Day 17

Banana

Mixed Berry Juice

Steak, Onions, Mixed Veggies

Salmon

A few bites of gross squash (RAGE)

Hard Apple Cider

I SAW INTERSTELLAR. I have so many thoughts. It was a lot like Contact, which is one of my most favorite movies ever. The acting was superb and the science was all pretty solid. I had feels. I'm still processing it. It was a really interesting look at what happens to Earth when it gets used up and what the risks of interstellar space flight might be. I've always been fascinated by the concept of time slippage and how time on Earth might pass differently than if you were traveling around anomalies like black holes and worm holes and they really rooted all of their scientific concepts for the plot of the movie in emotional human needs. 

I really don't want to say much more except for SEE IT and let me know what you thought in the comments!

Project Reroll's Holiday Wishlist

It's that time of year folks! Here are 10 Holiday Gift Ideas for Slayers!

1. Meat Thermometer: Even if you're not eating Paleo, protein is power. Delicious protein that's cooked properly will only make you want to make and eat more. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
2. Food Processor: You can get your feet wet with more complicated recipes that keep things interesting. You can also use this to make Paleo treats to get you through the hard times without breaking your diet rhythm.
3. Sewing Machine: When it comes to cosplay, this is an eventual must buy for everyone! This is certainly on my list after doing hand sewing on four different costumes. Time is of the essence when it comes to your hobbies and I definitely don't want to craft at the expense of crunches! Here is a great pinterest page of sewing machines that my friend Angela from The Anomaly Podcast put together to help me choose my first one!
4. Fitbit or other Distance/Pedometer/Calorie Monitor: Monitoring everything is a real key to learning what your specific body and lifestyle needs for success. Everyone is different and if you don't start tracking your calories in/calories out and general activity level, you may not know how to make the changes you need!
5. A great set of non-stick pans: If you're going to make cooking a major staple of your life, you'll want to make sure you set yourself up for success! It's definitely an investment, but you'll be loving yourself when you have all the equipment you need to make a variety of dishes in the kitchen with minimum effort for cleanup. 
6. Netflix Subscription: All geeks love binge watching their favorite show. The best part about netflix is that it will keep track of where you are in each series and you can load it on to mobile devices and take them to the gym with you. I have whole series that I've only watched on the elliptical machine and treadmills. It's a great motivator when you make a contract with yourself that you'll only watch reruns at the gym!
7. Gym Membership: This is one of those things that we all complain that we can't afford. Using up my bday present to ask for a gym membership last year was the best thing I ever did. Now I do most of my working out on my own, but having a place to go and resources to pull from is incredible in the beginning. Plus, most gyms will offer classes so you can easily mix it up or try something new!
8. Etsy: Supporting fellow crafty slayers is awesome. You'll find unique gifts that help people show their fandoms in ways that can't be mass produced. You'll find outerwear, ornamets, jewelry, and all sorts of nick nacks. Seriously. It's your friend. 
9. Nerd Fitness Books: These guides are incredible and written for people like you and me. There are a lot of tips for working out outside of the gym and of course advice on diet and getting your feat wet in running, lifting, and much more. I really couldn't recommend supporting Nerd Fitness more! 
10. Geeky Gym Attire: Wearing my geeky Teefury t's and my Mockingjay pin to the gym gives me the extra push I need to work out like the badass I want to be rather than the lazy wimp I sometimes feel like. I love to keep my connection between my fandoms and my fitness going throughout my day to day life because it reinforces the idea that these things are no longer separate. Plus, imagining you're a tribute and your life is going to be on the line is a huge motivator! You can always check out the Project Reroll store for t-shirts, waterbottles, and more! #shamelessplug

So Happy Holidays, Slayers! Thanks for reading and for all you've done to support me and my guest bloggers this year! If you have any things you think people should have on their wishlists, then add them in the comments! What are you asking Chthulu- I mean Santa- for this year?

What a Difference a Year Makes! Huzzah!

Hello slayers! I've finally returned from three weeks of adventures across the pond in England and while it was wonderful and I gave myself a vacation pass to eat what I wanted, it's time to get back to reality, not to mention the gym and the kitchen!

But! Not without a pit stop at ye olde New York Renaissance Faire! This a yearly tradition and last year I was 20 lbs down from my initial weight when I attended. While I was there I really did my best to eat healthy and stuck to fruit and cheese. I didn't really partake in faire treats and all I've dreamed of  is to have a day, now that I'm confident in my ability to return to my plan afterwards, where I could really enjoy some of the things I used to AND, of course, upgrade my faire garb. I've lost 100 lbs and last year, my garb was laced all the way. I'm swimming in it now! 

Like everything, it's important to have a plan. I planned on two meals, since I was staying late to see my best friend Emily (the Harley to my Ivy!), who is performing the role of Maid Marian this year, after the faire was done. I knew off the bat that this would not be a paleo day, but that I didn't want to spend a huge amount of money on random food grazing. I decided I would have two drinks and one desert. I had my eye on the pulled pork BBQ sandwich because that's what I've lusted after since last year, but found once I got there that it just seemed like way too much for me. I was really on the go because I wanted to be able to mosey around and catch all of Emily's scenes, not to mention attend to my garb needs. I ended up choosing a chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato for lunch. By dinner, I was exhausted and hot and when I looked at the pub menu, the only thing that spoke to me was a caesar salad. Most healthy salad? No. But it wasn't a burger or chicken tenders with fries, so a healthy huzzah was raised! 

For my drinks I had an apple cider and half of the  shire's equivalent of a mocha frappuccino. For my treat, I shared a slice of cheesecake on a stick with my boyfriend. All of it was delicious and I really only ate when I was hungry or needed a refresher. Am I saying it was the healthiest day of my life? No, but I am fascinated that when faced with the ability to eat whatever I wanted, I shared a lot of stuff that was rich and I made better choices than I'd planned for. 

