Day 5: It's Affirmation Friday!

Today's workout:
*Bike 2 miles (level 7)
*25 pushups
*Elliptical 1 mile (level 7)
*25 situps
*Run 1 mile (6.5--> 8.5 mph)
*25 air squats
*Stairclimber 20 floors (level 20)
TOTAL TIME: 30-32 minutes? I didn't keep track.

Whew, my body is EXHAUSTED! As much as I didn't like this workout (which, let's be honest, I don't really like any of the workouts. I LOVE the feeling after though!), it was a great one! I ran my mile in 9:01, which means I'm getting faster/my endurance is still increasing! I think I've earned my days off this weekend :)

So, yesterday's cravings were biscuits/muffins and cheese (again). I gave into swiss cheese, but looking at the ingredients, I know I could have done much worse. At the end of the day, I really wanted something sweet, so instead of just gorging myself with fruit (which is a healthier choice but high in fructose for that time of day...), I pulled out my Sugar Detox book and made some coconut muffins for the 1st time. My thoughts? They did their job to fill that craving for the most part. I found some of my parents strawberry jam and had that on the muffins, and while it wasn't good for me (high fructose corn syrup. ALWAYS check the labels), it was all I had at the time. It's times like those that I could have eaten myself silly with nuts, so I'm glad I got them out of the house. Oh, also for dinner I tried to use my Ziploc Steamer Bag to steam some frozen tilapia. Complete failure, and now my kitchen smells a bit fishy (gross). Thank goodness I had some Applegate Farms beef hot dogs (they are SO good. Definitely worth the extra money if you don't want to put nitrates and other gross fillers in your body like me) in the fridge because I was quite hungry. So hot dogs and spaghetti squash for dinner. It was okay. I'm sure I was more satiated than I realized... Gotta listen to my body more!

EXCITING NEWS ALERT!!!!!!  I LOST 5.5 LBS. THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!! I like to say, "I lost last weekend", because let's be real, I probably ate that much in SAD food last weekend. But who cares, it's gone now! I worked my butt off for that too!

(Boring menu part... skip to the end (if you're still reading))
Today's planned meals:
Breakfast: sausage and egg (proteins and fat) "biscuit" (1 oz. sausage, 1 egg, 1 coconut muffin = TOTALLY SATISFYING), 1 c. tuscan veggie blend (carbs), 1/2 scoop protein (for my 3rd block of protein), & 1 c. coconut water (recovery)
Lunch: Tropical Cafe for a co-workers birthday. My goal is to get chicken (protein) and steamed veggies (carbs) and maybe some avocado (good fat). We'll see if they can hook me up.
Snack (if necessary): HB egg, 1/2 apple or banana, avocado?
Dinner: Mama Rojas, hopefully. Planning on getting chicken fajitas sans tortillas, sour cream, and cheese. This will be my first real test w/ temptation (CHIPS AND QUESO. YUM), especially considering I'll be having a Sangria Swirl (and yes, I am fully aware that this is not within my way of eating, but it's Friday, and I had an awesome week!), but I have faith I can do it! ... and then who knows where the night will take us! Probably Friday's :)

Today:
I just have to say that I woke up this morning at 4:10 (and then snoozed until 4:30) feeling refreshed and all around awesome. For the first time in months, I wasn't upset with myself for what shape my body is in right now. While I still have a ways to go (and yes, I know I should be thankful I am the size I am, and I really am. I just know I can be better!), I am proud of myself :) So, there's my "affirmation friday" :)

Thanks for reading. Until tomorrow.

Day 4: Spare Tire, anyone?

Today's workout:
* 10 min. treadmill push w/ 2 1 min. sprints (i.e. making the treadmill go w/o it being "on")
* 3 x 10 KB swings (45 lb.)
* 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 deadlift (same 45 lb. KB)
 - Between each KB set, do one of the following for 1 min.:
     * Frog Thrusters (3x)
     * Side to Side 10-12 inch. Jump
     * Forward/Backward Jump
     * Planks (2x)
     * Mountain Climbers
     * Russian Twists (no weight)
     * Run 200 m.
Total Time: about 25 min.

Before I get onto today's post, I have to be honest about last night. I got a little crazy with some cheese. LOL (but not really funny?). I made spaghetti squash with some ground turkey and organic pizza sauce (seriously delicious, btw) and thought I would just "treat" myself by adding some Parmesan cheese. Seriously, Megan? In the back of my mind, I knew this wasn't a good idea, because like I said, I get crazy with cheese. and almonds. and almond butter. and coconut butter. ...I digress. So I put some on my squash, and then I ate some out straight out of the container. And then some more. It's like I go into auto-pilot when it comes to cheese consumption. SO, before I ate the whole thing, I poured it out in the sink (and yes, it hurt my heart a bit) and threw it away. The same went for the shredded cheeses (sorry, mom and dad. I'll have to buy you some more?). They are now in the garbage. I woke up this morning and paid for last night's indulgence. This should serve as my reminder!!! So, no more cheese or nuts in this house.

This next part's gonna be boring (isn't this whole blog boring though?), so feel free to skip ahead.

