Sunday Funday: Week 36 Review

Well, it's been kind of a mixed bag sort of week.  On the upside, I was relatively good with eating better and working out.  On the downside, my dog Clarke is starting to fall apart, it seems.

LOOK AT THAT FACE! He's lucky he's so damn cute

So, let's talk about my dog (it's my blog, I can do whatever I want...).  He had been limping around lately, and we were kind of hoping that by keeping him less active that it'd just start getting better all on it's own.  Well, that didn't happen (of course) and so, Clarke had yet another vet appointment where my fear was realized:  he has a torn ACL.

(yes, Clarke is just an incredibly cute walking vet bill)

The vet is hopeful that we can rehabilitate him without surgery -- which sounds awesome to me, since that procedure runs into the thousands of dollars -- but we have to keep him from completely blowing it up, which is not as easy as it sounds.  Despite the fact that he's limping around, all you have to do is hint at a treat or ring the doorbell or be a squirrel and off he goes, leg be damned.

Anyway, time for the weekly recap:

Measurements
About the same.  Everything is being kind of stubborn at the moment, but I keep telling myself to focus simply on what I have control over -- and that would NOT be my weight or measurements. The results will come.

Workouts
WOOT!  Not only hit all of my workouts, but didn't end the week trying to play catch-up. I did a good job at looking at my schedule and figuring everything out beforehand. Feels good to have gotten everything in.

Habits
This week started a new habit -- fitness media fast.  To be honest, I haven't been following this to the letter, though I have been making an effort to avoid my normal fitness stopping places on the interwebz.

Intermittent Fasting
This week I did this only 3 days, but even that helped.  Need to get this going throughout the workweek, for sure.

Habit Log
Weeks 1-2: Fish oil and probiotic
Weeks 3-4: Eating slowly
Weeks 5-6: Stop eating at 80% full
Weeks 7-8: Lean protein with every meal
Weeks 9-10: 5 servings of vegetables a day
Weeks 11-12: Make smart carb choices
Weeks 13-14: Plan Meals
Weeks 15-16: Log all food
Weeks 17-18: Create a sleep ritual
Weeks 19-20: Drink only zero calorie beverages
Weeks 21-22: Use targeted recovery strategies
Weeks 23-24: Eat only whole foods
Week 25: No new habits (work on the previous ones)
Weeks 26-27: A little more, a little better
Weeks 28-29: Lean protein and vegetables with every meal
Weeks 30-31: Stop eating at 80% full (an encore presentation)
Weeks 32-33: Modify carb intake
Weeks 34-35: Do a 5-minute body/mind scan every day

Week 26:  Fitness media fast

Sunday Funday: Week 35 Review

35 weeks down.  It's really difficult for me to believe it -- I don't know that I've ever kept track of time for this long (you know what I mean, right?).  Maybe it's just that I've never stuck with one thing for this long, though, of course, the 35 weeks have been filled with varying degrees of commitment.

But anyway - I'm getting back into things and my Lean Eating life is back moving in the right direction.  I'm hitting the gym, pounding the pavement and putting down the donuts -- not always easy, but I'm making better decisions today than I did yesterday.

Measurements
Weight is down, measurements are stubbornly static. I'm not worried about it, though -- that'll come.  These are the things that I don't have control over.  As long as I take care of what I do have control over -- eating right, working out -- these results will show up soon enough.

Workouts
Nailed it! Schedule was a bit wonky because I got lazy on a few days, but I got everything in.  So - one week down in my quest to get myself a dual monitor setup. It wasn't as easy as I would have wanted it to be -- some days required a whole lot of oomph to get me downstairs -- but given some time, that should get better.

Habits
Still doing the 5 minute body scan every day.  I enjoy it -- kind of a way to check in with my body and emotions without attaching too much significance to it.  Almost a detached overview of how the systems are functioning.

Intermittent Fasting
Did this two days this week, and for two days this week I didn't snack after dinner. Which is kind of the point -- when I'm eating at night there's almost never a reason for it.