One of the first things I did was spend an exorbitant sum of money on new garb. Just to give you an idea, over the years I've spent about 500+ on building my Ren Faire costume. I budgeted all year for a similar expenditure so that I wouldn't bankrupt myself when the time came. Just like planning for food, I had a plan for garb. Last year, a friend of mine linked me a Son of Sandlar piece called "the huntress." While expensive, it was beautiful and everything I've ever dreamed of when it came to embodying my favorite fantasy archetype, an elf rogue. I played one in WoW and I almost always gravitate towards playing rogues in table top games. As far as my own physicality, I could never pull off a rogue costume before because elves are generally more lithe than I was and certainly at my weight, I wasn't going to look like I belonged on the field of battle. The first time someone told me I had elfin features during this weight loss journey, I squeed. It was time to enter the fray at long last and after a year of saving, I was finally able to put together an elf rogue costume.

I bought some cheap boots ($30 on sale at some hole in the wall shop in Greenwich Village) and I used my pixie top from Moresca. I had that from my old garb and the size didn't really matter because it was just going to go under a bodice. I had a dagger from a previous visit to the fair and my father bought me a dagger in Tintagel on our visit to England. Dual wielding FTW! The skirt was bought at Urban Outfitters when I was trying to lose weight in college. All that I needed to buy at the faire was "the huntress" and some elf ears.

As soon as I got fit for the bodice, I felt amazing! It was a dream come true! It has a hood and beautiful gold lining and it went really well with my woodland elf circlet from my former costume. The quality and craftsmanship are evident and the leather is treated so that it can get wet. I got to test it out because there was some light drizzling this year. I just put up my hood like a BA! Emily, ahem, Maid Marian swung by the booth to celebrate. After lunch, I got my elf ears custom painted for me and before I knew it, I was a living legend! My boyfriend was kind enough to indulge me in a short woodland photoshoot and we captured a few great images so I got to really commemorate the ocassion in an ideal setting (aka, not in front of my mirror at home with a mess strewn about the floor behind me). 

The whole day I walked taller (maybe just in my head because I'm only 5 feet tall in reality...). I was transported by my costuming efforts, and of course by the performances of the talented actors who populate the village of Sterling. I was so proud of Emily for realizing her dream of working at the faire. She was wonderful and I know she is enjoying the hell out of the whole experience. She lights up the shire every weekend, so if you haven't made the journey out to Tuxedo, DO IT NOW. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to perform alongside these fine folks! The sky's the limit.

My life is so different now. It doesn't mean that I can't enjoy some great food from time to time or take a day off from the gym to get to the ren faire for the opening ceremonies, but it means that I tend to make very different choices most of the time and I don't feel like I HAVE to make them. I actively want to. Seeing my fantasies realized made me aware that anything is within my grasp. I never would have thought his transformation would have been possible a year ago. I know that's corny but I didn't know if I'd be able to keep up my restrictive and exhausting health regime. It felt like prison. Now, I really want to make the better choices. Perhaps it's weird to most people who want to look better for their wedding or for work, but the days when I get to live out my fantasies at the faire or show off a cosplay with confidence at a convention are a huge part of why I'm motivated to keep working on this change. I don't care that some people think it's weird as hell or a waste of money and time. It's what makes me happy and if it's what makes me healthy, that's all to the benefit!

So what motivates you, slayers? I'd love to hear about your milestones and the things that keep your head in the game whether it's just being able to fit into your favorite pair of jeans, or making your own set of N7 armor. Please share your thoughts in the comments!

BronyCon: Adventures in Love, Tolerance, and Community

Hey everypony! I just got back from a long weekend at BronyCon in Baltimare. Above, you'll see a picture of my new pony OC, Lyric Wit. Overall it was a great weekend despite the organization of the actual con leaving a lot to be desired. Even though the programming was a little wonky and there was a lot of confusion between the staff about what was going on when it came to clearing rooms, cancelations, or rescheduling panels, I witnessed a lot of great moments; from bursting spontaneously into songs from the show in huge groups of people, to seeing fans express their love and creativity through original videos, music, and artwork, and even a very moving support group for people who were in the fandom because they really needed the positive messages and lessons that the show espouses. I even participated in a physical training session with some military Bronies. Yes, that's a thing and they are out their in larger numbers than you would ever expect.

My biggest reason for attending is my love of the show. The other reason was the documentary, Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Male Fans of My Little Pony.

My boyfriend and I watched it and completely fell in love with the way the fan community was presented in the film. We had a chance to attend the convention and we wanted to experience it for ourselves, plus it gave us another chance to wear our Rainbow Dash and Soarin cosplays that we debuted at PAX East.

I will say that there was more social awkwardness at this convention than any that I've ever attended in my life. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I'm making an observation. For almost everypony I talked to, it was their first convention ever. I heard some really sad stories from people! A 21 year old college kid told me he asked his friends to come with him and even though they watched the show and enjoyed it a bit AND his dad offered to pay for their trip, they wouldn't go with him. In talking to him I noticed he was a bit shy and awkward, but he was just a sweet person and I couldn't help but feel bad for him and hope that he made some better friends over the weekend. 

Unlike at PAX, when Brandon and I would separate, people did not approach me for conversations or photos. They gave me a wide birth. The only two times somepony did approach me, it went down really bizarrely. The first time was after a really sweet proposal during night one of Bronypalooza. Brandon ran up to the stage to try to get some photos and then this guy next to me leaned over and patted me on the back and said, "You're next. I got a feeling. Don't you worry!" He meant well, but it was a very strange interchange! 

