Week 2: Complete.

I weighed in at 127.0 on Wednesday morning, which is when I have been doing my weigh ins. I am not seeing numbers drop, obviously, but I am seeing a change in my body composition. It's obviously only been two weeks- it's not much. But When I am in the gym I feel strong and I look good. My cellulite is smoothing out and my belly fat is shrinking.

There are some things which still get in the way. For one, school has been busy and keeping up with eating is difficult. Very difficult. I actually had to resort to nut butter a few times this week because I needed quick and sustaining calories. I am happy to say that I haven't really lost control with peanut butter. I have had a midnight snack a couple times, due to my intense workouts. It sucks because I don't feel like I am *really* getting a great workout when I do strength AFTER, but during the workout I know I am working as hard as possible.  And I never let myself cheat, I'm always sweating a ton. In addition, I have been running just about every day. On my shorter, more intense days I will do 25 minutes or 30 minutes of HIIT. I did cross train on the bike, after running a mile. On long days (such as yesterday) I do 35, but I just increased to 40.

Good news! I signed up for FIVE races. Last Saturday, Liz and I ran the Feed the Need 5k. We kept pace together and finished at 34:22. I typically do a 5k in about 25-26 minutes, but it was still fun to not be pushing too hard. The first one is June 2, and it's a 10k, the Texas Lavender Women's 10k in Blanco. Gorgeous area, and after we get a brunch with champagne and then get to pick lavender from the fields! After that, I signed up for a series of four races. These are to prep me for the marathon in the fall. I am GOING TO RUN A MARATHON IN THE FALL, there I said it. These are in San Antonio. The first one is Remember the Alamo...Beer 10k. I get beer after. Actually, I get beer after all of them, which was a contributing factor. That one is in July. In August there is a 15k, September a 20k then October a 20 miler. I haven't decided if I will run the marathon in New Braunfels in October (a week after the 20 miler) or in November (San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon). I have time to think about it. I will also run any other races along the way. The whole point is to keep my training up. Right now, I can run a 10k just fine, but I am trimming body fat, so I am not training too hard for those long distances.

The other thing getting in the way of my goals, however is- what else?- my new birth control. I had a period a week after my period at the beginning of the month, a week after I started my new pill, Reclipsen. After that period ended, I spotted, and I think I just stopped spotting. I am continuing my packs for four months then having a period to keep my hormones at a steady level. Maybe it can clear up my acne and PMS. It seems to have been helping my PMS- I just skipped to a new pack a couple days ago, and the spotting is going down. But I do currently feel certain ovary pains and some slight cravings that are normal. It is nowhere near as bad as it has been. I did have to give in and eat delicious Ethiopian food today ( a LOT of it) and I had a bit of 86% chocolate, but didn't really feel like finishing it. My stomach has been shrinking.

I have been having these INSANE DREAMS for the past several nights, though! And my skin is constantly itching! It's been hard to sleep before 2am. But I have not been skipping exercise.

I don't know how these female body builders follow a bland ass diet of egg whites, chicken and broccoli all the damn time. It lacks so many nutrients and it's dull and boring. I am finding that I can eat a good variety and eat less than normal (which is the important thing!) and stay satisfied. If I do not give in and have a few nuts or pieces of fruit or fruit spread, I will end up going crazy and eating everything in sight.

So, as far as last week's goals- I reduced my dairy, and only had a couple plain Greek yogurts. The fruit is fine, and peanut butter is fine. I think the only thing I need to keep in check is when and how much I eat, making sure to do it at the right times (every 3 hours). Each week I tighten of course. I did have a few sips of wine tonight, but find I don't want it-too sweet. Nothing tastes good enough to make me want to not succeed at this. I go home May 1st, which is only 9 days away...holy shit. Once I'm home, I have already vowed to stick with this diet and to keep training. I can't slip up now, not when I am on my way to getting to where I want to be. Any small setback will set me WAY back, because I'm almost to the weight I want to be.

So, only nine days, huh? I think I will double my workouts this week... Next goal is 125 lbs. :)

Week 2 Goals

I woke up early and went right to the gym first took BCAA's and did my strength workout. I drank a liter of water and then had a protein shake during. AAfter I came home and had some grapefruit juice and a carrot and set out on a 24 minute run (2.69 miles). So I didn't technicially have breakfast.

