Finding Time To Do It All

I Did Something Crazy

I'm not going to tell you what it is, yet.

But I did something completely bat-shit crazy, and it feels great.  Not only am I excited about it, but I got a ton of satisfaction out of it and despite the scariness of it, it was worth it.

No, it wasn't life-threatening or anything, but you might argue that it was irresponsible.  I would call it liberating, in more ways than one.

You'll have to wait to find out what it is, and I know that makes you crazy.  But maybe it will inspire you to do something similar.

Leave a comment and let me know if you've ever done anything crazy.  I don't mean jumping out of an airplane; I mean jumping out of a 5th story window onto a trampoline.  I mean bungee-jumping on a non-permanent structure.  I mean taking a chance on yourself when nobody else would.  You know, the kind of thing that makes your parents say, "I don't believe I would have done that."

Vibram Five Fingers: Observations

I love my Vibram Five Fingers shoes.  I've mentioned before that I have several pair of them and I adore them.  But there is one thing that so many people talk about, that I have not encountered directly... the infamous VFF stench.

This is going to sound weird but mine don't stink.  I have six pair of VFFs. I wear them to work, I wear them on the weekends.  I wear them when the pavement is too hot to run barefoot.  In short, I don't just wear them when it's cold, and my feet surely sweat in them like they do in any other shoes (other than sandals, they are all I wear).  In the winter I wear socks (with only one pair; they are the only ones big enough to accommodate socks).  The rest, no socks.

My VFFs don't smell any worse than my other shoes (meaning my husband can stick his nose in, take a deep whiff, and say, "smells like a shoe").  I'm not saying they don't smell worn; I'm saying they don't smell bad enough to gag a maggot, which is what I hear most people saying.

VFFs smell pretty bad when you buy them, IMHO.

My boys' VFFs

My kids, on the other hand, managed to stink theirs up within just two weeks.  I got each of them a pair the day before Mother's Day, and both pair have been washed twice since them.  My boys will take them off on the way home from school and I have to put the windows down because of the stink.  I've reached the point of telling them they have to keep their shoes on in the car, and when we get home, I spray them with Febreze and take them directly out into the sun to bake and dry.

I don't know if it's the sand, or water/traipsing through puddles, or what...but mine don't smell like that, or even close.  Am I doing something wrong???

 Just an observation, and curious as to why my feet don't stink so badly...

Please note: yes, my poop DOES stink; I'm not saying I'm special, just curious about it! ;-)

Squashing My Ball

Sorry I've been away for awhile...I still love you all!

My (lonely) chair

In an effort to work on my core muscles a little more, I bought myself an exercise ball to sit on at work.  Let me tell you, this was no small feat, and it wasn't a decision I took lightly.  I am a software developer by day, and sitting in front of a computer screen for the vast majority of my time at work means I spend a lot of time leaning over looking at something, lying down in my chair thinking, or trying to sit bolt upright while typing code (or blog posts).  Much of the time though, I found myself pretty much leaning way over to one side while I move my mouse around. Plus, you know, I'm always looking for new ways to burn calories exercise without having to think too much about it because I don't have a lot of free time (just like you!).  So the ball is an exercise in working on posture, muscle toning, and of course adding mystery to my already mysterious and crazy nature (the people I work with already think I'm a bit eccentric, and I like to keep it that way).

Today is the fifth day of the exercise, and here are my findings so far:

• someone else already beat me to the punch (another equally weird person) on the ball thing, so I have been constantly accused of copying her.  Unfortunately for me, it's not someone I want to copy, but that's beside the point.  I had no idea she was doing the same thing.  But I digress
• the ball is really fun to sit on.  I find myself rolling around on it, or bouncing (I bounce my leg a lot, like many programmers), or kinda swaying side to side a bit.  The guy who sits next to me is probably terribly annoyed!
• I haven't fallen off of it yet!
• the ball stinks when it's new
• today is the first day my back has been sore (day 5) at all.
• I haven't had any problems sitting on the ball; balance isn't an issue, and I don't feel the need to get up all the time because I'm uncomfortable
• getting up off the ball is the hardest part, believe it or not.  It's not as easy to just shove it out of the way with the backs of my knees, like you can do with a chair
• I used to keep my phone on the table behind me, but I had to move it; unlike the chair, the ball doesn't swivel.  If I spin around while sitting, it literally gets my knickers in a twist.  This was most unpleasant on Wednesday when I wore a skirt.

