My Body the Saboteur

Tip of the day: Do not do too much too soon.

Why you no cooperate, body?!

Do not assume you can pick up right where you left off. It will result in a very bad time. I went for a run Thursday afternoon (in misty 44 degree weather) with my fave running partner who happened to be home from Wyoming for a little while. She challenged me to two miles and if I lost, I had to listen to Justin Bieber the next time I ran. I made the two miles, which was great on many levels, but I was mostly happy to not have to listen to The Biebs next time out. "I totally got this" I thought. It felt great to be running again (and not worrying about exams or finals). The next morning my legs were sore because, lets be honest, I haven't thought about running in over 2.5 months. However, I was motivated, I was up for the challenge, and mostly, I just wanted to run. I made it about 1.5 miles before my quads just threw up their hands and said "screw you lady, we quit!" I felt discouraged because I wanted to go 2.5 that morning. Up the ante, so to speak. The hubby's parents came to visit for a few days for graduation and we decided to go shopping (all day) for Christmas gifts and graduation accoutrements. The outside of my right foot started hurting. First a dull achy pain then escalated to a sharp pain with every step. It started to swell and form a bruise. Great. Another injury to waylay my progress. I went to graduation in heels (not so bad since most of the weight was on the ball of my foot) but as soon as I took them off and planted my foot flat on the floor.... *&^$#@! I plan to see a doctor Monday to see if it's a pulled tendon, a stress fracture, or what and most importantly, when can I start running again?!

On a more positive note, the healthy eating habits (I will not call this a 'diet' because this is a lifestyle change) are on point! No grains, no sugar, no processed foods in over 2 weeks! Even when a basket of hushpuppies was staring at me, I said no. I ate a salad with NO dressing (because it was a 'creamy' balsamic) for the first time ever. Meat, eggs, nuts, fruits, and veggies. That's it. Though I will be honest, the hubby brought home donuts about 2 days in and I ate one, and not 5 minutes after I felt nauseous and got a headache. Totally NOT worth it. I feel fantastic though and am down 5lbs. Yay for small victories!!!

Spinach and strawberry salad with cranberries and almonds!

Spaghetti squash and turkey sausage with a fresh tomato sauce!

Aside from the foot sabotage, things are going well, I suppose :)

No Carbs 'Til Christmas & The Paleo Way

Enter: The Paleo Diet (aka Paleolithic Diet, Primal Diet, Caveman Diet). 
The Paleo Diet is a diet based on the idea that our bodies are a fine tuned machine that runs best on the food items that it was "designed" for through thousands of years of evolution.  Meat, fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds; essentially the foods available to early humans (hence the term "paleo") through hunting and gathering.  Modern technology, while fantastic in so many regards, has given us over processed foods, grains, and dairy - things our bodies can't digest as easily.  Learn more here: Paleo Lifestyle

 If you think about it, our species health (in terms of weight related issues - not longevity) began to decline when processed foods and grains became readily available.  Makes sense, right?  Here's the thing... it actually works.  I did the Paleo thing for about two and a half months while my hubby was off playing with rocks for field course in geology.  I lost somewhere around 18 lbs, felt energized, and less "groggy" mentally - this is also when I was running 5k's, so there was no shortage of fuel or energy.  Then he came home and I went back to eating whatever/whenever and it all came right back.  I have also learned that I'm lactose intolerant, so this is a good fit for me because I try to avoid dairy anyway.  Oh but the grains.  Pasta.  Bread.  BEER.  Yeah, that last one is a toughie for us geologists as that is half of our diet in general.  But it all must go.  Thus begins my "No Carbs 'Til Christmas" goal.  I'm not even going to pretend that I won't be tempted by a cookie or roll during Christmas, what with the dinners and family get-togethers and whatnot.  With that in mind, I plan to Paleo diet it up until Christmas and then resume said diet when the festivities are over.  I started today!  I pulled out my Paleo cookbook and made egg muffins!  You can seal them up in the fridge and pull them out to eat for breakfast another day or as a snack. 


