What is your vice?

Today is day 1 of my coffee reduction. I am going to start by limiting myself to 2 cups a day.  Here is why.  Over the past month, I have been consuming 3-4 cups of coffee a day and I don't know why. It's not because I am tired or need the caffeine boost.  I drink it black so it is not for the tasty sweetness of a latte or expresso.  All I do know is that after the third cup, my stomach begs me to stop and I still continue. I thought about it some more and realized I just like holding the coffee in my hand taking small sips while I am driving, hanging out with the kids, grocery shopping, or typing a blog post.  I associate drinking coffee with relaxing mornings with Paul and the kids, sitting down and enjoying a conversation with my mom or dad, and hanging out with my friends at play dates(Megan and I can consume an entire pot in two hours.)  These are all things that I really enjoy and coffee is usually involved. It doesn't help that I love the smell of a fresh pot and want a cup if I see a sign for it. My obsession with coffee has got to stop.  Too much of anything is bad.  I was reading the new Robb Wolf book The Paleo Solution and he talks about how too much coffee can raise cortisol levels.  High cortisol levels lead to the storage of fat which usually gravitates to the midsection first.  He sucked the joy out of my excessive coffee consumption so now I am going to do something about it.  We all have something that is hard to resist or that we associate with good, fun, happy times. If that something is negatively affecting your physical, mental, or social well being, change it.  I will keep you updated on my coffee journey.  For those of you who know me, this will not be an easy task:)

Random Musings

I truly enjoy learning from someone who is passionate about what they are teaching regardless of the subject.  Two things recently hammered this point home.  I was stuck in a two day training on collaborative leadership for school recently and found my self enjoying the time.  The content was dry and mostly irrelevant but our facilitator had a passion for what he was presenting.  On Saturday we hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain and had lunch at the top.  As we were sitting there a group of what looked like college students gathered on the rocks below us and their professor was pointing out random species of evergreens.  Every time he saw a new one he would get excited and tell the others everything about the tree.  I found myself leaning in to listen to his descriptions.

I have a sneaking suspicion that as our training evolves, we will become more nutrition consultants and life coaches than personal trainers.  The more I am involved in working with people and reading the research, the more I realize one thing.  If you just want to be healthy and look decent in a bathing suit, you need to do two things well, eat and rest.  Throw in a little bit of quality movement and you are good to go.  People spend a life time on treadmills and ellipticals trying to out train a bad diet or a bad lifestyle or both.  If they spent half that time preparing meals of whole, quality, foods and getting more sleep they would be well on their way to health and happiness.

Just a couple of random thoughts I had floating around this evening.

Chocolate pudding

Here is a recipe for chocolate pudding that my friend Megan gave to me. This is a great sweet treat and would not send you into a sugar coma.  The kids loved it too!  What can I say, Megan rocks:)

2 avocados
2 bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 unsweetened cocoa
1/4 of water
agave to taste(3 tbsp)

Get out of your comfort zone

Now that school is in full swing, Paul and I don't get to train with each other.  Occasionally, we will squeeze a workout in on the weekends, but it doesn't always happen.  I really miss having him around.  He always pushes me out of my comfort zone which I desperately need!  There is nothing like the feeling that comes when you realize you accomplished something you never thought possible.  I admire Paul's ability to push himself during every workout without any encouragement from me or anyone else.  His determination is amazing.  He is quick, strong, and makes it look so easy.  He wants to push himself as hard as he can and is disappointed when he doesn't.  I, on the other hand, have the "I just want to survive" attitude.  When he is there to push me, I get angry, but I do it.  Just working out with other people helps me to push myself a little harder.  I used to work out with my friend Megan close to 3 times a week when I was living in Annapolis and it was great.  We encouraged each other, but pushed each other at the same time.  If Megan was not going to stop and rest(which she seldom did and I wanted to kill her), I was not going to stop and rest. We pushed each other out of our comfort zones on more than one occasion and that is critical if you want to develop mental and physical strength.  If you are lucky enough to have a workout partner, encourage one another and get out of your comfort zones.  It will pay dividends!

Meals in Pictures

Salmon Burgers and Spinach.  Almost finished it before getting a picture.

Chili and asparagus.  Had some fresh Parmesan cheese laying around so threw that on top.  Would have to be a cheat.

Pork Loin roasted peppers and broccoli

Spaghetti squash with meat sauce and asparagus

Sausage, kale and cauliflower

Paleo friendly banana bread

Kids Spaghetti night!

