NoBloPoMo: My last blog post was almost 2 months ago...

I'd like to say I've been busy. I guess in some respects I have been. This time of year work is so crazy that the last thing I want to do on evenings and weekends is look at a computer screen.

To get out of this lack-of-blogging funk I decided late last night to participate in NoBloPoMo. Sure, I'm two days late, but better late than never. Right?!

Here is just a short post to kick it off. I have so much on my mind about the weight gain I've allowed happen, but I just want to kick this off with a bit of positivity.

Yesterday, the fall colors motivated me to take a short 30 minute walk (a victory for me since I haven't been working out)

Then the roommate and I enjoyed the weather walking around downtown and checking out the Grand Opening at the new Hatch Show Print location inside the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Hatch Show Print is one of Nashville's staples. It is one of the oldest letterpress print shops in the US. (They celebrated 133 years last year.)

After walking around downtown some more, we found another staple of the city - a location shoot for the ABC TV show "Nashville".

Featuring fake TV's own country stars Rayna James and Juliette Barnes! Yes, they had a whole "music festival" set up just for filming the TV show. I see them filming around town a lot - it's sort of cool to see them out and about and then catch that episode and see how it turned out.

All in all it was a good fall day with lots of walking - exactly what I need right now!

I actually won something...Laughing Cow Cheese!

A few weeks after Fitbloggin, I got a tweet notifying me that I had WON their contest they ran at the Conference:

I have seriously been a fan of Laughing Cow cheese, particularly the light Swiss flavor for years, and years. And I honestly, NEVER win anything, so I was pumped.

A few days later, this arrived on my doorstep.

A nifty Laughing Cow branded lunch box with four packages of Laughing Cow Cheese to try: Garlic & Herb, light Swiss, and two new flavors, White Cheddar and Queso Fresco & Chipotle.

Although I've been a fan of the light Swiss for a long time, I honestly have never branched out and tried other flavors, like the Garlic & Herb. So I was stoked to expand my Laughing Cow Cheese repertoire and try to find inventive ways to use the different flavors.

My standard, go-to recipe is to make a light, low calorie Alfredo sauce with the Swiss flavor. This goes great with pasta - or spaghetti squash for a lower carb version. I saw this recipe on a blog years, and years ago - probably 5 or more. But Laughing Cow also has a version on their website.

Here are the ingredients I used.

 I add red pepper flakes to add a bit of heat, and sometimes I use a sprinkling of flour if I need to thicken it up since I don't usually use dairy milk, thus cutting out the milkfat. The original soymilk from 8th Continent was definitely too sweet, but it did the trick in a pinch for a quick dinner.

I added mine to whole wheat angel hair pasta with broccoli and fresh tomatoes.

 Since I only tried the other flavors at Fitbloggin' with veggies and crispy flatbread, I tried to think of ways to add a little Laughing Cow flair to some of my old, regular, boring meals.

The winning shot.

The Queso Fresco & Chipotle went well on a black bean and rice burrito. I took a wedge and microwaved it for 30-60 seconds to melt it a bit. The flavor went quite well with this combination and has a bit of spice, but as someone that LOVES spice, you see that I still added my normal amount of hot sauce. :)

I stuffed the Swiss flavor in some mini peppers I had on-hand and roasted them in the oven. This was good, but it didn't turn out like a "jalapeno popper" like I hoped. I think next time mixing the Laughing Cow with some shredded cheese and green chilies is in order.

The White Cheddar flavor spruced up a boring turkey, spinach, tomato wrap for lunch at work.

Also, not shown, but the Garlic & Herb went great on my daily Egg & Spinach sandwich for breakfast!

Thank you Laughing Cow for sponsoring Fitbloggin'13 and for running the contest I won!


Disclaimer: All products were provided to me at no charge as part of a contest I won. Laughing Cow did not ask me to do this post, and all opinions and ideas are my own.

Where have I been?

Wow....where have I been?

I can't believe my last post was in JULY - July 28th to be exact.

I had just gotten back from a big trip and was gearing up for my last one of the summer. I can honestly say I have not been weighing and have not been tracking. I've been trying to make better choices, but I am not perfect.

Accept the imperfections.

I am sure I am up from my last weigh in, but my scale is broken so I haven't been focusing on it. I did take my measurements at the beginning of this month and I will share the results at the beginning of next month.

Work outs have been dismal, and my goal has been to just walk 20 minutes a day. Some days I get in longer walks (thanks Kate!) and some days I get no walks in. The last 2 days I've done no walking because I sprained my ankle again on Wednesday. Story of my life.

It's not as bad as last time, but I'm going to do some pool/yoga workouts this weekend and then pick the walking back up next week when hopefully it's a bit better.

Also, perhaps it's time I committed to doing those PT exercises to strengthen my hips and ankles?

So what else has been going on?

Honestly, nothing that is too noteworthy. This is the time of year at work I just want to do nothing when I am not AT work. 10-12 hour days of work, directly interacting with people in a very customer centric role leaves me feeling very much like I want nothing to do but eat copious amounts of carbs and be lazy when I'm not at work.

But a few things that have gone on:

- I visited New Orleans for my cousin's 30th birthday with family. I ate and drank to my heart's desire.

- I ran/walked a 5K in August, finishing in my slowest time ever.

- I took a side-by-side comparison of last year to this year. Time to face reality.

- I've been trying to pre-cook good food for the week, so I don't binge/make poor choices. Hopefully this will yield some yummy recipes for the blog.

I know my life seems really boring right now, and I guess it is. I am just trying to survive until Thanksgiving. It's hard to explain, but this time of year is really hard for me work-wise. I'll try and check in more regularly and hopefully get on a scale at the gym soon.

Weekly Weigh-in 3.2

Weight on July 15: 278.6
Today's Weight: 282.6

4 pounds GAINED


I just spent the last 10 days in 4 different cities between work and vacation....Columbus-Indianapolis-Chicago-Minneapolis....whew


Yes I could have traveled and not gained 4 lbs. If I didn't drink so much in Chicago, if I watched what I was eating and how much of it I was eating just a little closer, and I could have gotten out of bed and exercised while I was gone, but it happened and I'm still swinging around on these 5 lbs.


I leave for New Orleans on Friday to celebrate my cousin's 30th birthday, so I don't foresee it getting much better than this next week. I'm not going to torture myself, I'm just going to start back to my normal exercise routine and watch portions this week before I leave.


