Before and After: One Year of Changes

I was searching for a photo on my computer recently and had a “WOW” moment. Do you ever have those moments?

Mine gave me surprise and pride flooding together.

There’s a handy feature of IPhoto that allows you to view your photos from the last 12 months. I scanned back to the beginning of that filtered view of my pictures, then flipped back to the present day. I had two revelations:

Revelation #1: I don’t have a lot of pictures of myself from last year. I was uncomfortable with my body and my weight, and if there’s a picture with me in it, guaranteed I’m hiding behind a kid. Or wearing the same cardigan that I could wrap around my body to hide.

Revelation #2: I am headed into 2014 without the goal of losing weight. And I can’t remember when that has ever happened before.

I have this really awesome neighbor who has been coordinating a January 1 weight loss/fitness challenge every year. People ante up $25 and the person with the highest percentage of weight loss wins the pot. I joined (again) last year, determined to lose the baby (and stress) weight. I took these photos on December 30, 2012 to submit to Dietbet for a simultaneous contest that I joined with other friends.

Yes, I wanted the extra accountability and I paid money to two different contests. It worked for me. And holy cow, I can’t believe I just posted those pictures on the internet.

I wasn’t sucking it in and I never thought anyone but the organizers at Dietbet would see them. But I decided to share today in case the Before/After thing inspires someone. I used to seek those out and get motivated.

2012 had been a really tough year. I had gone back to work after a relatively short maternity leave, and jumped right back in to some big projects that included a lot of international travel, some while still nursing and pumping for the baby. We had my daughter’s second surgery for lipofibromatosis, but this meant looking for a doctor out of state where she would be treated since it was so rare (less than 100 cases documented worldwide).

I didn’t win the pot of my neighbor’s challenge, but I did lose my 4% for the diet bet and I was on a roll. I then started training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in April and kept rolling off the pounds through the duathlon and triathlon. I tracked my food on My Fitness Pal, but used a lot of the Weight Watchers principles that I learned a few years ago for the how-to. And then I did the Whole30 challenge to break some bad habits and sugar addiction, and I lost a few more pounds that I have kept off.

But mostly? I ran. I biked. I swam. I lifted (light) weights. I did Pilates and barre. And I made fitness a part of my daily life, my weekly life.

So here’s the “After”, 30 pounds later this year:

I am not in search of a “perfect” body – I don’t think there is one. Everyone is shaped differently, and everyone’s body tells a different story. My body’s story would read like a PTSD trauma tale from having three gigantic babies. 

I’m just in search of the best me that I can be, the fittest me, the healthiest me. The happiest me.

You see, the “Me” in my head before always thought she could do anything, she envisioned herself doing big endurance events like Ironman. She had dreams of climbing mountains and scaling rock walls. And now I’m bringing the physical me up to snuff to match her.

It feels good to be able to focus on other goals for 2014 – maintaining my weight, improving my fitness and endurance, working on my running/biking/swimming speed and form, and trying new things.

Bring it on, 2014!

Do you have a weight loss goal for 2014? Or a weight loss success from 2013? Tell me in the comments!

 

Friday Five: Low Heart Rate, Low Weight, and Low Tires

It’s Friday! Let’s all jump up and down with excitement. Wait, nobody else is jumping up and down? Just me? Okay then. I’ve had the fun of linking up with Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC and Mar from Mar on the Run the past few Fridays, and we’re going to keep going with it – so if you do a Friday Five of some variety, link on up!

You can link up here:

They are both super coordinated and have posts up with tips about Racecations and out of town race necessities. I’m totally random again this week, but my sort-of theme is LOW.

1. Low Heart Rate = Low Intensity Exercise. This is a big #1 today, and I will write about it in its own post when I know more. But basically the deal is that I’ve been mandated to only do low-impact, low-intensity exercise this week, no more than 25-30 minutes at a time. It came to my attention that I had a very low heart rate during a recent blood pressure check, and I was urged to see my doctor. So I did, and it was still low. I had blood work and a thyroid ultrasound this week – all came out normal. So I am to see a cardiologist on Monday to be evaluated. This is fairly new for me – a scan of previous heart rates were all in the normal (60+) range. It’s in the 40’s. I know athletes can have lower heart rates so hopefully it’s just because I’ve gotten in such great shape in the past several months, lost a bunch of weight, and my body is healthy. Let’s hope for that!

