I woke up this morning and realized that I had a cardiology appointment this morning. Just a 6 month check of the blood lipids to make sure my little dose of Crestor was still fighting the good fight against the familial hypercholeterolemia..
The doctor, it seems, was running behind at the hospital on the really bad patients. So I was sitting and waiting. It's frustrating because it seems like every time I go to his office I wait. 1st appointment of the day, mid-afternoon, whenever, I wait. But luckily I like him and he's a good doctor, so I put up with it. Evidently it was time for another EKG - mine looked good. Even my blood pressure hadn't soared too terribly high even though I was in the doctor's office. (It only goes up in the doctor's office.) When they weighed me, I was 3.5 pounds lighter than at the endocrinologists office. YAY!
So I thought, bring the doctor in so I can get out of here! Not so lucky. My genetics it seems decided to pull a fast one. My cholesterol is still nice and normal at 150. (Thanks to crestor of course.) But my LDL particles are hanging out as small and dense particles instead of the happy large and buoyant particles. This means they are "sticky" and can easily attach to the walls of my arteries... which we do not want at all. So now I have to take something called niaspan before bed along with an aspirin 1/2 an hour before that so I am not uncomfortable from the "flush" that will occur.
It could be a lot worse news, and this I realize. But, I wish that for once I could go into a doctor's office for a check up and be told NO bad news. I sort of came close to that with the endocrinologist last week - except for the weight GAIN. I dream of going to the doctor and being told everything is working, you've lost weight, and all is well. But, what's another medicine to add to the counter top, right?
The other good news is that this morning Mom had her "temporary" implant replaced with the permanent one in her breast reconstruction. The surgery went extremely well and took all of 30 minutes. She's home already and sleeping, per doctors orders. I'll take having to take niaspan over any bad news on that front any day and twice on Sundays!
Unfortunately, the doctor running late at the hospital means that I didn't get to my morning run AND I can't get to it this evening because I have to work a little late to make up the time. Plus, I need to get the grocery shopping done since I played all weekend. But the UPS man brought me some more reading materials - my Zone books arrived and I'm already rivited by the preface where he's talking about his genetic heart issues that kill off family members in their 50's. So you may just get a review of that book this week as well.
This coming weekend, Mr. Darcy and I are taking the ladies to his parents house where they will be sufficiently spoiled while we go to Amelia Island for Saturday and part of the day Sunday to celebrate our 13th Anniversary. It's hard to believe that 13 years ago, I was finishing up the details for the wedding right about now. Time has flown! What's even more frightening is that I met Mr. Darcy the month I turned 18, and as of August we'll have been together for 17 years. One more year and I'll have known Mr. Darcy for as long as I didn't know him. Good thing we still like each other!
Anyway, I've got a 1 1/2 hour bike, Day 1 of week 3 of the Push Up Challenge, and some TriPower strength moves on tap for tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The Best Mother's Day Weekend EVER
Mr. Darcy arrived home on Friday evening from his business trip and informed me that this weekend he wanted to pamper me for Mother's Day. So Friday evening, we went to dinner at Outback where I was easily able to Paleo eat (when telling them no butter and spices of course on my food). Afterwards we weren't the smartest of people and decided to let the girls stay up late and watch "Harry Potter" with us... except we fell asleep and the girls kept waking us with questions or shouting something out about the movie.
Saturday I got up with the girls because I was on the verge of waking when Angelfish came in looking for someone to feed her and play with her. After eating a bit of breakfast, she and I decided to watch "Night at the Museum: The Smithsonian" so I hopped on the trainer and did my 20 miles during the movie. Somehow that is easier when there aren't small people about. Ladybug got up part way through. Later, Mr. Darcy. We had a grand plan to go to the beach, but we had to take Annie to the vet to follow up about her UTI. Annie gave me her own little present by acting completely normal all day yesterday and today. She is doing a million times better, and I'm thinking that perhaps she just needed to get a build up of the medicine in her system or something.
Her UTI looks like it is gone, so we just have to finish out the medicine for Annie and continue the other medicines until 2 weeks are up. Then we headed home, where we had lunch - lots of veggies and fruit and some very lean pork for me. And then we napped. Except we all napped quite a long time and didn't get up until about 4:30 or 5 (depending on who you were in the family). So we opted for the pool over the beach and then went out for Teppan - or as the girls refer to it "the restaurant where they cook in front of you on the table." Afterwards, we were bad and had ice cream. So that was meal one of the week outside of the strict Paleo Diet (I had 2 and they are all gone by the end of this weekend... but I will have no problem with sticking to it the rest of this week.) Then we put the little ladies down to bed and watched "Sunshine Cleaning" which is a sad and yet somewhat hopeful movie all at once.
This morning, Mr. Darcy got up with the girls and they played until I got out of bed at 8 am. I slept until 7:30 which is like most people sleeping until 11 am. Then I layed there and enjoyed just being able to lay in bed. Mr. Darcy made us all eggs and fruit for breakfast while I did Day 3 of the Pushup Challenge since I forgot to do them yesterday (and maxed out at 41 pushups... well, probably that should count as 40 because I made it down on 41 but couldn't quite push myself back up and collapsed), and then it was time for presents. I was really curious about presents because the girls and Mr. Darcy had all commented that they did a project with items from JoAnn Fabrics... and it involved flowers and glitter but it was a "uprise" as Angelfish said it (aka surprise).
I am now the proud owner of 2 picture frames that the girls decordated with glitter letters and glittery flower and butterfly stickers, and they contain some goofy pictures of the girls (I'll try to put some pictures on the blog of our activities either later today or tomorrow.) Mr. Darcy and the girls also got me 3 stacking rings that are for Mother's with a big pearl and 2 small pearls, one for each of the little ladies. I've been wanting it for a few years now, so it was a wonderful surprise! I also got some super sweet cards. The one from Mr. Darcy actually brought tears to my eyes.
Then to the BEACH! We got our swim suits on, packed up the car with snacks and gear and out we went. An hour later we arrived in New Smyrna Beach, where the only place we really could find for a lunch was a French Bakery that made subsandwiches on some truly amazing baguettes, and we had some goodies too (Key Lime Tart for me, an eclair for Mr. Darcy, and a snowball - chocolate cake with raspberry filling topped with a light chocolate frosting and coconuts - that was for the girls but that Mr. Darcy and I assisted with as well... and that would make non-Paleo diet meal #2). We took it all to the beach and had a picnic once we found a spot. You drive on the beach and park on it in New Smyrna. Our 1st attempt at a spot was ill fated as the sand was too deep to handle the weight of our car and 3 very nice men pushed as Mr. Darcy backed up in order to get us out. Our 2nd parking spot was on much tighter packed sand and was without incident.
The girls helped us work off our tasty treats by having me sprint with them into the water and then out of the water and back again. We did that about 10 times... I wonder if that could count as speed work? We played in the water jumping over the waves and built a sand castle. Due to a lack of bathroom space, we also introduced the girls to the joys of peeing during an open water swim. : ) Of course, we had to explain to Ladybug that you don't take off your bathing suit to do it when she started to disrobe... When we were ready to leave, we all changed in the back of the minivan (doors closed of course) and Mr. Darcy and I decided that if we were ever in a jam on a road trip we could easily all camp out in our van. Then we drove a little through the boardwalk area and headed on home.
Poor Mr. Darcy was the only one awake until we got home - the little ladies and I all fell asleep. Angelfish continued her nap when we got home, but Ladybug and I were now awake. Ladybug asked me, "What Princess movie would you like to watch, Mommy?" (The stinker was trying to stack the deck.) I told her, "I'd like to watch Ratatouille - it's my favorite." She agreed that we could watch it, "even if it isn't a princess movie." And now Mr. Darcy is grilling chicken and making dinner (he's even making extra grilled chicken for me for the next day or so). I'm secretly hoping to spend the rest of the evening with them, and (after we put the girls down to bed) a bubble bath, a glass of wine and to talk Mr. Darcy into painting my toenails.
But even without the bubble bath, wine and toenails, I've had the BEST Mother's Day EVER!
