"Will Run For Bacon" - MissJecka's Journal page 5

[MissJecka]

This weekend was a 20% weekend, for certain... even through yesterday. Beer, wine, pizza, chocolate, ice cream. Whoops!

But, you know what? I felt fine. Like, seriously fine. No fogginess, no bloating, no BM/gut/etc. issues... I just felt normal.

I'm back to the grain-free plan today, of course. I actually ate a small breakfast this morning because I was actually hungry. All of the talk lately about IF not being good for women is getting me thinking, but I also want to be sure I'm listening to my body - if I'm hungry, I eat. If not, I don't. If that means I only eat between noon and 8pm, so be it, right?

Anyway...

Sunday:
B - beer, cobb salad with chicken, sweet potato fries (sports bar for football-watching)
D - scrambled eggs, bacon, sauerkraut, avocado, a piece of home-made primal chocolate cake

Yesterday:
B - pizza, beer, ice cream (yeah... whoops...)
D - salmon, johnny cake, beets, sweet potato
Snack - aforementioned chocolate cake

[MissJecka]

Well, it's been a while... but I'm back. I kind of ditched this way of life in November after caving during Thanksgiving, ashamed of turning away anything at the Thanksgiving dinner table. That, paired with my awful experience on the 21-Day Sugar Detox made me really doubt the Primal changes I'd made in my life. So... again... I left. I still refrained from eating many grains, but I'd still succumb to oatmeal breakfasts while my bag of almond flour gathered dust in my pantry.

My "ah-hah" moment happened last week, when I decided to go to the doctor for a full physical, including blood panel. My doctor said I am very healthy, but felt that I may have a hormone imbalance and possibly PCOS. As I waited for my blood work to be analyzed, I freaked out... and did some quick research and found lots of mixed "facts" - some said primal/paleo/LC "diets" put hormones out of whack; others say that their hormone balances (and PCOS) greatly improved. I didn't know what to believe, and I was completely distraught at the idea that my former primal lifestyle had screwed up my body.

Well, my results came back today and I'm so happy to see that not only is my total Cholesterol at the closest to "healthy" as it's ever been, but all of my results improved from last year to this year, becoming "healthy", "ideal", or "optimal". I've asked for some input here at hopes that I can get information before I go to my doctor for his in-person analysis and follow-up... because, well, I plan on getting back into the Primal way of life and want to make sure I have information to go to my doctor with!

I'm not going to kid myself this time -- I will not be able to be incredibly strict. I believe that realistically, I can be 80-90% Primal for life, and I also believe it will do my body and mind good! I also plan on eating some dairy (the occasional yogurt, raw cheese, etc.), rice and white potatoes if I feel like it. Don't judge!

Some other news is that I will be running the Tough Mudder in May 2013 and, even more shocking, my boyfriend will be doing it with me and my teammates! (He hates running and anything high-impact, so I'm very surprised and pleased he wants to get in shape to do the event!)

Anyway, let me get back to what I used to do here...

B - Protein shake made with almond milk, black coffee on the side.
L - Rice with sausage, onions and peppers.
D - (Planned...) Spicy sriracha chicken breasts with caramelized onions and a salad.
S - Pistachios, lemon water.
Fitness - Swimming and yoga.

[MissJecka]

I learned something yesterday: when a third person joins your swim lane, you will suddenly forget how to pace yourself! My boyfriend and I split a lane and he is much faster than I am (he's a former varsity swimmer and lifeguard, so he's got the skills). I try to take it easy to I don't hyperventilate, but once another guy joined our lane and we had to swim circles/"rounds", I found myself sprinting across the pool... or at least trying to! I damn near passed out and even now, over 12 hours later, my quads and shoulders are a bit tired! Yikes!

My dinner plans kind of didn't happen, so we ordered in some Indian food instead. And after my swim, I had my primal "ice cream" with coconut flakes on top... and lots of lemon water! I do plan on cooking tonight though! I also didn't do yoga yesterday after my swim because I was pooped!

