Sloth.

Seriously in a phase of sloth in my life.  I haven't worked out in over a week. I haven't watched my food intake *at all.* It's birthday week for my daughter and I have been in crafting and food purgatory. The parade was Friday, which means my house is FULL of Tootsie Rolls and banana Laffy Taffy.... 

but I'm sick of it. I'm sick of myself! I am going to give myself through to slip and have treats, but come Sunday? I'm doing a short Whole30 before a quick road trip with my kiddos. I need to get back to the gym (that will probably not happen until Monday but I'm going to try to make it happen this week).  I have joined a few new fitness motivation groups, but I'm feeling all guilty because I just.don't.care this week. 

I still struggle with binging. And self image. And moderation. Ohhhhh moderation, you are SO elusive to me!! I thought my Whole30 would help, but it obviously hasn't. 

I have been intending to up my cardio work, with two races coming up in October, but I haven't yet. After we get home from our road trip, it's on! Cardio rat here I come. 

The week we return, my kids are both in summer camp. I am going to try - regardless of the weather! - to get running again. OUTSIDE. This fall, both kids will be in school on Tuesday and Thursday - I will have those days for long runs (oh Heavenly fall long runs!!).  I intend to PR in a SERIOUS way on these races! 

My plan is already to do another Whole30 for the month before the races. It's not a sustainable lifestyle for me, but I can definitely manage it for a month if it's going to get me that PR!! 

So for now, S-L-O-T-H. I am going to get back to it, I really am. This is NOT who I am (except for birthday party week :-)  I'll post about that on Monday because who DOESN'T need to see pictures of another Frozen party ;-) 

I DID IT!

I FINALLY finished the Jamie Eason plan!! (About 2 weeks ago, I've just been slacking on blogging :-) It was definitely an awesome plan!!!  It was intimidating to try things that I haven't done before (dead lifting and using the squat rack!) but it starts out easy (beginner level for sure) and works up.  I started spacing things out a bit at the end, the workouts got longer (1 1/2 hr and more) and I felt like I needed to take some days off to spend more time at home with my family.

I don't think I took before/after pictures, but I can DEFINITELY see an improvement! My favorite "result" - my TRICEP!  It's awesome now! :-)

So, I finished.  My running is in a weird place (I'm much more bulky than I used to be) so I will be spending the next few months focusing again on my cardio.  I am registered for the Halloween 10K and the Cowbell Half Marathon again in October and I am DEAD SET on PR'ing both of them!

Just proud to say I finished the whole program!!!

Here we go again!!!

I miss this chick...

 I have felt like COMPLETE crap since my Whole30 ended. I've posted a few times, I've wallowed a lot more than that. I feel like I have no willpower now.  I don't even track my food obsessively in MFP anymore - because Whole30 was SO freeing about not doing it.  But when you're eating cheese and crackers, pasta and drinking half and half - and let's not get started about the amount of alcohol I've been drinking - tracking becomes MUCH more important.

I miss the clear headedness. I miss waking up refreshed. I miss not having any sore joints. I FELT stronger. I FELT thinner/less bloated and my head felt clearer.

Almost everyday I wake up and think "I'm going to eat Whole30-like today" and I immediately break it when I pour half and half into my coffee. Or when I lick the knife I just used to make my daughter's peanut butter sandwich.  Then I figure, "I slashed one tire, let's take care of the other three!"

So instead of beating myself up, mentally then at the gym, physically. . . instead of feeling guilt and denial that my eating DOES affect my life -- I'm going to DO something about it. I'm learning the truth - you really CAN'T outrun a bad diet!!  I can burn 500 calories or more a day in a workout, but if I come home and drink beer, eat chips and gorge on pasta - I might as well have stayed home.

Tomorrow I will start a Whole14. Just two weeks, 14 days, of "Whole30" eating.  I will go back to the basics of it.  Then, maybe on the flip side when I remember how GOOD it feels and how I DO have the willpower -- maybe then I can stick with something MODERATE.

I have 10 workouts left in the Jamie Eason training.  I apparently don't know how to deadlift because I hurt my neck on Tuesday doing them. I was out of commission yesterday. I PROBABLY could have gone back today but we had other things for school to get done. Tomorrow, I will head back.  Once I'm done with this training I am so excited to start running again. Maybe I'll start using all of those interval running workouts I have pinned on Pinterest! And of course, after a 12 week lifting program, I will be continuing with my training.

