My Vegetarian Experiment

So, in dealing with my digestive issues, I've tried lots of things. Fibre supplements. Whole grains. Eliminating dairy. Eliminating gluten. The thing with IBS is that it's not always a dietary issue. It can also act up due to other factors. In my case, it's usually stress. So it's not always something I can control with diet. Each of the attempts above have worked for a limited period of time, and then it just stops working. So now I'm going to tell you about my latest try!

I've been vegetarian for almost a week now. If you've known me for a long time, you'll know that I used to be a vegetarian while I was a teenager. Back then, I just did it because I wanted to. I also did what a lot of vegetarians do when they go vegetarian...replace everything they eat with pasta and cheese. That's the problem with not really having a solid reason behind doing something. You do it halfway and wrong, and it ends up being pointless. However, many of my dietary changes lately have been for the sake of my health, and that's a pretty strong incentive to do something properly. I am also doing this for the sake of my fitness. One of the best examples I have found of the things that are possible on a vegetarian or vegan diet while focusing on building muscle and losing fat is a woman named Amber, who runs the website gokaleo.com. She used to be obese, and is now totally smoking hot, and very strong, all while being on a vegan diet. In terms of fitness and diet, she encourages people to be critical of the messages they are receiving and not to go along with fad diets. I find her to be very informative and encouraging of all body types and abilities. She's definitely inspired me to give this a try!

So far this is what I've been eating:

The same thing for breakfast I usually do: a smoothie. ½ banana, some frozen organic strawberries, greek yogurt (made the switch to FULL FAT om nom!), almond/coconut milk (not a huge fan of coconut but I'm getting used to it!), and some whey protein power (ya it's not vegetarian protein powder but it's all I've got).

Snack: usually the rest of my banana with some natural peanut butter. Sometimes almonds and some dark chocolate chips. I had some rice chips and salsa the other day...yum!

Lunch which is more like dinner: if we make pizza, I put tomatoes on my half instead of pepperoni. I made a fried rice thing the other night with frozen veggies, an egg, and rice. It was delicious. I also love rice and beans, and I'll make some kind of salad to go with that. We also like to have burritos with homemade tortillas and beans and cheese in them. I put salsa in mine too. Yum! If we have pasta, I like to have corn pasta with butter on it and tomatoes in it.

Another snack if I get hungry: veggies with yogurt-based ranch dip or a salad. Or eggs and fruit.

'Dinner': I sometimes eat some and sometimes don't. I'll usually have a salad of some type or some fruit. I don't normally get hungry at this time, and I don't like to eat heavy things because we usually go to bed an hour later.

So that's pretty much been my first week of vegetarianism. It's not quite as varied as other diets so far. I'm still trying to find my place in it. At first I was concerned about eating so much rice, but I've been fine so far. We have a huge bag of Basmati rice that we are working our way through right now, and after that is gone, we will switch to brown rice with the occasional Basmati because Basmati is OM NOMS. As you can also see, I'm still eating eggs. Since I'm not going vegetarian for moral reasons, I don't really feel the need to justify this, but I'll just say that chickens lay eggs normally anyways, and there's no reason to waste them. Plus eggs are pretty much the perfect food and super healthy for you (even the yolks...yes they contain cholesterol, but they also have choline which prevents cholesterol buildup so ha!). And every once in awhile I'll still have some kind of meat. Like this weekend we wanted burgers so we're going to go for burgers. In any diet change I make, I still want to make sure that I can live a life that's not separate from my husband's. I cannot picture him ever being a vegetarian, although his diet has gotten much healthier lately. Therefore, if he wants to take me out and it's for burgers, I'll eat it. Once a week won't be that bad.

So far these are my results:

Digestion – has been much better. I haven't been as bloated as I usually am, and my stomach hurts less than it usually does. What had been happening is that I'd feel like my stomach wasn't emptying. My NP blamed it on eating fibre-rich food, but honestly that makes no sense to me. Shouldn't that improve my digestion? But since cutting meat, I haven't had that feeling in my stomach, and my digestion feels a lot smoother. My IBS hasn't been acting up either. Yay! I'm going to keep this up for a couple more weeks and see if it stays this way. To date, these have been my most encouraging 'week one' results.

