Post 30

So it turns out I was terrible about documenting my 30 day clean journey. I had to do a ton of that with the program itself and it never quite migrated to the blog. My bad for not realizing what that would actually entail. However, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few photos. 

Front view: Before and after

 Side view: Before and After

Back View: Before and After

30 days of clean eating speaks for itself. I feel stronger, I've lost 9 pound and 5 inches and there is no way I'm going back.  Seriously. I love the way I feel and for the first time in 25 years I'm starting to love the way I look.  I can't wait to see what the next 30 days will bring. I'm officially done with the challenge, but honestly, I'm adopting this as a way of life for now. Hmm, eating real foods is not a bad thing. So I'll just keep with it.  Perhaps I will have a piece of cake or cookie at some point, but the detox from the sugar was exceptionally brutal so I believe I will avoid that process again in my lifetime and just stay clean.  This whole experience has given me a new found respect for any kind of addicts trying to kick a habit.  Who knew it was really that hard.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm heading off for my first biking event. Not only has this new lifestyle given me a new found energy. I also have a new embracing of things I've always wanted to try. If not now, When?

Cheers!

Day 3

Here is the food:

 Repeat of the egg muffin and cantaloupe and blueberries.

 

Lunch: Left over turkey burger and sweet potato fries. Sugar snap peas and strawberries.

Dinner: Left over chicken breast with asparagus. Delicious!
And the physical challenge:

One mile run.
Today I felt really tired. I had a headache for some of the day. I think it is the lack of sugar. I'm hoping this gets better. It is worst in the morning. All in all though I think it is going pretty well.

30 Day Clean- Day 2

Here is what today's food looked like:
Out of order of course:

Lunch -Mason Jar Salad with Walnuts

 Breakfast, repeat of day 1. Mini egg loaf with strawberries and blueberries

Dinner: turkey burger, romaine lettuce and homemade sweet potato fries. Yummers

The food is delicious. My energy level is low, and I was pretty cranky. I'm sure it will get better. I'm still struggling to get all my water in.

I did still manage to get a 3 1/2 mile jog in after work too. I sure hope this gets easier. Right now it is pretty all consuming between workouts and food prep. Oh, you know and things like life and a job.

I see why those biggest loser people get to go away to a ranch to change their lives.

Clean in 30 Challenge- Day 1

I spent a lot of time yesterday prepping for success for today. Good thing I did because as usual I was late getting out the door. Thank goodness my food was already ready.

I started my day with mini-egg loafs and strawberries and blueberries. Delicious. The egg loafs have bacon and spinach in them. 

By the time lunch came around I was starving. I had a spinach and prosciutto salad with cantaloupe and avocado. The dressing was balsamic and olive oil made myself. Again, delicious.

When I got home I ate a banana while prepping the stuffing for the chicken breasts for dinner. Then I hit the spin bike for ONE HOUR of spin and core work. OUCH. It felt good to be back but damn that was hard.

The challenge of Day 1 for non-food was 90 seconds of tap squats. I did 34. Then I had to see how many push ups I could do in 2 minutes. The answer was 26, barely. On my knees.  Sensi Donadio would have my belts back if he knew how far I've slipped.

Dinner, chicken breast stuffed with artichoke hearts, water chestnuts, sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, pine nuts, garlic and paprika. Served with asparagus. Um, yes please and thank you very much.

So far so good. I'm really struggling with the idea of all this meat. I'm going to cut out the salty meat for a while. It's tough for me to drink all my water, but I'm working on that too.

I sure hope this works. I also hope that my hunger signals mid morning and mid afternoon disappear. That could get old really quick.

She's back!

It feels like it has been a really long time since I've been here. Not much has changed, except, I'm about to make a huge change.

I've decided to take charge of my health and my fitness. I'm tired of feeling tired, and flabby and generally not really knowing who the person in the mirror is anymore. So a friend and I signed up for the Clean in 30 challenge. We are going on a 30 day clean diet where we eliminate, dairy, grains, gluten, soy, alcohol, corn and gulp...sugar.  Additionally, there are workouts that we are expected to do as well.  I'm looking forward to taking charge. They have even given us shopping lists and the first few days of meals ahead of time so I'm going to spend time preparing and freezing them for the week tomorrow so I don't have the chance to fail. I know my track record.

I've also taken up knitting. I've been taking classes and labs with my sister and I really enjoy it. My sister is kicking my ass with her mad skills, but I'm having fun anyway. I make many, many mistakes and sometimes get myself in over my head and have to head to the shop for help, but they are great about it. We have even attended a couple of social nights. Right now I'm working on a scarf sized shawl that has lace work. It was a bit ambitious, even though it was labeled as "easy".  I'm excited.

Work is work. I really don't know where I stand on that right now so I'm not going to comment on that at all. I will finish out this school year and see what I feel like doing after that. I'm honestly not sure how much longer I will work in this field. Right now I want to focus on getting healthy before I make any major life changes like that.

Anyway, I think I may chronicle my journey on here. It depends on how it goes. I have a feeling it really could be life changing.

I'm ready to change. I'm done with this. As the wise Master Yoda says "Do, or Do Not, There is no Try."

Spring?? Break!

This has been one bizarre winter. We had 8 snow days, all of which are required to be made up by our school board. What does that mean? Well, it means that I will be teaching for almost all of the month of June. It is going to be one long haul from here on out, so I was really looking forward to spring break.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature has a different plan. Pouring down rain has been the weather this week. Windy too! Yuck. I hate that. We are supposed to go camping tomorrow, but we have decided we can have more fun at home than being cold and wet huddled under an easy up. 

It has been a fun week so far. I spent a day with Madeleine when we had a day of sun. We rode bikes, worked in the yard and played with Annie. Since then I've visited a friend with a new baby and gotten happy bright pink toes. I have loads of projects I should dive into at home, but so far have yet to find the drive to jump into it. This is the middle of the week though so if I'm going to do something I probably better get it going soon.

Or, perhaps those projects that were waiting for spring break will just wait for summer vacation. After all, everyone in my life has real jobs now, so I'm going to have a whole lot of project time come summer.

Now if I could only have the weather to match the season name.

Forty-five!

Yesterday I turned 45! It has been a bit of a shock to see these numbers. I had no trouble with turning 40, but 45 has thrown me a little.  Between not yet being healthy from my pneumonia and my hindered running, I've felt older than I should lately.

Last night was spent celebrating with some wonderful people who made me remember how lucky I am and how much I have in this life. So, rather than feeling sad for the years that have passed, I need to embrace the years yet to come. I am going to live in the moment enjoying every second of this beautiful life.