Hey friends! Long overdue an update. It has been an interesting few weeks to say the least.
Last year heard from me I was about to finish the 5 weeks of T25 and do my end of the month stats. I was on a great roll! Everything was going extremely well and I felt like I had found my groove. Enter a business trip. Normally, this hasn't thrown me in the past. But the things I do now for work take MUCH more of my time and effort with preparing and planning than when I used to go in and do investigations and attend meetings. Just about everything I'm doing right now I LOVE, but it takes a considerable amount of effort and brainpower...and it's a bunch of firsts. Which means my focus is on that much more than it will be in a year once things become easier and I'm more familiar with my new role. I did pretty well nutrition wise for most of my trip, but was too exhausted, and feet hurt too bad at the end of each day to work out. The weather was also awful. Have you ever had a business trip and traveled 650 miles with it raining on you every single day? That in and of itself was a challenge, much less doing new things, facilitating and being on my feet, thinking on said feet every day. I forgot how important and balanced my working from home was when I was a traveling person before - I was able to catch up and breath some in between trips. Now it's a race to get back to the office for the next important thing. SO different. I love it. But it's so different and making me appreciate those of you who have had to go into an office all the time for years.
I also have begun to have some issues with my feet. I have what I think is the beginnings of a bunion on my left foot. A bunion! Just saying that makes me feel old, to be honest. I'm trying to wear more flat shoes and ones that aren't tight but it's tough when you also need to look presentable and professional and have super wide feet. Sigh.
So what was supposed to be week 5 was a bust exercise wise which is a really slippery slope. The mental and emotional connection between eating well and regular exercise is powerful. My weight stayed the same, but I didn't get to finish the program. I then returned home for 2 days, with company at home with us, then we left as a family for a week long trip to the beach - one where I was working and the family was enjoying the ocean and pool at the hotel. I did get to put my feet in the water a few times, and I had an incredible 4 days with two different teams, but I made some pretty poor choices foodwise. Chalk it up to exhaustion, hanging out with family who don't usually travel (so they were way excited about eating out - ha) and once again, I was so exhausted and my feet hurt so badly that I physically didn't do much besides sleep, eat and work really really hard.
Not surprisingly my body hurt MOST of the week - my left shoulder flared up, my right hip began bothering me. Dairy, sugar and grains are just NOT my friends regardless of how I'm eating. I definitely felt what I was eating every day.
It stinks not to be able to come back here and tell you that I reached my goal for May. Any progress I made I lost in 5 days. That's the challenge with any healthy lifestyle attempts. You can undo all the good progress in 4 weeks in just a few days and it will likely take me a week to normalize again.
But when I'm already feeling kind of down on myself, something I don't need to feel is that I owe someone else an explanation. I've made the decision to close my blog Facebook page. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop blogging - but over the last few years I have felt like I was having to report to other people versus reporting out on how I'm doing to my close friends and family which was my intention when I began. I originally set up my page because I was tired of posting my blog link on my personal Facebook page and people, "friends" commenting or messaging me to say that I was making them feel bad by sharing my own progress. That was back in 2010. Eight years later I feel like now that you can hide facebook "friends" from your news feed, I'm fine with people doing that, and that is their right. There's absolutely zero reason for me to keep up a separate page, feel like I HAVE to post there and give myself guilt about whether or not I'm encouraging anyone else's journey. It was like I created more work for myself to make other people happy. Silly, I know.
I have spent the last few months self-reflecting about my personality and how it might affect others following some sad realizations in relationships with people I thought I was close to. While I absolutely never want to alienate people, maybe the almost 40 year old in me is weary of people pleasing and trying to change who I am to make others more comfortable. During this time of reflection and soul searching a dear friend shared with me that I shouldn't dull my sparkle because it's shining too bright for some people. They may just need to get some shades.
Since this blogging adventure needs to be all about me, I'm totally content with it just being what it is...an online space for me to spill my guts, share the good, bad and ugly of this journey of pounds lost, gained and lost, and a place, above all else, for ME. I have never made money on it. I've never gained anything from it except some online friends and a place of accountability for myself.
This blog is for me to track my progress. It's for me to refer back to when times are hard. It's for me to see my journey and never forget where I've been on my way to where I'm going. It's for me to benefit from, and I'm SO happy that others have found inspiration here. I hope you continue to do so and I'm happy for you to be a follower and comment here on my blog. But the Facebook page piece is going to be inactive going forward. And I feel really content with that decision, and a massive sense of relief to be honest.
I will have to continue this journey for myself and make that my focus, while removing what felt like a "need" to have a blog as there were people looking for updates from me. We can communicate here through comments, etc., if we aren't "friends" in real life. I look forward to continuing to connect and share, here.
All of that said, I'm going to sign off for now and get some rest. I'm still working on figuring out what my next fitness step is - considering a 5x5 kettlebell program that I began studying last night - but since I fly to California for most of next week leaving Sunday I may wait to start it when I return home.
See you when I see you. Thank you for hanging around with me, even when I am less than inspirational as I gear myself up for yet another "day one."
Clara
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Week 4 Complete!
Heyyy! It’s time to check in from my first week with an actual written out goal AND plan! I've completed Week 4, and would have blogged sooner, except I have traveled the last two weekends, so just did brief updates on my Facebook page. So, here is the full update!
Let’s review:
Long range goal - Lose 80 more pounds (total of 100 pounds) by my 40th birthday (3/1/19). Short range goal: Lose 7.5 pounds per month.
So a few things to talk more about: My macros, ketones and actual week 4 results!
