Keep on truckin’

Posted on February 7, 2013 by That Girl

Almost a year later and adjusting my diet is an ongoing process. I have taken strides using available resources to better understand how and what I’m eating and every week learn something new to ponder. I still have problems eating enough, to say nothing about eating enough vegetables specifically. But I’ve also learned quite a bit. With the help of a recent trainer, I’ve learned different ways to approach my eating deficiencies (problems?) and how to solve those issues without feeling guilt that I’m either not getting enough nutrients or just plain enough food in general. For the most part I’ve found my issue is mind over matter. Or health over stubbornness really. My personal big roadblock is effort in relation to results. My mind can’t see the results even though they’re evident so it resists the efforts I try to make. Or I just plain get lazy and it bites me in the ass. I’ve learned that, for me, hunger comes in the form of tiredness and/or grouchiness. Still I’ve learned and tweaked and learned some more. I’m also getting really tired of salads. :p

I’ve learned things like that Soybeans have become a genetically modified super crop here in the US that rivals corn and it’s many Frankenstein like variations. I’ve been on the fence the whole time about soy mainly because it’s such a large part of an Asian diet. Thankfully there are substitutes like Coconut Aminos that mimic the taste of soy sauce that I enjoy. Sadly, this might also means that edamame is firmly in the do not eat category because of it’s GMO status. On the upside, I’ve learned to enjoy Kombucha, and added many things like Flax seed, Parsnips and Celaric to my diet. I’m still on the fence about Chia Seeds and Spirulina though.

I’ve learned more about the eating habits of people in general that keep me constantly reminded that what I’m doing is a good thing for me despite the naysayers in my life. People who don’t understand or for some strange reason just plain don’t care about my health. It saddens me, but since I can’t do much about it I move on. This all started with Is Sugar Toxic? A news article by Gary Taubes that talked about the negative effects sugar has on our systems and examined the history of our eating problems as a nation. Then it moved to Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead which focused on grossly overweight and sick people, moved to programs like Food, Inc that focused on where food in the United States is coming from and other programs such as The Weight of the Nation that focused on how we as people are dealing with our health. There are still so many other programs that I’d still like to watch and/or read. Things like Why we get Fat: and what to do about it, Forks over Knives, Fathead, The Paleo Solution and others. It’s scary to say the least. What have we done to ourselves for the sake of convenience? For the pure hedonistic pleasure that taste gives us?

Whatever the reason is, I’m choosing healthier options for a healthier me. It’s not an easy course to take though. I have to change my mindset on what “fast food” or “quickie” meals are. I can’t run to McDonalds for a 40? Piece box of Chicken Nuggets (seriously? WTF?) and a milkshake. I can’t stop at Top Pot doughnuts on a Sunday Morning for a box of fresh backed doughnuts and a Latte. Making juice for a party is no longer dumping a bottle of syrup into a cooler of water – it’s flavoring the water with natural fruits and vegetables. They just aren’t the best options out there. I have to remember that grabbing a salad is just as quick. I have to remember that it really doesn’t take that long to cook a meal if my kitchen is clean to begin with. I have to remember that I can prep my breakfast and lunch for work before going to bed. I have to remember that fresh fruit makes a great dessert. Now if I can just remember to do my laundry…

A clean start

Posted on January 13, 2013 by That Girl

This is what my fridge looked like a week ago after I cleaned it up and started grocery shopping. I’m ashamed of showing you the state beforehand not just because of all the junk, but because of all the caked on crud that was in it. Let’s also not mention my OCD issues with how disorganized it was!

When you’re rushing through your day, caked on crud isn’t entirely unusual when your diet is only haphazard. You’ll have old food on the edge of growing mold, veggies, slowly rotting and leaching liquids you’d rather not identify and let’s not forget those pork chops you meant to cook up two weeks ago that also leached a red liquid onto the shelf that then dried because you forgot about them. Yeah, that happened. Then I’d toss the stuff out and mean to start all over again only to get busy again. But realizing the weight you’ve put on, the sluggish feeling a poor diet gives you and a tropical vacation pending in 12 weeks sure gives you all kinds of motivation to get you butt in gear! (also? I hate wasting food like that!)