Is it helping anything by sitting on the ball?  I have no idea.  Supposedly one can burn up to 350 calories a day just by sitting on a ball instead of a chair.  If you already do balance/core/ball work (ha!) when you work out, you probably won't get that much out of it - but it does pretty much force you to sit with excellent posture.

My (unsquashed) ball

Does it disturb my cube mate?  I don't think so.  The first day was funny (I had to blow the ball up, and it took forever to get it to the correct height.  It took several tries and lots of noise throughout the day).  At 5'8", I had to buy the biggest ball (I used the medium-sized one for workouts, and it's fine for that, but there's no way I could sit on it all day; it's like sitting in a Kindergartner's chair, with your knees in your face), and it takes up a lot of room, especially with my old chair in my cramped space as well.  Mostly I think he's just waiting for me to fall down when I get up off the thing. I got a 75cm BodyFit ball by Sports Authority, but you can get whatever works for you (cheap is good for trying it out).

I'll try to remember to give you guys an update after using it for a month, but so far, so good.  I'm really glad I tried this out!  Anybody else tried this?  Has it helped your posture, your abs, or your back at all?

 

 

Cheating!

When you cheat on your diet, who are you cheating?  Your wallet?  Yourself?  Your spouse?  I say, just yourself.  But what do I know...I started a "diet" and I "cheated" (accidentally) within the first week!

I wrote a little while ago about starting the paleo challenge.  I'm on my last week, and all I can say is, when everyone in your house isn't joining in on a diet, it's really hard.  I have no idea how real dieters are able to lose weight because when your children are too young to get what they need/want to eat (and everything isn't nutritious), it's hard not to take two crackers/Cheez-its/potato chips/cookies for yourself.

I started the challenge not to lose weight, but to feel better, and feel better I do.  But I also learned a few things about myself, which I will talk about below.  At any rate, I'm glad I did the paleo challenge because I now eat a lot more healthfully and I avoid wheat-based products like the plague.

So, here's what I learned:

My wheat allergy goes much deeper than I thought.  Most grasses make me sneeze or break out, and I can't eat rye at all.  Whole wheat always made me break out in a rash if I had too much of it, as does beer - but I could eat bleached flour without a problem.  Now that I've completely cut gluten from my diet, I don't have aches and pains like I used to, my allergies are better, and let's just say that the monthly curse of being a woman is much, much less painful (TMI?).

I can get past the things I think I love to eat.  My go-to snack for awhile has been Cheez-Its.  I have no idea how I got started on them, but those little crackers go well with Coke, beer, or water.  You can control how many you eat and sometimes two is enough.  After three weeks of having had only two Cheez-Its (that was the accidental cheating; I was fixing some for Little P and absent-mindedly took two.  When I realised what I'd done, I was disappointed, but I had already swallowed them so I moved on), I no longer even like them.  No joke.  I tried two of them the other day and they literally tasted like shit and I said, out loud, "I can't believe I used to love these things!".  I did the same thing with potato chips (Lays regular, if you're wondering) and had the exact same reaction: they literally tasted like shit to me.

No, I have never eaten shit, but you get the idea.  I didn't just "not want them" - they tasted like something I would never, ever eat again.  Wow.