I made chicken breast for lunch, with some chard, sweet potato, beet and cuke w. a little hummmus.

Snack was a packet of PB and an apple. Then later, capers and two baby carrots, handful of nuts (I knowwww I know too many nuts!)

Dinner was ground turkey in green pepper, onion, tomato paste,red curry, garlic. This atop a tiny squash of some sort, plus tofoodles.

snack during movie was blackberries prob 1.5 cups and greek yogurt.

I could definitely do better, but the produce here tastes like shit and i dont want to eat greens anymore. They're so bitter!

I have not had sugar, alcohol, nothing bad in a week. I lost the easy 2 lbs. I just remeasured my body fat and it is near 26-28%. I want it to be around 20 SO BAD. I know they say to wait 3 weeks for real noticible results, so I am going to keep plugging on. I am not even eating OUT, which is crazy. Stress from school and the coffee it brings might be a bad thig- but I haven't been having it in the morning, and I brought my own coconut milk yesterday. I tend to go for the iced tea more anyway.

I'm trying to think about how I could get better results. Well here's the big one- no nut butters, duh. Those single packets are great for being in a pinch, but I shouldn't be needing them.Plus- ugh hate to say it but no more yogurt.

To keep my sanity, however, I need to have options. Although, I do like having oatmeal for breakfast. I could have less fruit and more veggies, but they are difficultt to get down. I should check out the Farmer's Market this weekend- I always forget to see when and where. I know where the NB one is, so I could always go there.

SO my goals for Week 2: run every day to train for the marathon. Lift 3-4x this week. Find an alternative protein to nut butters for a quick snack. Keep fruit to twice a day. Dairy will be only cottage cheese or PLAIN Greek yogurt. Cut fat and sugars (like from Fage).

Continue NOT drinking. Sleep as much as possible. Drink 2-3 Liters water daily. Hit the 124 mark! Let's go!

Week One: Complete

Today was rough- not the diet, nothing like that, but I have so much to get done- and did get done. But I spent my WHOLE DAY doing it. I woke up close to 9am, immediately angry. Just pissed off about not being able to sleep well, not feeling rested... allergies making my throat itch like CRAZY. I am grumpy when I wake up and I don't want to see or talk to ANYONE. That's how I like to begib my day.

Well, I didn't work out- ALMOST DID- but thought I should get started on work right away and figured I would get so much done that I could work out tonight. Uhh I should have known that is the ultimate setup for failure. I wish I could have woken up earlier, but I can't go to bed when I'm stressed and if there is ANY noise, ANY at ALL, forget it. I didn't eat well. I didn't eat much at all, actually, because I was at Wake the Dead for 10 hours today. I did get my weight this morning, though and I was happy with that, especially since its only been a week. I am doing great so far. If I can keep pushing it and getting results, I will reach my goals! I didn't record my food today, so here it is:

B: egg white w. mushroom, 1/4 c cereal (as oatmeal) w. mango and pumpkin
s: Greek yogurt, 2 carrots, plum, coffee w coco milk
L: 4oz chicken breast, cauliflower, carrots, hummus, 1T peanut butter
S: blackberries, mixed nuts, coffee, iced tea
D: Thunderbird bar, 2 eggs, 5 olives, i slice ezekiel toast, T fruit sprd

Trying to think if I missed anything. Doesn't seem like much, but I didnt have much time to eat. That's when I reach for PB actually. I'm starving in a hurry with nothing to eat quick. I'll limit nuts next week.

I feel slimmer already, just lighter, Slightly more muscle definition. Waist flab feels smaller. Running helps bigtime. But I didn't get to workout today. I was gonna do it when I got home, but I got home at 11:30- so I'd technically be working out tomorrow anyway. I'm gonna do weights and a lite run tomorrow morning and a longer run tomorrow night. After my presentation ugh. Gonna be a busy weekend too. OH FUCK. Race is Saturday, duh. Well that is only 25 minutes anyway.

Well this diet is working, but gotta clean up and organize meals better for on the go. Feel good though.

Weight: 126.5 woo!

Next goal: 124

RACE BUG

Ijust researched the races that are coming up this spring and summer in Texas. There are BILLIONs, literally! I have been bitten by the racing bug again. I went on two 3 mile runs today, and I just want to keep on running now. Of course, I will keep my running to a moderate level until I am finished with my weight loss goals, but that doesn't mean I will not be signing upfor races like crazyin order to motivate me to train!

