Week 4 of Bootcamp and Breaking the Scale

I'm currently at the midway point of my third round of Tabata bootcamp because I love it so much. The workouts are really, REALLY fun and produce serious results at the same time. And with each round I'm challenged a little bit more. Today I did my first pushups with the band around my back. It's taken me 11 months to do them, but I did 'em. I'm determined by the end of this round I will master the hover.

Two weeks ago we did our first of the bi-weekly assessments of my third round of tabata bootcamp where we are weighed and measured, and tested for strength gain. If you've read my previous blogs you know my first assessment after starting my first round of bootcamp was maddening. I saw 1 lb and barely an inch lost after working out for two of the hardest weeks of my life. I was so discouraged I wanted to quit, but I kept going and the results for those assessments on were great. So much so that by the end of the second round of bootcamp (18 weeks total) I had lost 30 lbs and more than 13 inches overall.

Well two weeks ago I stepped on the scale confident I would see more lbs and inches lost after completing a Whole30 and continuing to improve in my exercise and running. But the opposite happened. I had gained 3 lbs and no inches were lost. It was the hardest weigh in to date. And despite the fact that I was running faster, my clothes felt better and I had just completed a Whole30 (which is TOUGH) I was so freaking upset with the number on the scale.

That morning I let the scale define me. I let it get the best of me. I was crushed. I nearly cried that morning. Instead I skull crushed and butt kicked and lunged until I hurt. But my wonderful friend and coach Mitzi sent me this very encouraging message "Don't let the number on the scale own you, it doesn't know that you ran the largest hill in Tally on Saturday and 8 stadiums Sunday. It doesn't know that you ran multiple races of different lengths and PR'd most of them! It doesn't know that you feel better than ever before or that you're stronger than you ever dreamed imaginable! It's just a number!! Love you my friend!!! For the record, I think you're amazing!"  Boy did I need that.

I guess I wasn't the only one who had a bad weigh in day, because the following Monday we broke the scale in bootcamp. Literally crushed it beneath our feet. It felt so good stomping that scale and making it my biatch. I told it who's boss like a champ. And today when we did our weigh ins I'm back down 4 lbs and another inch lost and continue to grow in strength. But more than that, I have real honest goals that have nothing to do with weight or measurements. Now I will be happy for, and will continue to work towards seeing the number on the scale go down as well as inches, but my focus isn't on that anymore. Its on eating cleanly to fuel my workouts. Its getting enough sleep at night. Its working towards moving up in corrals for races because I'm getting faster. It's finishing races with new PR's. It's completing 10 stadiums instead of 8 or running double the ramps at the stadium. And I will finally master the hover.

Breaking the scale broke my dependence on the scale. And for that, and for all that the Badass Army and it's amazing team of coaches and students provide me everyday, I am so grateful.  

Whole30: If I Can Do It, You Can Too

Whole30 - completed.

Here's my weakness - it's much like everyone's weakness. I enjoy food. No, I REALLY enjoy food. When I was younger and before my metabolism took a nose dive off a sharp cliff I used to work out so I could enjoy whatever food and adult beverages I wanted. If I put on a little weight, I just worked out a bit longer or a bit harder. Not the case after about my 30th or 31st birthday. My waistline was growing but I ignored it until it was staring me in the face and I couldn't ignore it any longer.

I signed up for tabata bootcamp thinking I could simply change my body without changing my food habits. When that wasn't working, I tried what "they" say you're supposed to do - eat less to lose weight. That didn't work either. So after being told the same things from my trainer, my doctor and endocrinologist, I got serious and made serious changes to my diet. I started by reading It Starts With Food by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig, the premise of Whole30 eating. I cleaned up my eating habits and cut gluten and dairy out altogether. That alone made a huge difference in my life. I ate clean, eating more protein, veggies and fruit. And I filled my plate full of it! I cut out snacks, and dropped to maybe a glass of wine or cider here and there.      