I'm in no place to make an empty promise that I won't go overboard in NOLA. School starts when I get back and hopefully a normal work routine will benefit me in the healthy living realm.

Go ahead and throw tomatoes - A very special 5k race giveaway!

When I first saw the sponsored post on Facebook about the upcoming Tomato Dodge 5K in Nashville, I was semi skeptical. I've come to be used to seeing a hot new specialty theme race announced every other day - everything from ass kicking mud and obstacle races to paint and glow fests. But one where the participants would be pelted with squishy fruit?

Inspired by the La Tomatina Festival in the Valenician town of Buñol, the Tomato Dodge combines history and fitness into a unique event.

From the La Tomatina Wiki page:

La Tomatina (Spanish pronunciation: [la tomaˈtina]) is a festival that is held in the Valencian town of Buñol, a town located 30 km from the Mediterranean, in which participants throw tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for fun. It is held on the last Wednesday of August, during the week of festivities of Buñol.

"Purely for fun" - no further description needed for me, I love fun! With a tomato pit to jump in and ambush zones to race through all while throwing the red bombs at other racers, this race is sure to meet the organizer's objective of "giving people a reason to get outside, get moving, and have a blast."

So my last question was, "won't they hurt?"

A simple answer is no, they "soak and squish these tomatoes so that they're soft on impact." To see more about the action packed race in the Tomato Dodge Presents: Run, Throw, Dodge video.

After seeing me comment on Twitter about the craziness of what they were doing the Tomato Dodge marketing team handed over a free race entry and TWO of my Nashville readers.

So, I've signed up to run this crazy race on August 17th. Do you want to join me? I'm giving away TWO free race entries right now!

All you have to do is comment below by Monday, July 22nd at 11:59 pm CST and I will draw 2 winners at random to be notified on Tuesday morning. the winner will receive a free entry to the race on August 17th in Nashville good for use by 7/24. Travel to Nashville and/or lodging is not included.

Disclosure: The nifty people at Tomato Dodge supplied me with a code for a free race entry for myself and two race entries to give away. All opinions are entirely my own. I’m pumped to do another theme race!

Vegan (and no oil) Pesto Sauce

I'm a huge fan of pesto. And basil in general. There's nothing better than a fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil salad in the summer.

But I digress...

We are here to talk about pesto. The thing where overgrown basil plants are made into a beautifully delicious, cheesy, oily delicacy. Yum.

However, most traditional pesto recipes call for 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cups of olive oil - yikes! Even with the health benefits of olive oil that is a huge calorie bomb.

Enter a recipe I discovered 3 years ago: Katie's Raw Vegan Pesto Sauce

It's a wonderful take on the pesto flavor without all the calories, fat, and dairy (if you watch that sort of thing). It's delicious on raw veggies, as a flatbread topping and even as a pasta sauce. You can see the original recipe at the link above and here are my changes to a batch I made this week:

• Used 1 tsp dried ginger rather than fresh
• Used 3 oz almonds soaked for 24 hours rather than pine nuts (I would recommend walnuts over almonds if the cost of pine nuts deter you)
• Left out jalapeño, but would recommend it!
• Recommend starting with 2 T of water and adding a tablespoon at a time to get right consistency - mine was a little thick

Made a flatbread out of a whole wheat wrap, grape tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.

Paired it with roasted cabbage and a simple roasted beet salad for a complete meal!

Have you ever lightened up a traditionally high in calorie recipe? Did it remind you of the original? 

Weekly Weigh-in 2.2

Just a quick post for weigh in this week because I don't want to fall off the wagon.
 
Weight on July 7: 276.2

Today's Weight: 278.6


2.4 pounds GAINED


So it happened again, lose a lot, gain a little. I tend to do good Sat-Tues and then fall off the wagon Wednesday-Friday. I don't sometimes Tuesday blends into Wednesday or Saturday blends into Friday, but generally I'm "on" 3-4 days and then "off" 3-4 days.


Just working on making good decisions one at a time. Alcohol has to go, but that's a post for another day. This week I leave Wednesday night for some combined business/personal travel, which will put me in 4 cities in 10 days....AGAIN.


Summer is almost over.

Fitbloggin' - The People

If you've attended Fitbloggin' before then you know that the #1 draw is THE PEOPLE. If you haven't been, but have read any recap, then you have read about THE PEOPLE. No matter what way you slice it, the Fitbloggin' community is a special one and one I'm so grateful to have discovered it.

There are a few people who made my experience at Fitbloggin' just so very awesome and it wouldn't be fair if I didn't introduce you to them and their respective space on the interweb!

Erin - Living Made Healthy - Erin was my Fitbloggin' roomie and we shared a hotel room Thursday night without even meeting until Friday morning. Now, in normal life this would be completely awkward, but in Fitbloggin' life this is NORMAL. Sharing rooms with complete strangers - or those you only know from the interwebz...totally socially acceptable. I couldn't have been luckier with my roommate choice and gained a new friend from it. And big news - Erin and her husband are expecting their first little one in January!

Kari - My Weighting Place - There are so many great things to say about Kari, but to sum it up, Kari is my long lost soul sister. Case in point: we both ran the Seattle Rock n Roll half marathon a year and 5 days before we met at Fitbloggin'! And we actually met in the bathroom, but didn't officially introduce ourselves until later when a group of us were setting out to dinner. She has lost 165 pounds and is a huge inspiration and cheerleader for me. She encouraged me to run the 5K and stayed with me (along with Erin) at my pace. There is just so much awesomeness that can't be fit into these few sentences, but know she is bursting with amazing!

Kari and I with the *THE* Laughing Cow

Sarah - Losing Weight and Having Fun - Sarah and I have been "Twitter friends" for ages. I didn't do a very good job of surveying my followers for Fitbloggin' attendees, but we managed to meet up on Friday in the Clean Eating session. She was my main gal to pal around with - from a lovely walk around downtown Portland, to dinner both nights, and lounging on the hotel's rooftop bar.

Alan - Sweating until Happy - I can't even tell you how long I've been following Alan and interacting on Twitter. Always a positive light, he reminds me daily to persevere and be optimistic about life. Fittingly, Alan was the first person I ran into at the registration table Friday morning when I finally got down there. Big hugs were had and the weekend wouldn't have been the same without his company hanging out in the hotel lounge with friends until the wee hours of the night.

