Some Things I've Learned about Nutrition....

So, I've dedicated a lot of my time in the past few years to educating myself as much as I can about nutrition. Here are some little nutritional tidbits/rules to shop by that I have learned and would like to share. Maybe these are things you already know, but maybe I can help some people make some smarter choices:

1. Circle the Store First: Oldie, but a goody. Stores keep the most healthy of the healthy on outskirts of the store. Think about it. The dairy, produce, meat, seafood, whole grains....all of these things are NOT in the aisles. Do a once-around first and usually your cart will be almost full by the time you get to the 'bad' aisles. Aisles 3-11 are usually FULL of the junk. Check it out. True Story.

2. Do Lunges and Reach High: The most caloric, most highly processed foods sit in the aisles at EYE LEVEL. Supermarkets charge manufacturers for the placement of their food and food marketers use this as a way to pass the cost to you. Reach up or kneel down in the aisles and you'll find the better choices.

3. Fewer Ingredients: The fewer ingredients, the better something is for you. Usually. Have you ever looked at the label of some over processed food? There are usually about 20 things listed. #1 almost always being sugars. Yuck. That brings me to my next rule...

4. Read Labels: I taught a nutrition class at a local community center for free this last fall. What did I learn? People do not read labels. It astonished me. Not only do people not read them, they don't know how to read them. Labels list foods in order of weight. For example, if the first ingredient is sugar (aka dextrin, dehydrated cane juice, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, lactose, maltose, maltodextrin, saccharose, sorghum, sucrose, xylose...there are even more hidden names for sugar) then what you are holding in your hand is mostly sugar. So watch "whose on first" when it comes to the list of ingredients.

5. Sugar is the White Poison: I just went over some of the names for sugar, now here is the clencher. Sugar is bad. No bueno. I'm talkin white simple sugars. This sucks, I know. This has been the HARDEST thing for me. Sugar sends your metabolism into a slow tailspin that puts fat in all the wrong places. There are, however, excellent sugar and sweetening substitutes like Stevia. Yum!

6. Stay Away from the Soda: Soda contains approximately 7 to 9 teaspoons of refined sugar. Even the diet sodas can be detrimental to your health because they are full of aspartame or splenda.

7. The Truth about Deli Meat: Another 'look at the label'. Most processed meats contain a chemical soup of nitrates, nitrites, sugar, sodium and preservatives. Many of these have been found to lead to cancer. Yucky.

8. The Truth about Carbs: Ok, we all know someone who has lost weight on the Atkins diet. Why? Eating too few carbs puts the body in starvation mode and muscles begin to burn their own protein for energy. Sound like a good idea still? Here is another carb-fun-fact. Sticking with a consistent diet of high protein, low carbs over an extended period of time causes calcium loss and kidney damage. Stick with yummy complex carbs like whole grains, potatoes, broccoli (my favorite), oatmeal, apples....the list goes on. These are GOOD FOR YOU!

9. Lots of Color in your Diet = Fatloss: I'm talkin greens and reds and yellows and oranges. Your meals should look like a rainbow and I'm not talking about the package on the food. Eat clean and you'll never have to count another calorie again.

9. USE YOUR NOGIN! There are a billion books out there about losing weight and nutrition. We see tons of commercials each day and advertisements in magazines about what we should and should not eat. There are countless numbers of documentaries on foods. The bottom line is, use your head. You KNOW what is healthy. I am all about research, but frankly, I don't agree with everything I read and hear.

That's all for today! I hope this sheds some light or at least reinforces what some of you already know. I'm off to the gym. Again! XoXo

Monotony...monotony....monotony

I spent the last week in Marysville, Washington assisting my little brother following an ACL and double meniscus surgery on his right knee. He is 19 and helpless. I was able to get all of my workouts in. Apparently having a VIP Golds Gym membership only works in Utah and does NOT transfer to other states. The super-ghetto Golds in Marysville, however, was gracious enough to give me a one week free membership while I was up there. I learned a few things. Staying across the street from a Starbucks. Bad. Golds Gyms in Utah. Good. If I hadn't known better, I would've guessed that the Golds Gym I was working out in was the original and it had never been remodeled. There was an average of about 10 cars in the gym parking lot at any given time, sometimes less. This explained to me the amount of morbidly obese people I saw bumming around Northern Washington. Thanks to stress, I was able to get 100% of my workouts in and then some. Unfortunately, the monotony of the diet is seriously getting to me. That and PMS. I ate healthy, but what I was eating was certainly a far cry from the broccoli and protein shake diet I have been so loyal to. It was nice to get a break, but now that I am back I am meeting with my trainer this Saturday in a bikini to discuss if I am ready. I am thinking, probably not. I am continuing to slim down, but I don't think I am close to what I need to be. My trainer continues to text me positive vibes and has been fantastic the entire time. We will see. Stay posted to see if I actually get to compete on September 10th! Dun dun dun!

Why Not a Marathon Too?

So, I have been working out like crazy. It is starting to get to me. I am tired most of the day. I am doing 2 a days of 1 hour of cardio 6 days a week. So, I started thinking......

Why not train for a marathon too?

