Planning is Crucial

I've hit on a fairly simple eating plan that is working well for me right now.  It's leans towards Paleo in that I'm trying very hard not to eat sugar or grains most of the time because I know that works when I want to lose weight, but I do eat dairy - mainly greek yogurt, coffee cream, and a little cheese. Knowing what to eat and getting the exercise in is one thing - but trying to stick with it is another when you get busy with work and family.  I've found that if I identify the potential problems I may have along the way, I can be proactive and plan ahead, increasing my chances of success

Things I find hard

Coffee without sugar - this is probably the toughest part for me - I love my coffee with cream and sugar. However Erik started making me a cappuccino every morning, instead of brewed coffee, and that has really helped.  I have a 2 shot cappuccino with 1-1/2 oz of cream, no sugar.  The espresso and foamed cream make the coffee much more palatable.

Next I had to find a way to deal with no second cup of coffee to sip on at work so I've managed to switch to plain tea.  I find it much easier to drink tea without cream and sugar so that's been working for me.

Diet Pop - Normally, I drink 5-6 cans of diet tonic water a week (I know that's weird but I like tonic water) but I really didn't want to be drinking diet pop any more so I have switched to plain soda water, on the rocks, often with a squeeze of lime. Once in awhile, I will have 1/4 orange juice and 3/4 soda water.  This seems to quench my craving for something fizzy.

Dessert aka something sweet after dinner - evening is the hardest time for me to not snack or eat sweets.  I allow myself 4 little squares of 72% dark chocolate most days. It's 100 calories with 9 grams of carbs and under 5 grams of sugar. This is probably the only sugar I eat each day so I figure that's ok.

My other other comfort food is some amazing paleo banana muffins that I adapted from a recipe that Jake and Lybbe posted on Facebook.  They have no flour and no sugar but taste just like regular banana nut bread. One muffin is a whopping 190 calories though so one a day is plenty. Still, it's a real treat to eat one after lunch. 

Making poor food choices when I'm tried or hungry - once a week, I wash and cut all the fruit and veggies I will need for the week and I make a pot of soup for my lunches. The more food prep I do ahead of time, the less likely I am to make a bad decision.  I also find it helpful to plan dinner meals ahead and make sure I have all the ingredients I will need.


Here's my regular menu for a typical work day.

Breakfast - double espresso with cream. That's it. I don't like eating breakfast. I've tried for years and don't like it. I drink regular plain tea during the morning until my lunch break which is at 11am.

Lunch - a large container of raw veggies (carrots, red peppers, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, celery), 1-1/2 cups of homemade pumpkin soup (tasty but only 100 cals), and a paleo banana muffin (both recipes will be posted on my food blog later this week.)

After school - 3/4 cup plain greek yogurt and 1 cup thawed berries

Dinner - Some kind of meat (beef, chicken, pork), a large salad, 1-2 veggie. I tend to eat whatever the family eats but I avoid heavy sauces, and I skip the potatoes/rice/pasta. I use a simple homemade oil and vinegar dressing.

Evening Snack - 100 calories of dark chocolate most days (4 squares) and if I'm hungry sometimes I'll have an apple, a muffin, 1/4 cup mixed nuts, a slice of cheese, or plain popcorn.

On Friday nights, I have steak, salad, veggies, 2 glasses of wine, and sometimes a few slices of baguette with oil/vinegar.  I don't worry too much about the calorie count, as this is my cheat meal for the week. 

I keep track of my food on http://www.myfitnesspal.com and I find that really helps.

So - if you are trying to get your eating back on track, figure out what YOUR stumbling blocks might be and plan for them!  It can make a big difference.

Regrouping

Somehow this year I feel like I'm back at the starting gate. I wouldn't go so far to say last year was a complete waste, but it definitely wasn't a banner year for me in terms of training. And as the year went on, it seemed to be a downward spiral of illness coupled with lack of training.

I have always prided myself in rarely getting sick, despite my constant contact with runny noses at school, and most years, I get one or two mild colds that only last a few days. In part, I chalked that up to a strong immune system due to being fit and healthy. But in 2013, I seemed to get one cold after another, each one bad enough to interfere with my running.  When my training suffered, I became less fit, and subsequently my immune system weakened, making me more likely to catch the next bug that comes along. So what came first? The lack of fitness or the illness?  I don't know, but it's a vicious cycle, one that I need to break. Now.