Enter the For The Glow Resolution Challenge! I’ve been following Jenn for a few years now and thought that her challenge was a perfect (& inexpensive) way to stay motivated as I restart my efforts to eat and cook cleanly. After trying Paleo for almost a full year, I realized that it was too restrictive for me and I still had issues. mainly getting enough to eat during the day and more importantly getting enough veggies in every day. Resolution Challenge started with a detox period that removed processed foods, coffee, soda and many other things from our diets. For many this included meat products that provided most of their daily protein. I followed as closely as I could tracking the amount of water, veggies, and variety in colors I consumed every day, but because The Tinkerbell Half Marathon was closely looming, I added meats into my meals to ensure I stay properly fueled for race day. I also added juicing back in to help with my daily veggie consumption.

Today we exit, detox and I’m proud of the gals in our group that have been posting their success stories. They’ve found new foods they never thought twice about much less be able to pronounce 10 days ago. Theyve found their skin had a new bright tint and a glow they bever expected from newfound health. More importantly, they’ve found out about willpower and determination as they avoided their favorite bad foods even while watching friends and family enjoy them that will help them dig deeper in other facets in life.

An inventory? Top shelf holds fruits, juices and other small jars. Pickled peppers, hazelnut and almond milk, Calamansi juice and berries. Coconut water, Kombucha, flax seed meal and pineapple occupy the second with my left over roast veggies. The top drawer is all meats. Sausages, bacon, cheeses and such. The rest is reserved for the many veggies we try to consume. 4 bunches of Kale, 3 of spinach, celery, parsley, cilantro, colorful peppers, carrots, butter lettuce, cucumbers, artichoke, asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower. My fridge is already more than half empty from when I took this picture despite the fact that I filled all that empty space on the bottom shelf with a ton of Kale and other veggies. I’ve already started my shopping list for replenishment and that excites me. I can’t tell you what this challenge has done for me weight-wise as my scale began showing its true colors, but let’s save that for another post shall we.

Inspired

Posted on December 2, 2012 by That Girl

“That’s the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is.”

~ Kara Goucher

Thanksgiving Weekend, I did something different with my running. Instead of being the athlete digging deep trying to reach a goal, or beat a PR time, or even just a race distance I was the athletic supporter helping others dig deep. Helping others reach a goal. Helping others finish a race they weren’t entirely sure they could complete. My friends and family and the internet in general has heard me go on and on about Team in Training and how grateful I am to have them in my life. They’ve helped me reach goals that I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted when I started. Goals I truthfully said offhand with very little thought as to how I would accomplish them. They’ve helped me realize the world is bigger than me and the problems that I feel could end the world. They’ve helped me realize that there’s so much more I could do for others that I haven’t yet begun to help with. They’ve helped me realize I’m just a bit more stubborn than I let myself believe I am.

Because of that, I wanted to help give back and show others how awesome this opportunity is. I can talk and email and Facebook on and on about it, but it truly doesn’t show as well as I would like. So I volunteer my time. I mentored other runners with goal, I helped support practices by being there for Waterstop support on multiple occasions and I’ve donated time and money where I could. Thanksgiving weekend, I went out and supported the TEAM yet again. This time I purposefully walked most of the race to find our slowest Half Marathon participant and ensure they finish. We found her and let her set the pace all while reminding her that we were there for her. And I was inspired. Inspired by Dianne, the participant we found who we saw visibly dig deep within herself to find what she needed to keep going. Inspired by an elderly man waiting for his wife. (They were in the event together and he would run a bit then wait for her to catch up. He was a cancer survivor who didn’t understand why God did bad things to good people.) Inspired by the group of ladies who were walking because one of their group had injured herself and could only walk. They brought cheers and chatter that I’m sure inspired the crowds around them if not at least a smile. These are all things that inspired me to keep going with this new season of fundraising. Inspired by how supportive our coaches were of all our people. Inspired by how well those coaches knew the participants they helped train all season. Inspired by the people around me. Inspired by the people who believe in me enough to make a donation to my fundraising efforts.

Today I’m thankful

Posted on November 9, 2012 by That Girl

It’s the end of the second week of November and my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter stream is full of “Today I am thankful for” posts (More prominent now that the political posts have died down). While I’ve seen this in my scrapbooking and memory keeping communities for years, it’s the first time I’ve seen it so widespread across a wide variety of communities. For the past few days I would read each one and smile gently to myself. It’s cute that it’s catching like wildfire and those people who aren’t doing it are wondering where it started from.

