Setting the stage for success

Hi all! Just a brief check-in this week, but there are some exciting things on the horizon!

My goal-oriented September has started strong. After a trip to the North woods over Labor Day weekend -- in which blueberry pancakes and white toast were allowed to creep into my diet, but eggs and bacon were prioritized (mmm, bacon) -- I am off to a great start!

I'm tracking all of my spending so far, and I started measuring my food intake with my new kitchen scale and myfitnesspal.com. I also took some measurements with both measuring tape and calipers; even though it might not be the most accurate method out there, I can at least check back each month and see which way the numbers are headed. To top it off, I took some "before" pics too!

I'm definitely finding that it's easier to stay motivated when my goals seem "doable." All I have to do is write everything down; no changes yet! And I have easily visible rewards on the way: a "green" month in my Mint finance calendar (no scary red "overspent" categories!) and those workout shorts for my success in the kitchen. I can hardly wait!

I'm still overwhelmed with my work commute and various obligations (some chosen, some not), but I've got an exciting event this weekend and plan on spending Sunday prioritizing "me" and getting some house chores and meal planning accomplished.

For this week, I also have a bonus goal: really push hydration to prepare for my weekend endeavor. I even made myself a reminder note at work:

EXTERMINATE DEHYDRATION!

What is this adventure, you ask? Well, along with a large group of friends and friends-of-friends and about a gazillion strangers... I'm doing the Tough Mudder on Saturday!

For those of you who aren't familiar, the Tough Mudder is a 12 mile obstacle course that calls itself "probably the toughest event on the planet." It's designed to encourage teamwork and camaraderie while forcing gently encouraging you to face your fears and have a great time. (Awhile ago, I wrote about a few different obstacle courses over here, if you're interested in more background information!) I'm totally terrified and psyched at the same time. It should be a blast!

As nervous as I am about it, it's pretty exciting -- I would never have dreamed of doing something like this a few short years ago. I know I'll struggle both mentally and physically with a lot of the obstacles, but I'll have a team of tough companions with me, and we'll all get through it together. As an introverted gal only 5'3" tall, when I face down those obstacles, I'll try to keep the inspirational words of Shakespeare in mind: "Though she be but little, she is fierce!"

Or as one of my favorite authors, Jim Butcher, puts it in The Dresden Files: "Tiny, but fierce!"

Wish me luck!

-Simone

10 Tips for How to Diet on Vacation

Sherlock Holmes and Curious Case of the Vacation Diet.

Ah yes, an experience shrouded in mystery. What does it mean? Can it even be done? Some say it doesn't exist.

Personally, I am of the firm belief that to deny yourself pleasure on a vacation is to miss the whole point of the venture. Food is fuel, but it is also a pleasurable experience! Especially if you're traveling internationally, you'll want to enjoy the food that region is known for.

I was recently away on a vacation in England that lasted nearly a month. Yes! I know. Lucky me. No, sadly I did not meet the Doctor, but I did manage to do some broom flying (Skip the featurette and go straight to me flying at 2:03).

But for real realz. If I had gone hog wild under those circumstances, I could have done a lot of damage in just three weeks. I wanted to try some English candy, cream tea and Cornish pasties. If I had eaten that every day, I would have done a lot of damage, so I set some ground rules before I went. Before you say, "Anne, I thought you were on a vacation and that you didn't want to forgo pleasure," just hold your fire! The reason I set these rules was so that I could take an honest look at what I was doing and make a real decision to eat and enjoy the foods I wanted while also making a decision to do some portion control and make sure I got in plenty of activity and veggies. That way I wouldn't be set up for a distressing failure when the fun was over and I wouldn't have to feel guilty every time I had a desert.

Without further ado, here are the 10 rules I set out for my vacation diet!

