Paleo or Not?

This Fitness Model competition has been changing me drastically.  I had no idea I would make so many changes to my lifestyle before prep even started.  When I first decided to compete I followed Tosca Reno’s Cooler 1 from the Clean Diet.  I saw great results but then decided I needed to find trainer.  When I first started following my trainer’s diet plan, he started talking to me about Charles Poliquin’s thoughts on Paleo eating. When he first suggested eliminating all grain from my diet I wasn’t receptive.  I couldn’t imagine life without my morning oats.  On top of that he suggested I kick the dairy?  What! now no evening yogurt?  No way, not before prep, no way.

But months passed.  My muscle mass increased and I was really wanting to see myself lean out a little more. Competition prep was getting closer and closer and my newbie mind couldn’t help but think, how will I handle prep? maybe I should start making changes now…this and Charles recommending the Paleo Diet on his list of suggested reads made me start to make changes.  I immediately went and bought the Paleo Solution.  After reading the book I implemented the 30 day trial period.  I did it and yes I didn’t cheat once! I followed my trainer’s recommendations Paleo style and finished the term.  At the end of the term I felt great, allergy symptoms reduced, felt no need to eat dairy or oats.  I was all gung ho for prep, after my 30 day trial, I knew I could do 120 days days if I could do 30.  But I also knew in the back of my head that it would be hard, exhausting and full of cravings.  Did I want to continue eating Paleo straight through til prep?  I was worried about burnout.  I didn’t want to eat so strict that in the middle of prep, I snap and eat a box of cookies.  I talked to my trainer to discuss a mid way plan.  The plan was to eat Paleo and by his plan everyday except for 1 meal a week.  For 1 meal a week I could eat whatever I want.  In theory this sounded great.

What I didn’t realize was that my body had adapted to Paleo eating already and it loved it.  Each treat meal I have eaten since I have felt like total crap.  Not just immediately after eating the food, but for two days following…

This is where I realized that I was on the brink of making lifestyle changes beyond contest prep.  My body is ready for the change but my mind/emotions are still not ready to admit that I can do it for life.

Going Paleo would mean:
No more stuffing, potatoes or gravy at Christmas.
No more Birthday Cake.
Always bringing my own food to a pot luck
Never being able to eat dinner friend’s houses every again

So, this is where I am today.  When I first decided to do this competition I figured I would diet through prep and then after my competition is over, I would eat clean (not Paleo) until next prep and then re implement the competition prep changes.

Now I have no idea.

While I can’t say that I am Paleo now, because that would be like saying I’m a vegetarian that eats chicken on Saturdays.  I think I am slowly moving towards being Paleo for life.

I haven’t committed yet, but I’m on the brink…because really, the foods that I think I crave don’t taste as good as I remember them tasting and I don’t deserve to feel like crap.  The reason why I never drink alcohol is because I don’t enjoy feeling like crap for two days after, why is pizza any different?

So to set the record straight, I’m not Paleo, but I certainly am a Paleo enthusiast.

Until then I formally make the change: I will continue to use protein powder after work outs and I might occasionally eat a non Paleo treat meal once a week.

 

Fitness Blog World – Post #1

While prepping for a contest, or even just preparing to achieve a goal, how do you handle naysayers and those who don’t support you? Do you have a mantra you repeat? A friend you call? What helps you take your eyes off the obstacle, and back on the task at hand?

I’ve always been a rebel, a rabble rouser, a weirdo or “creative” as my parent’s friends used to describe me.   I’ve always marched to my own drum, and been so stubborn that I did what I wanted despite what other people’s opinions were.  I also came from a family of teasers, so in my house you had to have a thick skin.  If there was something you were self conscious about, it couldn’t last for long, because if a family member found out about your weakness you were going to be teased and as a result, not much bothers me.

I guess this part of my personality/upbringing is a benefit to my training.  That’s not to say that it doesn’t hurt sometimes when people try and put me down.  Still to this day, every time my mother criticizes what I do it still disappoints me, like most people I want approval from those I love.  I want my friends and family to be excited about what I’m excited about, but I know in life I can’t control how others are going to feel or think.   What I can do however is control how I feel, and since I am confident that what I am doing is healthy, fun and worth the sacrifice.  It doesn’t really matter to me what others feel or think.