Fitness/Body – I lost a pound this week. I also lost about ½ an inch around my belly. I've noticed the tone in my arms is more visible, and even Daric remarked on it the other day. I definitely think I've lost a bit of fat or bloat or something because I can see a difference in my legs too. The big thing is that I haven't been to the gym in a while as my car is broken. However, we have begun taking kickboxing, boxing, and doing circuit training classes, all at the MMA gym we recently joined. Therefore, I've taken it a little easier for the workouts I do on my own. I have noticed an increase in my muscle awareness when working out though. This could be because my body feels better due to the dietary change, it could be because I'm more than halfway through my personal trainer course and I've just learned enough to be more aware about effective movements, or it could be that changing up my fitness routine with the new workouts has made me more aware. Focusing on having power or speed while moving is not easy, so you really need to be aware. An example of this muscle awareness would be a workout I did yesterday. I used a 10-20lb resistance band to do a little full body workout. I did some lat pulls and rear delt flies with the band and I can definitely feel it in my back today. Quite honestly, I didn't think I would, but it was extremely effective because I concentrated really hard on using my back muscles. This proves what every personal trainer knows: you don't need a gym to get a good workout, as long as you make your workout effective and concentrated.

So far vegetarianism is working for me, mostly because I'm doing it right this time. I will continue to add in more variety to my diet, and so it will only get better! I am a more mature cook this time as well, so the flavours in my food are more interesting and varied.

I don't intend this post to say everyone should be vegetarian. Whenever I say 'every body is different', I mean it. Natural shape, natural skills, natural diet. These things will vary for everyone. The one thing I emphasize for myself is to eat real food. I try not to eat a lot of packaged and processed food. As long as you focus on that, then whatever your diet is will be up to you. Some people thrive on a no-grain diet. Some people do well on the Paleo diet. Some people enjoy vegan/vegetarian diets. If you think your diet is holding you back, you might try eliminating some things from it, little by little, substituting them for others. For example, at present I have substituted different kinds of beans for meats in my food. Maybe try doing that swap and see how you feel.

Next time I'll share some of my favourite vegetarian meals!

Amanda <3

Tips for Working Out at Home

So, I usually work out at the gym, but sometimes that's not possible. For instance, my car broke down the other morning (darn you, 14 year old alternator!), so I can't hit up the gym until we get it fixed. What to do until then? WORK OUT AT HOME!!!

Lots of people work out at home, for various reasons. Sometimes they're too embarrassed to go to the gym, or they can't afford a gym membership, or getting to the gym is just too difficult because they work long hours or don't have a car and would have to rely on the bus. Well, luckily, there are lots of things out there that can help you get in shape at home, and if you make good use of your time and use the proper equipment, you'll be quite successful! These are the things you may need:

Space
Well, this one is obvious. You can't be doing jumping jacks or lunges or pushups if you don't have enough room. Make sure you have a space big enough so that you're not running into your furniture or catching your limbs/clothing on corners of things. To ensure you don't get injured, clear a big enough space.

Weights
If you work hard enough and do the right moves, you don't really need the machines at the gym. The key is to use heavier weights to challenge yourself. I see trainers at my gym giving their ladies 5 pound dumbbells, and I think it's quite a shame. Sure, 5 pounds is enough if you're just starting out, but you should be consistently increasing those weights over time. The thing is that people think that the more reps you do, the stronger you'll get. But the truth is that the more power and strength you demand from your muscles, the quicker they'll adapt. So instead of curling 5 pounds for 12 reps, do 10 for 6-8. You want to use a weight heavy enough that you can use it for 6-8 reps of what you're doing, but can't do more than 10 reps maximum with it. The key to making working out at home successful is to push yourself.

A Plan
Anyone who doesn't go into the gym with a plan is probably going to waste a lot of time. I write out all of my workouts in a notebook before the gym, and I take that notebook with me. When I'm done with something, I check it off, and if I changed my planned weights, I make a note.
Having a plan when working out at home can be a little difficult if you don't know what to do for what your goals are. Luckily, there are tons of plans out there already! Look on bodybuilding.com and you can find tons. Oxygen magazine puts workout plans in each new issue, and you can look up exercises on their website (oxygenmag.com). I actually started working with weights because of the workout in their January issue (I can scan it and email it to you if you let me know you want it...it's awesome!). Oxygen also releases guides every few months that are sold on magazine racks and they're all focused on a certain body part or goal. I also like the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises. It's literally full of hundreds of exercises with good instructions, and there are workout plans in the back. It's pretty sweet!

