I just realized that I'm going to my boyfriend's sister's house for Thanksgiving. Oy... they do not eat healthy. Not that they are overweight (by much) or out of shape (well okay...), but they just don't eat what I consider healthy. They are Italian and her husband is Polish. They are all about the breads, pasta, grease, butter, etc etc... UGH. To top it off we're being joined by their Romanian friends.
We were trying to come up with some of the traditional foods they make that I could eat. A yam (they candy theirs, but I've requested just a baked one before), cranberry sauce, salad. That's literally it. HAH.
Pretty sure I'm going to bring some dips for veggies (hummus and something else) and a side dish that I can share. I thought about doing a dessert, but I don't want to have to do that also.
I will survive! This will be okay!
On another note, my lower back is still all sorts of aching. I dislike this :( It means that I'm currently retaining water and weighing more than previous (thanks TOM)...plus not working out/stretching.
This foot injury can suck it. I so badly want to be running. It better be okay to do so by next week when I start the half marathon training!
And I can't wait to start the meditation stuff!
Also, NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow! Boyfriend and I have decided to attempt this feat of writing 50,000 words in one month. I tried once before, but was getting another degree and didn't have enough time to dedicate. I SHALL DO IT THIS YEAR! I hope.
More things to add to my list.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Talk about IMperfect!
I fail pretty miserably on weekends. Seriously. I usually spend the weekend with my boyfriend and find it really hard to eat healthy, especially if we're running around. I do better when we go out to eat than I do hanging out at home. When I spend the weekend at his place, it's a ridiculous task to try to prepare meals because he doesn't ever have anything. I usually pack clothes and food for Saturday through Monday (work), which sucks. The past couple months I've just thrown heaps of groceries into a bag and take it over and then prepare it there, but that usually means I have leftovers that I have to take to work with me and then haul back home.
It's kind of a hassle...and I hate it. Though, even when we stay at my place, I will tend to want food he brings into the house. IT SMELLS SO GOOD.
I miss cheese and sour cream. Those are the 2 things I miss the most and the 2 things that will get me just about every time. I tried making my own raw sour cream but it was nothing compared to the vegan kind I've had (at a restaurant; not sure their recipe). I need to find another one recipe that tastes better. Another pitfall is bread.
Now I realize that I can buy gluten free bread (which I did yesterday) and gluten/vegan cheese (which I did also) for the weekends when I want to "cheat", but neither are raw and contain more crap than I'd like to digest. I wish I had more willpower! I NEED more willpower!
Pretty horrible for a self proclaimed Vegan, huh? It's sad... I've not had meat in forever, but dairy? Dairy seems to call to me (not eggs...I associate eggs with baby chickens and won't touch them), which I really dislike. I want love animals, not use them! *sigh*
I have enlisted my boyfriend to help with this stuff on the weekends. He feels horrible when he brings in crap food. He's consciously trying to make an effort to eat healthier, but he won't ever give up meat, dairy, or bread. Kind of stinks :( I wish I could make him see the damage it does! Even though I apparently can't see the damage it does and continue to eat it!!!
So, after this weekend of digesting cheese and gluten, I found myself waking up to inflammation up the wazoo and lots of sinus buildup. MAN did it suck! And still does! My back hurt and my foot hurt. The back is an accident injury from last year that hasn't hurt the past couple months because I've done a good job of keeping active, stretching, and eating relatively clean. The foot was getting better after breaking something while hiking the weekend before last and now feels like I've done re-injured it. UGH.
It's crazy how that stuff affects my body. I should really learn from it.
It's kind of a hassle...and I hate it. Though, even when we stay at my place, I will tend to want food he brings into the house. IT SMELLS SO GOOD.
I miss cheese and sour cream. Those are the 2 things I miss the most and the 2 things that will get me just about every time. I tried making my own raw sour cream but it was nothing compared to the vegan kind I've had (at a restaurant; not sure their recipe). I need to find another one recipe that tastes better. Another pitfall is bread.
