Body shots (3.28.13)

I know I don't update as much as I should, but since I'm not on a strict diet regimen, I feel as though I have less to write about. Regardless, I've still been hitting the gym super hard, and have a bunch of strength goals I hope to achieve within the next two months. In order to facilitate this, I located and implemented a 12-week strength training program to (a) reach these goals and (b) to prevent the dreaded plateau people all too often encounter with their everyday workout routine. This particular program employs lots of Olympic weightlifting moves, including power cleans, snatches, squats, and lunges. And I really do think I'm getting stronger! I guess we'll know at the end of the 12 weeks!

Something else I've decided to keep doing is a monthly body shots progression session. How's that for rhyming? I'm going to post the regular size of this month's shots first, and I am also posting a slideshow that I will continue to update as my progress becomes more apparent with each month.

Here is the slideshow:

Kizoa slideshow: Body Progress Thus Far.... - Slideshow

I can really tell the difference between my upper body, in particular my pecs, shoulders, and biceps. I also notice a bit more stridation on top of my ribs.

Today, I also took my body measurements, including my body fat:

Although I've gained a bit of weight from the last time I measured, I'm pleased to report I've lost even more off my hips! :) I also gained .25 of an inch on each calf! I'm not sure why, but the tops of my thighs have gone up, while the bottoms of them have decreased, but I don't mind seeing as how my overall hip measurement is less.

Tomorrow I'll post the 12-week strength training program I'm pursuing! 

Body fat tests and Greek yogurt substitutes....

I keep meaning to get back on the sensitivity diet, but I've not restarted, so there's that.... :)

At the same time, I am really feeling unrepentant. I've been having a grand old time enjoying life and foods and friends since the Texas Bar Exam, and I haven't gained much weight back (just three pounds), so I've been sitting pretty at about 110. This is a good, comfortable weight for me, but I WOULD like to check and see if I'm sensitive to any more foods and thus will probably dedicate another month of my life to it in the near future. (It won't be as bad as the first go-round, since I know that I can eat eggs and rice and chicken and pretty much any other meat.)

I've also introduced Lactaid into my life, and I.LOVE.IT. It's lactose-free milk and milk products, and they're keeping me sane. I was so unhappy when I discovered I had a lactose intolerance (although I was thankful, because the gas and accompanying cramps could have been attributed to many other things, so narrowing it down and honing in on this sensitivity was a big deal). Now? It's like old times!

Which brings me to my experiment of the day--I know I'm sensitive to sugars. When I'm not eating it, I FEEL better, and after eating it again after a month of having not, I was shocked at how sluggish it made me feel, and how disgustingly SWEET it was. I tried Truvia in its place, but it gave me a headache, so I swapped to honey and agave because they're much less processed alternatives. That being said, sugar seems to be added to EVERYTHING, and you never know what kind of sugar it is (as in, it says 11 grams of sugars--aside from the label telling you what's in the product, you don't know if the product derives most of its sugars naturally, like fruit, or from additions of sweeteners). Particularly, there is a LOT of sugar in Greek yogurt. This product is like the trifecta of awesomeness and stuff I'm not supposed to eat, since it contains both sugar AND lactose.

Today, I got irritated with the fact that a 100 calorie portion of Greek yogurt contains ELEVEN grams of sugar. That's absurd, in my opinion. So I got out my Lactaid cottage cheese (I hate the texture of cottage cheese, but it's good for you) and decided to try to make something similar to Greek yogurt. I put 1/4 cup of it into a food processor, added 1 tablespoon of Lactaid milk, spooned in 1 teaspoon of organic honey, then sprinkled a pinch of cinnamon and cocoa powder in it and put it in motion. I topped it with 1/4 cup Kashi cinnamon crumbles (yes, it has sugars, but I'm looking for some awesometastic alternatives and considering making my own granola because it's not really *that* difficult). And do you know what? IT TASTED A LOT LIKE GREEK YOGURT. And I was able to control the type of sugars that went into it. :) And with the Kashi on top, it had 10 grams of protein and 130 calories. I'm going to count that as a win.

Monday, I also had the opportunity to get my body fat tested at my gym. They used a 3-spot test, and measured me as between 19 and 20 percent body fat! Because I know that about three months ago, I would have been AT LEAST 28% body fat, I was both shocked and excited. I've also started a new work out regimen in the gym to increase strength, so I'm going to see how that impacts my body and am going to try to stick to it as closely as I can (aside from adding more cardio than is recommended--I'm not a bodybuilder and I think that the cardio recommendations were made with bodybuilding in mind).