I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day too - either as a Mom or as the one taking care of Mom today!
Saturday I got up with the girls because I was on the verge of waking when Angelfish came in looking for someone to feed her and play with her. After eating a bit of breakfast, she and I decided to watch "Night at the Museum: The Smithsonian" so I hopped on the trainer and did my 20 miles during the movie. Somehow that is easier when there aren't small people about. Ladybug got up part way through. Later, Mr. Darcy. We had a grand plan to go to the beach, but we had to take Annie to the vet to follow up about her UTI. Annie gave me her own little present by acting completely normal all day yesterday and today. She is doing a million times better, and I'm thinking that perhaps she just needed to get a build up of the medicine in her system or something.
Her UTI looks like it is gone, so we just have to finish out the medicine for Annie and continue the other medicines until 2 weeks are up. Then we headed home, where we had lunch - lots of veggies and fruit and some very lean pork for me. And then we napped. Except we all napped quite a long time and didn't get up until about 4:30 or 5 (depending on who you were in the family). So we opted for the pool over the beach and then went out for Teppan - or as the girls refer to it "the restaurant where they cook in front of you on the table." Afterwards, we were bad and had ice cream. So that was meal one of the week outside of the strict Paleo Diet (I had 2 and they are all gone by the end of this weekend... but I will have no problem with sticking to it the rest of this week.) Then we put the little ladies down to bed and watched "Sunshine Cleaning" which is a sad and yet somewhat hopeful movie all at once.
This morning, Mr. Darcy got up with the girls and they played until I got out of bed at 8 am. I slept until 7:30 which is like most people sleeping until 11 am. Then I layed there and enjoyed just being able to lay in bed. Mr. Darcy made us all eggs and fruit for breakfast while I did Day 3 of the Pushup Challenge since I forgot to do them yesterday (and maxed out at 41 pushups... well, probably that should count as 40 because I made it down on 41 but couldn't quite push myself back up and collapsed), and then it was time for presents. I was really curious about presents because the girls and Mr. Darcy had all commented that they did a project with items from JoAnn Fabrics... and it involved flowers and glitter but it was a "uprise" as Angelfish said it (aka surprise).
I am now the proud owner of 2 picture frames that the girls decordated with glitter letters and glittery flower and butterfly stickers, and they contain some goofy pictures of the girls (I'll try to put some pictures on the blog of our activities either later today or tomorrow.) Mr. Darcy and the girls also got me 3 stacking rings that are for Mother's with a big pearl and 2 small pearls, one for each of the little ladies. I've been wanting it for a few years now, so it was a wonderful surprise! I also got some super sweet cards. The one from Mr. Darcy actually brought tears to my eyes.
Then to the BEACH! We got our swim suits on, packed up the car with snacks and gear and out we went. An hour later we arrived in New Smyrna Beach, where the only place we really could find for a lunch was a French Bakery that made subsandwiches on some truly amazing baguettes, and we had some goodies too (Key Lime Tart for me, an eclair for Mr. Darcy, and a snowball - chocolate cake with raspberry filling topped with a light chocolate frosting and coconuts - that was for the girls but that Mr. Darcy and I assisted with as well... and that would make non-Paleo diet meal #2). We took it all to the beach and had a picnic once we found a spot. You drive on the beach and park on it in New Smyrna. Our 1st attempt at a spot was ill fated as the sand was too deep to handle the weight of our car and 3 very nice men pushed as Mr. Darcy backed up in order to get us out. Our 2nd parking spot was on much tighter packed sand and was without incident.
The girls helped us work off our tasty treats by having me sprint with them into the water and then out of the water and back again. We did that about 10 times... I wonder if that could count as speed work? We played in the water jumping over the waves and built a sand castle. Due to a lack of bathroom space, we also introduced the girls to the joys of peeing during an open water swim. : ) Of course, we had to explain to Ladybug that you don't take off your bathing suit to do it when she started to disrobe... When we were ready to leave, we all changed in the back of the minivan (doors closed of course) and Mr. Darcy and I decided that if we were ever in a jam on a road trip we could easily all camp out in our van. Then we drove a little through the boardwalk area and headed on home.
Poor Mr. Darcy was the only one awake until we got home - the little ladies and I all fell asleep. Angelfish continued her nap when we got home, but Ladybug and I were now awake. Ladybug asked me, "What Princess movie would you like to watch, Mommy?" (The stinker was trying to stack the deck.) I told her, "I'd like to watch Ratatouille - it's my favorite." She agreed that we could watch it, "even if it isn't a princess movie." And now Mr. Darcy is grilling chicken and making dinner (he's even making extra grilled chicken for me for the next day or so). I'm secretly hoping to spend the rest of the evening with them, and (after we put the girls down to bed) a bubble bath, a glass of wine and to talk Mr. Darcy into painting my toenails.
But even without the bubble bath, wine and toenails, I've had the BEST Mother's Day EVER!
I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day too - either as a Mom or as the one taking care of Mom today!
Friday, May 7, 2010
2 Thursday Test Drives on a Friday
Thank you all for your sweet comments about the woman asking me if I was pregnant. It made me feel better. Of course, it helped even more when pants I put on 2 weeks ago and were tight fit much better today. And the shorts that I had on yesterday were baggy and I only bought them about 2 weeks ago. Who knows what this body of mine is doing?
Thursday Test Drive #1: The Paleo Diet
Yesterday afternoon the lovely UPS man brought me The Paleo Diet and The Paleo Diet for Athletes. The girls were deeply entrenched in "The Princess and the Swan" so I got to read both books cover to cover. Okay, so I skipped the receipes and the bibliographies and in The Paleo Diet for Athletes, I skipped some of the repeat information from The Paleo Diet. I like that they tell you point blank that this isn't intended to be a diet but a healthy way of eating for life and that there's a lot of studies and science behind it (even if in The Paleo Diet for Athletes that was part of the really boring stuff - and I like science - because they went into it way more than in the other book). And the irony is that it makes a ton of sense to me. I've always thought of human beings as animals with a more developed cerebral cortex... which is why we have to train children and sometimes adults how to manage "civilized behavior."
Anyway. The ideas are pretty simple, straightforward and make sense. Although I'm not 100% sure about completely eliminating dairy all together from your diet. I understand their scientific basis is that a cup of skim milk can make your blood sugar spike in the same way a piece of white bread does, but there are other health benefits to dairy. The kids will definitely continue with the dairy (we use all skim or for cheese at least 2% or less fat), and I'll still have a glass of glorious milk (I LOVE milk) from time to time. The version for Athletes is a little different because they talk about how the modern person does not have the activity level of the cave man and those who are athletes (whether weekend warrior, amateur, or professional) have slightly different needs than our paleolithic brethren. So it combines the "best of both worlds."
I can't do my standard review on The Paleo Diet because I've only just started it today. But I figured I could give you the synopsis of what I took away from the two books.
There are a few main ideas:
1. Eat all the LEAN meat, fish and seafood you can.
2. Eat all the fruit (not dried) and non-starchy vegetables you can. For athletes, during 1st the 30 minutes after a workout and during the 60-90 minutes after a workout, you can have starchy vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes) and rice, dried fruit; you can have a bagel or cereal but it's not as good as the vegetable option; and you need to keep a 4 carb to 1 protein ratio during these times. (I instantly thought: recoverite! accelerade!)
3. NO cereal or grains (except during those 2 recovery periods I mentioned a moment ago, or during exercise), including legumes.
4. NO dairy.
5. NO processed foods.
You can have eggs that are enriched with Omega 3, but you need to limit them to 6 per week. (I can't imagine eating 6 eggs in a week personally, but maybe I'm not as big of an egg fan as I thought I was.) NO peas, green beans or peanuts because they are legumes that act like grains.
For weight loss, it's suggested to limit nuts and seed to 4 oz. per day (which is more than I typically eat but then I tend to eat a good bit of dairy). They say to only use flaxseed oil or canola or olive oil mixed with one of these, but to limit it to 4 Tablespoons a day (again much more oil than I use).