The other time was in the cosplay lounge while I was fixing Brandon's wig. A guy dressed as Octavia came over and started preaching about how we need to be even more tolerant and loving as a community. Then he tried to hand out some cards for his bronyrock friend. I politely said that we only needed one since we were together. His response was, "Will I ever win?" Before thinking I said, "No." ...And then immediately backpedaled and said, "Not with me I mean! But one day! One day you will!" It was just weird because he was hitting on me while I was clearly with someone else. Ugh, I guess that was my Rainbow Dash insensitivity coming out. I... yeah. There were lots of weird moments when interaction did occur. 

As a girl, I was definitely in the minority. I'm not saying their weren't other girls there, but guys tended to travel in big packs and be in constant conversation with each other, showing off their new plushies of their favorite characters or picking out what panels to go to next.

When we asked how other people were reacting to the way the convention was run, they often didn't seem to notice the same issues that we had or they were willing to overlook them because of what attending the con meant to them. Perchance they weren't trying to attend as many panels. Perhaps they didn't have anything to measure the issues against because it was their first con. I have a sneaking suspicion that their experience was overshadowed by the relief of being able to hang out with other dudes who loved the show and network friendships/support groups with them.

I live in New York. Being "different" is the norm. I certainly take some flak from my friends about liking MLP: FiM, but they're pretty accepting because at the end of the day, we're all nerds! Some of these other con-goers are completely isolated in their fandom and that has got to be so hard. I have a group of friends and a boyfriend who love the same things I do and don't judge me too harshly if I introduce a new interest to the list. It's easy to forget that for a lot of these people, this is a very isolated event where they can come out of their shells and feel completely confident in who they are as men.

I've already written about the power of building community and finding your fellowship when it comes to achieving your goals and finding support through life's challenges, but this weekend really reminded me that there are people for whom that very idea is a challenge in itself. Because of it's themes of tolerance, love, and acceptance, these fans open their arms and hearts to anyone. There was a huge cross section of people. Obviously there were kids and their parents, groups of guys from 18-30 (and some even older!), but then there was a huge number who were "on the spectrum" (I met at least two who labeled themselves as having Aspergers), and there were a great many transgender fans milling about as well. It was great to see everyone feeling so comfortable in their skins as they moved through the halls despite how diverse the attendees were. It made me happy to see that all of those groups could get along and have a great time together. One guy at the support group panel told us he had Aspergers and said that although he was having a good time and found it easier to come out of his shell at BronyCon, he did feel like he was an arm's length away from everyone. After the panel a group of five strangers approached him and invited him to lunch with them. I don't know that I would have seen that happen at any other convention. Another guy told us about how he had met a girl at the con and had bucked up enough nerve to ask her out to dinner on Sunday night. "Go get her!" I shouted over the crowd at the panel. "Baby, he's gonna win!" Brandon exclaimed beside me. We didn't know him and yeah, it did seem like maybe this guy was doing that nerdy thing we all do, aka pretending not to put too much pressure on a new dating situation, but we couldn't help but HOPE that he was gonna get out there and make it work! I genuinely wanted the best for this complete stranger and I think that's what sets this con apart from others; the inherent heart.

Mostly this con reminded me how lucky I am that I do have friends in fitness AND in fandom. I hope I never take that for granted because they're the ones who get me through all the challenges this journey has thrown at me. Where do you go for support? Who do you look to for a helping hoof? Tell us about it in the comments!

HuKitchen Review

When you're trying to eat healthy- and especially to eat clean- finding restaurants where you can safely choose what you want can be a challenge. There tends to be a lot of hemming and hawing over what you can order without driving the waitstaff and the cooks crazy with special requests. A lot of time you end up paying more money for substitutions or not getting your money's worth because once you take the bun away from the sandwich and sub a side salad without dressing for the fries, you're not left with a ton of substance. It absolutely can be done, but it sort of wears on you after a while.

Then there's HuKitchen, a restaurant committed to serving foods with ingredients that are as pre-industrial as possible- meaning no processed food or refined sugars. One of the founders is paleo and while most of their food fits within the paleo/primal blueprint, there are some limited servings of whole grains, dairy, and legumes available. Vegans and vegetarians would also love the menu as well. Everything is gluten free, aside from the beers. You can read more about them in the FAQ on their website. 

The first thing I noticed upon entering the establishment was just how cool the decor was. It has this clean, urban grotto-gone-green vibe with wooden seats made out of varnished driftwood and big screens displaying menus available at different food stations. The menus clearly list all of the ingredients, and the coolest part is that you can pretty much assume all the food is paleo unless it explicitly notes that it contains grains or dairy. That was just so refreshing for me and made ordering a lot easier and quick than normal. 

The staff was really helpful. They offered free samples of everything so you could be sure you ordered something you liked and were happy to explain the ingredients used in each dish. I always get frustrated when I can't get that information at other restaurants without the waitstaff giving me the stink eye, so this was right up my alley. They knew what they were talking about and they did it all with a smile on their faces. 

Which brings me to the actual food, which was absolutely awesome! I ordered the organic thai chicken with coconut milk, turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, cilantro, basil over mashed sweet potatoes and carrots. The chicken was tender and juicy and the whole dish felt like comfort food with none of the guilt. I also ordered some roasted cauliflower on the side so I could increase the veggie content of my meal. It was pretty good and it was seasoned in a way I wouldn't have done it myself. My meal also came with a piece of grain-free veggie bread. Honestly, I don't know how they got the consistency so perfect because it really did have a great bread-y consistency and it tasted pretty good too. My friend Steven ordered their quarter chicken with mashed sweet potato and carrot and caramelized pineapple drizzled with cashew cream. He thought the chicken was wonderful and when he let me taste the pineapple, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I could eat that every day! I've never heard of cashew cream before, but you can bet I've been looking up recipes online ever since. I can't get it out of my mind! All of that came to just under $30 for two people which is really not that bad when you think about the quality of the ingredients being used and the labor that goes into it. Additionally, I tried their mango infused water with chia. I had never had chia before so I wanted to try it out. In the end I don't think it won me over, but I'm not a huge fruit infused water fan so I didn't expect to love it all that much. I will say that they had a ton of different teas and waters to choose from so it was fun to look at the wide selection. 

