my first slip up

i've got a confession to make today...i had my first dietary slip up of the week. i made the mistake of going to work hungry and by the time my break rolled around my willpower was shot. open mouth, insert chocolate chip scone. everything else was in line, and there are certainly much worse dietary disasters. and, in my defense, i have stuck to my commitment to take a week off of coffee (day 6!). my original plan was two weeks pastry-free, but seeing as this is my first slip up and i don't have any planned cheats before monday, i'm not too upset. i just need to use it as a friendly reminder to not allow myself to arrive at work so hungry. but not too much harm done, everything was on track for the rest of the day.

todays eats.
m1: omelette w. egg/egg whites, spinach, mushroom, green onion, green pepper, romano cheese, butter
m2: shake w. banana, whey, matcha powder, nf milk
m3: chocolate chip hazelnut scone
m4: mega salad w. spinach, mixed greens, green pepper, carrot, green onion, avocado, sardines, olive oil
m5: prawns, asparagus, green beans, red peppers, some sort of coconut sauce

good form is everything

so, i've recently starting doing a mentorship of sorts at a new gym that's about to open up in town. the guy who owns it has been in the industry for a long time and really knows his stuff when it comes to training. let's just say that working with him is teaching me just how little i know. i am getting absolutely schooled in proper form and, although ridiculously humbling at times, i'm loving (almost) every minute of it. taking it back to basics, lowering my weight, learning to really retract my shoulders, working in the scapular plane, and isolating muscles. it's blowing my mind. i'm realizing just how terrible my form was before and, although i certainly proved that it's possible to lose weight using improper form, i know that it would have caught up to me in the long run. after having this very eye-opening experience, i would recommend that everyone go find a skilled and knowledgeable trainer to work with for a few sessions just to be sure that you're on the right track...even if you're sure you know what you're doing (as i was), it can never hurt to have another pair of eyes. craig also just posted an article by vince delmonte on the importance of proper form on his blog. check it out at http://turbulencetraining.blogspot.com/2009/03/1-factor-in-building-muscle.html. and get thee to a trainer.

todays eats.
m1: eggs, toast, mushrooms, asparagus, salsa, butter, cheddar cheese
m2: oatmeal, hemp protein powder, blueberries, agave
m3: tangerine, string cheese, walnuts
m4: post wo shake w. banana, blueberries, nf milk, nf yogurt, whey and greens powder
m5: soba noodles, chicken breast, broccoli, chard, snow peas, onions, coconut milk

yummy.

another solid day without coffee. i can add about .25 cup of nf milk to my menu below that was added to my various tea throughout the day. yum.

m1: omelette w. egg/egg whites, spinach, mushroom, green onion, green pepper, romano cheese, butter
m2: shake w. banana, berries, whey and greens powder, nf yogurt, nf milk
m3: hummus w. pine nuts, baby carrots, celery, whole wheat toast w. peanut butter & honey
m4: mega salad w. spinach, mixed greens, cucumber, green pepper, carrot, avocado, kidney beans, crabmeat, olive oil
m5: .5 chicken breast, broccoli, kidney beans
m7: tangerine, string cheese, walnuts

eats and thoughts.

yesterday was another home run in terms of nutrition. i ate:

m1: omelette w. egg/egg whites, spinach, mushroom, onion, green pepper, romano cheese, butter
m2: oatmeal w. hemp protein powder, blueberries, agave
m3: tangerines, string cheese, walnuts
m4: post wo shake w. banana, berries, whey and greens powder, nf yogurt, nf milk
m5: ahi tuna, veggies, white rice
m6: .5 chicken breast, brussel sprouts, kidney beans
m7: mega salad w. spinach, mixed greens, cucumber, green pepper, carrot, avocado, nf cottage cheese, salsa, olive oil

it feels SO good to be eating clean again and i'm also on day 4 of no coffee. i absolutely notice a difference in my energy levels. i feel like i get hungry sooner when i'm eating small frequent meals (duh) but it's a real hunger and i don't get that sluggish heavy feeling that i get when i'm eating bigger meals. the thing i'm being so blown away with right now is the power that habits, both good and bad, have over me. for some reason something has been holding me back mentally all this time from applying the habits that i learned in another country and a completely different environment to my life back here in the states. it's a little embarrassing to admit, but it really has taken me this many months to find the motivation to do that. and i feel like motivation is the only thing that's holding me back because as i find myself re-instilling these habits into my daily life i am slapped in the face by the realization that it simply is a choice that i make, and that i make again, and that i make again until all those little choices add up to what i define as my lifestyle. it's such a simple concept, but it somehow has been easily contorted in my head since i've been home. as i've been seriously looking at why that is i've realized that part of it is probably that i'd fallen back into the habits that i associated with this environment...i.e. living the way i lived in portland (mostly eating the way i was eating) before i moved to spain and learned a different way. this is one of those unconscious associations i had created between being in portland and functioning a specific way here. i kept blaming it on my job, which granted isn't doing me any favors in terms of weight loss. i know that maintaining low levels of body fat requires a high level of discipline, but being in an environment where i'm staring at pastries for 6-8 hours straight certainly isn't helping my efforts. regardless, i have somehow finally had the epiphany that is allowing me apply the knowledge that i learned in spain (that hasn't gone anywhere) to my life here and create a whole new association between my habits and the choices i make in my life here (and hopefully anywhere else from now on!). this all still continues to be a huge learning process (i guess you can include me in the slow learners club) and i've gotten to the point where i'm no longer willing to let my guard down and act as if i've mastered the whole lifestyle change part...i'm acknowledging that that part may continue to be a struggle for me even for years to come, but i'm proud of myself for continuing to show up and get up after progressing and rebounding so many times. i'm not content to be unhappy with how i look or with modifying my expectations of myself...i've never come close to throwing in the towel and it feels amazing to be back on track and have it feel more or less effortless for now :)