So, do *you* have any "healthy" food substitutions that you like to make or any recipes that can double as a deliciously decadent counterpart?

First 5K

Finished my first 5K today (well, first *real* 5K--I ran one years ago and didn't formally register and had bronchitis and undiagnosed asthma, so I'm counting this as my first real one). Yep--I FINISHED. :)

I also won the overall women's division, with a time of 28:02. (All the faster women runners were competing in the 10K, but I STILL WON.) According to my MotoActv, the race was actually 3.32 miles, which meant my average pace was 8:27 minutes/mile. As far as personal bests, I ran my first mile in 7:54 minutes. THAT'S FAST, y'all. Although I progressively got slower, I'm still really proud of myself and excited about the possibility in competing in more 5Ks. My slowest mile was only 9:06, and at 3.10 miles (an actual 5K), my time was 26:25 minutes.

Obviously, I'm extremely proud of myself, and excited about my capability to run now that I'm properly medicated with regards to my asthma.

I'm also excited about my award, which wasn't a medal, but was a stretched canvas poster of today's event. A big one. And it's allllll mine. :D

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.

Bad ideas

You know how yesterday I said that *since I had broken my diet anyway,* I was going to go out to eat?

BAD IDEA. 

Let me reiterate: it was a 

BAD BAD TERRIBLE NO-GOOD IDEA!

I spent yesterday night huddled in a fetal position, feeling as though I were about to die. So yeah....anyone who thinks that breaking the elimination diet is a good idea should probably think again. I had a headache, felt like throwing up, had gas, a stomachache, and  went to bed three hours earlier than normal. All because of a potato, some butter, and a slab of meat (okay, and some salad dressing and a piece of bread). 

Today I'm back to eating "safe foods," and have a chicken roasting in the oven as I type. I don't think I'll be repeating that mistake again. 

I did take the sodium/potassium bicarbonate mixture yesterday, and it did help get me back to a closer weight (111.8). Hopefully I'll weigh in at my normal weight tomorrow morning, and then can continue testing foods. 

Wish me luck....I'm headed to the gym.

Elimination Diet, Day 12 (or, the day I'm putting the ED on hold for 24 hrs)

Yesterday I consumed milk, and today I woke up weighing 0.2 pounds heavier than my weigh-in yesterday morning. That doesn't sound like a lot, but I weighed the same for three days in a row and therefore am taking it as a sign of a sensitivity to milk. Well, that and the fact that my stomach felt like the cauldron from the opening scene of the Scottish play. This evening, I weighed in at 112.6 (I'll confess that I broke and had two pizza rolls, but only after I decided to take today off.....reason next). Onto my rationale, I decided that since I'm going to have to take a day or so to recover from my food sensitivity, I was going to take the night off and go to dinner with my boyfriend, who happens to be in town.

We're not going anywhere crazy--just a local steakhouse. I chose this location because I figure the ingredients are pretty apparent--I'm getting a steak (beef + salt), a potato (butter + potato, lol), and a salad (iceburg + dressing). (I was also "bad" and ate two pizza rolls.) Then tonight/tomorrow, I'm going to take the mixture of potassium bicarbonate + baking soda, and wait for my system to normalize (and eat a whole lotta chicken and rice...YEYAH). I really can't even be sad, because I figured I had a sensitivity to dairy, and I've mostly been ignoring the possibility. However, after being off dairy for so long, I didn't realize how TIRED it made me, and how bad it made my stomach hurt. After I introduce soy into my diet, if I'm not sensitive to that, I'll probably start trying to get used to soy milk as a suitable replacement. (I'm going to guess that it's NOTHING like cow's milk, however.)

Didn't go to the gym yesterday due to some serious lactic acid buildup in the ole muscles, but went today and hit it hard! :)

I focused mainly on lower back, and some shoulders/delts. Other than that, today has been largely unproductive. I started my asthma medicines, and I'm hoping to note a difference in the next few days.

Elimination Diet, Day 11 + my trip to the allergist

This morning, I weighed in twice--once as soon as I got up, which was earlier than normal, then after I got moving and closer to the regular time I weigh myself (and after a BM). Those weights were 111.6/111.2. This evening, I weighed 111.8, which I think is in line with how I should ACTUALLY be weighing--more throughout the day and lose weight throughout the night. I guess we'll have to see. Last night I had black tea, and I don't think I'll be doing it again. I think I'm sensitive to it, because although there wasn't a HUGE weight gain, I had a lot of trouble sleeping, had terrible dreams, and generally felt bloated and unhappy with my stomach. It's crazy how some foods can affect you so much and others don't (especially when they're not even FOODS, but drinks).