After we ate our meal we decided to try out their sweets. After my heavenly experience with HuKitchen's cashew cream, I was easily drawn to their mash bar. Now, as far as what a mash bar is exactly, I'm not sure, except to say that it's yummy! After many failed attempts at trying to understand what it was supposed to be, I just asked the server to give me whatever their most popular one was, which turned out to be the Organic Berry Coconut concoction. It was organic vanilla chia pudding with strawberry, blueberry, and cashew cream. It was very refreshing and sweet without being overly sugary. One issue with paleo for me is that I never feel like I get a proper desert because fruit is great, but it doesn't always do it for me when it comes to satisfying my sweet tooth. Well the addition of the pudding and cashew cream certainly took it to the next level. I can't wait to go back and try a different mash from their menu next time. Steven got a 72% dark chocolate bar with almond butter and puffed quinoa. I'm a fan of super dark chocolate and this is lighter than what I've been eating, but the square I had was creamy and delicious. It made for a nice change because usually "specialty" chocolate with added ingredients doesn't come dark enough to make it primal/paleo. Our deserts were about $5 each.

 

Some of the reviews I read online about this place disparaged the pricing of the food, but honestly I felt like it was worth every penny. We over-ordered while we were there so that I could review different things. I could have easily been satisfied with just the bowl of chicken over the mashed sweet potatoes. Taken alone, that would have been just under $10, which is totally reasonable. Maybe people were upset about the portions? I think people just have a distorted view of what a proper portion of food is these days. Who knows? I didn't see a problem with the pricing and because I deal with purchasing these kinds of ingredients myself, I was surprised they weren't charging more.

What I'm saying is that we should all be eating at this place. Their mission is spot on, their food is incredible, and what's more, it's incredibly good for you. These are the kinds of restaurants we should be supporting. If more people realized that eating clean doesn't mean eating boring, I think there would be a lot more demand for places like HuKitchen. I would love to see more locations open up around the city, but for that to happen, the food revolution will have to gain ground. Let's help them kick it into high gear!

If any of my New York slayers end up trying HuKitchen, let me know your thoughts and your favorite dishes in the comments!

Resistance is Not Futile

I was recently contacted by the lovely folks at AquaGear Swim Shop about reviewing some of their equipment. Even though I'm not huge into water sports (simply because I live in NYC and that's just not in the cards for me on a regular basis), I decided to check out the site and find out what they were all about.

It turns out they're a family owned business and while a lot of stores out there claim to have great customer service, I was really impressed that when I went to the site during the day, a little chat window popped up with someone asking if I needed assistance with anything in the online shop. I think that's pretty cool that they have live customer service available for a web store. I don't think I've ever seen that as an automatic option when selecting a product unless I actively went to a customer service page and looked for it. When I accepted the chat invite, I was quickly connected to a sales associate who was happy to help me with any questions I had about products.

The store was founded by Joanne Bullock who is apparently an aquatic personal trainer amongst other things and the store really reflects that angle. There are lots of items that you would expect to see from your average swim shop (like goggles, swimsuits, and swim caps) but there are also some really great training accessories like waterproof mp3 players, weights, and jogging belts as well as training DVDs and manuals. It's easy to search for a specific item or use the categories on the sidebar of the site to find what you want and hey, if you don't find it that way, you can always use the live chat feature to get advice!

I ended up choosing my item to review based on the fact that I needed something I could use out of the water. I've been adding some strength workouts into my routine and buying a set of weights can be really expensive and heavy, plus I don't know where I would store them in my starving artist's apartment. My mom has had some success with resistance bands and when I saw some on the site I immediately jumped at the opportunity to review them.

They had two kinds; the Speedo Aqua Fit 360 Stretch Bands which can be interchanged with a bunch of different pieces for different purposes or the All Pro Resistance Bands which come in two versions (extra heavy tension and medium). For the sake of being basic and not having to deal with attachments, I chose to get the extra heavy All Pro Resistance Bands. 

Ordering was easy and AquaGear saves your information for later use so you don't have to re-enter your shipping and billing address. However, they don't save your credit card info. That's actually something I like because I feel like it's really easy for someone to hack your password to things and then buy anything they want in that situation. Maybe I'm just paranoid but I don't mind the extra step of entering my payment info if it's going to ensure a little safety against identity theft. 

By the time I got back from my week of vacation in North Carolina, my shipment had arrived and I was ready to resist all the bands!

I was actually surprised at how effective they were at adding weight. I'd been pretty ghetto about the "rows" in my strength circuit. I was using heavy pots and pans or filling bags with books and lifting them so it was nice to have something with a firm grip that acted like a weight because I feel like they position of your hand when lifting can actually change some of the muscles that you use to perform the action. When I was using bags of books, my hand and/or wrist would often feel sore afterwards and I didn't experience that with the All Pro bands.

It also has an adjustable foot pad that you can slide up and down the band to stand on and shorten them for different positions. They were really easy to incorporate into my routine and gave me a lot of different options for upper body exercises without needing multiple pieces of equipment. Again, when space is an issue in your apartment, that's a pretty winning factor. They also come with a mesh storage bag so you can keep them together and out of the way when you're done (which is nice if you have a tendency to trip over things like me!).

One thing I'd like to know that the bands don't seem to offer on the packaging and that AquaGear doesn't offer in the store description for the item is the exact difference between the two sets of All Pro bands that they offer. Obviously one is medium and one is heavy, but how much weight is the resistance mimicing? I have no frame of reference for how much weight I'm moving. The other con for resistance bands is that they don't change their resistance, but with free weights you can always change them out for a heavier one. That's hardly the product's fault, though. It's really just something to keep in mind when trying to choose between weights and bands.