But what it means is I haven’t been running, been on the new bike trainer, or done anything at all since the weekend. I meant to do yoga or walking, but have been having trouble getting motivated for low intensity exercise with everything else I have going on.

2. Whole30 Is Done! – I finished up the Whole30 this week, and have been re-introducing foods into my diet. I found it hard to be so restrictive while on Whole30, but I’m hoping to keep the clean, fresh eating principles as the basis for my diet, but not have to stress about having added oils, butter, and other things that are prohibited any more. I will write a wrap up of the experience with my favorite go-tos for being busy and on Whole30. So far, no issues re-introing foods, unless a migraine on Wednesday was related to something I ate, but I’m doing this slowly and with wholesome foods (homemade bread to reintroduce grains, for example). Except for one croissant at work yesterday, which totally wasn’t worth it. A good lesson in and of itself.

3. Low Scale Number – It is truly a thrill to have the middle number on the scale go down. On Saturday, I found my weight had a “3” in the middle. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “3” there in my entire adult life (maybe in high school or college?). I know that the scale isn’t the whole picture on health and fitness, but it sure was nice to see all my hard work exercise and diet-wise reflected. My goal weight was 147, then 145, and I’ve surpassed it – and I feel pretty fit and healthy, too.

4. Au Pair Search – Our wonderful au pair’s year will be over at the end of February, so we’ve been searching for another. So in addition to doctor’s appointments, work, and the kids, in my “spare time” I’ve been searching for a new au pair. We hope to have someone matched with us soon, who will arrive at the end of February. If anyone has questions about the Au Pair program, let me know!

5. Flat Tire (the extreme LOW!) – As I left work last night, I joked around with a coworker about my 4-year-old’s challenging bedtimes and how although I love spending time with the kids when I get home (of course!), I am never looking forward to that particular part of the evening. He joked that I should drive super slowly home and maybe I’d miss it. Well, I drove away from work, and as I was turning left at the Exorcist Stairs by Georgetown, this happened:

Be careful what you “wish” for (although it was all joking in good fun) – I was sitting on the side of the road with the completely flat tire during the kids’ bedtimes!

Today I’ll go to my usual lunchtime Pilates class, AFTER I get a new tire on the car!

Have you ever had a flat tire? 

What are your weekend plans?

Any tips for someone on a low intensity exercise mandate?

Friday Five: The End of Whole30

Another fun Friday Five link-up with my fellow DC Trifecta bloggers, Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC and Mar from Mar on the Run. Check out their Friday Five posts and link up your own here:

My Friday Five is pretty random this week!

1. Whole30. Today is Day 27 of the Whole30 challenge. I have learned so much during this month and it’s been a great tool for breaking my bad habits, most notably the mindless grabbing of treats in the office kitchen. I have to admit, I’ve been struggling since Saturday. I’m mentally “done” with being so restrictive, although I want to finish it out and do the whole 30 days. But it’s been a great experience, despite my burn-out during the last week. I highly recommend it if you are trying to identify how food groups are affecting your body, eliminate sugar cravings, break bad habits, or simply eat healthier.  I’ll do a wrap-up of the experience soon.

Incidentally, having the Whole30 coincide with Halloween was perfect – no temptation for digging through the kids’ candy bags!

2. Running With Friends. As I mentioned, my coworker and I scheduled “Running” in our work calendars as if it were a meeting – we were committed. I had been dealing with fatigue and sluggishness for a few days and having someone counting on me was just what I needed! We ran 3 miles in DC on a gorgeous day, and our pace was pretty good, with a sprint to the finish.

Mile 1 = 9:11 / Mile 2 = 9:12 / Mile 3 = 9:09

Then it was back to the office for the end of the workday and the commute home.

3. Barre. I took another barre class at Barre3 on Wednesday, it had been a few weeks! I’m nearing the end of the package I bought and love the workouts so I might re-up for another package. It can be pretty addictive since it’s a great full-body and core workout.

4. Halloween. Our first Halloween managing food allergies was made easier by the food-allergic child being too young to care about knocking on doors. He was content to ride in the stroller or toddle along the sidewalk in his monkey costume, shouting his version of “trick or treat!’ without knowing what it meant. We’re learning techniques on managing Halloween with food allergies, and gave out entirely peanut and tree nut safe candy. He is also sunflower-allergic but since he doesn’t yet eat candy we didn’t stress too much about that.

