Work Outs

Some of you are wondering what my exercise schedule is like. Well, it's not secret I like to be active. I kept an exercise log Jan 25-30. Take a look.

Jan 25
Morning: Treadmill - 3 mile run - 22:23
Abs of Steel - 15 min video
Afternoon: Walk - 3 miles - approx 1:10:00

My New Love.

Jan 26
Morning: Treadmill - 3.1 mile run - 23:36
Biceps curls - 3 sets of 12 - 20 lbs
Forward parallel lifts - 3 sets of 12 - 12 lbs
Lateral lifts - 3 sets of 12 - 5 lbs
Overhead triceps lift - 3 sets of 15 - 20 lbs
Dead lifts - 2 sets of 15 - 40 lbs
Wall squats - 2 sets - 60 seconds
Abs of Steel - 15 min video
Afternoon: Walk - 3 miles - approx 1:00:00

Jan 27
Morning: No workout
Afternoon: Walk - 3 miles - approx 1:15:00

Jan 28
Morning: Treadmill - 3 mile run - 22:40
Abs of Steel - 15 min video
Afternoon: Walk - 3 miles - approx 1:00:00

Jan 29
Morning: Bike Ride - 36.5 miles - 2:15:00
Afternoon: Bike Ride - 2.5 miles - n/a

Jan 30
Afternoon: Walk - 2 miles - approx 40 mins

I typically get up in the morning at 5:00 so I can find time to get a good run in. A great start to my day! I bought a my first road bike Thursday! I absolutely love it! Sorry no pictures yet. (The one above is the picture they have online. I don't think they'll let me post this for long since it isn't my picture, so take a quick look while you can!)

Spotless - Week 8

Protein Metabolism
For one week I have been diligently writing down everything I eat and the serving sizes. Not an easy task, but extremely eye opening! Turns out I really do eat a lot of sugar. I have been offered, and eaten, more than one serving of cakes and cookies almost every day this week (3 very large cookies, 2 1/2 slices of cake to be exact. I only eat desert when I think it tastes good. Unfortunately I couldn't say no to these.) So, what makes a person who doesn't like sweets eat so much sugar? Birthdays and parties. Eating healthy while socializing is down right difficult. Imagine if I made and ate my own sweets on top of that!

Lessons I've learned this week
Planning what you are going to eat each day is a must. I exceeded my daily serving of carbohydrates everyday. Every day. Why? At some point in the day I was hungry and didn't have a meal planned yet (usually at dinner). Snacking on something quick almost ALWAYS leads to eating something not in your meal plan. Looking back at my food logs I am surprised that it happened every day and I couldn't stop it.

So, where am I going over on carbs? Quick snacks and parties. Cake. Cookies. Another banana here or there. That extra slice of bread with almond butter and honey because it's 'just too good too resist.' It's amazing how quickly the little things add up. All the food I choose to eat is very healthy (besides the couple of cookies and bits of cake I ate), but I am eating too many servings of the wrong things. I didn't know that until this week. (Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not saying I need to eat less. I actually need to eat more of the right things. I am following the suggested servings of the DSP at 1600 cal. I eat all day long and never even get close to the 1600 cal mark - always fall short - and I am constantly eating! Who knew I didn't eat enough food before?)

Healthy diet equals varied diet. I was constantly eating this week. Every few hours I was getting out the next snack or meal from the fridge. The only way I could eat the daily amounts I needed was to have a large variety of food types in each meal. It took a bit of work and planning, but the days that I had the most variety were the best days for me. I felt satisfied all day and never got bored with what I was eating.

Meat satisfies for a long time. I know this is common sense, but I didn't realize the power of meat until this week. Like I've mentioned before, I'm not a big meat eater. I've tried to increase my protein this week by eating more eggs, nuts and chicken. I've discovered that I don't like to eat meat at night because I don't sleep as well with heavy meat in my stomach, and I can still feel it when I wake up! Yuck. I run in the morning and don't want to feel food weighing me down. It also ruins my appetite for breakfast, my favorite meal of the day. So, I don't eat meat at night, but try to fit it in at breakfast and lunch. This has changed my days significantly! I wake up fresh and ready to go and I'm satisfied all day long. I think I really did need to increase my protein intake. I'm surprised.

Fast Sunday
The last thing I would like to mention is how I felt today. As most know, I am usually ridiculously hungry on Fast Sundays. Not today!  This put me in a great mood. Remembering how I felt earlier in the week when I ate meat at night, I loaded up on pulled pork Saturday night at my friend's birthday dinner. The result? I wasn't hungry all day! Amazing.

Spotless - Week 7

I know many of you are wondering, "Why hasn't Wendy updated her blog since Christmas?" Well, I have been busy. Busy researching skin and diet. I've learned a lot.  And while my skin has a little way to go still, I feel the changes I have made are making a difference. Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself. What have I been doing that is different? Well, let me tell you.

Week 1 - Left Side

Week 7 - Left Side

Week 1 vs Week 7 comparison.

