Suzanne's first two weeks recap.

Here is Suzanne's reflection on the past two weeks of clean eating and working out.

It feels great to be back on the healthy eating track. I have enjoyed the four cheat meals a week and it makes it alot easier knowing that I don't have to be as rigid as I was the first time I took the challenge. The first time I did not cheat and by the end of the month, I was much happier with my new eating habits but I was definitely craving cheese and the occasional 'bad carb'. I introduced cheese back into my diet with no problem and continued to eat 'clean' most of the time. The 4 cheat meals enable me to indulge in some of the food that I do miss without feeling guilty about breaking the diet. It is much more realistic that once the challenge ends, I will be able to make a permanent change in my eating habits. One thing I still struggle with is adding variety into my meals. I grill alot of meat and steam alot of vegetables but I get a little bit sick of the same old stuff. I need to make sure I read up on the food options on the blog! JD Marchand, my co-worker, who did the challenge with me the first time around is always bringing in these delicious looking 'clean' meals so I know it is possible. I have never been much of a cook but it is not too late to learn.
I finished my 3rd workout today. I have always thought of myself as a fit person so I did not think I would have much trouble with the workouts. BOY, WAS I WRONG!!!! I am pretty fit from walking (5 mi a day a few times a week) but I always knew I was neglecting strength training. I joined a gym last year and started lifting weights regularly but then spring came....and my kids started their spring sports and the gym no longer fit into my schedule. I vowed to return in the summer but I lost my momentum by then and never went back. My first work out was harder than I imagined it would be. The day after I was having a hard time going up and down stairs and the following day, I could hardly move! It took me four days to completely recover. I was better after the second work out with a reasonable amount of pain. Today's workout was the hardest yet. I dread to see how I am feeling tomorrow! I am trying to push myself as hard as I can because I know that is the way that I am going to get stronger and that is one of my main goals in this challenge.


I have lost another few pounds since I have begun this challenge which brings my grand total to 16 since I began to eat better. I feel great and am not nearly as tired as I used to be. This is the best I have felt in years and I know this time I will make a permanent change!

The leap

We have worked with many people over the last few years in an effort to improve their health through a combination of exercise and sound nutrition.  In that time an interesting pattern has developed and we have come to refer to it as "The Leap."  The Leap happens at different times for different people.  Some people make the leap early on and enjoy the benefits of improving their health and ultimately, longevity from the start.  Others take more time, need more convincing, or a life changing event to help them off the ledge.  Some never make the leap at all, content to watch and rationalize as others make steady progress towards their goals.   The leap I am referring to is not a physical one, rather it happens in your head.  Martina's last post really got me thinking about this as it is obvious that she has now made the leap.  Suzanne, our other challenge member, made the leap last spring when she realized that good food made her feel bad and bad food made her feel good.  There was something seriously wrong with that, and she took the leap to fix it. We have clients who we have worked with for two years before they make the leap and some we are currently working with who have yet to jump. The leap is a very small step, but holds great significance and ironically it is not a physical thing at all.  It is adjustment in the way you look at how you treat the most important thing you have, your body. What is it going to take for you to make the leap?

Martina-week 2 reflection

I am getting used to all of this clean eating.  I am very mindful of the four cheats that I get each week.  I kept thinking that these would be a "treat", but after I ate the meal, I felt horrible.  My body was sore and my energy was zero.  I'm not sure that it is worth it to cheat.  The next day, after the cheat meal, my stomach was bloated.  I felt sad and irritated at myself because I was enjoying a flatter stomach and good health.  Why blow it with cheating meals?  People talk about food cravings and I learned a valuable lesson from the week.  I was watching a movie late at night when the lead actress, sad and depressed, sat on her floor and ate a brand name tortilla chip.  It was right then that I wanted that same bag of chips for myself.  I wanted the whole bag!  Pavlov much?  It was gross.  Fortunately, we do not have those kind of chips in our house anymore and I could not run out in the middle of the night to get them.  I didn't the next day, just in case you were wondering.  Anybody else fed up with terrible food being presented to us as "comfort"?  Our needs should be met with love and support of people (or our selves), not with chemicals and sugar.  I won't be comforted much by a bloated body and sluggish mind.  This is a preachy update, but it has occurred to me that this whole state we are in is because we sought comfort from empty things.  Empty calories, empty credit purchases, and even depending on empty people.  You know, the kind who feed our misery to make their own more tolerable.  Of the changes that I am making, I hopefully will not give in to the self pity that leads to destructive eating.  I am finding that there is always something else you can do to make yourself feel better.  I ate because I felt bad, but what I was eating was making the pain worse, not better.  Where is the comfort?   Everyone can do this, but our knee jerk reaction is always to give in to the impulse.  After all, it's been drilled in to our brains over the last decade.  "Go ahead, you deserve it", is the mantra du jour.  I'm not sure what I deserve, and I don't know if that is entirely up to me or the powers that be.  Maybe the best thing for me to do is live a healthy life.  It's a start and what we all deserve.

