Can I Get a Witness to My Fitness?: Starting Over Isn't Giving Up

Ya know how this blog stuff can show you stats about how many times your page was accessed etc? Well mine was all blankety-blank and I can't imagine why. Oh wait- yes I can. Because I haven't blogged what I'm doing since a brief blip in Oct. And before that was prior to the baby getting hospitalized.

Did I fall off the wagon? Not really. In fact November was kinda BA. I actually kicked November's butt. It helped having my sis-in-law coming through town for a few weeks. She needed a complete detox from her half year vacay in Europe. Yes, that's right. She partied and travelled for 6 months across Europe and some of the Middle East. Somehow America missed the memo about how long travel vacations are super awesome. We're so dumb. But anyway- we did great workouts and ate super well, even Thanksgiving!!

The family usually asks when a holiday/event is coming up- "Are you going to be eating Paleo while you're here?" or "Maybe you'll have to just go off Paleo for a few days when you come over."
Why? Why is it a bad thing? What's so hard about meat, fruit, and veg? Why would I WANT to go off Paleo when I've worked this hard and feel this good?

Have you ever looked at your calendar and found days to "fudge" all over the place to where you're actually going off (insert eating plan here) all the time? Especially during the holidays. Christmas parties, Christmas break, Christmas treats, etc etc etc. I love Paleo even more than Weight Watchers because it's stupid easy. You don't have to count, add, save, etc anything. You just eat what you're supposed to and that's it. Cold cut tray? Raw veggie tray? Fruit tree? Liquor in soda water or over ice? You can make it through that party.

This year for Thanksgiving I wanted to see how close we could get to a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner and not feel gross when we were done. I.loved.it. Turkey, Paleo stuffing, cauliflower with cheese, green beans with almond slivers, and Paleo pumpkin pie soufflés. www.paleomg.com pretty much saves my life on the daily. Juli has yet to post something not super delicious. I'll put the recipes we used over on the recipe page. I started posting things I liked there a while back so I didn't have to recall where the recipe was on the web. Then one day one of my links wasn't working because the web page was removed- boooooo. So now, as a back up, I make recipe pages to also print out and put in a binder. So smart.

To be truthful I also made a baked cheesecake and had some wine for Thanksgiving, but because I didn't eat an entire meal of crap, I was ok with eating cheesecake. And Kristy and I went to boot camp that weekend so it evens out.

I had a goal in mind too. So important for me. I can't just say to myself- let's lose weight/get fit so we can look awesome. It has to be an event. A target. A reward. So this time it was the company Christmas party. I bought my dress before Thanksgiving so no way was I gonna blow it two weeks before the event. I also bought my New Years Eve dress at the same time so I made sure not to backslide in December. It was a good plan.

Until things got busy and I missed some workouts. Until the baby had an ear infection and pink eye so I couldn't take him to a nursery or day care. Until I had a few bad days of Sjogren's pain. Then there was Christmas stuff to do, etc. and New Years Even plans changed so I didn't really HAVE to be able to fit into that dress.

So I took "off" the weekend before Christmas and through the 25th. And boy do I feel awful. Not sure if it was just another bout with Sjogren's or if because I went off Paleo enough that my immune system kicked into overdrive and messed with my Sjogren's but I felt like I had the flu complete with super achy joints, aches in my bone marrow (it felt like), stuffy head, ears, and nose. I know it wasn't the actual flu because I got a flu shot, no fever/chills etc but it did suck. I face-palmed myself and might have even kneeled on the ground raising my hands in the air crying out "Whyyyyyyy" through a face full of ugly cry. Ok it might not have been that dramatic, but I decided-
IT'S JUST NOT WORTH IT
Sure I modify my Paleo some times more than other (desserts are a weakness I'm working on by finding great replacement options. So far I have a great cookie, cake, and mousse alternative. Gotta try this cheesecake recipe next) but going off-off for multiple days I just physically can't do. It's not even about keeping weight off (although packing on 6 lbs in as many days- hoping it's inflammation and alcohol weight- was frustrating) it's about functioning with less daily pain. I'm 35 for crying out loud! Why do I feel 80 sometimes? Ugh.

I did best when I was blogging. I'm going to try again. I'm not waiting until New Years because why wait when I can start making progress now? I might not blog every day, but I will write down what I'm eating every day and what exercise I do, if I take my vitamins/supps, drink all my water, and doc how much sleep I'm getting. This isn't to bore you. This is to help me. So I can see patterns and try to figure out what makes me hurt and what helps me not hurt. And to look BA by our cruise in June. ;)

So Nov 26 the stats were:
Weight 147lbs
Waist 29.5"
Hips 36.5"
Butt 41.5"
Thighs 24.5"
Arms 12"

I was 3lbs and 1.5" all over (except arms) from my pre-baby measurements. Then I blew it. So here's today's numbers:

Weight 153.6lbs
Waist 30"
Hips 37.5"
Butt 41.5"
Thighs 24.5"
Arms 12"

And I went back up a size a my jeans because I had JUST gotten into my size 8s. Ah well. Back at it. Next post will be the plan for the week... :)