the Dr and if they didn't believe how much pain I was in, throw-up on his shoes.

So, the pain hit, I hit the emergency and after a LOT of hemming and hawing, during which one Dr decided I just had gas...   I finally got a scan done and discovered that my appendix was leaking!  Well there was no consult at that point - within a few hours I was back under the knife.

So, you can imagine my fear and frustration when a few years later I started getting abdominal pain again.  This time I didn't mess around.  I was into the Dr and yelling at him to 'FIX THIS!'.  Only, I was told there was no fixing it.  One, or both of my abdominal surgeries had caused scar tissue that had wrapped around my intestines.  (called adhesions) I was looking at having surgery that had about a 25% chance of success to 'clip' the scar tissue, or just learning to live with/minimize the pain.  I, of course, chose the latter.

What's interesting is that the pain comes and goes.  I don't really know what causes it to start, or what makes it go away.  I just know that I've been dealing with a severe flair up since before the first of the year.  The best explanation I can find as to what is going on is

In most people, abdominal adhesions do not cause any symptoms. Adhesions that partially block the intestine from time to time can cause intermittent bouts of crampy abdominal pain.

Yeah, that about explains it.  Of course having a crap food binge on Monday didn't help my little digestive issue and as the week has progressed, the pain and general malease has gotten worse. So, what do I do?  The SAD diet doesn't help.  Paleo made things a little better, but not perfect.  I've been taking Super Enzymes and Probiotics and nothing seems to be making things relax.  Therefore, I'm seriously thinking about doing some kind of 'cleanse'.  I feel like I need to give my guts some kind of break so that I can get rid of this spasm and get 'moving' normally.

Anyway, enough of that crap - if I find something that works, I'll alert you all.

Tied into all of that though, as of today I'm up 5 pounds since Saturday.   The pizza I had on Monday lingers on...

However!  Last night we finally tried some of the pastured pork that we bought over the weekend.

From the website of the place we bought it (Baron's Meat & Poultry)...

Niman Ranch partners with Willis Farms in Iowa to raise non-confinement, all-natural pork. Niman Ranch is dedicated to ensuring that meat production does not impact the environment, so "factory farms" are not allowed in its protocols. Pigs are pastured and eat human quality feeds. The pork Baron's Meat & Poultry provides is sweet, juicy, and flavorful.

Yeah - "Sweet, juicy and flavorful" doesn't even begin to describe it.  It was so yummy!  My husband who swore he didn't like pork chops went back for seconds and asked when we could have these again.  If you have never had real free-living pork, I would challenge you to give it a try.  As with eggs, the difference may just be worth the extra cost.

Another great day - Had some eggs scrambled in lard for breakfast, a snack of a hard boiled egg. After that, I wasn't really hungry until dinner when I had some excellent meatballs, with a side of curry cauliflower. I'm about ready to have a bit of steamed veg before bed and that should do it for the day. 100% on plan.

Today I stuck to my training plan and took the day off.  As I sign I might be doing something right, I woke up at my normal time (5:00AM) without an alarm (figures).  But, I'm going to follow through and just take the entire week off anyway.

Although, I may have another (or additive) reason for how I've been feeling.  Because I've been struggling with seeing results on the scale, I started logging my food yesterday.  

Now, historically, I stop logging for two reasons.  

1 - I stop logging because I really don't want to acknowledge how out of control my eating is getting and I'm actually eating double what my body needs.

2 - I'm super focused, have my eye on the goal and think I'm following my plan but in actuality I've taken things too far the other way and I'm way under eating.

These past few weeks I've been in #2 mode.  At the end of the day yesterday, when I logged my food I had eaten just over 1000 calories.  Hmmm, I wonder why I have been so tired.

So, this week I'm getting back to logging my food, making sure I'm getting enough fuel in the tank and hopefully I can get back to working out regularly and seeing results.

Normally Mondays are good days for me.  I'm rested up from the weekend and I have no trouble getting up and doing what I need to do.

Yesterday?  It was a no go.  Even though I had got to bed at 10:00 I ended up sleeping until 8:00 AM.

This morning, I again was fighting to wake-up/get myself out of bed.  Soooo I decided to try something different.  I'm going to listen to my body and take a week off.  No weight lifting, no running... I'm going to do some stretching just so I don't lose the progress I've made on my back and shoulder issues, but otherwise, I'm taking a rest!

The timing isn't the best because I have a race in just 4 weeks, but I'll just have to take this as a lesson learned and program (and do) my back off weeks a little better next time.

I'm hoping that this shutdown week will help me feel better and get me back into training consistently.

On the food front -- well, yesterday I just lost it.  I was tired and frustrated and well you name it :D  took 'binge day'.  I had a bunch of crap food like cupcakes and pizza.  It actually felt good to relax for that little bit.  What worries me is not the off day, but getting focus back.  Amazingly, although the feast beast has risen his head a few times today, it's been really easy to tell him to 'shut up' and go back to eating on plan.  that's a big deal for me.  As to how I feel after my junk food fest.  Honestly, I wish I felt worse.  I'm tired today, but I've been tired every day for a week now.  My stomach feels fine.  My only noticeable change is that my hands and wrists are really swollen and achy.  But, it is a reaction I should acknowledge.  Yes, there is a part of me that wishes I would get 'bent over the bowl' sick when I ate crap food.  But I don't :(

So, this week I'm going to do a lot of sitting around and eating good clean food.  I'm not expecting to make a lot of progress.  I may not even lose any weight.  But, I need to realize that this is a journey, a process and if I want to make a change and make it last, then I have to be in the moment and be open to learning the lessons I need to learn.  I have always been an 'all or nothing' person.  I'm working out 6 days a week for 3 months, or doing nothing for 3 months.  I'm eating super strict 'on plan' or cleaning out the candy isle every day.  None of that works as my body shows.

I've paid lip service to 'life style changes' in the past.  It's time to really figure out what it will take to make myself healthy and happy for a LIFETIME.  There's not doubt in my mind that Paleo is a big part of that.  Just as I'm sure that my lifestyle will sometimes include pizza and cupcakes.  For now, my goal is to keep my pizza and cupcake days down to once a month.  To that end, I've told the feast beast that he can have whatever he wants Feb 28th.

My lifestyle will also include weight lifting.  Probably more weight lifting then cardio because that's what I love doing.  But it's also going to have to include some rest.  I'm pretty sure that I get afraid to rest not because I'm worried about loss of progress, but because I'm afraid that if I put the weight down, I'll never pick it up again. It's happened to me in the past.  Again, I need to find that balance.  I think planning the rest will help with that balance.  If I'm taking a day off because it's part of my training - if I wake up thinking "My plan today is to rest"  then I'm never 'off my plan'.  So, I'm never getting out of the the habit of thinking what my goal for the day is.

And so - this week I'm resting.  No matter how guilty or scared it makes me feel. Next week I start back again.  I'll finish up the current weight cycle and my race training and run my first race of the year on Feb 27th.  In the meanwhile I'm going to review my year long plan and tweak it to make sure I get these planned rest days into the program so I don't burn out again.