Clean Eating Challenger Suzanne

Our second clean eating challenger, who will be joining us for this three month journey, is Suzanne.  Suzanne is a high school math teacher and busy mom of two teenagers.  Here is her story.

I am 43 years old and have never had a problem maintaining a healthy weight. I was drawn to the diet because I had terrible eating habits. I never ate  breakfast and was always starving by lunch. I ate a relatively healthy lunch, usually a sandwich and yogurt, and kept a bag of pretzels in my desk drawer for snacking. I always turned to bad carbs when I was hungry, pretzels, chips, tortillas with melted cheese,or  pasta. Because I ate no breakfast and a small lunch, I was always STARVING when I got home from school. I would fill up on whatever junk I could find and then be stuffed and skip dinner. This went on until I got the e-mail from Paul about the diet. I was actually at my heaviest weight ever and I felt exhausted all of the time and a bit depressed. I knew it was because I was not taking care of myself so I decided to take the challenge. I committed to a month of the program. The first week was hell. I felt sick all of the time and had no energy. I actually think my body was rejecting the healthy food! This was the biggest wake up call for me. I pushed through and by the second week I was feeling much better. I lost about 7 lbs the first week (which alarmed me a bit) but Paul told me that was ok and the weight loss would taper off. By the end of the month, I felt better that I have felt in years.

Over the summer, I tried to keep it up but I found it hard never being able to 'cheat'. I did cheat but overall, my eating habits were MUCH better than they have been in the past. I am thrilled to be part of the 3 month challenge because I need to get back on track. I am especially drawn to it because of the 4 'cheat' meals a week. I think it is much more realistic for me to stay committed to this way of eating knowing that I can slip up every now and then. With almost 2 weeks under my belt, I am feeling great. I have used all 4 cheats each week which makes it nice when I go out to dinner and want pasta or that piece of bread with my meal.


Physically, Suzanne is an athlete in hiding.  In our first two workouts she has shown the ability to pick up moves quickly and a desire to work hard.  She is tall at six feet one and is a lean 144lbs.  Our goals for the next three months are to add some muscle mass, especially to her upper body, and to increase her core stability.  Suzanne is one of those people who "gets it."  Most would say, "You're already skinny, why do you need to workout?", but Suzanne understands the negative implications of poor nutrition and inactivity over the long run and is doing something about it.  I am looking forward to helping her reach her health and fitness goals.  We will keep you updated on each competitors progress as we progress through these next three months.

Week one reflection-Martina

They always say that the first part of anything is the most challenging. Knowing that is sometimes the reason we refuse to try things in the first place. We always have to adjust our habits to accommodate the choices we are making to change whatever it is that we want to change. Food is always the hardest for me. I don't have a good relationship with food and I consider it a necessary annoyance in life. I hate the process surrounding food from the grocery store to cleaning the dishes. I have an excellent chiropractor who once said to me: "You know why diets are hard? Because the first three letters spell DIE". It makes complete sense. If we are nourishing ourselves with food in order to live, why don't we call them Live-its?