My tactics for dealing with naysayers:

1) I don’t discuss my goals with negative people.  Negative people don’t generally have anything positive to say, so I don’t give them the opportunity to tell me something I don’t want to hear.

2) Surround yourself with positive and encouraging people.  My whole life I have had zero patience for superficial and gossipy people.  All my friends are down to earth, open minded and supportive individuals.  Most of my close friends are not into working out, nor do any of them have the desire to compete.  What is so great about them is regardless of the fact that they don’t understand the allure of what I’m into, they respect and support me because it’s something I want and something that makes me happy.  Furthermore, my girlfriends are exactly who I turn to when I’m feeling down, they have a magical way of putting things into perspective for me and I’m happy to do the same for them.  Sometimes we are our own worst enemies.  Our friends/Bobettes are the people we can count on.  Don’t suffer in silence, vent it out to your girls and everything will be better!

Here are the individual blogs of the other gals:

Alli — http://www.wholesomefitness.wordpress.com/

Donloree –  http://www.bikiniorbust.com/

Kari –  http://www.figuregirlworld.com/

Dawn — http://www.bareitallfitness.com/

Jen — http://jenklimek.wordpress.com/

Colleen — http://www.thefitbee.com/

Tiffany — https://passlakeprincess.wordpress.com/

Kendra — http://grindhardlivefit.wordpress.com/

Lisa –  http://www.healthiestlife4me.com/

Tammy — http://tammysmirror.com/

Valerie — http://chocolatemuscle.wordpress.com/

Ashley — http://bluebikini6257.livejournal.com/

Cara — http://www.figureprincess.com/

 

Friends are the best medicine

I’ve been kind of down in the dumps the last few days.  Not wanting to get out of bed in the morning (case in point this morning, sleeping in and being late for work).  While I have suspected that I am burning out, I wasn’t quite yet ready to admit it to my self enough to slow down, but after stumbling across this questionnaire on the internet, I’ve realized I have some changes to make:

1. Do I have an overwhelming feeling that there is not enough time to rest and do the things that make me happy? YES
2. Am I losing motivation and focus in my current responsibilities? Yes I’ve had some diet slip up and I’ve started to slack off on meal planning.
3.  Am I physically more exhausted than I used to be?  YES. I’m having a hard time getting up in the morning and I’ve been staying up too late in order to give myself “me” time.
4. Am I feeling short tempered, irritable, negative or anxious? YES. I’ve been more scatterbrained than usual.
5. Am I envious of people who have more time to do what they like? ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY!
6. 6. Do I feel like I’m always “on” and just can’t seem to wind down without outside help. p (i.e. drugs and or alcohol)? NO.
7. Am I missing important family events? Do my children complain I’m not around? NO.
8. Am I catching frequent colds and/or flu’s, or do I have injuries that will not heal? NO.

If you are experiencing 1 – 3 of these you are over-scheduling yourself. You need to make some changes to allow some recuperative time in your schedule. Build time into your schedule to read, meditate, nap, be with your family, or even just take a contemplative walk.

If you are experiencing more than 3 of the above then you are in trouble. Perhaps you haven’t noticed any effect on your exercise or fat-loss goals just yet. But, trust me, if you don’t make some serious changes the effects will start showing up on your body.  Well it’s time for me to make some serious changes.

It’s amazing what aweful, worrisome places the mind can take you when left to your own devises.

Thanks to my husband and some awesome online friends, I was able to realize that I have nothing to worry about and I have set up a plan of action to dissolve my worries and making my life a little bit more relaxing.

A facebook friend posted this quote today.  I feel like it was posted just for me today:
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrow, it empties today of strength.” 

Thanks to my girls I am going to have a productive and relaxing evening.  After I nice relaxing hot bath I’m going to put on my heels and practice my posing and knit some surprises for International Yarn Bombing Day, I may or may not have something planned for my gym 😉  Last but not least, but together a meal plan for next week.

BREATHE.

