The Language of Dieting

I've been thinking a lot about how the words we use to describe how and what we eat can really affect how we view our choices. I think it's important to check in with the associated meanings of the words we use to describe a healthy lifestyle and make sure they are words that make us feel good. Many people have commented on the word diet itself. The word diet has developed some negative connotations over the years. People often associate it with denial, restriction, or a phase. When really the word diet is the Greek word for "way of life." So, in truth, it doesn't make sense to be "on a diet." Everyone is "on a diet," it's just a matter of what your diet consists of.

I recently started calling my "cheat day" my "looser day." To me, "cheating" makes me feel guilty, like I'm violating what I'm supposed to be doing. That doesn't make me feel good. I have built in a day where I can be a little less restrictive on purpose. I feel that I need it for balance and to keep my obsessiveness in check. Everyone is different, but if I am too strict with myself, I could be setting myself up for a detrimental "F*#$ this" binge. I call it a looser day or a looser meal, because I am loosening the parameters I usually follow. For me, allowing myself a looser day is a healthy and wise

Now that doesn't mean the word cheat doesn't have it's place. If I declare I am going 100% Paleo with no loose days for a full month and I eat sugar, well then I cheated on my diet. I violated the rules and regulations of my way of life. Right now I'm abstaining from alcohol while I train for my 5K. If I decide to have a glass of wine, that's not loose...that's a cheat.

What's fun about thinking about the language of dieting is that you can make up your own words & phrases if it's helpful. The incredible Melicious, who once fought going Paleo, renamed it Dino-Chow and took the plunge. Love it! When I realized I was going to have to stop eating nightshades to heal the tendinitis in my wrist, I was sad to let go of my salsa, Cholula, and bell peppers as they were a HUGE part of my diet. I had to re-name them wrist poison so I wasn't so sad. It worked! In this case, the negative connotation was necessary for me to feel like I wasn't missing out on anything and in fact I was bettering myself. Now that my wrist has healed I'm slowly reintroducing nightshades & everytime I eat some, I apologize for having to call them poison for a while. I think I'm forgiven.

While searching for diet terms I ran into a great post that addresses this same topic. Stephanie from "Back in Skinny Jeans" uses the terms on the menu as in "that's not on my menu today" That seems less restrictive than "I can't eat that. Check out her post.

Because after all, eating well is about feeling good. Language is powerful, it should make us feel just as good as the foods we eat!
Any great terms you have come up with?

A great night sleep with a side of primal pizza

Remember when I declared sleep my new best friend? Well soon after I announced to sleep that we would be hanging out a lot more often, sleep got cold feet. Sleep felt like I was getting too serious and maybe a little too clingy & stopped showing up for many of our dates. And when sleep would show up, sleep seemed very distant and distracted...we had trouble connecting with each other. But all the sudden this past week or so, I've been sleeping like a baby. And the difference it makes the next day is enormous. I must reiterate how very important it is to sleep well and treat your bodies need for sleep with respect. I felt like I nearly tripled my productivity this week because I was actually well rested. Clear thinking followed by immediate execution. Whole new world.

So what's different?

1) I'm back in a good flow with my workouts. The extra sleep I get from switching to the 7am class has really helped & the clear goal of re-gaining my upper body strength keeps me motivated.

2) I have my first 5K coming up in a few weeks. Whenever I have an exciting event with a specific date attached to it, somehow my life seems more organized. Plus, this means I get to hang out with my family in LA and that makes everything feel right with the world.

3) Taking an break from alcohol means I've not been metabolizing any sugar while trying to sleep.

4) And this has made the biggest difference so far: I eliminated stressful thoughts from my mind. I zoomed in and identified what thought patterns I had that were making me feel anxious in any way. I then identified which were reflections of real external circumstances that I could work on changing and which were simply stressful thoughts. Turns out about 99% of my thoughts were from a stressed perspective and not from reality. This is something that you always kind of know happens, but it wasn't until I fully internalized that only my thoughts were causing me stress, NOT my situation, that I finally began sleeping again. I feel like this is a lesson we sort of learn over and over again in life. We just need to check in with ourselves every once in a while and make sure our thought patterns are not causing us unnecessary stress.

So sleep, thank you for returning to me. I had really been missing you!

And now, as I prepare to slip into bed for my nightly hang out with sleep, I feel FULL with Primal Pizza. I went overboard, but it was oh, so tasty!For anyone who is going gluten free, I highly recommend this particular recipe for pizza crust.

Taken from Mark's Daily Apple:

Ingredients:
Crust:
2 Cups Almond Meal/Flour
2 Eggs
2 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tsp salt

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. This should give you a ball of “dough”. If your dough is too “mushy” (like mine was), continue to add almond flour until you get a good consistency.
3. Make a pizza sheet or baking tray non-stick. This is VERY important if you want your pizza slices to come off in one piece.
4. Press your dough on the sheet nice and even about 1/4 inch in the middle and 1/2 inch at the edges.
5. Put crust in the oven for 15 minutes. It should look slightly golden brown when you take it out.

Then add whatever toppings you want. If you want a more traditional pizza & you eat dairy-go for pizza sauce and cheese. Or just load it up with pizza sauce and tons of veggies and/or a protein of your choice. You can even make your own pizza sauce by mixing 1 Can Tomato Paste, 1-2 Cups Water (To desired thickness), 1 Tsp Dried Oregano, & 1 Tsp Garlic. Just load it up and pop it back in the 350 degree over for another 15 minutes or so. Voila!