Habit Log
Weeks 1-2: Fish oil and probiotic
Weeks 3-4: Eating slowly
Weeks 5-6: Stop eating at 80% full
Weeks 7-8: Lean protein with every meal
Weeks 9-10: 5 servings of vegetables a day
Weeks 11-12: Make smart carb choices
Weeks 13-14: Plan Meals
Weeks 15-16: Log all food
Weeks 17-18: Create a sleep ritual
Weeks 19-20: Drink only zero calorie beverages
Weeks 21-22: Use targeted recovery strategies
Weeks 23-24: Eat only whole foods
Week 25: No new habits (work on the previous ones)
Weeks 26-27: A little more, a little better
Weeks 28-29: Lean protein and vegetables with every meal
Weeks 30-31: Stop eating at 80% full (an encore presentation)
Weeks 32-33: Modify carb intake
Weeks 34-35: Do a 5-minute body/mind scan every day

I can't help it -- I absolutely love this

Sunday Funday: Week 33/34 Review

Getting lazy in my old age, aren't I, combining Sunday reviews like this.  I was finally freed from the chains of having to study every non-working, non-sleeping moment and went a little crazy. Read a few books, caught up on some DVR'd TV, went to bed early... yup, I'm a regular rebellious spirit.

Last week it was time for photos -- oh, how I didn't want to do that. I feel like I'm back to the point where I started and preserving that wasn't high on my list of things to do. But, I very reluctantly did it anyway. Taking photos is a pretty powerful motivator to keep at this whole thing -- nothing like back fat rolls to get my butt down into the gym.

Progress has been very gradual over the past few weeks, but it's going forward nonetheless. I'm still not always making good decisions, but I'm always trying to be better than yesterday, which is really all I can ask of myself.

Measurements
Weight and measurements are down a touch from last week. I'm finally out of the clutches of hormones, so I expect that this week should be even better. Still need to consistently make better decisions, but I'm getting there.

Workouts
I actually did some workouts! Not all of them, but most. And I'm SORE. Being a study nerd for 6+ weeks did very bad things for my fitness level, for sure. I've signed up for a 5-mile race in early May, though, so I need to get things into gear. Hopefully the weather will start cooperating on a consistent basis since running outside is oh-so-much better than hitting the treadmill.

Habits
This week's habit is doing a 5-minute body/mind scan every day, which is something I was already doing on a casual, less regular basis. It's a good exercise, though, and working it into my day has been enlightening, especially this past week because I've been dealing with nonstop hormone headaches. I do it first thing in the morning -- I figure I use at least 5 minutes to convince myself to get out of bed anyway -- and it has given me insight into how much headaches affect every other area of my life.

After the scan, you answer 3 questions:  how you are you feeling physically, what are you feeling emotionally, and what you are thinking. I found that on the days that I woke up with a headache (which was every day except Friday), I started the day anxious and stressed, worried that the headache would turn into a full-blown migraine. I was concerned about how many migraine pills I was taking, worried that they might stop working. I was thinking about what I was going to do to keep the pain in check and whether it would work or not. In other words, not only was I obsessive and not very fun to be around, but pretty miserable, unmotivated and afraid to do much of anything for fear of making the headache worse.

(note: these headaches are hormonal and have been "normal" for me for about the last 15 years ... I've been to a doctor and because of the timing, consistency and what the headaches respond to, we're pretty sure that there isn't anything more to be worried about)

Intermittent Fasting
I've been only kind of doing this, but need to get back into it since it works so well keeping me in check.