But for tonight, I drink up. 

Crickets...

I know things have been quiet. With the end of school for my daughter, my husband changing jobs and a fairly serious injury by my son, I haven't been to the gym like I should. I haven't been eating like I should. I certainly feel like crap and I can't wait to feel better. 

As soon as I feel like I can get out from under this giant black cloud, I will be back. I hauled myself to the gym today for leg day, which is always my favorite, and I think I'll be able to get back into my groove soon! 

I can definitely tell a difference between now and Whole30.  And every morning I wake up and tell myself "I will eat Whole30 today!" and fail by my first cup of coffee with my delicious half and half.  If I could even just get back to eating MOSTLY vegetables at my meals it would be mostly better, but I just haven't felt it. It's been all about the comfort food! 

I will get back, I promise. I'm excited to start my running training, but I MUST complete the Jamie Eason LiveFit training first. I have 2 days left in week 10 (weeks 9 & 10 have taken me about a month to complete.....)  then onto weeks 11 and 12.  

Final Stats from Whole30

I learned today that PEAS aren't allowed on Whole30. I truly had NO idea. So if you're looking to do one, don't eat peas!  

Aside from the whole "no peas" thing,  we finished a successful (as far as we knew) Whole30! 

Here are my stats ! 

 I've had more energy, I have successfully weaned myself from an antidepressant and I feel stronger. I didn't have the amazing results I've seen around the forums and Whole30 sites, but to be honest, I didn't have a ton of weight to lose to get to goal. I hoped to get closer to my goal weight, but I can't turn my nose up at a 6.5 lb loss in a month. 

I think I've said it here before, we won't be paleo after this - it's just not sustainable to us. Unless we find that someone in our family reacts poorly to something during reintroduction, we will return to "clean eating." My husband and I agree that this is an excellent "reboot" and we will try to complete 2 Whole30's per year. 

I won't even go so far as to say everyone should do this. It's NOT for everyone. But if you feel that you need a good body reset, if you feel like you have inflammation or AI issues, if you feel like you need CONTROL of it for awhile - this is for you.  I didn't hit my goal weight. I didn't even lose as much as I hoped, but I also am a lot closer to my goal than someone coming from a SAD (standard American diet) because of the small changes we've gradually made over the years. It's been hard for me not to compare my results to ALL THE OTHER people who have completed a Whole30. "Why didn't I lose that much?" "Why didn't I get the tiger blood feeling?"  But I can't do that. I am not them. They are not ME! 

I can only go so far as to be proud of my 6.5 lbs, my 1.1% body fat loss, the teeeensy tiny abs I see in my "after" pictures. The fact that I am off an antidepressant I've been on for as long as I can remember. That I don't NEEEEEEED coffee to get me moving in the morning (in fact, most mornings lately, I FORGET to make a cup until around 10am!) 

It's completely embarrassing to put these pictures out publicly, but I am proud of where I am now. I admit, the fact that there are baby abs pushing through in the bottom left picture is a little addicting and I want to keep moving in that direction.  We are a few days out now and I've been adding in "prohibited" foods - I feel them. I have been more bloated-feeling and I miss the feeling of thinning out. I am going to try to start making a conscious effort to get back to tracking macros (without such a RIDICULOUS number for my protein!) and go back to a "clean" approach - with whole grains and lots of starchy carbs instead of processed stuff. 

I've missed a few days of the Jamie Eason plan - and I'm ok with it. It was getting to be a LOT of time spent at the gym, when I really needed to be spending more with my kiddos (you know, the reason I left my job?).  So I'm spacing out the workouts a little more. I am going to complete day 61 tomorrow, which is the 5th day of week 9. Today is technically the 2nd day of week 10, so I am only 4 days behind. 

I am going to start adding some running into the mix too. I registered for the Halloween 10K (fourth year in a row!) and the Mo' Cowbell Half again for this fall, so I need to get my butt in gear! I registered my expected finish time for the half to be 2:15!! 6 min shorter than my last! So I have a lot to prove - if only to myself. 

So as always, I finished up one thing and I'm on to the next. We will revisit the Whole30 concept again, hopefully a few times a year. If NOTHING else, it's a good reminder that I DO possess will power. I CAN control my eating, I can accomplish what I set out to do. 

