A testament to nutrition

I have said this before.  And I will say it again.  Nutrition is everything.  Literally.  I used to believe it was in the 50/50 range.  Then, as my metabolism changed, I thought it might be 80/20.  Now I believe it is everything.  

Don't get me wrong.  I am not a proponent of not working out.  In fact, the way you workout also influences your outcome, but my experience has taught me that you can do all of the working out in the world - even the working smarter, not harder working out - but it's a futile effort without the right nutrition.

And I am not here to rail on whatever nutrition anyone else is doing.  I'm over that.  I have learned through my own experience, and that of some of my friends, that one size does not always fit all.  I'm here to share my own journey.

If you have read any of my previous posts, then you know that JP and I went Paleo starting on January 2nd.  I also previously wrote about some of my initial success with it.  Since Jenna turned 1 yesterday, I thought I would report on the overall success.

Since going Paleo, I have lost thhe following:

From my bust: 1.75 inches

From my waist (proper): 4.5 inches

From the largest  part of my stomach (below my belly button, where I have carried fat from the baby): 2.25 inches

From my hips: 1.5 inches

From my rear (around the largest part of my glutes): 2 inches

From my right thigh: 1.25 inches

From my left thigh: 1.25 inches

Since 1/2/12 (a month and a half - 49 days to be exact) I have lost a total of 14.5 inches from my body.  Pretty impressive.

A note about scale weight: it is just not an accurate reflection of health.  Period.  I know I have also said this before, and then kind of gotten caught up in the mass fitness hysteria, but I am back to being rational again.  I have lost scale weight through all of this.  Over 10 pounds, actually.  And I am now below my pre-pregnancy weight.  I would be lying if I said this didn't make me happy.  It does.  But I also realize that, if I am putting on muscle, then the scale weight will not always correspond with the inches lost.  It doesn't now.  And, although I now have more muscle than I ever have before, my scale weight is the factor of the traditional BMI calculations (don't get me started on what a joke this is) that puts me at .01 points from being in the obese range.  Sure, I need to lose more body fat - and I don't have a beach ready body for sure - but I am not obese.  We all know people who are skinny fat - cardio hounds or people who have lost weight through diet with no exercise, who are in a smaller pants size, but are nowhere close to being in shape.  I'm not railing against that either, just so everyone knows.  I am just saying that is not what I want for me.  

So.  The experience I am sharing here - after having done the traditional bodybuilding macronutrient eating, then the caloric deficit eating, and finally moving to the Paleo style eating - is that nutrition makes all of the difference in the world.  A part of this is being more intentional with my workout and cardio style - I have shortened my weight lifting sessions, hitting it hard and fast and then slowed down my cardio, wearing a chest band and keeping my heart rate between 100 and 125.  But I truly believe that the change in diet has made the biggest difference.

Also, since my energy level is steady now, rather than the up and down I experienced, even with whole oats and Ezekiel bread in my diet, I have cut out all stimulant pre-workout supplements, and am slowly phasing out all supplementation (save for a post-workout protein scoop).  I have actually seen an increase in muscle mass since I started doing this.  All of this goes against conventional wisdom, I know.  And my friend, Justin, has been preaching it to me for the past 2 years.  As with anything else in life, my own personal experience is the best teacher.

I wanted to give my total loss to date - from 4/9/11, my first measurements post baby:

Neck: -0.75in

Bust: -4.75in

Waist (proper): -6.75in

Waist (thickest): -7in

Hips: -5.5in

Glutes: -6.25in

Thigh - right: -3.75in

Thigh - left: -4in

Arm - right: -1.25in

Arm - left: -1.25in

Scale (from 4/9/11): -25.6 pounds

Scale (from 2/16/11 - day before I had Jenna): -69.4 (before you get all excited - this included the baby + water weight)

I was thinking about changing the name of my blog, especially since Jenna is now a year old.  After this post, I realize the name is still perfect. 

Great meditation for the day...

I am not big on posting my thoughts about meditations in a public forum - more because I think the meditation loses some of it's meaning when the ego gets involved - but I really felt compelled to share this one today.  It's relavent to each my mental, physical and spiritual life.  The italics are mine - not theirs. Lol. :)

Without work all life goes rotten.-- Albert Camus

Most would not think of work as a prize. That is often due to the concept we have of work.

