So let's catch up.
A little over 2 weeks ago I was asked to join a paleo challenge. If you're not familiar with The Paleo Diet Google will be happy to inform you of the ins and outs. Basically...You eat a salad or things that eat salad...Think Paleo...Paleolithic...Did they have this back before processed food consumed the world? Who doesn't love a good challenge? I was in.
I followed a format that I found on Pintrest and committed to at least a week. Yeah the challenge is a month but to be completely honest...I have been kicking ass and taking names in the fitness department and there was NO FREAKING WAY I was going to commit to a month of something not knowing how it was going to work with my body.
Day 1: Take pictures and measurements and PUT THE SCALE AWAY FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS. Fine. No weighing in for 7 days. I had stopped losing weight and it had been a month or more since I'd dropped many inches...But I was perfectly ok with that...I truly am in the best shape of my life and I know as long as I keep working my body will keep changing.
Weight: 177 pounds
Leftover baby gut: 38 inches
Waist: 41 inches
Hips: 45 inches
Thigh: 25 inches
This was right after running an 8:41 mile...hence the I'm-so-incredibly-proud-of-myself smile.
So the week started. I ate a lot of fruit, chicken, and more fruit, and more chicken. And if I was feeling daring I would mix some onions in with my chicken.
Only once did I say, "I bet if they had this during the paleolithic era they would have eaten it."
Eating incredibly healthy for a week wasn't bad. And it really helped to ditch some of my remaining bad habits...like night time snacking...It's the devil. So instead of popcorn I would have pineapple and a cup of raspberry tea.
I continued my usual running schedule and within 2 days I could see a difference especially in my stomach. But no weighing in until day 7.
I also started to drink a lot more water. If any of you have tips and tricks for water consumption puh lease help a sister out....I suck at remembering to drink water. Suck like..Oh it's 10:00 at night and all I've had to drink today was a cup of coffee...quick...let's drink a liter of water right before going to bed and get up 584 times to pee.
So day 7 finally rolled around and on the scale I stepped...
175.
WHAT?!??!??! I lost 2 pound!??!?! It's been MONTHS since I've lost 2 pounds in a week!! BOOOO YA!
I was pretty excited.
However...even with the 2 pound weight loss in a week I was going to change up my eating for the following week. I whole heartily believe in everything in moderation. Remember my ridiculous addiction to twizzlers? I couldn't tell you the last time I even thought about eating a twizzlers...But as soon as I started this challenge and told myself I COULDN'T have it....It took every ounce of will power not to go buy the super king size bag and eat the entire thing...while hiding in the pantry...so the kids couldn't take any.
So..Week 2 was something like this...fruit, chicken, fruit, chicken, fruit chicken, whole grain english mufifn with peanut butter. So I would say about 85% Paleo and 15% everything in moderation. This seemed to help with the mental battle I had the first week because the overwhelming urge to clean the dollar store out of every candy known to man subsided.
The last day of the second week rolled around and I had finally kicked my night time snacking addiction...though I was still eating pineapple and drinking raspberry tea...and I felt really good. I got on the scale and...........
173!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy shit 2 more pounds!! So this time I wanted to check the inches...because that really is what tells me if my body is changing...
Weight 173
Left over baby belly: 38 (same.................................... bloated..........#ladyprobs)
Waist: 39(-2)
Hips: 44(-1)
Thigh: 24(-1)
So in 2 weeks I lost 4 pounds and 4 inches...After a solid 2 months of not dropping any weight or inches at all. It really is all about what you eat. Will I continue with the Paleo challenge. Of course...It's a challenge..However I will continue to modify some things. Well then you're cheating...NO...I'm being realistic. I'm not going to mess with all the good I've done. Everything in moderation.
What else?
Halloween...It rained. But we still went trick or treating...Like champs.
One of my biggest motivations for wanting to get healthy are my children. They deserve a fit, active mom. And lord knows if I don't want to be locked in a padded room I better be able to exhaust these little gremlins so they SLEEP! 6 months ago...If Zack had asked me to give his 45 pound self a piggy back ride for the half a mile we had left to walk I would have told him that daddy had bigger muscles and he could do it. Now..I hauled that little man all the way back to our house...in the rain...up hill both ways.
I've been keeping up with running really well. I'm doing a race every month through the winter. This coming weekend I have a Turkey Trot. I ran this same race 3 years ago in about 36 minutes...Saturday I hope to be under 27 minutes. I can't wait.
I'm also running a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day back in Illinois with my hubby so if any of my friends from ILL want to join let's do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This race is for fun and to make me feel better about the amount of food I WILL consume that day.
Speaking of my hubby he's jumping on the running train! We ran with a group of friends last week and he went the full 3 miles! 3.16 to be exact. But he still made me push the kids...........................................This running group was awesome. There were walkers, experienced marathoners, new runners, old runners, and everything in between. Everyone was so encouraging and supportive. Surrounding yourself with positive people is such an important part of being successful.
On Fridays I run with a group of moms. This is my favorite run of the week. Partially because we solve all the problems of the world in about 30 minutes. Also because some of them don't have littles to push in a stroller and are awesome and volunteer to push my heafties. So I usually hand them off right before we start a hill...It works really nicely.
These two are such great running partners.
I've set a pretty lofty goal for November but where does greatness happen..........OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE! I average about 30-35 miles/month...November...I will run 55 miles. Why 55? It felt doable...but challenging. I'm 3 days in and 6 miles down. I need to run about 14 miles/week. This coming from the girl that ran 1 mile/ week 8 months ago........who would have thought.
I've really dropped the ball with the weight training. But that cute little sleeping child above...Doesn't like to sleep at night. So when my alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. and I've only slept for 3 hours...I'm not jumping out of my nice warm bed. Period. But it's a new week...and his top teeth are almost through...Here's to hoping.
Left: April 2013 209ish pounds
Right: November 2013 173 pounds
JUST.KEEP.GOING
Way to go!!!! As for water consumption, I fill a gallon container with water every morning and I make sure its gone before I go to bed at night. I pick that sucker up and guzzle a few times a day just to get rid of some of it. I like to have most of it gone by the time I leave work at 3, most days i drink more than whats in the gallon too. Try it, youll get used to it after awhile and your body will thank you! Ive been doing at least a gallon for two weeks now and I feel so much better. Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah! I'm loving the blog! You are too funny when you write. It always lifts my day up and I keep telling Corbin that I can't wait to pop this kid out in May so I can start getting back into shape like you did. Before the nausea set in, I was drinking 2-3 24 oz. water bottles a day. If you search Pinterest, they have 24 oz. water bottles with times on them so you take a Sharpie and mark off how much you have to drink every hour or two to get your daily intake. That helped me a lot because it makes the increments you're drinking look much smaller. I recommended it to my athletes too so I knew they were hydrated by game time and got awesome results. Hope this helps! Can't wait for your next post!
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