But I could never wrap my head fully around the Whole30 food plan. It seemed too daunting. So I put it off, and off and off. And when Shannon challenged a few of us to do Whole30 with her, well I knew it was now or never. No more excuses. May 15th we started Whole30 - 30 days of clean eating. No wheat, no dairy, no soy, no legumes, no sugar, no alcohol and especially no cheating. What's left you wonder? Protein, fruit and veggies, and healthy fats. I'm not going to lie - I worried about my variety of foods. I worried about how hard it would be when I traveled. I especially worried about the days when I hate cooking for one and tend to pick up take out. I knew I would miss my coffee with stevia and soy French vanilla creamer in the mornings, Starbucks, and especially sushi.

There were days when I wanted to quit. Like the first 3-5 days where the sugar withdraw headaches were tough, or days 5-8 where I was felt like I was walking around in a sleepy fog. I surely wanted to quit about 20 days in when I had a near epic meltdown in Whole Foods over how many sauces on the shelves had sugar, soy or both and couldn't figure out a single meal to make. And I craved sushi from Day 23 until the end like a pregnant lady craves pickles and ice cream. But in the end, it was so worth it. I slept better, felt better, and I'm sure my body appreciated me more because of it. The food was pretty good too, because let's be real - I'm a pretty darn good cook.

I'll be honest, I got some serious stares from the checkout staff, and questions from people in line about what some of the things on the conveyor were and how do I eat them.

 

But my seared ahi tuna with plantains and asparagus, "spaghetti" and meatballs (spaghetti squash with bison meatballs and a homemade veggie sauce), and this chicken and apple sausage with yucca "fries", plantains and sautéed spinach with figs were a few of my favorite dishes.

So when Day 30 came and my last meal was eaten, I celebrated with a friend and half a glass of red wine, (which surprisingly didn't taste all that great). And Saturday, despite all the warnings to be careful how I reintroduced foods back into my system, I dove head first into the not-Whole30 pool of food with sweet potato pancakes and sugary bacon from Canopy Road Café for brunch, a big cup of coffee with soy French vanilla creamer and stevia when I got home, and later that evening Madison Social's hummus and pita, chicken tenders with honey mustard dressing and a glass and a half of ice cold cider. Needless to say, my stomach hated me Saturday night. The worst part about it? None of it tasted as good as I remembered, or thought I remembered. Not even a bite of this Madison Social chocolate chip cookie in a skillet (please don't tell Matt!).

 

Today I woke up knowing that Whole30 wasn't just 30 days and then back to eating as "usual". Whole30 helped me change my eating habits for the good. It taught me that nourishing my body with good foods helps me to be successful in my bootcamps and in my running. And it also taught me that eating healthy doesn't have to be a lot of work. I don't plan to do another round of Whole30 anytime soon, if ever. But I do plan to eat a modified Whole30 from here on out, like tonight's delicious dinner of wild caught grouper grilled with a spice blend and topped with an apricot chipotle sauce, served over rice, with a side of maduros and brussel sprouts. And I'm sure I'll do some Whole3, Whole7 or Whole14s from time to time - especially for the sugar detox.

Bottom line, I not only survived, I thrived on Whole30 and developed a new outlook on food that will stay with me forever. Thanks Dallas and Melissa Hartwig for your program, thanks Shannon for encouraging me to try it in the first place, and especially thanks to the other Badass Babes who did it with me.

Starting Whole30 and my First 1st place Medal

This week a group of the badass army started Whole30, myself included. If you are looking for a way to clean up your eating and get your body back on track then Whole30 is for you (or so I've heard). Pick up a copy of the book It Starts With Food. For those who are wondering, Whole30 is basically eating right: proteins, fruits and veggies and healthy fats. I'm not going to get into the specifics because, ahem, that's what the book is for, but here's a run down of what isn't allowed: dairy, butter, wheat, white potatoes, rice, legumes, alcohol, and sugar.  Since I was traveling this week for work I started Whole30 in my hotel in St. Petersburg. I checked in with my cooler and totebag full of food and immediately stocked the mini fridge in my hotel room.  