5. I saw Sister Act on Wednesday night at the Kennedy Center with my parents and au pair. Apparently she used to watch the movie all the time in France – I had no idea it had such popularity there! The show was really well done and lots of fun! I love musicals and grew up attending them regularly with my family. Going to the show with my parents brought back tons of great memories of shows in New York and also closer to home.

One more thing – it’s the last chance to enter my Energybits giveaway – go check it out!

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What’s your favorite musical?

Do you have a Halloween tradition?

Friday Five: Army Ten Miler Weekend!

Happy Friday!

Well, hopefully you’re having a happy Friday and not an unhappy Friday. I’m feeling excited and happy because it’s Army Ten Miler weekend!

It’s no secret that I get insanely excited about races, and this one is no exception. You would think it wouldn’t have the same level or excitement as other races, since I run in DC regularly, and have done several races in the city – the Marine Corps Marathon, the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, and most recently the Nike Women’s Half Marathon – all in DC. But this race is a “bucket list” race. And more importantly, I have some friends running too and we’re making a fun weekend out of it – Melissa from I Thought They Said Rum from Texas, another friend from North Carolina, and two local friends – and they’re all coming over for a pre-race dinner at Casa Cynthia tomorrow night.

So the real point of this post is a fun Friday Five. I love lists, my brain is full of random thoughts today, and this week was a very random week in terms of workouts, so today felt like a good Friday Five day.

1. Army Ten Miler Expo – This afternoon I need to get to the expo to pick up my race packet. I hear this expo is huge. Can they please confiscate my wallet upon entry to stop me from Buying.All.The.Things.

(Didja like my meme? I think it was the first one I’ve ever created. Patting myself on the back now.)

2. Lazy Days Are Best Spent Cooking – Sunday I was lazy and didn’t work out. I had worked two concerts and come home late the night before, it was still raining, and I just couldn’t get it together to do my long run before my husband left on a business trip mid-day. So I spent most of the day cooking. Whole 30 is giving me a new spark for cooking up veggies. The day started with giant veggie omelets, which a certain 1-year-old LOVED.

3. Columbus Day 7-Mile Run – Monday was Columbus Day, and I had the day off work. Alas, this does not mean I’m a lady of leisure – I describe days like this as “Trading One Full-Time Job For Another” because I’m Mom all day long – like on the weekends!

It was great – some extra time with my kids, some things done around the house, and being a shuttle  to/from elementary & preschool, and to/from my daughter’s chorus rehearsal that afternoon.

I had thought about doing my long run with Finn in the stroller while my big kids were at school in the morning, but the running stroller was in the car the au pair had. Doh. I did, however, have our au pair scheduled for the evening for some extra help since my husband was out of town. I decided to run with the local running club (I’m a member again!) for their Monday night 7-miler. It was great – hilly and dark, but great company and a good pace for me.

(Yes, that’s the same shirt as in all the other recent pictures. The only long-sleeved shirt that fits. Yes, I wash it.)

I really need a reflective top and a headlamp. Maybe they sell them at today’s expo… [BUY ALL THE RUNNING THINGS!]

After the run I bought a Halloween costume, went to the grocery store, and got gas in the car. Not a bad use of 3.5 hours of babysitting!

4. Whole 30 Going Strong – I posted about starting the Whole 30 diet – I’m now on Day 13! I am feeling good and definitely look different this week. I’m suddenly getting TONS of comments about weight loss, so I think something has changed in me this week. And I feel good! I am doing fine not eating baked goods and sugar, but I still miss wine, cheese and chocolate, and can’t wait to add them back in… gotta be honest here. But I am loving cooking new and interesting combinations of things, breaking my bad mindless eating habit, packing more lunches (which saves money), and enjoying when I buy salad from the employee Canteen for lunch.

Oh, but I still hate ghee.

5. Random Workout Week – I hereby declare this week “Random Workout Week”. After Monday’s 7-miler with the running club, I thought I’d take it easy Tuesday. It’s a good thing, too, since I took the Metro to work and was super motion sick.

I often have a motion sickness problem, but this really hit me hard. It was all I could do to walk into my office with weak knees and nausea. So I did the noon Pilates class that day, and it made me feel a bit better.

I did NOTHING on Wednesday – I had slept poorly due to zombie nightmares from watching the Walking Dead right before bed, and so by Thursday I had to do something. I had also slept horribly that night due to the 4-year-old waking (and being cranky), so I turned off my Thursday morning workout alarm. I knew I had to get it done at night, but by the time the kids were asleep, going to the gym didn’t sound like fun. So I pulled out something I hadn’t done in ages – Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred and did Level 2.