Eeeeeek!!! Day **25**

I am in absolute disbelief that we are on day 25 already. And yet I feel like we've been doing this FOR.EV.ER

I can't wait to step on a scale (yes I will be going back to it!) and take my measurements. I will be doing a final write up when we're done (MONDAY!)

I haven't talked about it much but I'm still working through the Jamie Eason training plan!  Day 58 was today and this week has been KILLER so far!!  I am a day behind, and will probably start getting more behind in the next few weeks, as we have a bunch of commitments as school winds up for the year. But I'm not stressing about it, because I am staying with it. I refuse to give up this close to the end! (I'm midway through week 9, it's a 12 week program!)

I feel stronger and I feel like my arms and legs have thinned out. I can't wait to get my body fat measured again to see if there's a difference. It's honestly the ONLY true difference I can think I've experienced. I don't feel like I've lost any weight. I certainly don't feel allergy free - my entire family has the WORST allergy/cold symptoms right now! 

So just a few more days!!    Most excited? 

WINE. 

We will definitely be having a celebratory glass of wine Monday night!! Whoop whoop!

Week 3 - 3/4 done!

Sunday 

Day 15:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 2 cups of power greens, 2 homemade sausage patties

PreWO: handful of almonds

Lunch: Sweet potato & bacon hash. 

Dinner: Smoked brisket, curried cauliflower, sautéed asparagus, baked sweet potato.

Workout: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer day 48 - Back/rear delts

Total Time: 58 min

Total Calories Burned: 211 calories

Monday

Day 16:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 2 cups of power greens, 1/4 avocado, coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: 2 HB egg whites, some greens (not much), some plantain chips, a baby cucumber and a few olives. Was NOT feeling lunch today  

Dinner: Smoked brisket on power greens, broccoli, olives, carrots. Tessamae's balsamic. 

Workout: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer day 50 - arms, abs, cardio

Total Time: 72 min

Total Calories Burned: 465 calories

So emotional today. SO OVERLY EMOTIONAL!  I cried because I didn't know what to serve for dinner....   

Tuesday

Day 17:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 2 cups of power greens, 1/2 avocado, coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: 1 HB egg, carrot & cucumber sticks, some "best chicken you'll ever eat," and a few slices of orange. 

Dinner: Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps with avocado, tomato & celery. Green beans. Sweet potato fries.

Workout: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer day 51 - legs

Total Time: 60 min

Total Calories Burned: 284 calories

We went to a local children's museum today. They have a VERY nice restaurant attached, which I have always considered fairly healthy. I KNEW going in that we wouldn't be able to eat there, though. They are sandwiches/salads/soups.  The sandwich I usually get is a GF bread, roast beef, horseradish mayo and red onions/spinach.  I can't trust the roast beef, obviously could't eat the bread or mayo...   They have a "no outside food" policy but I just couldn't think of any one thing we could have eaten there. So I packed lunch, ready to defend my choice if someone asked. Thankfully, no one did, but it really opened my eyes to all the "healthy" things we used to think were great options that during this Whole30 just aren't possible. 

Wednesday: 

Day 18:

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 2 homemade sausage patties, mushrooms, poblano pepper scramble - 2 cups of power greens, 1/2 avocado, coffee with coconut milk  <-- My breakfast scramble was THE MOST disgusting thing I've ever tasted. And I found a ladybug wing on my lettuce (are they whole30?!?!) so I got super grossed out. Wound up eating 2 HB egg whites and a banana... I know, not enough, but I was over it!

Lunch: "Best chicken you'll ever eat" - about 2/3 of a breast, green beans, 1/2 plate covered in roasted broccoli, small handful of olives

Dinner: Eggplant sausage strata (BIG fail with everyone but me!), spaghetti squash, sauteed zucchini. 

Workout: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer day 52 - chest/abs/cardio 

Total Time: 78 min

Total Calories Burned: 429 calories

WHERE IS MY TIGER BLOOD?!

Thursday: 

Day 19:

Breakfast: 3 eggs,  2 cups of power greens, banana, coffee with coconut milk 

Lunch: Two hard boiled eggs made into "deviled eggs" by mixing the yolks with a whole grain mustard.  a few bites of brisket. 

Snack:  Almonds and dried pineapple.

Dinner: Well Fed carnitas, sage roasted acorn squash, roasted asparagus.