Emmie - Skinny Emmie - Which brings me to Alan's Fitbloggin' partner in crime...I've known Emmie for about 2 years. Emmie's blog was one of the first ones I stumbled on when I was getting ready to set up mine (same first name + google, bless you universe). It's not really necessary to tell you her accolades because you already know and love her,  but I will tell you anyway because she is awesome: lost over 100 pounds, finished a half-marathon in 2011, has persevered through an injury for 2 years and has not given up. She was my wino partner in crime at the good-bye reception and my night owl friend to boot. I owe a lot of this weekend to her.

Me and Erin; Me and Alan: Me and Renee; Me and Alyssa

Alyssa - Double Chin Diary - Another person I met for the first time in Portland that just "got" me. The most hilarious you will ever meet nd just all around fun to be around. Plus, we have the SAME EXACT PANTS! You can't even get them anymore, I have literally been on the hunt for pants like these for YEARS - and Alyssa has a pair and understands my plight. My goal is to get to the West Coast before the end of 2013 to work out with Richard Simmons, frolick on the beach and put my toes in the Pacific Ocean (all probably while Alyssa tells an inappropriate joke and I choke on laughter).

Mel - The Daily Mel - Another veteran "followee" I have been interacting with on Twitter for ages. A Tennessee gal at heart, she now lives in Southern California. We literally went all day Friday without meeting up and I made it my mission to track her down and give her the biggest hug. She is witty, is an awesome Twitter conversationalist, and all-around solid person to call a friend.

Renee - Run, Laugh, Eat Pie - Renee is an expat who has lived in the Netherlands for the past 19 years where she traveled from to attend Fitbloggin'.  Renee and I had a pop-up coffee date when we both headed out of the hotel lobby at the same time. She entertained my obsession with Stumptown Coffee - a Portland favorite. I may have gushed a little too much about my love for coffee and Sbux in general, but that's ok. I'm a coffee fiend and not afraid to admit it. Just by talking to Renee you know that doesn't live her life through excuses and that is totally kick ass.

Stephanie - Athlete at Heart - A Midwestern girl like me, Stephanie is my active living inspiration. From triathlons to half-marathons she is kicking butt in it all! She was kind enough to hang out with me for dinner both nights and join Sarah and I on the rooftop bar Saturday afternoon.

Me and Stephanie at the Goodbye Reception

Kari, me and Erin post-5K

Martinus, Alyssa, and Dre having fun post goodbye reception

The people I've talked about here doesn't even BEGIN to include everyone I met, connected with, was inspired by, or intend on keeping in touch with. It is just a VERY SMALL group of the people I hung out with over the 3 days I was there.

Every session had a Live Blog written about it, so if you are interested in reading more about Fitbloggin' and the content head over to the website.

Weekly Weigh-in v2.0

So this is me starting over. We aren't focusing on the past anymore. Sure, it's still part of my story, but it's not going to determine where I go from here.

I've written so many of these "starting over" posts in the last few months, I can no longer promise this won't be another false start. But I can promise I will try.

New Starting Weight (7/1): 282.0

Today's Weight: 276.2

5.8 pounds LOST

So this is where I'm starting from, although I'm trying to not focus on the past, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I thought I'd never see these numbers on the scale again and it's a little majorly disappointing. One thing I took away from Fitbloggin' is that I need to release the hold the scale has on me. Yes, I will continue using it as a tool. But the number on the scale does not determine my success or failure. It does not determine my worth, my strength, or my happiness. All it will be from now is ONE of the tools I use weekly to measure if what I am doing is working to become healthier.

Yesterday was also time for firsts

Yesterday I did something I vowed I would never do - ran over 3 miles in the pouring rain.

It's been raining in Nashville for 3 days - today I finally see the sun! So to say I had a case of cabin fever yesterday - the third day straight of rain - is an understatement.

We did four sets of 90 second run/90 second walk, 3 min run/3 min walk. It was a bit intense on the hills of Nashville, but I survived and ran all the intervals. It's also sort of refreshing and freeing to run in the rain.

No this wasn't me post shower - I was this soaked!

Afterward, I made my traditional post-race breakfast: scrambled eggs and sauteed potatoes. I was out of spinach, so I added grated zucchini to the eggs. It was REALLY good! It will be a new "add veggies to my eggs" rotation for sure!

And iced coffee for sure!

Then yesterday afternoon, I explored a few waterfalls east of Nashville....in the rain. See a theme for yesterday? My quads are killing me this morning, but it feels so good.

When you are training for a race, do you run in the rain if your schedule calls for it?

Upcoming 5K and Joining a Running Group

Since I hadn't posted in almost a month before I attended Fitbloggin' last weekend, I decided that I should probably check in and talk a little about my fitness goals lately.

Yes, I did a sprint tri in May, but I wouldn't say I was anywhere near trained for that race. I was able to complete it just with my everyday fitness level. What can I do if I actually train for the next one?

I don't know if I'll do another tri this season. There's one I have my eye on in August - and in Tennessee the season even goes into October, so there's still time. But I'm traveling for two weeks at the end of this month and then I'm only back for a week before I go to New Orleans for my cousin's 30th birthday.

But I do have a race on my calendar: East Nashville's Tomato Arts 5K on August 10.

This will be my 3rd year running this race. Last year I set my 5K personal record there. It's one of my favorites even though it is in the dead heat of the summer.

I decided back in May that I needed to mix things up a little bit with my workouts. I wasn't finding the motivation to keep a regular gym schedule on my own, so I've reached out to friends to make workout dates and I joined a running group for 5K training.

Let that sink in.

The girl who hates group exercise, joined a running group. Yep.

A local running group - East Nasty - does a C25K training group every year for the Tomato Arts 5K called "Potato 2 Tomato". I enlisted my co-worker to join with me and we signed up.

Credit: http://eastnastyforlife.com/p2t/

We are on week 3 of 3x a week group runs. This week I have felt strong and was able to move towards the front of the large pack we were in Wednesday night. It actually feels good to be back to running regularly again.

Overall I'm still not sure if group running is for me. The survey is still out on that. But it's keeping me motivated to do the training runs and since I would like to beat my PR from last year, doing the training is a serious necessity in my life right now.

Do you prefer to exercise solo or with a workout buddy/group?

Happy Birthday America!