Strictly limit salt intake during non-recovery or exercise periods. Limit diet soda, coffee, tea, and alcohol. But for snacks, you can have fruit, homemade jerky without salt, raw veggies, chicken or beef, nuts, and hard boiled eggs.
AVOID: dairy, cereal grains (including oat, rice, rye, wheat, quinoa) unless during the recovery or exercise periods; legumes (all beans, any food that has "pea" as part of the word... i.e., chickpea, all soybeans or soy products); starchy veggies (except potatoes, yams or sweet potatoes during recovery); salty foods; fatty meats; soft drinks; juices (except during recovery from exercise); candy, honey and sugar; and yeast; and anything processed (including deli meat).
LOOK FOR: range fed, grass fed, or free range meat because it's leaner and higher in protein content; small, non predatory fish that are fresh and not farmed.
For Athletes they break your eating day into stages... Note that during Stages II-IV, they say you should eat the number of calories burned during your workout.
Stage I: Pre-workout or race
Unless your workout or race will last more than 4 hours, stick to the paleo diet food selections and try to eat 2 hours beforehand if possible.
Stage II: During workout or Race
Try to Stick to 4:1 carb to protein ratio the best you can. They give suggestions of gels and water, fruit, juice, turkey sandwiches, or a sport bar with protein.
Stage III: 1st 30 minutes after workout or race
Try to keep things liquid. Recovery drink, juice, smoothies from fruit that have a protein powder (either whey or egg protein is preferred), a glucose and water. Again, trying to keep to a 4:1 carb to protein ratio.
Stage IV: 60-90 minutes after a workout or race
Move to solid food, still following the 4:1 ratio. You can eat potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes or dried fruits in this period. A "2nd best" option would be bagels, rice or cereal. For protein, they say that egg whites, turkey breast or fish make especially good proteins during this stage.
Stage V: the rest of the day
Stick to the paleo diet without the additions in Stages II - IV of starches or grains. They suggest that overall 55% of your food for the entire day (Stages I-V) come from carbohydrate, but that for Stage V, 35% to 45% come from vegetable and fruit carbs, and to split the rest between protein and fat. (Which sounds a bit like the Zone to me, but those books have not yet arrived. I anxiously await the UPS delivery!) The other thing they say is to make sure that during Stage V, you need to take at least 1/2 of the calories burned during your workout in as carbohydrate.
The fats that they refer to are good fats: from nuts (other than peanuts), lean proteins, avocado, or good oils.
They also say that it's okay if 1 or 2 meals PER WEEK are not fully paleo diet as long as the rest are and as long as you're not gorging yourself in those other meals.
The Bottom Line appears to be to keep food simple, fresh and as minimally processed as possible, and free from grains, dairy, salt, sugars, legumes and yeast. And they suggest making extra meat at dinner one or two nights so you can have the left over meat for your other meals without having to cook it again to make life easier.
Other than the dairy and the grains/cereal, which is a big difference, this isn't all that much different. I figure I'll give it a try... at least until I read the zone diet and see what I want to incorporate from that. : ) I'll have to let you know how it goes. I figure if Joe Friel and the PhD guy say it's great, it can't be all that terrible.
Thursday Test Drive #2: Cheribundi!
Okay, so Cheribundi contacted me and provided me with these free smaples of their Tru Cherry, Skinny Cherry, and Whey Cherry. They did not pay me to review them, unless you count the free sample as the payment.
First, I have to say that I normally like cherries. Of pie choices, cherry pie ranks 2nd with Key Lime being the only thing above it. If I buy cherries in the store, I have to pace myself or I'll eat the whole bag in a day and spend the next day wishing for more cherries. So when they said would you like some, I jumped on it.
Here's what they say:
Tru Cherry: Our original juice is packed with 50 cherries. Drink it daily to get 2 servings of fruit and powerful benefits that no other fruit has. You'll feel better and live life to the fullest.
Skinny Cherry: Choose this juice to drink daily if you're looking to limit your calories and sugar without sacrificing all those cherry nutrients and benefits. It's sweetened with all-natural Stevia, giving you the same great cherry pie tast as Tru Cherry.
Whey Cherry: We've packed protein into this version of our cherry juice to speed recovery and make you feel better. It has all the powerful nutrients and benefits of our original juice but with the extra advantage of protien for those who want to stay competitive.
The Tri-Mommy Truth:
Tru Cherry: Tart and delicious! I drank it room temperature once and liked it better than drinking the cold sample. The cold one made it seem a little more tart to me. Like cherry pie without the sugar, mess or a fork. Awesome! You could even use this as part of the Paleo Diet for Athletes in recovery.
Skinny Cherry: I liked it but not nearly as much as the Tru Cherry. I guess where they take out the cherries (only 40 in this bottle), they replace it with water... at least that's what it tasted like to me. I still liked it though. Not as much punch as the tart Tru Cherry.
Whey Cherry:
I waited to drink this one until after I had a little bit of a longer workout... a 20 mile bike ride. I was hot and sweaty, and I drank it and seemed to recover pretty well. It definitely was better tasting than my usual Recoverite, which I love, but this was like cherry juice. Yum. And it comes pretty close to a 4:1 ratio of carb to protein... 30 g carb to 8 g protein. Of course, you have 27 g coming from sugars because it's juice. But definitely yum!
There really was no Good or Bad other than what I've said above. If you don't like things that are tangy and tart, these products might not be for you. But if you like cherries and/or tart things. It's great!
In other News...
I did not work out this morning as I had solo Mommy duty and it's not looking likely because I forgot I have lunch on the calendar with a friend. BUT there's always this weekend! Tomorrow I definitely plan to do Day 3 of Week 2 of the Push Up Challenge and to hit the closed loop for a lovely 20 mile bike ride in the morning. : )
Annie seemed to be responding well to the medicine yesterday. She even tried to play with us for a little bit after stealing one of the girls' socks. But after about 3 minutes, she had decided it was too much and stopped. Unfortunately this morning she started off seeming to be feeling good - even trotted around the yard some but afterwards she started slumping her head and such and looking painful... despite having had the tylenol with codeine, valium, and prednisone about 1/2 an hour earlier. At the moment she is asleep on my office floor, but I have to say I am worried. I've gotten some people on Facebook who recommended that I try accupuncture, so we may give it a whirl if the medicine isn't working.
Thursday Test Drive #1: The Paleo Diet
Yesterday afternoon the lovely UPS man brought me The Paleo Diet and The Paleo Diet for Athletes. The girls were deeply entrenched in "The Princess and the Swan" so I got to read both books cover to cover. Okay, so I skipped the receipes and the bibliographies and in The Paleo Diet for Athletes, I skipped some of the repeat information from The Paleo Diet. I like that they tell you point blank that this isn't intended to be a diet but a healthy way of eating for life and that there's a lot of studies and science behind it (even if in The Paleo Diet for Athletes that was part of the really boring stuff - and I like science - because they went into it way more than in the other book). And the irony is that it makes a ton of sense to me. I've always thought of human beings as animals with a more developed cerebral cortex... which is why we have to train children and sometimes adults how to manage "civilized behavior."
Anyway. The ideas are pretty simple, straightforward and make sense. Although I'm not 100% sure about completely eliminating dairy all together from your diet. I understand their scientific basis is that a cup of skim milk can make your blood sugar spike in the same way a piece of white bread does, but there are other health benefits to dairy. The kids will definitely continue with the dairy (we use all skim or for cheese at least 2% or less fat), and I'll still have a glass of glorious milk (I LOVE milk) from time to time. The version for Athletes is a little different because they talk about how the modern person does not have the activity level of the cave man and those who are athletes (whether weekend warrior, amateur, or professional) have slightly different needs than our paleolithic brethren. So it combines the "best of both worlds."
I can't do my standard review on The Paleo Diet because I've only just started it today. But I figured I could give you the synopsis of what I took away from the two books.