 

Being Fabulous

Several days ago, my online friend Donloree Hoffman challenged herself to work her being fabulous muscle and I’m going to do the same.  It’s so easy to see look at what you don’t have in life and challenging to practice being grateful and being fabulous.  I always like a challenge, so I gladly accept this challenge because doing things the easy way is sooo boring!

We women are always so hard on ourselves.  We always have grandiose expectations of ourselves, we always want to be super human, when we already are super women.  That’s right, we work, we train, we food prep, some of us parent (human babies or fur babies) we volunteer, we keep house and soooo much more.

While I have challenged myself to train for a fitness model competition on my way to eventually build a figure competition worthy body I’m going to go out there and say, I’m already fabulous now.  I am IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE today and I will continue to be in the best shape of my life from this day forward.  If that’s not fabulous, I don’t know what is.

So everyday that I look in the mirror at the gym and think, I need rounder delts, larger hammies or tighter abs, I’m going to tell myself “I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE!” I worked hard for it, I looks great on me and I am so happy with where I am right now.

To further my fabulousness this week I’m going to:

• Fill in my Fitness Model Competition Registration Form
• Make a reservation at my Competitions host hotel
• Book an appointment with a photographer to capture my journey

What kind of fabulous things are you doing today? 

 

Little Miss Scatterbrain has been a bad little blogger!

Miss Scatterbrain

I’ve been a bad little blogger (and by that I mean, I haven’t been blogging).  Life has just put me in a whirlwind the last few weeks, but this is a time of change.  It’s spring, some of my activities are coming to an end, some are starting up again and I’m switching job focus.  I’m looking forward to summer, hopefully it will get here soon.  The campground is opening up in three weeks and there is still ice on the lake, yipes!

Exciting Summertime prospects:
– Working at Sleepy G Farm and eating my CSA (Community  Supported Agriculture) – www.sleepygfarm.ca
-Turning 30 and being fabulous!
– Working full time at the Pass Lake Campground (not as much commuting and working 500m from home is so convenient)
– Completing my workouts outside, I’m such a fair weather person, I love being outside and soaking in the rays.

– Starting Contest Prep (yay June 20th can’t come soon enough)
– Visiting my best friend in Winnipeg
– The Toronto Pro Super Show

Furthermore, easing into summer I’ve decided I also want to start a cleanse.  I’m going to add some lemon water to my daily regiment and some dry brushing.  I’ll be interested to see what this does to my physique and energy levels.  Apparently both of these activities help cleanse the body of impurities and reduce cellulite.  Just another healthy activity to add to my list.

Now to explain what Little Miss Scatterbrain has to do with this.  I am little Miss Scatterbrain, I’m so busy and so absentminded I’m constantly losing track of my cellphone and car keys.  I turn 30 this June and my best friend gave me an early birthday present while I was in Winnipeg this past weekend.  It was perfect for me, a beautiful hand crafted necklace from Nelson, BC and a mug with Little Miss Scatterbain on the front.  I love it, it’s sooo ME.

Little Miss Scatterbrain Mug

 

51 Dreams

Inspired by a recent post by Donloree Huffman about writing down your dreams I have decided to log my dreams and create a bucket list of things that I would like to achieve in this life.  I always say I’m going to do this, but I never set aside the time to create a list and get it down on paper or logged in cyberspace.