Habit Log
Weeks 1-2: Fish oil and probiotic
Weeks 3-4: Eating slowly
Weeks 5-6: Stop eating at 80% full
Weeks 7-8: Lean protein with every meal
Weeks 9-10: 5 servings of vegetables a day
Weeks 11-12: Make smart carb choices
Weeks 13-14: Plan Meals
Weeks 15-16: Log all food
Weeks 17-18: Create a sleep ritual
Weeks 19-20: Drink only zero calorie beverages
Weeks 21-22: Use targeted recovery strategies
Weeks 23-24: Eat only whole foods
Week 25: No new habits (work on the previous ones)
Weeks 26-27: A little more, a little better
Weeks 28-29: Lean protein and vegetables with every meal
Weeks 30-31: Stop eating at 80% full (an encore presentation)
Weeks 32-33: Modify carb intake

Week 34: Do a 5-minute body/mind scan every day

7 o'clock and all's well...

Things are on an upturn: I passed my second exam (with a lot more breathing room than I gave myself with the first one) and the water in my basement has dried up. The dogs are behaving themselves and I ordered a taco pizza to celebrate making it through the last two weeks.

Of course, the pizza wasn't necessary (but it sure was good!). I ordered that along with an eggplant dish so that I'd have leftovers for the upcoming week. Smart planning, right?

Look, Mom! Two exams passed!

Tomorrow I'll start studying for certification exam #3, which will be in two weeks (and then I'll be done! ... for the moment, at least), and also fit in cleaning the house which has gone to the dogs (no pun intended!) with my utter lack of time and desire to keep it neat.

This past week our lesson on Thursday was to do a 24-hour fast.  I tried -- both Thursday and Friday -- but both days made it to about mid-morning and caved and ate. I was home studying both days and I found that a rumbly stomach made it far more challenging to focus on what I was trying to learn. Simply put, hunger overrode my brain.

I'm curious to try it again when I don't have anything on the line, mostly just to see if I can do it, but unless something awesome happens in the last 8 hours of a 24-hour fast, I think that Intermittent Fasting might be more my style. The feedback from my Lean Eating pals was pretty evenly divided between people who thought it was the bee's knees (don't ask me, I don't know what that actually means either) and people who were sluggish and spent most of the day with visions of sugar plums (or vegetables and lean meats) dancing in their heads. I want to be able to offer up my own opinion. Maybe next week.

Water on the noggin'

Well, after the record 68" of snow the area has seen this winter (average is under 30"), it's finally starting to warm up just a bit.  I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this -- I'm just so DONE with this winter.

But how does that saying goes?  Be careful what you wish for ... 

The warming temperatures and melting snow brought the outdoors into my basement -- yes, puddles and puddles of water.  Just what I need while I'm dealing with studying for an exam on Saturday! My roommate's been helping switch out towels (most of the leakage is in the workout room, which is good -- no carpeting in there) and my Dad came over this afternoon to help me diagnose the problem, figure out if there's a fix (no, not really) and help get things as good as they can be for the time being. I'm lucky to have people around me who support me in a lot of different ways.

Onto more relevant topics ... I've been peeking ahead in our lessons and there's a good one for Thursday: a 24-hour fast.  I've done the intermittent fasting as I've talked about previously, usually going about 15-17 hours between meals, but a full 24 hours? That's a bird of a different color.

But I'm looking forward to it. I've not only been forgetting what it feels like to be hungry, but forgetting to realize that hunger isn't an emergency that needs tending to immediately. Fasting will be a good way to reset my brain. At least that's what I'm hoping for, because I kind of need a kick start back to reality.

This post is a little disjointed, but frankly, so am I at the moment. After 2 hours spent dealing with water and then another 2.5 hours studying (and it's not like I didn't work a full day first), my head is ready to relax. Or at least go to sleep. Which is what I'm going to do. Right now, in fact. Good-night!

Sunday Funday: Week 23 Review

Holiday week, and all the food and indulging that goes along with it.  Oh, and the requisite illness that also seems to go along with the holidays.  Christmas Eve and Day were a good time spent with family, though I could have done without the cold/sinus infection that made me pretty miserable.

Really the most notable thing about this week is that it's the week before the halfway point, which means pictures and skinfold measurements.  Yikes.  I'm really not ready for that.

