Momsperiment redux. Also fritters.

So my experiment has concluded.  It ended up lasting 6 weeks, courtesy of a boxwide Paleo challenge, but that's not a bad thing.  In fact, I'm going to consider this no longer an experiment-I changed my lifestyle, and I think I like it.

Before I get to the nitty gritty of after pics and measurements, look at these babies:

Zucchini Frittahs!

These were made with garden fresh zucchini provided by my friend Holly.  They taste like pan fried summer.  I wish you had a scratch and sniff computer screen, because they are crispy brown awesome.  Wanna make some? 

Shred 2 zucchini and squish all the water out.

Beat 3 eggs

Sift 1tbs coconut flour into the eggs (or white flour, I guess, you heathen)

Stir together, add zucchini and some salt and pepa (or pepper, I guess, if you don't have any 80s rappers lying around the house)

Melt some fat in a pan (bacon or coconut or whatever) and fry fry fry.

You can see I've fallen hook line and sinker for this Paleo stuff.  I'm trying not to be like a born again Christian, because those people are annoying.

Okay.  Down to brass tacks.

Before

After

Before

After

Holy shit, right?  I got a tan! In the shape of a running tank! Also, I absolutely promise that I am not doing that weird suck in and tuck under thing that they do in the diet commercials.  I did contract my abs, but I'm doing that in the before picture too :)

Numbers, numbers.

Weight: 162.4 (168.8)-this is on my home scale from the start 6 weeks ago.  On the box scale, fully dressed and after eating breakfast and drinking about a gallon of water I was down 3lbs :)
Under bust: 32in (33)
Waist (high): 30.5 (33)
Waist (low): 33.5 (34.25)-this is the measurement we used at the box for the challenge, so that's why I'm including it here.
Hips: 41 (42)
Upper arms: 11.75 (I forgot to write down and am too lazy to look)
Thighs: L-23.5 (24) R-24.5 (25).  Still uneven, but smaller at least.
Calves: L-15.25 R-15.5 (16 for both)  Now these are uneven.  Can you say asymmetry?

So I lost weight and I lost inches.  Happiness abounds.  Some more exciting news?  My mile split dropped from 9:00 to 8:19!  I was shooting for 8, but it was 97 freaking degrees and the uphill around the 0.75 mile mark just mentally fucked me.  Still, a 41 second improvement? In 30 days? With no speedwork?  Winning.

My situps went from 30 in 1 minute (full situps, not crunches) to 32-I wasn't expecting improvement here, I've been doing killer core workouts for 2 years. 

Pushups were the biggest surprise.  I was able to do 11 unmodified full release pushups in 1 min on day 1.  I did 23 (!!) on the last day.  Fuck. Yes.

So now I'm off the strict "Challenge" phase of this eating plan.  I had part of a muffin this morning with my second breakfast (I'm like a fucking Hobbit with the eating), and it was good.  Not oh-my-god-feed-me-carbs good, but good.  I ate what I wanted and stopped when I was done.  It was my little reward for being such a good girl, and for running 2 killer hills in 82 degree weather this morning at 0530. 

82 degrees at 0530 is never okay.  Never.

In other news, these party balloons refuse to die.  They are 10 days old with no signs of drooping.  They were a dollar each.  Go go Dollar Tree party supplies.

The rest of the week will be focused on getting my workouts in at the crack of dawn and all recorded before the weekend.  My husband is going on his annual guys-only camping trip from Friday to Monday.  I hope we all survive the weekend.  If the weather gets better we'll be fine.  I might even plan an outing to the zoo or farmer's market.  If it's still 99 with a heat index of 1000?  It's going to be a loooooooong 4 days. 

Warning: Photobomb

It's been a little while.  I've been busy...doing all the usual stuff.  Working, kid-wrangling, running (a bit), CrossFitting (a bit), and planning a 5th birthday party for my daughter.



Giant bounce house.  There's a motherfucking slide in there.