I am hoping, that with all of the weight lifting I have been participating in, that my IT band will resolve. My ass was virtually muscle-less, resulting in severe IT in October of 2009 following the Other Half in Moab. The furthest I have been able to run since has been 6 miles. Maybe, with all this lunging and squating and pressing, I will have the muscle to "back it up". I have wanted to run another full marathon since I graduated nursing school, but my IT has gotten in the way. 26.2 is calling again.

If this all works out, I will be ready to run the Tuscon Marathon on December 11th.

With all of that being said, I will attempt for the first time in almost 2 years a 7 mile run tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

Keep strong and carry on....

Last few days have been more difficult than ever. I am currently continuing to lift 6 days a week, which equates to about 30-45 minutes each day. My trainer has increased my cardio to 2 hours a day, 6 days a week. I am tired 100% of the time. I am attempting to wake up at 4 am each morning to get 1 of my 2 hours of cardio in, but sometimes my body rejects the early morning rise. I am beginning to crave carbs like crazy! First competition is 31 days from today. I received my heels in the mail and I have picked out my suit, just waiting to meet with one of my trainers on the 26th to approve the suit so I can order it. Taking it one day at a time!

7 weeks.....

Seven weeks until the first show. I am definitely leaning out, but not at all ready. My trainer increased my cardio again to 50 minutes twice a day. It is kicking my ass. I never thought that I would say this, but thank god for "rest day". I used to hate rest days. Getting me to sit still was almost impossible, but today I woke up thinking "Praise the Lord, no gym today!". I am getting more and more excited with all of the changes that I am seeing. The diet has been fairly easy to stick to to until these last few days. I am PMSing and all I want to do is chew and munch and eat carbs! Oh well, it is worth it in the end. Chris continues to be an excellent support and is so sweet.
I've been getting a lot of questions concerning my main source of protien, since I am vegan. I am taking two protein supplements that I alternate every other meal and I am having 5 meals a day.

They are actually quite yummy. Both are soy and one is also wheat based. 7 more weeks to go! Wish me luck!!

Staying Motivated

I apologize for being oober-neglectful (oober is a word) recently. I have been training at my new job and my trainer recently increased my cardio to 90 minutes a day which has been bogarting some of my time, but in a good way. Here is how my progress has been coming along so far.

The first three weeks:

 Bloat city. I had to pee every 30 minutes and by about 4 pm my stomach looked like I was 'with child'. Very frustrating. I continued to consume 90 oz of water a day. I continued to eat ALL of the broccoli. I switched it up to one of the other approved vegetables, string beans, and it was worse. So, broccoli it is. I talked with my trainer about some "digestive issues" and carried on. I kept weighing myself every day and although I know muscle weighs more than fat, I couldn't keep myself from becoming mortified as the numbers continued to creep up and I was convinced that I would soon have to start shopping in the maternity section if this kept up.

What is happening now:

Bloat? Gone. My trainer told me to "STOP weighing yourself!", so I did and I must admit I am much happier. I am able to start wearing some regular shirts again. Phew. I was afraid I'd have to start telling people when I was due. My cardio has been increased, so I wake up at 4:30 am and do 45 minutes of cardio and then do another 45 minutes after work and lift. I started using lemon juice on my broccoli and it has magically created, not only a tolerable meal, but one that I enjoy. No more sugar cravings. Those are gone for good, but I do believe that the gum industry is happy to have me as a consumer. Extra makes this amazing sugar-free gum that tastes like your favorite desserts. They are amazing!
I went camping last weekend. I brought all of my food and it worked out well. Raw broccoli and cauliflower with Walden Farms calorie free dressing.
I continue to pee often, but about once an hour.
All in all, staying motivated seems to be getting easier. Especially now that I am beginning to see changes in the photos I have to send to my trainer each week. I keep thinking about the comps in September and October and I get butterflies in my stomach! So exciting. This experience is proof to me, once again, that ANY goal can be achieved as long as you stick to the program and consistently remind yourself of the light at the end. Keep your goal in sight. Remember that the foods you put in your body are YOUR choice. You have to choose what it is that you want to achieve. Some days are easier than others, but it is worth it in the end.

I Love Broccoli, I Love Broccoli, I Love Broccoli

I hate Broccoli. I'm pretty sure I do at this point. It's only been 2 weeks! Everything has been going well. Yesterday was my first "wall". After ten hours at work I didn't want to look at any vegetables, but I ate the damn broccoli anyway.

Last week, the day after my 200 lunges, I felt fine. The next three days were filled with soreness. I had to talk myself through my 1 hour cardio each day and, literally, ice my ass at night so I could sleep. I did legs again yesterday. I did NOT think I could make it through the entire 200 lunges and 80 squats. I did it anyway. I did it with good form. I did it tired and had to talk myself through each step, but I did it.

The moral of this story? Don't let anything stand inbetween you and what you want. If you want to run a marathon. Run it. If you want to do a tiratholon. Do it. If you want to compete, compete. There is no feeling that I can compare to finishing my first full marathon. The sense of accomplishment is amazing.

Was I tired? Yes, but knowing what I can achieve by being diligent in my efforts helps me stay focused. Sometimes pulling up pictures of competitions helps me to stay focused.

Doing a little at a time also helps. I did 50 lunges at a time. I would do 50, then sit and talk myself into doing the next 50.

It doesn't matter how old broccoli and string beans become, how tired I am or how sore I get. The end goal that I am striving to achieve is much greater than the few moments of discomfort I endure to get there.