And We're Off!

Twenty Percent!

Yup... That's right! I've lost the first 20% of my goal! Since the first of the month, I've lost a total of 8 pounds. I'm adding my ticker from MyFitnessPal so it's now public! :)This feels amazing. I'm only recording my Monday weigh-ins but keep track on a daily basis.

What have I been doing?

Well, I am working with a health/mindset/fitness coach. We have a virtual working relationship & talk each Tuesday night. She lives in Irving, TX, and haven't had the "talk" yet (you know - the "I really hope you're not a Cowboys fan because I'm from Wisconsin and we bleed green & gold." talk.) We seem to gel well. I like her approach of making small changes & trying to get your mind to help develop this habit. Meaning - if you make tiny changes in such a way that the brain doesn't think it's in a fight or flight mode (they call that amygdala hijack). I've learned about this in plenty of my leadership training & project management courses - oh, and in college while it wasn't a coined term just yet, we learned a great deal about how the brain works when it comes to effective & efficient communication.

So, back to this... (Love that amydgala stuff!)

I've removed WHEAT from my diet about 95%. If I do have something with wheat, I actually remove a portion of the offending food BEFORE eating. Yup! So, if I want a burger, I can but will remove 1/4 of the bun and throw it away before eating. Not wait until I'm done - the brain will think I'm starving. But, when I start so I can say "bye bye".

Since this challenge began, I haven't had to do it because I haven't eaten any wheat! LOL! But, in all seriousness, it works for me!

If you have any suspicion that wheat could be causing some if your issues, GIVE THIS A TRY!! Even just for a week or two. Don't eat wheat & watch the scale. You'll know...

Not much time today so I'll check in again later this week. Have an awesome day!!

Screw the Apple!

Goal Time

My goal has been set: Lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday! Too aggressive? Not when you break it down like this: I have 211 days (considering I'm starting at my last weigh-in on Monday) to lose 40 pounds. That's 30 weeks. That's roughly 1.25 pounds per week.Now is THAT too aggressive? Nope... Very reasonable.

The Serpent & the Apple

You know the story of Adam & Eve and the serpent (Genesis 3) and how she ate the apple. Temptation was too great for Eve to overcome and she succumbed to the Serpent (read: Devil) and his pull, appeal, enticement ... Whatever you call it. Eve at the damn apple and that's why women have painful childbirth & men have to work hard. Blah-blah-blah-blah. Childbirth is painful - well, labor is for sure but my kids were both born via c-section. That's one nasty wrath bestowed upon us. All for a lousy apple. I hope it tasted good, Eve!

What seems like a digression is not that - not at all. The other message that I get from this Bible passage is about our free will - the human ability to choose freely what to do.

Choices

We make choices everyday: Snooze or get up? Black pants or brown? Eggs or cereal? But we have this ability to decide for ourselves everything. Now, some would argue that's not the case - and my kids definitely would argue that! But, we have an innate ability that sets us apart as humans to CHOOSE what we eat, wear, drink, say, do... Everything.

So, when we CHOOSE to set a GOAL, why do we become our worst enemies? What's up with self-sabotage?

There's some people out there who are trying to lose weight / adapt to a healthier lifestyle. YEAH FOR YOU!! And, many of these people don't know where to start. They aren't educated or aware of how to make a healthy choice when it comes to what fuels our body. They get someone to help or read a book, pick up a cookbook.  What about those of us (yes, "us" - this is me) who know what we need to do. I mean seriously... I can coach just about anyone to lose weight & get fit. Then, why am I so fat!?!?!?

Choices... Temptation... Apple... Chocolate - Potato Chips - Bread - Cake ... WAIT?!?!? STOP!

It's about resisting the temptation or the urge to deviate from your plan. It's about that immediate satisfaction you feel when you have that first smell or taste of chocolate (or salty snacks - whatever floats your boat). It's about not being able to say "STOP!" when you know you shouldn't. Ever binge eat? Binge drink? It's that loss of control you have.