There are a few main ideas:
1. Eat all the LEAN meat, fish and seafood you can.
2. Eat all the fruit (not dried) and non-starchy vegetables you can. For athletes, during 1st the 30 minutes after a workout and during the 60-90 minutes after a workout, you can have starchy vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes) and rice, dried fruit; you can have a bagel or cereal but it's not as good as the vegetable option; and you need to keep a 4 carb to 1 protein ratio during these times. (I instantly thought: recoverite! accelerade!)
3. NO cereal or grains (except during those 2 recovery periods I mentioned a moment ago, or during exercise), including legumes.
4. NO dairy.
5. NO processed foods.
You can have eggs that are enriched with Omega 3, but you need to limit them to 6 per week. (I can't imagine eating 6 eggs in a week personally, but maybe I'm not as big of an egg fan as I thought I was.) NO peas, green beans or peanuts because they are legumes that act like grains.
For weight loss, it's suggested to limit nuts and seed to 4 oz. per day (which is more than I typically eat but then I tend to eat a good bit of dairy). They say to only use flaxseed oil or canola or olive oil mixed with one of these, but to limit it to 4 Tablespoons a day (again much more oil than I use).
Strictly limit salt intake during non-recovery or exercise periods. Limit diet soda, coffee, tea, and alcohol. But for snacks, you can have fruit, homemade jerky without salt, raw veggies, chicken or beef, nuts, and hard boiled eggs.
AVOID: dairy, cereal grains (including oat, rice, rye, wheat, quinoa) unless during the recovery or exercise periods; legumes (all beans, any food that has "pea" as part of the word... i.e., chickpea, all soybeans or soy products); starchy veggies (except potatoes, yams or sweet potatoes during recovery); salty foods; fatty meats; soft drinks; juices (except during recovery from exercise); candy, honey and sugar; and yeast; and anything processed (including deli meat).
LOOK FOR: range fed, grass fed, or free range meat because it's leaner and higher in protein content; small, non predatory fish that are fresh and not farmed.
For Athletes they break your eating day into stages... Note that during Stages II-IV, they say you should eat the number of calories burned during your workout.
Stage I: Pre-workout or race
Unless your workout or race will last more than 4 hours, stick to the paleo diet food selections and try to eat 2 hours beforehand if possible.
Stage II: During workout or Race
Try to Stick to 4:1 carb to protein ratio the best you can. They give suggestions of gels and water, fruit, juice, turkey sandwiches, or a sport bar with protein.
Stage III: 1st 30 minutes after workout or race
Try to keep things liquid. Recovery drink, juice, smoothies from fruit that have a protein powder (either whey or egg protein is preferred), a glucose and water. Again, trying to keep to a 4:1 carb to protein ratio.
Stage IV: 60-90 minutes after a workout or race
Move to solid food, still following the 4:1 ratio. You can eat potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes or dried fruits in this period. A "2nd best" option would be bagels, rice or cereal. For protein, they say that egg whites, turkey breast or fish make especially good proteins during this stage.
Stage V: the rest of the day
Stick to the paleo diet without the additions in Stages II - IV of starches or grains. They suggest that overall 55% of your food for the entire day (Stages I-V) come from carbohydrate, but that for Stage V, 35% to 45% come from vegetable and fruit carbs, and to split the rest between protein and fat. (Which sounds a bit like the Zone to me, but those books have not yet arrived. I anxiously await the UPS delivery!) The other thing they say is to make sure that during Stage V, you need to take at least 1/2 of the calories burned during your workout in as carbohydrate.
The fats that they refer to are good fats: from nuts (other than peanuts), lean proteins, avocado, or good oils.
They also say that it's okay if 1 or 2 meals PER WEEK are not fully paleo diet as long as the rest are and as long as you're not gorging yourself in those other meals.
The Bottom Line appears to be to keep food simple, fresh and as minimally processed as possible, and free from grains, dairy, salt, sugars, legumes and yeast. And they suggest making extra meat at dinner one or two nights so you can have the left over meat for your other meals without having to cook it again to make life easier.
Other than the dairy and the grains/cereal, which is a big difference, this isn't all that much different. I figure I'll give it a try... at least until I read the zone diet and see what I want to incorporate from that. : ) I'll have to let you know how it goes. I figure if Joe Friel and the PhD guy say it's great, it can't be all that terrible.
Thursday Test Drive #2: Cheribundi!
Okay, so Cheribundi contacted me and provided me with these free smaples of their Tru Cherry, Skinny Cherry, and Whey Cherry. They did not pay me to review them, unless you count the free sample as the payment.
First, I have to say that I normally like cherries. Of pie choices, cherry pie ranks 2nd with Key Lime being the only thing above it. If I buy cherries in the store, I have to pace myself or I'll eat the whole bag in a day and spend the next day wishing for more cherries. So when they said would you like some, I jumped on it.
Here's what they say:
Tru Cherry: Our original juice is packed with 50 cherries. Drink it daily to get 2 servings of fruit and powerful benefits that no other fruit has. You'll feel better and live life to the fullest.
Skinny Cherry: Choose this juice to drink daily if you're looking to limit your calories and sugar without sacrificing all those cherry nutrients and benefits. It's sweetened with all-natural Stevia, giving you the same great cherry pie tast as Tru Cherry.
Whey Cherry: We've packed protein into this version of our cherry juice to speed recovery and make you feel better. It has all the powerful nutrients and benefits of our original juice but with the extra advantage of protien for those who want to stay competitive.
The Tri-Mommy Truth:
Tru Cherry: Tart and delicious! I drank it room temperature once and liked it better than drinking the cold sample. The cold one made it seem a little more tart to me. Like cherry pie without the sugar, mess or a fork. Awesome! You could even use this as part of the Paleo Diet for Athletes in recovery.
Skinny Cherry: I liked it but not nearly as much as the Tru Cherry. I guess where they take out the cherries (only 40 in this bottle), they replace it with water... at least that's what it tasted like to me. I still liked it though. Not as much punch as the tart Tru Cherry.
Whey Cherry:
I waited to drink this one until after I had a little bit of a longer workout... a 20 mile bike ride. I was hot and sweaty, and I drank it and seemed to recover pretty well. It definitely was better tasting than my usual Recoverite, which I love, but this was like cherry juice. Yum. And it comes pretty close to a 4:1 ratio of carb to protein... 30 g carb to 8 g protein. Of course, you have 27 g coming from sugars because it's juice. But definitely yum!
There really was no Good or Bad other than what I've said above. If you don't like things that are tangy and tart, these products might not be for you. But if you like cherries and/or tart things. It's great!
In other News...
I did not work out this morning as I had solo Mommy duty and it's not looking likely because I forgot I have lunch on the calendar with a friend. BUT there's always this weekend! Tomorrow I definitely plan to do Day 3 of Week 2 of the Push Up Challenge and to hit the closed loop for a lovely 20 mile bike ride in the morning. : )
Annie seemed to be responding well to the medicine yesterday. She even tried to play with us for a little bit after stealing one of the girls' socks. But after about 3 minutes, she had decided it was too much and stopped. Unfortunately this morning she started off seeming to be feeling good - even trotted around the yard some but afterwards she started slumping her head and such and looking painful... despite having had the tylenol with codeine, valium, and prednisone about 1/2 an hour earlier. At the moment she is asleep on my office floor, but I have to say I am worried. I've gotten some people on Facebook who recommended that I try accupuncture, so we may give it a whirl if the medicine isn't working.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
To Add Insult to Injury...
I was asked today if I was pregnant. Got to love having to answer, "No, I just have a big stomach." And then laugh at the person when they tell you "No, you look great!" Yeah, I look great if I'm pregnant. I don't look great if I'm not pregnant and you're asking me if I am.
Anyone know a good plastic surgeon?
Anyone know a good plastic surgeon?
Dog Days
First thank you all for your comments to my last post. They really mean a lot to me and helped a good bit (along with 3 calls from friends who covertly read my blog).
I did not run yesterday. I did not do pushups. Instead, yesterday morning I dressed for my 3 mile run in my lovely Brooks running skirt and my "run happy" shirt, my socks and my running shoes. I had all the intentions of coming home and doing my run before starting work for the day. You'll note I said, "coming home."