Now I realize that I can buy gluten free bread (which I did yesterday) and gluten/vegan cheese (which I did also) for the weekends when I want to "cheat", but neither are raw and contain more crap than I'd like to digest. I wish I had more willpower! I NEED more willpower!
Pretty horrible for a self proclaimed Vegan, huh? It's sad... I've not had meat in forever, but dairy? Dairy seems to call to me (not eggs...I associate eggs with baby chickens and won't touch them), which I really dislike. I want love animals, not use them! *sigh*
I have enlisted my boyfriend to help with this stuff on the weekends. He feels horrible when he brings in crap food. He's consciously trying to make an effort to eat healthier, but he won't ever give up meat, dairy, or bread. Kind of stinks :( I wish I could make him see the damage it does! Even though I apparently can't see the damage it does and continue to eat it!!!
So, after this weekend of digesting cheese and gluten, I found myself waking up to inflammation up the wazoo and lots of sinus buildup. MAN did it suck! And still does! My back hurt and my foot hurt. The back is an accident injury from last year that hasn't hurt the past couple months because I've done a good job of keeping active, stretching, and eating relatively clean. The foot was getting better after breaking something while hiking the weekend before last and now feels like I've done re-injured it. UGH.
It's crazy how that stuff affects my body. I should really learn from it.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Sleepy Sleepy...
I had the remainder of hummus for my morning snack rather than the fruit thinking I'd save the sweet stuff for afternoon when I tend to crave it.
Um... perhaps I should have eaten half and saved the rest for another day. I am about to fall asleep! Darn you hummus! Too many carbs? They were cooked chickpeas (boo).
I was fine up until about 10 min ago. :(
Ugh... it's not even noon.
Um... perhaps I should have eaten half and saved the rest for another day. I am about to fall asleep! Darn you hummus! Too many carbs? They were cooked chickpeas (boo).
I was fine up until about 10 min ago. :(
Ugh... it's not even noon.
On to Day 5
At the end of work, I had been asked multiple times if I would be joining the office for a paid happy hour at a nearby bar (the twin to one I frequented often when first moving here). I actually had talked myself out of going home and doing the cardio training and instead having a glass of wine with everyone.
That had been the plan for about 30 min.
When it finally came time to pack up and head home, I really didn't feel like drinking. Of course I didn't feel like doing cardio either since the temperature had dropped drastically (16 degrees in an hour!) and I HATE running or walking on a treadmill.
There was some back and forth about hanging out at the bar so that I could form a bond with some of my coworkers. I'm slightly sad I didn't do this, but I'm glad that I didn't want to drink. I would have blogged about it, but...I don't know. It just felt WRONG...and I really wasn't in the mood.
I didn't, however do the 30 min cardio. I wish I could use my foot (broken toe) as an excuse, which it MIGHT have been if I had even tried to put the shoes on. I did some prepping for tomorrow, watched a little Vampire Diaries (shoosh) and went to bed around 9.
Got up at 5 this morning pretty easily. I actually woke up a couple times. It's cold! We had the cold front move in that blanketed CO and WY with snow a couple days ago. I did my workout this morning (minus a couple exercises and adding a couple of my own), meditated, drank my lemon water, had oats, berries, and walnuts for breakfast, and showered. It felt pretty great!
Hoping to get a walk in on my lunch break today despite how cold it is and hopefully despite my foot still being black and blue.
That had been the plan for about 30 min.
When it finally came time to pack up and head home, I really didn't feel like drinking. Of course I didn't feel like doing cardio either since the temperature had dropped drastically (16 degrees in an hour!) and I HATE running or walking on a treadmill.
There was some back and forth about hanging out at the bar so that I could form a bond with some of my coworkers. I'm slightly sad I didn't do this, but I'm glad that I didn't want to drink. I would have blogged about it, but...I don't know. It just felt WRONG...and I really wasn't in the mood.
