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Back in the Saddle

By on January 6, 2011 in 4-Hour Body, consistency/commitment, determination/motivation, eating, food, hcg, plan, R2P4, working out

Hey y’all!  I hope you enjoyed the guest posts over the last couple of days – I’m so grateful to Tara and Betsy for sharing the writing load with me this week!  I’m finally back in Seattle and, just like every time I take time off, I’m wondering if the vacation time is really worth the mounds and piles of work I have waiting for me when I come home!  Who am I kidding – it’s totally worth it! – but if you are wondering where I’ll be for the next week?  A good bet will almost always be my desk!

Vacation was great – it was really nice to take a mental and physical break.  Before you shake your finger at me, don’t worry – I didn’t take a total break from working out.  In the 5 days I was gone, I got in one awesome gym trip, a 3.5 mile run, and a 3 mile walk.  And yesterday, my first day back, I hit up the gym for an AWESOME kick-my-own-arse cardio and core session.  I can’t wait to meet up with my trainer this afternoon and get back into the groove with her, too.

Another thing that has me excited is that I’ve decided to give the slow carb diet from The 4-Hour Body a try for the next 2-3 weeks.  I won’t weigh myself until Sunday to give myself a few days to lose a bit of water weight, but I already know that I’ve put on probably 10 pounds over the holidays.  So I’m ready to get that weight off and prep my body for all the awesometasticness that 2011 will hold, like running lots of events – including the Warrior Dash, Ragnar, and a half marathon – and another round of HCG.

So today I started on The 4-Hour Body slow carb diet, which is basically as follows:

RULE 1: AVOID “WHITE” CARBOHYDRATES.  Avoid any carbohydrate that is, or can be, white.

RULE 2: EAT THE SAME FEW MEALS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

RULE 3: DON’T DRINK CALORIES.

RULE 4: DON’T EAT FRUIT.

RULE 5: TAKE ONE DAY OFF PER WEEK.

I know these rules might seem uber-restrictive because, well, they are!  I am not worried about feeling deprived for two reasons.  One is that one day each week, I can eat what I like.  At this point, I am sure that will include lots of fruit (which I will miss), some dairy, and maybe even pizza.  The second reason I am not worried about feelings of deprivation is that I don’t intend to follow the slow-carb diet for ages.  I’m using it as a tool to help me take off a few of the pounds I’ve gained and to get me off sugar completely before I start my next round of HCG.

So there you have it – I feel fantastic today because I got a good night’s sleep, fit in a fantastic workout, and have eaten yummy, healthy food all day today.  Oh, and I’m taking a trip to Whole Paycheck Foods tonight on my way home to stock up on lots of essentials, including white truffle sea salt, eggs, chicken, beans, lentils, veggies, and more.

How are you?  I’m still catching up on blogs, so fill me in on your news and goals for 2011!

Comments { 24 }

Welcome to 2011!

By on January 1, 2011 in goals, holiday, hope/inspiration, plan, planning, R2P4

Welcome to 2011, friends!

I hope whatever you did last night, you were safe and with your loved ones.  I heard about people who slept right through it; who went running to bring in the New Year on the pavement; who spend the evening with family and friends at home or out on the town.

However you chose to celebrate, I hope you are happy.

And if you are not happy, may I suggest that 2011 can be your year?  The year in which instead of making empty resolutions which fizzle out by February…you set goals and make a concrete plan for how to reach those goals, and then execute that plan?  The year in which you actually begin to achieve some of your goals, and make your own dreams come true?

I said something on Twitter the other day that resonated with me and a few other people: the difference between a resolution and a goal is having a PLAN.  It’s so easy to think about what we want, but the truth is that unless we sit down and put together a realistic plan that allows us to follow-through on that thing we want…well, chances are we’ll spend next New Year’s Eve thinking about the same things we want, and setting the same resolutions for 2012.

Here’s the deal: 2011 is going to pass one way or the other.  And in one year, you will arrive at the last day of 2011 and you will look back at this year.  You have the choice now to determine how you will feel and what you will see when you do that look-back.  So what will you choose?

I choose health.
I choose to do some hard work mentally & emotionally.
I choose to keep working to become the best me I can be.
I choose to run in several events that scare the bejebus out of me.
I choose to keep battling to lose this weight and keep it off because I AM WORTH IT.
I choose to be open and transparent here with myself and all of you…because it makes me better.
I choose LIFE.

So 2011?  BRING. IT. ON.  I am ready!