On that note, tonight I introduced milk, and immediately felt like my stomach was curdling. I JUST KNOW I'm going to weigh more tomorrow morning. :( Not cool. I love milk, and haven't really considered finding a replacement for it. Even if my weight doesn't increase, I'd definitely say I have an intolerance to the milk, though it may manifest in ways other than weight gain. If my poor stomach has any say in the matter, it doesn't like digesting milk at all.

Which is funny, because today I went to the allergist and got tested for all kinds of allergens, including 13 common food allergies. Here is a picture of me being tested for all of them:

The screening checked to see if I had any allergies to wheat, eggs (whole), milk, peanuts, soybeans, pecans, walnuts, chocolate, shrimp, crab, salmon, trout, and tuna. And what am I allergic to? Peanuts. I could have already told you that, as anytime I eat them, the roof of my mouth starts tingling/goes numb. It hasn't stopped me from eating them, of course, but now it gives me pause. Though I'm not *technically* allergic to the other foods I've listed, that doesn't mean I don't have a slight sensitivity to it, which means I'm going to continue my diet (particularly since this test didn't include corn, sugar, and yeast as potential allergens and particularly given my response to milk today). I'm also allergic to goldenrod, marsh elder, English plantain, cockroach dust, dust mites, mice, and privets. I'm not allergic to any grasses, and I have no reactions to any types of mold.

I also got an official diagnosis for asthma, which is shocking, because I've only had two asthma attacks in my whole life and thought my mother was majorly blowing the possibility out of proportion (she has asthma, too). My doctor informed me that my lung function was significantly impaired, however, and that my lungs were 3x more inflamed than that of a person with regular lung function. I got a bag of pharmaceutical samples (because my allergist is the bomb.com) and am going back at the beginning of March for a checkup. I've also been given the task of charting my lung function each day, which may be something I incorporate into my blogs.

So yeah, more chicken and rice today, more bananas, more apples, a glass of milk, a handful of grapes, and BOOM...sensitivities. I think we'll see the full scope tomorrow morning, and I'll keep y'all posted.

Elimination Diet, Day 10

This morning after weighing, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. I'm not sensitive to brown rice! (Cue the angels singing and the Hallelujah Chorus.) Actually, I'm not quite sure I'm not sensitive or not. Since I'm not getting as many calories as I need, I'm not sure whether or not I should be gaining weight overnight, but my morning weights have stayed relatively the same, while my evening weights are LESS than my morning weights. I don't get it......I'm wondering if it's because I'm hitting the gym in the afternoon or because most of my eating is done at night, which would shift the two weights around, but the point is that I'm steadily losing weight, so I'm not sure if I am sensitive or not (but since I've been eating the foods that I'd normally be sensitive to during the day and losing weight, I'm going to water I'm not.) I haven't noticed any stomach bloat, and I've not noticed any headaches, drowsiness, or the like.

As predicted last night, my hammies hurt this morning. :) No wonder, either, after my workout yesterday. Today, I gave my legs a break and worked my biceps and abs, with a little bit of pecs thrown in. I really had a LOT of energy today, which was wonderful, and my stat are as follows:

I've been burning about 700 calories in the gym every day, and I am starting to really enjoy my workouts. It's my time to zone out and just focus on myself. I would have done more cardio, but I had to get back home to prepare for my boyfriend coming in. And he definitely did, and came bearing gifts of apology:

This my first time meeting Aldo, and I have to say he's just as adorable as this picture depicts him to be. :)

Tomorrow I have an appointment with an allergist who's going to be testing me, so I'm not sure how that's going to affect my diet or my progress, but I'll let y'all know how that goes. Have a great day!

Elimination Diet, Day 9

So today I did it. I ate tons of dehydrated bananas. TONS. I dehydrated three of them, and I got better at dehydrating the more I did it. :) (I only ate them in the morning though, until I could gauge whether I'm sensitive to them or not.) And the verdict is in...I'M NOT. I'm also not sensitive to chicken, which I ate the heck out of yesterday.

As for my weight--today I weighed 111.8 (morning) and 111.0 (evening). I'm thinking the decrease in weight over the day is probably because I hit the gym so hard this afternoon. :) It was a legs day, which means I worked my pahookus off and burned some serious calories. I think today's workout  was a lot easier, since I had some protein in my belly (I ate some chicken before I went) and since I had the promise of brown rice for dinner tonight. I'm reeealllly hoping I'm not sensitive to rice, because I lurve it. It would be a sad day if I could no longer eat it.