I forgot how hard a workout it is – 10pm is a great time to jump around and get sweaty!

Do you get motion sickness?

Do you have zombie nightmares after watching The Walking Dead?

Do you have a favorite exercise video or workout you do at home?

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Eat Pray Run DC has a Friday Five Linkup – add yours or go there to discover other Friday Fives!

A Venture Into Whole 30 – Why Not?

I always vowed I would never go on a diet that didn’t allow for wine. Maybe not a LOT of wine, but wine in moderation. Life’s just better with red wine.

But here I am, at the end of Day 4 of the Whole 30 challenge. And it’s not so bad. And it’s not really a “diet”, meaning it’s not solely a weight loss plan. It’s an elimination diet for health reasons.

I was inspired by Swim Bike Mom, who had started a group on Facebook when she started Whole 30 inspiring others to train hard and eat clean. It really motivated me. I wasn’t interested in doing Whole 30 then, but I finally decided to give it a shot. This summer I had done a diet challenge contest and really liked how I felt physically and emotionally (in terms of habits) by having an external motivator to avoid added sugar and treats. After it was over, I kept losing weight by eating healthy and working out 6 days a week, and reached my goal weight. I felt awesome, but I was really sliding back into some bad habits (uh, hello – grabbing a cookie in the office kitchen every time I walked to the printer?!) and I had a few stomach aches recently. So I decided – why not? The basics are this:

Our Whole30 program, as outlined.

Eat real food – meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed. Don’t worry… these guidelines are outlined in extensive detail in our free shopping list.

More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.

• Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.

• Do not consume alcohol, in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobaccoproducts of any sort, either.)

• Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. Yes, we said corn… for the purposes of this program, corn is a grain! This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.

• Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).

• Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)

• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.

• Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if we are trying to change your habits and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices, it’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold and fingerling potatoes off your plate.

And there’s some stuff about not weighing yourself (I still am) and not creating healthier versions of junk food. It’s about breaking bad habits and resetting your brain and your body.

Believe me, I’m not a Paleo devotee – my husband has been doing the Paleo/Primal thing for a couple years, and I am not a believer that it’s the end-all be-all way to eat. I like my carbs in moderation. And I wasn’t having trouble losing weight without eliminating them. And I don’t have a lot of the issues that the Paleo and Whole30 people describe when they suggest this way of eating might help health-wise, aside from lactose intolerance. But I was already eating pretty healthily, so it didn’t seem like such a huge leap for 30 days to clean up the diet and maybe lose a few more pounds. I was mostly interested in cutting the sugar and dairy rather than the grains.

So how’s it going? Great! I’m on Day 6 and feel very good, and I haven’t had any of the issues they describe in their Timeline of how you’ll feel on this diet. None.

I’ve been having fun cooking various vegetables, and kicking the sugar habit feels good.

I won’t log my food day-by-day but here’s a sampling of what I’ve been eating while on Whole 30 during the first week:

Red Curry chicken:

Lots of fresh vegetables:

I made my Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Figs recipe, a sweet potato, and some ground beef to mix with the leftover red curry sauce:

 

Roasted cauliflower that never made it off the pan and onto the table – we all snacked on it so quickly it was GONE before dinner was served. It even got a “mmmMMMM!” from the 1-year-old. Here’s all that was left by the time I grabbed my camera:

 

Salads with avocado and other veggies:

One of my favorite things to eat is sliced avocado, sliced cherry or grape tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil and some sea salt. It’s a great breakfast or snack!

So far the only downside is needing to cook so much with my busy schedule. And eating out – I had a great meal at a restaurant on Monday (grilled steak over a kale salad) but I’m simply not able to pack a lunch every single day at work and that leaves my only guaranteed non-dairy, non-gluten choice the Canteen salad bar. Fine, but this can get old after a while. So I’ve been packing up leftovers most days this week to keep variety going – it’s great for saving money but it requires some effort and time on my part.

Have you ever done the Whole 30 or tried the Paleo diet? What did you think?

A Spontaneous Long Run On Sore Legs

After all the analysis about my improved running pace, I had a pretty sluggish long run on Saturday. But I have excuses! So.Many.Excuses. 

But really, let me just say something about this – who cares? I’ve been working hard to be as ready as possible for the Army Ten Miler and I know I’ll be just fine. I can run 10 miles. I just had this vision of rocking it after my faster speeds lately and started to peruse online pace calculators, dreaming of lofty finish times.