It's incredibly simple:

6 eggs
Broccoli (1/4 cup chopped)
Red and green peppers (1/4 cup chopped)
Onion (1/4 cup chopped)
Coconut or almond oil (to grease a muffin tin)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a muffin tin with oil.  Rinse and chop veggies and distribute amongst 6 muffin... holes (in the muffin tin - is there a term for this?)  Beat eggs and pour into muffin tin.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over each and give them a brief stir to coat the veggies.  Pop them in the oven for 18-20 mins and voila, egg muffins!  And they're pretty darn tasty, too.


About that running thing... I need to get on that.

Ahhhh!

This morning I had an anxiety attack. No, I'm not mental (at least I don't admit to being) just stressed. As this semester winds down and the end of term chaos ensues, I realized that I don't get a nice relaxing Christmas break. I have to return to my (much neglected) thesis work AND begin preparing for my first time ever lecturing a university level course (which I am utterly and completely terrified to do). I somehow have to juggle finishing up data entry, writing my thesis, teaching class three days a week, and training for this 10k. So many things on my "To-Do List" and I suddenly feel suffocated. Like someone pecked me on the shoulder and then, without warning, wrapped a plastic bag around my head. But alas, such is life, right? I will get through it somehow and hopefully this 10k goal will provide a wonderful distraction from academia. But first I gotta get through these next two weeks of finals, papers, and abstracts and then - ON TO TRAINING! Oy vey.

So I started a blog.

I don't run.  Or, at least, I didn't until May of this year.  A friend of mine (jokingly at first, I think) suggested over a beer that I should run a 5k race with her.
"Sure! I can totally do that."  I said and I drank my beer happily never thinking she'd bring it up again.  It was one of those conversations you have while sipping a cold one, the type that, once the beer is empty and you've moved on to nail polish or whose house you'd be partying at that weekend, was suppose to be over.  Except it wasn't.  She brought it up again via text totally calling me out.  So I agreed, but I said I needed a month to train, and so it began...
Two weeks later she conned me into running a race with her early.  I did and my only goal was to RUN the entire race, not stop, not walk, if I had to run in baby steps and it took me two hours, I'd run the entire damn thing.  And guess what?  I did.  I ran another a few weeks later.  I was freakin' pumped.  I thought "I can do this! I'm a runner!"  Then I hurt my shins.  Apparently I "underpronate" which means when I step I roll my feet and the majority of my weight is on the outside edges of my feet.  This leads to lower leg pain and shin splints.  There I was, happily running, losing weight,  getting stronger, feeling empowered and BAM, it was over.  I was out of the running game for at least a month and I had to buy new shoes (mine were ridiculously worn on the edges).  I eventually bought new shoes and tried to get back at the running game. I quickly discovered that it doesn't take long to go back to square one. Base zero. I could barely run 2 miles. I gave up. Classes started again and I haven't jogged, skipped, or done anything remotely close to running in three months (unless you count running down the hallway because you're late for class).   So I started a blog.  I, amazingly enough,  enjoyed running.  Before, I always made excuses:
"My legs are too short."
"My boobs are too big."
"I don't have the proper running attire."
"I can't find a sports bra that is comfortable."
"My underwear falls down."

I'm good at making excuses and talking myself out of something that,  more often than not, is really good for me.  But once I signed up for a race and there was a good chance for embarrassment, I just did it. I wasn't bad at it! But a 10k is a whole 'nother ball game.  I started this blog to accomplish a few things:
1. Keep myself accountable.
2. Motivate (myself and maybe somebody else out there who doubts themselves).
3. To show people that goals are attainable for real people.

So here we go, people.  It begins now.  The first step was creating this blog, and I've done it.  I'll be posting updates on nutrition, workout routines, mini-goals, and posting really embarrassing pictures of my progress.  Sounds like a plan to me!