Permanent Change

I have been away and didn't blog for a couple of weeks. During this time I had to settle in. One of the main things I've learned in life is that during transition and change I tend to think it's not a big deal but it is. It takes time for me, my body, my psychology to settle in. Even when I think I am not doing much physically, my body still goes through change and has to adjust. Just like when I started C25K training in June and didn't think I was doing much when my body was sending me signals, I did it again this month. 

I have started eating differently and changed my workout to T-Tapp. I had a big reaction in form of crazy cravings. I've gained 8 pounds but in the past few days realized that I am going through an adjustment. Some of them are water gain since I've already dropped 3 pounds in 3 days. 

My main focus is on getting myself moving. Muscle burns calories in rest state (while fat doesn't of course ;-) ), I want to gain muscle. I bought a fat analyzer. I am at about 30% fat and BMI of 24. Which is probably ok but I would like to be at 24-25% fat. I have taken my body measures and will measure again in a week. T-Tapp states that typical results are in body measurement reduction, they do not weight. I will measure myself on Friday. I am already feeling my butt muscles since I do the Hoe Downs twice a day and do the Basic Workout 6 times a week. Now that I am stronger I would like to start the more advanced exercise 2-3 times a week (I also want some variety in my exercise). I din the Hoe Downs really good at getting my heart rate going and eliminating craving/appetite. I make sure to do them in the evening, an hour after dinner so that I don't crave an evening snack. I really don't want to eat before going to bed. I eat a very hearty good dinner around 7 pm and try to get to bed around 10pm, my body doesn't really need anything to eat, it needs rest. 

MF was a really good program that taught me healthy eating habit and got me moving. There are 2 bad habits that MF doesn't address in my humble opinion. Night snack and sweet tooth. With the 6 meals a day we all love our night snack before bed. The big variety of sweet and chocolaty items keeps us all in the sweet habit. 

One option is of course to keep using the meal replacements, so you limit the intake but since I opted out in favor of natural foods I decided to address both these habits and change them. 

So for the past few weeks I have been making sure to not eat after dinner. The Hoe Downs are very helpful as well as herbal tea and just plain water. 

I have also reduced my coffee intake to 1 in the morning. No more decaff in the afternoon and usually no second cup of coffee. I believe it is an appetite stimulant for me. 

I am also doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox. Basically no sweets. I do allow myself a square of 90% or higher chocolate square once or twice a week but now don't really need it. I have a few recipes for treats that are made with coconut butter, almond butter, coconut oil and unsweetened cocoa powder. That does it for me. I do use green banana in pancakes (pumpkin ones so far), muffins and yesterday made a avocado, banana, coconut milk and unsweetened cocoa powder mouse. I eat one small green apple most days. That's it. I must say I do not have cravings since I've started this detox. I am not tempted and do not have crazy appetite. 

So what do I eat you might ask? 

I have to cook A LOT! I try to plan it and am working on making my menu easier. Because I have a family to feed and want my kids to eat healthy I don't see how I can reduce my cooking workload. 

On Monday I did a cooking party. I made Salmon Cakes http://balancedbites.com/2010/12/easy-recipe-grain-free-salmon-cakes.html that lasted me until today, I had them for breakfast with zucchini carrot quiche from the book Practical Paleo half tomatoe and about quarter avocado. 

I also had Pumpkin Pancakes, although I had only 2 of them, my kids gobbled all the rest of the batch. http://balancedbites.com/2012/10/easy-recipe-pumpkin-pancakes-from-practical-paleo.html 

I usually do not feel hungry after such a breakfast until lunch when I have some protein with veggies. like coleslaw or broccoli slaw with tahini instead of mayo. I have started making my own mayo although I don't make it very often. I do prefer tahini http://www.elanaspantry.com/sesame-dip/ I don't use the sesame seeds in the end and I do add parsley and dill.  

I eat plenty of vegetables, whatever I can fit on my plate ;-) green beans, this week I discovered french mini carrots at TJ in the frozen section. Made them with ghee and 21 seasoning. Yum. 

I eat squash few times a week, now that it's season. 

In the afternoon I do need a snack, usually around 4 pm. I have a hard boiled egg, salmon jerkey (I keep looking for jerkey without sugar and soy but it is hard, there are few Paleo options but they are pricey and I am not sure I will go there. It's easy to make but takes hours in the oven on low heat or required dehydrator which I do not want to purchase), smoked salmon, green apple with 10 almonds or macadamia nuts, a little but coconut flakes, sometimes dark chocolate square or chocolate almond butter cup http://balancedbites.com/2011/10/chocolate-almond-butter-cups.html

That usually keeps me until dinner when I have more protein and veggies, what we call L&G only I eat more greens.

I've added more fat to my diet. Healthy fat like butter, macadamia nut oil, coconut oil, coconut butter, flax oil. 

I make sure to drink A LOT!!!! 

I realized that all water that has artificial sweetener or citric acid is not good for me. My body is so clean now that every little artificial ingredient upsets and creates a reaction, usually craving for sweet or food. I am not drinking Propel Zero or Ice Water. Just sticking to Hint, TJ bubbly water with lime/lemon and Crystal. I drink a lot of green tea before 4pm and in the afternoon herbal decaf tea and water. 

another good habit I picked up on MF. 

I think I am finally getting settled in my new eating habits. 

Need to make sure to move. I do the T-Tapp workout almost dauly but don't do my 10K steps daily and I would like to focus on this. Making sure I meet the 10K steps daily goal 7 days a week. I noticed that when I get lax about it, usually on Saturday I tend to slack off, so my goal is to make sure I walk daily. It translates to just 30 minutes of walk a day since without it I get to about 6-7k steps. I started walking to the produce store in the morning when my husband takes the girls to school. It's about a 1/2 hour walk and I have a purpose, I buy few things, not too much so it's not heavy for me to carry, I take my backpack with me, and just move. 

Well, this is it for today I will try to keep blogging on a regular basis.