1. I do not have to eat Paleo when we eat out, but when we cook for ourselves, it should be a Paleo meal. That was basically it. I also decided that I wouldn't have pasta for dinner and that I'd focus on meat and vegetable meals in the evenings. I got to take advantage of the delicious seafood on the Cornish coast. 
2. Alcohol consumption is approved for this vacation. Cider during the day. Wine with dinners. This was a special treat because I normally don't drink alcohol. It's not that I think it's bad or that I have a problem. I'd just rather spend my cheats on things I enjoy more.
3. There are three meals in a day. Fish fingers and custard was tempting, but I completely eliminated the snacking demon. 'Nuff said.
4. Try to get in at least 5 or more miles a day. Sometimes that meant going for extra walks around the house that we rented in the countryside. There were lots of nice public foot paths. I even took an extra jaunt when we blew a tire. I could have just sat in the car, but every moment is an opportunity to make an active choice. Mom was helping dad with the tire. I was just an extraneous set of hands. 

5. If something looks like an adventurous physical challenge, do it! Climb mountains, find a waterfall, explore the countryside. Make your activity level an extension of the vacation. I crawled through Merlin's cave, climbed the side of a cliff that was off the coastal trail at Tintagel, and I ran along coast of Guernsey. Nothing was as intense as what I'd normally do at home, but it was a chance to see how far my body had come and how much easier it was to enjoy those physical challenge impulses I've developed over the past year!

6. Deserts should be limited to fancy dinners out. If I'm going to have a desert, it's going to be at the best possible opportunities. The one time I cheated on this was at our friend's house in Guernsey. She made a fresh tart and strawberry sorbet from scratch. It was easily one of the better deserts I had the whole time. Sorry I'm not sorry. 
7. More is not always better. If you are full don't keep eating just cause it tastes good. I had my far share of chips on this vacation. However, after I had 12 (yes, that's an actual serving of fries!), I would salt, pepper or give them away so I didn't keep eating beyond what had filled me up. 
8. Eat vegetables! Just because you're able to eat some junk here and there doesn't mean you should leave out essential nutrients. I ate them in salads or sauteed with dinners out. I even got steamed spinach at a steak house because I felt like I was going through withdrawal from veggies. Yeah, that's a thing. Listen to your body! It wants to be healthy. It's our minds that get in the way. 
9. Bring truvia for tea and coffee. There were a few times I forgot my packets at breakfast, but luckily most places had a British sugar substitute and a few times I just used some real sugar, but it was very limited. This was probably where I failed the most out of all of my rules just cause I never thought to bring my purse to breakfast. 
10. When vacation is over it's over. This has been SUPER HARD. I've been adjusting back to Primal (only one serving of whole wheat bread or dairy a day outside normal Paleo constraints). Hopefully I'll get back to full Paleo in the next week or so. I do dream of delicious sandwiches and baked goods but I know that stuff is out there waiting for the next vacation adventure. That's what keeps it special!

I am pretty happy with how I did. My clothes still fit great and my work pants STILL fit (which was my greatest concern since they have been on the tighter side since I went down a size!). It's definitely time to get my booty back in gear, but I feel pretty good about my choices. It could have been a lot worse and I pretty much stuck to the guidelines I set for myself with very few exceptions. Have you faced any vacation diet challenges? How did you tackle them? Please share with your fellow Slayers in the comments!

Project Reroll Walks to Mordor

In about a year, I'll be headed to New Zealand on a three week family excursion to explore the great outdoors and visit some of the beautiful sites used in the Lord of the Rings films. I want to do an actual backpacking adventure to Mordor. I was really amused and inspired by the 6 day trek from Hobbiton to Mordor completed by the guys from the webseries, "A Simple Walk Into Mordor." They found out that the filming locations for Hobbiton and Mordor were only 120 miles apart and that contrary to popular meme beliefs, one could pretty simply walk into Mordor. I feel like that is a totally doable journey and given the fact that we'll be there for three weeks, we could embark on a similar trek and still leave tons of time for luxury and indulgence!

However, I may be somewhat limited by my traveling companions. My parents are joining me and while they are fairy active on a regular basis, they are over sixty years old and might not have the same "hardcore" attitude about retracing Frodo's journey that I have adopted. We've definitely agreed to do some hikes and camping, but I thought I might be able to encourage all of us to do more of the backpacking adventures I have in mind if we spend the months leading up to our trip getting more active as a family.