Measurements
Weight is -- remarkably, for everything I ate -- about the same as last week.  Measurements are down a touch.  Will wonders ever cease?

Workouts
Um, yea.  Didn't really happen.  Between being festive and being sick, I did little more than strength train once or twice.  Totally getting back into it.  Really.  I mean it this time.

Habits
Did I tell y'all about the new habit?  I don't think I did... so, the new habit is to eat nothing but whole foods for two weeks.  My diet on the whole is pretty clean, though I can't say that I eat nothing but whole foods.  Aside from the holidays, I've been trying to do this for at least two of three meals for the day.  It's hard to do this 100% -- and except for a two-week experiment, I don't think it's something that fits into my lifestyle.

Intermittent Fasting
I've fallen off this wagon a bit, though I still do it at least a few days a week.  I still think this is beneficial for me.

Habit Log:
Weeks 1-2: Fish oil and probiotic
Weeks 3-4: Eating slowly
Weeks 5-6: Stop eating at 80% full
Weeks 7-8: Lean protein with every meal
Weeks 9-10: 5 servings of vegetables a day
Weeks 11-12: Make smart carb choices
Weeks 13-14: Plan Meals
Weeks 15-16: Log all food
Weeks 17-18: Create a sleep ritual
Weeks 19-20: Drink only zero calorie beverages
Weeks 21-22: Use targeted recovery strategies

Week 23:  Eat only whole foods

Sunday Funday: Week 22 Review

It's been a not-bad kind of week.  Kind of flew by, but I'm looking at the next few days off, which makes me happy. And it's funny because while, sure, I like not having to work, the thing that I most look forward to on days off is simply being able to sleep in.  My normal 4:30am alarm time is just way too early for anyone to have to be conscious (and if it matters, my dogs totally agree with me).

Cone off for a quick picture.  Note the festive,
holiday-themed wrapping on his tail.

My Cone of Shame dog is causing less trouble, though he's still pretty ticked off about having to wear the headgear.  Too bad he's completely untrustworthy to be left unsupervised without it for more than 20 seconds at a time.  I've said it before, I'll say it again -- he's very lucky he's so damn cute.

So - a review of the last week before the holidays are in full swing:

Measurements:
Good news here -- everything edged down a bit.  My goal of being down 10 pounds by Christmas Eve is possible, as long as I don't go crazy the next two days.  I've got about a pound to go ... I'll hit it!  On another note, I'll say that I've noticed a certain shift in my body composition.  My measurements have gone down, but it's more than that -- it's like the fat that's still there is readjusting itself in a more aesthetically pleasing form.  It could all be mental tricks my head is playing on me, but I'll take it.

Workouts:
Finally I'm getting back at this after almost 2 weeks of being a sloth.  Luckily for me, this was a recovery week, so I was able to fit in all the workouts in the last few days.  Feels good to be strength training again -- how often do I have to say this before it motivates me to get off my butt?

Intermittent Fasting:
I'm officially quitting the Primal experiment, but the IF is here to stay.  It's been a revelation to me and I'm pleased with the results I'm getting.  It really makes me far more mindful of the difference between real hunger and wanting to eat due to boredom/emotional angst/habit.  Also a good lesson in how being hungry won't kill me (I know!).

Habit:
All about recovery these past two weeks -- let's just say that I'm looking forward to a new habit.  I'll revisit the idea of BCAA's after workouts when I feel like I'm doing workouts that warrant special recovery supplements.

Habit Log:
Weeks 1-2: Fish oil and probiotic
Weeks 3-4: Eating slowly
Weeks 5-6: Stop eating at 80% full
Weeks 7-8: Lean protein with every meal
Weeks 9-10: 5 servings of vegetables a day
Weeks 11-12: Make smart carb choices
Weeks 13-14: Plan Meals
Weeks 15-16: Log all food
Weeks 17-18: Create a sleep ritual
Weeks 19-20: Drink only zero calorie beverages
Weeks 21-22: Use targeted recovery strategies

Sunday Funday: Week 21 Review

Posting has been a little light around here lately -- with the cold weather, I oftentimes have dogs snuggling with me rather than my laptop keeping me company.  And who can say no to doggie snuggles?  I certainly can't.  I'm a pushover like that.