Other Aids
If you don't want to put much thought into planning your own workout for doing at home, you can always rely on video workouts. The type of equipment you'll need varies on what you pick. Most of them will require some kind of weights and maybe a workout mat. Pilates based ones may require more equipment. The great thing about workout videos is that you can always find one for your level and goal. If you're a new exerciser, you could try a Biggest Loser video ( I have a few, and they're pretty low-impact/easy). Or if you're more advanced or want more intense workouts, you could try P90X or Insanity, which are both made by Beachbody. Beachbody also makes TurboJam, which is a fun, dance-type workout (which I have also tried). A lot of people start out with Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, which is what I did when I started working out way back when. It's a good starting point, because it's designed to be 30 days, and it's pretty well rounded.
For more advanced exercisers, there are two things I'd like to point out. If you have a smartphone, there are TONS of apps related to exercising. Some are even free. The Nike Training Club app is free and unfortunately only for iPhone so far. I tried it for the first time yesterday, doubting it's difficulty at first. That is, until my arms were jelly, my quads were on fire (and that's not easy to do to my beast legs), and I was literally dripping sweat off my face. What I like best about it is that it doesn't cop out on the weights. It had you select your fitness level and type of exercise you want to do, and then it tells you how much weight to use within a range. It told me to use 12-20lb weights for my workout, and that's great! No more telling women they need puny weights! The only thing I didn't like is they don't give you a pause between exercises to get set up for the next one, so that eats into your time a bit.
And for people who don't have an iPhone, but have the interwebz, another great resource is bodyrock.tv. You do need extra equipment for their workouts, but not for all of them, and you can modify some of the moves to work with what you have if you don't want to buy the extra equipment. They've also started doing real time workout videos and posting them on their website, so you can do the workout with them and follow their timing and see them struggle right along with you. Their workouts are short, intense, and don't waste your time.

Extras
There are lots of other things you can incorporate into your home workouts. Bosu balls, stability balls, skipping ropes, a TRX system or other resistance band workout system, pull-up bars...all are things easy to use at home. And for when you're not strength training and want to do some cardio, well just go outside! Go for a speed walk, go for a run, go swimming, go biking. The possibilities are endless!

There's not a lot you need to work out at home, and the monetary investment is definitely doable for most people on a budget. You can slowly accumulate what you need and will use over time. And of course, there are tons of bodyweight only exercises that are great for beginners to get started, and then they can move up to equipment when they're ready.

The one sticking point about working out at home is finding the motivation. I don't know about you, but if I have to work out at home, it's difficult to get going. The drive to the gym is something that really mentally prepares me. So make sure you're finding the proper motivation. Maybe taking a walk around the block will help clear your mind and focus you. Maybe it's best that you get your work out in before you ever turn the tv on for the day. Maybe getting dressed in your work out clothes as soon as you get up will help you focus. Whatever you do, make sure you find a strategy to block out all the distractions that home can offer so you can really focus. A focused work out will do wonders for you, even if you can't use fancy gym equipment.

Do you work out at home? Do you have tips to share or questions to ask? Leave a comment!
<3 Amanda

Motivation!

Ah motivation. What would a fitness blog be without some kind of post on motivation?

I decided to do this post today, randomly, while at the gym, while dealing with a bit of my own demotivation and realizing what truly motivates me.

Our weekend just ended (it's Wednesday night to Friday night). It was lots of fun! I finally got to meet one of my husband's best friends and his girlfriend, and we went out and it was great to hang out with people and, for me, it was nice to be around another girl since I haven't talked to one face to face since I was in Canada in March. Girlfriends are so good to talk to.

The weekend was fun, but it was so difficult. Our sleep cycle got messed up, I got sick, and I just didn't handle it well. Therefore, my day today in the gym was kind of weak. At the beginning anyways. I sucked hard at my pull-ups, and that got me down because one of my fitness goals to reach by the end of 2012 is to do a full body weight pull-up, and I don't want or need any hiccups in reaching that goal. It just sucks when you set a goal and you feel like you're failing. Which is so silly, because the end of the year is months away, and I can totally reach this goal by then, and that's where motivation comes in.

After moving on to some rear delt work, I put on some motivating music. Music helps me so much in the gym. That's one of my tips. Find music that works for you. Today I needed Katy Perry. Some days I need Rihanna, or LMFAO, or something else. It's usually upbeat, but that's just me. Whatever it is for you, find music that makes you want to push harder and puts you in that mental place where you're motivated and put it on repeat and get your work done! It could be Mozart or Linkin Park. I don't care what it is, and nobody else needs to know, so just do it!

When I get demotivated, I also get motivation from my husband. He's one of my biggest supporters, and I've said it before...I couldn't do this without him. He's my biggest cheerleader, and he'll do anything to help me, and when he tells me that it's ok that I sucked and I'll still reach my goal and he'll help me get better, that definitely helps pick my motivation off the floor so I can keep going and push harder. So find someone to support you. There are lots of people who will be happy for you, and there will be people who think you're crazy and criticize you, but all you need is one person who believes in you and will help you however. Find that person. It could be your spouse (and if you're married, it should be!), one of your parents, your best friend, or even a person that you met at the gym who you can workout with and motivate each other and hold each other accountable. And if you can't find anyone around you, then hey! I'm always here :) I'll be your motivation buddy :)

I do online a lot and look up what's called 'fitspiration'. It's basically things that people have found to inspire them in their journey to fitness. It could be pictures of athletes, it could be quotes, it could be awesome recipes that help us eat better, it could be anything. I enjoy seeing pictures of athletes because I can see all the hard work they've put in and how it has paid off, and that also helps me to keep going.