The Fourth of July has long been one of my favorite holidays. For me, it's like Christmas in July - always spent with family at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, where I grew up going during the summer. My grandfather on my mom's side built a house there with his own two hands (my dad and uncles helped) in 1987, and it is where I perfected my swimming, diving, paddle boating, and water skiing skills as a kid. Not to mention I got to spend every holiday weekend with my cousins - 17 people in a 2 bedroom, 1 loft, + 2 bathroom house really brings you closer together.

I've only NOT been there over 4th of July twice in my life - once in college when I spent the summer working at a fireworks stand and another time a few years ago when I decided to stay in Nashville for whatever reason.

But in my memory there's always been a reason - work or otherwise.

This year I'm not there and it's killing me. I'm in Nashville. With no reason to be here and I'm alone. Somehow practically everyone I know has made plans to jet out of Nashville for the long holiday weekend, leaving me with a lot of "me" time. Something that I haven't quite been comfortable with over the last several months.

Increasingly, it kills me to be alone. In my earlier years, I used to HOPE to be left alone. Now I can't stand the thought of not having plans for these 4 days off from work I have.

But here I am.

I'm trying so hard to not turn to food to quell my loneliness. History shows me that only makes the feelings worse. Instead, I hope to spend this rainy day catching up on rest, reading, and blog work.

Do you have any holiday traditions? What have you done if you've had to move away from those traditions as you've grown older?

Initial #Fitbloggin 2013 Thoughts

It's taken me way longer than I thought it would to process the last weekend spent in Portland attending my first Fitbloggin conference. And the process of taking it all in is still in full swing. To put it plainly, the weekend exceeded expectations - and was more inspiring, motivating, and uplifting than I could ever have imagined.

I returned to Nashville Sunday night with a huge smile on my face. Despite my late arrival the night before, the next day at work I felt energized. I've been really struggling with how to put the weekend into words, but basically it's what I seriously needed to pull me out of the funk I've felt over the last 6 months.

I missed the opening events (ice breakers and reception) Thursday night because I took the last flight out of Baltimore - where I was at for work the days leading up to Fitbloggin, but as soon as I walked down to breakfast Friday morning I felt so much love, support, and community on the 6th floor of The Nines Hotel.

I only "knew" (you know - internet knew) about half a dozen people and I had only met 1 person in real life, but as soon as I walked in I met 10 people within about 30 minutes. I walked away from the weekend having talked with AT LEAST a third of the people there and have SO MANY new friendships to show for it. When I wanted to grab dinner - there was a group of people ready to go. When I wanted to check out the rooftop bar, I had someone to join me (and then others join us). When I was on my way to walk and get coffee alone, there would be someone on their way too and they would walk with me. Friends stayed up with me way too late just talking about everything under the sun. These people didn't care that my blog doesn't get 30K hits a month or that I don't have 5,000 followers on Twitter. They just get me.

I'm going to admit something that's so hard for me to write here on a public blog, but it plays into how I was feeling as I sat on the MAX train with tears in my eyes, looking at Mt. Hood in the distance, riding to the airport Sunday after leaving the Hotel. And it's my honest reaction. Recently I started feeling pretty lonely here in Nashville. The friends I made at Fitbloggin just GOT me. They could understand the words that came out of my mouth before I even spoke them. They wanted to hang out with me. They invited me to tag along with them. They weren't worried that I didn't fit in with a preformed group of friends they already had plans with. They were welcoming and the amount of love that everyone showed each and every person they had only just met was so inspiring. And so many have already messaged, texted, and Tweeted at me since leaving Portland. My heart is truly filled with love.

But I don't want to focus on the sadness I felt leaving Fitbloggin'. I want to write more about the fabulous time. I probably won't ever sit down and write a minute by minute recap (let's be honest - there is just too much that went on). But I spent the weekend learning so much more about myself, and positioning myself to be ready to ACCEPT my own love and be VULNERABLE to accept the love of those around me. I attended sessions of subjects that were outside my everyday knowledge (Clean Eating). I spoke in sessions about my struggles, and my successes. I learned more about blogging. I attended a large group yoga class and even when it was out of my comfort zone (flow vs. gentle) I STAYED. And I MODELED IN AN ACTIVE WEAR FASHION SHOW! Yes, me. Up on stage with 300 pairs of eyes on me. Unbelievable.

Of course the swag was awesome. All the rumors are true. Fitbloggin' has the BEST swag around. Shoes, fitness wear, gear, and nutrition were all given away. I hope to incorporate my favorite items in upcoming blog posts.

I know this post it a little "Kum by ya". But I hope to post more about the experience - like pictures - in the upcoming days/weeks. (And post more regularly!)

Have a great holiday weekend! Who's doing a 4th of July race?

I'm here! Fitbloggin' 13

I've made it! I rolled into The Nines hotel around 1:30 AM Portland time and descended upon Fitbloggin' at 8 AM.

I've already met so many friendly and wonderful people, attended a session on Motivating Your Community with Healthy Lifestyles, and been fitted for an amazing Enell sports bra!

I'm a little disoriented from all the travel over the last few days, so I don't know what the rest of my afternoon will entail except modeling in the active wear fashion show at lunch!

I'll check in soon! If you're interested in following my constant updates on Twitter or Instagram, my handle is emtucky for both!

Long awaited Cedars of Lebanon Sprint Triathlon Recap

It's only taken me nearly 3 weeks but here it is...finally...the recap of the sprint triathlon I wasn't even sure I was going to do.

I decided that I couldn't just skip something I had signed up for. For me, that would signify that I'm a quitter. A quitter in many senses of the word. It would have not only been me skipping the race, but me throwing up my hands and saying, "I give up, this period of weight re-gain wins."

So I had to fight.

Surprisingly, I wasn't too nervous on race morning. I just approached it as leisurely as I could. I was just participating and hoping to finish, not "racing" anyone or myself. So it took the pressure off.

My typical race morning routine was off. I had spent the 2 weeks leading up to the race house/dog sitting so I had been out of my element for approximately 11 days. The night before the race was the first night I had spent in my own bed in over a week. My race tradition is I have a whole grain bagel from Brueggers with peanut butter and a banana, but I forgot to get a bagel from Brueggers on Friday. So I stopped at a gas station and got a Peanut Crunch Clif Bar on the way out to the park. I ate that on the way and ended up having my banana around 7:30 once I got settled in transition.

One thing that made me nervous race morning was that it had been raining the day before and morning of, which meant wet and possibly slick roads. I overheard some guys at the swim line-up mention that the first stretch out on the bike was downhill that goes into a sharpe right turn. Took mental note of that one.