This week I decided to give the ketogains macros a try (https://ketogains.com/) I follow these guys on FB and the group is pretty hard core but the results they put up are incredible. The actual calories are a little lower than I am used to, but I figured I would see how I felt for a few days. They are 1100 calories total - 8% carb, 62% fat, 30% protein. I added a few hundred calories just for good measure - and because 1100 scares me - but let's face it, I have alot of fat to lose. I figured taking it up a few hundred but keeping the % the same may still work. My test would be, how do I feel, and do I actually lose weight or do I stall because it's not enough nutrition.
At the same time, I have been toying with intermittent fasting, and decided to dive in because I felt so good doing a 16/8 eating window (fast for 16 hours, eat during an 8 hour window) and it really seemed easy. My issue was, it was tough to hit my protein goal in such a short window. So, I added a protein shake with a cup of coconut milk, ice, water and Primal Kitchen Collagen protein (chocolate coconut flavor). Two scoops pack a good protein smack without adding fat or a ton of calories/carbs. This made a HUGE difference this week I think, with hunger too. Having just black coffee in the morning, then eating lunch was fine, but by the time I would be cooking dinner I was ravenous - so this shake is my pre-dinner snack and it's been exactly what I needed, and it tastes fantastic so that's a huge bonus.
Immediately I saw something shift on the scale and on my body. I went anywhere between 1250 - 1580 calories this week, with my macros percentages being right on target (8% carb, 62% fat, 30% protein) and ate alot less dairy this week as well (sad face but seriously cheese hates me!). And BAM weight loss picked up, as well as my energy.
That brings me to chasing ketones. I've been in ketosis for WEEKS, and in and out of it since October. I mean every time I checked. I could even eat some carbs and check and my body has stayed in ketosis, or gotten back by that evening. I had a paleo pancake with chocolate chips, peanut butter and maple syrup for my first meal today about 2 hours ago (directly after weigh in LOL) and I'm juuuust under ketosis at .2 ketone level. I'm sure by tonight I'll be back in. What's my point? You can be in ketosis but not have your macros set correctly to actually lose weight. So, honestly, my last ketone strip will sit in the jar for awhile. (I do blood tests with a keto mojo meter in case you're curious). I won't be basing success on that number, or be too concerned with it anymore.
Successful HEALTHY keto is not eating all the meat/cheese and bacon you can stuff in your face and hope you lose weight...
A healthy, successful keto diet is really just a low carb version of paleo - lots of green, more protein and honestly, less fat than many keto diets prescribe. If you have fat to lose (like me!) then you DO NOT NEED high fat keto. I don't add fat to anything. I cook with it and I eat bacon but don't purposely add fat to my food afterward. It's not always necessary (unless my macros call for it which is like never lol).
That said - my grams for fat came in just under 100 per day. So I would not at all call what I'm doing a "low fat keto diet," either. The ketogains folks recommend that your protein number is a goal, carbs are a limit to stay under and fat is the lever you use to keep you satiated. For me, a girl with 70+ pounds left to lose, a great number of those fat pounds, it makes more sense to be more calculated in how I eat, especially as I heal my body from lots of less than stellar choices.
The other thing I want to mention is that there is NO ONE WAY for everyone to eat. Period. I see so many people hating on keto, trying to debunk paleo, harassing vegans, saying shakes are the only way to go...it's getting ridiculous. Just like our political and religious views, it seems people get so hung up on their current "good food word" that anything other than what they do is wrong and horrible. (insert eye roll here).
Different body types, personalities, lifestyle needs, and beliefs all play into HOW one gets themselves healthy. Heck, I'm not even doing what I did to lose the 100 pounds the first time! Read back in 2010 in my blog and you'll see that. I'm doing what is working for me, for now. And it's different at 39 than it was at 30.
If you create a caloric deficit, and eat healthy, whole food, and move your body regularly you should see successful healthy weight loss. You CANNOT outrun your fork. Period.
Recently, the Keto Reset Diet book by Mark Sisson was a huge help to me to find my way back to my paleo preferences and enjoy this process again. My inflammation is at an all time low, I'm sleeping GREAT, I'm losing weight steadily again and I have a ton more energy.
So. RESULTS this week? Well, since changing my macros this week, I dropped another 4.2 pounds! This is following my .2 loss last week which was meh - but because of all of the travel I gave myself some grace. This means I'm at 28.4 pounds down, or 28.4% to my overall goal! For the month since I started, I am down 8.2 pounds, so I surpassed my goal of 7.5 pounds this month!
I'm in a new "ten number" on the scale and I haven't seen this number since before Wyatt was born!
A few non-scale victories: I mentioned reduced inflammation - my joints are feeling GOOD. I found myself sitting criss cross applesauce last weekend - can't believe I can even SIT like that! My clothes are getting looser and people at work are beginning to comment on my newfound waist-line. My energy is through the roof and I'm super focused at work - incredibly productive and things are going amazingly well.
ALL GOOD THINGS!
Keep on keeping on my friends. Check in next week will include FULL stats and how many inches are lost!
Be well,
Clara
Let’s review:
Long range goal - Lose 80 more pounds (total of 100 pounds) by my 40th birthday (3/1/19). Short range goal: Lose 7.5 pounds per month.
- Track my food until I am fully confident I don't need to (aka, can go a day or two or week or two with no weight gain). UPDATE: tracked *almost* every day the past 4 weeks! I'm giving myself Saturdays off from tracking but still being wise about my choices. I know tracking my macros is paying off - had to make some adjustments this week but I feel like I've found my sweet spot! More on that later...
- Plan my meals weekly, doing some meal prep with the family so we all have healthy options available that stay within budget. UPDATE: Have done really well for all 4 weeks! The travel weeks got a little hairy but I made sure to be conscious of my decisions, while also not being hard on myself. Last week I fasted 24 hours at one point, not really on purpose but because I couldn't stomach any airport food and by the time I got home (midnight) I was so tired I crashed!