Workout: Forced rest day (sick kiddo at home)

Total Time: 0

Total Calories Burned: 0

Totally failed today as far as eating. Lunch just didn't sound good. I nibbled. A big no no, I know.  Hopefully back on track tomorrow 

Friday: 

Day 20:

Breakfast: 3 "green eggs and ham" muffins (prosciutto, spinach and eggs)

Lunch: Grass-fed hamburger with avocado, onion, tomato and a side of mixed greens.  (RESTAURANT! Yay!) 

PWO:  Almonds & HB egg white.

Dinner: Plantain nachos from Well Fed, sage roasted acorn squash. 

Workout: Jamie Eason Day 53 - Shoulders; then an 18.25 mile bike ride with my husband and son!

Total Time: 138 minutes

Total Calories Burned: 645 cals

Good Friday at church was maybe the biggest challenge yet!!  They did communion with 'real' bread (big fresh loaves of heavenly smelling wheat bread!!) and they had an "after party" with so many different desserts it was nuts.   My husband and I didn't take communion because we both knew it would have been more about the bread than the meaning.  We got the kids out with only a chunk of pineapple each (the FRUIT tray even had sugary dip!!), promising them that it was JUST as hard for mommy and daddy to walk away from the table as it was for them!! 

My kids are rock stars. <3 

Saturday: 

Day 21:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, a few slices of starfruit. Coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: sausage/eggplant strata, spaghetti squash, apple with almond butter.

Dinner: Grilled pork steak, veggie kebabs. 

Workout: Jamie Eason Day 54 - Legs; Jamie Eason Day 55 - Back

Total Time: 68 min

Total Calories Burned: 303 cals

I'm just ready to be done. That's all. 

Whole30 Days 4-7 Review

Whew! ONE WEEK done.

Day 4:

Breakfast: 2 egg muffins, 1/2 avocado, coffee with full fat coconut milk from a can, 2 cups super greens

Lunch: Chicken breast, super greens (probably 3 cups), Tessamae's balsamic vinaigrette, 1/2 tomato, 1 hard boiled egg & 10 dried apricots. 

Dinner: Spaghetti squash with marinara (Well Fed - the meat sauce w/o meat), 6-1Tbsp Italian meatballs, sautéed mushrooms and onions (sautéed in ghee and garlic)

One cup of coffee in the afternoon, one cup of tea at bedtime.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 38: Legs

Total Time: 42

Total Calories Burned: 245 cals

I was able to run my whole 5 min warmup at 7.0 on the treadmill!!  My leg workout was decent, but I was under a time crunch and cut a few of my very favorite moves. Boohoo! 

Day 5:

Breakfast: 4 eggs scrambled with 1 homemade sausage and 3/4 of a green pepper, 1/2 small sweet potato, 1 cup homemade apple/pear sauce, coffee with canned coconut milk. 

Lunch: 1/2 apple, almond butter, 5 small meatballs (leftover from last night's dinner), small handful of green olives, 2 cups of sugar snap peas, coffee with canned coconut milk

Dinner: Plantain Nachos from Well Fed (plantains baked, with a taco seasoned meat), topped with tomatoes and 1/4 avocado, cumin spiced baked carrots (Well Fed) and cilantro lime cauli-rice. 

One cup of tea at bedtime.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 39: Arms/Abs/Cardio

Total Time: 32

Total Calories Burned: haven't checked my Garmin, but I think it was around 150.

I skipped my cardio because I ran out of time before my son's swimming lessons. 

Strayed from all the greens today a bit. I started getting bored and bored on day 5 doesn't bode well for me making it all the way through! I still tried to keep the meal plan template. Dinner was probably a little starch/carb heavy but it was soooo delicious. 

 Day 6:

Breakfast: 4 eggs scrambled, 2 cups of greens, 1/2 avocado, coffee with canned coconut milk. 

PostWO: 3/4 small sweet potato, 2 slices spiced pork tenderloin

Lunch: 2 1/2 cups super greens (Actually called "power greens" at Costco), 1 HB egg, pork tenderloin, sugar snap peas, broccoli, Tessamae's balsamic 

Dinner: Homemade Italian sausage in a portobello mushroom cap with homemade marinara (from Well Fed), 1 cup green beans, 1 1/2 cups broccoli

Licked the spoon after giving my kiddos an almond butter snack!

One cup of tea at bedtime.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 40: Shoulders/Cardio

Total Time: 1:20

Total Calories Burned: 478

Soooooo bloated today. Could probably convince people I was 3 mos pg. 

