Tuesday, July 19, 2011

CSD - Week 2

I am happy, happy, happy!!  For the first time in a long while, I have been happy, optimistic and pleased with where I am in life for several days in a row without a end-of-the-world crash!  Why you ask?  Well I have to say that I really think I found the motivation and steps to get me to keep going and make a change.  Following a way of eating that is compassionate and about being in tune with my body, cravings and emotions as well as following a plan to turn my negative thoughts to positive ones has really had an effect on how I feel and think!  On top of that, it hasn't been as hard as I thought it might be.  Don't get me wrong it has taken dedication to get up early every morning to do my yoga, affirmations and mediation when my husband is still lying in bed sleeping.  And I have had to make sure I am aware of my thoughts and have had to fight a few nagging negatives away, but it hasn't been a painful journey.  I know that it was probably easier because I was already vegan and have tried several time before to turn my thoughts upside down and be positive all the time, but the way Kris writes has really helped me too.  Her writing is humors and she includes fun words and phrases that make me smile, but she also writes in a way that pushes you to try what she suggests without any judgment; if you fall or falter, just dust yourself off and keep on going because we are all human and NO ONE is perfect :)

Though my intent was to blog everyday and chart my "progress," my daily routine has been pretty much the same (as far as the CSD goes) and what I have learned over the past two weeks can be summed up as well. (Though I do wish there were times I could "download" my thoughts to my blog and expand on them later because I feel that my enlightenment moments happen when I am away from a computer, with no writing instrument or paper and I often just stumble upon them and can't quite remember them later.  This usually happens when I am exercising and it is just me and my thoughts).

  • Wake up around 7ish, give or take a few depending on when I get to bed.  I have been trying to get 8 hours of sleep every night!
  • Drink my glass of water with a little fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper
  • 25 minute morning yoga routine
  • 5-10 minutes of reading the goals for the day and saying the daily prayer and affirmation.  (Though I am not religious, my prayers are to Mother Nature and as I say them I picture myself in a beautiful forest feeling the effects of my prayer).
  • 15 minutes of mediation.  This hasn't really gotten much easier.  My thoughts still wander, but I'm not going to give it up!  I downloaded some guided meditations and have added a candle for me to focus on.  I also would like to make a shrine so that I am not staring at our TV.
  • After waking up my sleeping husband, I make my morning green smoothie to which I have added strawberries and a date and removed celery to make it a little sweeter and less green tasting.  I couldn't down the pure green smoothies any more.  Again, if I had a juicer it may be a different story.  I think the texture would make a difference.
  • I drink my smoothie as I get our lunches ready.  My lunch includes a big salad with lots of goodies on it and lately has also been a sweet potato and black bean burger with cumin avocado spread, both homemade and both delicious!
  • After that, I have found that I need a little more fuel to get through to lunch, especially on the days that I cycle at noon, so I have a small bowl of oatmeal with some dried mango.
  • Then it is off to work or whatever else the day has in store.  My aloe water comes along with me too, and I sip on that until noon or so.
  • Monday and Wednesdays I cycle at noon, so I have a snack before I go and make sure I bring my homemade energy bars for after.  I tried going to a cycling class last week without eating beforehand, and I was zapped 15 minutes in to the 45 minute class.  It was a struggle to keep my legs going for the whole class, so I don't do that anymore :)
  • Other days, I eat my lunch around noon and have a snack around 2 or 3.  When I don't cycle, I usually work out in the afternoon and come home to dinner.
  • Dinner has been lots of different things, but the other night I had orange glazed tempeh with quinoa and steamed veggies which was de-licious!  Tonight I made Indian lentil dalh and had it over the rest of the quinoa!
  • After dinner snack has been vanilla chia seed pudding and sometimes a single square of dark chocolate.  (I went a whole week without chocolate just to prove I didn't need it!)
  • I am trying to be done eating by 7, er 7:30 (sometimes I don't sit down to eat until 7), but I am often hungry before bed and gab a cracker or too to calm the rumbles enough to sleep.
  • The nettimeds!!  The only downside is that I think my jaw forgot what to do when it is closed, so I have found that I hold it funny and it starts to hurt.  I am trying to be more conscious of how my jaw is aligned during the day, but I know when I am not paying attention I hold my bottom jaw jetted slightly forward and to the left.  I am hoping it will fix itself in time.
  • I am also trying to remember to dry brush before a shower, but I often forget.  Even moving the brush to the counter hasn't helped jogged my memory!  I have done it a few times and it feels really good and I can see the dry skin flaking off.  I hope it helps with my unevenly dry skin and brings out the radiantly beautiful me underneath!
  • Bed time come around 10, so that we can be to sleep by 11 to get those 8 hours of beauty sleep in! 
Now what come of all this?  Is it something I feel that I can continue on with, or will it be a 3 week adventure with an end?  How has it helped and what changes have I seen?  Well I want to answer all these questions, and I will, but that clock has crept up on me and it's time to hit the hay!  Tune in tomorrow to hear how my negative Nancy has turned into a positive patty!  And how it has really opened up my mind, my spirit and my heart!

