Bring on the 2012

Is there anyone else that enjoys New Years more than Christmas?  There is much less planning, drama and stress.  I'm the kind of person who is always thinking ahead, so I revel in the thought of what I would like to happen in the months to come.  Some of my friends, even my husband tell me that dealing with the present is exhausting, too exhausting in fact to look to the future, they make me feel strange for being this way, but I find joy in it, so I think it's a good thing.

This is by far my most memorable New Years Eve day - I ran my first race, a 5k, which happened to be right in my own neighborhood.   I never thought I would be capable of running in any race, not even 8 or 9 months ago, but as my goal to lose weight, eat healthy and feel better in 2011 came to fruition, I found myself with a strong desire to run and experience intense exercise.   It was actually my own little "rally to restore sanity" - I begged my husband to buy me a good jogging stroller telling him that it would be used more than he could ever imagine.   He told my MIL and she asked my BIL and SIL if they still had theirs and lucky for us they did.    Each day this summer (mostly in triple digit heat) I began my running.  I would run in the afternoons when I really needed it most after caring for two kids all day.   Both children really seemed to enjoy it too, I just made sure they had plenty of water to drink and sometimes I bribed them with snacks.  It wasn't really all that long when the weather cooled down and I realized that I could run 6.5 miles without even stopping.  I learned that I run much better in minimalist style footwear and have not experienced any injuries in my new endeavor.

I was a little nervous about running in a race, I'll freely admit it.  What if I finished last?  What if I was removed from the race?  I am by no means a fast runner but I would like to get a respectable result.   I'm so happy to have had such a positive experience today and have achieved a personal best of 10:15 pace for all 3 miles.   It's good to have the first race under my belt and another one to look forward to tomorrow when I start 2012 off right!  

It's Easy to Make Your own (SCD Compliant) Yogurt!

Not long ago, I bought the most amazing book ever - Breaking the Vicious Cycle.  I implemented many of the protocols in an effort to begin healing my intestines which have been through the ringer.  All the advice is scientifically backed and brilliant - but there were 2 things I had yet to do:  Locate dry curd cottage cheese and buy a yogurt maker to make yogurt.  So, I did both last week.  I LOVE the dry curd cottage cheese, also known as farmers cheese and I LOVE making my own yogurt.  I cannot tell you the last time I ate as much yogurt as I wanted and did not suffer the consequences afterwards.   Prior to making my own yogurt I thought the task would be daunting, much too difficult for me.  But in reality, it is so simple, any one can do it.  I created a Youtube video in the hopes to inspire others to take the plunge and try it to.  YOU CAN enjoy yogurt again, you'll just have to make it yourself!

New Laptop

Back to posting.  This time with a new laptop.  I can't believe how much I've missed the TAB key (Yes, I'm using a PC).  My old Mac desktop still looked cool, but no matter how hard I tried it was not compatible with the iPhone 4.  It also sucked at uploading photos to Facebook, so I had to use my husbands Macbook.  I have yet to try many of these tasks with my new PC, but it has got to be more efficient than my old desktop. 

A lot of things have happened since I last posted.   I started the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, then stopped (and became ill).  I have realized that SCD and GAPS are the way to go for me in order to heal.  ALL grains, even Gluten free grains cause me agony and pain.   I can do really well for a while, and I'll feel so awesome, and then I will slip up and have something like gluten free pizza and BAM!  Pain!.   So now I know what I need to do, it's just a matter of sticking to it. 

My running is going fantastic!  I bought my first pair of minimalist running shoes (transition shoes).   My first run was 3 miles and my calves were sore for 4 days.  I was walking like an old lady, lit was crazy.   Nothing that I couldn't handle though.  I think I will take it much easier next time I run though.  

My baby, is now WALKING!   The time has literally flown by.  He is the sweetest little boy, who gets into absolutely EVERYTHING.  I especially love when I come home and he runs towards me with a big smile on his face.   It's a great feeling, I am so fortunate to have him in my life. 

My daughter is now able to tell me what she wants, and what she likes and what she doesn't like.  She loves cookies, gummy bears and bunny crackers.  I really need to fix this, it's a bad situation.  I keep telling her we are going to do GAPS together and she will feel really good, and Mama will too.  She just looks at me like I'm crazy.  

