Suck at Blogging

Okay, Day 6 and I am doing okay with the Paleo thing, but actually am leaning towards changing to Primal even though I started this to be Paleo. I find that I suck at blogging pretty much and I get very depressed as a non-smoker. Am thinking about sticking with the Paleo/Primal challenge part and nixing the smoking until after the 30 days or so. Feeling pretty overwhelmed and like a full blown mental case.

Day 4 and Feeling a little lost

Today has felt odd. I went into this well aware that there would be days in the first 2 weeks that would be challenging. It is funny but the little gentle nagging of the evil side is actually more dangerous than the all out crazies in a way. It is like you are trying to sabotage yourself with little rationalizations about things. I guess that is the importance of making this a THIRTY day challenge and not going full blown thinking I will never do or have anything ever again. I know I am rambling, but today I am actually quite spacy and depressed. I am so looking forward to getting off work for the day and spending a nice, quiet night with Abby (my dog). I am super lethargic today. I am trying not to over think what I am eating so long as I stick to the guidelines of my challenge because that is just a trap. Like I wasn't that hungry so for lunch I had banana, blueberries and some almond butter then started thinking that I should have just had the chicken and veggies that I wasn't in the mood for - no I shouldn't have had the chicken and veggies because I really didn't want them. I have to just let go. I am following the guidelines and that is all I want to do. I do not want to chase and fail at perfectionism. I want to be happy and do well. And . . . I am.

Day 3

Exciting title, heh? I am doing well on my paleo diet/not smoking challenge, but am feeling a bit blah today which I believe is normal at the beginning because of various factors from sugar and nicotine withdrawals to lower blood sugar levels, etc. I am not smoking but am weaning off of nicotine with a nicotine replacement aid (e-cig) so the levels are much lower than when I was smoking. The wod today was a 5k run or 25 minutes, whichever comes first and the 25 minutes came first for me. My lower legs were full of lactic acid and hurting super bad and I had GI issues from the time I woke up until later in the morning, so that affected my performance or lack thereof. I am still sore from the weekend wods, but today it feels good. I am getting a massage tonight which will be nice timing wise and will help with the soreness and help to get the detox done quicker. I think once my body adjusts and gives me more energy, my posts will be better, but I wanted to at least get something down today since I haven't blogged since my start date!

Less than 4 days until D-Day (Dream Day! : )

Okay, I have gotten a cold and gotten over it since my last blog. I finished the Paleo for Athletes book and have now started reading the Primal Blueprint. I am getting more and more excited - particularly since I got over that cold so fast! I have been doing a ton of mental prep and this coming Saturday and Sunday, I will do lots of food prep. I got my order containing the paleo kits in today and yikes they look icky, but I am keeping an open mind. They probably taste much more satisfying and delicious than they look. If I can figure out how to add pictures to my blogging, I will post a picture of one of them. I put my Fashletics kettlebell on my new inspiration bracelet and will pick up my new Rx necklace from CF when I go to class on Friday morning. I know some people or actually lots of people say not to change too much at once like quitting smoking and embarking on a radical diet change, however, I believe that if this is something I really want, that it is totally possible. The rough parts can't last forever. I just need to cross the abyss as Bill Phillips would say. I want this and I can do it! Luckily, I have so much support from my family, friends and even online buds.

6 Days Until Challenge and Counting Down!

I am almost done with the Paleo for Athletes book. I looked through the Primal Bluprint Cookbook but not the actual book yet and saw that a few of the recipes called for either half and half, cream or cheese! Sucks, I thought the Primal Bluprint would be more cavemanish. Oh well, there are some useful recipes in there all the same that I will be able to use. I ordered 10 Paleo Kits so that I always have one on hand in case I end up in a difficult to follow paleo situation, so that is pretty cool. The kits should be here by Wednesday. Aug 1, my start day, falls on this coming Sunday which is a crossfit and yoga day. I haven't done the yoga there yet, but plan on starting this Sunday. Monday, which will be Day 2, is an off day at Crossfit which sort of sucks because I will be most likely experiencing some withdrawals from sugar and basically all carbs and dairy and nicotine withdrawals to boot, but will breathe, blog and deal with it. It will be good reinforcement to follow diet and not smoke with having such difficult workouts at crossfit They are always so taxing on my breathing so between lightening up and increasing the oxygen capacity in my body, I should really see some major progess by the end of my 30 day Challenge! I haven't decided when to share my blog, but I will probably let all of my athlete friends know about it prior to starting my Challenge. I doubt it will be of much interest to anybody until progress is showing, but that is okay. Maybe I'll be able to help somebody else with recording it all like I am here.

Countdown - 9 days until my Challenge!

I am half way through the first of two books that I would like to finish by Aug 1. I ordered a plain black leather cord bracelet to put my Fashletics kettlebell on and just ordered a Rx from Flashletics to add to the Motivation bracelet I am building that I will wear as a reminder to myself of my goals. So exciting! I am going to get two poster boards this weekend. On one, I will make 30 squares representing each day of my Challenge so that I can "X" out the days with a "WIN" as I proceed and the other one, I will put motivating and inspirational pictures and phrases. I will be cutting out all sugar, cigarettes, grains, dairy and legumes with the only real processed thing containing possibly some forbidden ingredients, being Progenex which will also be a part of my Challenge since I really need to get recovered better and faster. I also plan to use the extra time not spent in a sugar coma or outside smoking to do other healthy things for myself like my face Obagi routine, Crest white strips, doing organizational projects in my house to eliminate clutter and thus, eliminating causes of procrastination, etc. Larry will be gone the first ~2 weeks of my Challenge, which is good because I might experience some not so pretty times with withdrawals and such.

Preparations

Okay, so I just set up this blog in preparation for my 30 day paleo challenge. I ordered The Paleo Diet for Athletes, The Primal Blueprint and a PB Cookbook. I just started reading the PD for Athletes and hope to finish both books prior to August 1st, but will have enough info and recipes to start regardless. I started back to crossfit at 6 weeks post-op from open abdominal surgery (hysterectomy/oophorectomy - 4/29/10) and have been noticing decent progress in my base fitness. I've never really blogged consistently so this will probably get better with time.