It’s something I don’t normally post here. I have tons and tons of things to be thankful for beyond the mudanew praises for having a job, a home with heat and locks, food to eat and the blessings of love from people I care about in return. And yes there are days that I’m blessed to feel angry and outraged at others who choose to lead their lives differently. There are so many people with bigger worries than mine! But late last week something happened that reminded me how precious life is and how we need to hold it close. To make each of those memories last because time is fleeting.

Today a friend returned to work to say hello. She’s been gone the last few weeks following a tragedy in her family and I have no doubt spent time searching her soul for an answer. While the visit was brief, it reminded me how easy a life I have. Yes, I do indeed have a house with lock and heat. (Something many people on the East Coast are now without) I have a job that while I’m not completely enamored with the environment, is rewarding in it’s own sense for what we do. We make lifesaving tools for lifesaving teams. I have bills. Yes this seems like a weird one to be thankful for, but it means that I have money and I’m comfortable enough with what I earn to be able to spend it as well. (Not everyone has that ability and are barely able to make ends meet.) I have a loving family who can be trying at times, but they’re here and all I have to do is reach out and they’re there for me. I have my health when so many others do not. (I am continually hearing stories of people falling victim to disease or poor health. Mine is not the greatest, but I’m thankful it’s not worse than it is.) Most importantly, I have a wonderful man in my life who loves me even when I’m my most grouchy, whiny, bitchy self. Who reminds me of what is important in life and what really is just fluff.

This is the man who, when I first met his parents (virtually via Xbox’s Kinect system) responded to my nervous text of “What if they don’t like me?” with sweet words of “I can’t imagine anyone not liking you”. Who showed up to surprise me at the finishline of my last race in an other state because he hadn’t been able to be there for me at other races near and far, short or long this year. I’m told time and time again by my friends that this one’s a keeper and I certainly think so. I just wish I made a point to show him more often. (Yet another thing to be thankful for…)

Practical Paleo made it easy

Posted on August 16, 2012 by That Girl

Sometimes it’s easy now to forget what a hard time I had cooking when I first started eating Paleo. It’s not like I was cooking very differently, but I’m one of those things that, when learning, have to follow things as close to the letter of the law that I can. I would cook a meat and then panic about what side dishes to serve. I’d forget the time of day and panic because I had only a few hours of the day left before bedtime and wondered if I’d get dinner on the table soon enough. (Lord help me when I have kids…)

But things got easier. I realized that there is no defining policy to Paleo. That it’s more about eating healthy and eating well than it is about worrying about the minutae of an ingredient list. That really all I was doing was removing a few things from my daily dinner plate (like rice) and replacing them with more veggies. It’s always a giggle to me when I’m headed to the grocer to choose the next meal’s veggies. yes you heard that right. even with my change to Paleo and the juicing I’ve incorporated, I don’t keep as many fresh meal friendly veggies on hand. This is partially because I’m finicky and never learned to make do with what’s on hand, and also because I tend to forget about the “good” veggies in the back of the fridge and they spoil.

That being said, I’d like to share with you my first meal post. Most of you (some?) have been seeing them in my Instagram feed (find me as LianaWS), but I thought I’d share them here in a more detailed manner. This meal happened a few days ago. Almost a week now? We had just received our copy of Practical Paleo and I cannot tell you how excited I was about it. Also, it’s a very heavy tome. The first half is dedicated to talking about Paleo and what it can do for you. I won’t lie, I’m still diving into that portion. But as soon as I ripped open my Amazon box, I headed straight for the recipies. NomNomPaleo did a review of the Bacon-wrapped Smoked Chicken Thighs. Her pictures were delish and it was actually her post that locked my decision to purchase this book. I wrote down the ingredients that I didn’t have and dashed to the store!

It’s a pretty simple recipie once you have everything. More importantly it was another nice recipie that allowed Justin and I to spend some time in the kitchen together. After I put the spice blend together, he prepared the meat and I prepared the side dish (The added benefit of being able to save some chicken skins was a plus). We wrapped that sucker in Bacon and set it in the oven to cook. While it cooked, I took the time to chop up one of my favorite veggies, Baby Bok Choy and stirfry it with some coconut aminos. This was such an easy meal to prepare and I love it. Literally, remove chicken from package, add spice, add more meat, add more spice and cook. We paired this meal with some fresh watermelon juice. A friend of mine had been raving about Watemelon juice recently and I felt it would be a great addition to our meal to have something fresh and different.