Sometimes people ask who someone's personal 'fitspiration' is. I've racked my brain to think of a celebrity or athlete that I'd like to be like, but the truth is that my biggest fitness inspiration is my mother-in-law. She has been one of my biggest supporters. Her and my father-in-law pay for my gym membership, and she sends me nutrition info and articles, and took me into the gym and showed me how to use everything and how to start out. Without her I wouldn't be able to leg press 240 pounds or squat 50 pounds or do intervals on the treadmill or do 40 pounds on the triceps machine. I also wouldn't have a real-life inspiration, because she is mine. I'm 25 years old, and she is twice my age and can leg press 500 pounds. If that doesn't motivate you to be in shape for the rest of your life, I don't know what will! And the crazy part is that she's only been doing this for less than 10 years! One of my main reasons for being fit is because I want to be the kind of badass she is when I'm her age! If she can do it, I can, and that thought makes me push harder every time I'm in the gym. Having someone like her to aspire to be like is definitely a huge help! Find someone who inspires you. They don't even have to be a fitness person. Just find someone to look up to who makes you want to be better. That will influence your whole life, including your health and fitness journey.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my motivators and my tips on finding your own motivation. Have some you'd like to tell me about? I'd LOVE to hear about it in the comments!

Amanda <3

Loving Your Body aka a PSA

This is a post about loving your body. In a health way, not a sexual way. Gutter mind. Or maybe that's just me. Anyways...


If you've read anything else ever about how and why to love your body based on anything but your weight, you probably won't read the same things here. This is partly a rant, based on how frustrating living in my own body is. It is also partly inspirational, because I hope a few people will realize how lucky they are, and that they should show themselves some love. 


I myself have read a bunch of stuff over the years about how to love your body, mostly based on the facts of all it can do and how strong it is, and how to feel good about it's abilities that are not related to how much you weigh. 


HOWEVER. 


When you live in a culture like ours and you feel you need help with your health journey, and your doctor or nurse practitioner tells you that they can't help you because you 'technically' fall within the 'healthy limit' on the BMI scale, that can be extremely frustrating. First of all, BMI is so outdated, so don't even get me started there. That's a terrible thing to be refusing someone help based on. But I guess when you look at me and then you look around you at all the obese people, you can make an easy judgment about who needs more help. 


The difference though is that I WANT HELP. I think it's ridiculous to tell someone that they weigh a fine amount, so they just need to accept it and move on. So your birth control pill makes you hold an extra 10 pounds...so what? So your Nexium makes you gain extra weight...so what? You're healthy enough, and hey, if you want to have babies one day, you should just focus on 'being healthy'. 


Here's the kicker. I'm not healthy. Oh sure, on the outside I look perfectly healthy, and you might see me eating a bunch of carrots or going to the gym, but the truth is that my body is broken on the inside. Pretty badly too. If you haven't read about my health problems before, let me break it down again. I've got endometriosis, IBS, asthma, GERD...plus, I get migraines, and have suffered through many joint and muscle issues. I don't say this to have a pity party, but I say it to point out that what I have to do to stay in the mediocre shape I'm in now is above and beyond what most people do to be super fit. Almost 8 hours of working out every week, plus eating well most of the time. I warmup, I stretch, I squat, I run, and nothing. Yes, I am stronger, and I am very thankful to my body that it can do that. But I know I need to lose fat to be healthier. Honestly, if I weighed that same as I did now and had less body fat, I would be so happy. Not only would all my hard work shine through, but I would be healthier. There are health problems that run in my family that can be staved off by maintaining lower body fat. I don't want them! And I'm trying to do everything, and nothing works. I've had to resort to taking fat burner pills just to see some progress, and I was really torn about it. I wanted to do it on my own and I couldn't. With all the work I put in, that should scream to a doctor that there is something else wrong with me. But no. It's all, "It's probably what you're eating, keep a food diary", and "Birth control could cause a few pounds gain but not as much as you think". Never mind that I know in my mind what I eat every day, and that last time I went off birth control I lost 10 pounds and then some. NOOO. I have to be wrong. Because what do I know?