- Test for ketones daily until my results stay consistent. UPDATE: I stopped tracking this every day because I stay around the same in ketones, and as long as I keep eating this way, I am in ketosis. PLUS - being in ketosis DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY GUARANTEE FAT LOSS! More on that later in the blog...
- Begin the T25 workout program as prescribed, following the modifier and taking rest breaks as needed until I don't have to. The Alpha program is 5 weeks and begins tomorrow 4/9/18. UPDATE: finished week 4! This week I was able to do burpees again! And some of the ab stuff I couldn't do in week 1! It's so exciting to see progress.
- Participate in STATurday, where I measure my progress and report it on my blog sometime each weekend. UPDATE: weighed in this morning - EEEEEEK! Can't wait to share - keep reading.
- Plan ahead a few days when I may not stay in ketosis. Such as Wyatt's birthday next weekend, or when we travel two weekends in a row at the end of the month. Be flexible, but firm with myself and don't allow my workouts to suffer due to poor choices (which means they will be limited!). UPDATE: I have Stephen's birthday tomorrow - but I'm feeling so strong that I am not sure I'll partake in anything that would cause weight gain. We shall see. I feel zero pressure either way! My family had desserts from two different places last night and I abstained and it didn't even bother me! Super happy about the headspace I'm in right now.
- Plan to reach out to my fitness mentors and friends when the days or weeks are challenging before making a less than helpful decision. UPDATE: Kept up with a few of my BFFs who are also working their fitness goals. It's so motivating to keep each other on track!
So a few things to talk more about: My macros, ketones and actual week 4 results!
This week I decided to give the ketogains macros a try (https://ketogains.com/) I follow these guys on FB and the group is pretty hard core but the results they put up are incredible. The actual calories are a little lower than I am used to, but I figured I would see how I felt for a few days. They are 1100 calories total - 8% carb, 62% fat, 30% protein. I added a few hundred calories just for good measure - and because 1100 scares me - but let's face it, I have alot of fat to lose. I figured taking it up a few hundred but keeping the % the same may still work. My test would be, how do I feel, and do I actually lose weight or do I stall because it's not enough nutrition.
At the same time, I have been toying with intermittent fasting, and decided to dive in because I felt so good doing a 16/8 eating window (fast for 16 hours, eat during an 8 hour window) and it really seemed easy. My issue was, it was tough to hit my protein goal in such a short window. So, I added a protein shake with a cup of coconut milk, ice, water and Primal Kitchen Collagen protein (chocolate coconut flavor). Two scoops pack a good protein smack without adding fat or a ton of calories/carbs. This made a HUGE difference this week I think, with hunger too. Having just black coffee in the morning, then eating lunch was fine, but by the time I would be cooking dinner I was ravenous - so this shake is my pre-dinner snack and it's been exactly what I needed, and it tastes fantastic so that's a huge bonus.
Immediately I saw something shift on the scale and on my body. I went anywhere between 1250 - 1580 calories this week, with my macros percentages being right on target (8% carb, 62% fat, 30% protein) and ate alot less dairy this week as well (sad face but seriously cheese hates me!). And BAM weight loss picked up, as well as my energy.
That brings me to chasing ketones. I've been in ketosis for WEEKS, and in and out of it since October. I mean every time I checked. I could even eat some carbs and check and my body has stayed in ketosis, or gotten back by that evening. I had a paleo pancake with chocolate chips, peanut butter and maple syrup for my first meal today about 2 hours ago (directly after weigh in LOL) and I'm juuuust under ketosis at .2 ketone level. I'm sure by tonight I'll be back in. What's my point? You can be in ketosis but not have your macros set correctly to actually lose weight. So, honestly, my last ketone strip will sit in the jar for awhile. (I do blood tests with a keto mojo meter in case you're curious). I won't be basing success on that number, or be too concerned with it anymore.
Successful HEALTHY keto is not eating all the meat/cheese and bacon you can stuff in your face and hope you lose weight...
A healthy, successful keto diet is really just a low carb version of paleo - lots of green, more protein and honestly, less fat than many keto diets prescribe. If you have fat to lose (like me!) then you DO NOT NEED high fat keto. I don't add fat to anything. I cook with it and I eat bacon but don't purposely add fat to my food afterward. It's not always necessary (unless my macros call for it which is like never lol).
That said - my grams for fat came in just under 100 per day. So I would not at all call what I'm doing a "low fat keto diet," either. The ketogains folks recommend that your protein number is a goal, carbs are a limit to stay under and fat is the lever you use to keep you satiated. For me, a girl with 70+ pounds left to lose, a great number of those fat pounds, it makes more sense to be more calculated in how I eat, especially as I heal my body from lots of less than stellar choices.
The other thing I want to mention is that there is NO ONE WAY for everyone to eat. Period. I see so many people hating on keto, trying to debunk paleo, harassing vegans, saying shakes are the only way to go...it's getting ridiculous. Just like our political and religious views, it seems people get so hung up on their current "good food word" that anything other than what they do is wrong and horrible. (insert eye roll here).
Different body types, personalities, lifestyle needs, and beliefs all play into HOW one gets themselves healthy. Heck, I'm not even doing what I did to lose the 100 pounds the first time! Read back in 2010 in my blog and you'll see that. I'm doing what is working for me, for now. And it's different at 39 than it was at 30.
If you create a caloric deficit, and eat healthy, whole food, and move your body regularly you should see successful healthy weight loss. You CANNOT outrun your fork. Period.
Recently, the Keto Reset Diet book by Mark Sisson was a huge help to me to find my way back to my paleo preferences and enjoy this process again. My inflammation is at an all time low, I'm sleeping GREAT, I'm losing weight steadily again and I have a ton more energy.