I love when we both have the time and energy to do this, it makes the meal itself feel more intimate and the evening more intimate. We’re able to talk about how our days went, our triumphs, frustrations and plans for later in the week without the distractions of Social Media. I’m all for time spent in the Twitters, FB’s and beyond, but it’s nice to disconnect and spend time with the people in front of you. A good meal with family is probably one of the earliest social networks known to people. Time spent connecting and making memories. Modern Social Media has only expanded that to allow us to look back and remember great evenings like this.

Cheetos aren’t Paleo

Posted on July 13, 2012 by That Girl

Most of you are saying “Well DUUUUUH Liana, even I knew that!” I know you are. But the point isn’t the captain obvious observation, but more of how much of a struggle eating right is in this day and age. We are surrounded by quick and easy processed foods that make life seemingly easier. The $0.99 tacos sitting next to a $4.99 salad. The box of hamburger helper that leads you to believe that it will be quicker to use their processed chemically enhanced ingredients than it will to add fresh ingredients to the ground beef you still have to cook on your own. Or McDonalds, and Olive Garden, and for you Endurance Athletes out there, “Carb load” nights before a race.

I started this journey right before Easter as a trial. J had been trying to diet and even though I cooked pretty healthy, he admitted that sometimes it was a struggle when my plate differed from his because my meals weren’t as restrictive. He was eating Paleo/Primal style and I wasn’t. I still brought rice and tortillas and cookies and breads into the house. My biggest objection had always been giving up rice. It’s been an integral part of my whole life and I thought it was difficult to do until I stumbled across Nom Nom Paleo, a site devoted to Paleo eating written by an Asian family. A sign to be sure!!! and off I embarked on my journey.

I won’t say that those first few weeks were easy because they weren’t. I already knew based on my poorly kept food diary that I didn’t eat enough during the day. More specifically, I didn’t get enough protein in each day, even by SAD standards (Standard American Diet). Paleo made these issues even more glaringly obvious by removing breads and many other carbs from my available list of “go to” snack/meal options. No cookies, chips, no quick stops for sushi… Even worse, when I cooked that first two weeks, I panicked after making the main dish because I didn’t know what to serve with it. J would calm me down each time and remind me that it was perfectly ok to prepare to veggie sides. I spent many days and night poring over sites and books devoted to paleo meals to ensure that i was following all the rules. Eventually, it became easier and I realized that I had a ton of paleo friendly recipies in my noggin. I came to realize that there wasn’t a need for Paleo Perfectionism. Imagine my glee when I realized that many dishes I grew up with were paleo friendly! I could make them (some with slight tweaks) and enjoy comfort foods while staying “on plan”! Eat Kalua pork three nights? Don’t mind if I do! Steak twice a week? oh darn! Maybe I should start sharing those recipes with you all…

But between that and ramping my running back up, the past few months have still been hard. The delicate balance of eat enough and don’t eat too much changes when you’re training for endurance events, without adding paleo diets into the mix. I think I’ve been doing ok though. It has been 142 days since I began this journey. That’s 20 weeks I have spent craving spaghetti and Cheetos and chocolate chip cookies and not always winning. As you can see from the screen shot, I tend to yoyo up and down, but still going down more often than it goes up. Of special note is that I realized around the 16th of Feb that my scale was off by 4 Lbs, so I have to add them in manually. What does that mean? That I’ve lost about 10lbs now. Wednesdays weigh-in was 177. Around me, I see friends who struggle against an increasing waistline and other friends who scream in glee about their weight loss using products like Omni drops and Body by Vi and “wraps” promising to help you lose inches from your problem areas and yes even plain old diet/exercise. It’s a DIY struggle for us all as we grow older and realize that we can’t subsist on Cheetos and Mountain Dew. I am encouraged by those people who are paying attention to the journey and cheer me on. By the friends ask how it’s working out and start journeys of improvement and/or self discovery themselves. I may not have lost as quickly as others but that number moves and I’m proud of it? (and I’m proud of you.)