My second run today was around the hospital track- 3 miles in 23:59, a very decent 5k time considering the HEAT and my lack of focus on running. Being in grad school, I can lose track of the things which make me who I am- I'm so busy in my school projects an obligations. It scares me, but actually that is another story...Running makes me feel like myself. Eating clean makes me feel like ME. Feeling proud of what my body can accomplish, strong and steady progress in my fitness goals, THAT is ME. What helps is Adam's encouragement, not only to exercise and eat healthy, but to be who I am. I've missed that support, and he is so proud of me! He can't eve see the efforts I have made, but he knows how well I am doing. I'd been trying and trying and trying to diet and stick to something, but always temptations got in the way, in the form of the Tap Room, BEER, cocktails, parties, BARBECUE, Krispy Kremes, breakfast... Excuses. Suddenly, I was able to stick to a diet. I just randomly picked up Eat Clean Recharged and I am doing it. I'm being very strict on "treat" foods- there are no cheats in the first 28 days- in cluding (especially!) alcohol and any form of sugar. I'm even cutting back on things which don't even have a ton of sugar. Forget chocolate, in any form . I am thinking the new birth control regimen will help nicely.

MY progress in five days alone inspires me to stick with this, solely based on how good I feel. Obviously, I have not lost any body fat at this point, but I have purpose when choosing what I eat, and I have self control.

Now that that is all out of the way, I have decided to organize my thoughts according to races I wish to do before I finish school. I want to rack up as many race bibs/technical tees/ freebeer as possible before I leave Texas! These are the races I want to do:

April 14- Feed the Need 5k Fun Run- San Marcos
April 29- Schlotzsky Bun Run 5k/10k- Austin
June 2- Texas Lavender 5k/10k Women's Run- Blanco
June 23- Keep Austin Weird 5k- Austin
Alamo City Beer Challenge- Four races: 10k, 15k, 20k and 20 miler from June thru October- SA

And then I want to round it all out with a marathon, either the New Braunfels on Oct 27 (yay!) or the San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon (expensive?) in November. Any beer/pickle/kolache run in between or a nice 10 miler will also be necessary. I'm so excited- so many races to do!
Gotta get training!

Progress, No?

I rounded out my day of clean eating yesterday with a great strength workout. I warmed up for 5 minutes on the treadmill, progressing from 3.5mph to 6.9mph at the fastest. Just enough to start getting me sweaty. I followed Tosca's ECD:R routine, though I did a little more than required. I kept the weight to a manageable level, in order to pump out 12-15 reps, with 3 sets of each exercise. This took about an hour total, maybe slightly more. I was able to work my entire body, hitting each muscle group about twice. I noticed that the energy was not entirely there, despite the BCAA's I took prior to. For example, I couldn't even get through a couple unasisted triceps dips on the parallel bars, when normally I can pop out 8-10 with a bit of struggle.

I felt great after, very strong, like I am actually making progress and should expect to see results. In the past, when I'd work out, I would place so much emphasis on quantity and not quality. I want to lift as heavy as possible, as long as possible. This inevitably would make me incredibly hungry and make it incredibly difficult to not overeat. The emphasis this time is on the restricted diet, less the intense workouts. I feel that because I am eating less (and foods of better quality) I am able to reach a level of fatigue much faster because of the reduced calories. I'd always been afraid to reduce my intensity of workouts, fearing mediocre results. I am finding that I push myself as hard as I can- this may not amount to as much as I am used to but it helps me really see results.

I am being very good at keeping track of what I eat. At times, I find myself very hungry and almost having "just a few chips" here or "just a spoonful of peanut butter" there. I stop myself and think about it. I allow myself to eat only within the context of an actual, scheduled MEAL TIME. This is 5 to 6 times per day. I try my best to eat every couple of hours, but this becomes difficult. I am at least aware.