So let me tell you what NOT to do the day before a long run: Barre class.

Holy cannoli, I went Friday at lunchtime and it was like a live Thigh Master class. Intense.

I’m not saying don’t DO barre when you’re training for a race, just don’t do what I did this weekend:

• Don’t run 3/4 mile to barre class, do a crazy tough class that leaves your legs burning, then run back to work 3/4 mile on Friday.
• Don’t party too hard at a friend’s house on Friday night and make yourself too tired to work out Saturday morning.
• Then don’t spontaneously decide to do your long run Saturday afternoon instead of on Sunday as planned. While you are still sore from said barre class.
• And then don’t do the first 1/3 of your long run pushing a toddler in a running stroller. As fast as possible to make it to your daughter’s soccer game before it ends.
• And don’t forget any sort of Gu or fuel for an 8-mile run over hills and trains in super hot conditions.

I pushed that running stroller almost 3 miles to the soccer fields as fast as possible because my daughter’s soccer game was just finishing up and I had a plan for how to get in the long run before working that night.  I met my husband at the field, put F. in the car seat, folded the running stroller and tossed it in the back of the car, and went off on my own to run around the super-hilly trails at the soccerplex before running 3 miles home.

It was in the 80’s outside, unseasonably hot for the mid-Atlantic area in October. Thankfully I knew where the ONE working water fountain was in the HUGE park (why are all the others dry?), and had snagged some sort of nutrition from the stroller before it drove away.

It helped. A little. Not as good as Gu but better than nothing. But I’d better get used to it since I started the Whole 30 diet – so Gu is out for the Army 10 Miler. Yikes, I’d better practice with something else over the next couple of weeks – applesauce didn’t cut it.

Here’s how my 8-miler long run stacked up pace-wise:

• Mile 1 = 9:46 with stroller
• Mile 2 = 9:37 with stroller
• Mile 3 = 9:22, first 0.7 with stroller
• Mile 4 = 9:32
• Mile 5 = 9:52
• Mile 6 = 10:19 (uh oh, starting to not like the hills and heat!)
• Mile 7 = 9:56 (just get me the heck home already!)
• Mile 8 = 10:13 (this mile took for.ev.er!)

I had some stomach issues at the end of the long run, but as soon as I walked in the door, I had to hop in the shower and go to work for a concert.  I got home at midnight still not feeling 100% in my stomach, and still woke up a little off on Sunday.

So again I say about my pace – who cares? The Army Ten Miler is a bucket-list race and I’m excited about it. I’m not in it for the finish time – I’m doing the race with friends and seriously excited to see them and run with them. One friend coming to DC for the race is Melissa from I Thought They Said Rum – it’s going to be so great to see her, it’s been years!

I’m off on a Whole 30 adventure – I always vowed I wouldn’t eat a strict Paleo diet but I’m giving it a whirl for 30 days. More on that this week!

Is it unseasonably hot where you live for this time of year?

Have you done a race while on Whole 30 or eating Paleo-style? How did you fuel for longer runs?

Running Faster and Swimming Farther

I’m feeling great in my workouts this week  because I’ve reached new levels in two of my sports. Yes, just two… No, I haven’t been on the bike this week… [Should I subtitle this post: and Biking Fewer?]

New Level #1: Running Faster

I went through feelings of surprise and delight at my faster speeds this summer, thinking they were a fluke, a thing that I did once or twice – this running “in the 8’s”, as I call it. I’m happy to say that after several consistent runs, I can accept that my new pace is in the low 9’s without pushing it my hardest, and “in the 8’s” when I push it. It’s comfortable now.

Case in point, my three recent runs:

Friday’s Run was 3.06 miles:

Mile 1 = 9:30

Mile 2 = 9:18

Mile 3 = 9:15

Tuesday’s Run was 3.1 miles:

Mile 1 = 9:16

Mile 2 = 9:01

Mile 3 = 8:43

Today’s Run was 4 miles:

Mile 1 = 9:21

Mile 2 = 9:23

Mile 3 = 9:11

Mile 4 = 9:15

I didn’t eat much before this morning’s run, just 1/3 of a too-mushy banana. We had no groceries and I had no workout fuel on hand. Better stock up before my long run this weekend!

What accounts for this improved pace?