All in all, I'm really excited to continue using these bad boys and to see how I can use them to spice up my strength circuits! I was definitely able to get a more effective set of upper body exercises into today's workout and over time I think this is really going to improve my upper body strength. If there's anyone out there who has experience with resistance bands, I'd love to hear your advice on exercises in the comments!

Which Diet Tools are Worth Your Money?

I spend a lot of time whining about not having enough money for things and I know there are ton of people out there who make the excuse that weight loss and eating healthy is too expensive. I won't lie to you and say that it's completely free (it hasn't been for me), but you can make well-informed decisions on what products are worth your hard earned cash. 

As someone who would rather spend her tax return on funding her cosplay adventures for the year than on practical household goods, here are the products I have discovered are "must haves" for those interested in doing more cooking and getting healthy. I'm started researching this article from the perspective of someone preparing to eat Primal but I've included recommendations from others who have succeeded in the areas of healthy weight loss and fitness.

Primal Pacs

I live in NYC. I'm on the go and when I'm at work I have to carry food in my pocket and get it down my gullet when I get a spare moment because I don't always get a break. One of my Nerd Fitness Rebel pals suggested Primal Pacs when I asked for jerky recommendations. This product not cheap, but the quality is high and it's perfect for being on the go and without a refrigerator. You can order the grass fed jerky or snack packs with a mixture of jerky, nuts, and dried fruit in large or small bags depending on your needs! You can check out the prices and more information on their website.

Weight Watchers 

I have friends that swear by their online program. They've lost the weight and kept it off. Similar to how I love to use Fitbit to count calories and make sure I'm staying in my deficit zone, the Weight Watchers app offers great on-the-go support to keep you on track and flexible in the real world. Plus if you hate calorie counting, then this could be a great way to stay accountable without the pressure of having to look up estimates constantly. The program accounts for any activity and exercise you log by rewarding you extra points to spend on food. It costs  $48 per month or $65 for 3 months. You can find more information on their site.

Fitbit

This device has changed my life and my diet plan. While I feel way more in control, I also feel a greater sense of freedom. I can monitor my statistics as they happen, I can log food and activity, and be flexible when I need to. Plus, there's no subscription fees for the online program and app. You buy the device for between $45 and $100+ depending on the model you select, and voila! You're ready to roll. I could spend all day espousing the benefits of Fitbit, but I already did that in my review so if you're interested in learning more, you can check it out.

Fit & Fresh 

When it comes to your health, fresh is always better! Primal and Paleo eaters swear by this Fit & Fresh lunch container set when it comes to bringing their meats, veggies, salads, etc to work. This set includes multiple high quality containers to keep everything separate and organized in bento box style plus a cold pack that will keep your food from wilting or going bad if you don't have access to a fridge. You can get it all for $9.09 on Target's website. The price is certainly right!

Dressing-2-Go

I love salads and the only reason I don't take them on the go is wilting (which I addressed with the previous item!) and the fact that I can't portion out my dressing and easily keep it separate. Well, with these little 2 tbs squeeze bottles, I can put my dressings in the bottle and pop them into my Fit & Fresh set so that they will stay cool until I'm ready to use them on my salad! Problem solved for just $7.38 by ordering from this website. 

Food Scale 

It's more important than people realize to measure food when you're on a diet. Learning correct portion sizes is instrumental in discovering how to get the most use out of the calories you have to spend for the day and when you start cooking for yourself, a food scale can help you ensure that when you say you're eating 2 oz of chicken, you actually are. I found I was so afraid of "over" feeding myself that I severely underestimated when it came to weight/portions of solid food and veggies which means I went into starvation mode and my weight loss slowed for months because I wasn't getting enough food. There's a lot of estimating when it comes to calorie counts and you can reduce the guess work exponentially by putting your money where your mouth is, literally. Measuring cups and spoons will only get you so far because measuring liquids is different than measuring solid food. You can pick up a good, affordable food scale from Amazon for just $25.

Paleo Central 

If you are considering a switch to Paleo or Primal, then this app is absolutely essential. You can enter any food or components of a recipe and it will tell you whether it's Paleo or not. It tells you what you can or can't eat in the most simple ways and will give you insight into borderline foods all for $.99 on the iTunes store. There's an Android app available as well.

If you have any recommendations for our fellow Slayers here at Project Reroll, please leave them in the comments!

Evolution of a Diet Plan

When I started my quest for health, everyone stressed the importance of having a plan. I knew the basics of "healthy eating" because I'd gone to nutritionists and diet counselors before.

I knew I should be eating more vegetables and less carbs. I should stop binge eating when emotional tension runs high. I need to learn how to cook eventually if I want to eat healthy on a budget.

Yet, even with the basics, I needed something to cling to- a daily routine that would get me moving in the right direction and strictly control my portions- something that would dictate exactly what I needed to do.

Enter, Nutrisystem.

This was a great program for me. Honestly it allowed me to learn about portion control and it gave me the variety in foods that I needed to push through the first part of my journey without having to rely on my poor cooking skills. It provided a great online community for support and monthly challenges to keep me motivated.

However, there's not a lot of support for the physical side of things on Nutrisystem. They suggest 30 minutes of activity but they don't have many resources about what activities are best for weight loss or what different types of work outs can help you achieve. In addition, people get used to blindly eating whatever is in their entrees for the day. A lot people on the program have no idea WHY what they're doing is working and it keeps them returning the program because every time they leave, they aren't able to maintain what they've managed to lose. Lastly, it's debatable whether or not it's a "healthy" program. It certainly helps you lose weight. I lost over 100 lbs on Nutrisystem. It works. However, you are filling yourself with processed food constantly and that has it's own disadvantages. You get your four cups of veggies and your snacks, which can be fresh dairy, fruits, and nuts, but everything else comes in a box and is filled with chemicals and preservatives to give it shelf life and approximate the flavors of the indulgent meals you WISH you were eating instead.

