Goal Evaluation

Hey all!

Things are going great!  My goal for June was to end the month at 188 (started at 192).  Well...yesterday I weighed 187.8.  And I still have today and tomorrow to lose a lil more!  It's been a long time since I was losing consistently like this.

Here's what I think is impacting that:

Food: 

 - eating veggies with every meal, including breakfast
 - limiting dried fruit
 - continuing a Whole 30 lifestyle (click on Whole 9 Life for more info or read past blogs)
 - Food not being the focus of all things in my life, though I still consider myself a "foodie."

Exercise:

 - lifting weights 3x/week
 - running/HIIT training a few times a week
 - NOT working out every day

Wait...did I just say NOT working out every day?  Well, yes, I did.  I'm exploring a new thought process (for me) around exercise and activity.  Researching, pondering, and trying things out.

I've come to realize my weight lifting 3x/week is non negotiable.  I've seen more fat loss and muscle definition from doing that than any of the many miles I've run in the last 3 years.

Don't get me wrong, I still love to run.  But I don't feel I need to do it every day to affect my weight loss positively like I used to.  In fact, I wonder if in the past, too much cardio was getting in the way of my goals (along with not eating the right foods of course...).

That said, I'm rethinking the half marathon thing.  I know I could do it, but not sure I want to.  Right now I'm battling my IT Band Syndrome which is a pain in the knee.  It's not terrible, but it takes alot of work (foam rolling every day which is painful by the way) and then unpredictable results - sometimes I run 3 miles with no problem, other times I have to stop and walk - no choice, the pain is that bad, and I'm literally limping home.  It will resolve eventually, I fully believe that.  But it has really caused me to seriously reconsider what my goals are, and make sure my goals are MY goals and will be for MY maximum benefit not what everyone thinks I should do, continue, or focus on.

Yeah, it's all about me. haha.

And my goal of running a half marathon seriously pales in comparison to my goal of reaching my desired healthy weight.

I've been working on that longer than I've been a runner (hello, my whole life?).

Again, don't want you to think I think running is bad, I don't, in fact, I LOVE it.  It makes me feel so strong, so accomplished.  I might still train for a 10k here and there as I love the 6.2 mile distance.  But I only want to do races that I would love (like the magical beautiful 10k down the mountain in Frisco, CO I did last year), or local races to support causes I believe in.  Not just to hit certain speed goals or to win medals.  I have proven I will never be fast enough to place, and I'm not overly competitive so that is completely fine with me.  I may even decide I really want to do a half someday.  Just not this year.

This year my goal is simple.  Reach my weight loss/health goal.

I've already achieved a HUGE goal this year.  Figured out how to eat to live, finally!  It seems kind of crazy how solid my eating habits are.  I feel incredible, completely at peace with how I eat, and I actually don't think about food all the time like I used to.  I love what I eat, but I am enjoying the company and conversation over a meal much more than the food itself.  The food just brings us together.

Sigh.  Huge amazingness.

Here's a few pics of my food this week.

Bunless Grass Fed Beef burger at Green Truck Pub in Savannah, GA.  It had goat cheese and a peach compote on top.  (neither of those items are W30 approved but I'm cool with that).  Holy amazing flavors! Love love loved it!  On the side was a beautiful salad with apple, spiced pecans and walnuts and my own olive oil.  So good!  I ate there twice this week while traveling for work.  :)

I made this myself for lunch earlier this week.  Diced fresh cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, avocado (not pictured, added after lol), homemade chicken salad with curry, cayenne, sea salt and then topped with beautiful pecans.  So fresh and good!

We had a couple over for dinner last night.  Stephen grilled wings and chicken breast, and I made baked potatoes (baked a sweet potato for me), bacon wrapped dates (SO yum!), snap peas with toasted coconut and toasted almonds and they ate corn on the cob (not even tempting for me).  Had fruit salad for dessert with whipped cream for them (plain for me).

That's the kind of food that is making me LOVE summer!  And you can have people over without crashing your own plans.  It's all about priorities, decisions and follow through.

So there you have it, my rant for the week.  Thinking over my July goal and I am leaning towards 182 which is another 5 lbs.  A bit of a stretch, but that will make it fun.  And I lost 5 this month so...

Off I go! Have a great weekend and make lasting choices for yourself!

Clara

Going Down Down Down!

Hey friends!