1. Losing weight. I lost 11.6 pounds on a diet challenge that coincided with my triathlon training this summer. I have been eating better and working out consistently 5-6 days a week and am still losing. I feel strong and have less of me to lug around.

2. Training with a running stroller. I push that thing around for so many of my runs that without it, I feel like I’m flying.

3. Cross Training. I noticed the speed increase as soon as the triathlon training kicked into high gear. In fact, I noticed it at my first bike-run brick where, to my absolute shock, I ran sub-9 minute miles with ease. My legs like running after biking, but in addition they seem to love running with the muscles I’ve built up cross-training.

I’m starting to think that with some focused speed work, I’ll be doing 8:30 consistently. Army 10 Miler, here I come!

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New Level #2: Swimming Farther

Yesterday morning, I got up early and went to the pool in the pitch dark again. I loved swimming before work so much last week that I bought a Buy-10-Get-12 pass and plan to make it a regular thing. My officemates better get used to the Goggle Eyes!

I swam 1600 meters, or 1 mile, and felt uh-ma-zing.

I am certain that I was the only one at the pool for early morning lap swimming with a froggie towel. But it did the job – that thing is super absorbent!

Maybe I need my own pool towel, which could be animal-esque if necessary, for times like this so I don’t have to steal my toddler’s towel. Sorry, Finn!

I’m totally game to tackle a longer distance triathlon with a swim like that! I got home at about 8am for kid-craziness, A.K.A. breakfast/getting-ready-time in my house, a little later than planned since I showered and got dressed at the pool instead of at home. But at least I was already showered and ready to focus on the kids.

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Guilty Admission: I hereby admit that I looked up the further vs. farther usage before publishing this blog post. I consider myself pretty savvy with grammar, but I can never remember this one! So I used the guidance of The Grammar Girl – she won’t steer me wrong!

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Have you improved your speed or distance in a sport?

If so, how did you do it? Any tips and tricks to share with the readers?

From Delaware to Maryland to DC to New York

The day after my 5-mile run in Ocean View, Delaware, I managed a semi-short run+bike+run brick workout. But since I didn’t have my beloved Dolce Zin with me, the bike part of the brick was on an unfamiliar exercise bike in the neighborhood fitness center where we were staying. So I kept cranking the intensity and man was I sore the next day!

 

But hey, if you ever want a really good workout – try carrying around a fussy toddler at the beach for two days. UGH!

Okay, okay, he wasn’t fussy the entire time. Give him a shovel and a bucket of water and he will enjoy himself for a while.

 

But yes, he was fussy most of the time at the beach on this trip. He didn’t like sand on his feet, so he wanted to be carried. All.the.time. My right arm is super muscular after that beach trip – I need to lift weights only with the left  to make up for it!

On the flip side, my other son was a total wild man at the beach, he loves it.

After a fun few days at the beach, movies, and mini-golf, we drove back to the DC area, where I promptly hopped out of the car and took the Metro into DC to meet my husband and visiting friends for dinner.

NOTE TO YOU, YES YOU: Ethiopian food = delicious. [If you didn’t know that already.]

It was a great stress release to be out with grownups drinking wine and eating with no utensils.

The next day, my husband and daughter and I took a bus to NYC for her medical appointments. Overall, I did pretty well eating out for the first couple of days.

 

 

And I exercised some restraint – I only had a few of S’s frystaches.

 

I’m finding that I’m better able to navigate eating healthy food while traveling, although it’s still a challenge when I’m in a rush. However, I was pretty pleased with my healthy takeout lunch on the bus home – a quinoa bowl with brussels sprouts, edamame, tofu, and kale. It was as quick to order/receive as a greasy meal would have been, and it was delicious! I’ll have to try making this sometime.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting a recap and pictures of a cycling class and a 5-mile run in New York City. I did have one meal where I succumbed to my appetizer addiction, drank a margarita, and also enjoyed a dessert, but that was a celebratory birthday dinner for myself and my husband. You have to live a little.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with my fitness and food choices on the road.

Do you seek out healthy food when traveling, or do you let it go for a few days?

I Like Appetizers [Too Much].

I don’t normally recap all my food and nutrition, but last week I fell off the nutritional wagon a bit and feel the need to regroup. Last week was Week 6 of the 8-week Diet Challenge that I’ve been participating in – it’s an informal challenge run by my friend and neighbor. We each anted up $25 and every day/week we track points for various activities, such as eating 3 servings of veggies a day, logging food intake, exercise, and a few other things. One of those other things is not having sugar (including alcohol!) 6 days a week.

