Journey

Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

How many times have you used the Ctrl+Atl+Delete to Restart your computer?  I can say I’ve done it more times than I care to count (plus Task Manager to unlock the multiple windows I normally have opened) – I’m pro!

This Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart is a bit different.  This is about me and my journey.  I haven’t posted much lately on my weight loss.  Quite frankly there hasn’t been much to report.  So why am I writing about Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart today…read on…

I had an appointment with my nutritionist at the beginning of December.  This appointment was an early morning appointment so I could have my metabolism test done.  The good news my metabolism is still firing on lots of cylinders! 🙂  The not so good news is I had lots of CO2 in my body – so what does that mean? – I’m not burning my fuel efficiently – mainly the carbs (I’ve mentioned before I’m carb sensitive). Oh and I was up a pound.  The one warning I took away from that appointment was if I’m not careful – I will gain weight back – starting a bad trend (I’ve kept that comment in the back of my mind for the past 6 wks).  I wasn’t as disappointed in the 1 pound up as I was scared of the potential impact of the CO2 messing up all of my progress.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and my stress level was quite high with some deliverables at work right before going on vacation – which meant workouts suffered and my eating probably wasn’t at my best (it wasn’t awful either).  Although I enjoyed my Christmas break with my family – I ended getting a bacterial infection which messed up my progress even more.  The positive is – I didn’t go super carb crazy (based on feedback today) – I made some good choices.  And this whole time you know I was checking the scale – and it was all over the board no matter what I did.

So the end of last week – I was up over my December appointment – I was not happy.  I tried to really focus on eating the right things this weekend, while still going out and enjoying time with friends (if you can’t do that – what is the point of going out!) and getting some exercise in (a nice walk Friday night, yoga on Sat and Spin on Sunday) – mission accomplished!  Or so I thought…

I got on the scale yesterday morning – not where I wanted to be – at this point I would’ve been happy with flat to December – and trust me I wasn’t there.  So of course, I start trying to rationalize in my head – I have a lot going on at work this week – maybe I will move my appointment tomorrow to a couple weeks out.  I know I’ll get a reminder call and I’ll have an opportunity to move it to see if I can get this under control.  Then the next thought was – what if I don’t get it under control and I’m up even more – that would just completely de-motivate me.  I got absorbed in a project and put it out of my mind.  So I get my reminder call – and it isn’t my nutritionists assistant who calls to remind me – it was him!  Now I couldn’t re-schedule – because I knew I would get grief :-).  So my flip / sarcastic response was “If this job doesn’t kill me today – I’ll be there tomorrow”.  We had a good laugh and I hung up.

So I was optimistic this morning when I got up – yesterday was a good day – ate the right foods, drank lots of water, no snacking and even got about a 30 minute walk in last night before I finished my project.  I always jump on my scale the morning of my appointment to see how close my scale is to the ‘official’ scale – plus I know I check because I want to know what I’m getting into at my appointment.  Surprise – Surprise – no movement!  It was an 8:00 am appointment so no turning back now.

I’m glad I went today – it was a good appointment – we really talked through my struggles in December / early January.  Discussed that being sick and the holidays do really mess things up.  And the food choices I made while sick (I swear I was living on soft boiled eggs and English muffins) were not that awful (think lots of pasta – which I didn’t have any).  We talked about getting me back on track – doing the things I know I need to do – focus on the protein, vegetables / salad and hydration (and the structure I need).  Limit my carb intake.  And really watch how full I get and when are my triggers – and what I’m doing to address it (drink coffee and if I’m still hungry – what am I selecting to eat).  We also talked about how this appointment really helped and how I almost cancelled – and that his phone call probably made it so I didn’t cancel.  I had the option not to get on the scale – I chose to get on the scale.  As I knew – I was up 2 lbs from the beginning of December.  However, I wanted to be accountable to myself and my progress whether it was what I wanted to see or not.  I’m not going to beat myself up over this – another example where it isn’t all about the numbers (but most of you know I still believe that deep down).  🙂

So today was my Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart – instead of restarting a computer – I’m re-starting my focus – which right now it is all about giving my body the right type of fuel that I need to be more efficient.  

Thanks for reading – Post #140!  

Keeping myself on track…

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

I love this time of year because I get to spend extra time with my family and extended family (and friends), the great decorations (I love seeing all the light displays), extra treats and of course listening to Christmas music. This time of year is also a challenge for me to keep myself as a priority!  Anyone else have this challenge?  I have lots of errands (I host Christmas day with my family – I love it – but I want everything to be perfect so I go into overdrive :-)) and work/personal commitments this time of year.

Something I’ve realized over the last couple of weeks is that if my work or personal schedule get in the way of my planned workouts – I don’t have a back-up plan.