So. RESULTS this week? Well, since changing my macros this week, I dropped another 4.2 pounds! This is following my .2 loss last week which was meh - but because of all of the travel I gave myself some grace. This means I'm at 28.4 pounds down, or 28.4% to my overall goal! For the month since I started, I am down 8.2 pounds, so I surpassed my goal of 7.5 pounds this month!
I'm in a new "ten number" on the scale and I haven't seen this number since before Wyatt was born!
A few non-scale victories: I mentioned reduced inflammation - my joints are feeling GOOD. I found myself sitting criss cross applesauce last weekend - can't believe I can even SIT like that! My clothes are getting looser and people at work are beginning to comment on my newfound waist-line. My energy is through the roof and I'm super focused at work - incredibly productive and things are going amazingly well.
ALL GOOD THINGS!
Keep on keeping on my friends. Check in next week will include FULL stats and how many inches are lost!
Be well,
Clara
Sunday, April 15, 2018
Week One of the Plan
Heyyy! It’s time to check in from my first week with an actual written out goal AND plan!
Let’s review
Long range goal - Lose 80 more pounds (total of 100 pounds) by my 40th birthday (3/1/19). Short range goal: Lose 7.5 pounds per month.
I’m so happy with how week 1 went! It was tough - faced more than a few challenges. Getting up early was SO HARD! That was really challenging. Then tracking my food again. Goodness I forgot that I need to make time for that! It’s also shark week so that was a fantastic time to be already tired and grumpy (sorry Husband! Lol). Thursday I had to get to a meeting an hour and a half away so we skipped that workout and did it on Friday - then we did our double Friday workout on Saturday! That worked out fine for us - and I refuse to be so inflexible that I don’t take care of myself. My body needed more rest this week versus getting up even earlier.
One thing I probably could have done was taken my advice from 2010 and made maybe one change at a time here. I changed multiple things this week and it was definitely an adjustment. I was still super successful and I know this week will be easier. But it is easier to take baby steps into this health and fitness routine rather than diving right in. My experiences from not so long ago at my goal weight tell me that I can handle it. So I did.
Oh did you want to hear my results? I lost a total of 2.8 pounds! Not bad for a tough week and shark week lol. I’m down 23 pounds of the 100...so 23% to my goal! As for my month goal, this month will be a little strange since I officially started on 4/9, but I’m still shooting for 7.5 pounds down this month. Let’s see how that plays out.
On to week 2!!! Let’s do this!
Clara
Let’s review
Long range goal - Lose 80 more pounds (total of 100 pounds) by my 40th birthday (3/1/19). Short range goal: Lose 7.5 pounds per month.
- Track my food until I am fully confident I don't need to (aka, can go a day or two or week or two with no weight gain). UPDATE: tracked every day this week!!!
- Plan my meals weekly, doing some meal prep with the family so we all have healthy options available that stay within budget. UPDATE: did great on planning this week and staying on track. Even on Friday date night I ate healthy because I knew Saturday was STATurday!
- Test for ketones daily until my results stay consistent. UPDATE: been solidly in ketosis all week! (Until Wyatt’s birthday cake yesterday lol!)
- Begin the T25 workout program as prescribed, following the modifier and taking rest breaks as needed until I don't have to. The Alpha program is 5 weeks and begins tomorrow 4/9/18. UPDATE: this was SO HARD but we did it! Finished week 1!
- Participate in STATurday, where I measure my progress and report it on my blog sometime each weekend. UPDATE: weighed in yesterday!
- Plan ahead a few days when I may not stay in ketosis. Such as Wyatt's birthday next weekend, or when we travel two weekends in a row at the end of the month. Be flexible, but firm with myself and don't allow my workouts to suffer due to poor choices (which means they will be limited!). UPDATE: I did really well with this! As mentioned above, I made decisions on Friday nights date to stay on track knowing that being more flexible Saturday meant more to me overall. It was so worth it!! I definitely had a carb hangover this morning but I got my ish back together by lunchtime and am happy with how I handled it.
- Plan to reach out to my fitness mentors and friends when the days or weeks are challenging before making a less than helpful decision. UPDATE: I didn’t need to do this intentionally this week - but definitely kept in touch with a few folks who are also working their goals! I was motivated and thankful for all of the comments on my blog last weekend and that kept me going!
I’m so happy with how week 1 went! It was tough - faced more than a few challenges. Getting up early was SO HARD! That was really challenging. Then tracking my food again. Goodness I forgot that I need to make time for that! It’s also shark week so that was a fantastic time to be already tired and grumpy (sorry Husband! Lol). Thursday I had to get to a meeting an hour and a half away so we skipped that workout and did it on Friday - then we did our double Friday workout on Saturday! That worked out fine for us - and I refuse to be so inflexible that I don’t take care of myself. My body needed more rest this week versus getting up even earlier.
One thing I probably could have done was taken my advice from 2010 and made maybe one change at a time here. I changed multiple things this week and it was definitely an adjustment. I was still super successful and I know this week will be easier. But it is easier to take baby steps into this health and fitness routine rather than diving right in. My experiences from not so long ago at my goal weight tell me that I can handle it. So I did.
Oh did you want to hear my results? I lost a total of 2.8 pounds! Not bad for a tough week and shark week lol. I’m down 23 pounds of the 100...so 23% to my goal! As for my month goal, this month will be a little strange since I officially started on 4/9, but I’m still shooting for 7.5 pounds down this month. Let’s see how that plays out.
On to week 2!!! Let’s do this!
Clara
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Quit Dreaming, Start DOING
This quote has been bouncing around the packed walls of my brain today, on the tail end of one of my best weeks at work yet.
"A goal without a plan is only a dream." ~Brian Tracy (he is a best selling Canadian author, by the way, in the learning space so check him out for more inspiration).