I was really inspired by Steve Kamb's article on Nerd Fitness about the actual distance you'd have to walk to get from Hobbiton to Mordor and the amazing benefits of walking as exercise. He broke it down into legs of the journey, each between 389 and 683 miles. Walking is low intensity exercise anyone can do (as long as you have the use of your legs) regardless of age and it's a great way to supplement your regular exercise program because it won't put any extra high impact stress on your joints. Aside from being low impact, it doesn't add any stress to your exercise routine. If you're strength training, intense cardio can have a negative impact on the gains you're striving for. If you're already running, then this exercise won't place further strain on your body. You can easily add it into your day without a gym membership and it burns a fair amount of calories once you get moving. It's even good for mental health and clearing your head. 

So, I thought, why not have our own trek to Mordor in preparation for our actual trek to Mordor. When I shared this idea on Facebook, I received messages from a bunch of people who said they'd be interested in doing the same thing. Hey, the more, the merrier! Read on to see how you can get involved in "Project Reroll Walks to Mordor."

In his article, Steve broke it down into eight legs of the journey that average out the miles walked by the Fellowship as they branch out into different mini groups. We'll be using this breakdown for the challenge to keep it simple and focused, but you can get more detailed about it if you want. You can find more detailed breakdowns actual distances walked by all the members of the fellowship in Lord of the Rings  on EowynChallenge.net. This site breaks the legs down into smaller mileage so you can see where they stopped to rest for conies and taters.

We'll have to measure our distances travelled. I decided I wanted to get a FitBit a while ago so I used this opportunity to make good on that idea. It measures miles, steps taken, and calories burned. You can break it down by day, week, month, year, or lifetime. It's a handy little tool to which I will definitely devote a much longer blog post in the future. I don't care how anyone else measures their miles for the challenge. You can use your own pedometer device or download an app for your phone. It's all about what works for you!

This is a challenge, not a contest. It's just a fun way to measure our activity and encourage more of it! You don't have to "prove" how many miles you walk and it doesn't matter when you start. It's all in good fun and fitness.

You'll notice I added a page to the blog with a description of the challenge and a link to an open spreadsheet. Feel free to join our fellowship and add your name/handle and progress to the spreadsheet as you. I'll be updating my miles every Wednesday. As long as you do it weekly so we can all get in the habit, I think we'll be able to get a regular idea of how everyone is progressing. You can feel free to encourage and/or harass other members of the Project Reroll Fellowship in the comments on the page. My personal goal is to have finished the mileage by the New Year in preparation for my trip. If I walk an average of 5 miles a day, I should be done in a year, so I'll have to pick up a pace since it's almost April! Lucky for me, I rack up miles pretty easily in NYC.

Well, what are you waiting for?! Add your name to our spreadsheet and get moving! We've got some fat and a very important ring to toss into the fires of Mount Doom!

Surviving My First Vacation on a Diet

This weekend was a true test for me. I went to Annapolis to sing at a friend's wedding being held at The Naval Academy. My goal was to have lost 50 lbs by then. I'm proud to say I passed that test with flying colors- and with a few pounds to spare! I even bought a new dress and some jewelry to match for the occasion. Size 14 and my first time out of the plus size section in quite a while! What do you think? :)

The wedding weekend was a test in itself. It was my first vacation while on this diet and I don't think I did too badly. I still lost a pound and a half this week overall (though I know I put on a pound and a half over the four days I was gone which is kind of sad :( ). Mostly I tried to give myself free rein to eat whatever I wanted within reason. I had my breakfast bar every morning and a cup of coffee with skim milk and splenda. After that I veered off program. I would just take tastes of the things offered that interested me (mostly crab of all kinds since it was Maryland after all!). When it came to deserts I just had a little bit of cake or whatever, but not the whole thing. It wasn't a perfect system but I held myself pretty accountable most of the time. My biggest downfall was drinking a few too many cocktails over the course of the celebrations, but I was surrounded by naval officers who were ferrying me from bar to bar and I didn't want to be antisocial. I know that's terrible excuse, though. I did manage to go to the hotel's gym on Sunday to work out for an hour. I walked everywhere because I don't drive. Plus, at the reception we danced like crazy! At least I can say I remained active!

Even though I didn't make the two pounds lost mark for the week, I think I exhibited a fair amount of self control in a tough situation. The result was that I got to indulge a little bit without gaining any weight overall this week. Huzzah! This morning, I hopped back on the plan and now I'm recommitting my energy to weight loss.