The girls left with Mr. Darcy for school, and Annie dog and I set out for the vet's office. The night before I found a terrible bruise on her sternum, one that looks like a giant raspberry stain and was very dark red in the middle. I cried. I thought that with everything else that was going wrong with her that it must be internal bleeding. So that morning when I woke and it still looked just as bad, if not worse to me, I called the vet's office before they opened to let them know that Annie and I would be doing our best to get there when the office opened.
About 5 minutes after I left the house, I got a call on the cell. The veternarians would not be in until 9 am but that I could have the 1st appointment of the day with Dr. Hobbs, who happens to be a friend of mine. I snatched it up because not only is Kim a friend but she's a really good vet and I trust that she will tell me the truth without too much sugar coating. So Annie got to go to get a cup of coffee with me, and then we went to the post office and used their fancy computerized system in the lobby to mail my Mom's mother's day present. Then we took "the long way" to the vet's office and walked around to let Annie do her business, and then in we went.
Little did I know that I would not be getting home until about 7 pm last night. We had x-rays and blood work and conversations about how Annie has been acting and feeling and what the x-rays and test results were. We had to wait for some of it, and then it sort of became clear that there were a few things that could be going on, but it was hard to know what was causing the problem.
So around noon we headed to the veterinary specialists office. When we did, Annie was acting like a spry little thing but something in the back of my head said that she was faking being spry just for me. I waited a bit while they did vitals, etc. on Annie who they kept in the back. It turned out that when they took her in the back, she stopped acting for me and she was in a lot of pain.
After 2 conversations with the specialists (one of whom even talked to Mr. Darcy on the phone because things were rather costly and my head was spinning from everything), we decided to go with the anti-coagulant test to make sure she wasn't having internal bleeding issues, an abdominal ultrasound to make sure that there was no tumor in the abdominal cavity and to make sure that the UTI she had wasn't actually a kidney infection, and a consult with the neurology department. That was the short list out of the big list of all the tests that they would have liked to do. The others were things that they would have liked but that wouldn't necessarily tell us exactly what was wrong. The short list was what would tell us the problem and give us where to go from there. The full list was $1375, and the short list was $875.
Then they told me to leave and be back by 5 pm. It was 2:30 and I didn't even know what time it was, where I was in relation to the house, and my emotional state was pretty much wrecked. Not knowing what else to do with myself, I drove home thanks to the GPS. On the ride home, my cellphone battery died mid conversation and the GPS froze up. But I was at least on a road that I knew would cut back down from Maitland (where the specialists are) to Orlando. The GPS finally listened to me to turn off and then I turned it back on, and it worked fine.
I got home and answered a couple of work emails, changed out of my running clothes into regular clothes and then headed back to get Annie. The rain poured down as I drove and it made me 15 minutes late because of traffic and rain. But that worked out because they had only just finished up with her a few moments before I walked in the door.
Her abdominal ultrasound was fine. Nothing to worry about there. Her anti-coagulant study turned out fine as did her blood platelets. But the neuro consult. The neurologist determined that he was 95% certain that Annie has one, if not several, herniated discs in her neck that are most likely from degenerative disc disease in that area of her spine. The strong recommendation was that we have an appointment with the neurologist and that we do an MRI of her neck and surgery to scrape out the gunk that's in there to provide her with a very good chance of a return to a good quality of life. The price tag? Well, first they'd have to do another ultrasound to make sure her heart murmur was the kind that would let her undergo general anesthesia and survive which would be around $400. Then the MRI and surgery is $4500 to $5500. Not to mention what we've spent so far. Unfortunately, we cannot afford surgery, so we are hoping that the new set of pain medication will help her.
Right now she is taking Tylenol with codeine, valium (well, she will once CVS gets it in – supposedly by 1 pm today), and prednisone. We’re going to give it about 2 weeks and if she’s not out of pain (because she’s in an extreme amount of pain, we will most likely have to put her down. I talked to her vet, my friend Kim, last night. She was really sweet to call us last night to check on Annie. I only got home with her around 7 pm right before she called. She told me that if she’s not out of pain in 2 weeks that we need to “make the next decision” to give her comfort. I talked to her about what putting her down would mean and she said to me that if Annie was 2 and had no heart murmur, she would say “let’s try to find someone to adopt her out to someone who would pay for the surgery.” If she was 15 or 16, she would say, “I don’t care how much money you have, don’t do surgery because she’s toward the end of her life span.” And with Annie at 10 right now, the fact that she has a serious heart murmur plus the surgery not being affordable, then if the medicine can’t get her comfortable she thought it was a very sad but understandable decision. She is really in a ton of pain, although she tries to hide it sometimes. When we got home last night, she was so happy and wanted to see Bill and the kids so much that when we pulled in the driveway she started crying this little cry she does when she really wants you and missed you. Once I put her down on the ground, she ran into the house and found Bill then the girls and then after giving everyone kisses and being loved on, she went into the other room and fell back into her painful posture.
The irony is that the raspberry stain turned out to be a bruise from bloodwork that they did but it lead us to all this. It is breaking my heart right now that if this medicine doesn’t work for her that we’ll have to put her down. It’s like we’re putting a price on her life, and it’s killing me. Mr. Darcy doesn't seem to get that, but then he was at work instead of the vet's office and the specialist's office and didn't have to go through the waves of emotion like I did and then he went to play poker once I got home from the pharmacy with Annie's medicine. And now he's on his way to Boca Raton for work and won't be back until late Friday.
For me, Annie is not "just a dog" but a part of our family. Almost like a person. I've never been able to look at animals as "just animals." I don't even like killing ants, unless they're inside the house. Annie deserves love and respect and for us to treat her just like another member of the family. I guess that's why saying no to surgery is so hard for me. The logical side of my brain says that is money we can't spend, but the love side says that if it was one of the human members of the family, I'd do it. Mr. Darcy says he loves Annie and that we should love and respect her but we need to realize she is a dog. He is certainly not as upset about things as I am. Sad yes, but I don't think he can even understand what I went through or why I was so emotionally spent by the end of the day.
So this morning I did my pushups (Day 2 week 2) and went for a 3 mile run. I could have swum instead, but I really felt like I needed to RUN, plus I didn't want to be too far afield from Annie. I wore the same running attire as I had on yesterday. Ladybug told me I "stinked" even before I left for the run. I smelled the shirt and realized it was the scent that Annie gives off when she's scared. And most of the day yesterday, I'm pretty sure she was scared. She fears the vet's office even though she likes Kim. And then going to the specialists office and not being with me for most of that couldn't have been that soothing for her. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a scared scent from me on those clothes too. But I wore them anyway.
I realized as I ran that I wore them because I wanted to run away from yesterday and all that went on (including giving the tylenol with codeine liquid to Annie with a medical syringe in her mouth while she cried because it hurt her to turn her head that way just to get the syringe in the right spot), even though I can't really run away from it.
I did 3/1's like Coach said and I didn't push myself. I resisted running harder when I felt like I wanted to. I just ran as I felt comfortable. I had a little nerve pain here and there, but it wasn't anything I couldn't work through and by the 2.25 mile mark it really was negligble. It was a good run. I felt like I could have gone longer, which is always good. And even with doing the 3/1's I finished in 34:24 - just under a 11:30 pace per mile. So it was a good run. I won't do weights today because I have a hair appointment on tap for lunch time plus getting Annie's valium from the pharmacy, and then I have solo parent duty tonight.
But I'm hoping to swim tomorrow... and bike 20 miles on the closed road Saturday morning. The closed road will no longer be closed as of May 10th at 10am. So I've got to use it before then!
I hope all of you had a better day yesterday than I did. Happy Training~
I did not run yesterday. I did not do pushups. Instead, yesterday morning I dressed for my 3 mile run in my lovely Brooks running skirt and my "run happy" shirt, my socks and my running shoes. I had all the intentions of coming home and doing my run before starting work for the day. You'll note I said, "coming home."