So much has been happening personally and professionally, and honestly a great lot of it is, well, GREAT. For the first time in a long time during my 18 year career in the field of HR, I finally feel like I'm in exactly the right fit role for me, for such a time as this. My job is to build relationships that will lead to mentoring, coaching and training our leaders to be, well, better at leading others. I've learned so much in my career naturally coaching others that this role has been an easy transition from the legal, investigation filled parts of human resource life that I had begun to grow weary of. I feel privileged to have made this career change 8 months ago and this week it all came full circle when my incredibly wise boss shadowed me at a few events at one of my hospitals and wrote me the most amazing thank you note that shook me so positively I shared it with my family.
What does any of this have to do with Changing My (or your) Blueprint? Stay with me here.
This week I had the opportunity to kick off a mentoring program and talk to some incredibly talented, high performing leaders about what lay ahead for both the mentors and mentees. I thought back to the first mentors I had in my career and what they meant to me. I've thought about the many men and women who have encouraged me through my career that I give credit for my ability to coach and mentor today. I thought about the people I consider my mentors right now. Because even though I'm a coach of people, I still need and crave ongoing coaching so I can continue to grow. I've gleaned so much confidence from the people in my life who have unselfishly poured into me and I am so grateful and honestly, a little emotional these days when I talk about it.
One of the lessons I share pretty frequently is about the oxygen mask. When we are on an airplane, the flight attendant shows how to utilize the oxygen masks that will fall should the airplane lose pressure. They ALWAYS instruct the passengers to put on their own oxygen mask first before helping the person next to you. Why? Because if you pass out from lack of oxygen, guess what...you can't help anyone else. As a mother, and a woman, and a believer I struggle sometimes with the thought of this because I feel like our society has created an image of the woman who can do everything for everyone, but shouldn't need to take time for herself. And we all struggle to show that image on social media, to our co-workers, in the workplace.
But I am finding the more authentically me that I am, the brighter I allow myself to shine, and the more I share that glow of my true reality with others, the stronger I become.
The month of March was really tough for me, physically, spiritually, and ultimately, mentally. I turned 39 years old and this is the first birthday in a long time that I have not enjoyed my birthday age. I have had these feelings of my life being half over, and have I accomplished enough? Am I doing enough? It doesn't help that I'm not in great shape physically. I had an awful ear infection with a cough that lasted well into March, and my back has also been acting up. This made my return to the gym delayed until my membership had run out. Around the same time, we decided we are going to build a house on 5 acres in the next town, which is an amazing and exciting decision, but holy stress level. Not rejoining the gym since my back has stayed jacked up, and I need to save every extra penny right now for the down payment. Add to that the birthday celebrations which continued for the entire month, stress eating from trying to decide on house plans, work travel that was booked pretty heftily, teaching courses I had not yet done before, and on top of that the day to day adulting that makes me appear to be a functioning human....y'all...it was a tough month.
And you know what? I didn't take time to adjust my own oxygen mask. I've been working so hard and long, rushing from here to there, traveling like a crazy person and being exhausted that I picked up a diet coke again. I know, I KNOW. It was a downhill slide from there. I would spend a few days eating keto, then a few days fully out of it. I stopped drinking water because diet coke was keeping me going.
Where did it get me? Well, fortunately to the same weight I was when the month started (phew!). I'm guessing I didn't gain because I was eating really well about half the time. But the diet coke not only awoke cravings I had buried years ago, it made me drink less water.
Enter my first UTI in all of my 39 years...while I was on a work trip. Super thankful I work in healthcare as I got meds really fast as well as home remedies and a bunch of sweet empathy from my coworkers.
Having to take antibiotics for the second time in 45 days really got my attention this week. And this morning it became crystal clear.
I need to affix my oxygen mask. Now.
I literally dream of my former fit self. It wasn't that long ago. Just yesterday when texting with a friend we were comparing to our former athletic selves and I wasn't the athlete in high school that I was at 35! Just 4 short years ago I could literally run absolute circles around my own self. Yes, a great many things happened over the last few years to give me great reasons to be unfit right now. But the problem occurs when I allow these reasons to become excuses.
No more excuses.
Because a goal without a plan is just a dream. And while I love to sleep, I'm done dreaming about where I once was or where I want to be.
There is no good reason someone who has set such challenging work goals, and is smashing them left and right, can't reach her own fitness potential again. There is no good reason I can't make good food choices most of the time. There is no good reason to be sedentary, when I own enough equipment and workout programs to work out on my own. There is no reason I can't take 30 minutes a week to blog about my progress, no matter how great or small.
The ONLY reason is that I have yet to create actual GOALS that have PLANS to back them up.
I'm done dreaming.
So here is my fitness Goal & the Plan that's gonna get me there:
Long Range Goal: Lose 80 pounds by my 40th birthday (3/1/19). That is almost 11 months from now.
Short Range Goal: Lose 7.5 pounds a month
PLANS in place to reach my goal:
I'm ready to quit dreaming...and start DOING! Can't wait to see what amazing successes I will be sharing each week.
Thankful you're here with me.
Be well,
Clara
"A goal without a plan is only a dream." ~Brian Tracy (he is a best selling Canadian author, by the way, in the learning space so check him out for more inspiration).
So much has been happening personally and professionally, and honestly a great lot of it is, well, GREAT. For the first time in a long time during my 18 year career in the field of HR, I finally feel like I'm in exactly the right fit role for me, for such a time as this. My job is to build relationships that will lead to mentoring, coaching and training our leaders to be, well, better at leading others. I've learned so much in my career naturally coaching others that this role has been an easy transition from the legal, investigation filled parts of human resource life that I had begun to grow weary of. I feel privileged to have made this career change 8 months ago and this week it all came full circle when my incredibly wise boss shadowed me at a few events at one of my hospitals and wrote me the most amazing thank you note that shook me so positively I shared it with my family.