Since Dawn has introduced me, I won't get in to all my emotional/physical reasons in detail when I update my progress. My first week was extra challenging for me because it ended with a girls trip to Savannah, Georgia for a long weekend immersed in ninety degree weather, slow and easy manners, and heavy Southern food. Two of the girls are huge Paula Deen fans. I was not too familiar with Paula Deen's cooking before I went down there. I had seen glimpses of her and knew only that she was a chef specializing in good Southern cooking. I grew up with Southern cooking and I am not a fan. It's a simple case of overload. We used so much salt in our meals that we could float the length of the Potomac river. I didn't much enjoy it as a child and grew up a picky eater. As a result, I am an adult without a clue as to how to nourish her body.
I had saved up my four cheats for this weekend. I didn't want to say: "I'm on vacation so it's ok," and proceed to gorge myself and undo what I'd already started. We took the Paula Deen tour which included a lunch at her brother's restaurant, Uncle Bubba's. This was a big test for my new eating lifestyle. There was plenty of creamy macaroni and cheese, beans soaked in hamhock juice (salt), and corn. There was also bar-b-que shrimp, pork, and cole slaw. I ate the meat and the cole slaw. It was delicious and I stayed as close to eating clean as you can in that situation. It makes me believe that no matter where you are, you can manipulate your food to suit your needs. We also ate at her restaurant The Lady and Sons. Again I made choices about what I would eat and what I would avoid. I ate baked chicken, pork and mashed potatoes. The girls told me later I missed the yams. Since I had saved all my cheats, I didn't feel too bad about the potatos. They had plenty of creamed corn, beans with ham, fried green tomatos, and each meal came with a dessert choice of peach cobbler, bannana pudding and something else equally bad. We also had biscuts and hoe cakes waiting for us when we sat down. Yikes! I skipped all those choices and filled myself with meat. The rest of the weekend was spent walking and exploring the city. We did visit the The Savannah Candy Kitchen and I did eat dark chocolate with mint. I sampled a piece of caramel bark and that was it. We had a great time and topped off each night with a couple of hours by the pool and hot tub. I swam laps in order to keep up with excercise and of course we walked until our legs felt like rubber. I hopefully did not set myself back and I believe I am getting the habits that will help me not only with this challenge, but with managing my health for life.

Clean eating challenger Martina

As everyone knows, Paul and I each chose a person who agreed to eat clean for three months and train with us once a week.  My sister-in-law Martina volunteered to be my victim:) Just some information and stats on Martina.  She is 34 years old, 5'9, and 178 lbs.  She experiences severe pain in her left hip that shoots from her foot to her hip.  She also suffers from fibromalysia, sinus related headaches, chronic sinus infections, and TMJ.  She wants to be able to walk without pain(from her hip as well as the aches and pains associated with fibromalysia) and not constantly have to go to the doctor for sinus related issues.  She is sick and tired of being sick and tired.  I am proud of her for volunteering and I know she will notice positive changes by the end of the first month.  We took her measurements(hips and waist) and will take them again at the end of the challenge.  We completed the following workout:
Complete as many rounds as you can in 10 minutes of 5 jumping pull-ups, 10 push-ups(modified), and 15 air squats.  Martina completed 5 rounds plus 5 jumping pull-ups.  She did a great job and we will complete this workout at the completion of the challenge and see if she improves.  I am looking forward to working with Martina.  She is a fast learner and doesn't complain(to me at least.)  She will be writing weekly reflections that we will post.  She knows that she is taking a positive step and I will be there every step of the way.  Thanks Martina!

The List

 The summer is over and  I wonder where the time went?  It goes by faster and faster each year.  I did have a great summer.  I spent a lot of time hanging with Dawn and the kids,  spent a lot of time training, and a lot of time reading.  I don't usually have time to read as much as I like and found myself picking up some random books.

One of those books was "The Business of Happiness" written by Ted Leonsis.  It was far from the greatest book I have ever read and to tell the truth, it faded so bad at the end I did not finish it.  That happens often, so maybe it has more to do with me than the books.  One thing I did like about the book was Ted's story about how he became rich at 25, had everything a person could want and still was not happy.  He was on a plane that had to make an emergency landing and for a few scary moments he thought there was a good chance he was going to die.  He spent the time waiting for the plane to burn off it's fuel for an emergency landing to contemplate what his life meant to date and was sad to realize that he had done very little to make a difference to anyone but himself.  He made a promise, as many facing hardships do, to change his ways if he should make it out of the situation.  He made it out and, unlike most, he kept his promise to change his ways.  It started with a list of 100 things he wanted to do before he dies.  Sort of a bucket list.  It was not all philanthropic, some things were purely possessions, such as own a Ferrari and a yacht, but many were focused on helping others and starting and providing for a family. 

Ted has the means to attack his list fairly aggressively and at this point in his life has been able to check off 80 of his 100 things.  Interestingly, and the point of the book is that achieving those things is not what has brought him happiness.  It has been the process of achieving them and the people he has meet and the lives he has been able to affect along the way.

I sat down and thought about those things that keep coming up in my head that I want to do in my life and found the exercise fun and somewhat enlightening.  For your next rest day, give it a try.  Take pen to paper and come up with a list of things you want to do before you die.  Then set about achieving those things. 