Here's the scoop: The thinner the crust, the better. It takes a while to get it thin and even. The almond flour is extremely filling and can overwhelm the toppings. And if you are following the zone diet, there are about 5 fat blocks per small piece, so be aware of that. But I love this recipe because it feels like a real crust to me and totally satisfies my craving for a bread/crust type item. There is a lot of crispy integrity...plus I super love almonds. However, I wonder if the fact that I don't eat very much bread anymore is why this tasted like the greatest meal in the world to me. Because my husband just said he feels like he has a pile of mud sitting in his gut. So maybe it's not for everyone :)
... I did say it was filling!

Why I need my Crossfit Gym

On Sunday morning I woke up inspired and ready for my homemade workout. I planned it as I was falling asleep the night before.

4 Rounds:
10 push-ups with a side plank between each one, rotating sides
20 Overhead Squats (35lbs)
30 Kettlebell Swings
40 box-jumps

3, 2, 1...GO!!

Well, my workout went a little more like this:
10 push-ups with side planks
10 OH Squats
5 Box jumps with a little dance on top of the box because I was listening to Jay-Z
10 KB swings

Another dance on my way to my water bottle

5 push-ups with side planks
10 KB clean and presses cuz they seemed more fun at the moment
10 OH squats
Dance on top of my box until my neighbor starting mowing his lawn and saw me

Breakfast!

Way to go me!
As I was running one of my 400m this morning, I was thinking about my Sunday workout attempt and how I really need the structure of the gym to keep me going. Crossfit workouts are hard. And they do not slowly build. When you hear 3, 2, 1, Go! you jump right in and at some point in that first 3 minutes you hit a moment where you say, "Oh F?%*! This requires my WHOLE and present self & it's too intense to be lazy about it." This is the moment that if you push through and keep going, you find a whole new place inside. One that is capable, one that is strong, and one where you have so much momentum you somehow are going for it. Your blood is pumping and your sweat is dripping and it's hard as shit but you are going....
This is also the moment that if you don't have your classmates next to you & if you don't have your coaches inspiring you, you can give in & stop. When you get to the "Oh F*%#!" moment and you don't have the spirit of the Crossfit Central crew around you, it's hard to remember that it actually feels good to push through to the other side. It becomes a moment where dancing on top of the jump box is much more appealing.

Thank You to my classmates, coaches, and all my Crossfit buddies for your continued dedication to waking up early and working your ass off. I couldn't do it without you.

Good Morning Chief

Today I finally made the switch from the 6:15am class to the 7am class. At first I felt out of sorts, like I was late for something important. All the ladies I normally see trickle in while I'm mid work-out were now mid workout themselves...very discombobulating. I started the warm-up a little confused trying to focus my mind and remember I was not late for anything important. I was right on time. And then we met The Chief.

"The Chief"
As Many Rounds as Possible in 3 minutes:
3 Power Cleans
6 Push-ups
9 squats
Do that 5 Times.

I was able to complete 17 rounds. I really enjoyed this workout, one of my new favorites in fact. It was one of those times where I felt myself get stronger as I progressed rather than worn down. The sun started rising and the women's class cleared out. All the sudden the gym felt like it was mine. No more confused and discombobulated feelings. It was me and my power cleans, push-ups, squats, and the music. I felt present in my workout. Maybe that extra 45 minutes of sleep made all the difference. There really is a difference between waking up in the 5 o'clock hour vs. the 6 o'clock hour. And there is something great about the sun rising during a workout...it's like a reminder that I'm fueling myself up for the day to come.
Thanks Chief!

Countdown to my First 5K

On November 8th I'm flying out to Los Angeles to join my amazing sister-in-law for my first 5K. I've never run one before and I'm really looking forward to it. I have to say I'm not that great at running. I've gotten better than I've been in the past, but longer distances are still very hard for me. I love that Crossfit changes up the moves so frequently during a workout that it re-jiggers my mind set. Running long distances, on the other hand, gives my mind time to ponder how much I feel like stopping. BUT, the adrenaline of a crowd and knowing that my sister-in-law is running too may change all of that.

So it's time to bring out my Crossfit Endurance workbook and step up my training. I will be adding 2 endurance workouts a week for the next 3 weeks. I'm also not going to drink any alcohol in the next 3 weeks. I am doing this not because I am worried about the occasional glass of wine or beer, but because once I have a drink in me I make poor food choices. In the past couple of weeks I've let in so many bad food choices because of this. I don't regret the choices I've made...I've been to art openings, had a wonderful visit with an old friend, a send off celebration for a new friend, birthday parties, you name it! All these events have involved bottles of wine or fancy drinks to cheers with. But, I've started gaining back some body fat that I worked so hard to lose which means it's time to dial back in. It's starting to add up & I always see it first in those darn love handles.

And now is when I need to learn a new kind of balanced discipline. When I started my journey to lose weight, I found it surprising easy to make great food choices. I was so ready to shed the weight and so ready to feel better that with every great choice I made I was one step closer. And when I started to see the results I only got more motivated because I knew the great choices were making a difference. But now that I've lost the weight I have to learn the right mindset for maintenance. I eat so well most of the time, that I feel comfortable with letting in some "here and theres" to treat myself and feel like I have a balanced life. But I can really feel the difference in my body and wellness when those "here & theres" start occurring too frequently.

So rather than get depressed that I woke up this morning with a sugar headache and noticeable jiggling in my belly and love handles, I will embrace where I am and realize I'm at a new point in my journey. After all, this really is a journey in wellness and now I have to learn maintenance. I have finally learned to let go of an all or nothing way of thinking. And that is the first major lesson of maintenance. I don't need to feel like I ruined my hard work by gaining a little body fat & feel like I can never have a glass of wine again. But I can certainly acknowledge that the weight gain makes me uncomfortable, take note of what got me here, and make the proper adjustments.

I also plan on posting more frequently in the next 3 weeks about how I dial in and train for this 5K. That is both a commitment to myself and to all you lovely folks who take the time to read this.