Things are still going very well.  Have been enjoying my way of eating still...so so much.  I don't miss really anything from the way I used to eat before.  I do occasionally enjoy a treat and am keeping that to once a week or so, and when I say treat, it's not like I'm running to Dairy Queen...it's more like making some kind of paleo friendly sweetened with honey goodness.

In fact, I didn't even use sweetener in the ice cream I made last night.  I took frozen chopped bananas, and blended them with plain unsweetened cocoa and half a cup of almond milk.  Almond milk is not technically allowed on W30, but I don't mind a little here and there.  I've added in a little dairy too, some cheese every now and then, but only the kind I LOVE and only if I want it, which is pretty rare.

So here is where I am weight wise, this morning I weighed in at 190.8.  WOW!  I haven't weighed that in over a year.  This was post-run in the heat and humidity and it's my "week to lose" so we'll see how well that stays down.  My goal of 189 in May didn't happen, but I still lost around 5lbs in May so I'm ok with that.  For June I started at 192.8.  It's looking like 5lbs a month is doable for me.  Will take a little while doing it this way, but hey, it will stay off right?

Overall my results since December have been pretty staggering.  I've lost 35 lbs and a TON of inches, including a total of 9.5 inches off of JUST my WAIST!

Here's a series of updated, humiliating pictures:

Sure, I have a ways to go...some days feels like a long way.  But I am positive I will get there.  These pictures show what a long way clean eating and exercise can take you!

Now for a more flattering comparison picture:

The picture on the left was taken in March of 2010 at my heaviest.  I also look SO sickly.  I was 30.  The picture on the right was taken last month at a restaurant.  I look alive, healthy, and well.  I'm now 34.  What a difference a few years can make. I think I look MUCH older in the white shirt picture.

Want to see some food pictures?  I've had a few friends asking me what I eat exactly.  I follow the Whole 30 principles with just a few paleo like tweaks.  This means I eat protein, veggies and healthy fats at each meal.  Some fruit as well, but it's not the "star" of my plate.  I get enough at each meal that I don't need to snack hardly at all.

Chicken Alfredo served atop Zoodles (noodles made from fresh zucchini in my kitchen!).  The alfredo is made with canned coconut cream (full fat) and ghee.  Recipe is on my Pinterest board "Good Eats for Life" as a Seafood alfredo, I just used chicken instead.  Served with kale sauteed in and with bacon. I used to make a killer alfredo back in the "day" and this one really rivals it! So good!!!  (added a bit of parm too...that helps)

Typical breakfast for me.  2 eggs scrambled, half a haas avocado and snap peas steamed then covered in coconut oil and toasted almonds/toasted coconut.  SO good!  I crave this.  Veggies in the morning have made a HUGE difference for me - I lose more weight when I start my day off with veggies!

Cauliflower pizza crust didn't come out as well as I'd hoped as I didn't have wax paper BUT it was still pretty good.  Recipe also on my pinterest board - for the crust.  The sauce is easy, your favorite seasonings mixed with tomato paste.

One of my FAVE made up recipes!  A bag of dry broccoli slaw sauteed in coconut oil, add chopped chicken, diced pineapple, coconut aminos (a replacement for soy sauce), curry and chinese 5 spice.  SO good!  I also sprinkle toasted coconut and almond on this one as well.

Homemade chicken salad with my homemade paleo mayo (YES I can make my own mayo!) and dates.  I season it with curry and sea salt.  Wrapped in romaine. 

This is the Power Steak Bowl for breakfast at Panera! 2 Hard boiled eggs, steak, tomato and avocado. SO good!

My zoodles again...this time with homemade spaghetti sauce (1 lb of grass fed ground beef, seasonings, a can of tomato paste, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.)

As you can see...I really like my new zoodles creation.  They are AMAZING and have brought pasta back into my life!  Here is where you can get the zoodler Amazing zoodle maker! - it does tons of other veggies too - I have some sweet potatoes to try this weekend!

So there you have it.  TONS of pics.  And hopefully some inspiration for your own food adventures.  Basically every meal for me has the same balance.  Protein, healthy fat, and lots of veggies.  I love everything I eat and am excited I'm also losing weight in the process!

Oh and before I forget, my husband has now become a runner!  This morning we ran 2.25 miles - he's actually got some speed to him! I'm struggling a bit with IT Band syndrome, but am planning new shoes and full use of my foam roller to treat it.  Wish me luck! His first race will be in a few weeks...then if all is going well, we will start training for the Savannah Rock and Roll Half Marathon in November!

That's enough excitement for me for now!  

Take care all!

Clara