Another thing that caused a bit of anxiety was the pool swim. Silly I know. Usually people get nervous about open water swims. Chalk it up to the fact I've been swimming and water skiing in murky water since I was 6 months old, but OWS don't phase me. When contemplating how I was going to tackle the swim, I wasn't sure how it would go - darting under ropes and with so many people in the pool at once. I didn't practice going under the ropes, but I should have.

Source: Team Magic Multisport

 

 

If you click to enlarge the above photo of the swim start, you can see me waiting in the blue swimcap (in the yellow circle).

I was in the middle of the pack on starting time, so my number was 625. I waited a good while and was able to see how the "pros" were tackling it. Touch wall, push off wall underwater, go diagonally into the next lane. Simple?

I should have been further up in the swim time. I passed people, and had trouble passing people I could have passed because of congestion. It was much worse on congestion than the OWS last summer at Wet Dog. I think I estimated my swim time around 6 minutes, and I finished in 4:55.

I walked the whole way to T1. I worked hard on the swim and I knew the bike would be rough so I wanted to save energy. I'm sure I looked silly and it certainly didn't help my T1 time (5:05), but once I got to my bike, I was quick. Baby powder in the socks helped this time!

Bike started out ok. My legs are always cold when I start on the bike in a race. I need to warm them up better - which I intended to do this time - but I didn't have time before they closed transition. The bike course was a two-loop 4.3 mile course. Easy enough right? It had been described as FLAT, which I was silly to even believe because, hello this is Tennessee. It was not flat. A lot of it was flat. But those 3-4 rolling hills (mostly at the end of the loop, back-to-back) killed me. If I was trained better I'm sure it wouldn't have been a big deal. But I wasn't trained so alas a lot of people passed me (some twice, I'm sure). But I didn't have to walk my bike and I finished without any incident. It took me 52:26 though.

I started the run out easy and my legs quickly acclimated and I was able to keep a pretty steady 3/1 run/walk pace. The run course is mentally tricky because you have to go left out of the transition area, go about 0.2 miles and then loop back past the transition area. The run course overall is pretty flat except for one hill at the end right before you run into finish.

My run time was 29:20, which I can't be mad about because the weekend before I ran 2 miles on their own and my time was right around 28. So not bad for swimming 200 yards ad biking 9.6 miles before running 2 miles.

I finished. I was glad I was done and also that I did it. I didn't use any nutrition on the course besides water and a little powerade. So I ate my honey stingers right after finishing in the transition area and packed my stuff up to go home.

Overall time: 1:32:55

Thoughts: I'm just glad I did it and I was able to finish. I would have had a lot of guilt and self-hate if I had decided not to do the race. So it was just good for me mentally to get out there and do it. My original plan for this season was to do an Olympic distance in September, but it's clear that isn't going to happen. My travel schedule at work ruined any focus I would be able to have on training for one. And two, personal travel has ruined my focus on saving for a road bike and I really don't think I can ride 25 miles on my current bike. It's too heavy - about 50 lbs! It certainly isn't a goal I've given up on, it just won't happen this season. I do hope to do one more sprint triathlon in August or September before the season is over. I'm continuing to run (joining a local C25K program) and swim. Biking has been neglected, but the summer is still young!

Have you ever done a race you weren't properly trained for? If so, how did it go? Did you surprise yourself?

100 Most Inspirational Weight Loss Bloggers & the Disappearing Blogger

I signed into Blogger a few days ago and to my surprise realized that I had almost 200 hits on my blog May 28th and several more in the days following last week. Now, I often feel like I am writing in this little space just for myself and my roommate to read (hiiiiiiiii KG). So the sudden burst in traffic was surprising. After a few seconds of searching for the source, I found I was included on this list:

To my surprise, I was listed on Diettogo's list of "100 Most Inspirational Weight Loss Bloggers"! The writers of the article were so kind to include me and write such nice things about me and my little space on the internet. 

So if you've wandered your way over here from the article, I just wanted to say a huge "HELLO" and tell you that I am TRYING to commit to posting more.

When we last left off 2 weeks ago, I was trying to decide whether I should go forward with the Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon. Well, I decided I couldn't just quit and did end up doing the race - and finishing it! I'll have a short recap of the race this week.

I'm traveling 5 out of the next 9 weeks this summer, so life will be hectic and crazy, but I'm going to try and post at least once a week.

And we can't forget Fitbloggin13 is coming up in just 25 days! I'll be in Portland with bells on. Who else is coming?!

To Tri or Not to Tri on Saturday

Hello, it's me again. Yes, I'm still alive. Yes, I've gained more weight. Yes, I could spend a lot of time making excuses and telling you how busy I've been.

But I won't.

What I came here for today is some advice. Now, of course I write this from a place after I've already discussed it with a few "in real life" friends, but I trust my blogging community so much I'm bringing it to you.

WAAAAAAAAAY back in December I registered for my first race for the 2013 Triathlon season - the Cedars of Lebanon Sprint Tri (200 y swim, 9.6 mi bike, 2 mi run), which is now THIS Saturday.

And although I started out ok, I haven't followed any sort of training schedule for FOUR weeks.

Sure, I've done a run here, swam a little over there, and a bike ride here and there in the last few weeks. But I would say I've been on a bike less than 4 times in the last 4 weeks and I've been in the pool maybe half that.

To say I'm not trained is an understatement.

I wasn't really worried until I hopped on the bike Sunday and it was SO HARD. The lack of training combined with the 40 or so lbs I've gained in the last 8 months had me walking up THREE hills. And they were piddly little hills. Now, I could blame it on the run I did the day before - 2 miles - since I haven't been running much more than 20 minutes a few times a week and my quads felt a little sore, but that's a cop-out.

So what do I do?

I'm really conflicted because I've never NOT completed a race I registered for. For awhile, I was confident the short distances at the race wouldn't be a problem for me, but MAN I've let myself go. After that bike ride on Sunday (during which I had my first bike crash), I just don't know if I CAN.

Which is better?

Do I go forward with my plan to do the triathlon knowing I'm not trained and I'm sorely out of shape, with the chance of either hurting myself or having to quit during the race?

Or do I bow out gracefully, plan some other moderate activity in place of Saturday and re-evaluate my health and fitness goals?


What would you do?

Still here

Just a quick post since I fell off the face of the planet for the last 3 weeks...