The first 10 of my list(I am up to 30)- In no specific order

1. Be a constant and positive presence in Kylie and Will's life
2. Walk Kylie down the aisle
3. Stand next to Lenny on the Today show and wave to the camera
4. Own and run a successful health and fitness business
5. Sail with Dawn around the world (maybe the kids too)
6. Read the classics
7. Own land, grow my own grapes and make my own wine
8. Play golf at St. Andrews
9. Coach my kids
10. Ride in a helicopter

What's on your list?

Practicing what you preach

I am on a mission for the next few weeks to practice what I preach when it comes to stretching and mobility work. I am always nagging my clients to roll(on the foam roller) and stretch.  Well, I don't always do this myself and I paid for it dearly.   Recently, after a particularly hard workout that included rowing, heavy front squats, glute ham sit-ups, and box jumps, I could not move my legs, laugh, or cough.  I felt great going into the workout and even during the workout so why did I need to cool down? Besides, I "had a million other things to do and no time to do it." This is usually the excuse I use to skip one of the most integral parts of  recovery.  Not stretching and rolling after that workout created an annoying series of events.  I couldn't move without complaining(Paul and the kids were clearly annoyed with my incessant whining) and I could not complete the next days workout. Instead, I had to spend a half hour rolling and stretching while I watched Paul complete an awesome workout.  I wanted so badly to be kicking my own butt in the workout with him and I was mad that I allowed myself to get so sore.  That is when I decided to turn over a new leaf. Since that day, I spend at least 5 minutes rolling and stretching after each workout and it makes a huge difference.  I can't believe that something so simple makes such a big difference.  Stretching, rolling, and mobility work are key elements to feeling good and recovering.  Make a point to include them in your daily workout routine and let us know how you feel!

Meals in Pictures

Here are a few more meals we had this week.  Let us know if you would like any of the recipes.  We hear often that people don't have time to make meals.  I am going to stay away from the bigger lifestyle problems  that statement implies(for now) and just say that each of these meals took less than 30 minutes to cook.  If you are that short on time you would be better off using workout time to prepare good meals.  You will get more out of eating well and not working out than working out and eating poorly.  Have a great weekend, we are still getting organized with our contestants for this challenge and will be asking for your clean eating percentages next week, use this week as a gauge to see where you are and what improvements you need to make.

Breakfast for the kids

Prepping spinach for breakfast

Egg, spinach, & ham omlette

Our kids really do eat this way, Will's lunch.

A quick lunch for Dawn.  Deli meat, more spinach, & almonds

An awesome Moroccan chicken, kale chips, yam, & avocado 

Pork tenderloin, butternut squash, broccoli, & guac.

Goals

"The goal is to keep the goal the goal"  Dan John

Read that again.

I read Dan Johns book Never Let Go this past spring and really liked how he hammered home the point of how most people struggle with just keeping the goal, the goal.  Dan's book along with Where Men Win Glory, the book about about Pat Tillman, inspired me to go out and buy a Mole Skine journal and put down a bunch of goals.  I set out with the goal to journal my workouts and work towards my goals.  Here were my workout goals as of 4/24/10.
Snatch: 200lbs
Front Squat: 350lbs
Dead lift: 500lbs
Clean & Jerk: 275lbs
Bench Press: 300lbs
Fran: 3:10

I was making steady progress towards my goals.  In fact, looking through my journal, I PR'd(personal Record) on Fran(a workout involving 95lb thrusters and pull-ups) at 3:03 on 5/6, snatched 190lbs on 5/11, Clean and Jerked 265lbs another PR on 5/14, and  Hit 315 front squat for 5 sets of 3 on 5/21.   Progress was steady.  Then we moved to Clarksburg.  Dawn and I have the Warrior Dash trail run coming up this fall and it just so happens that there are several outstanding trails to run up here and I have taken to weekly runs.  We even entered a 10k trail run last weekend. Along the way I have fizzled out on my journal, my last one being on 6/23.  The we got the camera out to prepare a dead lift post and this happened.



In the spring I was pulling 405 for 5 sets of 3 without much problem. What happened? I failed to keep the goal the goal. I switched my training from a focus on strength to a focus on endurance. This is not a bad thing unless your goal is to be stronger.

This happens often. You set a goal and somewhere between setting it and achieving it, the goal changes. As you enter this new nutritional challenge we want you to set goals, in fact we have set a big one for you. To attain a 90% compliance rate in your clean eating. But even more importantly we want you to keep the goal the goal for the three months of this challenge.