Enough of the excuses (well, there will be more down below, but you'll get to those parts soon enough...), let's review, shall we?

Measurements:
A flip of last week -- weight stayed about the same and measurements dropped a little bit. I'm determined to make it to the 10 pounds down mark by Christmas.  It's my gift to myself.

Workouts:
Bad week for me.  Because Clarke the Brainiac Tail-Chewing Dog needs constant supervision, I haven't really been working out (see, another excuse). I kind of miss it, though I have to admit that being lazy suits my personality as well (though that's how I got into this mess to begin with!).  

Primal(ish) and Intermittent Fasting:
The Primal thing hasn't really stuck, to be honest.  I'm still paying more attention to eating clean, but I find myself bored by the whole meat/vegetable thing (excuse #2).  On the other hand, IF is working out really well.  I don't even really think about it much anymore, it just happens anyway.  I don't do it everyday -- usually schedule-dependent -- but do it most days and am finding that it really cuts down on the eating-for-no-reason noshing. 

Habits:
The whole targeted recovery thing is the habit this week, and I can't say that I'm doing a whole lot with it.  I am foam rolling and stretching more -- especially important because my lower back has been a bit sore -- but haven't really done anything else.  Of course, I haven't been actually working out, so there's no need to do anything to recover from nothing, right?

Habit Log:
Weeks 1-2: Fish oil and probiotic
Weeks 3-4: Eating slowly
Weeks 5-6: Stop eating at 80% full
Weeks 7-8: Lean protein with every meal
Weeks 9-10: 5 servings of vegetables a day
Weeks 11-12: Make smart carb choices
Weeks 13-14: Plan Meals
Weeks 15-16: Log all food
Weeks 17-18: Create a sleep ritual
Weeks 19-20: Drink only zero calorie beverages

Week 21:  Use targeted recovery strategies

Sunday Funday: Week 20 Review

Between the Christmas music in every store and commercial, and the frigid weather outside, the holiday season is in full swing.  Along with that are the dinners out, the drinks with friends and the holiday goodies at every turn.  This is certainly a challenging time to stick to healthy eating, but if I can do it now, I can do it anytime, right? This week has been pretty good overall -- tinkering with my eating habits has been fun. I'm a living, breathing science experiment with n=1, and it's interesting enough to keep me focused on doing things the right way (for the time being... the Christmas treats haven't been substantially tempting yet...).

Let's review, shall we?

Measurements:
Weight is down as low as it's been since I started Lean Eating.  YAY.  Even though I've been doing Intermittent Fasting this week, I was surprised because I'm also dealing with hormones which historically don't play nice with the scale.  Measurements are the same, but hopefully they'll nudge down next week.

Workouts:
The new set of workouts that were assigned two weeks ago are KILLER.  There are fewer exercises, but they're harder and I'm pushing more weight. After the 30-40 minutes it takes me to complete them, I'm absolutely dripping with sweat. Which is all sorts of awesome.

Primal(ish) and Intermittent Fasting (IF) experiment:
Like I was saying the other day, the Primal experiment has definitely had a good dose of the "(ish)" in it.  The new Belgium waffle maker in the house has been a huge downfall (there always seems to be already-made waffle batter waiting in the fridge for me, too) and I'm just trying to contain the damage.  Other than that, though, I've been eating pretty clean and with an eye towards being Primal(ish).  IF has been going really well and has been quite an eye-opener for me. I'm naturally eating less and not having to think about having healthy snacks available is one less thing to worry about. I think IF has a good chance of becoming part of my lifestyle.

Habits:
Still doing the "drink no calories" thing.  I'm ready for it to be over so I can taste the Vanilla Cinnamon Bailey's that I bought on impulse today. I mean, how could that be bad, right?  

