Figuring Things Out

So I've been testing my body again lately.  Last week I was testing out milk and my body failed miserably.  Over the Thanksgiving holidays I pretty much ate what I wanted so by the end of the week I felt like a bloated, fat mess.  So on Monday I decided to cut out the gluten and sugar, but keep drinking chocolate milk to see how I felt in 5 days.  I picked 5 days because normally 5 days of eating no gluten, no sugar, and no milk has me feeling pretty good and a few pounds lighter.  Not this time around, so I'm blaming it on the milk.  This week I'm going milk free, and mostly gluten free with a little bit of sugar thrown in so we'll see how I feel on Friday. 

30 Days! I did it!

30 days gluten and refined sugar free!  I now weigh a crazy 131 pounds!  That's what I weighed in college and even less than what I weighed while working out 3 hours a day training for my Ironman!  I really can't believe it. 

The first 2 weeks were tough as far as headaches and feeling pretty tired and achy, but once I got past that I was good to go.  As far as my cravings were concerned I think I have squashed those.  For the first two weeks I kept telling my friend Niki that on day 31 I was going to bake some lemon cupcakes, frost them with cream cheese icing, and eat two.  Well, it's day 31 and I have no desire to do that!  Don't get me wrong, there were times when it was really hard to pass things up, especially the rolls and cornbread at a couple of restaurants we went to and one night I really wanted to take a finger full of the frosting on Kaitlin's cupcake, but overall my cravings for those things are gone.

Now that my 30 days are up and I can technically eat the bad stuff, I really don't want to.  I am going to have pizza tonight, since Nick has really been wanting one, but I'll probably only have a small piece.  I've also started looking for gluten and refined sugar free cake/cupcake recipes so that when I do make cakes to celebrate, at least they are a bit healthier!  Hopefully I can find some good recipes!

Feeling Great!

So this summer I've been doing things a bit different and I feel great.  I've cut out gluten, milk (not cheese), and sugar and started drinking a protein shake after working out to help with recovery.  I've also been taking carnitine and the combination of it all has me feeling awesome.  I'm down to what I weighed when I was at the peak of Ironman training, but without spending 18 hours a week working out.  I'm feeling great after tough workouts and not sore or beat up.  My stomach is feeling good, no bloating, no nothing!  It's been awesome!  I have about 12 days to go before I'm going to start adding a few things back in.  Milk is not coming back in and very little gluten and sugar will come back in as well.  I do really want to pick back up with the cake and cupcake making, so I'm going to have to eat some, but I will not eat a cookie or cake just because it's in front of me.  I believe I have conquered my sugar demons and will not over indulge any more!  Such an awesome feeling!

Still Fighting the Sugar Demons

I just reread a post I wrote back in February about trying to fight the sugar demons and I can see that I'm right back where I started.  I gave up my chocolate milk for a couple weeks back then, but now I'm back to drinking it again.  It's just so yummy!  I am going to try to cut out the nightly glass and stick to a morning glass to see if that helps get rid of the nightly sugar cravings!  I'm also going to only eat cake when I make it which will be quite a bit these next 2 months with all the celebrations going on (Easter, Mother's Day, our wedding anniversary, my birthday, and Kate's birthday).  But I'm only going to eat cake/brownies/cookies then!  I will meet this goal!

It's Just a Cake Pop

I've been making a lot of cakes lately and it's hard to make cakes and be a sugar and grain free eater.  Especially when you love cake as much as I do (and I don't mean just decorating them)!  With warmer weather here and bathing suit/shorts/sleeveless shirt season coming, I recommited myself to eating sugar and grain free in an attempt to lose some fat that's been bothering me.  And I really, really want to kick the sugar habit and get rid of my sugar demons (read this blog post from Whole 9 on dessert demons in disguise). 

Last night after dinner the sugar craving hit big time.  It doesn't help that I have left over cake pops in the pantry sitting right next to 3 boxes of Thin Mints.  The cookie dough and ice cream in the freezer don't help either and neither does the super yummy cream cheese frosting in the fridge.  I stood there with the cake pops in my hand and even opened the container and smelled one.  This is what went on in my head as a held that cake pop while standing in front of the pantry- Do I really want it?  Is it worth it?  It's only a cake pop and the small amount of grains and sugar in it aren't going to kill me.  If I eat it will I be able to only eat one?  No, I'll feel like since I ate one I might as well eat all of them and the ice cream in the freezer and the Thin Mints and I might as well get out the cream cheese frosting and eat it too.  If I do that I'm going to be so disappointed in myself tomorrow when I wake up and think about the fact that I have NO will power.  Don't do it, don't do it!  Put it back, put it back!  So, I did.  I put it back!

This morning I'm really proud of myself for resisting the cake pop.  It may sound silly, but it was so hard.  I can only imagine what drug addicts and alcholics go through!  Now you might be thinking I'm being a bit over dramatic in that it really is only a cake pop and it's really not going to kill me, but I'm trying to look at it as an addiction because I really think it is.  Every single night I have a craving for sweet stuff and it drives me crazy.  All I can think about is eating or drinking something sweet, whether it be cake, brownies, chocolate milk, or hot chocolate.  I've got to stop the madness! 