Good night and good health!

CSD - Fasting

When I left off last time, I was excited to try my first fasting day.  That was the weekend before last.  Since then I have completed two fasting days!  My first fasting day started out with a not so tasty green smoothie.  I was at the in-laws with out my vita-mix, but I still had hope, and I put the regular blender up to the test of greens!  After a some changing of speeds and stopping and pushing things down, I had a whirling green concoction.  Knowing that it was better to have juice than a smoothie, I attempted to stain my mix though a sieve, but the holes were too large, and the fiber went right through.  I could tell before drinking it that it was not as smooth as I was used to, but I wasn't going to blow off my first fasting day just because we were away from home!  So I drank it, well I drank 4/5 of it anyway.  When it came down to the last big swig, I couldn't do it anymore.  It was still kind of chunky and fibrous-y, and not very appetizing.  Needless to say, I was feeling quite famished and hungry by the time he headed for home around noon.  So we made a quick stop at the local co-op and I purchased Columbia Gorge's green Vita Seed drink (though Kris says that these are not as good as fresh because they have been sitting on the shelf and flash pasteurized, it had to do) and a small herbal tea.  Neither one tasted that great, but I drank them anyway.  By the time we got home, all I wanted was solid food.  But I held tight and had another green smoothie, which I have to say was hard to choke down.  Having a juicer at this point would have been really nice.  Kris's sample juicing fast day consists of 5-6 juices over the course of the day, one every 2-3 hours.  With the filling nature of the smoothie, there was no way I was going to be able to drink that many.  Plus, I may have been able to change up the flavors enough that it wouldn't have been so monotonous.  Once dinner time hit, I couldn't do it anymore.  Though I was shooting for a whole day, I was hungry and would have rather not eaten than drink another green drink, so I opted for a raw soup and some lightly steamed veggies with some toasted sesame oil and salt to stick with the fasting idea.  The steamed veggies were delicious, but the soup was, well, not.  I am not a big fan of liquid soup and I wasn't crazy about the flavor, but I finished it anyway like a good girl.  Though it wasn't the most fun day, I did learn that I can really control what I eat and I have the power to choose what I put in my body.  I also found that even though I was hungry and wanted something to chew on, I wanted good wholesome food like fruit and veggies or whole grains.  I didn't want sweets and junk, in fact they sounded about as good as another green drink, made in the regular blender!

My second fast day was a little better, but I also cheated at the end. I followed the green smoothie/drink trend until dinner like last time.  I also purchased a large bottle of Bottlehouse Farms Green Goodness to change up the flavors of the day.  Again, I really wished I had a juicer to really try the juice fast, but that will have to wait until we have the budget and counter space to buy one and store one!  For dinner I tried miso soup with kale, carrots, garlic and onion, all minced, thrown in to add some texture, and steamed veggies with toasted sesame oil and salt.  Again the veggies were good (because I like steamed veggies and toasted sesame oil) and the soup was alright.  I don't think I put in enough miso, and it was just too runny for me, but I finished it again like a good girl.  After dinner I took a short walk to get in my "god pod" maintenance (exercise) on which I called some old friends I have been meaning to call for a very long time now and keep putting it off.  Though I wasn't able to chat with anyone, I left messages and felt great afterward! Since, I have had a great conversation with one (my ex-high-school-boyfriend of 6 years who I hadn't talked to in 2 and half years) and scheduled to chat with my former volleyball coach sometime later this week!  When I got back home, I was hungry enough that I knew I wouldn't be able to go to bed, so I had a couple snacks, but I tried to keep them simple and easy to digest.  I had a cup of vanilla chia seed pudding that I had made the day before and a piece of fruit.  Again, the day was not easy, but it was nice to know that I was doing my body good!  And I felt really "cleansed" of the nagging voice in my head telling me "call your friends!"  "get over yourself and call!"