I have all the right tools to have a back-up plan – I just received this 5×7 workout – who doesn’t have 5 minutes a day?  And the weather is still quite warm in NJ (I think today it might hit 60+) so I’m able to have my 1:1s with my team while I walk (I had one yesterday and we were both walking talking via our cellphones – I was told – this is such a great idea – I love that I’m not only helping myself but helping my team too!).

My personal goals for the Christmas season:

  1. Drink 80 ozs of water per day (I have a handy pitcher that I fill up either before I got to bed or when I get up first thing in the AM).  Note to self – add 1 hydration tab per one large glass (I get dehydrated pretty quickly when I workout)
  2. Get 7.5 – 8 hours of sleep per night (super important)
  3. Plan my day to incorporate the 5×7 workout and walking into my day (target = 10K steps per day).
  4. Get my 3 weekly workouts each week (Hardbody, Yoga, Spin or TRX)
  5. Add more salads to my meals (I’m good about getting veggies into lunch / dinner – I’m not as good as adding salad to the mix)
  6. Take my vitamins
  7. Have FUN – enjoy the extra time with family and friends this Christmas season! 🙂

What are you doing to make yourself a priority?

The Great Imitator – Part 2

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Good morning! Sorry it has been awhile from my last post. Time just seems to be getting away from me lately.

As May comes to an end – I thought I’d give you an update on my Lyme Disease.  So I’ve had some questions answered and I have more now that I’ve looked at my results a bit more.

Here is what I learned at my appointment – I was probably infected within 6 months of my diagnosis since the Western Blot came back positive.  So I was infected sometime between May and November.  I’m going to find out at my next nutritionist appointment when I first reported my exhaustion – I think it was early on when I started going and we chalked it up to my food changes.

I’m pleased to announce that the Western Blot test came back Negative – so according to the CDC – I’m cured!  However, as I’ve look at my test results a bit more – I have more questions.

  • November Test Results:
    • Lyme Ab Interp, EIA:  Positive
    • Lyme Disease Ab, Quant, Igm:  1.60H (Positive is > 1.09)
    • I don’t have the page for the Western Blot – and I need to get the rest of this report
  • April Test Results:
    • Lyme AB Interp, EIA;  Positive Abnormal  
    • Lyme Disease Ab, Quant, IgM:  1.47H (Positive is >1.09) – but it is going down!
    • Lyme IgM WB (Western Blot):  Negative – and positive for some of the Borrelia-specific bands – I wonder is there something to do for this or it will run its course?

The actual diagnosis states the following:  An equivocal or positive EIA result followed by a negative Western Blot (WB) result is considered NEGATIVE – so that is where the NEGATIVE comes in.

Why am I skeptical?  A couple of things: I’ve read quite a bit of information from different sources, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of research being doing on this (and some of the things I’ve seen on chronic lyme scares the you know what out of me; however, I think my risk for this is very, very low) and lastly the thing that really bothers me is my exhaustion level.  Here is my most recent example:  I was traveling last week for work – I wasn’t out late any of the evenings except the night I traveled back home (got home around midnight) – it took me most of the 3 day weekend to recover – that isn’t normal!

I guess time will tell – part of me wonders if this will be like Mono (yes I’ve had that before too) – will it just have to run its course out of my body – I sure hope that is what it is.  Something that makes me believe this is I can’t donate blood for a year past my diagnosis – found that out last night (though if you have Chronic Lyme – they don’t want you to donate).

I will repeat from my first Great Imitator post why I’m sharing:  AWARENESS!  May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month!  It is all about PREVENTION:  http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/ or http://www.lymedisease.org/lyme101/prevention/lyme_prevention.html as there isn’t a lot of understanding or support on the long term effects of Lyme Disease by the Health Care Industry .  So please be extra careful this spring, summer and fall since we did not have a very cold winter – there are a lot more deer ticks since they weren’t killed off with the cold.

The journey has begun…

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Day 1

Yesterday, I sat down and finally read Clean by Alejandro Junger, MD. Previously, I had reviewed information online: the manuals, the recipes, the elimination foods (that I can and can not eat), even some of the posts by others who had already started the program. However, I didn’t really understand the ‘WHY’ the program had started and what it could mean to me.

I know I’ve written previously that my ‘fitness guru’ and I had discussed trying this program to find my ‘X’ factor and I agreed…I was all in.  However, I needed a definition for the ‘X’ factor and by reading the book (finally), I understand what she meant.  The whole premise of the program is to remove toxins from your body that have built up over years and give your intestine back its flora.  You do this by eating two liquid meals (breakfast and dinner) a day and one larger meal at lunch from the elimination food list (the foods you can eat).  And your first meal of the day must be 12 hours after your last meal of the day.