The girls left with Mr. Darcy for school, and Annie dog and I set out for the vet's office. The night before I found a terrible bruise on her sternum, one that looks like a giant raspberry stain and was very dark red in the middle. I cried. I thought that with everything else that was going wrong with her that it must be internal bleeding. So that morning when I woke and it still looked just as bad, if not worse to me, I called the vet's office before they opened to let them know that Annie and I would be doing our best to get there when the office opened.
About 5 minutes after I left the house, I got a call on the cell. The veternarians would not be in until 9 am but that I could have the 1st appointment of the day with Dr. Hobbs, who happens to be a friend of mine. I snatched it up because not only is Kim a friend but she's a really good vet and I trust that she will tell me the truth without too much sugar coating. So Annie got to go to get a cup of coffee with me, and then we went to the post office and used their fancy computerized system in the lobby to mail my Mom's mother's day present. Then we took "the long way" to the vet's office and walked around to let Annie do her business, and then in we went.
Little did I know that I would not be getting home until about 7 pm last night. We had x-rays and blood work and conversations about how Annie has been acting and feeling and what the x-rays and test results were. We had to wait for some of it, and then it sort of became clear that there were a few things that could be going on, but it was hard to know what was causing the problem.
So around noon we headed to the veterinary specialists office. When we did, Annie was acting like a spry little thing but something in the back of my head said that she was faking being spry just for me. I waited a bit while they did vitals, etc. on Annie who they kept in the back. It turned out that when they took her in the back, she stopped acting for me and she was in a lot of pain.
After 2 conversations with the specialists (one of whom even talked to Mr. Darcy on the phone because things were rather costly and my head was spinning from everything), we decided to go with the anti-coagulant test to make sure she wasn't having internal bleeding issues, an abdominal ultrasound to make sure that there was no tumor in the abdominal cavity and to make sure that the UTI she had wasn't actually a kidney infection, and a consult with the neurology department. That was the short list out of the big list of all the tests that they would have liked to do. The others were things that they would have liked but that wouldn't necessarily tell us exactly what was wrong. The short list was what would tell us the problem and give us where to go from there. The full list was $1375, and the short list was $875.
Then they told me to leave and be back by 5 pm. It was 2:30 and I didn't even know what time it was, where I was in relation to the house, and my emotional state was pretty much wrecked. Not knowing what else to do with myself, I drove home thanks to the GPS. On the ride home, my cellphone battery died mid conversation and the GPS froze up. But I was at least on a road that I knew would cut back down from Maitland (where the specialists are) to Orlando. The GPS finally listened to me to turn off and then I turned it back on, and it worked fine.
I got home and answered a couple of work emails, changed out of my running clothes into regular clothes and then headed back to get Annie. The rain poured down as I drove and it made me 15 minutes late because of traffic and rain. But that worked out because they had only just finished up with her a few moments before I walked in the door.
Her abdominal ultrasound was fine. Nothing to worry about there. Her anti-coagulant study turned out fine as did her blood platelets. But the neuro consult. The neurologist determined that he was 95% certain that Annie has one, if not several, herniated discs in her neck that are most likely from degenerative disc disease in that area of her spine. The strong recommendation was that we have an appointment with the neurologist and that we do an MRI of her neck and surgery to scrape out the gunk that's in there to provide her with a very good chance of a return to a good quality of life. The price tag? Well, first they'd have to do another ultrasound to make sure her heart murmur was the kind that would let her undergo general anesthesia and survive which would be around $400. Then the MRI and surgery is $4500 to $5500. Not to mention what we've spent so far. Unfortunately, we cannot afford surgery, so we are hoping that the new set of pain medication will help her.
Right now she is taking Tylenol with codeine, valium (well, she will once CVS gets it in – supposedly by 1 pm today), and prednisone. We’re going to give it about 2 weeks and if she’s not out of pain (because she’s in an extreme amount of pain, we will most likely have to put her down. I talked to her vet, my friend Kim, last night. She was really sweet to call us last night to check on Annie. I only got home with her around 7 pm right before she called. She told me that if she’s not out of pain in 2 weeks that we need to “make the next decision” to give her comfort. I talked to her about what putting her down would mean and she said to me that if Annie was 2 and had no heart murmur, she would say “let’s try to find someone to adopt her out to someone who would pay for the surgery.” If she was 15 or 16, she would say, “I don’t care how much money you have, don’t do surgery because she’s toward the end of her life span.” And with Annie at 10 right now, the fact that she has a serious heart murmur plus the surgery not being affordable, then if the medicine can’t get her comfortable she thought it was a very sad but understandable decision. She is really in a ton of pain, although she tries to hide it sometimes. When we got home last night, she was so happy and wanted to see Bill and the kids so much that when we pulled in the driveway she started crying this little cry she does when she really wants you and missed you. Once I put her down on the ground, she ran into the house and found Bill then the girls and then after giving everyone kisses and being loved on, she went into the other room and fell back into her painful posture.
The irony is that the raspberry stain turned out to be a bruise from bloodwork that they did but it lead us to all this. It is breaking my heart right now that if this medicine doesn’t work for her that we’ll have to put her down. It’s like we’re putting a price on her life, and it’s killing me. Mr. Darcy doesn't seem to get that, but then he was at work instead of the vet's office and the specialist's office and didn't have to go through the waves of emotion like I did and then he went to play poker once I got home from the pharmacy with Annie's medicine. And now he's on his way to Boca Raton for work and won't be back until late Friday.
For me, Annie is not "just a dog" but a part of our family. Almost like a person. I've never been able to look at animals as "just animals." I don't even like killing ants, unless they're inside the house. Annie deserves love and respect and for us to treat her just like another member of the family. I guess that's why saying no to surgery is so hard for me. The logical side of my brain says that is money we can't spend, but the love side says that if it was one of the human members of the family, I'd do it. Mr. Darcy says he loves Annie and that we should love and respect her but we need to realize she is a dog. He is certainly not as upset about things as I am. Sad yes, but I don't think he can even understand what I went through or why I was so emotionally spent by the end of the day.
So this morning I did my pushups (Day 2 week 2) and went for a 3 mile run. I could have swum instead, but I really felt like I needed to RUN, plus I didn't want to be too far afield from Annie. I wore the same running attire as I had on yesterday. Ladybug told me I "stinked" even before I left for the run. I smelled the shirt and realized it was the scent that Annie gives off when she's scared. And most of the day yesterday, I'm pretty sure she was scared. She fears the vet's office even though she likes Kim. And then going to the specialists office and not being with me for most of that couldn't have been that soothing for her. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a scared scent from me on those clothes too. But I wore them anyway.
I realized as I ran that I wore them because I wanted to run away from yesterday and all that went on (including giving the tylenol with codeine liquid to Annie with a medical syringe in her mouth while she cried because it hurt her to turn her head that way just to get the syringe in the right spot), even though I can't really run away from it.
I did 3/1's like Coach said and I didn't push myself. I resisted running harder when I felt like I wanted to. I just ran as I felt comfortable. I had a little nerve pain here and there, but it wasn't anything I couldn't work through and by the 2.25 mile mark it really was negligble. It was a good run. I felt like I could have gone longer, which is always good. And even with doing the 3/1's I finished in 34:24 - just under a 11:30 pace per mile. So it was a good run. I won't do weights today because I have a hair appointment on tap for lunch time plus getting Annie's valium from the pharmacy, and then I have solo parent duty tonight.
But I'm hoping to swim tomorrow... and bike 20 miles on the closed road Saturday morning. The closed road will no longer be closed as of May 10th at 10am. So I've got to use it before then!
I hope all of you had a better day yesterday than I did. Happy Training~
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
A Bright New Day
It is Tuesday and I'm done feeling sorry for myself. So I have some issues with my thyroid/metabolism/ whatever. I decided that this morning I would get up and start the day anew. I ordered a couple of books on the Paleo Diet (The Paleo Diet and The Paleo Diet for Athletes) from Barnes and Noble this morning and plan to head over to the actual store (they didn't have those books in stock) to see about The Zone Diet as well.
