Progress (measurements)

Lately I've been adding foods in no particular order, although I'm definitely still following the "rules": I don't add anything that's in the same food family within five days of the other, I still space them out, and I monitor my weight religiously to make sure I'm not sensitive to the food. The past 24 hours, I've added in black pepper and strawberries. Neither caused a reaction, and I'm happy to be able to add them to my "safe" foods list, although they're not absolutely necessary. Tonight I ate ONE STEM of broccoli (which didn't make me gain weight last time) and got terrible gas--I recall having gas last time, and apparently that's not a normal reaction to broccoli (which is just what I wrote it off as). :) That makes several foods that I really can't eat without gastric distress. These foods are:

1) Caffeine
2) Wheat
3) Sweet potatoes (but not normal potatoes--weird, huh?)
4) Broccoli
5) Cashews (I'm allergic to peanuts, so I guess it stands to reason)
6) Milk (although I think I'm going to introduce lactose-free milk tomorrow and see what happens)

Some foods I'm not necessarily SENSITIVE to but that I like to stay away from are butter and onions, because I don't like how they make me feel.

As far as weights, this morning I weighed in at 108.2 and this evening I weighed 108.6 lbs. I also finally took some measurements of my body this morning, and my progress looks like this:

Obviously this is a huge difference, and great progress in such a small period of time. At this point, I'm not even TRYING to lose weight. I'm just following my diet and working my ass off in the gym, and the weight just keeps coming off. I've decided to revamp my program to focus on really gaining muscle and cutting fat (rather than focusing on weight like I've been), so I'm going to be researching how to do that.

I've already discussed my training this morning, but here are my charts with regard to exercise and diet, respectively:

Also, today I did something big: I registered for a 5K. It's only my second one, and the first time, I was an undiagnosed asthmatic, ran with bronchitis, and wanted to die. My time was around 33 minutes, if I recall correctly. This time, I'd REALLY love to run a 27 minute 5K, but I'll settle for under 30. :) I'm going to be training for this in the gym and outside too, and I'm really excited--but I don't have much time! It's going to be on March 9! (Wish me luck.)

Personal Best in Running....

Today I ran a personal best on the inside track, and felt GREAT doing so. :) Since I've had my asthma diagnosed, I've been on a daily double dose of drugs to help manage it, and although my peak flow readings aren't much better, they have been improving. When I start cardio without having my inhaler, I can go for about five minutes before my heart rate is about 180 and I feel like dying. When I take ONE puff, I can go for thirty minutes without even thinking about stopping and my heart rate is a LOT lower.

So yeah, personal best. Today I was able to jog 2.7 miles in 24:27 (although the gym sign equates 9 laps with a mile, and I went 25 laps, which technically means 2.78 miles, BUT I'm going with my Motoactv instead....). My max heart rate was 181, and my average was 173 beats per minute. I could have kept going, but wanted to log the time without slowing my overall pace. I'm working up to jogging 3.1 miles (a 5K) in 27 minutes, and I think I can achieve it soon. I'm going to work on it inside, then go outside (which is harder due to the incline and planes of the road). So yeah, my pace is 9:03 min/mile, which is about the range I need to run that 5K. :D (So excited!)

I only did cardio today, but I'll log my fitness and eating tonight, along with all of my measurements. What personal bests have you achieved lately?

Body shots showing progress + update

Today, though I spent a good amount of time studying, I managed to work out and take some body shots for comparison (seeing as how it's been 4 weeks and 2 days since the last time I took them and I wanted to be consistent). Here are the before and to-date (as it's technically not really an after):

BEFORE

TODAY

Although I can see some results (namely in the calves and back region), I still have a lot further to go, in my opinion. I'm trying to get my legs more "cut" and want to cut some of the fat still left on my abs. However, I am proud of the progress that you can see in just four short weeks, and hope to gain even more the next four!

While at the gym today, I felt like a moron. I've been inwardly moaning about the lack of rowing machines at my gym (which is otherwise a top-rate facility and amazing), and finally made it up to the inside jogging track. WHERE THERE ARE AT LEAST FIVE ROWING MACHINES. Although I had already done tons of cardio, I still hopped on a machine and rowed for 5 minutes (1000 m) for old time's sake. It felt good. Here's a shot of what I did in the gym today (weight training only targeted the triceps):

My running keeps getting better and better, and I've finally gotten rid of the residual effects of the wheat/sweet potato from a few days ago! My weight has finally normalized again at around 109.6, so tonight I added black pepper (I know, I shouldn't shift things around, but I'm tired of waiting for black pepper and want to go ahead and figure out if I'm sensitive to it). I've been packing my lunch while studying every day, and make sure to pack TONS of fruits/carrots to eat throughout my studying period. It makes it a lot easier to focus on what's in front of me if I'm not hungry.