I have decided to shift my goals slightly to include running in my workouts until the Warrior Dash. I will then shift back to a strength focus. I am also going to start my journal again with the goal of one entry a day whether I workout or not. Let's see if I can keep the goal the goal.

Simple Shrimp Dinner

 I feel like there is never enough time in the day to accomplish everything that is on my daily "to do list."  I enjoy cooking, but not when I feel like I am pressed for time which is most of the time.  Here is a quick meal that was tasty and everyone enjoyed it.  We bought pre-packaged cooked shrimp from Sam's Club and I threw it in a pan with olive oil, garlic powder and a little bit of sea salt for about a minute and then put it aside to finish cooking the kale.  I made kale chips for the kids which is just olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder brushed on to  medium sized pieces of kale.  I  baked the kale in the oven for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees.  I made more kale for Paul and I and threw it in a pan with coconut oil and then seasoned it with sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  I cooked it down until it was crispy the way we enjoy it.  The kids really love kale chips and Kylie said she would like them in her school lunch.  Yes!!!  Moving along, I also made a huge bowl of raw broccoli and baby cucumbers(my friend Nicole got me hooked when she made lunch recently and I have been craving them ever since.)  I had made this dish for lunch, but made it big enough to carry over to dinner.  I mixed the broccoli and baby cucumbers with balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard(no sugar), and olive oil.  It was really good.  Paul is not a dressing fan and even he enjoyed it.  It didn't take me long to throw this together and I know because I usually have about a half hour to throw something together before the kids start trying to kill each other.  Please take the time to share your breakfast, lunch, and dinner favorites.

Kale Cleaned and dried.

Kale brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, pepper and garlic powder, just before being baked into crispy chips.

Shrimp after quickly cooking in olive oil

More kale cooked with coconut oil sea salt and Kirklands no salt seasoning.

The kids meals.

Our meal Ummmmm!

A Quiet Start

Tomorrow begins our latest challenge.  We want to roll this one out quietly in hopes that you will have a smooth and easy shift to your new way of life.  You are about to embark on a life changing task that will not be the easiest thing you have ever done, but could very well be the most important.

Remember this challenge is all about numbers, you are trying to eat clean, Paleo friendly, foods 90% of the time. Four of your meals each week can be whatever you want.  Use the chart to track each meal placing a check for clean meals and an x for meals that are not clean.

A few questions have popped up already, if you have any more, leave a comment or shoot us an e-mail.

Do I have to eat six times a day?
No,  but we want to emphasize that this is not a food deprivation way of eating.  If you are hungry eat, just make sure it is good food.

If I have just one bad thing in my meal do I have to put an X?
Yes, anything that is not a meat, vegetable, fruit, nut, or seed counts as an X.  Use your X's wisely.

How about gluten free beer and wine?
It's an X

What can I drink?
Water, Coffee & Tea (with no sugar or dairy), Unsweetened almond & coconut milk.

What do I eat for breakfast?
If you are not into eggs and omelets, breakfast can be a challenge.  We have had success in changing the way we think about breakfast and eating leftovers from the previous day's dinner.  We do have some new breakfast ideas that we will be sharing soon.

Use the archives from our blog as well as the sites linked on the right to help you understand this way of eating more thoroughly.  Focus on what you are doing and try not to worry about explaining it to others.  Let your results speak for themselves.

Good luck and enjoy the process, don't beat yourself up if you slip up, just mark an X and have a good meal the next time.  We are here if you have any questions.

Good People, Good Food

Recently we had dinner with our friends the Marchands.  We had quite the spread as you can see from the picture.  It was so tasty and I want to share it with you.  We had a delicious roast that JD grilled for us.  He marinated it in a salt, pepper, dijon mustard(check the label and make sure there is no sugar), and olive oil mixture.  There was also a salad that contained beets, red and yellow tomatoes, red onions, and cucumbers.  They combined all of these yummy veggies with an olive oil, dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper dressing.  Paul and I are not usually beet fans, but we really enjoyed this salad and the beets were delicious!
I know a lot of people who love beets and that dressing spices up any beet recipe.  We also had a shredded carrot salad mixed with a lemon juice, dijon mustard, olive oil, and salt and pepper dressing with parsley.  It was all topped off with Kale chips(olive oil, sea salt, and pepper brushed on to the Kale), sweet potatoes, and gluten free beer.  We had a wonderful evening and enjoyed all the awesome food and good company.  Thanks JD and Nicole!