Well, I'm tired.  I hope to start posting more.  I find that caring for two young children full time, cooking real, unprocessed food daily (because I have no options to eat out or buy pre made stuff) and trying to keep a clean house leaves  little or no time for blogging.   Every day is a huge undertaking for me.  I enjoy it all, but  it's more intense than I ever thought possible.  Oh, I forgot to throw in getting exercise while entertaining 2 young children, that can be a challenge too.  But I do it every day and I wouldn't change  it for anything.  I know how blessed I am. 

Staying Focused

Eye on the prize, going the distance, keeping the stride - you get the idea.  What keeps you focused on your goals?  We all have roadblocks, good days and bad, but something is different for me this time around, and I'm trying to identify exactly what that is.   I have realized that each time I start to question if what I'm doing is working something huge will happen, like suddenly all the clothes in my closet are too darn big and if I want something that fits properly, I'll have to find it from a source other that my own closet.  ha!  What a great problem to have!   Circumstances like these are the kind of thing that give you the momentum to stay on your A game and keep the workouts and awesome eating sessions coming. 

I've been at it for about 225 days now & I think the most important aspect for me has been feeling better.  My digestion is vastly improved with exercise and that makes a world of difference for me.  I have a much better, more positive outlook on life and enhanced mental clarity. 

Keeping up with this blog, I'm finding it very difficult to do though.  I want to post daily, I want to post pictures, I want to inspire others to take charge of their health.   My days are full of food preparation, loving my children, exercise, grocery store expeditions and the occasional playdate.  It may not sound like much, but believe me, it keeps me busy.   At the end of the day, I find that reading a book does more to help me fall asleep then sitting at a computer.  Maybe I should try the computer in the morning and see where that takes me. 

The Joy of Running!

Last Thursday's run inspired the previous post and obviously this one, because I'm going to tell you all about it!

It all starts with a conversation between me and my good friend Uzma.  She was telling me about all the benefits of running and how she loves it so much.  I asked her about her Vibram running shoes and whether or not she liked them.  She told me that when we run as wear are meant to (on the balls of our feet) it works totally different muscles and it's a different experience altogether.  I listened with great interest.  Even though I have recently made a drastic improvement in my running ability, I knew that I wasn't running quite this way, and I was wondering why.  I was thinking maybe it was the shoes I wear, they are not special shoes, just regular non-fancy running shoes.

So fast forward to Thursday evening.  I'm pushing the double stroller and feeling great.  A young girl passes me and she has a great stride, a primal stride, running on the balls of her feet maybe even her tip toes for all I know.  I check out her footwear and she is running in a pair of TOMS!!    After she is several feet ahead of us, I decide to mimic her running style, and wow, I finally KNEW that I WAS DOING IT!  I was so happy and excited, it felt very different that the way I had been running.  I was GIDDY and I ran by her as she was walking and told her she had a great stride and I thanked her and told her that she had helped me improve mine.  She was super nice and thankfully didn't think that I was a weirdo.

On Friday I felt that my calf muscles were worked out extremely well and Uzma was SO RIGHT - there was soreness in places that I have never felt it before.

What a great think I learned while running.  I know there will be many more great things to come! 

A Healthy Perception of Ones Self - A New Habit

Would you believe that I was once (not long ago) convinced that I wasn't capable of running?

I started to think about why this was.  I also thought about why this recently changed.   There is no one single thing that sparked the change.  It's a very complex series of events and I feel the need to hash them out right here in the hopes that it will help someone else in some way.

(If you know me well, you know that I'm a big picture person.  I think of ALL of what most would consider minute details.)  Let's just say, I loved Macro Economics but could not stand Micro.  

I played soccer in an urban area where I lived in my youth - I always enjoyed it, the other kids on my team were nice, I have no bad memories of this time.  I don't remember if we lost or won & I had no lack of self esteem this was from age 5-7.    When I was in the third grade we moved to the country, soccer was a new thing to our school and I played from age 9-12, we lost every game we played but I never was too upset, I look back and think that learning to be a good loser was really important, even though it felt bad to never win a game I still don't think my self esteem was all that low- my team mates were fairly nice kids.  When I got into Jr High, I played basketball in a CYC League, even though my Dad helped coach my team some of the kids were really mean and I ended up hating sports but kept playing just to make my Dad happy.   Because mean things were said to me you can guess, my lack of self esteem became evident.  I wasn't as good of a player as I could have been because I was constantly nervous and frazzled and upset.  I made the freshman basketball team in high school, and being on that team was among the worst experiences of my life.  That was the end of my athletic training - until this year.  Now sprinkled in with these formal sports experiences, I had people tell me that I ran funny, walked funny, looked stupid when I ran, you get the idea.  So what did I do?  I believed them.