I also recently came to terms with the fact that setting a weight goal based purely on BMI can have its drawbacks if you're one one severe end of the bell curve it uses. Let me illustrate.

These graphs were generated by Fitbit to show what qualifies as underweight (blue), healthy (green), overweight (orange), and obese (red).

Here's my chart. I'm 5'1". I am truly hobbit sized.

Here's my boyfriend's chart. He is 6'3". He is Hagrid sized.

He has a range of 52 lbs in his healthy weight section while I'm left with a measly 36 lbs for my target zone, not to mention he can be 240 lbs before he's considered obese! That blows my mind. Clearly there's a lot less of me than there is of him so on that level, yes, my target should be smaller, but also keep in mind that these numbers are applied arbitrarily because they don't take your actual body composition into account. It takes flat weight and does not reflect any knowledge that muscle weighs more than fat. There are professional athletes who would be considered obese on the BMI scale even though they're clearly performing at their physical peak! 

When it comes to any plan, you need to stick with it long enough to make sure you're giving it a chance, but you also need to recognize when it's time to adjust or move on. As your body evolves, your thinking and your knowledge base will as well. Go-to health snacks you were completely enchanted with will start to bore you, things you thought were super healthy may turn out to be the opposite, and activities you hated may become your favorite workouts of the week!

I've come to the conclusion that I'm ready to step away from Nutrisystem and move towards cooking my own food using the Paleo/Primal Blueprint as a model with planned indulgences for special occasions. What I've been doing has been very rewarding for the past 11 months, but changes are on the horizon. I can't stay on Nutrisystem forever anyways and I'm finding that I don't need as much structure to stay on track as I did in the beginning. In fact, the structure is beginning to drive me quite mad at times and that's causing more trouble than its worth.

My weight loss is slowing because I'm getting down to those last few lbs pounds and I've begun doing more strength training. My measurements are reducing drastically and I'm blowing my fitness goals out of the water for my "Big Damn Hero 6 Week Challenge" so I know I'm on the right track. Physically I'm where I want to be (despite having a bit more weight to lose), but I want to fuel my body properly for the work it's doing rather than feeling like I'm filling it with properly portioned chemical packs every three hours.

At this point, I want to focus on eating fresh, whole foods and I'd like to have a little more flexibility when it comes to going out to eat. I'm very tired of being a pack mule and carrying around days and days of Nutrisystem food and I am now confident in my ability to make informed healthy choices "in the wild." Having to stick so rigidly to the Nutrisystem guidelines is driving me more insane than it's worth when what I'm really craving is delicious stirfry for dinner and breakfasts of egg and vegetable omelets! I'm lusting after lean, fresh meat and grilled veggies, people. If there was every a time to make this change, it's right now while I'm excited about it.

Here's a basic idea of what my new diet will include.

Add in plenty of fresh fruit, veggies, and limited servings wheat (1-2 times a week), milk, and stevia for my coffee/tea in the morning and that's pretty much it. I will go into it in more detail in a future post but that gives a broad sense of what I'll be doing.

I never would have been able to handle this type of change in the beginning of this process, so having a way to eat mac & cheese or pizza was necessary to get me over the hump of just simply eating less and changing the basic composition of my meals. However, my palette has changed and I feel more limited by the program than I'm feeling helped. 

I've also got a great track record for choosing my days to indulge and hopping right back on my "plan" afterwards. I'm no longer afraid of breaking from my diet for a day. I don't feel like one off meal will keep me from my goals or destroy the eleven months of progress I've made. That's a huge achievement for me and I think with that should come the reward of more flexibility when it comes to fitting my health plan into my daily life.

So that's the plan moving forward! I intend to finish off this shipment of food, phase out my remaining Nutrisystem dishes, and keep track of my Primal diet using Fitbit to help me hit my desired deficit for weight loss 6/7 days a week. I have ten days till my breakfasts and lunches run out and sixteen until my dinners run out. That will give me enough time to slowly start phasing in new home made primal foods bit by bit. I'll let you all know how it goes and if anyone has any suggestions or questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Fitbit Review

Nutrisystem catalyzed a giant change for the better in my life. After committing to start that program about 10 months ago, it's been a while  a new product came along that has changed the way I look at my every day actions in such an intensely rigorous, fascinating, and encouraging way- Until NOW! 

Fitbit is changing my life step by step and meal by meal. I've never had more energy, more awareness of my physical activity, or been more at peace with my diet.

I'm a competitive gamer. I love to see my "stats." Setting goals and tracking my progress are huge motivators in-game and in life. It should come as no surprise that I discovered this device/program while making friends on the Nerd Fitness forums! With Fitbit, I get to go through that process every single day. You can set a stride goal, a calorie burn goal, a specific diet plan with a daily deficit to match the intensity of your desired diet or simply plan for maintenance, and you can follow along as you work towards those benchmarks every day. You can enter your measurements, your weight, and your stride length for increased accuracy from your activity readings. You can sync the device to a online dashboard which you can view and make changes to both on your computer, a tablet, or on the fly if you use your smart phone app. Not only is it an incredibly dynamic system, but if you use the phone app, it will send you notifications if you are particularly close to your goal or if you need to step it up in order to meet your daily goals. 

There can be a competitive aspect to using Fitbit. You can use social media to connect with your friends, see how they're doing, and cheer/taunt/comment on their achievements. You also get badges for lifetime achievements like your first 50 miles walked, or your first time taking 20,000 steps in a day. This encourages friendly competition between you and your comrades, and of course it encourages you to compete against yourself! You can see stats on your best day or your lifetime miles walked while wearing the device. I encourage my whole family to get them and their awareness and activity level has increased exponentially over the last three weeks. 