Day 7:
 Breakfast: 1 medium cooked egg, sweet potato hash with bacon, pineapple, 1/2 avocado.

Lunch: Chicken breast, green olives, carrots, sugar snap peas, radishes, 1/2 apple, 2 Tbsp almond butter.

Dinner: 1/2lb burger, 1/2 tomato, 1/2 avocado, 1 cup green beans, 1 cup baked carrots, 1/2 cup butternut squash. 

One cup of decaf coffee at bedtime.

Workout: Rest day

Total Time:

Total Calories Burned:

I was sooooooooo crabby today. So extremely crabby!! Still feeling bloated today but not as bad. Trying to drink more water today.  

Week 1 Summary thoughts: I've been crabby but without real terrible physical side effects - no nausea, no headaches or stomach aches. The lightheadedness/dizziness has eased up and I've been able to get through my day without having any today.

I haven't been hungry between meals at all. I don't know if it's that I'm balancing correctly (fat/protein/carb) or if it's my weird psychosis about things I "can't eat" but it's wokring for me!  REALLY having to hold myself back from stepping on the scale, but I will continue to take weekly progress photos, so that kind of helps me in that respect.

In total, I call week 1 a success - with one MINOR issue. I feel like I have been spending THE WHOLE DAY in the kitchen!! Wake up, make a full breakfast for 4 people, send one to school, one to work. Unload dishwasher. Reload & run dishwasher. Clean the kitchen. Go to the gym. Come home, start a full LUNCH for 3 people. Have lunch. Clean up.  Start prepping dinner items around 3 depending on the recipe. Unload dishwasher, reload dishwasher. Start fully cooking around 4:15, cook until dinner at 5:30ish, eat. Clean up. Prep for tomorrow.

I had a HUGE prep day today - will post about that later this week, along with what my kids are eating! - and got a ton of stuff out of the way. I'm hoping to stay out of the kitchen more this week, especially with good weather coming our way!

Phase 2: Jamie Eason LiveFit Training

Tomorrow I start Phase 2. Biggest awesome for me?

  CARDIO!! 

My beloved cardio is coming back! I can't wait!

So far, doing well.  Still haven't started Whole30 - still researching, prepping. I ran out of half and half yesterday so I've decided to muddle through black coffee (with the occasional Vietnamese coffee or Starbucks coffee to get me through) beginning now. I've had a bit more wine than usual :-) I've been tapering my grains a lot.

I haven't decided where I'll end up when this Whole30 is over. I don't know that I can sustain the "Whole30" guidelines for the long term. I saw this image:

From THIS I feel Primal is do-able. I'd even get some white potatoes occasionally?? I don't know - I don't know if I will want to go back to it. I'm hoping not.  I do think we'll do some hybrid of clean eating and primal. If my kiddos' allergies are gone at the end of this (during SPRING!!) we'll leave milk out.  They have already told me they prefer almond milk, which is awesome. I will be attempting homemade almond milk coming up soon! 

I do have a food porn blog post coming up - as I said, I've been easing out my carbs and dairy to focus more on full plates of meat and veggies.  I have a co-op order coming in on Tuesday that will bulk up our veggies!! My order includes: 

Bananas

Red pears

Citrus pack

Roma tomatoes

Cantaloupe

Asparagus

Kale

Carrots

Cucumbers

Green beans

Cabbage 

Avocadoes 6ct

Potatoes: Sweet

Red cabbage

Baby Portabella Mushrooms

Carrots Jumbo

Brussel Sprouts

Tomatoes vine ripe

Lemons and Limes

Excited to try including some "new" things in our routines - cabbage being a big one!  I am going to start making sure to have tons of sweet potatoes around to use after my cardio workouts and lifting sessions. 

Any vegetables that aren't "common" that I should try that are favorites in your household (particularly with kiddos!!) ??? 