Here is my chart from the gym today:

Today also kinda sucked, even though I was in food bliss. I had a falling out with my boyfriend, and it made me feel horrible. Here's to hoping tomorrow is a better day! I figure my butt is gonna throb like a sore tooth in the morning, which means I'm going to have to give my arms a great workout to go with it.

Tomorrow, I've got to go to the grocery store, since my dad forgot to get my dogs their food, and I also need to pick up some apples (I've been eating them frequently), some more nuts, and some more bananas. I reckon I'll dehydrate TONS just to keep around for when I need something crunchy. One good thing I can say about this diet is it is teaching me how to do new things in the kitchen--first roasting a chicken, then using the oven as a dehydrator! I don't know what's next, but I don't think I'll mind a bit. :)

Elimination Diet, Day 8

This morning, I weighed in at 111.6. This evening (after--TMI ALERT--having diarrhea), I weighed in 0.2 pounds less--111.4. This could be because I have virtually starved myself in ANTICIPATION today. (Okay, I didn't totally starve myself--I had spinach covered with a lentil/red pepper/walnut puree for breakfast today, two apples, and a bag of pineapple.) Since I was hungry and a little weak, I forwent the gym today. BUT TOMORROW, I SHALL IT IT WITH A FURY.....

See, today is when I got to reintroduce chicken into my diet. I love chicken. I can season it with salt and be okay. Tonight for dinner, I threw a little roasting chicken into a baking pan (it's actually homegrown--my dad slaughtered it himself!), then greased it up with olive oil and course sea salt. Then I added some chicken stock (I pre-made this a few weeks ago from another one of our little roasting chickens); threw in some green beans, red peppers, and spinach leaves; and covered it. I roasted it in the oven for about 1.5 hours at 350, and it.came.out.MARVELOUSLY.

I'm serious. I probably just ate about eight ounces of chicken in one sitting. I've not been this full for days, since I've been starving and counting down the days til I got to eat stuff I reallllly like.

I've also got bananas dehydrating in the oven in anticipation for tomorrow morning. :) Plus I get to add rice to my chicken tomorrow evening. 'Tis a glorious time in my life. (I can't even talk about a week and a half from now, where I'll presumably be able to eat butter and eggs too, because then I'm making the LARGEST vat of fried rice imaginable and ROLLING IN IT.)

Today has been a trial. I hate feeling weak, and I hate not having complex carbs. It makes it difficult for me to enjoy the gym, and I don't feel like I've been getting the protein I've needed. This all changed when I added chicken back, and will change even more since I CAN have rice tomorrow. It will be the perfect pre-workout meal, as far as I'm concerned. Tons of protein, some carbs, some fats, and bliss!

Elimination Diet: Week One Review

When I decided to start the elimination diet, it was because I was working my ass off in the gym and not seeing results on the scale. Although I know we all like to repeat the mantra that muscle weighs more than fat, the fact remained that I spent eight weeks working out and restricting my calories only for my weight to go UP rather than down.

I had already begun to suspect that I was sensitive to some food I was consuming on a regular basis. Then the week before I started the diet, I went to a Mexican restaurant with my boyfriend, and experienced fatigue, headaches, and severe stomach issues for several days (not one day, mind you). I have always dealt with stomach problems, namely those related to GERD and something akin to IBS. Whenever I ate, I would run to the toilet. Whenever I got stressed, I would run to the toilet. It seemed like I was running to the toilet all the time.

After I read the initial article about Dr. Mansfield's diet, I was skeptical. There weren't many book reviews because this book was only recently released (I think maybe in October?). I also couldn't get immediate hold of it because it was mainly released overseas. However, I found a blogger, Blissful Mama, who was trying out the diet. She wasn't being paid, and her opinions were all her own. And she is really the one who solidified this idea that I should try it as well. So I bought the book.

I'm not going to kid you and say this week has been a cakewalk. The first day was miserable, running to the toilet every 15 minutes as a result of the Epsom salts. Then the food hankerings started. I wanted eggs. And milk. And bread, for God's sake! And I quickly tired of lentils, and pineapple, and lentils. And cod. (If I never have to see cod for as long as I live, I will be a happy girl.) Being from Louisiana, I craved garlic and onion powder. I wanted to douse everything in pepper. I wanted whip out my trusty container of Tony's and sprinkle it on EVERYTHING.

