Back on the grid

Okay, back on the grid. Walking 15,000 steps + per day, missing my good pedometer.

Working for me: eating from a Paleo template, walking , and relaxing. Clothes fit day in- day out. Awesomeness.

Not so great: forgetting my good pedometer. Lapsing on some mint jelly with a lamb dish. Stopped myself from going any further. So proud. My body does not want or need that sugar. Great reminder on how far I've come. Onward and super cool photos soon. :)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Another favorite podcast- Half Size Me

I have become a total podcast junkie.  Another podcast that helps me remember where I came, where I am now, and where I'll go next is the

Half size me podcast 

Heather dives into the emotional, boundary setting side of things a lot. This was one of the sides of WW that was missing for me (along with the low inflammatory style of eating). Heather's topics help me to look back at what did and did not work, and it helps me think objectively about the tools that I used to lose and maintain the weight.

Heather has her own topics and success stories. Heather interviewed me a few weeks ago and the topic was hugely important for me to explore for many reasons. I'll devote a whole blog post to the post story and a link to the podcast when it publishes.

Meanwhile,  give Heather's podcasts a listen this summer.  Link to iTunes
Heather's Half Size Me blog. 

Instagram - following the herd

Alright, alright...

I finally posted to my Instagram account. I've resisted for a long time. All the photos that I post are my "B" school photos anyway. I save my "A" school photos for myself.

Here's my account
http://instagram.com/gardengirl_kp

This also means more people from real life will find my blog. That's okay, too. I so am enjoying the new way social media is changing communication. Keeps me young.

Onward with technology. Spaghetti squash, marinara, browned bison, asparagus, fresh berries and a cup of coffee. Another meal shared with the family.

Keeps me full, keeps me lean. See you on the interwebz.

Low inflammatory meals for the whole family- keeping the food template in check

 Two weeks ago, I had the chance to take over my Mom's kitchen and cook some meals for the whole family.  I normally eat from a pretty basic low-inflammatory, Paleo style template that does not trigger me to overeat.

They loved it. First photo: Ground bison sliders, blueberries, cherries, sauteed kale, guacamole deviled eggs, and in the center- heirloom tomato slices.

Filling and delicious. Disclaimer: not pictured were some biscuits the rest of the family had with the burgers. I'm cool with that.

Nobody else in my family is gluten free, but it's essential that I not have a gluten exposure. They are cool with that. I love that my family accepts me and my need to hit Costco and Trader Joe's early in the trip. I eat 3-4 vegetable servings per MEAL normally.

Not pictured: Eggs scrambled in coconut oil,  asparagus sauteed in left over ground bison grease and garlic salt seasoning, cherry tomatoes, an Italian meal with ground bison, Italian seasoning, marinara, over spaghetti squash, and some big salads with protein. I cooked a crock pot chicken breast salsa meal, unfortunately the store bought salsa set off some GI symptoms. :0 . I also had some small portions of 85% chocolate squares.

We also ate out at places like Chipolte, a nice steak house with family, and I packed a small picnic after hiking in the botanic gardens. Finally I brought this big asset salad to the airport to fly home.   Yummy and cheaper and better for my body than eating out all the time.

Works for me:
1. Buying some of my regular food
2. Communicating early what I can and can't do in the kitchen.
3. Cooking ahead so that food is ready when needed.
4. Opting to go to the restaurant and either bring my own or have a cup of coffee if I cannot eat. (good example is Cracker Barrel- some sort of gluten or dairy in almost everything- I skip that place and plan my meal before or after.).

Did not work in the past.
1. Using another location as an excuse to eat low nutrient food and worse, binge type food.
2. Not communicating so that I can work with the group I'm with for food preferences.
3. Just eating what ever, when ever
4. Going along with the crowd and not having real input.

That's the scoop. I've found by taking charge of my eating and communicating what I need to be extremely effective when traveling and visiting the fam. It's a good example of putting myself and my health first.

Walking fasted in the morning and Fat Adaption

****Edited to add- if you are not used to fasting, or do not do well not eating right away, or if you are on Medifast (Take Shape for Life)- don't exercise fasted. Check with your doctor or health coach first****

One great realization over the last week or so were the walks I took in the early morning in Arizona. To get 10,000 steps a day in on a hot summer day in Phoenix, we started between 6am-7am and I was looking for 4,000- 5,000 steps in the morning.

I did the walk first thing in the morning, before breakfast, just out of convenience and wanting to avoid the heat. So, after 6 days of walking for about 40 minutes or so fasted, I did notice I reduction in a little bit of abdominal (belly) fat. Awesome! I do believe that the visceral fat is disease related, and my clothes fit pretty good, too. Win-win.

Now, I was away from work at the time- different stress, so who knows. It could have been a reduction in cortisol from work stress. Unknown. I'll be doing some n=1 testing over the next 2 months. 

I don't do intermittent fasting or anything like that. I tried briefly, but no dice. Once great thing that allows me to do 30-40 minutes of morning, fasted walking is being fat adapted. Here's a good article from Mark's Daily Apple on being fat adapted.  No shaky,weak moments. It feels good. If I walk over 45 minutes, then I get the feeling I should head home for some eggs, avocados, tomatoes, and kale. Not to mention a hot cup of coffee!

Fat adaptation also works in my favor when there is a longer time between meals than expected, being stuck in I-5 traffic in the summer, and when I can't eat the meal being served somewhere. It allows a few extra hours to get where I need to be to refuel with the right food. I'll have about 15 minutes of feeling a little hungry. Then 2-3 hours of normal feelings and energy.