I'm so glad I brought extra food with me because my first breakfast in the hotel included learning that "eggs" aren't really eggs.  I had planned to order eggs, veggies and a bowl of fruit. After interrogating my waitress I learned that I couldn't order eggs over medium, only scrambled. And why only scrambled? Because the hotel only uses egg beaters. And what's in the egg beaters? (she brought me the container from the kitchen) second ingredient was whey (dairy) and third ingredient was skim milk. I learned my lesson and ate both breakfasts in my hotel room. I'm also glad I brought food for lunch because my work companions ordered from Taco Bus and brought in both cake and pie for the training. Yaye for my homemade yummy salad of chicken, egg, green bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, avocado, slivered almonds and homemade oil and vinegar with spices dressing. I'm also so glad I had a Cavegirl Bakes muffin to help fend off the wanting of sugar in the chocolate cake they brought in!

I really thought this was going to be super difficult but now that I've realized I can commit to the meals (well hopefully, it's only day 4) then I can commit to this whole program for 30 days. I was already gluten and dairy free to begin with so what's the big deal if I give up a little more? (ok I'm not going to lie. I already miss my homemade coffee with soy French vanilla creamer and stevia in the raw, and of course, Starbucks and sushi. Plain, English tea isn't really doing my coffee justice. But if it wasn't for Whole30 I'm not sure my grocery shopping would look like this:

Or that I'd be eating as clean as I did with this delicious meal of grilled mahi mahi, plantains, yucca "fries" and green beans with garlic:

After getting home from work travel this week a few of the Badass Babes, Mitzi, Crystal, Erin, Ashley and Robin drove to Blountstown for the BFD (Blountstown Fire Department) Catfish Crawl 5k. Thank you so much Mitzi for recommending this race!

It was a beautiful race morning on a flat out-and-back course on a paved trail. It was made for PR'ing which our entire group did. I crossed the finish in 27:54 with a pace time of 8:58. It earned me a 1st place medal for my age group. I also later found out I was a bunny for the first time for Tonya. I'm used to chasing folks, but have never been chased. I was honored to be her bunny!
  

I was so excited to see that clock time and the medal was just the icing on the cake. Running that race injury free reminds me of how far I've come since running the Donna back in February. This week coming up will be back to a full work and workout mode. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Mitzi has in store for us in HIIT Kamagon on Monday and Allison has for us in TRX Circuit Power on Wednesday. And I'm really excited for Tuesday, the opening day of registration for the Washington, DC Army 10-miler. We'll finish the week with one of my favorite workouts - Bootcamp in Doak Campbell stadium on Saturday. Feel free to join me for a workout or a meal, or both this week!

Run Happy? Yes Please

Many of you know that I was undergoing ARP therapy to deal with an old injury in my hip that turned into a knee issue and sidelined my working out and running for a couple weeks. Dealing with all of this while being in the midst of legislative session and the stress, poor eating choices and consuming of alcohol that comes with session, put me at a serious disadvantage. I'm sure everyone gets to a point where they moan about going out for a run, or whine when the alarm goes off at 4:30 am for a 5:15 am class. But when injury put me on the bench, well I didn't like it. Not one bit.

When I finally was cleared to return to bootcamps and running I was overjoyed. My alarm made me happy. The long nights of work followed by early morning classes made me smile. And when I laced up my shoes and turned on my tunes, well I just embraced the mantra "Run Happy."

Two Sundays ago I ran 8.5 of the happiest miles I had run in quite some time. It was hot, muggy and wonderful. I certainly felt that run the next few days though! On that run I crossed over 250 miles since buying that iPod in November, 2013. A milestone I never, ever thought I would see.

This past Sunday I ran another 6 miles that were joyous beyond belief. I'm not overly religious; I don't usually spend a lot of time talking to God. But those 6 miles it was just me, my tunes, and my thoughts with the big man upstairs. I thanked Him for the path beneath my feet. I thanked Him for good coaches, good trainers, and good doctors. But mostly I thought about the Donna half marathon and the Boston marathon and then thanked Him for the fact that I could run when others could not. Sure it might seem a little silly when I'm pouring my heart out to God and Missy Elliot and Eminem are playing in the background. But that's how I roll. Or rather, that's how I ran.

Tomorrow I start a new milestone: I am challenging myself to get my eating back under control by starting the first round of Whole30, a food road map to kick start a healthy eating plan for life. If you don't know what it is, google it. Or better yet, buy yourself a copy of "It Starts With Food".

I'm not gonna lie, I'm nervous. I have doubts I can/will complete this challenge. But like all other challenges in my life, I first have to believe, and then take the step. So here goes nothing.