My Bucket List

1. Compete in a Fitness Model Competition
2. Compete in a Figure Competition
3. Achieve Premier Competition status in Highland Dancing
4. Travel to France and spend two days at the Louvre
5. Go snorkeling in Hawaii
6. Go scuba diving someplace tropical
7. Visit Russia and watch the Bolshoy
8. Own a Volkswagen Beetle – done!
9. Get Married an Elvis Impersonator – done!
10. Build a Eco friendly Dream house
11. Pay off all my student loans – will be achieved in 1 year and seven months
12. Learn to make mocassins
13. In 1 year and seven months put half of my student debt payment into retirement savings and the other half into a savings account for travel plans
14. Go to University and acquire my Fine Arts Degree
15. Knit my own pair of intarsia highland dance stockings – goal in progress
16. Open a yarn store (my retirement dream)
17. Have a personal winterized greenhouse
18. Attend the ScotDance Canada National Championships
19. See Cirque du Soliel – achieved, but I still want to see them again because they are amazing!
20. Visit Graceland
21. Obtain my PAL and Hunter Safety Course so I can continue to hunt and gather most of my meat (at the moment I rely on my father)
22. Learn to make Ukranian Eggs (this year) – goal achieved
23. Go back to the island of Hawaii and visit Kaui and Maui
24. Run another marathon (my past experiences were so great, I would love to be able to do it again), I also wouldn’t oppose to running the Boston Marathon, even if it takes me until 50 to qualify.
25. Take a yarn tour of Iceland
26. Visit Patagonia and or Antarctica
27. Go on a canoe trip in Quetico Provincial Park
28. Take road trip along the western cost of the United States, through Big Sur & San Fran.
29. Own a airstream camper or a bowler
30. Take a pottery class
31. Take a cake decorating class
32. This may sound ridiculous, but I’d love to work as a barista and learn to make fancy coffees
33. See Catherine the Great’s Castle, specifically the Amber Room
34. See an opera
35. Splurge and purchase some cashmere and knit myself something very luxerious, as a treat just for me.
36. Create an obstacle course on our property and or find a cool obstacle course somewhere and run it.
37. Participate in a triathlon (for shits and giggles)
38. Be able to do the splits
39. Be able to do pull ups
40. Be able to do verticle dips
41. Be able to do the plank for 5 mins
42. Go on a zip line in Costa Rica (even though I’ll probably crap my pants while doing it)
43. Knit an Icelandic sweater
44. Karaoke
45. Complete all of the trails in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
46. Participate in the Sibley Ski Loppet
47. Take ballroom dancing classes
48. Travel to the East Coast of Canada
49. Knit a tacky Christmas sweater so that I may don gay apparel during the holidays.
50. Make armor out of Wonderflex for my first Fitness Model Competition Costume.
51. Visit Disney World as an adult & go to Harry Potter land at Universal studios

 

Preparing for Easter

So after my treat meal hangover I seem to be on the mend.  For the last few days I have eaten regularly and every day I start to feel better.  Unfortunately this week has been full of stress, but lets quickly move over to the postive sid eof things.  At the end of the week of craziness is 4 days of no work, in Winnipeg, MB with family and friends…ahhhhh!  In preparation for Easter I had what seemed like a never ending list of to dos.  I thankfully got through them all, comprimising some sleep, drinking excess amounts of coffee, but food and workouts were not comprimised, whew!  Listed below is my pathetic attempt to log my diet.  I know I missed a few days along the line, but I may be forgiven as I am 7 weeks out from contest prep and counting.  I can afford a little slacking off now 😀  But once it’s got time I’m all business.

M1: 1 scoop of sunbutter and a banana
M2: Coconana eggs
M3: lean ground beef with oven roasted bell peppers
M4: lean ground beef
M5: 2 whole eggs with bacon and 1 sliced tomato
M6: steamed spinach with roasted bell peppers and pickerel

M1: pickerel and roasted bell peppers
M2: Coconana eggs – 4 eggs (2 yolk)
M3: pickerel and roasted bell peppers
M4: ground turkey and oven roasted bell peppers
M5: ground turkey and oven roasted bell peppers with avocado
M6: 4 whole hardboiled eggs with salsa

M1: sunbutter and a banana
M2: ground turkey with roasted peppers and 2 whole eggs
M3: ground turkey with roasted peppers and salsa
M4: 1 pepperette and 1 cocoa chili chicken breasts
M5: Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Travel to Winnipeg Day!  We slept 3 hours and then got up at 3:30am, made two pots of coffee and then hooked up a huge trailer to Wayne’s truck and hit the highway with two MG cars on a trailer to deliver to his uncle in Manitoba.  The goal was to get to Winnipeg by noon so that we could find a place to park this trailer and remove the cars.  Eating on this day was a little sketchy and greatly vegetable deprived as what would happen when we finally arrived in Winnipeg was not really planned.