I'm basically falling asleep at the keyboard right now, and have to wake up at 6:00 am to work out, so I'm going to bid you adieu.

Quick update (i.e.: I haven't died)

It's been a while since I've posted, and I'll blame that on my studies for the Texas bar (which are currently whooping my ass, just for the record). Since I last updated, I spent 5 full days away from home and managed to keep my diet (!!!), had a reaction to wheat/sweet potatoes, and am slowly working to come back from the residual weight gain that resulted.

My workout schedule has been pretty consistent (aside from time taken during job interviews), and I'm feeling good about my results. I've been for a few runs outside and like them SO MUCH MORE now that I have an inhaler and can actually breathe. :)

Because of bar studies, I got up today and was in the gym before 7:00 am, then studied from 10:00 to 6:00. I've gotten stuff done, but I NEED TO DO MORE. I'm seriously freaking out about the bar, and can't even begin to express how much I want it all to be over.

Tomorrow, I'll post a proper blog and get back on track with my fitness screen shots, but for the time being, I'm going to veg on my bed and study more family law. God help me.....

I hate cashews, and they hate me.

I've went to bed by 9:30 p.m. the past two nights, and feel like my body is exhausted and pre-sickness, so I'm trying to ward that off as best as I can (I think the good diet, coupled with enough exercise and water and fruits has been extremely beneficial to minimizing potential bugs, however).

Yesterday, I introduced an orange in the morning and that seemed to be fine....no weird effects or strange occurrences. But then, I happened into the health food store while waiting for my second job interview and discovered some raw cashews, which are on the "safe" foods list....I just haven't been eating them due to not having a health food store next to where I live. Okay, y'all, I know I'm allergic to peanuts. I also realize that cashews are legumes. What I didn't realize is how my body apparently doesn't like EITHER of them. About an hour after eating those little bastards, my stomach was aching (and I do mean aching), and I had a headache AND the back of my mouth and jaws felt a little numb. My weight this morning sealed the deal. The past three days, my morning weights have been 109.6, 109.2 and 109.4, respectively. (The .2 weight gain is probably due to potatoes.). This morning, I was up to 109.8, and I wholeheartedly blame cashews. Today I'll be taking it easy and only eating the foods on my safe list, although it makes me angry that my diet was sabotaged by a food that should be low-sensitivity. 

Job interviews were....interesting. The first one I went to was for a legal secretary job in a reaaaally small town. The guy expressed surprise at having not one, but THREE lawyers apply for the job. The second interview was crazy. I mean, the guy was cray, the interview was cray, the questions were cray. My mom is convinced I'll get the second job. ::such is my life::

Today I'm studying, then hitting the gym since I couldn't yesterday and because I MISS IT. I need some weights in my life. (I think I'm hitting biceps and calves today.)

Elimination Diet, Addition of Tuna and Potatoes (and how I'm managing a 5-day roadtrip)

Pardon my absence the past couple of days; I got lazy and didn't add anything new to my diet. ::sheepish face:: However, last night I was able to procure a DELICIOUS tuna steak, which I seared and relished half-raw. My weights for the past few days have looked like this:

It looks like I may have a food reaction to potatoes, although I did eat some of my boyfriend's mom's brown rice, and though she didn't use any oil in it or anything else, I'm wondering if it was a combination of the two. I also weighed in after I had an apple, so I might wait a little longer and reweigh myself to see if it looks like my weight is sticking. Regardless, I'm not in love with potatoes and think I can manage if it's out of my diet. The butter test was interesting, because I am apparently not sensitive to it--just the lactose in milk, it appears. (Butter allegedly doesn't have any lactose in it, or if it does, it's negligible..like...0.07% or something.) 