I need more carbs than my husband.  My husband "accidentally" joined me in the paleo challenge because it intrigued him and he started doing a bunch of research on it.  He took it way farther than I did (but he's also still trying to lose a few pounds, and I am not) and I think he's having good results.  Unfortunately, without around 120 - 150g of carbohydrates every day, I cannot function and I feel bad.  I can't get through the brain fogthat people talk about because I am unable to function, quite literally.  Getting off the couch to get a glass of water was an easy thought, but getting up and doing it was nearly impossible one day (and no, I was not starved or anything, just a nearly-zero-carb 36 hours or so).  I'm still trying to tweak the magic number but I cannot have a carbohydrate-free day.  I like to say that my brain is very active, and that's why.  The truth is, I don't really know why.

Changing the way I eat has been really hard.  I've never really been on a diet to lose weight.  I've tweaked the kinds of calories I've eaten in order to tone up and get in better shape (and the result is sometimes weight loss) but I've never been overweight.  I can't imagine what would happen if I reached the point where I had to lose weight, because I would fail miserably.  I gained a new respect for anyone who has lost weight and kept it off.

Sometimes, it's OK to cheat.  I gave myself permission to cheat after about two weeks on the paleo challenge.  Why?  Because I was still fighting to maintain my weight, and I wasn't noticing a lot of difference in performance, except for the carbs thing I mentioned above.  I don't mean I resorted to sandwiches or cookies; I didn't.  But I have had one piece of cake (it was a very special occasion and it would have been very rude not to have eaten it - but it was tiny and I have a new appreciation for the sugar rush!).  I also had a few homemade butterscotch brownies.  I had a few because one just wasn't enough.  It reinforced the fact that gluten bonds to the same receptors in your brain as opiates!  I also had a 12-oz can of Coke because after the butterscotch brownies I just decided to say "Screw it" for the day and caved.  The Coke was good.

I managed to lay down the law after that though, and even given the brownies and the coke, I only had about 180g of carbs that day, so it tells you a lot about what I had to eat the rest of the day.  It taught me that it's OK to cheat, if you are able to get yourself together and not cheat again the next day.  Once in awhile is fine though.

The way I eat is probably forever changed.  As I mentioned above, I now don't like the taste of some of my previously favourite foods.  I suspect it has to do with the partially hydrogenated oils, or perhaps it's the gluten.  I'm pretty sure that I will avoid most gluten for the rest of my life.  Not to the point of never having a sandwich (which I'm not a huge fan of anyway), but to the point that I will probably limit myself to pizza once a month or so.  And yes, I will eat regular pizza, at least on occasion.  I'm looking forward to trying a beer, but I'd bet that I either won't like it, or I will have a reaction to it (but maybe not).  Processed foods make me sick.  I had a Jimmy John's Unwich (instead of bread, they wrap the meat in lettuce), and it was quite tasty.  Unfortunately I had a raging headache after eating it.  Must have been the preservatives in the meat (it was the kind of headache I get after eating MSG).  I'm enjoying grass-fed beef and free-range chicken and organic brown eggs.

I will still eat a cookie and drink a Coke.  Not every day mind you, but I still have an appreciation for the finer things in life.  But to give you an example, a month ago, if I had Coke in the house, I had to have one - just one - every day until they were gone.  Yesterday I bought Mexican Coke (made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup) and I'm saving the first one for Sunday, when my challenge is over.  Dumb, yes, I know.  I'm sure my children will wonder what happened to me when the sugar and caffeine hit me at the same time.  As for the cookies, they'll have to be homemade, but what the hell.

 So that sums it up.  For those of you who have had to interact with me in the real world during the past month, I appreciate your patience.  It hasn't all been rosy, but it's been an education, if nothing else!  If you're considering trying the paleo challenge, or changing the way you eat for the better, I highly recommend it.  What doesn't kill you definitely makes you stronger. :)

*Note: I didn't take before and after pictures because I really didn't think there would be much difference.  I wasn't trying to lose weight, and the 3-4 pounds I did lose were inconsequential and actually made me look a tad emaciated.  When I have washboard abs, I'll post a picture, I promise.  Please don't hold your breath, because the likelihood of getting past my existing 2-pack seems minuscule!

Minimalist Shoes - for Kids!