Meal Planning and workouts

I'm going through another food overhaul. Remember how I mentioned I need to clean up my eating in my last post? Well, I was about mid-way through reading It Starts With Food. Since finishing the book, I have decided my family will be doing a Whole30, starting as soon as I can find the nerve. :-)

I'm trying not to say "I want to wait until..." because there is ALWAYS something else. I want to wait until - after my mom's next visit, after our cheese is gone, after Easter, after 4th of July, after school starts - before you know it, it's September!  So I know I just need to do it now. Hopefully, we can do the Whole30 and discover exactly what makes us tick.  I don't want to live a life of extremes, but I do know that we all need a good reset.  Lots of junk (sugar, alcohol, grains) is plaguing my family right now. My son would be THRILLED if he could eat cereal, toast and a scone every morning for breakfast. His little heart is going to be broken at the lack of O's for awhile. But ya know what? He'll adapt.  He luckily also loves "eggies" so I know there will be LOTS of those on our menu.  He's good with veggies too!  The tough cookie with veggies will be my lovely daughter.  She is very good about eating whatever protein we give her, but veggies can sometimes be a fight. Lately, she's been a rockstar, so I'm hoping that awesome rockstar-ness continues.

Obviously I know I can't control every morsel in their (or even my hubby's!) mouths.  I am just trying to give them the best foundation I can.

Yesterday's leg day stats.

I am still working through the Jamie Eason plan. Leg day yesterday was KILLER. I haven't felt this much (good) pain in awhile!  Today was back/bicep and I am not feeling the pain yet, but I feel STRONGER.  The weather yesterday and today is unbelievable, so we've been outside nonstop. Little Guy and I went to the zoo yesterday and enjoyed the sun. Then we played kickball as a family after dinner!   Today, he and I went to the lake on a walk after the Y, then played outside until lunch. We're hanging out inside for a little rest, but will head outside shortly to watch for big sis to come home on the bus.  Then it will be MORE playing outside. :-) I love this weather (curses on the SNOW that is predicted for tomorrow!!)

Hoping to get my body fat tested tomorrow. Last time I had it checked, I was at 28% - Yikes!! Hoping Whole30 will help that aspect too.

All in all, I am feeling good. I spent our outside time perusing  Well Fed and Well Fed 2 for recipes. Most of them - mouthwatering. Truly excited to revolutionize our eating for awhile!!

Powering Through!

I had my pity party last Thursday.  I spent Friday with my kiddos. 

And just as I promised, I went to the gym and KILLED my shoulder workout on Saturday. 

Obviously the 75 calorie burn kind of dismays me, but I know I'm building muscle and burning more over the course of a day than if I wasn't focusing so much. 

Monday was chest/triceps and boy did it hurt my arm. But I powered through. I may look like a moron lifting 3lb dumbbells with my left arm and 25lb dumbbells with my right......  but I am DOING it!

 Biceps hurt a lot to lift with my arm still injured, but again, I lighten up more than I would normally and I make it through.  This one took me a long time yesterday. I was taking my full 45-60 second breaks between my sets to make sure I was giving my arm time to rest. I feel good today, though!

Leg day. Eternally my favorite. There is something that changed when I started running - I grew muscles in places in my legs that I didn't know muscles were supposed to exist! I remember finding one bulge in a place I'd never seen and asking my husband if it looked swollen. "No, honey, those are muscles!"   Huh. Interesting!    So basically, leg/calf day - ALWAYS my favorite. Starting next week, I will be adding a day of workout. You are supposed to add to what you lack, however I just want to do more leg work! 

So that brings me up through day 11.  Excited to power through the next few weeks and get to a place where I can legitimately add cardio (I snuck in a 5 min warmup - 1/2 mile - today!)  Proud of myself to keep it up, but definitely need to focus more on cleaning up my eating habits!

Pity Party for One Please!

Monday after tri/chest day, my arm felt AMAZING. 

Tuesday after bicep/back it was sore. 

Last night, it hurt so badly that it woke me up at 2:30am in stabbing throbbing pain. 

SO upset about how much it hurt.  Upside? I KILLED my leg workout today! 

Tonight I went to an injury clinic.  The doctor diagnosed me with --- dum dum duuuuuum....

a bruise. 

UUuuggghhhh....

Commence Pity Party: 

I feel like a total moron. But 10 days after my fall on ice, having pain that wakes me up at night scared me enough to send me to the doctor. Which I just don't do. I'm MOM. I don't have TIME for injury, but I also don't have time to irreparably break myself.   So I went.  And after the orthopedic surgeon on call at the clinic tested my arm in several ways, he determined that I have a bruise. 

"What do you do, work outside the home, stay home, part time?" 

"I stay home." 

"Are you involved in sports..?" 

"I lift weights and run."

Awkward silence. 

"I mean, I follow a training plan that is all lifting now." 

More awkward silence. 