As I said to my friend yesterday, I almost feel like giving up and eating whatever I want and just not caring. Except that I can't. I'm not wired that way. Perhaps it's because I saw my Mom struggle in exactly the same way and frighteningly was at one point the same weight I am now, but she's almost 2 inches shorter. I saw how much she hated how she looked and was constantly worried about how she looked and I'm pretty sure that she, like me, never liked what she saw in the mirror. She also would comment how after having me, her body was never the same. Sound familiar?
I have a feeling I learned a lot of my behaviors and attitudes regarding my body image from watching my Mom. Even when I was 118 back in high school and early college before the PCOS kicked in, I thought myself fat and could tell you that my arms were flabby and my stomach was not as flat as it should be. I ran cross-country (although we know how loosely "ran" was), although I did run mile after mile (with some walking thrown in) at practices and I never liked what I looked like.
And truly, I abhor how I look now. But today I endeavor to start to like how I look. I am going to do my best to say something nice about my body every day. I may even make myself write it down. I may have to work my way up, but for today I can say that I think I have pretty eyes. I like the way they are shaped and their blue color, and the way that if I wear blue they look bluer and if I wear green they take on a greenish hue even though I have blue eyes, not blue-green hazel. (Don't worry. I won't do my daily affirmations on the blog.)
The nice bit was that when I told Mr. Darcy that I gained weight, he told me that he had thought I had actually lost weight. I am chosing to believe him and not let myself think that he was just being nice. I have a tendency to not believe compliments. I always say thank you, but somehow never believe that person actually means it. It really is rather strange because why would people say things "just to be nice." It's much easier not to say anything at all.
So today, I am going to just do my best. I have this fear that doing my best is not going to be good enough. But perhaps that's why I like triathlon and strange little challenges in life because they show me that my best is not going to be "good enough" to win, but yet I survive and am happy all the same. I am starting to realize that I've always worried about letting everyone else down in some way or another no matter how hard I try. And yet I try and am always worrying.
Maybe it's because I'm turning 35 this year, but I'm realizing that I've been living an awful lot for other people. Not to get fat for Mr. Darcy. Not to spend too much time away for the kids. Not to drop out of law school for my parents. Etc. etc. I'm not saying that all of these are necessarily bad for me either. But I need to do things for me. As my friend Sheryl told me today, "You need to just accept and be the state of the art you and tell everyone else to kiss your @ss." Meaning, just do your best for yourself, accept that you are who you are and you need to be happy with who you are, and if other people aren't, then too bad.
And that is what I am going to do. I will read the books about the zone diet and the paleo diet, do what I think is the best (because I'm already not so sure that getting rid of all dairy is really the way to go, although I am concerned that low fat shredded cheese has potato starch in it for thickening), do my best to eat healthy and exercise, and that is the best me I can be.
So this morning, after sending the liliputians to school with Mr. Darcy (while Ladybug was putting up a fight about everything - she's pushing envelopes this week and we're having to make sure those envelopes get returned to sender so she's following our instructions instead of the other way around), I got up and rode the trainer for a full hour while watching part of "Julie and Julia." It was really quite good, and made the hour go by pretty easily. Then I had a cheribundi plus protein - it's cherry juice with whey protein in it - (I'll be reviewing Cheribundi on Thursday so stay tuned!), an egg with about 1/4 c. of low fat shredded cheese, and an orange for breakfast.
I re-read part of the Tri-Power book and realized that I mis-read something before, so I'm going to do the TriPower assessment today during my lunch break instead of the yoga. Then I'm going to start the TriPower program tomorrow, which means the stretching and yoga can be MWF (hopefully at the YMCA) after all and the core and weight stuff can be TR during lunch. I'm not 100% sure if I should start with the Maintenance Phase since I'm already in my season, or whether I should go ahead and do the stages in order and then attempt to do them lined up with my season next year. But I'm sure I'll muddle through.
So by having my eating in line and my workouts going, I'm doing my best ... and my best is going to be good enough because it's all I've got. No more feeling sorry for myself, here's to a new day!
As I said to my friend yesterday, I almost feel like giving up and eating whatever I want and just not caring. Except that I can't. I'm not wired that way. Perhaps it's because I saw my Mom struggle in exactly the same way and frighteningly was at one point the same weight I am now, but she's almost 2 inches shorter. I saw how much she hated how she looked and was constantly worried about how she looked and I'm pretty sure that she, like me, never liked what she saw in the mirror. She also would comment how after having me, her body was never the same. Sound familiar?
I have a feeling I learned a lot of my behaviors and attitudes regarding my body image from watching my Mom. Even when I was 118 back in high school and early college before the PCOS kicked in, I thought myself fat and could tell you that my arms were flabby and my stomach was not as flat as it should be. I ran cross-country (although we know how loosely "ran" was), although I did run mile after mile (with some walking thrown in) at practices and I never liked what I looked like.
And truly, I abhor how I look now. But today I endeavor to start to like how I look. I am going to do my best to say something nice about my body every day. I may even make myself write it down. I may have to work my way up, but for today I can say that I think I have pretty eyes. I like the way they are shaped and their blue color, and the way that if I wear blue they look bluer and if I wear green they take on a greenish hue even though I have blue eyes, not blue-green hazel. (Don't worry. I won't do my daily affirmations on the blog.)
The nice bit was that when I told Mr. Darcy that I gained weight, he told me that he had thought I had actually lost weight. I am chosing to believe him and not let myself think that he was just being nice. I have a tendency to not believe compliments. I always say thank you, but somehow never believe that person actually means it. It really is rather strange because why would people say things "just to be nice." It's much easier not to say anything at all.
So today, I am going to just do my best. I have this fear that doing my best is not going to be good enough. But perhaps that's why I like triathlon and strange little challenges in life because they show me that my best is not going to be "good enough" to win, but yet I survive and am happy all the same. I am starting to realize that I've always worried about letting everyone else down in some way or another no matter how hard I try. And yet I try and am always worrying.
Maybe it's because I'm turning 35 this year, but I'm realizing that I've been living an awful lot for other people. Not to get fat for Mr. Darcy. Not to spend too much time away for the kids. Not to drop out of law school for my parents. Etc. etc. I'm not saying that all of these are necessarily bad for me either. But I need to do things for me. As my friend Sheryl told me today, "You need to just accept and be the state of the art you and tell everyone else to kiss your @ss." Meaning, just do your best for yourself, accept that you are who you are and you need to be happy with who you are, and if other people aren't, then too bad.
And that is what I am going to do. I will read the books about the zone diet and the paleo diet, do what I think is the best (because I'm already not so sure that getting rid of all dairy is really the way to go, although I am concerned that low fat shredded cheese has potato starch in it for thickening), do my best to eat healthy and exercise, and that is the best me I can be.
So this morning, after sending the liliputians to school with Mr. Darcy (while Ladybug was putting up a fight about everything - she's pushing envelopes this week and we're having to make sure those envelopes get returned to sender so she's following our instructions instead of the other way around), I got up and rode the trainer for a full hour while watching part of "Julie and Julia." It was really quite good, and made the hour go by pretty easily. Then I had a cheribundi plus protein - it's cherry juice with whey protein in it - (I'll be reviewing Cheribundi on Thursday so stay tuned!), an egg with about 1/4 c. of low fat shredded cheese, and an orange for breakfast.
I re-read part of the Tri-Power book and realized that I mis-read something before, so I'm going to do the TriPower assessment today during my lunch break instead of the yoga. Then I'm going to start the TriPower program tomorrow, which means the stretching and yoga can be MWF (hopefully at the YMCA) after all and the core and weight stuff can be TR during lunch. I'm not 100% sure if I should start with the Maintenance Phase since I'm already in my season, or whether I should go ahead and do the stages in order and then attempt to do them lined up with my season next year. But I'm sure I'll muddle through.