B - Protein shake with almond milk, coffee on the side.
L - Half a rotisserie chicken with marinated grilled zucchini and roasted potatoes.
Snack - Pistachios.
D - Sausage, onion and egg scramble. Primal "ice cream" with coconut.
Fitness - Yoga + stationary bike.

[MissJecka]

Dinner was a little different yesterday, but pretty much the same components were involved. I decided to get creative and make "egg muffins" by scrambling eggs, almond milk, spices, crumbled sausage and caramelized onions, then pour the concoction into 5 wells in a muffin tin that had bacon wrapped around its perimeter. I baked it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and even though 3 out of the 5 were filled up too much and overflowed while baking, it tasted yummy! In fact, I had the remaining two for breakfast this morning instead of my usual protein shake.

In other news, there's an impending snowstorm anticipated to arrive on Friday morning. We're supposed to get about a foot and a half of snow - maybe more! Saturday I have a 3-hour spinning fundraiser to go to (I love spinning!) and if my car is stuck in our driveway, that means I'll be walking... which, between trudging through calf-deep snow for a mile almost completely uphill, riding a bike for 3 hours, and walking in the snow for a mile again (at least downhill this time!), will be exhausting!

Last night I did a quick 30-minute yoga sequence that I invented (2 sun salutations, some inverted stuff, and some back-bendy stuff) and before bed I pumped out 50 push-ups (10 sets of 5), forcing my boyfriend to do the same.

Anywho, the plan for today...

B - Leftover egg "muffins", coffee.
L - Coworkers are ordering in, so I'm not sure exactly what is in store.
D - Primal chicken parmesan.
Snack - The last bit of my "ice cream" with some coconut flakes.
Fitness - Swimming!

[namelesswonder]

I'm really excited for the snow. I'm crazy like that. But then again, I can work from home if driving isn't an option!

How do you space out your push-up sets? I mean, how long is your rest period? I feel like I could maybe do that many, but I'd have to rest at least a minute in between sets and I'm not sure it's worth it at that point =P.

[MissJecka]

I could work from home if I didn't have a meeting to go to Friday morning!

I rested for 30 seconds between sets.

[MissJecka]

So, I got my ass handed to me in the pool last night again! I was able to get 100m of normal swimming in before a third person joined our lane so we had to go in rounds/circles like we did on Monday. So, I exhausted myself trying to keep up with them, to the point that I was feeling so nauseous and could feel my dinner creeping up my throat. Not fun. And, barely after 15 minutes. The boyfriend and I hung out in the hot tub for a while until my stomach settled before going home. For good measure, I did a quick 10-minute ab workout after my shower to get some more fitness in before the day was gone.

The forecast for this weekend's crazy blizzard (named Winter Storm Nemo, of all things) is getting updated constantly. The latest prediction is that it will start tomorrow (Friday) morning with light snow, but once the evening is in full-swing around 5pm, so will the storm. Winds will pick up and the snowfall will steadily increase to about 2 inches per hour, creating a white-out condition. Winds are supposed to get up to 50mph, which will make huge feet-tall snow drifts. There's also a chance of snow-lightning, which is rare and because I have seen it before, it is scary has hell. New England is really, really weird with its weather. Like... seriously... LIGHTNING in a BLIZZARD??!!

The blizzard is going to taper off by noon-ish on Saturday, so I've e-mailed the YMCA to find out if they're going to still have the 3-hour spinning event (which is scheduled to start at 9am). I don't mind walking, but we are under a blizzard warning here in the city of Boston and some folks think we are going to end up in a state of emergency, especially if there are power outages. One of my favorite bands at the moment are going to be in concert less than a mile from our apartment Friday night, and I want to go, but I'm not sure if we should risk it in a white-out blizzard! My plans are just getting all screwed up thanks to this storm!

The good news is that we have a gas range and gas heat, so we won't freeze or go hungry if the power goes out. We plan on doing laundry, cleaning, working out with our stationary bike and dumbbells and bodyweight exercises (and by playing in the snow, of course!), and watching movies while snuggled in bed. It'll be a well-deserved relaxing weekend, I hope!

Anyway, for today...

