Day 6 of Metamorphosis or getting back on track

I decided to count only the days of training. Hence, today was my day 6 with a rest day in between 5 and 6.

I dont know whether it is just the rest day, or a rest day spent in a not such a healthy manner, but it was actually harder to workout today. DC was a killer, and MS a murderer :) DC still gives me a great kick, I like it. I feel my calves muscles developing from all the jumping, and they look so good already - much more toned, and I feel them sore. I still have not perfected the MS, I still have to stop in between every 10th rep or so (for exercises 3-4 in particular), and I noticed that it is easier for me to do all the exercises on my left leg! Thats so odd - cos I have always been right-handed through and through! But all in all even though I went through it, I could not do as good as I did in day 5... And I am back to day 2 weight (:(), but oh well - I had fun these past two days, and the Chinese dumplings were oh so good! Today I am back to the diet, and all is good (feel much better too, as guilt is not killing me). But the experience of the last 2 days showed how much your progress can be hindered by couple of drinks and a party. Good lesson. :)

I am back on the train though, am training again, going to have salsa training later on, so thats good. As I am past mid-level 1, so I started dreading level 2 already - I read a lot in other blogs and in TA Community, that it is a killer, so lets see. I have some time to get both really scared and really excited :)

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Im back and have made some changes

I have been absent for some time from the blog, and Im actually not sorry for it.  I have been needing some time to re-balance and refocus.

For the last few months, we have done quite a bit of traveling, which generally translates to compromising the quality and healthfulness of what Im eating.  I wont go into details, but it seemed after I got off our cruise in August, I kept on cruising in my mind with regard to my eating.  I kept thinking, Oh, I will just start again tomorrow, or on Monday."  This thinking never ever works for me.

Finally, a few weeks ago I buckled down and started my version of Chef AJs Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge.  Earlier this summer, I donated some money to her IndieGoGo campaign to fund finishing her first season of her Foodytv.com show, Healthy Living with Chef AJ.  If you havent checked it out yet, I would highly recommend it!  She has some plant-based rock stars on her show including Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Campbell.  In new episodes she has recently filmed but are not up yet include Lindsay Nixon from Happy Herbivore and Wendy from Healthy Girls Kitchen.

As part of my donation perk, I got a digital copy of her 21-Day Recipe Guide for Ultimate Weight Loss.  You can find more information about her full program here.  Her full program comes with video and audio downloads as well as the 21-day recipe guide, but I didnt quite have the budget to afford the full thing.

So I went at it alone with a few give and takes here and there.  Here is generally what I did/have been doing:

Morning: water and tea on the way in to work

Breakfast: 1 lb raw, water sauteed, steamed, or roasted non-starchy veggies

Mid-morning snack (if Im feeling hungry, but generally I havent been): fruit or fruit with a bit of raw oats soaked in soy milk

Lunch: baked potato, vegetable or bean soup/chili, apple or other fruit

Afternoon snack (if Im hungry): 1/2-1 lb raw veggies

Dinner: bean and rice or bean and potato dinner with more veggies

The first day I did this, it seemed like a lot of food!  And it was!  In the week or two following, I found that I wasnt hungry for my mid-morning snack, but enjoyed my afternoon veggie snack on my way home and before making dinner.  One of the items I am still needing to work on is not to overeat at dinnertime.  I make these meals at home every night, and tend to overestimate how much I need to plate for myself.

Some items I have limited or removed from my diet include excess salt besides the occasional low sodium soy sauce, all oils, refined carbs, nuts and seeds (which ARE NOT bad, but I have a hard time limiting myself within my caloric needs), baked goods, avocados, olives, most alcohol, and obviously all animal products.

Another aspect that I have been working on are managing my cravings and to limit my exposure to "food porn".  Being a blogger, I like to follow other bloggers to see the beautiful and creative recipes they make, but this really does nothing more than tease my brain and cause me to have an unhealthy relationship with food.  Its hard to admit, AND even harder to stop, but until I get a full handle on my cravings, my weight, and overall health, food blogs are a no-no for me.  Wendy at Healthy Girls Kitchen explains this same thing very well here.

Overall, I have been keeping my meals very simple.  It is when I make more complicated recipes with dozens of ingredients that I get into trouble with overeating.  These past few weeks I have had staples of brown rice and baked sweet potatoes.  One of my lifesavers has been Donnas Cheeze Sauce that I found on Nutmeg Notebooks blog here.  I find that it goes well with just about everything and is potato and carrot-based, so it follows my rules and goals.

Ah... that seemed long-winded, but I wanted to give an update with what I have been doing during my absence.  My next post will be about my results so far, so stay tuned!


Health and Happiness,

Amy

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Im Back!

Hello blogging community!  Im happy to announce that I am back to regularly writing blog posts... FINALLY!  This summer was a bit of a whirlwind for me when it came to blogging.  Near the beginning of summer I had just graduated and went on a graduation trip with my mom down to Disneyland.  When we got back, I took yet another trip to Sequim, WA to see my fiance who was, unfortunately, going to be spending the summer away from me.  After I got back from THAT trip, I cracked down and started seriously looking for jobs.  After so many applications and interviews later, I accepted a job as an Administrative Assistant.  While it has nothing to do with my degree, Ive enjoyed it none-the-less.  Then, the remainder of my summer was spent planning things for Kevin and my wedding on September 8th.  Well, that date has come and gone, and I am a happily married woman who is ready to find time and get back into two of her favorite hobbies: cooking and blogging!