So by having my eating in line and my workouts going, I'm doing my best ... and my best is going to be good enough because it's all I've got. No more feeling sorry for myself, here's to a new day!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Today is another new start to an old problem
I went to the endocrinologist today. I was hoping the scale would show I maybe lost a pound or 2, although I should have known it had not. In being honest with myself, the past few weeks have not been the greatest of my eating habits. We've been busy so we've eaten out a lot. A. Lot. As we know, eating out is not good for fat content, sodium content, and because even a salad can be a tricky devil with calories galore. Not to mention that we've been eating sweets too. I don't generally eat them, but the past few weeks we've eaten much more than we normally do. I gained 4 pounds in 6 weeks. So, instead of going by the deli on the way home, I came straight home and had my whole grain bread and deli meat, v-8 (I wasn't feeling a salad), an orange, a glass of milk, and 8 pieces of dark chocolate (that would be 2 oz, instead of 1 but . I'm now out of the dark chocolate and will not be replacing it.
The good news is my thyroid is in a much happier place as is my B12, so I stick to what I am doing. The endocrinologist is going to see me in 3 months and will have me see the dietician in her office who runs marathons. I could have seen her today but would have had to take 1/2 a day off from work to do it, instead of using my lunch hour. So, it will be next time.
I literally am miserable about my weight and talked to the endocrinologist about it. She told me that I may have a "slow metabolism" and that some people who have more than one endocrinology problem like I do end up with an unexplained "slow metabolism." Thus, the chat with the dietician. The doctor's idea was to possibly put me on a 1100 calorie diet that I then added calories expended during workouts on top of that since the other dietician said I was doing what she would suggest for me. But, she wanted me to talk to the dietician in her office before doing anything like that. The doctor said that I should focus on eating healthy, continuing to exercise like I do, and try not to worry about the weight. Of course, the doctor is also about a size 2, so it's easier for her to say when it's not her body.
I am going to keep a record of my eating every day for the next 3 months, to the best of my ability. I'm always honest so that's at least one good thing. And then, the poor dietician will not know what hit her because I'll be bringing her printouts of what I'm eating for those 3 months.
I'm thinking that after reading Racing Weight, and the fact that eating 50% carb in my diet and 25% fat doesn't seem to be doing it for me, that I'm going to try to eat my largest meal in the mornings and lower my carb intake as the day goes on so I end up with 50% carb primarily in the morning since that's when I do my training, 30% protein, and 20% fat. I'm tempted to go 40% carb, 40% protein, 20% fat or try the "zone diet" plan of 40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat. All good fats of course. I'm just worried that won't give me enough energy source for my training and too much fat if I do the zone method. Of course, I seem to have an ample supply of fat to burn and I just have to train my body to burn it.
So, I am hoping to add in the Tri Power strength and core exercises during lunch break 3 days a week and Yoga the other two. Of course, I really liked the yoga class at the Y on Friday but that's 3 days a week MWF, so I may stick to my Yoga with the Namaste series that I'm taping off Fit TV, which is pretty good. That way I can do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Plus, I'm still doing the push up challenge and trying to get Mr. Darcy to do it too. I did Day 1 of week 2 this morning and 30 minutes of yoga because I didn't have much time because of having to go to the doctor. I plan to do some cycling tomorrow, I hope.
Oh and in some good news, I had to run after Ladybug who was riding her trike like a mad thing and refusing to stop this weekend. I ran after her in sandals, down hill and had no pain. Granted it was at most 3 minutes, but still. No pain. And I had done a 30 minute walk without pain and my pushups. Yes in deed.
On the Annie front, she's not all that much better. We took her back to the vet on Saturday because she seemed worse. They did x-rays and found the poor thing was seriously constipated. So we added laxatives to the mix, and the poor thing (I'm pretty sure) is still constipated despite pooping some large piles (well for a 12 pound dog anyway) this weekend. The doctor assures us that by the end of this week she should be better. Let's hope.
And that is all I have for today. I have errands with the girls after work today. I'm hoping to get to the post office with my Mom's Mother's Day present before they close. Maybe I'll go straight there after work and get the girls on the way home... I'll figure it out.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to get a 20 miler in on the closed road and Yoga at lunch time. We'll see how it goes!
Oh and a PS to whoever broke into Mr. Darcy's car to make a bigger mess than was already in there and steal his 1st generation iPOD. 1. Thank you very much for not causing damage to the car. It was the only reason why I think Mr. Darcy didn't completely melt down about the car being rummaged through like that. 2. You must really be hard up if you wanted that giant 1st generation iPOD that I'm pretty sure you can't sell on ebay for more than $40. For that reason, I am glad we no longer have it. 3. You can darn well be sure that our house alarm is armed every night and each day. It was before and now we triple check it.
The good news is my thyroid is in a much happier place as is my B12, so I stick to what I am doing. The endocrinologist is going to see me in 3 months and will have me see the dietician in her office who runs marathons. I could have seen her today but would have had to take 1/2 a day off from work to do it, instead of using my lunch hour. So, it will be next time.
I literally am miserable about my weight and talked to the endocrinologist about it. She told me that I may have a "slow metabolism" and that some people who have more than one endocrinology problem like I do end up with an unexplained "slow metabolism." Thus, the chat with the dietician. The doctor's idea was to possibly put me on a 1100 calorie diet that I then added calories expended during workouts on top of that since the other dietician said I was doing what she would suggest for me. But, she wanted me to talk to the dietician in her office before doing anything like that. The doctor said that I should focus on eating healthy, continuing to exercise like I do, and try not to worry about the weight. Of course, the doctor is also about a size 2, so it's easier for her to say when it's not her body.
I am going to keep a record of my eating every day for the next 3 months, to the best of my ability. I'm always honest so that's at least one good thing. And then, the poor dietician will not know what hit her because I'll be bringing her printouts of what I'm eating for those 3 months.
I'm thinking that after reading Racing Weight, and the fact that eating 50% carb in my diet and 25% fat doesn't seem to be doing it for me, that I'm going to try to eat my largest meal in the mornings and lower my carb intake as the day goes on so I end up with 50% carb primarily in the morning since that's when I do my training, 30% protein, and 20% fat. I'm tempted to go 40% carb, 40% protein, 20% fat or try the "zone diet" plan of 40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat. All good fats of course. I'm just worried that won't give me enough energy source for my training and too much fat if I do the zone method. Of course, I seem to have an ample supply of fat to burn and I just have to train my body to burn it.
So, I am hoping to add in the Tri Power strength and core exercises during lunch break 3 days a week and Yoga the other two. Of course, I really liked the yoga class at the Y on Friday but that's 3 days a week MWF, so I may stick to my Yoga with the Namaste series that I'm taping off Fit TV, which is pretty good. That way I can do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Plus, I'm still doing the push up challenge and trying to get Mr. Darcy to do it too. I did Day 1 of week 2 this morning and 30 minutes of yoga because I didn't have much time because of having to go to the doctor. I plan to do some cycling tomorrow, I hope.
Oh and in some good news, I had to run after Ladybug who was riding her trike like a mad thing and refusing to stop this weekend. I ran after her in sandals, down hill and had no pain. Granted it was at most 3 minutes, but still. No pain. And I had done a 30 minute walk without pain and my pushups. Yes in deed.
On the Annie front, she's not all that much better. We took her back to the vet on Saturday because she seemed worse. They did x-rays and found the poor thing was seriously constipated. So we added laxatives to the mix, and the poor thing (I'm pretty sure) is still constipated despite pooping some large piles (well for a 12 pound dog anyway) this weekend. The doctor assures us that by the end of this week she should be better. Let's hope.
And that is all I have for today. I have errands with the girls after work today. I'm hoping to get to the post office with my Mom's Mother's Day present before they close. Maybe I'll go straight there after work and get the girls on the way home... I'll figure it out.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to get a 20 miler in on the closed road and Yoga at lunch time. We'll see how it goes!
Oh and a PS to whoever broke into Mr. Darcy's car to make a bigger mess than was already in there and steal his 1st generation iPOD. 1. Thank you very much for not causing damage to the car. It was the only reason why I think Mr. Darcy didn't completely melt down about the car being rummaged through like that. 2. You must really be hard up if you wanted that giant 1st generation iPOD that I'm pretty sure you can't sell on ebay for more than $40. For that reason, I am glad we no longer have it. 3. You can darn well be sure that our house alarm is armed every night and each day. It was before and now we triple check it.
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