What does any of this have to do with Changing My (or your) Blueprint? Stay with me here.
This week I had the opportunity to kick off a mentoring program and talk to some incredibly talented, high performing leaders about what lay ahead for both the mentors and mentees. I thought back to the first mentors I had in my career and what they meant to me. I've thought about the many men and women who have encouraged me through my career that I give credit for my ability to coach and mentor today. I thought about the people I consider my mentors right now. Because even though I'm a coach of people, I still need and crave ongoing coaching so I can continue to grow. I've gleaned so much confidence from the people in my life who have unselfishly poured into me and I am so grateful and honestly, a little emotional these days when I talk about it.
One of the lessons I share pretty frequently is about the oxygen mask. When we are on an airplane, the flight attendant shows how to utilize the oxygen masks that will fall should the airplane lose pressure. They ALWAYS instruct the passengers to put on their own oxygen mask first before helping the person next to you. Why? Because if you pass out from lack of oxygen, guess what...you can't help anyone else. As a mother, and a woman, and a believer I struggle sometimes with the thought of this because I feel like our society has created an image of the woman who can do everything for everyone, but shouldn't need to take time for herself. And we all struggle to show that image on social media, to our co-workers, in the workplace.
But I am finding the more authentically me that I am, the brighter I allow myself to shine, and the more I share that glow of my true reality with others, the stronger I become.
The month of March was really tough for me, physically, spiritually, and ultimately, mentally. I turned 39 years old and this is the first birthday in a long time that I have not enjoyed my birthday age. I have had these feelings of my life being half over, and have I accomplished enough? Am I doing enough? It doesn't help that I'm not in great shape physically. I had an awful ear infection with a cough that lasted well into March, and my back has also been acting up. This made my return to the gym delayed until my membership had run out. Around the same time, we decided we are going to build a house on 5 acres in the next town, which is an amazing and exciting decision, but holy stress level. Not rejoining the gym since my back has stayed jacked up, and I need to save every extra penny right now for the down payment. Add to that the birthday celebrations which continued for the entire month, stress eating from trying to decide on house plans, work travel that was booked pretty heftily, teaching courses I had not yet done before, and on top of that the day to day adulting that makes me appear to be a functioning human....y'all...it was a tough month.
And you know what? I didn't take time to adjust my own oxygen mask. I've been working so hard and long, rushing from here to there, traveling like a crazy person and being exhausted that I picked up a diet coke again. I know, I KNOW. It was a downhill slide from there. I would spend a few days eating keto, then a few days fully out of it. I stopped drinking water because diet coke was keeping me going.
Where did it get me? Well, fortunately to the same weight I was when the month started (phew!). I'm guessing I didn't gain because I was eating really well about half the time. But the diet coke not only awoke cravings I had buried years ago, it made me drink less water.
Enter my first UTI in all of my 39 years...while I was on a work trip. Super thankful I work in healthcare as I got meds really fast as well as home remedies and a bunch of sweet empathy from my coworkers.
Having to take antibiotics for the second time in 45 days really got my attention this week. And this morning it became crystal clear.
I need to affix my oxygen mask. Now.
I literally dream of my former fit self. It wasn't that long ago. Just yesterday when texting with a friend we were comparing to our former athletic selves and I wasn't the athlete in high school that I was at 35! Just 4 short years ago I could literally run absolute circles around my own self. Yes, a great many things happened over the last few years to give me great reasons to be unfit right now. But the problem occurs when I allow these reasons to become excuses.
No more excuses.
Because a goal without a plan is just a dream. And while I love to sleep, I'm done dreaming about where I once was or where I want to be.
There is no good reason someone who has set such challenging work goals, and is smashing them left and right, can't reach her own fitness potential again. There is no good reason I can't make good food choices most of the time. There is no good reason to be sedentary, when I own enough equipment and workout programs to work out on my own. There is no reason I can't take 30 minutes a week to blog about my progress, no matter how great or small.
The ONLY reason is that I have yet to create actual GOALS that have PLANS to back them up.
I'm done dreaming.
So here is my fitness Goal & the Plan that's gonna get me there:
Long Range Goal: Lose 80 pounds by my 40th birthday (3/1/19). That is almost 11 months from now.
Short Range Goal: Lose 7.5 pounds a month
PLANS in place to reach my goal:
- Track my food until I am fully confident I don't need to (aka, can go a day or two or week or two with no weight gain).
- Plan my meals weekly, doing some meal prep with the family so we all have healthy options available that stay within budget.
- Test for ketones daily until my results stay consistent.
- Begin the T25 workout program as prescribed, following the modifier and taking rest breaks as needed until I don't have to. The Alpha program is 5 weeks and begins tomorrow 4/9/18.
- Participate in STATurday, where I measure my progress and report it on my blog sometime each weekend.
- Plan ahead a few days when I may not stay in ketosis. Such as Wyatt's birthday next weekend, or when we travel two weekends in a row at the end of the month. Be flexible, but firm with myself and don't allow my workouts to suffer due to poor choices (which means they will be limited!).
Thankfully my "week 1" for this new Goal is an office week, so only day travel later this week. It's also the week we will be hopefully signing the final plans and contract on the house, then beginning to pick out all of the amazing details of our new home.
- Plan to reach out to my fitness mentors and friends when the days or weeks are challenging before making a less than helpful decision.
I'm ready to quit dreaming...and start DOING! Can't wait to see what amazing successes I will be sharing each week.
Thankful you're here with me.
Be well,
Clara
Saturday, January 27, 2018
One Pound at a Time
Happy weigh in day!
As of today I’m 20.2 pounds down since October 8th. Yeah it’s not flying off...but it’s coming off and that’s what matters. Especially during a time of year when most people gained (holidays, or have already given up on 2018 (failed resolutions).