I'm not sure how fasting day # 3 will go, or if I will even do it.  But I know that once I get a juicer I would like to make it part of my routine, weather it is once a week or once a month, I think it does a body good!

Monday, July 18, 2011

On blogging

I have discovered that I do not have the time or desire to blog everyday.  Or maybe that isn't necessarily true.  I would like to blog everyday, and I could make the time for it, but when it comes down to it I haven't been doing it long enough to have worked it into my daily schedule.  I started this blog to help keep me on track and keep me going on my (hopefully final big) weight loss get fit challenge as I explored new ways of eating and exercising.  I figured that if I blogged every night, it would keep me on track.  The truth is I haven't needed the blog to help keep me accountable, so I haven't really stressed it.  Like I said, it's not part of my routine, so often times it gets to the evening time and I a) forget, b) really just want to sit and relax on the couch after cooking and cleaning up dinner, or c) have something else that I want to work on or get done.  I also know that when I sit down to write, it isn't going to be a quick 15 min right before bed type project.  I like to write and I like to explain, so the blog gets longer and times goes by and I have only hit the highlights of the first half of my day, phew!  Though I wish I had blogged everyday, I am not in anyway disappointed that I didn't (or I am trying really hard to convince myself that) or feel that I let my self down (again working on the convincing part, and though I say that, I am actually doing really well (: ) Another point of this blog was to be able to get my thoughts and such written (or typed) down as sort of a journal.  So far, I have been more successful with this than my hand written journal.  Plus I have been a lot more excited for this as well!  I am also excited about the future this blog could have as I start showcasing my yummy cooking, fun crafts or pretty pictures!  I have found that I am getting more in touch, or back in touch rather, with my creative side! (More on that in the next post, hopefully later tonight, but possibly tomorrow!)  I also know that I like to share what I have accomplished with others, and this blog will allow me to do just that!  Even if it is only those closest to me, I still like the idea of sharing!  Any-who-doddles, look for more from me soon on the progress of my Crazy, Sexy Diet!

Peace and health!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

CSD - Day 6

I woke up with the sun this morning (well almost), I was up at 7:30 without an alarm.  It was nice to be up earlier on the weekend with nothing that needed to be done!  I could take it easy and go at my own pace.  My "focus" for the day was helpful, but would have been much appreciated a couple days ago!  Kris reminded me that detox may cause emotional symptoms including irritability and depression, especially if you happen to be on your period!  Oh man, that was me a couple days ago!  My affirmation today was also what I needed to help me stay strong: "every step is a victory, every fall a lesson.  Either way I am improving now"which is so true in this journey and in life.

I wasn't able to make to try out the green juice in the blender this morning, but I will try tomorrow because it is my first fasting day!  I got to go to the Newport farmers market today and got some good local produce that I am excited to use this next week in some yummy recipes!  The farmers market trip was followed by a wonderful yoga class that was focusing on clarity, but with playful spin so that we weren't too ridged.  What a wonderful idea for at this point!  I struggle all the time with trying to "do everything right" and not be to uptight about everything at the same time.  The class involved a lot of standing poses which made my legs tired, but was very relaxing at the same time.  I enjoyed it a lot!  I wish I could go to a yoga class everyday!  Like I mentioned yesterday, I enjoy a room full of people doing the same poses with me, especially when we sing or chant like we did today!

We spent the afternoon on the beach at our nephew's pirate birthday party and it was a beautiful day!  It was fun watching the kids run around finding buried treasure and enjoying the sun.  I took the time to walk down to the water and enjoyed a moment by myself.  I let the waves lick my feet as I let my surroundings overtake me.  The sound of the ocean was all I heard, the waves rolling in and out was hypnotic and the sun in the bright blue sky reflecting off the water in sparkles was beautiful.  I could have watched the water for hours.  I took time to appreciate the wonderful day and took the time to realize how lucky I am to be able to do everything that I do and have such a wonderful family.  I though of all the people I think are so happy and tell stories of all the fun things they get to do, and I realized that I am in one of those moments, I just have to chose to see it that way.  I have the choice to see things how I want them. All it is is a mindset.  I can choose to see things in positive light and be happy about what I am doing and choose to remember things how I want to.  I wrote peace, love, and happiness in the sand with accompanying pictures and I thought about good happy thoughts.

