Thursday, January 31, 2013

Dating, Exercise, Paleo, & All That Jazz!

Whew January is already over! I am shocked as to how fast the month went by!! Seriously shocked! Its been a good but busy month as usual! :-) And of course I wouldn't have it any other way!

In fact I just got back froM the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival! No, not Jamaica, Queens lol Jamaica, Jamaica! What a great trip! Mary J Blige, John Legend, Monica, Dionne Warwick, and a host of other acts were there! I had suchhh a good time! Got lots of time in at the beach and just really relaxed and enjoyed myself I had a great workout with my cousin's personal trainer! I was sore up until yesterday! Ouch! Good stuff!!

My workouts have not been as consistent as they should be but this is the week to get it back on track! And here's the first step! The Paleo Diet! Have you heard of it? Well I didn't before last week or so myself!

In short the Paleo "Diet" the healthiest diet that mimics the diets of our caveman ancestors , includes meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

A soror started posting information about it and sent a great document she put together and I was hooked! When I got back from Jamaica I was up 7 freakin pounds I knew not to full on panic b/c of traveling but I was not pleased about even SEEING the next weight zipcode
So I decided to start on it yesterday instead of the February 1st date a group of us agreed on!

I copied an pasted from WW so sorry the margins are a wee bit off but as you can see I was UNDER my daily points target! If you have been here any amount of time you knowwwww I struggled with staying ON POINT furthermore under! I was not hungry, no cravings, and I had room for a trail mix snack later on that night and STILL I was under!


Day 1 Looked like this:

Breakfast:

Food Tracker
Daily Target: 34
PointsPlus values
Morning
1 medium grapefruit(s)
0
1 item(s) whole hard-boiled egg(s)
2
1/2 cup(s) pineapple
0
1/2 cup(s) cantaloupe
0
1/2 cup(s) alfalfa sprouts
0
1/2 cup(s) cucumber(s)
0
Midday
3 oz grilled chicken breast fillet(s)
3
1/2 cup(s) uncooked bell pepper(s)
0
1/2 cup(s) drained canned beets
0
1 serving(s) Veggies Red Onions
0
1/4 medium fresh tomato(es)
0
1/8 cup(s) sunflower seeds
3
1/8 cup(s) raisins
2
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1
2 1/2 cup Del Monte Fresh Cut Whole Leaf Spinach
0
1 tbsp Monini Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Rosemary
4
Evening
1 serving(s) Trail mix
4
1 medium apple Wegmans Food You Feel Good About Apples, Organic, Pink Lady
0
1 serving(s) Roasted Dill Carrots
1
1 serving(s) eggplant casserole
5
Anytime
30 kernel(s) shelled pistachio nuts
3
1 medium orange(s)
0

Activity Earned


I FEEL GREAT ABOUT PALEO!!!! On Weight Watchers fruit and veggies are zero points and since that's mostly what I had and I did not have my usual snacks of cheese, yogurt, or chips, etc my points were low AND I felt full! I am excited! Today is my day 2 and so far I have had:
Breakfast -Almonds
Eggplant casserole (yes for breakfast)
Snack: Trail mix
            Pistachios
Lunch: Homemade chicken and veggie soup
            Grapefruit

I have logged it into my WW tracker yet but at a quick glance its about 19 points? And usually by 3pm at work I am over my points and still hungry! Let me tell you I am sitting on swole right now! My goal is to drink close to a gallon a day of water and I been doing well! Someone posted something that jogged my memory about a trick I used to do. I keep water in my car so I would drink 16 oz on my way to work to give me a head start so I am back to doing that again!

I have found lots of resources and the trick will be to cook and plan my menu... Humm sounds familiar lol just like Weight Watchers! So its not super new, its not Atkins, its really just a new way of looking at how you treat your body. I think its a great idea and we all need to mix it up from time to time! So join me!  I will post some links below

Fit Bomb

Jens Gone Paleo

Paleo OMG

Check them out! Even if you don't go all the way in there are some great healthy recipes in there!


On the exercise front: Tonight- Body Pump and Spin if I feel up to it! I want to get 3 Body Pump classes in a week!
Friday: Date (we'll come back to that)
Saturday: Extreme Kickboxing
Sunday: Chrch, Body Pump and Spinning and 5 Superbowl Parties! Don't ask!
Monday: I need to get a hold of my personal trainer and see about a session its been months!!!
Tuesday: I teach and work so maybe abs at home
Weds: Spinning

Welll dating! I am back at it! New Guy #1 -I have a first date Friday night we have had a few good phone calls and he seems interesting likes to travel, in fact he is headed to Cuba with his son in December! Sweet right?! So we'll see how the chemistry works after that. He swims 3 days a week and seems to keep pretty busy socially going to games (he's a season ticket holder) and seems really committed to his career and his son's future. So I am looking forward to it!