Which brings me to the purpose of this post. And some of you might not like this, and that's fine, because I'm past the point of caring. If you are sitting there overweight or obese and reading this...get off your butt and go for a walk. Go biking. Go swimming, go running, go to the gym!! If you have health problems due to your weight problem, please do me a favour...make yourself better. Work out, eat healthy, do something! It bugs me to know that there are people out there killing themselves with food and sitting on their couches and just accepting their fate when I can't do anything about my own problems despite wanting to and working so hard for it. You can do it. You have the power, and I bet that underneath the fat and illness is a healthy person just dying to get out. I'm so frustrated with my own body so often, and honestly, I don't always love it, but there's NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT. I often say to my husband how much I hate my body and how much it hates me. And hearing that I should just give up and be satisfied with it is infuriating to a degree I can't even describe. But you. You can be healthy. You can solve all your problems. Just get up and take the first steps. Please. You can do it. That is how you can show your body some love. It's that easy. 


<3 Amanda

What I Eat Now.

So, my last post was about food and what I started with at the beginning of my fitness journey. And this post will be about what I eat now for my fitness goals.

First I would like to reiterate something. This is a firm belief of mine, which is why I choose to state it again: All calories are not created equal.

There is only ONE instance in which you don't necessarily need to concern yourself with the kinds of calories you eat: when you're just starting out.

See, at the beginning of a diet change, it's usually overwhelming enough to just see how many calories you're really taking in and try to restrict it down to a normal amount so that you're not gaining weight, and then trying to figure out the balance of calories burned and eaten so that you're losing weight.

Once you've got actual calorie counting down, then it's time to slowly change what you eat. Having calorie counting skills already in the bag when you start to change your diet really helps because you begin to understand the difference between the calories in a burger from McDonald's and the one you can make at home. And this knowledge can really help make your transition much easier.

The way I did it was by slowly swapping out my unhealthy choices for healthier ones. I switched regular peanut butter (which has lots of added sugar and salt and preservatives in it) for natural peanut butter. Yes, it's oily and you have to stir it up, and yes you have to keep it in the fridge, but would you rather put preservatives in your body? I wouldn't. I switched soda for water. I switched white bread for whole wheat bread (actually I did this a really really long time ago, for my IBS, and I really can't stand even the thought of white bread now. I only eat it when I'm out and when there's no other option). And actually, I don't really eat a lot of bread now. I switched white pasta for whole wheat pasta...this one takes dedication. They taste very different. If you can make this switch, you're doing awesome. And you can do it, because I've put Daric on whole wheat pasta, and if you know him, you know he loves pasta, so it is possible. And right now, when we have pasta, I have corn pasta. Sounds weird but it's pretty good.

There are so many switches you can make. You can swap:
Mayo for mustard.
Regular bacon for turkey bacon.
Milk chocolate for dark chocolate.
Ice cream for frozen yogurt.
Cereal in a box for oatmeal.

Really, the options are endless. The one thing I would make sure of is that you're getting a balanced diet. Fruits, veggies, protein, fats. Those are the building blocks of a healthy diet.

Now, let me put something in here before I actually tell you what I eat, because I know you're dying inside to know.

I don't count calories. I try to eat healthy. Sometimes I fail miserably, as I am married to a man who loves to eat out, and can eat anything and still be a beanpole. Sometimes I want to kick him for that. But he's 24 and got testosterone, so what am I gonna do about it.

Anyways...to me, it's more important to get adequate nutrition than to make sure you're under a certain calorie limit. It is also important to me to eat if I'm hungry. There have been many days when I have plowed through my calorie limit because I have been starving. And it didn't matter to me. God puts a rumble in your belly to know it's time to eat. Your stomach doesn't care about numbers. If your body is hungry, feed it. That's where the importance of adequate nutrition comes in. If every meal you eat contains carbs from fruits and veggies, a protein source, and a small amount of fat....you won't really get that hungry before your next meal. With the right meal, I could go 6 hours without feeling hungry again. Depends on what I did that day. That said, right now I'm getting hungry even though I had a smoothie with over 40 grams of protein in it less than 3 hours ago. Why? Because I worked legs in the gym today and then walked half an hour on the treadmill and came home and did some abs and stretching. My body is hungry for calories because it's getting stronger and repairing the damage I did. If your body is hungry, and you're putting good food in it, it is my opinion that you don't need to worry about calories. Your body will use that nutrition to be healthy.

However...if you're going to eat crap, you do need to watch your calories. Because that crap will get stored as fat, and you'll only have yourself to blame.

You'll notice I didn't list 'carbs' in my mealtime idea...that's because you get carbs from fruits and veggies. You can eat wheat based products if you want. I choose to limit mine, because I feel better without them, and I eat enough fruits and veg to get adequate carbs.