Ok, writing that really is a downer for me.  I'm over it, I harbor no more anger towards the people involved, I forgive and I really forget most of it.  So, it's with great joy that I write the next paragraph.

I can't remember when, but sometime within the last year or two I was reading a magazine about Chi Running.   In it, the founder said that ALL HUMAN BEINGS were made to run.   We don't need to take a class on it, it's in our genes.   He was talking about barefoot running and how much better it is for our bodies.  I was interested and immediately searched online for all the information I could find about Barefoot Running, Chi Running and the like.  I thought that maybe there was a chance for me to be a runner after all.  I thought the shoes were cool, but I still lacked the faith in myself.

Fast forward to now, I run with my kids 5 days a week in a double jogging stroller in triple digit heat.  Before I had the double jogger I walked with 1 kid in a stroller and the other one in a Boba Carrier.  It would take me approximately 50 minutes to walk 1.5 miles, now with the double stroller I jog just over 3 miles in 45 minutes.  I have been at this now for only a month and a half, and not only does it feel good to run, it feels good to know that I CAN DO IT!   Perhaps having two natural births helped me realize that I'm strong enough to run.  Maybe it was the weight training that helped tone me up?   Maybe it was the need to find an activity that would get my kids outdoors in this heat without having them sweat bullets?  Maybe it's because running helps my digestive system so much that I now constantly crave the run?  Maybe it's because I learned that the primal diet works for me, so why not primal exercise?

It certainly is a combination of experiences that led to my becoming an athlete & runner.  The most important thing that I did though, is forgive & forget other peoples perceptions of me.    I now have a healthy perception of myself, and when I look at something that I (at one time) never thought possible, now I know that IT IS possible.  Such a shift has changed me completely, and makes life so much more fun!

Post Pregnancy Weight Loss Theory

So, there are these times that even when I feel like I bust my arse to lose more weight that I don't notice much change (yes, hello, I am a scale addict!).  But, I came up with a theory that so far, for me has proven to be true.  Here it goes:  Every three months post partum one's body can fluctuate - allowing for some weight loss if one has been eating well and expending calories.   I have noticed a considerable downward fluctuation on my scale at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and now, I'm eagerly anticipating my baby's 1st birthday for a variety of reasons.  I'm still nursing my baby, I'm going to follow baby led weaning, we will see where that takes us.  It's more calories burned for me, great nutrition for him, and reducing my chance of breast cancer so it's win/win all around.  So to say it simply, every three months my body decides its okay to let go of some extra weight.  I'm sure I can't be the only one experiencing this!

Obviously, my weight loss theory is just that, a theory.  It probably doesn't work this way for everyone.  With my first child, I had undiagnosed Hashimotos and Celiac Disease and I literally did not lose a single pound until I got on the right thyroid RX which was around 10 or 11 months post partum (and where I happen to be at this exact moment).  My first born had colic and was in constant pain (wondering if this could be due to gluten antibodies or something associated with Celiac).  It was the most trying time in my life, and I realized not long ago that I forgot about how difficult it was until I started chatting with people that are still suffering with Hashimotos and are not on the right RX yet, or on no RX at all.

It is my hope that if you are a new Mom and you are struggling with post partum weight loss that you will keep this in mind.  Here is my advice:

1.  Take it easy the first 3 months - focus on eating really well for you and your baby - take walks on nice days, cuddle and love your baby as much as you can and relax whenever you are able.  Accept all the help that if offered to you!

2.  If you are ready at 3 months, try a quick exercise routine, step up your pace on walks, join a gym or go back if you are able, keep eating well- focus on nutrition.

3.  At 6 months, keep up with step #2 but keep pushing yourself to do more, take it to the next level, try running, biking, any activity that will challenge you.

(I think you get the picture!)  I also cannot stress enough how great weight lifting has been for me.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  If you want results and you want them quick, weight training is the ticket!!  Also, if you like to run/jog - the BOB Jogging stroller is worth it's weight in gold.  I can't believe what a great training tool it has been for me, and it keeps my kids so happy.   My daughter is like a coach, when I stop jogging to take a breather she says "Run Mama, I want to Run!"  I also like that I am setting a good example by showing my kids how I exercise.  I tell my daughter "Exercise makes Mama Happy".   That is the truth :)