I have a long journey to take to get to my ultimate goal. I realize that I need help. I know what to eat. I know when to eat. I know how to workout/exercise (although I do have some issues from previous injuries - besides the point). I know - I know - I know. (Knowledge & Skills) I want to do this - for me but also for my family. (Desire) But I don't do because I don't know how to form good habits which will last a lifetime. That's what I'm missing. And, that's what I'm seeking. I have a call scheduled with a Coach this weekend; I'll let you know how that goes - she's a Paleo Cross-fitter Biochemist guru so Lord help me now!! But, she focuses on forming habits - just what I need. So, I'll report back as to whether I decide to go forward with her.

I mean really ... what do I have to lose?

Paleo via Memory Lane

So ... I continue to do research on Paleo. Can't quite explain to you why I'm so slow at jumping at this - guess I just need to be sure this is what I want to do. KWIM? But, as I said in my previous post, I need to find suitable Paleo ingredients safe for peanut allergies. Food Allergies - huh???

Today I came across some great information and it just hit me: Where was PALEO when we sat with the nutritionist.

OK, need to back-up here. In September 2008, my oldest son (just about 4 yrs old) was at his annual allergy & asthma checkup with our Allergist. He was already diagnosed with a Peanut allergy. We had been told he was allergic to milk but had "outgrown" that. [I didn't know what that had meant - figured it was that his body matured enough for milk/casein.] He underwent blood work for additional allergy testing because his primary care physician had only done environmental profile (which- by the way, was all positive except cockroach & mulberry - yeah!) Test results came back & we were devastated - allergic to wheat & soy. Told we should see a Nutritional Counselor & off we went.

So, my husband, mother-in-law and I went to see Julie, a Registered Dietician at one of our clinics. She pulled up my son's test results/medical record and I will never forget the words out of her mouth, "Wow! I don't know what you're going to feed this kid!?!?" We all just froze - and then I spoke: Why?

Julie showed us the results: elevated IgE levels for corn, tomato, peanut, soybean, wheat, milk, egg white. WHAT!?!?! She was told to focus on wheat, soy & peanuts with us by the Allergist. We learned how his body was rejecting the food we were feeding him and that this poor little almost-4-year-old was actually malnourished!! (Oh, and the Allergist was really ticked off that she brought up all the other foods)


We were diligent - doing everything we could to avoid wheat & soy and avoided all peanuts like the plague. We gave him supplements like crazy & cooked everything in cast iron (he was anemic) and he got healthier. Skin issues (eczema) persisted with frequent infections - we can teach you a lot about staph infections! School started the following year & we handled it with limited drama. Another year passed & we were preparing for Kindergarten. I asked if we could re-test... I had been "slipping" some wheat into my son's diet and his skin reactions were not concurring as they had been before.

So, we tested again in September 2010. Guess what? All test results were either the SAME or...HIGHER!?!?!? What the...But, since he had been re-introduced to wheat and shown little reaction, the gold standard food challenged had been passed. We took him out for pizza that night & had a little party. Since then, he's been eating soy & wheat on a regular & daily basis. I nearly tossed out all my gluten-free and food-allergy cookbooks but, for whatever reasons, I opted to keep them since there were some family favorites I still use today.

Now, why would you think I became a bit upset today when I started reading some Paleo information - why humans should not be eating certain foods & what it does to their bodies...

It hit me like a ton of bricks: Why didn't Julie tell us about Paleo in 2008? Why? Why? Why? Lack of education? Lack of "believing in it"? I admit, I got a bit angry about this, too. And why hadn't any of the many people I met in online in the food allergy community know anything about this?

Who knows... But I guess the point is: I'm here now. I have more knowledge about the devastating impacts to your body these foods can have - they caused my son to be malnourished through infancy & his toddler years. His body adapted but not in a way I would've wanted... Had I known then what I know now.

So,  the search intensifies starting today.  He brought cold lunch to school today & it was totally a Dinsoaur lunch: uncured/nitrate-free hard salami, red bell pepper strips, baby carrots, star fruit & a large prune (aka, "big raisins") - all organic & healthy. And he loved, loved, loved it. (Let's not talk about how he washed it all down with chocolate milk!)

I purchased my two starter books today: Practical Paleo and Eat Like a Dinosaur. Got them for just over $40 with free shipping on Amazon!! I'm still not going to dump out my pantry - learned that lesson. But, I'm definitely going to find that coconut oil & coconut aminos so I can get beyond 50% Paleo...Starting NOW!!