"I like ME" Monday

Time for week 2 of "I like me Monday". I'm actually discovering that there are quite a few l things I like about myself. Which is good. There are still a few areas that I am highly uncomfortable with, and I may do a more in depth post about that at a later date, but for now we'll concentrate on the positive. 

This weeks' highlight: shoulders.  If you haven't figured out by now, I like a defined physique. Not anything crazy, but some definition is pretty in my opinion.  Plus, it's what my body naturally does when I workout.  Some people see definition and think "bulky". If you personally don't care for a more defined look, that's cool.  We all have our own ideas of what looks good.  I think a nicely defined shoulder rocks.  My arms still need some work, in my opinion, but I'm getting stronger and the shape is improving.  I'm never going to have small arms, so I might as well make them look as good as possible.

Your turn!  Tell me what you like about yourself this week.  Remember, it doesn't have to be physical.  

Whole30 Eats & a "noncompliant" meal...

Time for another food report.  As you can tell from the title of this post, I ate a non-Whole30 meal.  Read on for the explanation...

Before we get to the noncompliant meal, here are my other eats:

My husband asked me out on a date.  I was not going to turn that down.  So we went out. Dinner actually would've been "compliant" if it hadn't been for the beurre blanc (white wine sauce).  I didn't eat much of the sauce, just a little that was on one corner of my fish. I could've eaten a lot more of it, but decided not to.  I am not going to make myself crazy about this. I don't feel guilty.  Life isn't about being "perfect". I gave the chunk of feta on my salad to my husband (for which he was eternally grateful) and I didn't eat the pita bread that smelled amazing. To be honest, I'm proud of the choices I made and wouldn't change anything about our dinner date. 

Going forward I'm still planning on staying gluten-free and dairy free.  I feel much better than I did at the start of the month.  I've been feeling a little bored with my food, but otherwise things are good. 

Hope your weekend is great!

Whole30 Eats: Catch-up

What's that you say? You want to see almost a week's worth of food at once because I've been slacking? Sure... No problem.

Having sick kids and starting back into the school routine is throwing me off a little. We also had a birthday party in there. 

This past Sunday I wanted to make almond butter, just so I could binge on it.  But I didn't.  I did eat (a lot) of raw almonds and some pistachios, but I didn't get the same pleasure from that as I would've from the salty, crunchy almond butter. I also wanted sugar. I ate a banana. While maybe these weren't the best solutions to the "crawl outta my own skin because I want to binge", I've had MUCH worse days. 

So, without further ado, food pictures!!

"I like me" Mondays...

Today is the start of something new.  I've decided to do a weekly feature called: "I like me" Mondays.

I often suffer from über self consciousness, minor body dysmorphia and general dissatisfaction with my appearance.  Sometimes I feel great, confident and pretty, but quite often I nit pick myself and focus on flaws (real & perceived).  I am very uncomfortable when people notice me or give me a compliment (even my husband) and I generally laugh it off wondering if they are seeing the same thing I do. When I catch a glimpse of a reflection in passing or see a picture, sometimes the thought is "I look pretty good", which is progress, but my body issues still need some work.

Something came to me the other day, maybe if I make a concerted effort to highlight things I like about myself, I might make some progress toward feeling better about myself overall.  

Even writing this makes me anxious.  What are people going to think? Will they think I just want to toot my own horn? That I'm fishing for compliments? Gah! I will seriously make myself crazy worrying what other people are thinking. At this point I'm willing to risk it though because I'm tired of feeling "less than".

So, for this weeks installment, I have decided to highlight my calves, since I like them :)

Getting a "selfie" of my calf was not the easiest thing lol. There was much hilarity involved in getting a good shot. Try it. I dare you. 

My question to you: What do you like about yourself? I want to hear! It can be a physical attribute or something else entirely. Lets celebrate the things we like about ourselves today!

30 days of Yoga

My fellow blogger and buddy Jess, over at Paleo Jess, tagged me on Instagram the other day about a 30 day yoga challenge.  I headed straight over to DoYouYoga and checked it out...and promptly signed up.  Today was day 2.  Even though I've done yoga at home for several years, this is different from what I've done in the past.  The daily emailed videos are about 20 mins (at least the past 2 have been).  The instructor gives good cues, which are easy to follow.  She also doesn't rush things (which I've experienced with some other videos).

I knew my flexibility was pretty limited, but this is certainly highlighting how limited my range is.  Day 1 was hip openers, Day 2 was chest and shoulder openers. These are 2 areas that need major work.  Right now I can't even do an overhead squat because my shoulder mobility is so poor.  I may also go back and do Day 1 again, just because the hip openers hurt so good.

Anyway, I thought I'd share with all of you.  If you like yoga already, if you're a beginner or looking for a place to start, head over and check out the 30 Day Challenge linked above.

Namaste.