The day was great and I am excited about my first fasting day.  I will probably try a raw soup at the end of the day :)

Peace and Love!!!

Friday, July 8, 2011

CSD - Day 5

Don't have much time, but today had been good!

I got up a little earlier so that I would have more time to focus on positive thoughts this morning.  It felt good to focus on being positive and I visualized my day going well and me doing everything "right".

I got to be in my garden for 3 hours today and be in the sun, which was very relaxing and nice!

Then I got a big salad at the co op which was delicious!  I also found some good local fruits and veggies for the weekend and this next week. Yum!

As I go to bed, I feel good and happy.  I did yoga, meditated, had a relaxing day with no agenda and no expectations, I worked on being more positive, ate well, didn't eat very much tonight and am ready for bed!

We are at the coast this weekend visiting the in-laws with a beach, pirate, 6-year old birthday party on the agenda for tomorrow afternoon.  Before that though, I plan on being up early (even though it is the weekend) and then heading to yoga with my mother-in-law!  A real treat!  I love yoga classes and really enjoy being in a room of people doing the same thing as me with a real teacher.  Plus the room is very relaxing and "yoga-like"  I am also planning on having my morning green drink, but we will see how it goes because I am with out my Vita Mix.  Just a standard blender.  We'll see how it handles my romaine leaves and cucumber!

Good night, good health, and positive and happy thoughts!!

CSD - day 4

Day 3 got a little better.  I played volleyball for a bout an hour and half, and I was tired by the end and I ended up eating my dinner when I got home and ate well into the evening :(  I really need to get better at the not eating anything after 7 or 8 in the evening (three hours before bed).  This is the hardest part for me.  I am an emotional evening eater.  I can do well all day and then it hits about 7 or so and I just want to stand in the kitchen and snack.  I feel hungry and emotional hungry at the same time.  I zone out and just eat whatever tastes good, but sometimes nothing really hits the spot.

Now, day 4.  It was interesting.  It was filled with work and birthday celebrations, so I was busy and didn't have time to prepare all my food like I wanted, but I made due.  Then it came to the evening time and I ate. I also had some negative thoughts issues.  I started my period, which I have discovered delivers me at least one day of depression where all my thoughts are filled with why I fall short in all areas of my life.  I gave in for a while, but then I tried to turn it around.  It was hard, and I still had lots of bad thoughts, but I tried and it helped a bit.  I know that this habit will take a while to break because it is something that I have had all my 23 years of life to create it and prefect to a T.  I am so good at "knowing all the bad thinks that others are thinking about me": I'm fat, I'm stupid, I'm dumb, I look awful, I'm too quite, I don't work hard enough.....etc......All the things that I think I need to improve on in my life, I project into all these other peoples thoughts too and then it just reinforces my own thoughts....and the cycle continues.  When I'm in the middle of the downward spiral I really want to change it because I feel like a low life, but it sounds like so much work.  Then when I feel better, well I feel better and don't feel like there is anything to change.  Sigh, I have to pick up big girl pants and take steps to fix it.  It runs my life more that I think I would like to admit.  I thought about going to a councilor now for about five years, but I can never bring myself to do it because I know that it will be a lot of work, and really painful--lots of tears and heartache.  But, I know I'm going to need help to do it, and it will have to come eventually.

I went to bed less than satisfied, but I also reminded myself that I can start fresh in the morning and do better tomorrow.  Kris reminds people in the book to not just give up when something goes wrong, just get back up and try again.  I am such a perfectionist that this concept is sometimes hard for me to follow because I want to do it all right all the time, the first time.  Then I equated it trying to run 3 miles outright after not running for a period of time.  You can't just go out and do it.  You have to work up to it and keep trying.  I think I am doing pretty good for trying to make several changes at once and am feeling pretty good how I feel making those changes.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