But I didn't. Because I wanted this diet to work. And so far? IT HAS. Below are my statistics regarding my weight throughout the week.

I've lost FIVE pounds. IN SEVEN DAYS. It's a post-Christmas miracle! But the work isn't done. The next couple of weeks marks the second phase of the diet, in which I slowly reintroduce foods. As I said in my previous post, I got to eat broccoli tonight, and you've NEVER seen someone so happy to eat her broccoli.

I'm not going to lie. I'm TERRIFIED at the thought of having a reaction to dairy. Or eggs. Or wheat. Or yeast. But I'm also not exactly welcoming of the thought that I'm slowly poisoning my body with things it reacts violently to. I've got an allergy test scheduled for next week, which means I might have to wait a few days to rid myself of the subsequent allergic reactions that are sure to ensue following those tests before introducing any new foods. That's not the most exciting prospect either. :-/

Regardless, the first week of this diet has proven to me that SOMETHING in my diet is causing my inability to lose weight and my gastric distress. I've already committed this much time and trouble, so I'm going to stick with it and see how the next month and a half goes.

Elimination Diet: Day 7 (AND BROCCOLI)

Today, I weighed in at 112.8 in the morning (although I reweighed after a BM, which I had been doing, and it was down a pound at 111.8). My evening weight was 113.8.

I've already discussed yesterday, which was much like the day before, and almost exactly like today. 

Did that make any sense? (I'm guessing not.)

Anyways, what that means is that I'm pseudo-starving myself, not because I am not hungry or want to lose weight, but because I am SO SICK OF THE FOODS. Fortunately, tonight I was able to introduce broccoli back into my palate, and ate an entire crown of the stuff. This followed an ENTIRE BAG of pistachios, which amounted to about 800 calories and about which I don't feel guilty at all.

On the other hand, today's workout went surprisingly well. I was able to hit cardio hard, and I also got in a good delts/lats/biceps workout, as evidenced by my Sparkpeople's record: 

Tomorrow is going to be even better, because I'm roasting a chicken. :)

Elimination Diet, Days 5 & 6

I'm combining days 5 and 6 for the sake of not having that much to report. Let's just say that day 5 sucked a big one. I weighed in at 113.4 in the morning following a big BM (TMI, I know) and weighed in at 115.2 during my evening weigh-in. For my Day 6 weigh-in, I tallied 113.0 pounds in the morning (because I starved the day before) and 114.4 pounds in the evening.

Why did day 5 suck so much? I'm starting to get tired of the foods. All of them. I hate lentils. And pineapples. And apples. And spinach. And especially cod (the worst food in the world, I'm convinced). I've tried all food combinations, and I'm not really able to do much with them. I was so tired of them yesterday that I really didn't eat much at all. This didn't impact my weight in the scales too much today, but I think it did impact it SOME. It was so pathetic that I'm not even bothering posting my food tracking from yesterday.

As far as the gym: today (day 6), I took a free day to let my muscles repair. Day 5 gym time was good, though. I almost went 5 miles combined with all my cardio machines (upright, stairmaster, and AMT), mostly because I did them before and after my weight routine. I worked triceps, abs, and worked on my form with squats yesterday.

So yeah, that's pretty much it. I'm stupidly excited about the prospect of adding broccoli to my diet tomorrow. And the next day, I get to add chicken (YAHOOOOO!!) and peppers (not black pepper, unfortunately). I'm SOOOOO glad.

Elimination Diet, Day 4/My Day at the Gym

Yesterday was more of the same diet foods. My morning weigh-in was at 113.8 and my evening weigh-in was 115.2. So far, my chart looks like this:

	Morning Weight	Evening Weight
Night before	---	118.8
Day 1	117.8	114.4
Day 2	114.4	115.4
Day 3	114.4	115.8 (after din)
Day 4	113.8	115.2

My weight is holding pretty steady, and I managed to drink 8 glasses of water yesterday. The corners of my mouth are healing nicely, and I hope that in a couple of days, the cracking will be a distant nightmare. 

So, I alluded to a horrible incident in the gym yesterday. Let me explain....

I already knew it was going to be a shitty day. My littlest brother was running late for school (I drop him off in the morning to ensure that I get up and get my pahookis to the gym), I forgot my breakfast (sliced pineapple) on my way out of the door, and I was starving come gym time. 

Then I get on the only open treadmill to start my fitness test and the woman on the one beside it had the worst imaginable breath ever. I'm talking....rank. It made me want to throw up, except, well, I didn't have anything in my darn stomach to heave! 

