I’ve been totally lax about posting this month. Okay, more like nonexistent since my Happy New Year post. That’s never my intention, but sometimes life gets in the way. 😉
Work has ramped up, as it always does, once January 1 hits. (Which isn’t to say I was bored prior to that – far from it. We are busy all year long, but the first quarter of the year is like a giant slide that we head down — somewhat wildly and a little out of control at times — until late March, after which hopefully we are able to finally land gingerly for a few days of respite.)
Luckily this year I won’t be traveling during Joe’s birthday! He turns 15 at the end of the month, which is quite the deal considering this means a driver’s permit isn’t far off. Yikes!
On Saturday I went for a run at the track at our high school and watched all the cute little elementary kids practicing their basketball skills. It hardly seems possible that it was about a decade ago since Joe was on that court. Basketball was never his thing but it sure was fun to watch him try.
These days, Joe is on the Knowledge Bowl team so his Saturdays are spent at competitions, which include a written test and verbal team competitions. He loves it – at least as far as his low-key self will show – and I think it’s an activity that suits him. He’s super strong academically, although he’s very quiet about it, and I think he enjoys the competition style of Knowledge Bowl.
I’ve been on a bit of a nutrition and work out kick since January 1, which I realize is what just about everyone says this time of year. I spent a good part of last year lamenting either a tennis elbow that limited my strength training (and even my running because of how it felt), or wondering what the heck was happening to my 50-year-old body. LOL! It’s like I turned 50 and suddenly how I was carrying weight changed. Weird. (Although I am pretty sure my mom warned me about this years ago.)
So … I started a new program called “Faster Way to Fat Loss,” which I am actually really enjoying. The nutrition concepts make sense to me — there is no elimination completely of any particular food group (like carbs, for instance). I have a couple of low carb days a week but then I have regular days where carbs are not the enemy. The focus is on whole foods (vs. processed foods) and eating healthy proteins, carbs, and fats. There is also a variety of workouts that happen 5 days a week – but they are never more than 30 minutes a day (give or take). Manageable!
The most interesting part of the nutrition plan is an “intermittent fasting” period everyday, which sounds scarier than it is. Basically, I fast from about 8 pm in the evening until noon or so the following day. (Black coffee with a little creamer, herbal tea, and plenty of water is allowed and encouraged, of course.) The idea behind the fasting is that this gives your body a rest period, where it will actually start to burn fat — vs. eating every few hours. Again, to me this makes a lot of sense.
Truth be told, I thought the fasting would be the hardest part but I have been really focused on being successful at that and it’s not nearly as horrible as I thought it would be. Once my fast ends, I can eat according to my body’s needs for protein, healthy carbs, and fats — based on the day and the type of workout I engage in. I just keep it within an 8-hour eating window.
The most eye-opening part of this plan is that I’ve never really tracked my food intake or nutrition before. Now I use MyFitnessPal to log everything I eat. It’s easy to see how I fare in the three macro nutrients I’m tracking (i.e. fats, proteins, and carbs) and it’s been a very interesting learning process. Most days that I can eat my regular amount of carbs, I actually have a hard time eating that many carbs! This is definitely not a deprivation diet — and I love how all the macro nutrients count; none are inherently “bad” for me. I just need to be smart about what I eat and make sure I’m fueling my body the right way.
Of course, along the way I’d like to slim down a bit. We’ll see how that all goes — my first week I was down 3 pounds — but I’m not focused on the number on the scale. I just want my clothes to fit better! (Also, no worries – I am totally able to work wine into my macros because I refuse to give that up! 😉 I actually have not had a Coke Zero since New Year’s Eve, though, which I’m particularly proud of. I’m not a huge soda drinker but I did like my Coke Zero, often once a day.)
Okay, enough about that! (If you have any questions, though, feel free to leave them in the comments or follow my Instagram feed!)
Sunday was truly a day of rest around here. This was me this afternoon:
Tonight I’m blogging (duh) and watching the New England-Kansas City NFL playoff game. And lamenting the fact that the weekend went too fast – as usual.
Anyone going to stay up to see the Super Blood Wolf Moon lunar eclipse? I have a feeling I will – if only because I have a hard time getting to sleep on Sunday nights anyway. 🙂
I’ll sign off for now and hope to be back writing sometime this week. Enjoy your Monday, my friends, and thanks for being here with me!
Lara