Sometimes it's hard to pair weight loss programs. In my opinion (and you're welcome to disagree and discuss in the comments!) you can't do Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem, or successfully gain the benefits of Paleo while sticking to the raw food movement. Usually you have to pick one thing that works for you and stick with it for long enough that you can sustain success and encourage the results you're looking for. I previously wrote about wanting to transition to Weight Watchers when I got to maintenance because you can easily track your food whether you make it yourself or purchase it from a chain restaurant. Plus (unlike Nutrisystem), Weight Watchers takes exercise into account and allows you extra points to spend on food based on how much energy you expend. 

Fitbit allows me to do that all right now, without joining another program that I have to pay for. There's just a one time expenditure to buy your device and the online tracking dashboard is available to your at no charge. In addition, I don't have to wait until I'm in maintenance to begin learning how to plan my diet around my actual activity. It seems silly to say that, but before I started using Fitbit, I'd just pick out my Nutrisystem entrees for the day based on what I wanted or what I "thought" I'd be physically doing, since the requirement was simply to eat all the fresh add ins and land between 1250 and 1350 calories each day. Now with Fitbit, I can make more educated choices about which entrees I should eat on which days AND I can more easily flex the plan when I need to go out to dinner for a special occasion. I can base those choices off of my actual activity rather than an arbitrary number. I'm a huge fan and it has left me feeling way more energized from day to day. It totally broke me out of the plateau I was in. Their database holds nutritional data for all sorts of food, both from groceries and chains. You can adjust the portions based on what you actually eat and if it doesn't have the nutritional data for an item that you have (like a Nutrisystem entree or a salad dressing you bought at the store), you can simply add a new food to the database and enter all the relevant information.

You should eat for the life you're living. Fitbit helps me do that in a fuel efficient and dynamic way!

Bonus? If you're someone who uses Weight Watchers and loves it, then you can just pass on the food logging and continue to use your other program while still getting your calorie burn, strides, distance, and your activity score. If you already use a log like MyFitnessPal, you can link it with your Fitbit account so that you can integrate them with each other. 

My only concerns are making sure that I have a store of batteries for when my Zip needs a new one so I don't miss a day of tracking (mine hasn't shown signs of wearing out after three weeks), making sure I get in the habit of religiously putting it on every morning, and making sure I remember to log activities that aren't measured as accurately (aka yoga, long boarding, or cycling) so that I can get proper credit for the calories burned.

Fitbit offers a variety of different devices at varying levels of expense (from $45 for the Zip on Amazon to $100+ for the other models). Personally, I use the Fitbit Zip (the cheapest option) but you should check out all three devices they have available because each one has varying benefits and you may have different priorities than I do. Keep in mind, they're sometimes available for less money on Amazon, so definitely check out whatever deals they have.

I simply can't recommend this product enough. Go get one! You won't regret it!

Tea: Fall In Love with Hot Leaf Juice!

By Ryanneal on Deviant Art

When I started my weight loss journey, one of the first things I did to motivate myself while working out was to re-watch every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender on the elliptical machine. There are so many wonderful things about the show and I get something new from it every time I watch it. 

When it comes to inspirational quotes, Uncle Iroh has always been a favorite of mine, but one of his most defining qualities (aside from pure badassery) is his adoration of tea! In the past few months, I have learned to fall in love with it too and now it's an absolute staple in my daily diet.

I've always been a huge coffee and soda drinker my whole life but for the first month or so of my diet, I really wanted to cut those things out so that I could detox on the caffeine and all of the sugar and aspartame I was ingesting.

As time went on, however, I found myself really missing my morning hit of caffeine. I did eventually go back to having a small cup of coffee with skim milk and Splenda, but eventually I started looking into tea because I can take it with our without milk depending on what my diet plan looks like for the day so far, whereas with coffee, I hate to drink it black. My main goal was to get caffeine into my system and to obtain a go-to "liquid" snack with minimal negative impact on my diet. 

There are many different types of tea and they all have varying benefits. My focus was on green and black teas- Green because of what I've heard about it encouraging fat burn and preventing diabetes (not to mention it may prevent several forms of cancer), and black because it's a great morning option since it's the highest caffeinated tea. Black tea might not have as much caffeine as coffee or soda, but it has been proven to have a more specific effect on mental focus rather than general frenetic energy. Not only does it boost metabolism, but it also protects your lungs from second hand smoke exposure, contains antioxidants that lower cholesterol and risk of heart disease, and helps prevent ovarian, prostate, lung, stomach, and breast cancer. Did I mention Black tea also strengthens your bones and boosts your immune response to keep you from getting sick?

Obviously, my conclusion, like Uncle Iroh, was to start drinking ALL THE TEA. There's a lot of teas out there, so I've taken some of the guess work out of it by selecting some of my favorite discoveries to share with you! 