Here is the new schedule I hope to have for my blog:

• Monday: On Mondays I plan to do a post about a large batch of a recipe that Ive made to help get me through with lunches for the week.  This will often include salads, grain dishes, and soups and stews.
• Tuesday: Tuesdays I will have talks about nutrition, exercise, and mental and physical health.  If you have any topics that you would like me to discuss please let me know!
• Wednesday: Sample daily meals and What I ate Wednesday
• Thursday: Nutrition and Health in the media, and my opinions on it.
• Friday: Healthy Vegan Fridays
• Saturday: I will occasionally post on Saturday about whatever I feel like that day.
• Sunday: Pinterest Sunday is when I will show you guys my favorite Pins from that week.  Checking out Pinterest is often something I do on Football Sundays when Kevin is preoccupied, so why not blog about it?

My last post before this one was the day before the Big Day (see post here) and I had requested any questions you might have for me.  Ok, so the question turnout wasnt so great, so to take some questions from posts in the past to find some questions to answer (I also added a few of my own).  Hope you enjoy!

1. "How do you find eating Nutritarian during the winter?  The thought of having salads in the winter is not very appealing to me.
• Personally, I love eating Nutritarian most in the colder months of the year.  I would much rather have a warm soup than a salad most days, and the winter gives me a bit more of an excuse to do that.  That said, raw vegetables are still important in your daily food intake, so I try to get my fresh greens in different ways.  One of my favorite is to have Green Smoothies (like my this one).  Another one of my favorites is to use fresh lettuce as the shell for wraps or tacos (like this recipe or this one).  So, just because you dont feel like eating a salad in the winter doesnt mean that you cant still get your fresh greens in.
2. "Can I use that image you created for the 6-Week Eat To Live Challenge?"
• Yes, anyone can use the image I provided as reference for when you do the Eat to Live 6-Week Challenge. Read about it and find the image Here!  This image can be used on Facebook, Pinterest, etc.  I have no copyright issues and would be happy to hear if it helps others.
3. "How were you able to eat Nutritarian with such a busy summer?"
• I didnt because it was easier not to, and I regret it.  I feel like much of the progress I made over a few weeks of the summer was continually being undone by occasional bad eating and drinking a few nights a week.  Most of this was due to social circle influences, and it is always hard to say no to a crowd.  Also, from being busy and making such large life transitions, it was difficult to maintain nutritional excellence.  All I can say is that I tried, and now that things have settled down, Im trying a lot harder.  Writing this blog really helps me to keep in the right mentality to make healthy choices, and for that I thank my readers :)
4. "How was your wedding?"
• To put it shortly, it was the best day of my life.  Kevin and I are so blessed to have had so many wonderful friends and family that made that day as special as it was.  The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was fun, and we danced and laughed all night.  I couldnt have asked for more!  Pictures and a video of our awesome first dance will be coming soon!  I promise!
5. "What is your favorite fall food?"
• My favorite fall foods would have to be anything with pumpkin or apple (says everyone ever in existence with access to pumpkins and apples)!  But seriously, Fall is my favorite season for so many reasons, but most of them food related!  Here are a few of my recipes that just scream fall: Baked Sweet Potatoes with Apples and Walnuts, Roasted Apples with Parsnips, Pumpkin Basil Soup, Dr. Fuhrmans Apple Strudel, and Pumpkin Wild Rice Soup.

Here is a question for my readers:  How do you like my new blog design and the schedule Im planning on following?  Any other suggestions I could incorporate?

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Back to TAMily

This blog has been quiet for way too long. Over two years. A LOT has happened in the past years, and the reason Im writing again is that tomorrow - 18th January is the start of my new TAM Challenge. And again I need the blog to motivate me - I need to report and analyse things. I will little by little update the site overall. But for now, I will do what I can.

For starters, I was not able to return my old pics to the blog :( My account was hacked, picasa album disappeared, my computer crashed, etc. etc. I will at some point try to find some of those pics and will post them in the new posts, but right now I dont have access to them at all (Im guessing they might be saved on my old external hard drive which is in storage in another city and country now...). Too bad, cos this stuff online is also my only reference to my previous experience.

Now. What happened in the past 2.5 years. After Meta I decided to do something else. I started going to the gym, and even though I didnt keep that same lean physique, I kept fit and loved it as well. Though I got disappointed with several personal trainers over the years, hence was doing kinda my own thing. Immediately after the post I defended my PhD and became a Doctor of Sociology. :) I then started working as a researcher in Stockholm, Sweden, and about the same time I got - ta-dam! - pregnant. :) 

So we had our beautiful baby girl - Ill call her Button here - in August 2014. During pregnancy, I was really good health wise. I was doing TA Pregnancy project (I remember thinking when it came out, that NOW I can get pregnant, and I did almost right away :)), walking a lot, doing some pregnancy pilates and yoga classes and DVDs in combination, but generally learnt to listen to my body. I was very active up to about 8 months of pregnancy and in the last month slowed down quite a bit. Still, I only gained 7 kilos cos I couldnt eat much, and lost 11 kilos right after delivery. Hence, lost some weight from the starting weight. Was in fact the smallest I remember myself being ever since teenage years. But then fast forward 6 months, baby weaning started, hence less breastfeeding, but my eating habits didnt change since then. What is worse, I never found time to start working out properly again. I did try to go to the gym 1-2 times a week, but generally couldnt keep it up being consistent.

So after almost 1.5 years of no proper workout, I decided enough is enough. I gained weight - more than I have ever been, though still not too bad. But bad enough for me. And I need to get in shape for the summer, but also for our holiday in a month. After considering different options and DVDs out there, I decided to go back to TAM. I KNOW that it works, so I wont have any guessing to do.

This time around I wont be able to do the diet along with exercises, as I am eating with my daughter, and right now my partner is away, I simply dont have the time for all the prep at the moment. I might try it sometime in some weeks, but for now I have to be realistic. I will eat healthy, following a healthy diet with a bit lower calorie intake - I will calculate it all in the next few days.

So, let the journey begin! :) Again!

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