A few things are different between my attempt this time and my failed attempts in the past. 
1.  Giving up my morning and nightly chocolate milk.  Chocolate milk is sweet and even though it's not cake, cookies, or brownies it still has sugar and messes with my blood sugar and when I drink it at night it's satisfying those sugar demons that I'm trying to squash.
2.  Avoiding milk and cheese.  For reasons, see this.  And did you know that dairy products can cause nasal congestion because of the casein in them? Testing out this theory to see if my constant sinus drainage clears up.
3.  My choices in fruit- going from bananas, grapes, apples to berries.  My current fav is blueberries.

We'll see if those changes can help me banish my sugar demons and lose some of this fat that I've been carrying around since Kaitlin was born.  Those are my two main goals.  Let's see if I can make it 2 weeks.  Then I have a cake to make for a friend!

Challenge- Day 3

Another good day, except I almost ate a Sweet Tart without even thinking about it. Nick offered me one, so I took it. I put it in my mouth, closed my mouth, and then it hit me. I yelled out "sugar!" and I quickly spit it out and threw it out the window! Nick thought it was hilarious!

I did have a few moments at the grocery store where I really wanted to grab a piece of cake or check out the bread cart, but I didn't!

So far, so good!

Challenge- Day 2

Day 2 of the challenge was a good day.

I wasn't tempted by anything like I was yesteray. I did have instant mashed potatoes and those aren't okay with the Paleo diet, but I'm still meeting the two main goals I set for myself- no grains, no sugar.

Hopefully my willpower continues!

Challenge- Day 1

Today was Day 1 of the Eat Right, Train Right, Live Right Challenge. It officially started Saturday, but I gave myself Saturday to indulge in a few treats...okay, I actually indulged the entire weekend with pizza, cupcakes, philly cheesesteak, cake, mexican food, and more cake! I was so ready to clean things up today!

I posted before about my biggest challenge being getting lazy and ordering pizza when tired instead of making dinner. Well, tonight I faced another challenge.

Nick is out of town tonight, so it's just me and the girlies. Today we went to the gym right after school, then to the park for a bit. When we got home our neighbors were out so we visited with them for a bit. Once we came in Kate started throwing a fit. Crying, whining, begging for chocolate milk, yogurt, hot dogs, blah blah blah. Even after getting her milk she was still not happy and when she's not happy she gets loud. She doesn't care that I have yuckiness all over my hands from meat or that I'm in the middle of making dinner, she wants what she wants and she wants it now! And if she doesn't get it, she screams, whines, cries. It's so annoying! And this happens just about every night while I make dinner.

I realized tonight when I opened the pantry and saw an unopened bag of chocolate chips, that one way I cope with her craziness in the evenings is to eat something sweet! It just makes me feel better. I thought about opening them for half a second, but resisted. Then I opened the freezer and saw leftover ice cream from Maddie's party and wanted some of that. I also saw some frozen cake that I thought about pulling out, but I resisted. Now I know that when I'm really tired or in a bad mood I want something sweet! Hopefully I can get over that or maybe I'll just stick a few grapes in my mouth and call it good.

My goals for the first 2 weeks of the challenge (10/4-10/17):
1. No grains.
2. No sugar (cake, cookies, donuts, brownies, ice cream, etc.)
3. No milk.
4. Workout 5-6 times a week.
5. Sleep 8 hours a night.

After the first 2 weeks, I plan to give myself a cheat day (10/18) to have some pizza and a cupcake or something like that!

Then back on the wagon for 12 days. I have a cake to make for Halloween and I sure can't bake a cake and not have any!

October 2, 2010- Train Right, Eat Right, Live Right Challenge

Today begins CrossFit Katy's Eat Right, Train Right, Live Right Challenge! The next 2 months I will be trying my best to Eat Right, Train Right, and hopefully Live Right! That means no grains, no sugar, no milk, lots of meat, lots of veggies, some fruits, some nuts, and lots of exercise.

We started off our Challenge this morning with a nutrition seminar. 2 of our wonderful trainers talked to us about the benefits of cutting grains, sugar, and dairy. I was pretty well informed going into the seminar, but I still learned a lot. Especially how to tell people why those things are bad for you (I'll post more about that later)!

After the talk we had our challenge workout which we will repeat in 2 months to see how we improve.

The WOD was
500 meter row
40 air squats
30 anchored sit ups
20 lateral burpees
30 anchored sit ups
40 air squats
500 meter row

Time- 11:00

Tonight I'm going to take a look at the things we have in our pantry and I'm going to get rid of some things that I don't think we need. Tomorrow I'm going to plan out our meals for the week and then go grocery shopping for lots of healthy foods!

I knew the challenge was coming up so last week I forced myself to get back in the routine of making dinner every night, and I did until last night. Last night we had pizza since I knew I would be starting the challenge soon and today I had cupcakes. Some of the best cupcakes ever, but that's a post in itself!

I'm fortunate that the train right part is not a challenge for me because I LOVE Crossfit and working out in general. I'm pretty set there. My biggest concern is the Eat Right. I have my days when I'm tired and I get lazy so we order a super yummy pizza from Palio's. That's going to be the hardest thing for me right there.

