Six weeks ago we started a food challenge that included adding three cups of vegetables, eliminating grains, sugar, and dairy, reaching a body weight appropriate amount of protein, and adding healthy fats into our diets each week. Additionally, we needed to drink a gallon of water each day, sleep at least 8 hours, and get our workouts in.
The biggest challenge for me was mostly at the beginning. Looking back, thinking about how I was going to accomplish these things felt way more overwhelming than actually DOING them. I mean, I’ve never done anything like this before, let alone for an extended period of time. So, of course, I’ve never been able to reap the benefits of doing something like this either. You know what, though? I really, truly noticed some positive changes. For one, I’m much less groggy in the morning. Anyone that knows me knows this is HUGE. I don’t have that mid-afternoon slump from 2-4pm after a grain heavy lunch. I make conscious food choices at each meal and have made a habit of substituting in greens for not so healthy choices when ordering out. I don’t order a drink with ever meal just because I can. And, my sweet palette has been reset, meaning that natural sugars fill the void where processed sugars once lived. As an end result, I lost an additional 8 lbs just from changing my diet over 6 weeks.
Bottom line? I plan to continue following this plan for the most part (except I’ve just got to have some cheese every now and again, okay?!). I really want to stay on this path because I’d like to continue dropping weight. Following these guidelines, along with regular workouts at Solcana, really works – it’s the only thing that has ever really worked for me, so why stop now?
I’ve got some serious goals on the horizon with the one year anniversary of this journey coming up in just 14 weeks:
- Lose an additional 14lbs bringing the grand total lost to 46 (hell, lets shoot for 50!!!).
- Start incorporating some additional cardio workouts on my own to help make this happen (read: running. OMG, I KNOW! I DON’T KNOW WHO I AM).
Powerlifting teammates (L-R) Ariel, Lara, and me - And, it’s now official…I’ve been registered for the Twin Ports Open on May 30th in Duluth with a few of my teammates: Ariel, Hannah P, and Lara. We just ordered our Solcana Weightlifting singlets (omg, omg, omg), and, with 14 weeks to train, I’m hoping to hit really excellent and new PR’s in squat, bench, and deadlift.
As of today, my PR’s are:
- Squat 205lbs
- Bench 125lbs
- Deadlift 300lbs
We’ll be testing these once again in a few weeks after training pretty hard the last 8 weeks. I’m excited to see what new numbers I might be able to hit, and continue to work towards for my very first USAPL sanctioned powerlifitng meet nearly a year to the day I was able to start this journey.
Lastly, some big news. I got a dog! Louie. He’s a Cairn Terrier (think Toto from Wizard of Oz) and is a super friendly, energetic, little 10lb ball of love. Cairn Terriers are known for their courage, tenacity, and intelligence so you can see why we make a perfect pair. (I’m a comedian, come on.) There is big significance in adopting him into my life as it shows I continuing on a path of structure and self love. I can have a dog in my life now because my priorities have changed. Even better is that Louie is hypoallergenic, allowing him to visit Solcana CrossFit where I spend so much of my time. Additional bonus to this is that the 1st Puppy of Solcana, Petey, became fast friends with Louie and it is a constant CUTENESS OVERLOAD. Last Saturday, Louie came with me to the gym for a long session (9a-2p) and made himself right at home…probably too much, having an accident or two in Coach Hannah’s office. He’s learning. As he gets more comfortable with me (we’re making huge strides everyday) he’ll be able to hang out more at Solcana. I can’t wait.