I managed to get through my upright bike, my AMT, and my running cardio (my fitness test was better than the last time, so that's a plus!); then I headed to the weight room. Since I had done pecs and lower back the day before, I figured I could do some triceps and abs to balance it out and focus on legs during the latter part of the week. So I grab my bosu ball and I'm heading to set up my station when I hear a guy kinda yell/grunt really loudly by the leg press machine. I figure he smushed his finger between two plates (haven't we all?) and I didn't give it much thought....until he did it again, much louder, and remained hunched by the machine. 

I cautiously approached him from the other side, asking if he was okay (because I thought maybe he had somehow gotten caught under the machine--I had no idea how I was going to help, but I HAD to offer). That's when I notice his hands were curled into claws and that he was seizing. 

At that moment, he fell down and began to convulse. I've seen someone have a seizure before, and luckily there was someone else in the weight room at that time who ran to help assist me. We rolled him over, and then realized this was no normal seizure. He was bleeding from his mouth and his eyes. His eyes actually looked black around the edges because of the blood vessels, and I saw blood coming from them. It wasn't just broken blood vessels, but ACTUAL blood. Now, had it just been coming from his mouth, I would have figured he had bitten his tongue. As it was, we knew something was very VERY wrong. 

I told the guy who was holding him to stay with him, then SPRINTED to the main desk to tell the person to call 911; that a man was having a seizure. Being as she was from another country, I guess she didn't understand me or why I was shouting. I shouted to the rest of the gym that if a medical professional was there, that they needed to come fast, because he needed a doctor or a nurse. By that time, I had already grabbed my phone and started dialing 911. They answered immediately, and after I calmed down, I explained where I was, what was happening, and to send help. A few minutes later, the managers of the facility also came downstairs and attempted to help. There was nothing I could do, and he was having large muscle contractions by this time, and lapsing in and out of consciousness. The police chief arrived, and about ten minutes after making the call, the paramedics (FINALLY) showed up. 

It turns out that this guy (who couldn't have been older than 21 or 22) had a preexisting condition; he wasn't wearing a medical bracelet indicating his propensity for seizures (which I know can be difficult and burdensome to wear in a gym). The medics got him in the bus and started an IV, and he suffered a gash to the head as well when he seized. I gave the police a report, and then went cut my workout short and went home. 

The rest of the day was pretty much wasted. I didn't feel better until I called the hospital, explained who I was (to three separate people), and just asked if he was okay. They told me they couldn't give me a report (which I was okay with and understood, due to HIIPA), but that he was being released (it was noon at that time).

However, it got me thinking....the emergency procedures in this gym were sorely lacking. No one covered this guy to keep him from going into shock (and the weight room was cold). The people behind the front desk were not equipped to handle such an emergency. They didn't even call the ambulance, but instead opted to phone the police, which could have wasted PRECIOUS minutes had this been something worse (not that this wasn't God-awful) and had I not called 911 instead. No one brought a defib in case this guy's heart stopped, and I'm not sure they even had one. It seems to me that every single gym should have an emergency plan in place, particularly at a university. No alarm was raised, no intercom system was used, and no one seemed to be in much of a hurry. 

It also made me think about how fragile life is, how unpredictable your day may be, and how much I hold on to trivial details when I should be thinking about the larger picture. 

Just food for thought....

Elimination Diet, Day 3

On day 3 of the elimination diet, my morning weight was 114.4 and my evening weight (which I stupidly recorded AFTER DINNER) was 115.8. I honestly thought I was having a wee bit of a reaction to the sweet potatoes I had for dinner, because I had gas and felt bloated after eating them. However, I was shocked when I got on the scales today (day 4) and actually measured less than I anticipated.

As far as diet, I had more of the same: pineapples, cod, lentils, walnuts, and apples. I added some sweet potatoes, as I've mentioned previously, and which I do not plan on adding for the rest of the seven days. I also managed to drink eight glasses of water yesterday (which I never do!) largely due to the fact that the corners of my mouth have started to crack and look absolutely horrible. This condition also made me run to Walgreens for an antifungal (thankfully found the athlete's feet section before I had to resort to buying Monostat and smearing it on the corners of my mouth) and a B-complex vitamin. They're already starting to look better, thank the little baby lord Jesus.

Here are my stats from yesterday, a la Sparkpeople:

Yesterday was a pectoral and lower back workout, and I went light on the weights. I'm really looking forward to being able to add some more carbs back to my diet after these seven days, because I don't have nearly as much energy in the gym as I do when I can eat grains and a really hearty breakfast.