In that time, I'm on my second dog sitting "job", went to the beach, and gained about 8 lbs.

But my spirits are high and I'm trying to re-focus quickly to get ready for my first triathlon of the season in 12 days.

So, I'm trying not to focus on the scale too much (but I'll return to weekly weigh ins on Sunday).

There's a busy summer ahead of me starting now (I have 9 trips - both personal and business - planned in the next 3 months).

Hopefully the train doesn't completely derail, because right now it's just going along off track.

Weekly Menu Plan

I've found recently that having a menu plan for the week helps me not only eat healthier because all my meal and snack options are laid out and I don't "forget" what I have only to go get fast food. But it's helped me stay within my grocery budget.
 

Breakfast

Easy Egg Sandwiches

Muesli with apples

Whole Wheat Protein Pancakes


Lunch

Turkey Avocado wraps w/veggies and White Bean Hummus

Red Beans and Rice


Dinner

Homemade Pizza (recipe for best Whole Wheat Crust coming this week)

Mango Salsa Chicken w/broccoli

Chickpea Crockpot Pie (will be made Sunday for lunches next week)

I have several leftovers of the Lentil Soup and Whole Wheat Gnoochi with Sweet Potato Sauce I made last week and there are a couple lunches at work where food is provided, so this week's menu is once again skimpy, but I'm excited to try the Mango Chicken - it's something I haven't made before. And the turkey avocado wraps are the perfect compliment to the hot weather Nashville is experiencing this week - highs in the 80s all week!

Weigh in & A Dark Place

Weight Last Week: 264.6

Weight This Week: 263.4

1.2 pounds LOST this week

Lowest Weight Recorded: 232.2 on 4/22/12

66 pounds lost since June 2010





Sure, a technical loss, but it's been a sh*t pile of a week. Trying CrossFit on Tuesday left me more sore than I have ever being in my life - today is the first day I can *kinda* sit down without wincing in pain.


Is that an excuse? Sure it is. If I would have been out and active - even if my quads, shoulders and abs all wanted to die - I probably would have recovered earlier.


I just feel like I am in a vicious cycle of emotional eating and not wanting to do anything about it.


It's spring, the weather is nice, I should feel refreshed and recharged and instead I have to talk myself into getting myself out of bed in the morning.


I know this post is negative and it's not all "butterflies and puppies" so I'm sorry to those of you who are looking for inspiration. But this is what's real and I know I'm not alone, so I'd love for you to comment if you've experienced this vicious cycle of regaining weight-depression-emotional eating. If so, how did you get out of it?

This one time I tried CrossFit...

I had a moment of insanity and forgot all about my fear of CrossFit, and signed up for an Iron Tribe Nashville (ITF) class during the Nashville Scene Fitness Crawl.

It's never a good sign when your quads start to hurt IN THE MIDDLE of the work out.

The Iron Tribe Nashville franchise has two locations - Belle Meade and Brentwood. I chose to take my pain at Belle Meade location where Maxwell Jones and Eli Martorana are the co-owners.

The Belle Meade location has been open for a little over 2 months and is situated along one of the busiest roads in Nashville - Harding Pike. This is a great location for them and the place seems to be a hit.

I somehow coerced my co-worker and office mate, Megan, into joining the fun with me. I'm still not sure how I accomplished that, but GO MEGAN for going through with it!

I'm not going to lie - it was intimidating during the 10-15 minutes we were waiting for the class to start. I was clearly the biggest person there (guys and girls) and probably had twice the weight on me compared to the other women in the room. Most people already looked in shape and had arm muscles to prove it. More than once we talked about leaving.

But it was so hard to leave because Maxwell and Eli were so welcoming into their community and so we stayed. Can't say we didn't pay for it later.

Yesterday's WOD (or Workout Of the Day) was:

10 Burpees
20 Jump Squats
30 Crunches
100m run with weighted medicine ball (10#)

AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)

We were partnered up and went to work. Thankfully, I got a really nice ITF member as my partner (I regret her name escapes me). She was encouraging and didn't seem to get frustrated at how SLOW I was - especially at burpees - OUCH!

"Rug" burn and bruising from the burpees

What I liked:
I loved the community aspect of CrossFit. I don't normally like group fitness situations, but the encouraging atmosphere and friendly competition aspect of ITF motivated me when I wanted to quit 5 minutes into the workout.

I also love that the actual workout was only 15 minutes. Yes, it was 15 minutes of intensity, but it was more mentally doable because I "only had to do it for 15 minutes".

What I didn't like:
The competitive aspect of trying to do "as many rounds or reps as you can" leads me to poor form, and I could see how I could potentially hurt myself.

I didn't feel like we warmed up or cooled down in any real way - and definitely not enough stretching at the end of the class.

All that to say, is if it was an affordable workout option, I would probably more seriously consider joining a CrossFit gym. The workouts seem like exactly what I'm missing (strength training) in my weight loss and fitness routine. However, it's just not in the budget as it stands right now, so maybe it's time to figure out how to incorporate strength training on my own?

Have you ever tried CrossFit? What did you think?

Weekly Menu Planning

Since I spent a lot of money eating out last week, I'm trying to use up things I have on hand for my menu this week - I previously had on-hand asparagus, lean ground beef, potatoes, lentils, and frozen veggies.

My grocery list this week consisted of staples - milk, bread. And fresh fruits and veggies - grapes, bananas, and spinach.

Not a very exciting menu this week, but everything is pretty healthy and I still have lots of veggies incorporated - two goals for myself every week.

Breakfast

Egg Sandwiches

Apple Museli

Scrambled eggs with black beans


Lunch

Leftover blue cheese burgers & asparagus

Potato soup with spinach

Turkey Sandwich w/grapes


Dinner

Chopped Chickpea Salad

Lentil Soup w/french bread

Whole Wheat Gnocchi w/Sweet Potato sauce and broccoli


Snacks

Carrots w/white bean dip

Bananas w/almond butter

Apples

Unsalted Almonds

Grapes

2% Fage Yogurt

Weekly Weigh-in

Weight Last Week: 259.0

Weight This Week: 264.6

5.6 pounds GAINED this week

Lowest Weight Recorded: 232.2 on 4/22/12

64.8 pounds lost since June 2010


Still on the rollercoaster...


I went into last week knowing what I needed to do, and I didn't do it. Unfortunately, it continued through the weekend. The only thing I can do turn it around faster than normal and not let my patter of lose, lose, gain, gain continue.

