Upon reflection, cleaning up the 21 day diet of processed and mostly-industrialized foods didn’t gain me much (I ended the challenge with a 3 day binge). My hormones kicked in during the last week and my skin began its dreaded breakout cycle. Avoiding added sugars only lessened the severity to one or two patches, but it’s annoying nevertheless.
What was beneficial was again the eye opening revelation about some of the junk that goes into store-bought food. Preservatives, industrialized seed oils, high fructose corn syrups, and gluten ingredients are in there to cheapen the quality of the final product and negate any nutritional benefits that food might have. In cases where individuals are particularly sensitive, these fake ingredients can be harmful. My man, who washed out in one week, was enjoying some normal blood sugar readings. When you’re diabetic, maintaining glucose levels are absolutely important.
Jan 31 marked the end of my 5 assisted pullups daily. I’ve been doing 1 set every morning to gauge my upper/core strength. While I switched to a new set of bands for the latter half of the month, I realize I still have a long way to go. And dropping some poundage will hopefully aid in that endeavor.
Feb 1 to Feb 15 challenge goals:
- Stick to a calorie plan: 1221 kcal non-lift, 1526 kcal lift. with 1 free-feed day a week, and Feb 14 free day
- 100 pushups daily
- 2×5 assisted pullups daily
7 down, 14 to go
I successfully achieved 7 days good, healthy eating this past Thursday. My man celebrated his 7th on Friday, due to a error reading labels early on.
Takeaways from the first 7 days:
1) Little to no rosacea. Any redness on my cheeks have pretty much disappeared. (But some breakouts are still occurring, which I’m attributing to hormonal changes.)
2) Dropped the 5 extra lbs of holiday weight that I gained in December. I’m back to my pre-holiday weight, holding at the 145# mark.
3) Hewing close to my calorie cap. Yes, it’s only a number but it’s getting me where I need to go. I’m working on my macro goals and starting to plan and log my meals ahead of time.
4) Spent more time shopping at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods and discovered a wealth of cool snacks and foods. Grass fed and pastured products at TJ’s? Heck yeah!
5) Spent more time reading nutrition labels and researching different additives and ingredients. Definitely learned to stay away from industrial and seed oils, sugars and many of its various forms, embraced more raw foods, and got more selective our current “artificial” sweetener, i.e. stevia.
6) While nearly most of December was spent dining out, the first 7 days was conspicuously marked by eating in. Cooked lots of food, ate lots of fruits and vegetables.
7) Job stress and life stress are major contributors to cravings. When those cravings aren’t satisfied; people get cranky. Trying to get my mate to recognize that when the “meenies” hit, recognize it and do something about it (create new coping mechanisms). For me, I’ve been diverting my energy to exercise and shopping!
8) More sleep!
9) Getting a chance to catch up on my book reading.
10) Took the StrongLifts Android app for a whirl. So far so good–but what’s with all the annoying pay-for-addons crap??
11) Added a new goal to my 2015 objectives: lose 15# in 15 weeks (130-135 by mid-April). I think it’s doable!
Hello 2015 and a 21 Day Challenge
My man and I decided to launch the new year with a 21 day Primal challenge/system reboot of sorts. In our dietary choices, we’re ditching sugars and processed grains and consuming whole foods like meats and vegetables.
There’s a lot of Paleo-style clean eating challenges out there, and of course, lots of questions about what’s allowed and not. I’m not a fan of plans that make you neurotic/anxious about what you put in your mouth, and over-think your meal choices, so our “primal” challenge isn’t probably going to adhere to the letter of the stricter challenges. For example, we’re not doing Whole30, because frankly that protocol is beneficial for folks that have yet to determine their sensitivities and immunologies to certain food groups.
I’d like to think I’ve discovered most of the foods/consumables that my body rejects or doesn’t react very well to. Although, I can’t say the same for my man; the major reject on his list will have to be sugars, since he’s diabetic and needs to control his blood sugar.
To summarize, here’s the 21-Day Challenge In 30 Seconds:
- Eat real food.
- Avoid sugar, grains, unhealthy fats, beans/legumes.
- Align your carb intake with your weight goals and activity levels.
- Move frequently at a slow pace: Get between 2-5 hours per week of moderate aerobic exercise.
- Lift heavy things: Conduct 1-3 brief, intense sessions of full-body functional movements.
- Sprint: Go “all out” once a week.
- Get 8 hours of sleep every night.
- Get 15 minutes of direct sun exposure each day.
- Play! Find time to let go, disconnect, unwind and have fun each day.
Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-primal-blueprint-21-day-challenge/#ixzz3NhoAUbrz
There’s only 3 bullet points on the list associated with food; the rest covers an array of lifestyle choices, from exercise to sleep.
Over the next 21 days, I hope to write about the experience and discuss in detail some of the challenges and accomplishments.
PRs as of Nov 2014
- Bench: 55×5
- Deadlifts: 135×5
- Press: 55×5
- Squats: 85×5
What a summer it’s been–and my plate is full
I missed blogging a post for August…a sure sign that I’ve just been wrapped up so much with work and life. I apologize to my MFP buddies for not checking in with them for the past several weeks.
Along with this comes the regret of not holding myself accountable for staying on course with diet and exercise.
Yes, things got really busy at work when coworkers left or got laid off and I had to take on extra responsibility. Yes, I got really stressed out when frightened people afraid of losing their jobs kept begging at my door for somebody to listen to their problems. Yes, I was frustrated by a remote coworker’s attempts to micro-manage me. Yes, there are big changes brewing at my workplace and the tension is driving me batty. Yes, we had to undergo a major audit in which I was a major participant. Yes, I came down with a bug that made me lose my voice, but I still had to attend several sales teleconferences. Yes, my future father-in-law passed away unexpectedly and I never got to meet him. Yes, we attempted to make funeral arrangements remotely, but family drama kept getting in the way. Yes, my fiance is grieving and I have no way to comfort him or deal with his moods. Yes, I fell off the wagon for nearly two weeks and what a pain it is to get back to good habits… somaybeishouldjustcampmyassinfrontofthetvandeatjunkfoodallday.
I am acutely aware that all of these things were excuses, or precursors to excuses. At different points and times, I made a decision to derail myself because of what happened. I set aside my own requirements and priorities because the situations were reasons I justified for not taking care of myself. And in failing to provide for myself, I undermined my own attempts to be a supportive, understanding and productive person.
I know that when I eat better, sleep more, exercise daily, I am a better version of me than that other me that’s chowing down on junk food resulting in frequent mood swings and an unhappy tummy, gets cranky and inattentive due to lack of sleep, and feels stressed from a lack of exercise.
I realize my experiences in August could have been a lot better had I only stayed loyal to myself. I might have been a better supporter, worker, fiancee, etc. by standing firmly by my convictions instead of compromising at every setback.
I need to remember that in order to face tomorrow’s challenges, I must prepare myself by staying true to the things that keep me strong and flexible.
We all experience seasons when our plates have become too full, but the best way to manage them is not by reaching out and adding more onto that plate. We can neither help ourselves or others when we self-sabotage.
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