In other news, I encountered the scariest gym incident (or possibly incident ever) today, and I'll be writing about that tomorrow, with day 4 of the elimination diet update.

Body Shots - 1/21/2013 - Gauging where I'm at

I looked high and low for a swimsuit, but they're all packed up. Thus, I picked some boyshorts and a matching top to take these pictures in (which are actually probably more covering than a swimsuit!).

As the caption says, I've been working out for about eight weeks--I started on November 27 (after gorging myself on EVERYTHING). I hope to have a lot more definition by the time summer rolls around, and I'd LOVE to have some cuts in my legs.

Compared to where I was 8 weeks ago, I look TONS better. :) I wish I had some proper before pictures to display.

Elimination Diet, Day 2

I started day 2 by weighing in as soon as I woke up. The scale still read 114.4 from the night before. I figured that today my weight would go back up as I started to rehydrate, but by the evening, I only weighed one more pound than I started (115.4).

I hit the gym hard, focusing mostly on legs and lower back. I started with a mile and a half on upright bike (doing for alternating resistance, hill style), which took eight minutes. I normally do cardio first, but I wanted to really hit the weights hard since I had slacked off recently. After weights, I went for 20 minutes on the AMT, which is one of my favorite machines in the gym--it's like an elliptical on steroids. My workout routine consisted of the following (I nickname my own free weight exercises, and estimate the time for each one--I actually did weights for 38 minutes yesterday, but I try to account for rests):

If you're not familiar with www.sparkpeople.com, I suggest you take a look. It's what I use to track my exercises and calories daily, and I absolutely love it. I also take progress of how many miles I go during the week (running, cycling, on the Stairmaster and AMT, etc). I'll also do a post soon about my gadgets that I use in the gym and my undying love/adoration for them.

Following is a screen shot of the calories I consumed yesterday. I just threw everything together, so the 3 cups of lentils for lunch were actually spread out through the day, etc.

As you can see, even though my diet is incredibly limited, I'm still getting the proper amount of carbs, fat, and protein, which is probably better than I did before (I was getting either far too many calories or far too few), but I don't have the refined sugars and proteins that I'm used to. I won't lie--my little brother got pizza yesterday and I side-eyed it so hard. I can't wait for day 7, when I get to introduce broccoli, and especially day 8, which is CHICKEN!!! :)

Elimination Diet, Day 1

Yesterday (1/20/2013) I started the elimination diet. This consisted of me taking two tablespoons of Epsom salts and only eating foods off the recommended 40 list. The Epsom salts function as a laxative to "eliminate" everything else bad you've had up until the time you started the diet, and BOY HOWDY, DOES IT. I was miserable all day yesterday, sprinting to the toilet, and my workout *really* suffered because I was so dehydrated. At one point, my legs felt weak because I had literally just expelled all the water from my body. Even though I tried to rehydrate, there simply isn't enough water in the world to counteract the disgusting way Epsom salts work on your body.

The night before I began the ED, I weighed in at 118.8. I'm not gonna lie. Those numbers broke my heart. It's really what galvanized my ass into action, when I am being completely honest. The next day, I measured myself in the morning and weighed in just above 117 (I guess that's my "resting weight") and by yesterday evening, I was down to 115.6. I lost 3.2 pounds of water weight in one day. That's a LOT of effing water.

So what did I eat yesterday? I had an apple for breakfast, then I soaked and simmered lentils for lunch. The great thing about the first seven days of this "diet" is that you can have AS MUCH OF THE FOODS ON THE LIST AS YOU WANT. The difficult thing is the only thing you can season with is pure sea salt and olive oil. Luckily, lentils taste awesome with salt on them, and I had two bowls. Following this, I went to the gym, then to the grocery store to stock up on some more food that was on the "good" list. I came back home with a lamb chop, a bag of cod, a fresh pineapple, some fresh apples, some pistachios, and some walnuts. For dinner I had the lamb, which sucked. I am no master chef, and salt is NOT enough for lamb. I followed it up with some pineapple.

At the end of the night, as I said before, I weighed 115.6. This morning, on day two of the diet, I weighed 114.4. Weird.

Overall and honestly, as far as my reflections for the first day go: it was miserable. My body was hungry, I took a nap because I was so tired, my stomach hurt due to the Epsom salts, and I was irritable for all the above reasons. However, my stomach never actually felt hungry (I just knew my body was). The foods aren't all too bad, and after I figure out how to cook everything, I'm sure it will be better. I'd love to find some raw cashews, because I can cook with those easily!