• Celestial Seasonings Decaf Green Tea with White Tea
• Decaffeinated green tea, decaffeinated white tea and Vitamin C.
• This was the best simple green tea I found. It's decaf, making it a great option for the evening or for anyone who's avoiding caffeine. It is a little more full bodied then what I typically drink in Japanese restaurants. I found it best pure and unsweetened. Not my favorite overall, but if you're just looking to drink straight green tea, this is a great option.
• Celestial Seasonings Sleeptytime Vanilla
• Chamomile, spearmint, west indian lemongrass, natural french vanilla flavor, tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn and rosebuds.
• I bought this specifically to help me wind down before bed. I find vanilla very soothing and drinking this tea with a little bit of stevia or honey is perfection. I added milk a few times and it sort of destroyed the layers of herbal flavors, so that's an option, but definitely not necessary.
• Trader Joe's Candy Cane Green Tea
• Decaffeinated green tea, spiked with peppermint
• A friend at work turned me onto this. This tea is seasonal and she had some left over and now I'm hoarding the few bags she gave me because it's so delicious. The mint is gentle as is the green tea taste and it's decaffeinated making it a great before bed option. I don't even need sugar. Just some stevia or honey. Is it Christmas yet so I can buy more?
• Twining's Pure Mint
• Black tea, peppermint leaves, spearmint leaves
• This is my favorite black mint tea. Like the name suggests, it's fresh and crisp. I enjoy it with stevia or honey, but if I'm trying feel warm, cozy and comforted, a touch of milk makes all the difference!
• Twinings Ultra Spiced Chai
• Black tea, natural Chai, cinnamon & ginger flavors with other natural flavors, cardamom, clove
• I had never tried Chai before, but after chatting with a barista friend, realizing how much I loved cinnamon and how much I was craving the richness that I used to find in coffee, I bought some of this. It is to DIE FOR! There are so many layers to the taste, especially if you let it steep for over 6 minutes. I drink this with milk and stevia almost every morning.
• Twining's French Vanilla Chai
• Black tea, natural Chai, cinnamon & ginger flavors with other natural flavors, artificial vanilla flavor, cardamom, clove, vanilla pod powder.
• I loved the Ultra Spiced Chai so much that I bought this variety as well for a more desert-like taste. It has all the richness of the previous tea with the gentle aromatic overtone of vanilla. Settling down with a cup of this mixed with milk and stevia whilst watching reruns of Star Trek: TNG has become the perfect way of restoring sanity at the end of stressful day at work. 
• Twining's Spiced Apple Chai
• Black tea, natural apple, Chai, cinammon & ginger flavors with other natural flavors, cardamom, clove
• Wondering if I would enjoy Chai without milk, I bought this variety. I had some apple tea whilst visiting Turkey some time ago and have never found anything that quite lived up to it here in the USA- until NOW! The apple taste is really great and almost caramel-like when you add stevia, though I think honey would probably taste great as well. 

Those are my top picks! I'd love to hear about your favorite teas in the comments.

Nerd Fitness 6 Week Challenge Review!

Today marks the end of my first Nerd Fitness 6 week challenge. Since I posted my initial challenge goals on the blog at the beginning, I thought I'd share my final progress report here so you can see just how much can be accomplished in six short weeks of work!

Challenge Starting Weight: 162.4 lbs

Challenge Ending Weight: 153.4 lbs

Total Loss: -9.4 lbs (I was hoping for more, but considering my struggles with food/con-going during the course of the challenge I'm pretty happy with this!) 

Final Measurements: 

Bust: (Starting 38") 36.25"

Waist: (Starting 41") 36.5"

Hips: (Starting 44") 42"

Thigh: (Starting 22.25") 20.75"

Calves: (Starting 16.5") 15.5"

Bicep: (Starting 12.5") 12.25"

Total Inches lost during challenge: -11 inches (That's pretty BANANAS!)

Before Photos: (NOTE: I wasn't going to post these photos on the blog, but I feel like the progress really shows and hopefully it inspires you guys to start taking photos to mark the changes in your body!)

After Photos:

Fitness/Nutrition goals:

• Take at least one Yoga class a week.
  • I aced this 100% and even took an extra class one week.
  • I made some great progress with The Wheel and the Crow that I intend to continue with a more rigorous focus in the next challenge.
    • Reward: +2 STR
• Complete "Zombies, Run 5k Training"  3x/week.
  • I never missed a run, not even at PAX East! I found a hotel with a gym and made sure I got my training in at 6AM so I could enjoy the con guilt free for the rest of the day! I'm loving my runs more and more each time and I'm getting ready to do my final mission for the app on Friday of the week! I can't wait to see my first 5k time so I can make some PR goals for the next challenge!
    • Reward: +5 STA
• Complete at least two 45 minute training sessions on the elliptical per week.
  • Passed with flying colors! Never missed a session and got in plenty of Xena: Warrior Princess episodes while I trained. Win win! AYIYIYIYIYI!
    • Reward: +2 DEX
• Learn to cook three Paleo meals by the end of the challenge.
  • I made:
    • Stay on Target Chicken Stirfry
    • Sokka's Buffalo Chicken and Sweet Potato Meatza 
    • Targeryen Dragonfire Hash!
    • I learned a lot more about Paleo, but I also discovered that I'm a much better and much more inventive cook than I give myself credit for. 
    • Reward: +3 CON

Life Goal:

• Write at least 2 new blog posts a week and create a logo for the header. 
  • I posted retro blog entries here every day and wrote my two new posts without fail every week. 
  • Having the deadline was really crucial for me. I find that having a back log of drafts is very useful and I will definitely continue to do that as time goes on. 
  • Very soon I'll be moving to a 2 post per week publishing format. Readers, feel free to vote in the poll on the left sidebar.
  • Added bonus: My reader base blossomed from under one thousand to over ten thousand unique views in just 6 short weeks! 
  • Sadly, while I did make progress on the logo with my graphic designer, the incredible Annie Stoll, she's been busy with some pretty amazing new clients! I'm so happy for her success and I'm honestly just blessed to have her volunteering to help me with the site. She's the real deal, people! Soon you'll see her amazing work at the top of the blog every time you stop by! The lesson I learned here was that I shouldn't make a challenge goal that depends on anyone's actions but my own in the future, but I know the finished product will be worth the wait!
    • Reward: + 2 WIS
      • I subtracted 1 point from the original proposed reward for not finishing the logo.

Final "Level Up Your Life" Stats for my forum signature:

Hearthsinger the Wandering Bard

Level 2 Halfling Ranger

STR 4 | DEX 3 | STA 7 | CON 5 | WIS 6 | CHA 4

The next challenge starts on Monday April 15th, so if this looks like something you want to try, check out their forums and start preparing your goals so you can participate!

In closing I want to thank the Nerd Fitness community for welcoming me with open arms, commenting on my progress during the challenge, and encouraging me through the rough patches. Your reactions to my results have been so overwhelming and supportive. I'm proud of myself, but I'm lucky to have found you guys and honored to have shared this challenge journey with you!