You all know how much I love to run barefoot (when I'm able to), or even BE barefoot (as I type this, I am sitting at my work desk...barefoot!).  Last year I pretty much gave up regular shoes completely.  If there is a raised heel, I don't wear it.  I saved one pair of shoes "just in case I went on a hike or something".  It turned out to be a good decision, because I just spent three months in a boot and needed the height...but that's a different story.

Now that I've freed my feet again, I'm back to my minimal footwear.  I wear moccasins, sandals (no heel), Vibram Five Fingers, and flip-flops on rare occasion.  I have even been known to wear Dr. Scholl's Fast Flats to work with a skirt.  My kids, on the other hand, wear the heaviest shoes known to man: Skechers and Nikes.  There is no way I would wear either of their shoes for longer than 10 seconds.  Of course, these are the tennis shoes they are required to wear to school; when not in school, they are either barefoot or in Crocs.

Apparently, shoe companies are starting to wise up on children's shoes.  Now they are making the same minimalist shoes for kids, that they make for adults, which is uber-cool in my humble opinion.  There is a Fila Skele-toes that comes in kids sizes, and now Merrell will be releasing some in May (w00t!).

Jason Robillard over at Barefoot Running University has done an excellent writeup on the children's shoes (as well as scads of adult shoes), so please check out his site for more information.  If you've never heard of Jason (where do you live, under a rock?), he's a well-known barefoot runner and evangelist.  I've never had the opportunity to meet him (although I'd love to when the chance is available) but we do both belong to the same online "club", Barefoot Runners Society.

It makes me really happy that shoe companies are starting to realise we need to solve the problem before it gets started.  And yes, you can bet I'll be checking out investing in some of these shoes for my boys very soon!

Burnout

Is it possible to suffer from burnout even though you aren't really actively working out all the time?  Or, can you have burnout from sitting on the couch for months in a row?

I've been trying to get back into my workout routine and I'm having a hard time.  I'm not burned out; I really want to work out!  It's just that finding the time to do it lately has been really hard.  The yard needs to be cleaned up (damn oak trees!).  The boys have stuff going on at school.  I'm trying to get a startup going.  Laundry...

You know, the usual excuses!

What I've found though, is that even sometimes the best intentions are left leaving me wanting more.  I still am unable to run very far.  I managed 0.1 mile this past weekend before I started experiencing pain and I stopped immediately.  I did manage a 2-mile walk though, so there's that.

I think I'm just disgusted with the fact that I want to do so many things and I either can't (run), or I'm not motivated because the other things compliment the running.  My goal before the end of summer is to be able to do one handstand pushup, but we'll see if that happens (it'll be fun trying though).

Feeling icky after four months of couch-potatodom is pretty nasty though, even when you don't gain weight or anything.  I just feel like a slob, even if I'm not really looking like one.

Anybody else have this problem on occasion?

Barefoot

This was too great to pass up!

Trying the Paleo Diet

I'm sure you've heard of the paleo diet, right?  The one where you eat like a caveman?  Yeah, I figured I'd give it a try.  Why not?  I love meat!

Before telling you about my experience so far, I want you to know some things about me.  It's important that you know these things so you get a different point of view about the change in eating habits.

• I was not overweight when I started the diet; in fact, I was borderline underweight.
• I wanted to see if cutting all refined carbs made me feel better
• I love meat, and I will make any excuse to eat it, especially red meat!
• I tried being a vegetarian for a little while (like two weeks) but it made me feel like crap (not enough protein)
• I had already cut gluten from my diet and was feeling better (I do not have celiac but I'm allergic to whole wheat)
• I am one of the world's pickiest eaters.

Now that we've got those little items out of the way, here is where I'm at after a little over a week of eating like a cavegirl.

• I lost THREE pounds in less than a week.
• One day I truly thought I was going to DIE because of the lack of carbs (didn't eat enough before a very light workout).  Once I ate some protein and veggies I felt much better.
• I need a fair amount of carbs, but fruit provides me with plenty
• I miss Cheez-Its like the devil, but I am determined to get through the 30 days without them.
• I have accidentally cheated once by licking icing off my fingers after cutting a slice of cake for the boys.
• I am loving the hell out of eating lots of meat (redundant?)
• the wives' tale is true (in my case): red meat makes your body odor worse.