One last thing...there are some things out there where the  healthier option actually has more calories. For instance, take peanut butter. Classic pb has less calories than natural peanut butter. Natural pb has 100 calories per tbsp., and I think classic has 80-90. HOWEVER, if we're going with the quality of calories over quantity, then natural pb wins. Why? Well, it's natural first off. It doesn't have added sugar, salt, or chemicals. It's just peanuts, plain and simple. Secondly, the extra calories come from the oil they leave in the jar, which you see sitting on top of the pb when you buy it and you then have to mix in. This is where the fats come from. Fats from seeds and nuts are good for you. They help your brain work, they lubricate your joints, and your body needs them. Natural peanut butter is so good for you for those reasons. I eat at least a tablespoon every day. Plus, it's way more delicious than regular pb. So get some.

Ok. Enough ranting. Here's what I generally eat day to day:

Breakfast: Either a fruit smoothie (1/2 banana, a few strawberries, 1/2 c. cranberry juice, 1-2 tbsp. greek yogurt, ice cubes) or some fruit and some protein - today was a couple servings of cherries and 4 slices of turkey bacon

Then I work out.

Post-workout: Smoothie! 1-2 scoops protein powder (I use Promasil and it's fantastic), 1/2 c. chocolate almond milk, 1 tbsp. natural pb, 1 tbsp. greek yogurt, 1/2 banana, dash of cinnamon, ice cubes, some water. It's a lot, sounds weird, and it's probably close to 500 cals last time I checked and depending on how much Promasil I used, but I workout for two hours on days I have this, and my body needs FUEL baby!!

Lunch: Daric comes home for lunch, and it's around 1am usually. I try to make dinners we can both have, so this is my most liberal meal of the day, and it varies widely. I usually try:
Protein (chicken, steak, fish, beef) and vegetables (usually carrots, because they're easy, but I also have frozen mixed veggies to use sometimes).
Last night we had tacos (corn shells, lean ground beef, tomatoes, and shredded cheese) with some carrots.
Other nights we'll have steak and I'll have veggies on the side. If he has pasta, I have corn pasta and chicken and veggies.

Snack: Usually around 5am...usually some protein like eggs (yolk and all...yummy fats!) and some more fruit or veggies and maybe a spoon of natural pb. Last night my snack was two hard-boiled eggs, some sugar snap peas, and a spoon of pb.

Dinner: Not tons, because I don't like to go to bed on a full stomach and I'm honestly not that hungry at this time (about 7-8am)...I might have some oatmeal sometimes, bacon, a fruit smoothie if I didn't have it for breakfast...it varies, especially since Daric will need to eat too.

So there you have it. As you can see, I don't generally eat a lot of wheat products. I like to limit it, but sometimes we go out to eat or hit up Subway or Chik-Fil-A and then I'll eat it. It's fine for me in moderation.

You'll also notice a lack of dairy. Except for small amounts of yogurt (always in smoothies) and cheese (usually in tacos or on homemade pizza), I don't eat dairy. Sometimes I'll have ice cream, but not often. And usually in a small tea cup. My stomach doesn't really like dairy, and avoiding it and gluten have helped my digestion a lot.

I've mentioned we eat out. Sometimes we'll get pizza, and I don't feel guilty about eating it. Sometimes we go out for waffles, and I love it. I honestly have gotten over my guilt about eating bad foods because a) I eat well most of the time, and b) since I don't count calories, I'm no longer obsessive about what I eat. My opinion is that if you're good most of the time, you can indulge when you want to. Plus, I don't deprive myself, and I love pizza and waffles, and it's my choice and I like it :)

Well, that's that. Changing diet is pretty difficult, but you just need to get in a groove, and find a way to be happy with it. http://www.eatcleandiet.com/ is a great place to start for ideas. If you're like me, you can eat the same thing day in and day out without really caring too much about it, but if you're not you just need to be creative and thoughtful about your food choices. You can eat better! You can!

As always, I'm willing to answer any questions!
<3 Amanda

FOOOOOD

So I've already posted about the start of my fitness journey, and how I got started with my exercise. Now it's time to talk about FOOD.

I love food. LOVE IT. I also love to use it to fix my emotional issues. Which would be why I gained most of my weight when I was depressed in University. I have always used food to fix my feelings. Loneliness, sadness, anger...those are the big ones that have caused me to eat too much in the past. 