Work can be that of an artist, the work of creation. Such work is not the response to a whistle or the boring activity that follows a punched time card. Creative work is the fullest human expression of being alive. It comes from the inside out and has no boss other than an inner demand to create a thing of beauty that previously did not exist.

The primary task of human beings is to creatively work at making our lives a remarkable thing of beauty. Whether we be butcher, baker, or candlestick maker there is always the opportunity to make a truly creative effort of a life's work by pounding out our dents and polishing that which is already beautiful. When we understand that life is the medium and we are the canvas, our efforts to improve become an exciting challenge rather than a boring task.

I am grateful to have the opportunity and the strength to work. I will not resent my job.

From: Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty

Park workout

JP recently said he wanted to start doing stair running (stair sprinting, actually), so we loaded Jenna up yesterday and headed down to Irmo Park.  I remembered there were stairs there, but when we got there it was not what I remembered.  We almost left, but decided to go anyway.  Good thing we did.

Once we set up the blanket and got some toys out for Jenna, we mapped out a plan.  There were three sets of steps that had two stairs and a bit of sidewalk to each section, followed by a set of stairs that had about 12-18 steps on them.  What we decided to do was bound the first three set of stairs and then sprint the second section.  I did two sets of these back to back, and then did box jumps on a ledge at the bottom.  JP did the same thing, but did push ups or incline push ups in between the stair bounds and sprints and box jumps.  I worked legs yesterday morning, so my legs were tired, so I did about 5 rounds of the bounds, stair sprints and box jumps, and then switched to alternating big boys with box jumps.  In all we spent about 30 minutes and had a great workout!  Jenna also got to play in the park, which she loved. 

I look forward to doing this more often!

As a side note: I realized yesterday that I am in much better shape than I was when I got pregnant.  My body may not be back to where it was then (although I am close!), but my endurance is much better.  I can remember not being able to do big boys before and yesterday I did them for a while without too much struggle.  Woohoo!

I am also excited to visit my new gym buddy, Carla, and her husband, for a run through prowler sled sprints on the hill by their house.  I have a feeling those will kick my butt in a whole new way! :):)

For reference:

Fast forward this one to about 30 seconds to see stair bounding

Box jumps (ours were not this tall)

Big Boys (go to 2 minutes and watch through 2:20 as Trish Warren does tire big boys)

Prowler sled sprints:

Paleo Pancakes!

Lately Jenna has not been a fan of eggs, and since we don't have anything like bread, oatmeal or grits in the house, I have been trying to think of alternative foods for her for breakfast.  She has fruit as a mid-morning snack, so I don't want to overdo the fruit, either.  Last night I was researching breakfast ideas and came across a Paleo pancake recipe.  I happened to have all of the ingredients at the house, so I tried it, and it was good!!  Put a little honey on top and it's even better!

Here it is:

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon coconut nectar (coconut sap)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• coconut oil for frying

Instructions

1. Preheat pan or griddle over medium-low heat. Beat eggs in a stand mixer until frothy. Mix in milk, vanilla, and coconut nectar.
2. In a small bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon and whisk together.
3. Combine dry mixture with wet in the stand mixer and beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl then mix on medium to medium-high for another minute or two or until the coconut flour is completely mixed into the batter.
4. Grease pan with coconut oil. Pour batter to create pancakes that are about 3 inches in diameter. If the batter seems too thin you may need to add a small amout of coconut flour to achieve the desired consistency.
5. Cook for approximately 3 minutes, flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
6. Serve hot with coconut oil, coconut nectar, agave nectar, honey, syrup or fruit.

Of course, I have my own variations!

• I used almond milk in place of coconut milk and local honey in place of coconut nectar. 
• I used a little more vanilla extract than the recipe called for.
• I did not use a mixer.  I just used a hand whisk and they turned out just fine.

We topped with a bit of the local honey and it was so good!  I also have cocoa powder and dark chocolate nibs, so I think I may use these to make JP some "chocolate chip pancakes" that he loves so much...