OK.  Now, before you start in with "Why are you doing this to yourself?", please hear me out.  I didn't do this to lose weight.  I did it because I found over the last year or so, the more fit I got, the more I craved vegetables and fruits.  I always craved meat, so I'll leave that out.  The more fruit I wanted, the less refined grains I wanted.  I am a bread junkie, so this perplexed me - but I really cut down on that stuff.  But being a "good American", I ate what "they" recommend - a diet heavy in whole grains.  Over time I started feeling like I could even do better, so I cut out most things with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  I found this made me feel even better (and I didn't feel bad to begin with).  After that, I started cutting out gluten products.  This was easy for me because I'm allergic to whole wheat anyway (I don't have celiac, but I break out in a rash when I eat too much whole wheat.  White/bleached flour does not do that to me for some reason, I'm sure it's whatever they don't remove from the so-called "healthy" stuff that makes me itch).

Once I cut out the gluten, I felt so good it was amazing.  I slept better.  I was calmer and less uptight.  I got over my road rage.  My irritable bowel pretty much went away (TMI?).  So, the paleo challenge was just another step in the direction of "seeing if I can feel even better".

I am still trying to figure out how to not continue to lose weight.  As I write this, I am at 118 pounds exactly, and at 5'8" that's a bit skinny (and exactly what I weighed when I graduated high school - and don't hate me, please).  I don't need to lose anymore weight, that's for sure.  The problem is, with all this fat in my diet, I'm not very hungry for snacks!  I'm hoping to get my exercise groove on again in the next month (I've started back to moderate floor exercises but really I'm burning about 150 calories in my workouts), although I have no idea when I'll be able to run again.  But I'm out of the boot and taking regular walks!

I would be lying if I said I wasn't missing a few things.  I am not a huge cheese eater, but when I want it, I really want it, and for the challenge, I "can't" have it.  That's been the hardest, honestly.  As much as I love toasted bread, not having it hasn't been difficult.  One thing I've found hard is that when I do want a snack, I'm pretty much left with fruit - which is high carb and I probably tend to eat too much of it (but if that's what it takes to stop losing weight, I will continue to do it).  Having a snack of fruit is fine except that I'd like a bit more variety (crackers and cheese?  Summer sausage and crackers and cheese maybe?) and  having to cook everything you eat is a major pain in the ass (yes, I know you can eat many vegetables raw, but when you work in a cubicle it can be annoying to listen to me crunch a carrot).  I have been paying lots of money for high-grade jerky, but at $7 a bag, it's a bit ridiculous (and yes I'm looking at making my own).  The fact that that $7 bag of jerky lasts me about two snacks sucks too (not to mention that everyone else in the family likes it too!).

I will say though that I am enjoying the food, and I did not drop weight like this when I was eating a grain-based diet.  I hit a plateau and could not lose the last five pounds I wanted to lose until I cut the gluten.  Taking it this far has made it super-easy to lose weight (at least for me - I know it may be different for everyone else out there), despite the fact that I don't want to.  Fortunately it does allow me to eat as much as I want and not really cut calories (and yes, I'm eating about 2000 calories a day, so please don't tell me to eat more).  The other night I ate a 14-oz NY strip and loved every bite of that bad boy!

We've switched all our meats to grass-fed and free-range and all that, and it's true, you can taste the difference.  I don't see ever going back to the other stuff, at least not consciously.  Yes, we are spending far more money on groceries - in fact I'd say a good 35% more.  But, we are MUCH less inclined to eat out now.  Overall, that's actually a savings in money, believe it or not.  And you thought a $20 meal for four at a restaurant (Chick-Fil-A or Sonny's) was cheap, right?  You can do so much better.