There are many examples or ideas in the book that I can get my head around.  This first thing I read (and it wasn’t until this morning…thankfully a very rainy day here in NJ allowed me to read up to chapter 8 (which is post clean) that grabbed my attention was the following, “There is a bloating around the body, and sometimes there are extra pounds that won’t budge, even if the person counts calories and exercises.”  I read this and instantly connected…this is ME! (whenever I look at myself I’ve often wondered if I look bloated) I’ve been working out and eating whole foods (most of the time) on a pretty regular basis with no real weight loss.  I think the most I’ve ever lost was six pounds (and this is a knat’s eyelash in the whole scheme of things for me).  This ‘bloating’ is caused by mucus (gross I know) throughout your body and as you detox your body, the mucus is released and expelled from your body (yes, I wrote that and yes that is what it means…you get the picture without me specifically putting it out there).  And once finished with clean and you add foods back to your diet, you can figure out what the causes were and adjust accordingly.

So I guess you are wondering how I’m doing today?  I feel good.  I had an awesome shake for breakfast and a great salad for lunch (all posted on my week 1 food journal post).  I did have a slight headache this afternoon and took a 30 minute nap with a cold herbal pack on my head (and had a cup of goji berry green tea prior) and it seems to have subsided mostly (they advise not taking any OTCs for headaches; although if I get a migraine during this journey I will be taking my proper medication) (this was a headache not a migraine).  Around 4:15, I was quite hungry and I had a handful of almonds.  I’ll be eating my dinner shortly.  And by reading the book, I discovered that soups are a good option for dinner and highly suggested if you plan on working out during the program.   Dinner will be soup and a small spinach salad.

There are lots of optional support activities that are suggested as part of the program.  I plan on trying many of them and will share them with you once I’ve tried them.  One of the activities suggests taking a picture of yourself every day so you can judge your progress.  I’m altering it a bit.  I plan on taking a picture at the beginning of each week and at the end of the 3 week journey.  Attached is a self-portrait (taken by a HTC View) from last night before I went out with some friends…I need longer arms. 🙂  I’m looking forward to the positive changes!

Until next time…enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Countdown is on…

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Sorry, I’ve been MIA this past week.  It was a crazy week.  I have some posts have written that I hope to post tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning is the official start to my journey on The Clean Program (http://www.cleanprogram.com/).  I’m anxious, nervous and scared all at once.  I’m anxious as I just want to get started, I’m nervous and scared on how my body is going to react (and I don’t deal well with the unknown).  And I’m scared how my mind will react.  I’m afraid if it isn’t going the way I want it to go or if it gets hard that I will throw in the towel (and I don’t want to do that…so putting it in writing should help me keep myself accountable) (and it is only 21 days…in a lifetime…it is a knat’s eyelash).

I’ve put some things in place to make sure my first week is a GREAT one.  I ordered my lunches from Madeline’s Table (http://madelinestable.com/) (if you are in the Princeton, NJ area I would highly recommend you trying it out).  I was able to get my glutein free items and made some special requests (no cheese on my ceasar salad and sauces on the the side).  I know this will be a great help for me this first week as I know I will love the food I’m eating.

I’m still up in the air about doing the full cleanse (Shake for Breakfast & Dinner and a nice size lunch) or the rebuild portion (Shake for Breakfast, nice size lunch, shake in the afternoon and a small dinner).  I may end up alternating between the two to see how my energy level is.  I want to continue going to bootcamp 3 days a week; however, I’ve been warned my energy levels will be low and to listen to my body (so I’m a little scared).  I need to figure it out tomorrow, so I have a good plan for the week (it is supposed to be a rainy Sunday tomorrow so I should have the time).

As I’ve mentioned before this is an elimination program.  Some key things I’m eliminating are:  coffee (and all other sources of caffeine), dairy, eggs, strawberries, bread, pasta, seafood, beef, pork, cold cuts, chocolate, alcohol, sushi, refined sugar, sweet and low and some other things.  I know that caffeine will be my biggest challenge, so I’ve been trying to slowly reduce my intake…can you say headache city for me lately.  I broke down this afternoon and got an iced tea! (I’m drinking it slowly).  Some things will be hard to eliminate some note as much.  It will be interesting to see if I crave any of the items I’ve eliminated.

Have I mentioned the GREAT things I get to eat on this program?  I get to enjoy chicken (and looking forward to trying a Hummus Chicken recipe from their website), radishes (have always loved these and don’t always think to buy them), avocados (and fresh guac!!), hummus, salmon, raw cocoa, nuts/seeds, almond butter and lots of fresh veggies (hitting the local farmer’s market Monday night).

Stay tuned for updates this week on how I’m doing.

Have a great Saturday!!