Nashville Food: Rolf & Daughters

Ever since I was clued into the culinary secret that is Rolf & Daughters, located in the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville, by my friend who works as a chef there, I have been dying to go. Until last night, the closest I'd gotten was a beer at the bar and a taste of the bombolino-Italian doughnuts that are filled with a vanilla cream and served alongside a chocolate dipping sauce - both which left a pleasant first taste and an itch to return. Since then, I'd made it my life's mission to get a dinner seat here.

And last night it happened.

Tucked in a corner of the Germantown neighborhood, where industrial meets residential. The space itself is a converted industrial building and many of the rustic and metal elements of the space are showcased.

Even though the menu isn't large, it's hard to choose what to order!

 Milano Mule - Gin based and made with their homemade ginger syrup - spicy and delicious! Also tried the cucumber sour

(L-R, Clockwise) Chicken liver pate, carrot marmalade, cacao; Crostini, whipped ricotta, beets;
Baby octopus, black garlic, pork belly, celeriac, Sourdough, seaweed butter

(L-R, Clockwise) Turnip greens and polenta; Hanger steak, spring onion, swiss chard, olive, rosemary;
Garganelli verde, heritage pork ragout, parmesano; Heritage chicken preserved lemon, confit garlic

(L-R, Clockwise) Even the coffee creamer presentation is awesome; Olive & Sinclair chocolate torte with sea salt;
Vanilla panna cotta with almond cookies; Bambolino-Italian doughnuts with vanilla cream and chocolate dipping sauce

There wasn't one thing that disappointed any of us at the table. Every bite we took was divine and so well crafted. You can certainly drop some money at this place, but every dollar is worth it for the quality of food they deliver.

I hear their menu is coming up for a change with the seasons, so I know it won't be soon enough before I can get back here!

Easy Peasy Breakfast Sandwiches

This post by Jen over at Prior Fat Girl, made me so want to share something I've been doing for a LONG time to make a quick, healthy and filling breakfast that also packs a punch of veggies first thing in the morning - microwave egg sandwiches!

• I spray a normal cereal bowl (about an 8 oz size) with non-stick cooking spray





• Add 2 eggs, dash of milk (non-dairy is ok), salt, and pepper, then mix





• Add a handful of spinach on top (sometimes I throw random veggies in the egg mixture, if I need to use something up)





• Microwave for 2 minutes, flip egg "patty" over in bowl
• Microwave for 1 more minute, remove
• Add egg to bread (toasted if you like) and top with cheese (also optional)





• Wrap in a napkin, to eat it in the car!

In 5 minutes you get a nutritious breakfast, that will stay with you until lunchtime!

You could also top with your favorite low-calorie condiment, add a couple slices of lunch meat or bacon, or even a sausage patty, if you wanted. This morning I added a few dashes of hot sauce.

What are some of your favorite, quick, filling and healthy breakfast ideas?

Weekly Menu Planning

One thing that makes me feel on track and in control is planning out my meals each week. By habit I am a weekly grocery shopper. I enjoy having fresh fruits and vegetables in the house at all times (seriously, if there aren't slightly green bananas on my counter, I'm lost) and by going to the grocery store weekly, it let's me do this.

I've been using The Peaceful Mom's Printable Meal Planning Tools to write down my menus and then hang them on the refrigerator as a reminder. Since I usually go to the grocery store sometime over the weekend, my menus are from Sat-Fri.

I'd like to start sharing my menus on the blog, along with recipes, so those of you reading can get a better idea of what I'm eating. In theory, I try to eat a well balanced diet of as many veggies as possible, fruits, whole grains, carbs high in resistance starch, lean protein, and low-fat dairy.

That being said, here's what I am eating this week.

Breakfast:

Egg, spinach and roasted red pepper pita pocket

Biggest Loser Oatmeal Pancakes

Carb Lover's Banana Shake

Easy Egg Sandwiches

Lunch:

Black Bean and Veggie Tacos (made up on the fly: flour tortilla, black beans, diced carrots, grilled peppers and onions, avocado, and hot sauce)

Carb Lover's Banana Shake

Carb Lover's Chicken Pita Sandwich

Tuna Salad w/Wasa crackers, carrots and an apple

Carb Lover's Chickpea Chopped Salad

Dinner:

Baked Salmon w/Parmesan topped baked potato and broccoli (inspired by this Carb Lover's recipe)

Crockpot Chickpea pot pie, Deviled Eggs, and Salad (Easter Sunday)

Carb Lover's Grilled Burgers and 3-bean salad

I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from the good ole' Carb Lover's Diet book because their recipes are well-rounded, healthy, easy, and taste good. This is also an odd week because I have things after work three nights this week, plus my friend is in town Wednesday-Friday so I expect more eating out than normal. That is why I only have 3 dinner varieties listed.

Ironman March Challenge Wrap Up

As a reminder, I committed to participate in Caitlin's (from Health Tipping Point) Ironman March Challenge where I will complete the Ironman distances in swimming, biking, and run/walking during the month of March.

I didn't give a Week 4 update, but you can see previous weeks' updates here, here, and here.

The last full week of the challenge, I hit a wall. Well, it actually started out great the first three days with a 1,000 meter swim, 14 mile spin ride, and 2.85 mile run respectively. Monday the 25th was my normal yoga class, then Tuesday I skipped the 6 am spin class I've been trying to make my "normal" class and just figured I would go to the 5 pm one. But then I started the juice cleanse Tuesday morning...

I was so weak by time I left work on Tuesday, there was no way I would make it through a 60 minute spin class. "I'll just go tomorrow," I thought.

Well after only 4 hours of sleep because of hunger induced insomnia (seriously, I was so stupid), I didn't feel like doing much Wednesday either. Then Thursday I missed the 6 am spin again and couldn't find an evening class, so I just went to yoga (my favorite instructor is going to be out for 3 weeks and it was her last class).

So I ended Week 4 with just an additional 1,000 meters of swimming, 14 miles biking, and 2.85 miles running to add to my totals. Not the best week for the challenge, but looking back it's not horrible for this point in my training calendar either.

For the last 3 days of the challenge, I started out at the pool Friday with a 1,200 meter swim, thus completing 4,100 meters this month, a few laps over the 2.4 miles required for the challenge.

Friday after coming home from the pool, I was still in my flip flops and had a little clumsy incident that involved a chunk of skin the size of a quarter being ripped off the top of my big toe on my left foot. So there's that now.