I'm actually looking forward to eating healthy and feeling the differences healthy food makes! I'm about cupcaked out, so it's perfect timing.

Wish me luck!

Cake Overdose

Ugh...that's all I can say about cake right now. I know what cake, and sugar in general do to me, so why do I keep eating it? Because it's so YUMMY! Moderation, moderation, moderation is what I try to tell myself, but that doesn't work for me. If it's in my house I will eat it any time I think about it or walk into the kitchen, which is basically ALL the time. You would think I could control myself, but I just can't!

Before Kate's birthday I tested outa new flavor- graham cracker cake with chocolate and marshmallow filling. I wanted to try it out before her actual birthday to see if it was a flavor I wanted to go with. The filling ended up being too runny and the caked didn't really taste like graham cracker, so I decided to go with something else. Even thought it didn't taste like graham cracker, it still tasted good, so I ate and ate and ate until I made myself sick! I literally made myself sick. The next day my stomach hurt and I had to stay close to the bathroom.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to the days after Kaitlin's birthday. I ended up making a chocolate chip cookie flavored cake that was super yummy and a chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling. Not only are there cake scraps from leveling the cake, but I always make too much cake for our little parties and have tons left over. What do I do? Eat it...a lot of it...for breakfast one day...for dinner another day. I ate a ton of cake and again made myself sick. This time it wasn't just a few hours. It lasted 2 days! 2 long, miserable days.

The sad part, if you put a cake in front of my right now and I knew it was super yummy like the ones I make, I would totally eat a piece. And if you left it at my house, I would probably have another piece today and another tomorrow and another and another until I got sick again. What's wrong with me?!

May 5-8

I had high hopes of recording my food and workouts here, but there's been no time! This week was super busy with 5 swim team practices, 3 softball practices, and 2 softball games this week. It will calm down this week now that Maddie's regular season softball team is finished, so hopefully I'll have more time.

This past week was a sugar filled week and boy has my tummy been feeling it. I baked my mom's Mother's Day cake at the beginning of the week because I knew I wouldn't have time later in the week (and I read that freezing them locks in the moisture). Of course I had left over cake batter and I couldn't let it go to waste so I baked extra cakes and have been snacking on cake every day this week! My body is not happy. Next week will be a sugar free, grain free week to get myself back on track and feeling better. After that I'm going to add in some whole grains and see how those affect me.

Along with the busy week came hardly any workouts. I hoped to drag myself out of bed on Thursday to workout before school, but I just can't get up to do it. I also planned to workout Friday, but got busy on my mom's cake and didn't want to stop.

Oh well, next week is a new week! Off to eat some Mexican food! :)

To Eat Grains or Not to Eat Grains?

Most people hear the word carbs and think pasta, bread, cereal, rice, oats. When people see that I'm avoiding grains, they ask me why I don't eat carbs. I do eat carbs, I just try to make sure most of my carbs are from fruits and vegetables. Not because I think I'm fat or because I'm trying to lose weight, but because I'm trying to be a heatlhier person. See this article from Whole 9 for reasons to avoid grains.

It never occured to me that grains may not be good for you until I joined CrossFit. I'd heard about The Paleo Diet for Athletes, which is a book written for endurance athletes (triathletes, marathoners, etc.) who want to follow a Paleo diet, but also compete in long distance events. I thought it was crazy. How can you run, bike, and swim for a long time without eating bread and pasta?! There was no way I was giving up my pasta, bread, and oatmeal!

Fast forward 3 years to my non-triathlete, CrossFitting self and now I see walking, talking examples of what a Paleo diet can do for you (and some seriously hard work and good genes). Many of the top CrossFit athletes eat Paleo, so you figure if it works for them, then it could work for me, right? Well, I still needed more convincing, so I started reading. I read tons and tons of articles on the internet and for every article you find that says why grains are bad, you find another that says grains are essential. What should I believe?

I'd heard of people doing a 30 day challenge or a 14 day challenge to go without grains, dairy, and anything else non-Paleo to see how they start to feel and to also see what happens when the challenge is over and they begin adding those foods back in. I started by elimnating my morning milk and most dairy products to see what happened. Immediately I noticed the white spots that I get in my throat were gone. Hmm...maybe there is something to this Paleo diet.

That convinced me to try to eliminate grains to see what happened. I decided I would go 2 weeks without grains and sugar and then add them back in to see what happened. I made it about a week and a half but that was long enough for me to see a difference when I added them back in. I noticed I felt bloated and really tired after eating them. If you read my Paleoish post on the Family of Four blog you know I continued my experiment and went Monday-Friday without grains and sugar, then on weekends would give in. I noticed a huge difference that Monday morning in the way I felt.

What am I going to do now that I know the difference it makes? Well, I'm not going to give up grains and sugar completely, but I'm going to try to limit my intake. I love them, but I'm trying to find alternatives, especially to the sugary sweets. I'm also going to start adding back in whole grains to see if I have a better reaction to those than the refined grains I added back in. I think it's all about moderation.