I did wake up at about 4 this morning and absolutely NEED something to eat. I drank some applesauce from the jar. I had a small spoon of peanut butter with a bit of banana, and planned to include this as part of my daily meals, so I've been eating on the light today. Not gonna lie, been real cranky today, but I think that's mostly from feeling like I did not get anything done. I'm better now. My food diary for today, DAY 5 follows:

Midnite snack: T peanut butter, 1/3 banana, 1/2 c applesauce
Breakfast: Eggwhites with salsa, 1/4 c oats, 2T flax, 1 T wheat germ, 2 T a.s., pumpkin, Stevia, coffee w. coconut milk
Snack: 1/4 C Greek yogurt, 1t fruit spread, Baby carrots, hummus, hard boiled egg
Lunch: 1 C chickpea with tomato paste, carrot, lima bean, a couple small pieces injera (teff, water), 5 olives, 2 dollops ricotta
Snack: Iced Tea, Stevia, Apple, 1T p.b.
Dinner: TBD

I have been eating very small portions. It helps that it is incredibly hot out. And I'm really busy. But I notice that I am NOT eating any any any extras, even to taste ( aside from a few popchips last night). There is NO alcohol in this diet either. Only clea foods.

As far as grains and dairy... well I am weaning off yogurt. I'd much rather do this without a dairy dependency. Even Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and ricotta, which have the lowest milk sugars of all. At least keep them to a minimum if I do have them. I recently bought Ezekiel sesame seed bread, but it just sits in the freezer. Aside from fruits and veggies, the only other grains I will eat are quinoa, teffk and oatmeal. Today I made and attempt at Ethiopian food. It sometimes feels like I have no interest in food at all anymore, because nothing tastes good or is healthy here.

Anyway.I am falling asleep. Snack time. Wonder if another table has opened up...

The Countdown to Adam Eat Clean Stripped Diet

I am on day 3 of my new program. Three strong days so far of healthy clean eating, every 2-4 hours. In addition, I've also decided to work on habits which I've done my whole life and drive me crazy. I'm excited to change. It;s not about me wanting to be a different person, but rather proving again to myself that I can achieve the goals i set out to accomplish.

The point of this diet is to trim down fast. This means strict control of diet- foods, times eaten, portion sizes, control of extras. It means a more moderate exercise routine that what I am used to- lower weights, higher reps and for less time at once. The calorie consumption overall will decrease, so I don't want to lose muscle while burning fat.

This time, I am tracking my progress by taking legit measurements and body fat per centage- my calipers and tape came today! When I took measurements, I was not too happy to realize that I had been mis-measuring on my own, but glad to have the reality match up with what I see. Just a few little pockets of fat here and there. I'm in overall good shape- but I think it could be better. Not that I want to be Jamie Eason buff, I just want my HARD EARNED muscled to pop and feel a little less short and frumpy- lighter on my feet.

My measurements today are:
Age: 26
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 128 lbs.
Body Fat: 27.5%
Waist: 27 inches
Arount Navel: 30 inches
Hips: 37 1/4 inches
Thighs: 22 inches each
Calves: 14 inches each
Right Bicep: 11 inches
Left Bicep: 11 inches
Neck: 13 inches
Chest: 31 inches
Bust: 35 inches
Wrist: 6 inches

My goals are as follows:
Finish Date: May 1st
Weight: 118 lbs.
Body Fat; 20%
Waist: 25 inches
Around Navel: 28 inches
Hips: 36 inches

These are the only areas which I feel I need to focus on as far as fat loss. Every week, I will measure my waist, hips and body fat per centage to stay on track. I know this is such a short time in which to accomplish these goals, but I think I can do it. And I think that I will be happy with any result.

When I reach each two-pounds-lost mark, I will reward myself with something I need.

126- new vegetable dish to make
124- movie
122- New purse
120- New outfit
118- Haircut!

I feel very focused and motivated right now, and it helps that my period is (well, it's happening AGAIN now, as I changed the pill and am breakthru bleeding!) on an "every three month" schedule now. So, in one month, I won't need to deal with PMS! I hope.

This is my food and activity for today:

Breakfast:
1 egg
1/4 c oatmeal
1 T each flaxseen and wheat germ
3 T pumpkin puree
cinnamon
Snack:
Baby carrots
21 roasted mixed nuts
Lunch: beef coconut curry, chia kombucha
Snack: Lavender Mate Sour, yougurt. flax, big pear
Dinner: 2 c kale, 5oz chicken breast, 1/2 small sweet potato, 2 campari tomatoes w. capers, 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
Snack: few nuts, Greek yogurt with 1/8 c cereal, 5 olives

ACtivity: Ran for 35 minutes in the samn heat!

Oh k falling asleep now...