10 things again

Posted on July 2, 2012 by That Girl

I’ve taken a bigger break from 10 things than I planned, but here’s what’s in my head….

LES MIZ is this weekend. One of my favorite musicals and I’m so stinking excited to go. Justin surprised me by mentioning it. My friends have all been checking in on Foursquare and Facebook and I have been meaning to find out when the show closes so I don’t miss it. I’m so glad that Justin mentioned it because I would have missed it! I’ve been listening to the 10th Anny concert at Royal Albert Hall and I just.can.not wait!
Reading Susblog.com makes me realize how awesome my purple people are. I stumbled across this blog recently and it’s a nice reminder that there are still people that blog for the sake of keeping a recent record of what they’ve done and where they’ve been. It’s neat to see what a happy family he has and how he incorporates fitness in his life. Not enough families do any more.
Why is it sooooooooooooooo cold in July?!?!? Yes yes yes, I know. Summer doesn’t start in Western Wa until after the fourth. But does it have to be so stinkin cold that I need hot cocoa in the morning?
My dog. The Emos. He haz it. Not sure what’s up with my dog lately. He’s been reluctant to go outside to pee. This isn’t to say that he doesn’t have to go, but for some reason he’d rather go run for his box than go outside. There’s the obvious – we need to interact with him more given I’ve been gone a lot lately, but I’m hoping something more serious isn’t going on.
Steak sounds rather lovely right now – big and juicy… medium rare please! The nice thing about Paleo is that the only thing restricting how often I eat this is my budget. And the likelihood I’ll get sick of it quickly if I eat it every night.
So does cheesecake –Sadly not so paleo but one of my favorite snacks. It’s just so good!
Paleo isn’t so hard. Really. I’ve been at it since Ash Wednesday and I’ve found that it’s not so bad. We’ve been eating pretty healthy to begin with but Paleo/Primal eating puts a bigger focus on eating right. My problem is still that I’m forgetting to eat. This leads to me being tired, or lethargic or cranky… pick one as it never seems to be consistent. Still – I’ve managed to lose 10 lbs since I started. I know this sounds like less than what most people would lose on this diet, but I was already consuming a large amount of water daily so I didn’t lose that “water weight” that many people lose at the beginning of diets. More on this soon.
Should I run tonight or tomorrow? I may just hold if for Wed since it’s a holiday and I can run in the morning. With no big event in the near future I think I can scale back on the running some. I do want to decrease the walk ratios on my intervals though. That I think I’ll start on Wed. And yes I know I owe you some race reports.
Michigan in Dec. We’re headed to M in December for Justin’s sisters graduation. I’m excited to finally meet her and also to see Colette and Jin after scaling back my Partylite business. Our Hotel rooms are booked already and the Notebook has tabs and tabs of stuff to do, things to eat.
Need more Juicing recipies. I was finally able to talk Justin into buying a juicer and we’ve definitely been good about going through the veggies more often now. Hopefully it doesn’t fall off like a fad with him. We’ve been able to find some good recipes both through trial/error and recommendations from friends. I love how quiet it is too! I ran it a few mornings ago before work and unlike the blender I was using for smoothies, Justin slept through all the noise I wasn’t making.

A lot to think about

Posted on June 17, 2012 by That Girl

It’s now less than one week to race day and there’s a lot I have to do. For one, I need to finish unpacking and doing regular household chores left and/or created since I returned from San Diego. The cat seems is also sick again so the fun of pet worries abound. Joy. Also, poor kitty!

Some of you are waiting for race reports from Portland and San Diego. Yes, I PR’d both events and was extremely joyful about both experiences. I learned a few things about myself in the process!

Last night, however, I realized I wanted to talk about something else today. I was doing laundry so i would be able to actually run when I want to make the effort. (all my running bottoms and bras were dirty) As sometimes happens I found the drawer full of running gear a bit overflowing and made the time to sort through singlets, shorts & self wicking socks to remove the winter gear into storage. I also moved a growing stack of memories to the side. Bittersweet memories running through my mind that brought up thoughts of 7am mission moments that moved me to tears as I learned of how cancer changed a child’s life from one of playgrounds and hopscotch to chemo and blood counts. Thoughts of heart wrenching emails from afar describing the pain and loneliness of undergoing clinical trials. Memories of the smiles and laughter of loved ones taken by cancer. But mostly it brought back thoughts of how much cancer affects all of us and how far we are from eradicating these diseases. It brought home how often the word comes up every week without a reference to the word “Cure”.