Whole30 Eats: Day 14,15 & 16

So, I had 1 sick kid the last time I posted. Now I have 3 sick kids. It's a fairly mild cold, but it's still a drag.  Rolling out of bed several times a night to check on one kid or other, getting up to do breathing treatments with my son...blah, blah.  I'm tired. That pretty much sums it up.

Food is still good.  I'm trying to test how certain vegetables affect me... I was noticing some bloating and stomach discomfort when I ate large quantities of certain veggies, so I'm trying to track it a little closer. 

Here is my food for the last 3 days...

Whole30 Eats: Days 10,11,12&13

Somehow I have 4 days of food to share with y'all. Whoops. 

I don't usually blog in the evenings, but my son is sick.  Since he's asthmatic, it add a layer of stress every time he gets ill.  I put him to bed and an hour later he was crying and coughing.  Not good. So now I'm in "alert" mode.  Propping him up on the couch has helped, thankfully. I had hoped to make it more than 2 days in school before he caught something, but you can't always get what you want, right?

Anyway, sorry, on to the food....

Rambling update...

Hope your weekend is off to a good start!

Next week will be my kids first full week at school. It's going to be a little hectic till I find my rhythm and get the routine nailed down.  Having 2 kids in school is definitely a change too.  My son is loving it so far though, which is a relief.  He's still young, won't be 5 for a few more weeks, so it was a decision I struggled with (whether to enroll him this year or wait another year). Only time will tell if we made the right decision.

Sorry, mom ramble...

Anyway, food-wise I'm plugging along.  I am really trying to listen to my hunger cues.  Some days that means I eat twice, some days I eat 4x + a snack.  It's working for me.  I had a few moments this week that I wanted to overeat, but I resisted.  I also had a few moments of "screw this Whole30 business"... I'm still going though.  

Exercise has been pretty consistent as well.  Again, I'm listening to my body.  Bodeefit.com workouts, walking, yoga & Pilates have all made an appearance this past week.  I'll be walking several times a week now that I'm only going to have 1 kid in the mornings. 

I had to back off the pistol squat progression. It was messing with my knees.  It bummed me out, but I'm not going to hurt myself.  I had finished week one of my push-up training, then we went on vacation.  I think it's time to work that back into my routine.  My push-up ability has definitely improved with the bodeefit workouts, but a little concentrated push-up practice will get me more progress toward my goal of 50 consecutive.

And now you're all caught up. 

I saw this picture on FB this morning and wanted to share:

I hope you have a great weekend! Eat some yummy foods and be active!

Whole30 Eats: Day 7,8 & 9

Personal insights & Whole30 eats...

Things are plugging along with this Whole30. Now, after the first few days are behind me, is when it will  get more difficult.  I am feeling better, so those "just a little bite of X" thoughts creep in.  I'm going to resist though and stay the course.

Forewarned, I'm going to talk about monthly cycles now...nothing graphic, but I like to give a heads up before talking female stuff :)

It's about that time in my cycle for ovulation.  Generally, I get cravings for sweets and higher carb, have an increased appetite & retain water for a few days.  If I binge on sugar at this point in the month, the cravings and sugar dragon explode into massive proportions and I struggle until about day 2 of TOM.  (Can you tell I've experienced this a few times??) So, I need to be very mindful of my food the next few days. Plus, I need to lay off the dense carbs & fruit unless I really need to refuel post workout.

Being aware of how my body reacts to the various stages of my fertility cycle has been key for me.  I dislike the swings that I go through on a monthly basis, but by recognizing the trends I have been able to handle things better.  I also know that my "symptoms" ease some if I eat better.  Shocking, right?

Last month when I was in full out "crazy eating mode" I think I pinpointed dairy as a problem for me.  I have seen a correlation between dairy consumption and depression/emotional instability in myself.  This is completely anecdotal, and I understand that correlation does not equal causation, but it is something I am aware of.  It's possible that something else I was eating was problematic, but I feel pretty strongly that dairy was at the root.  

So anyway.... I won't be adding dairy back after this Whole30.  As much as I love cheese, sour cream and half n half, it's out for the foreseeable future.  I much prefer an evenly keeled mental status.

Are you bored yet by my ramble?  Ready to see what I've been eating?

Here ya go...

Hope you have a fantastic week! 

Whole30: Days 1,2 & 3

Tuesday kicked off my 2nd official Whole30.  I thought I'd share my first 3 days of food.

My emotions have leveled out. Thank goodness!!  Purging seems to help me.  I need to learn to admit the feelings I'm having, instead of holding on and eating through them.  So thank you bloggy friends for listening. And thank you Missy for being my friend and lending me your ear. I appreciate you all more than I can say. 

Day 1 & 2 I suffered some lovely headaches and fatigue.  Day 3 I avoided the headache, but still experienced some mild fatigue mid afternoon. I'm hoping that today (Day 4) will be an upswing day. I got my CSA box yesterday, loaded with lots of lovely fruit and vegetables. I'll be heading to the store shortly to fill the gaps & stock up on meat. 

Hope you had a great week!