I haven’t felt well this week, like I’m fighting something off, so I didn’t workout like I normally do. I listened to my body and it said rest. So, I rested.
This didn’t give me reason to just give up and eat whatever while also not exercising. If you’ve been with me any length of time you know that’s unfortunately normal for me. Instead I ate well and I fasted quite a bit as well, mainly because I had no appetite and because, being fat adapted, I can.
This journey to better health is not easy but it IS possible and doable. It all comes down to staying with whatever way of eating that works for you long term and celebrating small victories along the way.
While the “big picture” is important, I think sometimes we focus too much on it, and that can be a derailer. We lose sight of the finite details that, when mashed together, make up our successes and failures. Without the details, what’s left? No progress.
For example, my big picture, long range goal is to lose 100 pounds again. That is SO DAUNTING when you say it out loud. Exhausting even.
But when I drill down to the detail of what I have accomplished so far, 20.2 pounds lost, this means that I am 20% DONE with that huge goal.
TWENTY PERCENT! That’s nothing to shake a turkey leg at. That is 1/5th of the way toward my goal. That is a significant number to me, today.
We also tend to look at HOW LONG everything may take and decide it’s just too long and too hard. Well, I am glad that over 3 months ago I decided enough is enough with my health. Had I not gotten serious when I did, I wonder how much I would have gained this holiday season? I shudder at the thought.
Let’s step outside of the health realm for a moment and into a financial angle. We have goals this summer of buying a house, so we are saving up as much as we can for a down payment while also trying to clear up a few debts that are left. We follow Dave Ramsey and are hitting the baby steps hard right now. It’s so difficult to save the amount of money we need to have saved by this summer. But we are working on it one step at a time, and one dollar at a time.
If I decided right now that it would be too hard, what would be the point of trying?
Whether you believe you can, or you believe you can’t, you’re right. -Henry Ford
Mr. Ford had the right idea here. When it comes to important goals, stretch goals, we have to focus on the big picture, AND the details. We have to plan, and we have to believe we will meet our goals.
Because a year from today, I plan to be blogging from our new home, another 80+ pounds lighter. Where do you plan to be?
You can do more than you ever thought possible. How do I know? I’m doing it again!
Hugs,
Clara
Monday, January 15, 2018
Keep Moving Forward
Hey world! It's been a solid few months since I have written here, though I have thought about it often. I'm thankful for having a day off from work to do a few things here and there, catching you up on my fitspiration included!
I'm now in my 14th week of Keto! Very happy to report that I have lost 17.6 pounds in that 14 weeks. It's not as astounding as one might expect when you have around 100 pounds to lose...but I'm pretty darn happy about it, considering there were THREE holidays during that time that revolve around Candy, Pie and Christmas cookies. A time of year when some gain 10-20 pounds, I lost 17.6! Not too shabby.
It has been a little bit of a slower go than I anticipated, but it also takes awhile for your body to adjust to a new way of eating, in addition to your mindset. I jumped into keto loving ALL the cheeses and have realized that, just like in the past, cheese is NOT my friend when I'm trying to lose weight. SUUUUUCH a bummer but honestly, I am not surprised at all. I mean, I could have read through my own old blog posts to remember that cheese caused bloating, weight gain, etc for me. Sigh. It was fun while it lasted, even if it was a tough change to make.
That said, I gave up cheese for the first two weeks of the year. Decided to test some with cauliflour pizza this weekend (I get my crusts HERE, I am certain I could make it but who has time? lol). Anyway topped with some of my own homemade sauce and fresh full fat mozzarella and pepperoni. It was GOOD. And I paid for it for about 24 hours following. Oh well. Maybe small amounts or certain cheeses will be ok, occasionally. For now, though, I'm perfectly content with taking a step back from the dairy, once again.
I've also discovered a few interesting things about Intermittent Fasting. I stalled out weight loss wise which may be around the time I admitted cheese hates me...but also I had been fasting daily until lunchtime. I also began working out in December. So I had to tweak a little bit because of that, as well.
I stalled out a tiny bit in the last 4 weeks because of the workouts and figuring out a new normal. I SEE the physical changes in the mirror but the scale was like NOPE. lol! I also went through something super fun where my scale one day said I had lost like 8lbs! I was sooo excited until I got back on it and it had gone back up again...it needed new batteries. Probably the cruelest low battery malfunction! I was not a happy camper.
So I hired a Nutritional Therapist for a review of what I was doing, who specializes in keto/primal/paleo and had a great consult over the phone. He reviewed where I am right now, my entire health history, and made some recommendations. I implemented his recommendations this week and dropped 2lbs. One change was to eat lower carb and only do intermittent fasting on those days I'm not exercising, so like 30g carbs on those days. And on my lifting days, do 50g carb, higher calories and specifically time carbs for just after my workout - which is perfect for me because it's in the evening.
I literally ate this after my workout Friday night and was 2 pounds down Saturday morning, 4 eggs, 4 slices of bacon, a link of apple chicken sausage, half an avocado and homemade hash browns:
Yeah, I can do this. :)
The gym - I'm so super stoked about my new workout place. It's about 3 miles from my house and is called Boot Camp Training & Fitness. I started off doing Kettlebell classes 3 times a week and Boot Camp a few times as well. Well, my back has told me to back off a little bit, so I'm reducing to Kettlebell M/W/F and then one day of something else, either at the gym or on my own. I eventually can do 5 days a week, I'm sure, but I have to remember I'm in a soon to be 39 year old 269 pound body so....yeah it will take me some time! And I have time.