I am trying hard to get back on track this year.  I'm trying to build up slowly because I've learned over the years that bumping up my miles too quickly only causes trouble and injury.  So I will start slowly and try hard not to get injured.

I also have a plan for illness. I catch another cold before I can get fit and rebuild my immune system, my plan is to continue to exercise in a gentle way, rather than stop completely. I will walk instead of run and I will do yoga instead of lift weights at the gym. That makes sense to me.

This past week, January 6, was my New Year.  I started back to work on Monday and all week I ate healthy (essentially no sugar or grains, and maximum 1400-1500 calories per day), and I did some form of exercise almost every day. Now, before you suggest I need to eat more calories, or that I should/should not be eating grain products or meat or ?? , please remember that as Chris Russell says, we are all an experiment of one. I have tried all of the diets and this is what I know what works for me.

My running is slowly coming along. I'm doing a run/walk right now - usually 4 min run, 1 min walk - and it is allowing me to get back to three runs a week fairly quickly. However, as usual, the tendon over my right ankle is always the first niggle to flare up so I have been careful to ease back whenever it starts to hurt.  Despite lots of physio work and advice, it continues to be an issue and I've just learn to live with it and manage it. I've run 3 times a week for 2 weeks now, but on Friday, I went out for a short easy run and after 2km it was hurting enough that I decided to cut my losses and stop the run so that it would be rested enough for a more important run this weekend.  I am on my way out right now and am hoping that it doesn't bother me during what I hope is my "long" run of 8km.  We shall see.

So that's where I am right now.  Back on track with healthy eating (and with 15 lbs to lose, I am very motivated) and back on track with regular gentle exercise. It'll happen.

Training in last 2 1/2 weeks

Dec. 27 - weights, 3km walk in 30 min on treadmill
Dec. 28 - 5.5 km walk 1 hour (outside)
Dec. 29 - 5.2 km run in 36 min (long run)

Dec. 30 - weights
Dec. 31 - 1 hour snowshoeing, 4km
Jan. 1 - core work
Jan. 2 - 5 km run in 36 min
Jan. 3 - weights
Jan. 4 - off
Jan. 5 - 6.4 km run in 45 min (long run)

Jan. 6 - weights
Jan. 7 - off
Jan. 8 - 5 km run in 39 min
Jan. 9 - weights
Jan. 10 - 16 min run (sore ankle)
Jan. 11 - off
Jan. 12 - 8.4 km run in 1:03 (long run)

Transitions

I know that six months ago, I said I was going to revitalize my blog but that didn't happen. My life has been in flux for the past year marked by indecision and inconsistency in my training, but also marked by enthusiasm associated with new interests and new ideas.  As I begin 2014, and my seventh year of blogging, I realize that I am going through another transition in my life and I want this blog to reflect the varied aspects of my life.

I decided to start fresh with a new banner - a picture of me writing in my travel diary by the window of our chambre d'hote in L'Isle sur la Sorgue, southern France this past summer - a new title, a simplified, cleaner look, and a new direction.  Of course, I'll always use my blog as a training journal, but from time to time, I also want to include other interests such as travel, retirement, genealogy, education, gardening, simple living, and more.

So if these topics interest you, please continue to read and post your comments, ideas, and feedback as I switch gears and prepare for the next phase of my life.

Kelownagurl is Off and Running in all Directions.

January 2, 2014

A new year, a new direction.  Stay tuned for a new blog post!

Snowshoeing on New Year's Eve

July 2, 2013

Happy Canada Day!

I have decided to revitalize my blog this month. It fell off the wagon this year when I fell off the wagon this year. I had nothing inspirational to write, so I didn't. Here's a brief catch up on what I've been doing - like I said, it's not inspirational, but it's true.

Exercise

I was really motivated to train in January but I got quite sick for 3 weeks and then had some back issues that totally derailed me.  Once I recovered, I had a hard time getting my mojo back. I kept on running 2 times a week, but stopped riding the trainer and didn't swim at all.