I didn't, however do the 30 min cardio. I wish I could use my foot (broken toe) as an excuse, which it MIGHT have been if I had even tried to put the shoes on. I did some prepping for tomorrow, watched a little Vampire Diaries (shoosh) and went to bed around 9.
Got up at 5 this morning pretty easily. I actually woke up a couple times. It's cold! We had the cold front move in that blanketed CO and WY with snow a couple days ago. I did my workout this morning (minus a couple exercises and adding a couple of my own), meditated, drank my lemon water, had oats, berries, and walnuts for breakfast, and showered. It felt pretty great!
Hoping to get a walk in on my lunch break today despite how cold it is and hopefully despite my foot still being black and blue.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Quitting Already?
No.
But I tell you what... I hit a slump at some point yesterday and didn't want to do a thing. Detoxing can kiss my rear. I wouldn't say my diet prior to Eating for Energy was bad, but it did involve more cooked foods (quite a bit of bread) in the past couple weeks than I would have liked. I had a friend from France in town for 2 weeks and while she's vegetarian, our schedule made it so we ate out most meals. We at least chose vegan/vegetarian cuisine!
So, last night I did my little workout and to be honest I thought it a bit weak. Though, I do feel it this morning; mainly because I've been doing cardio rather than lifting for the past couple months.
I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do anything when I got home and yet I had to make food for today, dinner, etc. I wanted to take the easy way out and just sit my butt on the couch and watch Netflix and make food in the morning.
What stopped me? The fact that I had to document what I did. The fact that it was DAY THREE (seriously, Jennifer...). And the fact that I had a dentist appointment at 8 this morning, so I had to leave a little earlier to make it on time (I usually get to work around 8:30).
Kind of sad.
Today, I feel very run down. I was going to attempt to get up at 5 and do all of this stuff, but I slept until about 6. Definitely tired. I did a really short meditation because I knew I needed it; made breakfast, dressed and hopped out the door.
I have a headache, am tired, and feel all around icky. Definitely detoxing.
But I will not quit!
However, having gone through my meals, I don't know that I'll be following the plan so much. I'll try, but there are meals that I have from yesterday I didn't eat, and another from today that I probably won't eat...so they just keeps piling up! At least the produce will extend a bit. I have a co-op share to pick up on Saturday. Most of that (the last batch came with an insane amount of potatoes, chili peppers, habeneros, garlic, and onion...none of which I use a lot of), will probably go towards juicing; which works out.
I do have a small complaint about the Eating for Energy. One of the main things that drew me to it was that the meals were supposed to be easy, quick, not require exotic or hard to find ingredients or take mass amounts of prepping. I used to obsess over getting a dehydrator, better food processor, a juicer, a Vitamix, etc etc...and then I'd obsessively follow raw food blogs and compile this ridiculous cookbook. While I did get a Vitamix (birthday gift), Juicer (gift), and 1980s Dehydrator (free!), I've not used the dehydrator since making kale chips and I probably won't. I dislike those recipes that take days of prepping. I don't have time for that. Eating for Energy promised that it didn't require anything fancy. However, there is still a lot of prepping. There are still recipes that take a lot of time. Today I'm supposed to have hummus made from sprouted chick peas....however since I make this stuff the day before and sprouting takes a couple days, that won't work. Instead I ran out and bought a can... I've noticed several other recipes are the same and take a lot more prep work than I was lead to believe. Rather sucks. Now, don't get me wrong - it's nothing like a lot of programs and recipes out there, but it still is more time than I anticipated.
I like that I now have a good knowledge of eating raw so that I can tweak things and just make my own recipes based on what I have on hand. I'll be doing so as I go along I think...save myself stress, money, and time!