B - 1/2 avocado, 1 hard boiled egg, a handful of baby carrots, a handful of spinach, 1oz raw cheddar cheese, coffee
L - 1 can tuna w/home made Primal mayo, handful of spinach, 1 hard boiled egg, lots of carrots
Snacks - 2 squares of dark chocolate, seltzer, pistachios
D - Chicken fingers (breaded in almond and coconut flours) with homemade honey mustard, spinach salad on the side.

[juliagoolia82]

Glad to see you back! Been reading your journal, and it inspires me to get my ass moving! Best of luck on your training.

[MissJecka]

Whoops, I forgot about this little journal thread of mine!

Anyway, we survived the Blizzard of 2013! We got over two feet of snow and our cars and driveway were buried under 6 foot snow drifts. We spent lots of time shoveling (about 4-5 hours worth) throughout the weekend, but our landlord still had to send someone over with a snow blower to finish the job!

You can see my photos in my blog: Kinda Sorta Fit - How to Not “Work Out”

I'm doing a Biggest Loser competition at work that is at its halfway point right now. In the past three weeks I've lost about 4.5 lbs, but honestly that is mostly water weight as my first weigh-in was when I returned from a 2-week business trip to China which was full of lots of noodles, lots of steamed buns, and lots of alcohol... every single day. Even so, I'm definitely seeing a reduction in flabbiness since re-starting my Primal ways a couple of weeks ago and look forward to seeing even better results. I don't care if I win the office competition or not - there are plenty of other folks who are much bigger than me who are in this, and I'm already at a healthy weight. I just want to tone up and get ready for my Tough Mudder in June! Still, I love some friendly competition.

Just yesterday I got half a rotisserie chicken for lunch and some steamed veggies on the side. My coworker, who is in the Biggest Loser competition as well, said, "Wow, whatever weight you lost you're definitely getting back!" And I'm like, "Why?" He replied with, "I mean... you're going to eat that whole thing! That's crazy!" I asked, again, "Why?" He didn't really have an answer, but as he walked away he said, "I don't understand why you can be so slim if you eat stuff like that!"



Anywho, here's the plan for today...

B - I ordered off of the "hidden menu" at Panera: 2 eggs, some sliced steak, 1/4 avocado; coffee.
L - Tuna salad made with home-made mayo and lots of shredded carrots mixed in, seltzer, pistachios.
D - Chicken marinated in home-made honey mustard and served over a spinach and carrot salad.
Snack - "Mousse" made with coconut cream, vanilla, maple syrup and cocoa powder.
Fitness - Stationary bike for a half hour; abs/back/core strength training.

[MissJecka]

So... my planned "mousse" didn't really work out as I had hoped. I have done this before, but I think the can of coconut milk I used had more water than cream, so the cream that I did scrape off the top wasn't plentiful and had lots of the coconut water marbled through it. Instead, I made it into a sherbet by blending the whole can with some frozen peaches and plums from a late summer CSA box, a bit of honey, vanilla extract, and coconut chips. It was delicious and refreshing - the perfect treat for after my stationary bike-ride.

I had a really hilarious dream two nights ago where I was working in an office whose walls were covered in shelves that were full of carb-a-licious items: cereal boxes, bags of bagels, boxes of donuts, loaves of bread...! I remember being pissed off that my coworkers didn't buy me anything that I could eat. Then I woke up. Very strange indeed... but, most of my dreams are incredibly strange. This is definitely my first primal-related dream though!

Anywho, today...

B - A different item from the "hidden menu" at Panera: two egg whites over spinach and roasted red peppers, topped with pesto. It was better than yesterday's, but still just okay.
L - Not sure yet, but because I have no leftovers from yesterday, it will have to be take-out. Maybe Indian?
D - I plan on doing a quick grocery store run after my optometrist appointment this evening, so I will probably have something like potatoes stuffed with "taco" ground beef and sauteed veggies, topped with raw cheese.
Snack - More of my sherbet topped with a little extra honey because it'll be a big workout day.
Fitness - 1000m swim... maybe more!