Close up of pork loin & roasted peps

Martina-Week 5 Reflection

You know those commercials representing the latest, most advanced workout (and by coincidence the only one) your body will ever need?  They promise to tighten, tone and otherwise twist your body into a shape you never thought it could be. I hate those. My self esteem takes a hit just watching them. The chips and cookies I used to eat while watching them didn't help either. I used to buy in to what they were selling, until the next commercial. I did buy a couple of DVDs and a few of those bands. Of course they ended up in my exercise pile of doom and disappointment in the closet. Only to be moved to the donate pile in the basement. I prefer Dawn and Paul's method.
When Dawn is training me it is all about form. There is no way a DVD is going to correct me the way that she can or train my body to execute a squat properly.  Exercise has to be done correctly for it to help instead of hurt. That's why I'm still here at week five and not sitting on the couch nursing a hip injury with Haagen Das.  So far so good. I can't wait to see what else is on the way. I look forward to Dawn's next workout because she is so good at having me try new things.  Things that actually work.  I hate to call it a lifestyle change because I am so sick of that marketing phrase.  Physical fitness should have been a part of my life, always.  It seems only natural that I should want to work out and take care of the only body I will have in this lifetime. It's part of the curse of technology. We've given up our physical lifestyles in exchange for so called ease of living. I blame television and Segways and canned food.  The result of all this advancement is a techno generation who can sing the theme song to Scooby-Doo, but ( like me ) can't do a push up. Isn't there a list out there among the chain emails about the ten things you should always do in life?  I remember one of them being take care of your body because you never know what life will throw your way. I hope to soon be able to cross that off.

Suzanne's 2 Week update

Here is Suzanne's recap of the past two weeks.
The past 2 weeks have gone great. I am full of energy and have had no trouble keeping to the plan. I have still been enjoying the 4 cheat meals but as the weeks have gone by, I haven't felt the cravings as much. I am really starting to feel like I am going to be able to make a permanent lifestyle change after the 3 months! Paul is still kicking my butt in the workouts! I have been trying to push myself as hard as I can but it is difficult working out right after work when I am already exhausted from a day of teaching. I try not to focus on how tired I am during the workouts and just focus on the fact that I can do anything for 45 minutes!

My sister is visiting me from Amsterdam this week. She is 17 months younger than me and we are extremely close. It is such a treat having her and her kids stay with me for a week! I have always envied her ways of eating. She never has junk in her house and eats fresh fruits, vegetables and lots of fish. Both my sister and her husband love to cook and both eat very healthy. Every time I am with her, I vow to change my eating habits but I always seem to fall back into my bad habits. As soon as she arrived, she noticed that I had lost some weight and I told her about the diet. I showed her the blog and she was intrigued. She said that she had not been eating very healthy in the past few weeks (which really surprised me) and she wanted to get back on track. She decided to try the diet with me and she is hooked! We have had fun eating 'clean' together and she is looking forward to continuing when she returns to Amsterdam. Looking forward to another workout tomorrow. Hopefully my sister can join us.

Warrior Dash Recap

The much anticipated Warrior Dash was this past Saturday and we can say with confidence that the event lived up to it's hype, both in challenge and revelry.  If you are like us and place the idea of running right next to having a root canal, this is the event for you.  The run itself was a 3.1 mile trail run through a camp ground and a paint ball battle field.  The obstacles included buses that you had to climb over, a large stack of hay bails, cargo nets, tangles of bungee cords, tunnels, planks over creeks, a chest deep, ice cold water crossing where you had to climb over logs, walls to jump over, another water crossing, a large, muddy, hill to climb, a mud bog topped with barbed wire so you had to crawl through, and finally two lines of fire that you had to jump over.  The obstacles were more difficult than we had anticipated but not so hard that you could not do them.  The obstacles combined with the nice trail made the run seem almost short and dare I say enjoyable.

The weather could not have been better and the post race party was as fun as the race itself.  We hung around and enjoyed a couple several of the post race beers and listened to a great band as we watched racers from later heats slog across the finish line.  Thanks to Kim and Nick, who we talked into doing this with us at a New Years eve party, for completing the challenge with us and to Mike who torched the course in 21:38 finishing 57th overall out of more than SIX THOUSAND! runners and that was just Saturday.  Finally a huge Thank You to Lynn, Kim's sister who chauffeured us to and from the event.

There seems to be a trend towards these types of events and that is a great thing.  It involves some forethought and training if you want to complete it in a decent time and it places you in a large group of people who enjoy fitness, the outdoors and partying.  What could be better?  With that in mind we are already signing up for next years Warrior Dash.  It is going to be on June 11th and we are going to sign up for the 11am heat.  It will fill up fast and we would love to have more people join us for this exciting challenge so make the commitment and sign up today.  You can also take advantage of significant discounts.

Here is the race in pictures.

Before

After



Mike and Paul



Dawn & Kim

Nick Crossing The Finish

The Fire Jump

War Face!