Coming Back from Injury

It's no secret I've been on a restricted workout regimen lately, due to both illness and injury. During my training leading up to the Donna Half Marathon in February I put in more miles than I had ever logged, combined with multiple days of cross training. I felt good going into the Donna but by mile 9 my knee was hurting something fierce and I hobbled my way through miles 10 and 11. With rest, deep tissue massage and cutting back on the miles I recovered to running and working out without pain.

Discussing my knee issues with my trainer Shannon, I took her advice and booked an appointment with Dr. Cal Melton at Downtown Chiropractic. Both Shannon and Allison went to him for knee issues and are back to working out strong and running pain free. I went to see him right before the Gate River Run 15k and received a serious adjustment - first ever for me and holy heck did it sound terrible and feel terrific.

That weekend I ran the Gate River Run 15k. By mile 2 my knee was stiff and sore, and through the bridge and last two miles I had serious pain in my knee, albeit much less than during the Half. Recovery from this race took longer and the dull pain really never went away. For the first time since August my bootcamp workouts were needing to be modified and it was time to address the issue before I got sidelined for good.

Dr. Cal started me on ARP (Accelerated Recovery Performance) Therapy. Basically its like electrodes in a pad that find your injury (OMG does it EVER find your injury) and with lots of waves it helps breakdown scar tissue and increase blood flow and speed up recovery. I've ahem, Dr. Cal, endured a few more sessions than I'd like. But clearly its working.

Now for those of you who know me, you know I worked for almost a year on the President's re-election campaign in 2012. I basically spent much of that time standing at events, or sitting for long periods of time in my car driving to events. Every time I got out of the car after a long road trip my right hip would twinge something fierce. Usually after a few ginger steps, though, I'd be back to normal. Well turns out this was an old injury that has caused my body to not build muscle in the way it should have during all those months of working out, and the result was a tight glute, resulting in a tight IT band that ended in serious pain in my knee. We all know the song, "the hip bone's connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone's connected to the knee bone.." yeah well isn't that the case? Knee pain = hip problem.

On April 1st Dr. Cal delivered some not so April Fools news: restricted activities for the week. No running, no bootcamp, no stretching, no foam rolling. And every day I got the ARP torture, I mean, therapy. Three days of straight ARP therapy and I was allowed to test run on Sunday. So Shannon met me Sunday am and we both got in some miles. 6 pain free miles for her, and 5.25 nearly pain free for me. I was feeling good up until the very end when I felt some pain in my hip and immediately stopped.

I was instructed by Dr. Cal via check in (yeah my doctor works Sundays for his patients!) to keep test running this week but restricted me from further activities. (This now marks three weeks of being away from the Badass Army). On Tuesday, after a very long, very arduous day at the capitol, I was struggling with the idea of lacing up and running. But I did, and I'm so very thankful I did because I completed 6 miles pain free. I was thrilled. That night I had some stiffness but it was gone by morning.

I picked up my Palace Saloon 5k bib tonight and I'm lacing up with the ladies of Badass Fitness tomorrow am where I hope to get in another pain free 5 miles. More importantly, I'm hoping I get the all clear to return to all my much missed sports very soon. I don't know about you, but its so hard to be restricted from exercise; not working out makes me not want to eat healthy. And that's the last thing I need during my recovery.

So here's hoping this is the first signs towards total recovery. Two lessons learned from all of this: 1st - never ignore a reoccurring pain. You never know what its going to wind up impacting nor how long it will take to recover. And for that matter, find an amazing doctor like Dr. Cal Melton to help you through the injury. And 2nd - the recovery after a workout is just as important as the workout itself. I can't forget that and neither should you.

By popular request: Best Crockpot Pulled Pork Recipe

I've been looking for exciting new crockpot recipes that will yield some pretty tasty dishes that I will want to eat for several days. On Sunday I made an amazing jambalaya that I've been eating for every meal and haven't gotten sick of (which I think in the world of crockpot says something).

I have been craving some non-paleo foods lately - like cheeseburgers with bread and well, cheese, pulled pork sandwiches and mac and cheese specifically. I haven't yet figured out a way to get non wheat, non dairy mac and cheese but I'm determined to figure it out! Cheeseburgers without a bun and vegan cheese is easy, but the pulled pork sandwich was on my list to recreate.