I just feel stupid as a 32 year old stay at home mom saying "I follow a training plan."   Who am I to think I can do this?! How 

So tonight, I drink 2 whiskey sours and stew in my icks. 

Tomorrow, I spend the day with my baybees. 

Then Saturday, I kill it again at the gym. Since the doctor just said to be careful when lifting and ease into it.  Which I've been doing (hello, embarrassing 5lb weight lifting.)

I'm trying to be ok with how tonight went. Not to feel so stupid for going in for a bruise. Not to feel stupid for going to a clinic to get help. But it's going to take some time for me. 

Let's Try Again - Jamie Eason Day 1 - Tri/Chest

I did Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer, day 1, AGAIN today. 

My weights were drastically different. 

Doing flyes last week with 10lbs, 5 this week.  

Dumbbell bench presses with 15 last week, 7.5 this week.  

I feel like I could have pushed myself MORE but I also don't want to blow out my arm my first day back. 

And surprisingly, this afternoon, my arm feels BETTER.  

What kind of crazy business is this?! I haven't had the throbbing, dull, constant pain today that I've had for a week now. Who would have thought I NEEDED to lift to make it better?! 

So back to the grind. Day 2 tomorrow, Day 3 on Wednesday then I will have to sneak Day 4 in sometime either in the evening or this weekend, since my daughter is off school on Friday. 

So hurray for good news, finally! I'm working on getting my eating back in check after a desperately horrible food weekend.  

Tonight's dinner is my very favorite -  Tamari Honey Chicken with Broccoli & Almond Butter Sauce. 

Have you ever found that working out actually helped an injury for you?   Still so surprised at how today went!

Checking in.

Just a quick check in. I haven't worked out in a week. I've been waiting for my arm to heal before I attempt to get back to my lifting plan. I'm STILL waiting, but have decided a week off is well beyond what I can do right now. I'm itching to get back!

The pain isn't all the time. It strikes once in awhile, not constant and not a sharp pain when it is there. The most annoying part is that it's EVERYWHERE. It starts in my shoulder, goes behind my arm to my elbow, then down to my wrist, even onto my palm at times. FRUSTRATING but it is what it is.

Tomorrow I am going to go to the gym and CAREFULLY re-do Jamie Eason day 1, back/bicep workout.  I will definitely be using LIGHTER weights that the first time and stopping at the onset of any additional pain, but I cannot sit by and wait any longer!!

So hopefully tomorrow night I'll be able to update that I had an AMAZING workout and feel awesome, instead of feeling like a fat sloth like I have this past week!

Jamie Eason's LiveFit Training Program

After my colossal fitness failure two weeks ago, I sat down to do some serious thinking about what I want out of my workouts.   I love love my circuit classes, kickboxing and spinning, but I don't know that they are what I NEED right now.  My ultimate goal is to drop my body fat to about 20% and to get my weight back to around 153.

Some research led me to www.bodybuilding.com to find a workout plan.  I stumbled on Jamie Eason's LiveFit training program and figured I might as well give it a shot, it certainly seemed to work for her. :-)

I completed 3 of the 4 Week 1 Workouts already (day 4 will be tomorrow!) and so far? I feel awesome!  The hard part is that in phase 1 there is NO cardio!  SO brutal for me. So brutal that the first day, it took me 19 min to do the whole workout.....   and it was unthinkable to just LEAVE the gym, so I did my treadmill interval workout from the previous week, 4.17 miles. Oops.  Tuesday I was able to do the lifting and leave (23 min) and Thursday I did Day 3 (and spinning).  I think for where I am and what I want to accomplish, a little cardio during the plan won't hurt me.

Clean eating is a big part of this plan too.  I've been trying to stay as clean as I can. I'm working on bulking up my veggies and paring down my carbs.   Which reminds me ....


I had a discussion with one of the trainers (who runs) at the gym and told her about the high protein macros I was following. She told me that the way I work out, there is NO WAY 15% carbs would fuel my body the way I need to be fueled. She explained that is probably why I couldn't even hold a side plank by Friday a few weeks ago.  So I researched macros for runners and found a better balance at 45% carbs, 30% protein, 25% fat.  Those numbers have been a lot more realistic for me and my workouts have felt MUCH better!

I have a bunch of food porn pictures, but I'll save that for my next post! 

Do you have any phenomenal ways (that aren't smoothies) to get more green in your day?