First I thought I'd tell you what I used to eat. This is probably going to be very embarrassing. These are the foods I love and used to eat way too often:

Pasta (any type, including fettuccine alfredo, mac and cheese, plain egg noodles with margarine, etc)

Pizza (I still eat pizza, but not a whole one in one sitting by myself anymore)

Pop/Soda

Pastries (I warned my husband when we started dating to never buy me pastries...doughnuts, cake, cookies...they'll all be gone fairly quickly with me around)

Chips

Cereal (Depending on the type, I'd put extra sugar on top. Om nom.)

Alcohol (beer, wine, etc)

Cheese (I love cheese so BAD)

That's a rough list. I'm absolutely sure there's more. I just can't think of them because I don't eat like that anymore.

Now, when I was younger and danced 12 hours a week, I really could get away with eating whatever and still be skinny. But then I stopped dancing and started University, and I continued eating the same way, except with more sitting on my butt than normal. I'd eat a whole box of Kraft Dinner (aka Mac & Cheese for the Americans out there) by myself. I'd get a medium pizza and eat it myself. I'd eat a whole bag of chips. And chocolate bars, and a bottle of wine, and it all adds up.

When I started my health journey, I didn't initially start out by counting calories. At first all I did was exercise and try to cut back. But I was still eating poorly. Eventually I started counting calories, and tried to eat better, but I didn't do that well.

When I started changing my diet, I didn't follow a plan, but I've educated myself well and now make better decisions.

When I started counting calories...it's confusing. There are so many ideas out there about how many calories one should be eating, and it's very overwhelming. Some women find they can survive off of 1200 calories per day. In my opinion, eating any less than 1500 calories per day for a full grown woman is not healthy. I tried eating 1400 calories a day, and that wasn't enough. Once I started eating more, I did much better with my fitness and weight loss. What you really need to know is your BMR (basal metabolic rate; here's a calculator to help you figure yours out: http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html), which tells you how many calories your body burns every day just by existing, and focus on eating that amount everyday. Mine is just under 1500. So when I was counting calories, I never went under that. But then how do you lose weight? By exercising. And eating the right kinds and quality of foods.

The truth is, that all calories are NOT equal. This is a myth. Take breakfast for example. 200 calories of doughnut is not the same as 200 calories of eggs and fruit. 300 calories of cereal is not the same as 300 calories of greek yogurt, natural granola, and fruit. One option provides empty calories full of processed carbs and sugar (doughnuts and cereal), and one provides nutritious calories that will give you vitamins, minerals, and fibre to keep you full and healthy.

I don't count calories anymore. I focus on eating when I'm hungry (it's called intuitive eating), and eating protein, fats, and a small amount of carbs. Counting calories gives me anxiety, and it makes me feel like I can eat whatever I want as long as I'm under my calorie count. But that doesn't make sense, so I've taken to trusting myself and trying to eat real food when my body needs it.

Honestly, I've been putting this blog post off because until recently, I didn't feel like my diet was anything to be proud of. My nutrition has never really been on point. I have very limited amounts of willpower. If someone shoves a doughnut towards me, I'll probably eat it. Partly because it's delicious and partly because they brought it for me. I'm just a polite Canadian like that I guess.

However, for a while, I've suspected that I have food sensitivities that have held me back in achieving my goals. I was lactose intolerant when I was young, and dairy continues to give me random problems to this day. I've also recently decided to cut out gluten and grain-based carbs to see if that will help me as well. I've been suspicious for a long time that my diagnosis of IBS is mistaken or that there are related problems to my digestion that I don't know about. It's been interesting going gluten-free, and while I wasn't craving bread, pasta, etc. at first, I am a little bit now that I'm a few days in. I'll have to find alternatives, and hopefully that will help. I don't think everyone should be gluten-free, but I definitely think that as a society we eat way too many processed wheat carbs, and that it's unhealthy and holding us back. But that's just my opinion.

The bottom line in diet is that 'diets' don't work, but changing your diet does. You have to consider whether you want to have doughnuts everyday or feel better on the inside and outside by eating a more natural, non-processed diet. Personally, we don't keep very much unhealthy food in our house. Except for ice cream, which my husband loves, and I only have a very small cup of when he has some...I never eat it on my own. I never really want to anymore.

I think of children when I think of diet. Children ask for food when they're hungry, and when they're full at a meal, they push away their plates. We're like the parent and the child...if only we listen to ourselves. We can choose to put healthy nutritious things on the plate like we would for a child, and we can choose to only do so when we're hungry, and put it away when we're full. Not stuffed-full...satisfied. It's actually quite easy. Of course, I'm the person who eats the same thing everyday at every meal with slight variations, so maybe it's easier for me than some other people. But it's still a choice you're making everyday. You're responsible for it. You're the parent and the child.