The increase in meat inspired my husband to buy a grill, which I am loving.  We are using charcoal instead of gas, too (because the grill was cheaper and a no-brainer for purchase) - and I like it better.  We've been grilling out a lot lately, which we haven't done in years.

So if you're considering taking the paleo challenge, I'd say it's a good one.  Your mileage may vary, but hey, it would regardless of the changes you make.  And yes, I will probably continue to mostly eat this way after I finish the challenge - but I reserve the right to cheat with Cheez-Its on occasion!

Don't Laugh, it Works for Me!

OK, sit down, because I'm going to tell you something really funny.  In fact, you're going to roll your eyes and think I'm crazy.  I don't pretend to not be crazy, by the way, so get ready!  Here goes...

You know when you're standing in the kitchen for an hour in the evening cooking dinner and cleaning up after the meal?  Guess what?  Instead of standing there, you could be doing lunges!  Or squats!  Or something else, whatever that might be.  Imagine this: you're making gravy (because who doesn't like gravy, right?), and you need to add water to it, so you take a cup over to the sink to get some.  Instead of walking the two steps over there, why not do lunges instead?  Yes, I realise it may only be two or three lunges (or perhaps only one).  But is two or three better than none?  You betcha.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, instead of reading a magazine, why not do some deep knee bends/squats?  Yes, you can.  Do one, if that's all you can do.  It certainly beats standing there waiting for the water to boil, doesn't it?

What about bringing food to the table?  If you bring all your food to the table so your family can get their own portions, take one bowl at a time (be sure to hold it with both hands, arms outstretched in front of you), and do lunges to the table.  If you're too worried about doing all that at once, then just walk regularly, but hold the bowl out in front of you.  Trust me, you will feel it.

Will you look silly?  Maybe, but who's going to see you?  Your kids?  If you're not already being silly in front of your kids, then you need to change that.  Do it sometime and see whether they notice.  See if your spouse notices.  Tell him/her you're tightening your tush, just for them, and see what they say.  Will they laugh?  Maybe.  Do it for a few days in a row and see whether it does you any good.  If not, then don't do it anymore.  If you can feel or - better yet - see results, you've just found time to exercise!

And yes, I realise that the amount of workout you get during the time you are fixing dinner is minimal.  The point isn't to make this the only workout of the day, unless you are really short on time.  A little exercise is better than no exercise any day.

So tonight when you're cooking, give it a go.  Think of two or three exercises you can do while walking around your kitchen (same goes for baking cookies, you know), and try to do them while you're waiting on things to simmer.  Let me know if you do, I'm curious about the results for others (this works for me on occasion, and I want more feedback on it).

I'm Sore, and I Don't Want to Work Out Today!

What do you do when this happens to you?  You know, when you take some time off (that turns into too much time), and then you decide that you're not in the shape you want to be, or you've gained some weight, or just want to tone things back up because bikini season is coming?  So you start working out again, only you try to pick up where you left off pretty much three months ago.  And you know, you feel so weak when you're lifting the weights and stuff, and doing the push-ups, but you make yourself do them anyway, thinking, "I can get through this!"  And then when you're finished, you collapse into a pile of jello because you're exhausted and you've over-done it.

Yeah, I did that yesterday.  Not quite to that extent, but enough to be stiff today.  Not sore really, but stiff enough to know that I'll have to take today off (which I was planning on doing anyway).  I've finally learned how to push it without being miserably sore, and it's no small feat.  It took me years to get there.  Of course every once in awhile I still do something that I wish I hadn't (it usually involves moving furniture around the house, and it's not my back that ends up hurting, but my forearms because I really don't work them out at all, ever).

Unfortunately I'm allergic to ibuprofen, so I can't take that to ease my pain.  But really?  I don't want it anyway - one because I don't hurt that bad, and two because it reminds me that I actually did what I was "supposed to" yesterday and worked out.  Hopefully I can keep it up (cos I still can't run, still in the boot...).

What do you do to avoid being sore?  Or do you roll in it like I do?