CSD - Day 3

Well after an interesting and hot night, I was up and at'em at 7:15 with my water, yoga and meditation.  All I wanted to do was curl up and go back to sleep, but I forged on.  Mediation was difficult this morning.  My mind was not having it.  I could focus on my breath for a few inhales and exhales, but then the planning would creep in....volleyball drills, what I'm having for dinner tonight, etc.  At one point I reminded myself that Kris mentioned that even though your mind may not cooperate, it's still important that you show up.  So I fought, I mean gently tired to reign my mind back in, for 15 minutes.  I am feeling very tired and foggy today.  I feel like I need to eat more because I am so tired, but nothing really sounds that great.  It was hard today to drink my green juice for breakfast.  It was rather large and tasted like celery and green.  Not that it was bad, just not really what I was wanting this morning.  I drank away at it as I got ready and finished almost all of it.  I had to pack a bigger cooler and a second water bottle today to fit all my goodies in.  The second water bottle was for my aloe water and the cooler was filled with snacks and lunch.  I was planning on going on a run after I finished up at work, but I don't know that I will have the energy to put one foot in front of the other.  I don't necessarily feel tied, but like my body needs to rest.  My head feels like it is swimming in a cloud.  Toady is hump day, I hope tomorrow is a little easier.  I also feel like my thoughts here are very fragmented, but it is hard to put into words how I feel.  It is kind of strange and almost alien.  I think I will head home and take a nap before heading to Albany to coach some VB.  They have conditioning today so I think that will be my workout for today.  I will give cycling a try again tomorrow.  If I have time tonight to give an update on how I am feeling, I will check back in.

One last note before I head out, I was looking around the CrazySexyLife website and found a smoothie recipe that sounds good: avocado, mint, cucumber, a bit of kale, and a sprinkle of stevia.  Sounds creamy and refreshing.  I think I will try that as my afternoon pick me up before I head to Albany.

Peace, love and health!

Crazy Sexy Diet - Day 2

Day 2 was a bit harder than day 1.  Day one I was at home cooking all day.  I got in all my meals, snacks, water and the like.  I even completed my hour long track repeat workout and felt strong.  Day 2 I felt a little drained and it was harder to live off just my smoothie until noon.  It could be from the detox, or it could have been that I ran between 8:30 and 9:30 at night, burned 700 calories, and then ate only a snack and went to bed, or possibly a little of both :)  Nonetheless, I woke up early,drank my lemon and cayenne water and did my yoga and mediation.  Yoga always feels good in the morning, and I felt like my mediation was pretty good too.  Only a few wandering thoughts here and there, but my body is still ready to be done after 15 minutes (or actually more like 10) as my back starts to cramp and my knees start to ache.  Then it was off to my garden on my bike where I water in the sun for about a half hour.  I brought along a homemade energy bar which I hungrly ate before heading over to my 45 minute cycling class.  I thought that I would need more, but I wanted to stick with the "green juice only until noon" recommendation.  The cycling teacher made up a workout that was too hard, but I also hit a wall about 20 minutes in and struggled to even try to keep up for the rest of the time, but I pushed through and finished!  The bike ride home was a slow and tired one, but my body was happy to get food once I got in the door.  I then decided I cannot do a noon work out running only on a green smoothie. I was pretty tired the rest of the day, but able to do what I need to.  However, I think I was starting to feel the effects of the detox: a little nauseated, weak muscles, foggy brain, and a headache.  I slept hard and was quite out of it when I woke up in the middle of the night.  My husband said he woke up to me being wide awake and staring, which I don't remember. He kept asking me if I was alright, and I remember thinking "why does he keep asking me that?  Am I acting weird?"  I don't remember what I was doing, but he said it was weird.  Detox? Exhaustion? not sure?

Monday, July 4, 2011

Crazy Sexy Diet - Day 1

So I finally got my books last week and I started up the Crazy Sexy Diet today!  I have to get to bed soon so I can make sure that I get my 8 hours of beauty rest, but here is a quick run down of my day....

I had a glass of water with lemon juice and a dash of cayenne to start my day.  I then followed that up with a 20 minute yoga session and 15 minute meditation session complete with prayer, affirmations and blessings.  Following that was a cup of green jasmine tea and I sipped on a liter of water with 2 oz of aloe vera juice until noonish.  I had my first green juice/smoothie (I don't have a juicer, just a vita mix) this morning and it wasn't bad!

Lunch was tofu "egg" salad on GF bread (salad was good, bread was interesting) and veggies.  My snack was an orange karma juice from Jamba Juice and some GF edimame crackers.

Dinner was steamed veggies with quinoa and a thi "peanut" sauce, which was delicious!

I even got a good run workout in following the "run less, run faster" plan and felt good.

I did a lot a food prep today and feel good about being prepared for a busy week!

The netti pot is going well and is really helping me breath better, especially during my workouts!

I was continuous of my thoughts today reminding myself to be positive and take time to live in the moment.

More on my experiences tomorrow!

Good night and good health!