The Elimination Diet Experiment, An Overview

I'm officially a lawyer by profession, having passed one bar examination (in the great state of Arkansas) and I've somehow decided that to take a second bar examination, because (a) I'm crazy; (b) I'm a masochist; (c) I have nothing better to do while basking in funemployment.

Anyone who has ever taken a bar exam can tell you it sucks. It wreaks havoc on your diet, your body, your mind, your psyche, your everything. (No lie: I looked like a friggin meth addict, I was picking my face out of anxiety so much.)

Ahem. Since beginning to study for this last bar examination, I've been feeling those same pangs in my stomach. The pangs in my head. The need for a nap at 11 in the morning. I'm exercising at least five days a week, and I don't mean the pansy workout where you get on an elliptical for 20 minutes and call it a morning. I lift shit. I move my ass. And I've not lost a single pound.

So what's a girl to do? Well, a week ago, I read an article (I have no idea what the link is, because I followed that article up with about seventy billion more articles on the same subject) regarding elimination diets. One of the premiere doctors in the field is Dr. John Mansfield, who is an allergist and who has penned two books on the subject--one concerning food sensitivities and how they exacerbate osteoarthritis and another merely on how food sensitivities can affect your weight loss. I honed in on the latter book, entitled "The Six Secrets of Successful Weight Loss."

I was intrigued, but the only way to really know what was really in the book was to buy it. I thought about purchasing it off Amazon, but since this book is primarily released in the UK, I didn't know how long it would take me to receive it. So I downloaded Kindle for my PC, then I bought the book for ten buckaroos.

The basic premise is the six secrets, which I'll touch upon later. MY main focus in this book was that we all have food sensitivities that are preventing us from reaching our goal weights because our body is constantly having to readjust for these foods that we aren't supposed to be eating. Although I hated human physiology in college, I did somehow manage to receive my degree in Toxicology, and I knew all about the cortisol reaction--you introduce a stressor (e.g.: in this case, a food you have a sensitivity to) into your system, your body freaks out, your body releases cortisol, and cortisol (necessary and magical thing in its own right) tries to put everything to rights. However, time and time again, studies have shown that when cortisol is constantly relied upon to fix all of your troubles, it eventually leads to problems with your pituitary glands, your thyroid function, and your subsequent fat distribution.

After downloading this book, I was highly impressed at how Dr. Mansfield breaks everything down. I decided to embark upon this elimination diet to see if it could help me. I certainly wouldn't mind knowing all the foods I'm sensitive to, and I think it would help me in the long run with regards to my overall health and progress in the gym.

Because what's the point of busting your ass in the gym if you're not going to see results????

A little about me + goals/measurements

Although I've blogged before, I've been strictly anonymous and like to write about my rants and raves. I've been wanting to write more about my progress to getting back into shape, but my other blog is not the venue in which others may appreciate it. Therefore, I created this blog to foster a sense of accountability in my workouts, to track my achievements and failures, and also to possibly help others as they try to achieve their own goals.

I'm a lawyer by trade, although since I've graduated from law school and passed the bar, I've been woefully unemployed. I'm from the great state of Louisiana, where the general attitude is that people live to eat, rather than eat to live. I'm unashamedly of the former group, and will not lie--I lerrrrve food. I'm not in terrible shape, and I'm not overweight or anything more than average. But I'm tired of being average. I want to look great. I want to feel great. And I want to do so in such a manner than is SUSTAINABLE, not just something that happens once a year after I cut out ALL THE THINGS that I want to eat. 

I will admit that I've gained about five pounds since I graduated from law school, and I don't like it. I'm five foot two, and five pounds shows up. This was the main motivator to get back into the gym, but now I think I really need to kick it into high gear. I'll be posting some pictures of me in a swimsuit in the next few days so as to watch my progress, and my weight/measurements/goals are listed below.

Goals:

(1) Eliminate overly-processed foods from my diet 6 days out of the week. 

(2) Cook at home more often. 

(3) Lose about ten pounds.

(4) Eventually see lower ab definition.

(5) Identify food sensitivities and work to avoid them.

(6) Experiment with diverse foods.

(7) Get to less than 20% body fat. 

Body Part Measured	01/19/2013
Weight	118
Chest	33
Waist	25.25
Hips	37
Bicep (unflexed)	L: 10         R: 10
Bicep (flexed)	L: 10.75    R: 10.75
Calf	13
Thigh (top)	L: 21.5      R: 22
Thigh (above knee)	15
BMI	21.6