I'm not sure if I said this earlier, but I have THREE job interviews....all out of state, and all about eight hours from where I'm living at the moment. I had a moment of panic when I realized that my diet may be in jeopardy, but came to and decided that there was no way I was sacrificing my hard work for a couple of job interviews, so yesterday I made 15 different meals--5 bags of 1/2 cup rice (for fried eggs in the morning); 5 bags of 1/2 cup chicken and ~4 oz of chicken; 4 bags of 1/2 cup chicken and ~3 oz porkchop; 1 bag of steak and potatoes (just ate the steak). I also packed about 7 apples, 5 bags of grapes, 4 bags of pistachios, 5 bags of carrots (hopefully that food test will go okay), 3 oranges (that food test too...), and some shredded wheat to test for three days. All of this went into a cold bag, and so far, so good! :) 

In the meantime, I'm using my boyfriend's parent's house as a home base, and trying to get some studying done...which I have to admit isn't going that well. Tomorrow I'm going to spend an entire day driving (I've got a 10:00 a.m. job interview about 3 hours away, then a 3:30 job interview about 3 hours away from the first, then a 3.5 hour drive back to my boyfriend's parent's house). I do plan on listening to Contracts lectures I've recorded myself, although I really need to get some additional studying in somehow. Tomorrow is probably going to be a long night, and I've promised myself that on Tuesday, I'm going to kick some ass. 

As far as workouts go: I took Friday off (read: did yoga) and got some REALLY great studying done, then my workout plans fell through on Saturday. Since I was crunched for time (I had shopping to attend to with my family--got 150 bucks worth of new workout clothes), I youtubed and worked out to TWO separate Jillian Michael's videos that day. I'm kinda ashamed to admit it, but my forearms and back are feeling it today, lol. It was a nice 500 calories burnt for 55 minutes of exercise, though, and did me good (after all, it's always a good idea to mix things up). Today I went to the gym and got 30 minutes of cardio. 

So my question is...how do YOU manage to go on roadtrips and not break your diet?

Elimination Diet, Beef + Yeast

So I'm not allergic to beef, and SHOCKINGLY not allergic to yeast (which I choked down last night, and which sucked, lol). My weight last night was 112.0, and my weight this morning was 110.4.

Yesterday was a good workout day, and a great food day as well. I ate responsibly, hit my back and lats REALLY hard, and have the residual lactic acid/muscle soreness to prove it. Today I worked out my legs, and I *know* they're going to be screaming tomorrow. My workouts from the past two days looked like this:

Feb 6, 2013: Shoulders/Lats Workout

Feb 2, 2013: Leg Workout Day

Yesterday's food intake looked like this:

Yesterday, I scheduled interviews for two jobs next week, and while I'm excited, I'm also kinda bummed. This means that I'm going to have to plan REAALLLLY far in advance so I can square away my diet, and it also means that I'm going to have to spend time driving rather than studying to get to those interviews (they're far away, for the record). However, I REALLY need a job, so I'm sucking it up, and would really appreciate some good thoughts sent my way!

Elimination Diet, playing catch-up

I know I didn't blog yesterday, but I have lots to talk about and report today. :) My recent weights have been:

2/04: 111.8 (M); 111.8 (E).................Introduced coffee and lemons
2/05: 111.2 (M); 112.4 (E).................Introduced eggs and melons
2/06: 110.6 (M)

Although I didn't have a weight gain after coffee, it inspired diarrhea and general stomach discomfiture, but since I rarely drink it anyway, I don't really care all that much. I am going to chalk caffeine (including tea) up as a failure for my body to process, and going to work on avoiding it in the future. However, I have to admit....introducing eggs was HEAVENLY. I'm an eggs kinda girl--I can eat them just about any time, and I always have them on hand. I love them for their protein, and like eating them right before the gym for a bit of an added boost.

Yesterday, I actually counted all my calories for my food intake, and I worked hard at eating at "recognized" meal times, although I did snack throughout the day too. My calories and food eaten looked like this:

As you can see, I had four (!!!) servings of fruit: two apples, a cup of watermelon, and a handful of grapes. I also ate the hell out of brown rice yesterday, and exceeded my allotted calories of the day...and STILL lost weight. Although I'm on the "lower" end of the carb spectrum, I'm certainly on no Atkins diet, and my protein intake was good, although not great (I really want to get it up to about 100 grams of protein a day). My fat intake exceeded the limits, but I find myself embracing these "good fats." One thing about the book whose diet I'm following is that it does not lecture against eating fats. That's not to say you should only eat fried food all the time, but definitely makes a logical argument in favor of healthy ones. Dr. Mansfield makes the point that people have ALWAYS eaten fats (particularly animal fats), but just began to get obese within the past 100 years, and he pinpoints that to the recent addition of refined grains and sugar to the diet.

I also drank nine (!!!!) glasses of water yesterday, which I think is easier because I've been adding fresh lemon to it to give it a bit of a zing. After only sea salt for seasoning, I have discovered my mouth and body are really appreciating any type of strong flavor, and I'm working on bringing out the natural flavors of food I'm cooking with more and more.