Martina-week 4 reflection

As week four began, I kept thinking about our bathroom scale.  How could that square hunk of metal influence my self esteem so much?  It's a number and unfortunately, we have to realize our lives are ruled by them.  When I showed Dawn pictures of how skinny I used to be, she almost fell over with laughter.  She said if I stood behind a telephone pole, no one would be able to see me.  I wasn't offended because that was the most pleasent description I received about how I used to look.  When you get called a variety of names regarding your appearance, you have to get a thick skin.  My problem is now when seeing myself, I see the number my bathroom scale used to show me.  I see that number as the correct number for my health and nothing else.  I am completely wrong.  My optimum health has nothing to do with the number on the scale.  How many articles have I read about girls with real eating disorders (no, I was never diagnosed with one) obsess about that little square on the bathroom floor?  Many, I know for sure. It's a guideline, or maybe even a warning, but it shouldn't be more than that.  I have not gotten on the scale since starting the challenge.  Ok, once.  A lot of people talk about how much weight they are losing or have lost after the 30 day challenges.  I am not one of them.  I don't think I've lost and I might have gained.  The thing is, if I lose something, I go looking for it.  What I am looking for now is health.  What I've gained may actually be muscle.  Which is why I don't recognize any changes.  The muscles must be under the wiggly parts.  I like working out and I like feeling good when I eat clean.  This is why this challenge is so much more important than just eating clean for a brief period.  This is a way to develop healthy habits so that the old habits don't creep back.  I am learning day by day so I think I will ignore the scale until the end. 

More Beautiful You

I was listening to a song called More Beautiful You by Jonny Diaz and it got me thinking.  It actually caused a storm of thoughts and feelings that I couldn't get on to paper fast enough.  It is such a powerful song that I am going to play for Kylie over and over again as she grows up.  I want her to know just how amazing and beautiful she is. I want her to become a strong, confident woman who has great faith. I want her to use her gifts and talents to help others and inspire people around her.  We are bombarded with false images of how women should look and act and young girls are particularly affected by this because they are so impressionable.  By helping them make good and healthy choices now and being their role models(whether we are a mom, grandparent, aunt, etc.), we are giving them a head start and leading them down a path towards a healthy adult life. I love watching how well Kylie moves and how she approaches new situations with confidence and ease(she is just like her father.)   We just sit back and marvel at all she can do. She is so beautiful and amazing and I want her to always remember this fact.  No matter what the rest of the world tells her, I want her to know the truth inside her heart. This ones for you Kylie J! I love you!  Happy Birthday!

Martina Week 3 - Reflection

Here is Martina's week 3 reflection, describing how to deal with set-backs.

Inevitably, whenever I start a new live-it/exercise routine, I get sick.  I don't know why, maybe it's my body's protesting all the change and getting back at me.  Or it could be the subliminal message of "What are you doing, you know you won't succeed!" surfacing as a cold to excuse my failure.  Whatever the reason, this is the point where I give over to the pain and illness.  I get sick and then comes the pain associated with Fibromyalgia.  That's when I say "forget this" and go back to my cozy, comfort food lifestyle that only makes things worse.   I stop exercising.  It's what I'm used to and have come to know so it's easier to stick with, right?  It's bunk.   This time around, I got sick.  I have my usual change of the season cold.  What is different this time is the fact that I am eating clean.  When I knew I was sick, I immediately sent a text to Dawn for advice.  She said: "rest, rest, rest".  She was right.  I didn't do anything.  I slept and slept some more.  I had aches, but they were cold aches, not Fibromyalgia aches.  I kept eating clean and have no idea how in the past I thought bad food would help the situation.   I also had lot of help.  When you are a mom, no matter how good your partner is, you still have this nagging feeling that if you don't do it yourself, it won't be done right.  It's silly, but there it is.  My husband and mother took the kids to the fair on the first day and then my mother and sister took them to the movies the next day.  Usually, I would be along  (tissues in hand) trying to keep up with everyone and not wanting to miss the special moments.  What is so special about blowing your nose all day while your family tries to enjoy themselves is beyond me.  The truth is, I would have dragged them down.  They went and had a blast.  It was more fun to hear about it and to know they had a good time without their nose-blowing, groaning mommy in tow.  As a result of this clean eating, my cold has not lasted as long.  The most important  fact is that my Fibro pain did not resurface.  There were aches and pains, but nothing compared to what usually occurs with Fibro.  As any Fibro sufferer can tell you, there is no rhyme or reason as to why it surfaces, it just does.  When it does, there are days when you think a coma would be more fun.  This round, the Fibro did not win. I still have my tissues, but I can walk without a razor sharp pain running up my leg.  My shoulders are not bent forward because it does not hurt to roll over and get up out of bed.  My lower back is not spasming.  I can thank clean eating for all of that.  And, of course, Dawn for her wonderful advice!