M1: 1 scoop of protein powder with cinnamon & Paleo pumpkin pie
M2: 1 chicken breast with more Paleo pumpkin pie
M3: Chicken breast & V8
M4: We arrived in Winnipeg and sat at Wayne’s aunts house while they tried to get the cars off the trailer.  She offered cookies and bread (which I easily refused) while I ate chicken out of a baggie.  Later, I was then dropped off at Wayne’s uncle’s sister’s house without my cooler (thinking we would hook up shortly), turns out I would spend the whole day here and eat supper here as well.  There was nothing for me to eat other than some deer pepperettes and turkey, everything else was not clean, it was either carby, coated in some kind of gross sauce or sugar.  I ate my protein decorated some Ukranian Eggs, which was tons of fun and then anxiously awaited to be reunited with my cooler.
M5: protein powder with cinnamon and 1 chicken breast over spinach salad with peppers, zuchinni, tomatoes and avocado, drizzled with lemon juice.  I let out a sigh of relief.  Finally real food!!!! I was in heaven.  Then after not sleeping for almost 24 hours and having drank 2 pots of coffee over the course the day, finally, I got a good 8 hours of shut eye.

Happy Easter Everyone!

 

I cheated on my diet for liquid Benadryl (yes it contains sucrose!)

I’m going to be frank.  I’m a skeptic, there is so much information out there in print and on the web, it’s hard to know what is real and what is fake.

When I first read the Paleo Solution I thought this book had some larger than life claims.  It seemed to be some kind of miracle diet and I didn’t buy it for one second.  I didn’t doubt that it would be good for helping me to loose fat or feel less bloated when it claimed that dieters allergies disappeared, I thought for sure it was a pile of crap!

Boy was I wrong.  Yesterday I had my first treat meal in 30 days.  The treat meal was homemade pizza, made by my adorable loving husband, some Cadbury mini eggs and cupcake.  I knew this meal wasn’t going to make me feel fantastic given that I haven’t eaten grains or sugar in 30 days.  I was careful to eat slowly, chew lots and try not to eat too much.  I had some mild indigestion after, but thankfully no bloat (I was expecting bloat), what I didn’t expect to happen was “the headache.”

It started as a mild headache yesterday and today it spiraled into a hellish attack of allergy symptoms: headache, itchy and dry eyes, plugged ears, sneezing and congestion.  Why! after a month of being free from this, it has come back.  I had to take matters into my own hands and I needed relieve immediately.  I gulped down some fast acting liquid Benadryl and now I’m sitting here wondering how all this allergy business happened.

Now I’m not sure if I want to eat another treat meal.  Coincidence?  Paranoia? or the cold, hard truth?  Does non Paleo eating causes allergies from hell!?

I wonder how long I’ll have to suffer? I’m so happy to be eating Paleo again.  Now if only I could feel Paleo

 

The End of the Day Paleo Trial

Lately I’ve been living life in warp speed.  The reality of my chaotic summers are kicking in full throttle. Volunteer projects are in full effect and contest prep is within sight.

This Paleo trial has been a positive experience.  It has shown me that 4 months of dieting IS possible.  It won’t be easy at times, but it’s very achievable and like everything it’s hard a first but eventually becomes routine.  I’ve also had some really interesting side effects:

1. Fat Loss
2. My allergy symptoms have virtually disappeared.  I’m not going to say that I never sneeze or get itchy, but I have for the first time in months, woken up every morning without a headache (yes I used to wake up every morning feeling like a had a head cold before), I haven’t been congested and my energy levels are much higher.
3. Although I still occasionally have indigestion, I have virtually no bloating or gas.

As I mentioned before I’m going to continue eating Paleo, with the exception of one treat meal a week, where I have been given the green light by my trainer to eat whatever I want.  It will be interesting to see how I feel after these meals.  Then, 8 weeks from now I will officially start prepping for my first Fitness Model Competition, squeee!

I’m looking forward to my first treat meal tomorrow.  The original plan was to go for Indian Food with my husband, but unfortunately the weather network is calling for snow! and since he drives a snow plow for a living our dinner date just might be cancelled.  Regardless I’m going to have a treat supper tomorrow night.  If mother nature holds off the snow storm Indian it will be, if not I just might park my butt down at a sushi bar or head over to my favourite Vietnamese restaurant, either way it will be fabulous!