Guy #2- We have exchanged a plethora of text messages and finally I had to say is there some reason we still have not had a conversation yet? That promoted him to call however I was at my Junior League meeting. I hung out afterwards with some friends and he texted sounding kinda salty that he guessed I was busy so he will try again tomorrow. To which I replied ok. He lives like 5 blocks from me that's how small the world is I just think he should have done more in terms of asking me out by now BUT I know how this game is played so he probably is getting his "starting five" together too lol so I aint mad! He is doing a workout routine Tap Out and he really likes it offered to give me a free copy...Now I dunno if he's trying to call me chunky or what *insert side eye* lol but I will take the free bee and see what happens. lol

So nothing really to report other than my hiatus is over... :-) I am claiming 2013 to be my year in terms of finding my soulmate so I am expecting great things in the next few months!

Pictures below of my adventures!! I'll keep a good diary of my Paleo food and do a whole Paleo post in about 2 weeks with the results and the tips you can use to learn more! :-)


Leaving Maryland

JA land that we love

Breakfast

Jamaica Jazz and Blues Fest!

coconut water!

RUM punch

Eschovic Fish and Bammy

Peanut cake

Apple JA style

No breaks on vacay

Great view from the gym!!!

Sunday dinner at Grandma's

With my cousins at the concert

Paleo on a whim Day1

Paleo lunch Day1

Paleo dinner day 1


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Dying for Chocolate and hot buttery popcorn…

I am dying for some chocolate and hot buttery popcorn…

The nerve right? Been MIA for forever and my return post is a Foodie craving confession! Yup that’s about right!

So much has been going on I don’t even know where to begin! Well for the title! I was sitting here texting back and forth with my Mother and immediately I had the urge to go buy some chocolate! Identifying triggers has always been something I did AFTER the fact so I am glad that when the feeling hit I registered it and did some deep breathing!

I fought the urge earlier to get lasagna from the cafeteria and stick with my bagged lunch which was peppercorn chicken and my now Facebook famous cabbage bake!

 I swear its like every minute it’s a battle! I know I shouldn’t claim that but that’s what it feels like...like a series of mini test and I am walking a tight rope.

I went back to Weight Watchers and I’ve actually gained weight lol I shouldn’t lol but I swear who does that?

I did better with getting back on track but its like 2 great steps forward then I backslide! Like Monday I went to do some community service and I made sure I had a hearty breakfast of steele cut oats, I took a pear, and some pistachios, had water, then we went out to eat afterwards and I got a bacon cheeseburger, season fries, and a pancake (yes just one I shared the other one with someone else)! My mind said you are at a diner go for it! SMH!

I am doing a daily gratitude post on Facebook and last week I posted about gaining four pounds in a week and I know why because I can’t do like everybody else the scale is quick with me! Likewise if I do right I don’t really plateau like other folks either.

So that is a good thing.

I know I didn’t mediate, journal my feelings, exercise, plan my meals, or do anything to lose or even maintain my weight so the four pounds was a reminder. A few days later I was back down on the scale by doing a handful of right things like journaling and exercising. I felt good about that!

Well its Tuesday and I feel like I am walking a tight rope. Every minute is a choice. And one of the things I learned which is very powerful is every right choice I make, makes me stronger in this journey. So its like working out the more cardio I do the better cardio endurance I have. My appetite and my mental fortitude, are like muscles so I have to keep strengthening them to win and lose weight consistently.

So today I had several mini victories
1)      Steele cut oats for breakfast
2)      An apple for a snack
3)      64 oz of water already
4)      A healthy lunch
5)      Fruit and pop chips over chocolate and hot buttery popcorn  


I teach tonight but I would be so bad azz if I went to the gym after work! I am not sure if I have workout clothing in my car but I will check, and I will check back to let you know what I did!!!

I want to thank everyone for their support! I have gotten a few emails recently form readers and I appreciate the support so much! ;-)

 Like I said its been crazy busy but here are a few pics of what I've been busy doing!!

Christmas Bruch with my Sorors!



MLK Day of Service

AKA International Vice President
Got a lil partying in
Volunteering at the Maryland Food Bank for MLK Day..A Day ON and not off! Whew!
Sorors were generous!
And got a workout in
AKA's International Founders day in Bmore Lead on sorting over 10,000 items!