yesterday's eats

on the run today, but here was yesterday's menu:

m1: egg and egg white omelette w. spinach, green pepper, mushroom, romano cheese, butter
m2: oatmeal, hemp protein powder, blueberries, agave
m3: .5 baked chicken breast, brussel sprouts, kidney beans, tangerine
m4: 3 ak mak crackers, hummus, sardines, baby carrots, steamed broccoli
m5: protein shake w. banana, berries, nf yogurt, whey and greens powder
m6: 1 piece whole wheat toast w. almond butter
m7: ahi tuna, veggies, white rice, bread, 1 glass red wine
m8: cottage cheese, protein powder

i know it seems like a lot but portions were small. i ended up out to dinner for meal 7 and was planning on having the 1 glass of wine, but didn't want to have the bread. oh well, slight room for improvement, but overall i'm really happy with my meals yesterday.

it's time.

so i'm probably no longer in the running to win this round of the turbulence training transformation contest. however, i do still plan to celebrate my birthday with abs. which means that it's time to get serious. really serious...no more of this running off to mexico to eat tacos :). that did set me back a bit but i feel like i've finally found the motivation that has come and gone for so long. i have had moments of feeling really motivated over the past several months, but i could never quite shift myself into the mindset where i was ready to be serious consistently...where i was ready to make another huge leap forward. i've been in maintenance for a long time and i've realized that that's an okay place to be, but i'm finally ready to take it to the next level. i told myself when i started this last challenge that i wasn't going to track/post food as long as i was making progress. well, i think the time has come. between now and my birthday (april 30th), i'm going to be posting workouts and what i'm eating as the pounds come off. there is no stopping me this time...that's a promise.

yesterday's menu:

m1: egg/egg white omelette w. spinach, mushroom, onions, green peppers, butter, romano cheese
m2: oatmeal, hemp protein powder, agave
m3: string cheese, walnuts, tangerine
m4: post wo shake w. nf yogurt, banana, mixed berries, greens and whey powder
m5: huge salad w. spinach, mixed greens, green onion, green pepper, cucumber, avocado, sprouts, sardines, baked tofu, olive oil
m6: cottage cheese, hemp protein powder

i'll be posting updated stats and photos within the next day or two. yay!

good to be home

nothing like a few weeks away to make me really appreciate my life at home. i always have such amazing adventures when i travel and i've been lucky to get the opportunity to do quite a bit, but i generally find myself so completely outside of my routine that it seems impossible for me to stay on track. granted sometimes i do better than others, but i realize when i'm traveling just how much exercise that i have built into my week that i miss out on when i'm away. of course, there are my scheduled turbulence training workouts, but on top of that there's all the bike riding that i do as a commuter, the demonstrating i do when i'm teaching yoga, and five to seven hours of standing and lifting heavy things at my job. i'll usually slip in a few body weight workouts when i'm away from home and do some running (and remember how much i hate running...) but it never seems to add up. then there's all the amazing food that i have to try when i'm in a new place. i know that doing some planning ahead of time can help me to stay somewhat more on track, but i have never successfully made it through a vacation with the same focus and discipline that i'm able to give my diet and workouts in my everyday life. it makes me realize what a creature of habit i am. having a routine is SO essential to my success. and that routine can be anything from eating the same spinach omelet almost every morning (i somehow never tire of it) to doing my workouts mon/wed/fri without even thinking about it. i know that i tend to beat myself up for getting so off track sometimes, but i also have to acknowledge how much a part of my life fitness has become. along with a few bad habits that i still have yet to give up i have instilled several new healthy ones. and if losing a bit of control while on vacation is something i'll always do, well i suppose worse things could happen...

too many tacos

so my blog has been a bit too quiet lately, mostly because i've been on the run. i just got back from almost three weeks of being away from home. first it was a week in louisiana to meet my beautiful new niece. first time i've been home for mardi gras in years, but we didn't even make it to the parades since my little niece was only three weeks old. then i was off for a little over a week in mexico, a bit of a last minute trip to use up an about to expire plane ticket. i hadn't really spent any time in mexico before and i must admit that it made a very good first impression. maybe i was just happy to have an opportunity to speak some spanish, since i have done very little of that since moving back from spain. i was staying in puerto vallarta but was lucky enough to be able to get out to some of the amazing surrounding towns and villages, including las penitas, mayto, tehuamixtle, and sayulita. there's a lot of treasure to be found in this area of mexico and i feel like i discovered much of it. i've had an incredible past few weeks, although i always find travel to be good for my soul and bad for my waistline...these trips were no exception. i was progressing very nicely pre-travels but after a healthy dose of my brother-in-law's red beans and rice and a few too many tacos in mexico, i've slipped in said progress a bit. but it's great to be home and i'm not letting the slippage get me down. amazing trips and amazing memories, and now i'm getting right back on track...