When I say the drawer overfloweth, I’m not joking. The only thing that gets folded is socks so that I can grab a pair quickly and go. Everything else is a jumble since what I plan to use is mood and weather dependant. (Because, you know, Snow in April…). I pulled these memories out of the drawer and neatly folded them for the shelf. I thought of each of these lovely people added to my jersey hours before race time. Each served as an inspiration to me not just on race day, but the entire time I’ve known them. Liz and Sweetie were the first one. My first race, my first half marathon my original inspriations. Two beautiful women who inspire me to be more. Sadly one was taken by Thyroid Cancer, but the other lives with a Joie de Vivre that serves as an inspiration to others around her. Six months later Liz told me about her friend My Tam who was beginning her battle. A beautiful woman with a love for words and creator of delectible image and dishes, she is also thankfully beating her cancer. CURE! is a word that can be applicable to her life. JOY! is another applicable word as it always seems she lives her life filled with it. Another six months passed and my aunt was taken from me. Darline was a beautiful person in life who taught her kids to live with joy. Lung Cancer was the villian that took her too soon. Cheri has been the latest. her name adorned my jersey in “Sunny” San Diego a few short weeks ago. And I say Sunny tounge in cheeck because there seemed to have been a perpetual cloud our entire weekend there. Only to disappear shortly after we flew out. Normally I’d say “What the hell?” but really it helped. I digress though. Cheri I met a few years ago. Like many of my other inspirations, she was full of joy and an eagerness to learn and experience. No small feat given that she was french. Cheri was the mother of a friend of mine and it was shocking to see what cancer did to her. I can say I wish I had spent more time with her, I wish I had known her better, but the truth is that she was put into my life at the exact moment I needed her. I thought about her a lot in San Diego….

Race day, as I said, is now upon us. Emails fly back and forth between my friends and I as we coordinate race day details. Where to meet, who’s carpooling with who and such. It’s a crazy time of chaos which leads me to thoughts of that bottom jersey. It’s blank because I haven’t chosen my inspiration yet. it’s not a methodical choice, nor is it instant. It’s just one of those inherent things that “come to me” when the moment is right. I told someone earlier today that after doing 2 12K “practice” runs and 2 half marathons (complete with PR’s) in the past month and a half, at this point, I hope to just finish as healthy as I started, completely inspired by my team of purple warriors out there beating the road down for a cancer cure.

GO TEAM.

I’ve forgotten to be thankful

Posted on April 16, 2012 by That Girl

I’ve been struggling with my goals this season. Both in running and fundraising. I started the year saying I wanted to PR all my races this year and I would spend the time in road to make sure that it happened. (This means to beat all my current records) But once January waned like many resolutions, my resolve slowly melted away.

I can make lots of excuses as to why. The weather was wacky enough to keep it bone chilling cold. (and it’s hard to run outside in weather like that). No gym membership meant that I had no treadmill alternative to use. My normal cohorts, Michelle and Teri, both got busy with life and were difficult to schedule weekly runs with. and I just plain didn’t want to get out of bed to go to a 30-40-60 minute run a half hour away in the rain. wha wha wha. lots and lots of whining. But some pretty miraculous things happened lately that made me realize how thankful I should be.

First, Carol Toro called and asked me to do a mission moment for a team run. She said that she found me to be a great inspiration and she wanted me to share my TNT story. (So I told the story of Jimmy, a SURVIVOR of childhood AML) Second, a gal I know via Twitter and the general interwebs of Seattle, decided with her family to form a team and walk Relay for Life. She does this because her mother and cousin are both battling Cancer in their own way. A family of fighters and survivors to be sure. Third, another local Seattlelite tweeted/facebooked his wait from the OR waiting room while the love of his life lay on an Operating Room Table having Cancer removed from her breast. All these things are singularly breathtaking in their own right. You (or at least I) feel emotion when I read these words. They were all great reminders of how thankful I am to have the life I have.