Habit Log:
Weeks 1-2: Fish oil and probiotic
Weeks 3-4: Eating slowly
Weeks 5-6: Stop eating at 80% full
Weeks 7-8: Lean protein with every meal
Weeks 9-10: 5 servings of vegetables a day
Weeks 11-12: Make smart carb choices
Weeks 13-14: Plan Meals

Weeks 15-16: Log all food

Weeks 17-18: Create a sleep ritual
Weeks 19-20: Drink only zero calorie beverages

IF

IF, what?  Intermittent Fasting, of course.

So, I've been experimenting the last few days and I've come to some interesting conclusions.  But first, some of the reasons that I decided to give this a try:

1. Just like with Primal(ish) eating, there's a ton of anecdotal evidence out there that shows people not only lose weight using this tactic, but gain control over their hunger as well.
2. It simplifies life -- by fasting from dinner until my mid-morning breakfast, I no longer have to find something in the house to eat in the evening, and I can forgo my protein shake in the morning (or whatever I have for my "first" breakfast of the day).
3. It simplifies decisions -- is it after dinner?  Then, no, I cannot have a snack.  Is it 10am yet?  Then no, I can't eat whatever might be laying around the office.
4. It's a very black and white strategy, which might prove useful for this very black and white girl.
5. Curiosity.  It may have killed the cat, but hey, who likes cats anyway? (I kid! I kid! All you cat lovers out there don't come after me...)

There are a couple of different methods of IF.  You can do anything from a full 24 to 36 hour fast every few days to doing it the way I chose to -- a 14-16 hour fast by eating dinner and then not eating breakfast until mid-morning the next day.

I was a little dubious going into it -- I had always bought into the "eat every few hours" advice that's been floating around for ages now because it seemed to make sense.  I mean, it seemed like every time I ate a little meal, it wouldn't be long before I was hungry again and looking for food.  So how would I be able to go that long without any food?  To give you an idea, when doing the food every few hours thing, I'd often eat right before bed and still wake up hungry (whether or not that was exacerbated by poor food choices, I won't touch on right now).

The first night it was difficult to not snack in the evening -- it was habit to have something to nom on while I was watching TV, reading or working on my computer.  But I'll tell you -- it felt good to abstain, especially since I knew I had enough for dinner and shouldn't need anything more.

The next morning I woke up a little hungry, but not as bad as usual.  And all morning my stomach was a little grumbly, but if I was busy working on something, I didn't even really notice.  Turns out that waiting until 9:30am or so to eat (depending on what time I finished dinner, of course) wasn't all that difficult.  

And then once I did have that meal -- and it was fairly substantial (eggs, piece of fruit and some cottage cheese) -- I wasn't really hungry until lunch rolled around.  Of course, by this time I'm not technically in the "fasting" stage, but it wasn't hard not to snack between meals.  And if I'm not snacking because I'm not hungry, then those are calories that I didn't need anyway that I'm not consuming (did you follow that?).  #FTW

I've been keeping track of my weight, and it's been slowly inching down.  Perhaps this might be a strategy that helps me reach my goal?  It'd be nice if it was, because it's not all that difficult to implement and -- ironically -- I don't feel like it's at all restrictive.  All I have to do is not eat when I'm not supposed to. Even my pea-brain can handle that.

As a footnote, I'm more "-ish" than Primal these days.  Perhaps I didn't give it a fair shot, but I really do feel more satisfied when I add some carbs into my diet.  For what it's worth, they are mostly "smart" carbs (fruit, sweet potatoes, more complete grains like quinoa and wild rice) and I'm otherwise eating pretty clean.  There's something to be said for feeling satiated, which strictly Primal doesn't seem to do for me.

So - onward.  I'll keep tweaking what I'm doing, figuring out what works for me and what doesn't.  In LE terms, I'm starting to write my owner's manual, documenting how I run best (though I think that's a book that will never have a "The End" tacked onto it... well, at least not until I cease to need an owner's manual...).