Today's planned meals:
*Breakfast -- 1/2 banana (for recovery), 1 scoop protein, 1/2 c. frozen fruit (cherry blend), 3 T. coconut water (for recovery), and 1 1/2 c. steamed broccoli and red pepper (carbs) w/ olive oil (good fat).
*Lunch -- 3/4 c. spaghetti squash (carbs), 1/3 c. turkey sauce mixture (protein & carbs), handful of cherry tomatoes (carbs), 1/2 avocado (good fat)
*Snack -- 1 HB egg (protein), 1/2 apple (carbs), 1/2 avocado (good fat)
* Dinner -- 1 Tilapia filet, 1 c. steamed veggie w/ olive oil (carbs & good fat), 1/2 apple (carbs), and maybe some spinach w/ salsa (carbs)
*Snack (if necessary) -- 1 oz. turkey deli meat (protein), 1/2 c. blueberries (carbs), ???(good fat?)

TODAY'S POST (FINALLY)
Well, the title says it all. I have a spare tire about which I am not happy. I can contribute that to the copious amounts of carbs I consumed this summer. It makes me not want to wear the workout clothes I used to feel great in because those clothes hug the body (i.e. hug the tire). So, for the sake of losing a spare tire (and saddle bags and other areas about which I'm unsatisfied), I will keep trucking on through this transformation.

Thanks for reading. Until tomorrow.

Day 3: Running and Jumping

Today's workout:
10 rounds of:
* Run 200 m. (.13 on the treadmill)
* 200 jumpropes

Yesterday's workout:
2 rounds for time:
* 50 meter overhead lunge (8 lb. medicine ball)
* 40 wall balls
* 30 toes to bar
* 20 overhead squats
* 10 HSPU
TIME: 16:05

My body is still sore from yesterday's workout, so going in this morning (and I was late. I HATE being late! Stupid alarm!) was hard enough. Add that crazy workout into the mix, and I am hurting. But I really gave it my all during the workout and did really well. I LOVE working out. I especially love sweating and feeling my workouts because that's when I know I'm really doing something.

This is day 1 of no nuts. I cut out almonds on Monday and took my pistachios into the gym this morning so they won't be tempting me. So far so good. I have been pretty solid eating right, and I've kept it Paleo. The only thing I have eaten today that wasn't Paleo was a slice of Swiss cheese with my turkey (protein) and coconut flakes (good fat) for my snack. I was craving cheese and chose that over the shredded cheese, which has lots of extras. So, I still feel good about today's eating. I had a small box of raisins at the end of the work day, which I know I'm supposed to have in moderation, but it was a much better choice than it could have been. My cravings tend to come often, but that's because my body is (HOPEFULLY!) transitioning from being a sugar burner to a fat burner. For example, last night I had this incredible craving for french toast or pancakes. I rarely eat these things, especially since cutting out grains. However, last night I convinced myself that one of those foods WILL be my first cheat meal. ...and then I started thinking about making my Paleo pancakes, so maybe that just goes to show my head is still in the right place even when clouded with thoughts of deliciously horrible foods :)

I guess that's all for this boring update. Thanks for reading. Until tomorrow.

Day 2: Here we go

Let's first start with a little back story:

Beginning last November, I decided to take control of my health and join a gym. I began with all of the "typical" cardio-filled workouts that left a lot to be desired. I was strict with my calories, using "Lose It!" to track what calories I was putting into my body. Everything was going great because I was losing weight and felt "in control" of my health. However, upon further research and overall fatigue, I quickly discovered that to attain my goal weight, I was essentially starving myself. So, I stopped with the calorie counting and began doing CrossFit workouts (mainly functional movements and some adaptations) and eating more Paleo. I got down to a size 4 and 132 lbs (coming from a size 10 and 150+ lbs). I was on top of the world, and people were noticing the change! It felt incredible to finally feel fit, although it was hard to really picture myself at that weight/size. Now I somewhat know what it's like to have body dysmorphia (sp?) issues... In the smallest sense. I was now a size "small", yet I still saw myself as the old me.

Fast forward to now:

Sadly, over the course of the summer, which included too much SAD (standard American diet) binge eating and alcohol consumption, I am back to where I was. Even with continuing to work out 5-6 days a week, the food/drinking completely overtook my body. The clothes that once fit beautifully are now too tight or don't fit at all. On one hand, it's incredibly depressing to know I let myself get back to "this" after all of my hard work. On the other hand, I did it before, so I can certainly do it again. This time, however, I am committed to doing it right. I am not locked down to a certain weight (although I would like to lose 15-20 lbs. in a little over 60 days) because my main concern is how I feel and how my clothes fit. I want to decrease my body fat % and increase my muscle. I want to get quicker at my CrossFit WODs and continue to grow as an athlete and person. 

Day 1 went pretty well. But the 1st day always seems to be a breeze. I am trying to cut nuts out of my diet as they are too addicting and the Omega 6's (if that's what they're called) cause me to swell. I found my pistachios last night and had some of the those, but the effort it took to de-shell each nut slowed down how much of them I ate. I am on the fence as to whether or not I should get rid of those too... 

So, here's to Day 2. I am bound to have some struggles, but with the support of my friends and my personal commitment to get in shape (again), I know I can do this.

Thanks for reading.