So back up on the horse I got today. With diffuculty as my boyfriend Justin will tell you. He almost had to push me out the door. But out I went for 40 minutes on a day that would not normally be a run day. Alone as I haven’t done in quite a while. And I thought about these people and how lucky I am to have them, even peripherally, in my life. How I am thankful to have my friends and family share time with me day after week after month. How lucky I am to have my health. I think about how cancer tried to take loved ones away from one gal and how they told Cancer to EFF OFF! How wonderful it is to see their family bond as a unit. (Because not every family does or can). I thought about that guy and his wait and how happy he was to have it over. Most of all I thought about how important those 40 minutes were today and the 40 I have planned for tomorrow. For each of those minutes will help fight cancer through donations from my friends and family. And if you donate 10 cents or $10,0000 I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And let me not forget to say Thank You. Thank you to my family and friends for loving my crazy self for exactly who I am. For being exactly who you are & being right where I’ve always needed you in life. Thank You to my co-workers and customers for keeping me more humble than my family does and reminding me day after day to be thankful for the gift of life. Thank you to the regular readers to my not so regular blog for sticking around and listening to the ramblings of a slightly neurotic woman. Thank you to my twitter friends for just being you. I’ve learned so much from just listening in on your conversations. Thank you for just being you.

3 weeks in – It takes time

Posted on April 12, 2012 by That Girl

At just past 3 weeks in I lost about 7 lbs. One of the most popular questions I’ve been asked during these past few weeks is about cheat days. Do I have them? Days when I can eat and/or gorge myself on whatever I want so I can make it all the way through to my goal? My answer has been an unwavering no. I have always thought that cheat days were counter productive to the purpose and when I started this mission I decided against them. I don’t plan them into my schedule so I can look forward to Spaghetti night (I miss Spaghetti) or a big bowl of fried rice. (Miss that too). I can’t say that some days haven’t been hard, because there have. Times when I whined via text and IM about how yummy a piece of Bananna bread sounds. Or a few cookies. While this hasn’t been as hard a journey as I thought it would be 20 some days ago, it’s definitely not a simple one. There have been many, many times where I have been tempted. Like when a coworker brought a COSTCO sized Red Velvet cake to a potluck. Or when I went for chinese with my aunts and favorite dishes just didn’t taste the same without rice. But like with my Marathon running, I have discovered that I am more stubbon than this diet is hard.

There’s still lots of things to read and research. Paleo Hacks has seen me to be a constant visitor as has Punchfork via their iPad app. I’m learning to move past the anxiety attacks I was having in the first week or so when I didn’t know what to cook or what sides to make with my hunk of meat. My broiler pan and frying pan has gotten more use in the past few weeks than it has in the year prior. It’s also now easier for me to eat less fruit than when I started. It was suggested to me that using Mark Sisson’s website Mark’s Daily Apple, but I decided the primal format he suggests is too loose for me. Not enough structure and too many opportunities to cheat and fail.

What am I making? Simple sides like Carrots and Cabbage sauteed in Butter with a dash of salt and pepper. Simple, yet so so flavorful. I’ll also sautee just the cabbage and use it as a presentation background for my meat. After adding random veggies to the plate, it finishes out the food trifecta I always try to have. (For some reason I have it stuck in my head that there should be three things on the plate). I’m learning to pre-slice the carrots, peppers and cabbage so all I have to do is toss it into the pan or the salad or where ever I want it. I’m still learning to get off my but and do that. Roasted brussel sprouts are another favorite in my house only to be made more yummy when we discovered a yummy recipie for Brussel Sprout chips. (Again at Nomnompaleo.)

But I won’t lie. There are still many, many days when I feel lazy. Days when I don’t want to cook, much less clean up the mess from the night before. There are also nights when we commit ourselves to events with friends. Part of dieting is not just to hibernate yourself until you’re at the weight you want. It’s learning how to make those same choices in public. Thanks to the internet, it’s possible to plan ahead for ideas of what you might want to eat later. Giving you more time to make your menu decision as it were. Doing so has made eating out fairly simple. Still, there are occasional hiccups. Like going to a baby shower and feeling pressured to eat a cupcake becuase a well intentioned attendee is pushing them on you. Or making a restaurant choice with out actually reviewing what your choices are only to find there are no feasible options other than not eating. And most especially, not carrying around snacks that I know are acceptable to help in those situations.

No apologies

My Thoughts, Dreams & Opinions. Feel free to debate them.