At the beginning of the challenge, I had a hard time without sugar in my coffee, and holding back my grabby hands from chocolate and other treats, but now I’m completely used to black coffee and have much improved willpower. I’ve really reorganized my brain with mindlessly grabbing junk that is sitting the office kitchen, needlessly dumping sugar in the coffee, and have been making better choices overall. I am competitive and didn’t want to lose my sugar points every week, so I’ve really cut out the alcohol 6 days a week – a strange phenomenon for me!

Overlapping with this, I’ve signed on for another 8-week thing, which is really more of a commitment and motivational group and not a contest: Swim Bike Mom’s Eight to Great challenge.

By signing this Commitment below, you commit to:

1) Eat clean – no junk food, no (or very limited) processed food, low (or no) sugar, no booze or Filet-o-Fish sandwiches (written more with myself in mind here). If you are looking for a good plan, try the Whole 30 (which I am following) or the Metabolic Boost & Burn (which has been successful for me as well).

2) Train hard – work hard in your workouts with the big goals in mind. If you need a free beginner tri guide, go here.

3) Just Keep Moving Forward – if you fall down, you pick yourself back up and go!

So “sign” below, and let’s go.

I had every intention of keeping the Fab 40 Birthday Festivities toned down last week, especially since I realized that it was DOUBLE points that week for the no-sugar line item in my contest. So after a piece of birthday cake at a staff meeting cinched the ONE day that week that I was allowed to have sugar, I was like a deer in headlights: “Ruh Roh, what did I do?!”

I was thinking – But that wasn’t my actual birthday! I may need another day this week! Wait, I’ll want to drink wine this weekend!

Oh no.. what to do, what to do… Forego the entire week’s double sugar points or not have anything the rest of the week?

The next day, my boss took me out for a special birthday lunch on my actual 40th at the fabulous Blue Duck Tavern in DC, which sealed the deal: the restaurant surprised me with a birthday apple pie.

The whole meal was amazing. And the apple pie was fab.

My problem with indulgence is that I have trouble stopping once I go down that road.

So, there I was: I had lost my no-sugar-points for the week and gotten a bit off track with food logging, and what did I do? Well to answer that, let me continue…

Enter Thursday the 8th. I had another restaurant lunch with work colleagues at Farmers, Fishers, Bakers. And they make the guacamole at the table.

And we ordered a crab artichoke dip appetizer. I am a sucker for appetizers. I think I need a 12-step appetizer intervention program.

But at least my entree was pretty healthy.

I didn’t want to eat the rest of the day and felt really bloated from all the bread and chips that I ate with the appetizers. So feeling that feeling helped me recognized that I had gotten off track and I tried to regroup.

I worked really hard the next few days at smaller portions, limiting sodium, and eating my fruits and veggies, and I think I’ve gotten past my slippery slope and back on track.

These 8 weeks have felt long on the no-wine end of things, but it’s been good for me to retrain and restrain myself. I am used to justifying treats and wine because of working out and burning enough calories to balance it out, but I want to treat my body like an athletic machine and be committed to more clean eating.

I’m hesitant to go on a super strict “plan”, because I don’t want to completely limit my choices, especially when I’m traveling or in a time crunch for meals due to work and kids. My husband has been eating a form of paleo/primal for a couple of years and I know it is not for me, but I do agree that more of a focus on protein and veggies and less carbs is the way to go for my body, without completely cutting out a food group.

When I was doing Weight Watchers I really treated it as a lifestyle and not a “diet”, and had a revelation that this was the way that I should be eating all of the time. And that concept has definitely been hitting me throughout these 8 weeks. This is not a journey to somewhere, it’s the destination.

After the 8 weeks of my contest are up, I’m going to stick with the black coffee and other healthy habits I’ve formed, but I may need more structure, so I’m doing some nutrition research from an athlete/triathlon perspective. I’ve always been focused on the weight loss perspective. And although I’ve reached my pre-pregnancy #3 weight and am still trying to lose a few more pounds, I am more interested in fueling myself properly and building muscle than the numbers on the scale.

The Swim Bike Mom Eight To Great focuses on clean eating, and the Whole30 is the program of choice for a lot of people. I’m still in the research phase, and as I near the end of my 8-week challenge contest, I’m open to suggestions and ideas for nutritional plans or programs for athletes, rather than weight loss techniques.

Do you follow a specific nutritional plan or philosophy?