But I tell you what... I hit a slump at some point yesterday and didn't want to do a thing. Detoxing can kiss my rear. I wouldn't say my diet prior to Eating for Energy was bad, but it did involve more cooked foods (quite a bit of bread) in the past couple weeks than I would have liked. I had a friend from France in town for 2 weeks and while she's vegetarian, our schedule made it so we ate out most meals. We at least chose vegan/vegetarian cuisine!
So, last night I did my little workout and to be honest I thought it a bit weak. Though, I do feel it this morning; mainly because I've been doing cardio rather than lifting for the past couple months.
I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do anything when I got home and yet I had to make food for today, dinner, etc. I wanted to take the easy way out and just sit my butt on the couch and watch Netflix and make food in the morning.
What stopped me? The fact that I had to document what I did. The fact that it was DAY THREE (seriously, Jennifer...). And the fact that I had a dentist appointment at 8 this morning, so I had to leave a little earlier to make it on time (I usually get to work around 8:30).
Kind of sad.
Today, I feel very run down. I was going to attempt to get up at 5 and do all of this stuff, but I slept until about 6. Definitely tired. I did a really short meditation because I knew I needed it; made breakfast, dressed and hopped out the door.
I have a headache, am tired, and feel all around icky. Definitely detoxing.
But I will not quit!
However, having gone through my meals, I don't know that I'll be following the plan so much. I'll try, but there are meals that I have from yesterday I didn't eat, and another from today that I probably won't eat...so they just keeps piling up! At least the produce will extend a bit. I have a co-op share to pick up on Saturday. Most of that (the last batch came with an insane amount of potatoes, chili peppers, habeneros, garlic, and onion...none of which I use a lot of), will probably go towards juicing; which works out.
I do have a small complaint about the Eating for Energy. One of the main things that drew me to it was that the meals were supposed to be easy, quick, not require exotic or hard to find ingredients or take mass amounts of prepping. I used to obsess over getting a dehydrator, better food processor, a juicer, a Vitamix, etc etc...and then I'd obsessively follow raw food blogs and compile this ridiculous cookbook. While I did get a Vitamix (birthday gift), Juicer (gift), and 1980s Dehydrator (free!), I've not used the dehydrator since making kale chips and I probably won't. I dislike those recipes that take days of prepping. I don't have time for that. Eating for Energy promised that it didn't require anything fancy. However, there is still a lot of prepping. There are still recipes that take a lot of time. Today I'm supposed to have hummus made from sprouted chick peas....however since I make this stuff the day before and sprouting takes a couple days, that won't work. Instead I ran out and bought a can... I've noticed several other recipes are the same and take a lot more prep work than I was lead to believe. Rather sucks. Now, don't get me wrong - it's nothing like a lot of programs and recipes out there, but it still is more time than I anticipated.
I like that I now have a good knowledge of eating raw so that I can tweak things and just make my own recipes based on what I have on hand. I'll be doing so as I go along I think...save myself stress, money, and time!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Perfect; No Such Thing
There really isn't such a thing as perfect. What is considered perfect is in the eye of the beholder! I've learned this now...perfection has always been a curse as a designer (that and procrastination...). But, I've come to realize that imperfection is the real perfection. Flaws are what give us character! It gives everything character; makes everything unique.
This blog is about my road to changing my life.
By wealth I do not mean money or objects; I mean an abundance of happiness and love. Today and in the forthcoming days start the following journeys:
12 week Eating for Energy (starts Oct 22nd)
30 day Fitter U Fitness (starts Nov 19th) - updated 11/8
30 day National Novel Writing Month (starts Nov 1st) - updated 11/1
30 day National Health Blog Post Month (starts Nov 1st) - updated 11/1
21 day Guided Meditation Challenge (starts Nov 5th)
24 week From 0 to 13.1 (starts Nov 19th) - updated 11/8
Now, I didn't fall 'prey' to gimmicks... I've been eating a High Raw diet for the past several months, gone Beegan (I eat local, organic raw honey, otherwise all Vegan), and been slowly switching all household products and consumables to organic and homemade or locally purchased (Amazon.com for those that can't be). I've been re-training with the Couch 2 5K and the About.com's 3 Week to a 30-Min Running Habit, having already done a 5K in the past. I attempt to accomplish at least 10 min of meditation in the morning, though that doesn't always happen and neither does yoga, which I didn't add to the above list, but will eventually challenge myself to add.