On Sunday while my jambalaya was smelling incredible, I found a terrific recipe for pulled pork and figured I'd give it a try. It turned out even better then I had imagined and who needed the bun anyways? Be prepared to allow this bad boy to rest in your fridge for a day before you make it in the crockpot though to allow for maximum flavor of the pork. The spices combined with a sweet bbq sauce make for an amazing flavor of sweet and spicy pork.

Ingredients:

3 lb pork roast - bone in is best
4 tbsp. paprika
2 tbsp. sea salt
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. group black pepper
1 tbsp. dried oregano
2 tbsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 to 1 bottle of your favorite bbq sauce - I used Organicville original bbq sauce which is gluten free

Directions:

1. mix all your dry spices together in a bowl to create a spice rub.
2. massage the dry rub all over the pork and into every space on the pork you can find.
3. wrap the entire pork in plastic wrap (or a big ziplock bag if you don't have plastic wrap) and let it marinade in the refrigerator for several hours. I let mine rest for about 24 hours.
4. unwrap the pork and place in crockpot with 1/4 cup of water. Cook on low for 8 hours. If you go with a larger pork roast give it a least another hour or two.
5. pull the entire roast out of the crock pot and discard the juice. Using two forks, remove all the bones (which should be easy since the meat should be falling off the bone) and shred the pork.
6. transfer all the pork back into the crock pot and as much bbq sauce as you want to cover the pork. I used about half a bottle. Let it warm up in the crock pot before serving.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did tonight! Hoping (and assuming) like most crockpot meals it will be even better tomorrow for lunch.

Recovering from Sickness with Paleo Jambalaya and a Golden ACE

Let me tell you, being sick is no bueno. Everyone knows this. But being sick when you are trying to be healthy is even harder on your mind, body and soul.

I was hit with whatever crud is going around on Tuesday and only emerged on Saturday sounding and looking somewhat like normal. Which was quite interesting since I had to be in a fancy gown Saturday evening for an awards gala. I was nominated and selected as the 2014 Tallahassee Network of Young Professionals Golden ACE in the Government Relations & Law category. I was honored to have been nominated and proud to win the award.

 

 

Earlier that morning was the Springtime Tallahassee 10k which I was registered to run, but due to bad weather and not wanting to get sick again, I opted not to run Saturday. Instead I made up the 6.2 mi on Sunday morning. After being sick all week, eating very little and not working out at all, that was one of the hardest and must unhappy runs I have done to date. I ended up walking the last 1.5 mi due to pain in my knee, and barely being able to breathe. But I completed it.

I decided there was no better way to clear my head than with a spicy jambalaya, paleo-ified. I've been searching for some good crockpot recipes and came across this one from www.lifeasaplate.com and modified it as I usually do. With windows open, and some serious shuffle of my iTunes going, I started prepping my crockpot wonder of the day. It was quick and came out delicious! Just be prepared to serve it to a lot of people or have leftovers forever.

Ingredients:
4 c chicken stock
4 bell peppers chopped (any colors)
1 sweet onion chopped
2 (14.5 oz) cans of organic diced tomatoes (include liquid)
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
2 bay leafs
1 lb shrimp raw, tailless and deveined
1-2 chicken breasts diced (1 large or two small)
1 package spicy Andouille sausage (can sub with kielbasa sausage)
1 head of cauliflower
1/4 cup (or more) of hot sauce
2 Tbps paprika
1 Tbps salt
1 Tbps garlic powder
1 Tbps black pepper
1 Tbps onion powder
1-2 Tbps cayenne pepper or chili powder
1 Tbps dried oregano
1 Tbps dried thyme

Instructions:

1. put chopped peppers, onion, garlic, chicken, seasonings, hot sauce and bay leaves in crockpot with tomatoes and chicken stock. Let cook for 5.5 hours.
2. Add in sausage and let cook for 10 more min. Add in shrimp and cook for 20 more min.
3. Steam cauliflower rice and serve jambalaya over rice in a bowl.

This was exactly what I needed tonight and I'm so ready to get back to working, and more importantly, working out tomorrow. I don't think I've ever looked more forward to a Monday before!