I also hit the gym yesterday, and incorporated the 20 minute yoga video I found on youtube into my initial stretching. It's such a nice video--it was filmed on a beach, and it flows from one pose to another with maximum description so you don't have to constantly check her form. The commentator also has a nice voice, with no obvious accent (which I find soothing). I think the yoga helped warm my muscles up more than I normally do just by stretching, and I was able to get in a GREAT workout in an hour and a half, including the 20 minutes of yoga. My workout yesterday looked like this (I focused on calves and triceps while lifting weights):

If you have any questions about my workout, or would like to see demonstrations of anything, please let me know and I'll make a concerted effort to do so.

Ultimately, I am extremely proud of yesterday, because I really feel like I did so much right--I ate tons of fruits, I was able to work out in an effective manner, I actually drank OVER my allotted ounces of water (this is a big deal for me), and I actively monitored my calories. I'm still slightly shocked that the scale read 110.6 this morning, but I'll take it! Today I'm supposed to be introducing beef, so I will have to get on that quickly--I hate waiting for dinner, and you have to space things out by at least 9 hours (which sucks). Since I'm only introducing yeast tonight, however, I may eat beef in an hour or so.

Hope you're having a GREAT day! :)

Elimination Diet, Day 16

Today was the day I was able to begin reintroducing foods into my diet (YAY!!). Specifically, I introduced pork (okay) and onions (will know tomorrow). My measurements for today were 111.6 (morning) and 111.2 (evening). I don't know why my weights are generally lower in the evening, but whatever.

I ate shit tons of chicken and rice today. Then EVEN MORE rice. With a pork chop for breakfast. And, to be honest, the pork chop was pretty damn good. Tomorrow, as long as I don't have a reaction to onions, I'll probably make another pork chop slathered in onion powder. I'm also introducing ground coffee and lemons tomorrow, which means I have to go to the grocery store sometime tomorrow to buy the lemons. If lemons are okay, then it's GREAT news. The more things I can use to season my food, the better.

I also took today off from working out. I've been reading up on rest days, and even though I sometimes feel guilty about taking them, I know that they help me in the gym. I'm also not going to lie...it's a lot easier taking rest days when your entire body hurts. (I woke up this morning in pain--my butt, quads, obliques, and biceps are ALL hurting.) I like the pain though--it tells me I've done something right. I'm debating whether I should take a cardio/yoga day in the gym tomorrow then resume weight training on Tuesday, or just go back to weights tomorrow. I'm thinking of the former. And maybe a run outside (because the weather has been GORGEOUS lately).

I've got to REALLY start working on getting highly motivated for the Bar. Tomorrow I'm focusing on slogging through as much criminal law/evidence crap as possible (it's 130 pages long).

Safe food days

Yesterday I wrote a blog expressing how annoyed I was about having to wait until my body normalized again, but then I decided to bellyache to one of my good friends and not post such a negative post on blogspot. It has officially been three days since I broke my diet--not entire days, but about 55 hours, and my weights the past few days have looked like this:

I've yet to weigh myself for tonight, but I anticipate being back to normal tomorrow and being able to reintroduce onion powder and pork. :) (Or so I hope.) The past few days, I've been eating a LOT of chicken and rice, apples, grapes, bananas, and pistachios. And you know...it hasn't been that bad! I've mostly been irritated at how long it took for my body to return to normal, but considering the extent of my reaction, I guess I shouldn't be surprised (I also discovered blood in my stool the day following my food binge, so I'm not quite sure how I should take that). 

Yesterday and today I hit the gym hard. Despite my time constraint in the gym yesterday, I hit my biceps hard enough in a 15 minute weights workout that they are SCREAMING today. I think the fact that I really hit it as hard as I did and didn't allow for rests are what caused the great workout, and I hope to do that again sometimes, particularly for small muscle group days. 

Today I opted to do some interval training with my weights, and started the sets with some cardio. I burn a lot more calories when I do interval training with my weights, but it REALLY takes a lot out of me, and I prefer to do it only once or so a week. 

I want to focus on getting better at doing pushup burpees and mountain-climbers in the future. I'm not able to sustain them continuously like I am for my up-and-overs and my jump roping, and I know that it's due to lack of practice. 

Tonight I'm eating more chicken over rice, and might make a chicken and rice soup to "mix" things up a little bit. We shall see--hopefully pork will be on the menu from now on too, but it's *really* hard finding unadulterated pork, so probably not as often as chicken.