Nice for fasted blood draws, too.

Here's what works for me

1. Walking 30 minutes in the morning before eating. Walking another 30-45 minutes later in the day.
2. Eating a clean, low inflammatory diet (paleo template) that allows my body to burn fat when needed. I like being a fat burning beast.
3. Wearing a pedometer so I know how many steps I get.
4. Taking a camera, because I'll miss the best shot ever if I don't! ;)

Here's what did not work in the past:
1. Leaving my whole day's walk until after 3-4 pm. Slippery slope time wise.
2. Eating processed foods. It kept me from being fat adapted, shaky, and eating more than I needed.
3. Not wearing a pedometer. My tricky mind would say "I've walked a lot at 5,000 steps, I'll eat a Skinny Cow Ice cream I've earned it!...."
4. Forgetting my camera and missing baby birds, cool hawks, and other awesome photos.

Unplanned events - when things get bumpy and structure goes out the window

 Long story short, a relative very close to me died.

Yeah, life happens like that sometimes. His passing was not unexpected.I'm back to the normal routine today. Even though life happens, having structure within an eating, exercise, and relaxation routine really helped get me through the stuff I couldn't control. I cannot control the grim reaper. I can control my reactions to my feelings and I can be mindful about food.

What worked:
1. Food:Planning to eat from my food plan. I made Plan A (grocery store for regular foods), Plan B (eating out regular foods that are from a Paleo Template), plan C (asking for someone to buy foods for me) to stay on track. The relatives are so accommodating. Only had to do plan A & B.

2. Exercise- setting up time to walk every day. I had to walk at different times, but I did get my 10,000 steps a day. Not easy considering events I could not control, 106 F temperatures and higher during the day. It was still 100F at 8pm at night.

3. Time for myself:  I planned time to photograph (during walking time), read, hike and a little bit of Container Store shopping therapy to relax. I listened to podcasts and chillaxed. Even cooking regular foods was relaxing. Since others knew I was doing the cooking for the family, no "mystery" casseroles showed up from well meaning friends. Yeah!

4. Support:  I reached out to another blogger, one who would be able to call me on my own BS in a second. I knew that there was another human that I wanted to touch base with that knew me and that I knew that I'd be checking in with her later. Just thinking ahead to 2-3 weeks down the road and conversing with other bloggers like me was so grounding and took my mind to a place that was not in an immediate crisis. A big thanks to Norma and a few emails early on in the process.

I don't want ANY one to tell me to "eat whatever". That's what gets me off track. That's what takes me away from food sobriety. I didn't do all of this work to go back to my old ways.

I also had a nice chat with Heather Robinson from Half Size Me a few weeks ago on a podcast interview (the episode has not aired yet, I'll put up a link when it airs).  Death can through me off balance with emotional eating. Having her response  in my head was also very helpful.

What didn't work in the past:
1. Food: I'd eat when I was sad, stressed, very down, very happy, or what ever emotion I could use to eat some more sugar & wheat filled, frosting covered food. I gained weight and all those emotions were stuffed down. Not effective.

2. Exercise: I would use the "I'm traveling excuse" to sit a lot. No stress relief either. I didn't understand the power of exercise and mind/body balance.

3. Time for myself:  It was always about what the group wanted to do. I rarely took time for myself.

4. Support: I didn't always seek support fast enough.

That's the scoop. I'll be back to regular blogging soon. I'm aware that grieving comes in cycles, so I'm staying very aware, feeling (not eating) my feelings. I'm getting ready to read a book called 8 minute meditation and start an 8 week everyday meditation time daily.  Onward!

Some photos from the walking challenge

Things just got super busy, so I'll be posting more photos and fewer words. Still keeping up the good work and keeping the food clean. I've only added 85% chocolate. Leaving the nuts out for a long while. Doing to good without them.

Here are some photos from my walks. I really get a lot of body, mind and and soul benefits from the walking. I'm on twitter more often when it is busy. Tweet you later.

16 month weight maintenance June 2013

 I had a longer post and poof- into the black hole it went. I'll get a few examples this weeks of my macro nutrients, but its close to 20% carbs, 50% fat, 30% protein.  Fat comes from mostly plant sources. Avocado, olive oil, avocado oil, salmon. Also from animal sources- bison, salmon,  chicken thighs, and occasionally some beef.

My brain likes it. I feel full, I have energy, I stay lean. Hair stays smooth, skin stays acne free most of the time. I have some muscles.

High Weight : 187.4
Current weight: 116.4 (this morning, graphs are from yesterday)
Goal weight range:  113-117
Height: 5' 1"
Age: 47
Months in maintenance: 16 months
Months til menopause: 1 more month and it's official! Hope that's not a jinx.

Hair: still big
Shoes: Rocking the danskos

The low carb challenge really helped with snacking on nuts. I'm bringing back in 85% chocolate with no troubles. Will stick with that for a while.

I'm living proof that you don't have to re-gain significant amounts after loss. Low inflammatory diet (paleo/primal) , structured plan, monitoring, addressing slippery slope thinking, new habits that support overall health and wellness. It's a lot of work to cook, but it's more work to deal with chronic disease.  Why go through that?

What works:
1. Primal/Paleo Diet
2. Walking 10,000 steps or more a day
3. Support
4. Avoiding binge foods, don't keep them in the house.
5. Repeating every day for 16 months, no matter what

What did not work:
1. WW low fat diet
2. Walking 5,000 steps per day
3. Avoiding support
4. Not getting serious about the food I was eating
5. Going off plan for "special occasions"