Yesterday the extra workout was sprints at our favorite park, which is only first the first half, then we hike the rest of the trail. It's this gorgeous park in our neighborhood, with a beautiful walking/biking/running trail by a lake. L and I were doing our second sprint when we realized we were going to pass a group of military guys in camo doing a workout of their own. I decided we would make this a longer sprint so we didn't stop to walk right in front of them...and as I was being pleasant and saying good morning, I managed to find a tree root and do a complete face plant! Yep, some things never change.
Positives - only injury is surface, like the skin on my entire knee...also I jumped back up quickly AND the military group did NOT see me fall, no damage to my cell phone that went flying as well, and I finished the workout (more sprints then a hike, another 2.25 miles).
Negative - ripped my running pants in the knee, scraped the entire skin off of said knee, which is really super annoying, and it's cold out so really hard to cover up a gooey knee constantly. Sheesh.
I have so much more to tell you, but I'm about to leave for my kettlebell class, so I'll leave you with this. I'm making progress. One step at a time. It's happening, albeit slowly, but it's happening. I feel SO MUCH BETTER now than I did a few months ago. The weight isn't falling off, but it's coming off, which is the same result, just requires me to be a little more patient that I would like to be. My mobility and strength IS coming back, slowly but surely. This is all amazing progress.
And to close in the words of the person who is responsible for so much progress in our culture's history:
“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
I'm going to keep moving forward. How about you?
Clara
I'm now in my 14th week of Keto! Very happy to report that I have lost 17.6 pounds in that 14 weeks. It's not as astounding as one might expect when you have around 100 pounds to lose...but I'm pretty darn happy about it, considering there were THREE holidays during that time that revolve around Candy, Pie and Christmas cookies. A time of year when some gain 10-20 pounds, I lost 17.6! Not too shabby.
It has been a little bit of a slower go than I anticipated, but it also takes awhile for your body to adjust to a new way of eating, in addition to your mindset. I jumped into keto loving ALL the cheeses and have realized that, just like in the past, cheese is NOT my friend when I'm trying to lose weight. SUUUUUCH a bummer but honestly, I am not surprised at all. I mean, I could have read through my own old blog posts to remember that cheese caused bloating, weight gain, etc for me. Sigh. It was fun while it lasted, even if it was a tough change to make.
That said, I gave up cheese for the first two weeks of the year. Decided to test some with cauliflour pizza this weekend (I get my crusts HERE, I am certain I could make it but who has time? lol). Anyway topped with some of my own homemade sauce and fresh full fat mozzarella and pepperoni. It was GOOD. And I paid for it for about 24 hours following. Oh well. Maybe small amounts or certain cheeses will be ok, occasionally. For now, though, I'm perfectly content with taking a step back from the dairy, once again.
I've also discovered a few interesting things about Intermittent Fasting. I stalled out weight loss wise which may be around the time I admitted cheese hates me...but also I had been fasting daily until lunchtime. I also began working out in December. So I had to tweak a little bit because of that, as well.
I stalled out a tiny bit in the last 4 weeks because of the workouts and figuring out a new normal. I SEE the physical changes in the mirror but the scale was like NOPE. lol! I also went through something super fun where my scale one day said I had lost like 8lbs! I was sooo excited until I got back on it and it had gone back up again...it needed new batteries. Probably the cruelest low battery malfunction! I was not a happy camper.
So I hired a Nutritional Therapist for a review of what I was doing, who specializes in keto/primal/paleo and had a great consult over the phone. He reviewed where I am right now, my entire health history, and made some recommendations. I implemented his recommendations this week and dropped 2lbs. One change was to eat lower carb and only do intermittent fasting on those days I'm not exercising, so like 30g carbs on those days. And on my lifting days, do 50g carb, higher calories and specifically time carbs for just after my workout - which is perfect for me because it's in the evening.
I literally ate this after my workout Friday night and was 2 pounds down Saturday morning, 4 eggs, 4 slices of bacon, a link of apple chicken sausage, half an avocado and homemade hash browns:
Yeah, I can do this. :)
The gym - I'm so super stoked about my new workout place. It's about 3 miles from my house and is called Boot Camp Training & Fitness. I started off doing Kettlebell classes 3 times a week and Boot Camp a few times as well. Well, my back has told me to back off a little bit, so I'm reducing to Kettlebell M/W/F and then one day of something else, either at the gym or on my own. I eventually can do 5 days a week, I'm sure, but I have to remember I'm in a soon to be 39 year old 269 pound body so....yeah it will take me some time! And I have time.
Yesterday the extra workout was sprints at our favorite park, which is only first the first half, then we hike the rest of the trail. It's this gorgeous park in our neighborhood, with a beautiful walking/biking/running trail by a lake. L and I were doing our second sprint when we realized we were going to pass a group of military guys in camo doing a workout of their own. I decided we would make this a longer sprint so we didn't stop to walk right in front of them...and as I was being pleasant and saying good morning, I managed to find a tree root and do a complete face plant! Yep, some things never change.
Positives - only injury is surface, like the skin on my entire knee...also I jumped back up quickly AND the military group did NOT see me fall, no damage to my cell phone that went flying as well, and I finished the workout (more sprints then a hike, another 2.25 miles).
Negative - ripped my running pants in the knee, scraped the entire skin off of said knee, which is really super annoying, and it's cold out so really hard to cover up a gooey knee constantly. Sheesh.
I have so much more to tell you, but I'm about to leave for my kettlebell class, so I'll leave you with this. I'm making progress. One step at a time. It's happening, albeit slowly, but it's happening. I feel SO MUCH BETTER now than I did a few months ago. The weight isn't falling off, but it's coming off, which is the same result, just requires me to be a little more patient that I would like to be. My mobility and strength IS coming back, slowly but surely. This is all amazing progress.
And to close in the words of the person who is responsible for so much progress in our culture's history:
“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
I'm going to keep moving forward. How about you?
Clara
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