The party ended up being huge.  Tons of kids, lots of parents, and just enough food.  Only one barfer in the bounce house, and truthfully it's because he took a head to the nose.  Minor mess, his mom was there and cleaned the whole thing up.  Win.  My kids all loved the bounce house.

Pat wore through the heels of these socks.  "I jumpaJUMP, Mommy!"

Charlie was all about the slide. 

Lily got a crapload of presents, and we got our backyard barbecue, just like we wanted.  A great day.

The Friday before the party, I spent half the day cleaning, then treated myself to a little much needed foot maintenance.

Per Charlie "Shiny, Mommy!  My toes shiny, too, Mommy?"

I was a little loathe to part with my calluses, but my feet look far less leathery now, and I'll have plenty of time to build up new ones as I train for (drumroll):

Grandma's Marathon 2013!!!!

Yep.  I'm going to do another marathon.  Something I really never thought I'd do.  What's more, I convinced my husband to do it, too.  The Gary Bjorkland was my very first half back in 2009, and I'm excited to revisit the course and see some great friends at the same time.  I'm also planning to try a new training tactic:

I'm pretty sure this is going to require speedwork...



On a different training note, I'm still hitting the CrossFit box.  I wish I was getting there more often, but it's so difficult to time.  Of note, this week will end the box-wide Paleo challenge and the fit test will take place early next week.  I'll report my Momsperiment results when that's done.  As a preview, I'm down about 5lbs and my waist is 2 inches smaller!  I'm curious to see how my mile will pan out.  This tuesday, I did push presses at 75# and bruised my collarbone in the process.  When I hoisted that bar into the air, I felt like a fucking superhero.  It was like magic, and I felt amazing.  I didn't even notice the bruising until someone asked what was wrong with my collarbone.  Tomorrow is something called burpee box jumps (I'm pretty sure I know what that means, and I'm sure it sucks).  I want to keep CrossFitting, but it's been really hard to find a good time to go with my husband's schedule and the whole mommy guilt thing.

Now.  The most surprising thing:  I really dig Paleo.  For real.  I don't feel deprived, I don't have to count calories or mind portions, I'm learning what "satiety" actually means for the first time in my life.  My blood sugar has stabilized, I don't have swings or drops, I have energy all the time.  I sleep great, and feel great every morning.  I never have that desperate hungry feeling, and my cravings have disappeared.

See these?  Didn't even want one.  Amazing.

Donuts used to be my diet kryptonite.  I would avoid avoid avoid, then obsess obsess obsess, then cave cave cave, then hate hate hate myself.  These sat a few feet from me all day and I had absolutely no desire to eat them.  Not one tiny bit.  Today it was cake and pretzles with dip, stuff I would eat until I was sick.  No desire.  None. 

It doesn't seem real.  How is it possible? I don't want soda, bread holds no charms, and while I initially missed cheese?  Yeah.  Not so much anymore.  I do put half and half in my coffee in the morning, but that's pretty much it.  I really feel that this way of eating is sustainable over the long haul, and I don't want to go back to the way I was.  Self hatred is exhausting.  This new way of being?  It's exhilarating.  I feel unstoppable.

Coconut Klondike Bites www.paleOMG.com

I won't pretend I don't have treats.  I have an occaisional drink. These coconut thingys?  They are delicious, but one every couple of days is enough.  I make paleo waffles, pancakes, and muffins, I eat sweet potatoes...but I feel no need to overeat, and a handful of dates or a baggie of grapes is enough to kill a sweet craving.  I'm starting to really understand what eating all the bullshit chemical garbage I used to think of as "food" was doing to me.  I don't obsess about food anymore.  It's like being released from prison.

So there you have it.  In the next 4 weeks I'll be concentrating on hills and strength as I prepare for Ragnar Great River.  After that, it's on to the anchor leg of the Fox Cities Marathon Relay with the Drug Dealin' Divas of Team LiveFit ABMC (subheading: Prescription for Awesome).  My leg is 10K, and I'm in the hunt to shatter my previous PR.

Life is fucking awesome. 

One more photo, to finish out.

 

This is about to end badly.