My mornings start out with warm water and lemon first thing, meditation, stretching (kundalini yoga soon!), shower if needed (might swap these to evenings so I have more time in the morning), drinking lots of tea, a smoothie or green juice, and work.
My afternoons consist of walking or errands on my lunch break, working out/volleyball/running (depends no the day), grocery shopping if required, preparing for the next day, freelance if needed, and journaling the day before bed.
I would like to add in some sketching (especially since some of the freelance requires it now!), more photography, more creative writing (eventually I would like to switch careers!), volunteering (no-kill animal shelter orientation 11/3!), and whatever else progresses me down the path to self discovery and figuring out what I'm most passionate about and meant to do in this world.
Having been there in the past, I know that my health is my number one right now. I want to focus on my physical and mental well being because I know that it leads me to ultimate happiness.
There will be some honest truths on this blog about each of these programs. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything to make my blog or myself sound better. I am human and full of ups and downs, failures and successes. The point of life is to live and learn!
Let's get to it!
On a side note...I am SUPER excited to do this. On the flip side, I am scared to fail because small changes tend to stick better than EVERYTHING AT ONCE. But, that is okay. I think having already incorporated these things into my life will make them easier.
This blog is about my road to changing my life.
By wealth I do not mean money or objects; I mean an abundance of happiness and love. Today and in the forthcoming days start the following journeys:
12 week Eating for Energy (starts Oct 22nd)
30 day Fitter U Fitness (starts Nov 19th) - updated 11/8
30 day National Novel Writing Month (starts Nov 1st) - updated 11/1
30 day National Health Blog Post Month (starts Nov 1st) - updated 11/1
21 day Guided Meditation Challenge (starts Nov 5th)
24 week From 0 to 13.1 (starts Nov 19th) - updated 11/8
Now, I didn't fall 'prey' to gimmicks... I've been eating a High Raw diet for the past several months, gone Beegan (I eat local, organic raw honey, otherwise all Vegan), and been slowly switching all household products and consumables to organic and homemade or locally purchased (Amazon.com for those that can't be). I've been re-training with the Couch 2 5K and the About.com's 3 Week to a 30-Min Running Habit, having already done a 5K in the past. I attempt to accomplish at least 10 min of meditation in the morning, though that doesn't always happen and neither does yoga, which I didn't add to the above list, but will eventually challenge myself to add.
My mornings start out with warm water and lemon first thing, meditation, stretching (kundalini yoga soon!), shower if needed (might swap these to evenings so I have more time in the morning), drinking lots of tea, a smoothie or green juice, and work.
My afternoons consist of walking or errands on my lunch break, working out/volleyball/running (depends no the day), grocery shopping if required, preparing for the next day, freelance if needed, and journaling the day before bed.
I would like to add in some sketching (especially since some of the freelance requires it now!), more photography, more creative writing (eventually I would like to switch careers!), volunteering (no-kill animal shelter orientation 11/3!), and whatever else progresses me down the path to self discovery and figuring out what I'm most passionate about and meant to do in this world.
Having been there in the past, I know that my health is my number one right now. I want to focus on my physical and mental well being because I know that it leads me to ultimate happiness.
There will be some honest truths on this blog about each of these programs. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything to make my blog or myself sound better. I am human and full of ups and downs, failures and successes. The point of life is to live and learn!
Let's get to it!
On a side note...I am SUPER excited to do this. On the flip side, I am scared to fail because small changes tend to stick better than EVERYTHING AT ONCE. But, that is okay. I think having already incorporated these things into my life will make them easier.
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