Saturday, I only got 5 miles of biking in. But the good news is I picked up my bike from being tuned up and it's riding great! I just timed the ride way too wrong and I hadn't eaten in several hours and didn't have any energy to do a longer ride. (All excuses I realize.)

Admittedly I have had a very lazy week and weekend, and that carried over to today with the holiday and the crummy weather we have, I didn't get out and do anything today.

So my final challenge totals were:

Swimming: 4,100 meters
Bike: 58 miles
Run/Walk: 19.49

So obviously I didn't complete all of the biking or running totals. After the showing I had the first two weeks, I really had no way to hit the bike totals, but if I hadn't hit that wall this week I should have hit the run totals.

All that to say, I do think the challenge was a success because it helped jump start my triathlon training. I went from swimming and biking very low totals to swimming 1,200 meters at a time and biking 20+ miles a week. So I'm proud of myself for that.

I have 6 weeks until the first race on my calendar this season, and being that it is a mini spring triathlon (200 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run), I know I am ready for it and I can start focusing on my 2nd race (TBD), which will be a longer sprint triathlon, and maybe even an Intermediate distance race at the end of the summer.

I can't wait until May 18th and I'm out there again!

Weigh in & Weekly Goals

Weight Last Week: 261.2

Weight This Week: 259.0

2.2 pounds LOST this week

Lowest Weight Recorded: 232.2 on 4/22/12

70.4 pounds lost since June 2010

Second loss in a row. If I can keep it up next week, it will be the longest losing streak I've had in a very long time.

This week was a bit off because of the lack of cardio I did and the juice cleanse. But I managed to stay on track food-wise.

I'm looking forward to getting back on schedule with workouts and continuing my streak of healthy eating. Feeling more motivated than I have in a long time.

The upcoming week isn't without challenges, since I have several after work events planned and a friend in town, I'll be eating out several times this week. My main goal is to make good choices, even if I am eating out with friends.

Goals this week:
- Drink at least 75 oz of water a day
- No binge drinking if I do have drinks out this week (no more than 1-2 drinks)
- Follow the menu plan I've planned out
- Do all scheduled workouts

Have a great week!

Day 1.5 - Juice Cleanse/Detox and Final Thoughts

I've been procrastinating on writing up this final post about the cleanse/detox. I don't think I wanted to admit that it didn't seem to help me very much. This post completely resonated with me. Maybe it's because it wasn't long enough - most cleanses last 3 days - but I don't think I could have survived longer than I did.

When we left off I was experiencing hunger induced insomnia. I ended up laying in bed until about 6:30 am before getting up to get ready.

Had my last sweet greens juice when I left the house at 7:15. I was starving. So hungry, I was at the point of nauseousness.

12 oz sweet greens - kale, romaine, cucumber, celery, apple, grapefruit, lemon, and ginger

I met Betsy at my work at 8:00 and immediately followed it up with the wheatgrass shot and smoothie she brought me. Those curbed my hunger until about 11:00.

 Wheatgrass shot - with lemon wedge (not shown)

I had the 'Super Green Salad' with zucchini hummus around 11:30-12:00. It was HUGE and REALLY good, and I so much appreciated eating actual food again.

Super Green Salad - soft mixed greens, sprouts, peppers, celery, carrots and
homemade zucchini hummus with homemade tahini

Why I wanted to do a cleanse

Mostly, I've felt really out of control over the last 4 months. I thought of this as my way to "restart" or "reboot" my healthy eating habits I've so soon forgotten. Admittedly, I have done hardly ANY research into juicing or detox cleanses. I know there are people on both side of the fence. It comes down to the fact I just wanted to experience it for myself.

How I felt after the cleanse

I had normal "pizza and ice cream" cravings immediately following the cleanse. Again, I'm not saying this is everyone's experience, but this was mine. In the days following the cleanse, I've tried to eat as clean as possible avoiding dairy and meat as much as possible for the last few days. That said, my diet has not been 'perfect'. I was craving chocolate and ice cream so much I stopped and got some So Delicious No Sugar Added Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream Wednesday night. For dinner I had black bean and veggie tacos - meat and dairy free. 

I still had low energy Wednesday night and talked myself out of doing any workouts. Was this the cleanses fault? Well, technically it's an excuse. But since I only slept for about 4.5 hours on Tuesday night, my fatigue was real.

I will say the cleanse helped me realize how bad my coffee addiction was. I didn't realize it, but I was probably drinking 4-5 cups of coffee a day, loaded with half and half and sugar. I'm not comfortable with that and I'm happy to say I've cut back to either 1 latte (no sugar added) and 1 cup of black coffee or just up to 2 cups of black coffee a day. This is something I'd prefer to keep going.

The cleanse DID also help me reset my mental approach to what healthy eating should look like - FOR ME. More fresh veggies, fruits, beans & legumes, whole grains, and less meat and dairy. Also, my portions have been noticeably smaller, even if I have been hungry more often (every 2-3 hours instead of 3-5).

I returned to meat and dairy eating yesterday when I had a bowl of chicken tortilla soup and 1 chicken taco at my favorite taco place. Normally I would have the same portion of soup and 2 tacos, and I was stuffed just after 1. So, yes my portions have been smaller.

This morning I had a work breakfast and ordered eggs - first time since the cleanse and I ordered them without the cheese or sour cream. The salsa and veggies gave the eggs plenty of flavor and I didn't even miss them. This is how I hope to continue my lifestyle - cheese and high calorie condiments in moderation.

Will I do it again?

I don't want to say never, but I most likely won't. Don't get me wrong - the juices and salad were quite tasty. Betsy is a hugely talented raw and vegan food chef. Every dish of hers I've had is SO delicious. But - at no fault of her's - I felt like I was starving myself. By my calculations I consumed about 1400 calories on Tuesday. Not enough for my 6'0", 260 lb frame that needs twice that just to exist, nevermind the calories I burn by MOVING and EXERCISING every day. Like I keep saying, this was just MY experience, and other people may have a wholly different one.

I do think there is something to giving your digestive system a break from hard to digest foods (meat, dairy, high fiber beans and legumes). So I would consider a food cleanse, supplemented by cold pressed juices (low on the glycemic index, like ReBoot's) sometime in the future.

All in all I'm really glad to have had the experience. I'm chalking it up to another learning experience for what does and doesn't work for my body. And in the end that's what all of this really is about.