Are you ready?  What are your plans for 2011?  What is your PLAN to achieve your GOALS for this coming year?

You’ll here more about some of my plans over the next few weeks.  I can’t wait to share!

Comments { 16 }

Will You Help?

By on December 30, 2010 in emotional stuff, mindfulness, R2P4

As this post is published, I will hopefully be on a plane to Arizona!  I say “hopefully” because I was supposed to leave Wednesday evening!  But when I found out my flight was FOUR HOURS LATE, I called and asked them to put me on a flight this morning instead.  No sense being on a plane at 3:00 a.m. unless I’m on my way to somewhere exotic and foreign.

I was thinking today about being gone for 5 days and what I’d love to see here when I come back.  And you know what?  I gots me some questions and I would love it if y’all would take the time to answer them in the comments.  Do you mind?  I need help and I know you all are just the folks to give it.  So, here goes…

  1. How do you practice mindfulness in your life?  Do you have any suggestions for me as I incorporate this practice into my life?  Not just with respect to food/eating, but definitely that’s a biggie.
  2. How are you working on showing yourself love?  In this post, I talked about a light bulb moment for me, realizing that self-love is a PRACTICE and something to work on every day.  I’m struggling to figure out what that looks like practically.  Any ideas for me?
  3. Do you believe that waking up early is important in living a healthy lifestyle?  If you are not an early bird by nature but you get up early anyway, do you have some tips for how to make that transition?
  4. Do you have any crock pot recipes that you can share with me?  I want to get back to homemade cooking more often, and the crock pot is a great tool for doing this more often without feeling like I’m standing over a stove 5+ hours/week!

I think that’s all for now…but I reserve the right to add more questions!

And…since you’re helping me, please tell me if I/we can help you!  Questions?  Request for support?  Bring ‘em on!

Comments { 7 }

Wordless Wednesday

By on December 29, 2010 in R2P4, running

Comments { 4 }

Where I’m At

By on December 28, 2010 in emotional stuff, gratitude, mindfulness, R2P4

Hey there!  Late afternoon post – evidence of the crazy that is my week!  No complaints, though – the crazy is all work-related and pretty normal since I’m gearing up to take a WHOLE WEEK off work!  I’m flying down to Arizona tomorrow to meet up with my husband and spend the week with his family.  It’s 60 degrees down there today – fingers crossed that it lasts!  I just got back to work from a pedicure to make my toes sun-worthy, and tonight I’m going shopping for a carry-on suitcase so I can avoid the madness that is checking bags.

Health-wise I am in a good place right now.  I realized I was getting all stressed out about finding “the perfect thing” for me in terms of my method of maintenance.  Then once I got all un-stupid, I realized that I won’t find my perfect fit overnight.  And that’s okay.  I am doing a lot of things I know I want to do forever – working out, running, getting stronger, learning to love my body, working on becoming more mindful.  All of the other stuff can wait, and will come over time.

I’m reading more of the Tim Ferriss book I mentioned last week, The 4-Hour Body, and it’s fascinating.  Not so much what he tells you to do, but the idea that he spent so much time basically “hacking” his body and figuring out what works.  And I realized last night while reading, that that’s what I want to do.  My desire is to spend my life “hacking” my body.  What foods make me feel best?  Which ones make me break out (sugar)?  How many workouts per week, and what kind, make my body feel its best?

Also?  No more of the beating myself up.  No more feeling like a failure because I messed up on the no sugar challenge I agreed to with Tara and Thais.  Not that I’m giving up – far from it.  But I realized today (anew, as I have been doing lots lately) that feeling shame over a mistake is not productive for me.  And it’s not loving to me.

Speaking of loving me, have you read Karen’s guest post over at Miz’s place today?  If not, please do.  No, seriously – skedaddle.  We’ll still be here when you’re done.  It spoke to me in this way: loving yourself is a practice.  Meaning, for me, that it requires PRACTICE.  It’s not something that will suddenly happen overnight, and certainly not if I don’t make it a priority.  So I am going to think about ways to make this a priority for me from now on.  The practice of loving myself wherever I am, no matter my circumstances.

So that’s me today.  Having a great day filled with enough sleep, productivity at work, good healthy YUMMY eats, no sugar, and working on the self-love.  And, really?  Most importantly – figuring out how to be okay with where I’m at, wherever that happens to be.

FYI, I’ll be out of town for a week and will likely not be able to post a whole heck of a lot, so don’t miss me too much.  I’ll be back as often as I can!

Comments { 6 }