The thing about diet though is that it might take effort and willpower in the beginning...and you will slip, and you shouldn't feel bad about that. But after a while, it does get better. Next time I'll tell you what I currently eat. Yum :)

<3 Amanda

The Humble Beginnings of my Active Life

When I started my fitness journey, one of the most difficult things I had to face was becoming more active. I was pretty big, and if you know me at all, you know I'm fairly uncoordinated. Yes, I had danced for a few years, but beyond that, I didn't really do anything. Because I had been in school for 5 years, I hadn't done any activity at all. Just walking up the stairs at the University library was not fun. Running to catch the bus was awful! At this point in my life, I was also clinically depressed and on antidepressants, so my motivation to do pretty much anything was non-existent.

My other obstacle was my health. And honestly, it still can be one of my biggest obstacles. First off, I'd had asthma for years. So I was afraid to push myself too hard because I didn't want to have an asthma attack. I've only had a few really bad attacks where I truly felt like I could not breathe, and those were terrifying. I didn't want to go through that again. Luckily, these days I generally only have asthma issues when it's very muggy out or the mold has been bad outside.

Second, I have moderately bad allergies. As I said about the mold...there's also the grass, some animals, some weeds, dust, etc. Being outside in the summer generally does not go well for me. And if I do activities where I end up breathing deeply, my allergies can really get aggravated.

Third, I do suffer from endometriosis, which used to be extremely painful and would completely disrupt my life. Lots of people really discount the pain suffered by people with endometriosis as not that bad, and that we just can't handle the pain, but unless your period makes you vomit on a regular basis, you can't really understand how it feels. Related to my endometriosis, I also have IBS, and that is aggravated by my period, by certain foods (mostly dairy), and stress. I also get pretty bad headaches around the time of my period. Basically, my hormones hate me. Fun!

Those are my basic health problems, but I've also had problems with my knees, hips, back, and shoulders.

If I sound pathetic, well, just imagine how I feel sometimes! I had all these problems to overcome, and I had no idea how to begin, but I did. I've suffered from so many shin splints, breathing problems, sleepless nights, skipped workouts due to headaches and other pains...man!

One of the first things I started doing to lose weight was biking. I'd go biking with my stepdad on his runs, and he's gone on bike rides with me for the last few years, even helping me train for a couple 50km charity bike rides I've done. He has definitely been a big help during my weight loss.

One other thing I did was walking. Walking is amazing! Walking rivals running for effectiveness in training because if you're walking fast enough, your body wants to run, and to keep walking your body needs to try harder to keep itself on the ground. It's a great leg workout and can be great cardio if you walk fast enough. I also find walking very therapeutic. Whenever I've been frustrated and needed to blow off steam, I've gone for a nice long walk. So calming!

I've also done a lot of swimming (again with my stepdad, and now with my husband), some running (my shins hate it though), some bootcamp classes, ballet, and workout dvds. Most of my workout dvds are Jillian Michaels and Biggest Loser ones. I remember that after biking for a little while, I had started watching the Biggest Loser regularly, and I thought, maybe I should try a Jillian Michaels dvd...I went to the library and rented the 30 Day Shred. It's less than half an hour, and nowadays, I could probably bust it out no problem. The very first time I tried the Level One workout, I was dying! I remember doing jump rope, and my calves were ON FIRE. It was awful. But I got better, and then I did Level Two one day. And I almost puked. But between that and biking, I started really seeing results. So I kept going, and now, I workout for about 8 hours a week, and I look fantastic. Ha!

Part of the point of this post was to share what I've had to struggle through. And to share what I've done on my journey. Honestly, I've tried so many things to find something that works for me. These days, I love weight training. It has changed my body in ways I never thought possible. I will share in a later post what I do now.

The other point of doing this post is to inspire other people! Perhaps you have health problems similar to mine. Maybe some of them, like asthma, will disappear after you started working out. Or maybe you have a condition like endometriosis or IBS or anything else that you know will never go away, but will be better managed by getting in shape. The question I have for you is: why don't you do it? I've had issues piled upon issues piled upon depression and excuses...and I did it. You CAN do it. Just go for a walk. And then tomorrow, go for another walk. And another and another. And then try swimming, and biking, and anything else you want. There are no limits to what you can do for fitness, and the best kind of exercise for you is the one you love! The reason I still go for walks even now is because I LOVE to walk. It's not such a huge workout for me these days, but I still adore it. It's like my exercise soulmate. Find what you love, and overcome your problems. Work within your current limits, and soon you'll see that your limits will expand.

As always, if you have questions or comments, please leave them below! I love to get them!

Next time: Nutrition o.O

<3

Amanda