On Feb 12, I did a fun indoor triathlon in Pentiction - swim laps for 15 minutes, ride the trainer for 30 minutes, run laps including stairs for 20 minutes. Furthest distance wins.  I didn't win anything in my age group but I had a lot of fun!

After March break, the weather was awful - it has been a super wet spring and I was slammed at work.  I came home tired and unmotivated, and could only force myself to run a couple times a week. I tried to keep up my long run to 10km but that was it.

On April 21, Erik, my daughter, and I did the Vancouver Sun Run 10km.  It was a blast. I was slow and took a few walk breaks but I had fun and I enjoyed doing a race with Carly.

From April to now, I've only run once a week. Work got busier and in trying to be a good teacher, I began to be a bad athlete.  I continued to sleep poorly (menopause) and got home from work late, and exhausted. Without a race to motivate me, I couldn't muster up any mojo to train. To be honest, I'm not even sure a race would have motivated me.

My focus has been on planning my trip to Europe (we leave tomorrow) and my hope is that I will get back my mojo and start training again when I get back in 3 weeks.  I want to do a half marathon in the fall.

So that's it - uninspired, full of excuses, not much to write home about.

Eating

I did the paleo thing for quite awhile and liked it but I could never totally give up dairy (plain yogurt and cheese), and I missed eating legumes.

After a lot of reading and testing, I decided that the most important thing is to make healthy choices and eat fresh foods, the less processed the better.  Some research shows that low fat diets work, some show vegetarian diets work, some show high fat low carb diets work.  The thing they all seemed to have in common was lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. Ultimately, I have decided to do just that - eat fruit, veggies, lean meats, legumes/whole grains on occasion, healthy fats, nuts and seeds. I still try to lean towards very little process carbs and only eat bread once a week.

At least that is what I want to do in theory. In reality, with the lack of exercise, I have struggled with my weight and that in turn has caused me to struggle with healthy eating choices. I am now up 5 pounds of my ideal comfortable weight (10 lbs over race weight), and I can really feel it. I feel weak, out of shape, uncomfortable, and down right fat. Ugh.

Although I'll be doing lots of walking (no cycling this time) over the next three weeks, a trip to Europe is not likely going to help me in the weight department, so I have to hit it hard again when I get back. I guess July 25 will be my "New Year's Day" this year.  I feel like if I have a date and a goal in mind, I can focus on the prize.  That being said, I will try to make relatively healthy choices while I'm away and it's true I am much less likely to snack when I am travelling so that will help.

Work

So my focus this year has been on work and I feel really good about all that I have accomplished.  I was being evaluated this year and I decided I wanted to completely change my whole Math program which took a ton of time and planning but I'm really happy with the result.  I also had a student teacher from January - March which took a lot of my time and energy. In addition, I piloted a class set of ipads in my room March-June and had a blast with the kids learning how effective ways to use them. I am now designing inservice for the teachers at my school to train them all in the use for elementary schools. This program has taken a TON of my time but I loved every minute.

I've found that although I have a lot of energy and excitement for all aspects of my life, I can only focus it on one or two pursuits at a time. Apparently, this year it has been school.  When I'm training, I have to let school go on auto-pilot as I leave as early as possible to get my workout in before dinner. That has been impossible this year but I'm not sorry.

So that's it - the first half of 2013 in a nutshell.

I am hoping to do a regular update of my blog over the next 3 weeks while Erik and I travel in Europe. It will have nothing to do with fitness so some people won't be interested in following it. I usually keep a written diary of my trips and thought the blog might be a fun way to do that this time since I'll have my ipad with me. We'll see.

Here's our Intinerary:

July 3 - Leave Kelowna via Vancouver
July 4 - Paris, France
July 5 - Munich, Germany
July 6-9 - Salzburg, Austria
July 9-11 - Vienna, Austria
July 12 - Venice and Pisa, Italy
July 13-15 - Riomaggiore (Cinque Terre) Italy
July 15-20 - L'isle sur la Sorgue, France
July 20-22 - Paris (and finale of the tour de France!)
July 22 - Vancouver
July 23 - Home

Au revoir, auf wiedersehen, arrivederci!!

Here I am tweeting from Apt, France in 2009. :)