The Last of the first 30 day eating is listed below!  This is not the end of Paleo eating for me!

M1: Paleo Pumpkin Pie
M2: Pickerel with tomato sauce
M3: Pickerel and broccoli
M4: Pickerel and broccoli
M5: Pickerel with tomato sauce

Paleo Day 28
M1: Paleo Pumpkin Pie
M2: smoked lake trout and 4 eggs (2 yolks)
M3: Ground Moose Meat, mustard and baby greens
M4: Ground Moose Meat, mustard and baby greens
M5: Chicken Breast and 1/2 a long english cucumber
M6:

Paleo Day 29
M1:
M2: smoked lake trout and 4 eggs (2 yolks)
M3: Moose Tenderloin & 1 cup of blueberries
M4: Moose Tenderloin
M5: 4 eggs (2 yolk) with roasted red peppers, red onion, squash and zuchinni
M6: pumpkin pancake: sunbutter, eggs, vanilla and pureed pumpkin made into a pancake.

Paleo Day 30
M1: sunbutter and a banana
M2: 4 eggs (2 yolk)
M3: 1 can of tuna with balsamic vinegar
M4: 2 chicken legs with 1/2 avocado and salsa
M5: pepperettes, 1/2 avocado 2 1/2 cups of lettuce with salsa
M6: chicken breast with water chesnuts, red cabbage, romaine & mango

 

Paleo Day 24, 25 & 26

As the end of my 30 day Paleo trial is in sight.  I can’t help but wonder what next? Although the Paleo lifestyle is something I will adapt into the majority of my eating and my contest prep it’s just not something I can see myself 100% committing to all the time.  I can’t imagine Christmas without turkey and stuffing, never eating sushi again or having a birthday without birthday cake (unless of course my birthday lands during contest prep, like it does this year!)  I really hummed and hawed about this decision.  There is the part of me that wants to be hard core all the way through contest time and then there is the realistic side of me that knows that being on a diet so strict for too long will only cause me to fall and possibly fall hard (I know because this happened to me last year).  I voiced my concerns to my trainer and he agrees that until contest prep begins, I can certainly afford one “treat meal” a week until prep starts, he even emphasized that it should be whatever I want (I think he has already caught on to my perfectionism, that might feel the need to refrain from whatever I want and make all my treats clean)  I feel much better knowing that I have his approval and support, especially since he is experienced with contest prep and well, I have no experience in this area.

So peeps in a few days I’m going to eat something wild, don’t know what it’s going to be yet, but I think it’s time to make it count since contest prep starts in two months and then it will be 4 months of restraint and willpower.  I hear a sushi bar calling my name!

Paleo Day 24
M1: 4 eggs (2 yolks) with ambrosia salad
M2: tuna and steamed spinach with balsamic vinegar and oil
M3: chicken and cucumbers
M4: can of tuna with tomatoes
M5: chicken leg
M6: 1 1/2 chicken breast with 1/2 a long english cucumber

Paleo Day 25
M1: 1 banana and 4 eggs (2 yolk)
M2: 1 chicken breast and ambrosia salad
M3: tuna, salsa and an avocado
*snack in between – another chicken breast*
M4: bacon, three eggs scrambled and tomatoes (no stomach issues after!)
M5: sunbutter carrot fries
M6: salmon and pickles

Paleo Day 26
M1: 4 eggs (2 yolks)
M2: 2 slices of bacon and coconut flour pancakes (which are egg heavy) with a drizzle of maple syrup and 1 cup of blueberries
M3: moose meat cooked in tomatoes sauce with fried onions (which didn’t bother my stomach at all!)
M4: more of the aforementioned moose meat dish with 1 1/2 cups of broccoli
M5: shrimp, dijon mustard and baby greens
M6: pumpkin pie (made with pumpkin, egg, coconut milk, spices/the crust was made of coconut oil flax seed, pinenuts and pumpkin seeds)
M7: 1 pickerel fillet