Week 7 - Right Side

Week 1 - Right Side

Sensitive Skin

The first and most important thing I've discovered in the last few weeks it that I have sensitive skin. What? You're kidding, right? So, it turns out that I have defined sensitive skin wrong my entire life. I thought sensitive skin was skin that is easily irritated, dry, cracks easily, reacts to chemicals in a harsh way, etc. Well, I was right except I never once associated acne with a sensitive skin reaction. I fell upon a website about acne around 4 weeks ago that has taught me a few valuable lessons on how to wash sensitive skin. 

First, don't touch it. Like an itchy paper cut, touching an infected area will only increase the irritation on the skin and lead to redness, itchiness, soreness and more infection. When you wash your face you should hardly even feel your fingers run across your skin. Splash water to rinse. Dab dry with a soft towel and allow to air dry. Never rub.

Second, oily skin is an overreaction to dryness and irritation. Always apply a generous amount of moisturizing lotion after you wash your face. Until recently I thought lotion was for older women who were scared of wrinkles or people with dry skin, not oily skin like mine. I have always shied way from putting anything on my face. From lotion to sunscreen to foundation, I have generally refused. But now... I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't seeing it myself ... applying lotion morning and night has significantly reduced the amount of oil my face produces. It is a miracle.

Irritated sensitive skin takes a long time to heal, but for the first time in over 6 months I feel like I am on my way. I recommend you take a look at the links I have provided if you want more details on what I've learned.

Nutrition

The next thing I would like to share is about nutrition. I have been doing a lot of research on blood sugar because I believe insulin response has been a big player in my hormone imbalance. About a week ago while I was website browsing I came across something called the DSP. While I am certainly NOT into diets and so called 'solutions,' I have found the information in this program to be very sound and quite educational. As I generally agree with everything I've read from the program, I thought I'd share it with you.

What I found to be the most intriguing was the Metabolism Type Test. I took the test and learned that I have a Protein Type Metabolism. From the program:

Protein Types

Protein Types typically crave rich, fatty foods such as pizza, sausages, and salty roasted nuts. If you are a Protein Type, chances are that you love food. You may not feel satiated after a snack and may often feel hungry, even after eating a large meal. When you have eaten too many carbohydrates, you tend to crave sugar. And once you start eating sugary foods, you want more and more and may find it difficult to stop. Sugar often causes you to feel jittery and will quickly make your energy levels drop.

Protein Types may have tried to lose weight by using extreme calorie-cutting methods, only to be unsuccessful—and feel miserable in the process. Protein Types cannot successfully lose weight by drastically decreasing calorie intake.

When Protein Types eat the wrong kind of food, they may notice energy problems—extreme fatigue or a wired “on edge” feeling. Eating often makes them feel better when they feel anxious, nervous, or shaky, but then they feel worse soon afterward. These cycles of energy ups and downs are definite signs of a mismatch between metabolism type and food consumption.

What Does a Protein Type Need?

Protein Types need a diet high in proteins and fats and low in carbohydrates. But think balance—not the Atkins Diet! Protein Types can eat various carbohydrates in the form of some grains, fruits, and vegetables, as long as they are adequately balanced with proteins and fats.

Because Protein Types metabolize food more quickly than other metabolism types (which is why they feel hungry all the time), heavier protein choices such as whole eggs, dark-meat poultry, beef, and dairy are essential for ideal meal planning. These foods have long been considered “unhealthy” because of their high fat content, but as you will learn in the Chapter on Fats, saturated fat is not the cause of disease; refined carbohydrates, processed foods, and hydrogenated oils are. Protein Types who do not eat heavy proteins with a high fat content will be hungry all day and struggle with their weight. Even worse, they will almost always feel fatigued and anxious.

“Must Dos” for Protein Types

- Eat protein at every meal and with every snack. Eating only carbohydrates at a meal causes your blood sugar to spike and then drop quickly, which will leave a Protein Type feeling hungry, fatigued, and anxious as well as cause cravings for more carbohydrates shortly afterward. Eating protein—especially animal protein—at every meal and for snacks will help to control your blood sugar levels and leave you feeling satiated and steady throughout the day. Again, remember to listen to your body; pay attention to which meals and snacks leave you hungry or craving more.

- Eat small meals frequently or healthy snacks between meals. Protein Types need to eat often; otherwise, they’ll suffer from extremely low blood sugar levels. Going too long between meals (or snacks) also will create ravenous hunger, which in turn will cause overeating at the next meal—only to lead to lethargy and an uncomfortable feeling afterward.

- Avoid refined carbohydrates. Foods such as bread, crackers, and pastas— especially those made from wheat—can be extremely disruptive for Protein Types. Wheat breaks down into sugar faster than any other grain and causes the rapid release of large quantities of insulin. That is why sprouted whole grain bread products are the only allowable sources of bread on the Diet Solution Program. These products are described in the Chapter on Grains.

- Avoid most fruits and fruit juices. Fruits are a wonderful, healthy food, but Protein Types need to be extra careful with their fruit selections. Some fruits are quickly converted to sugar in the bloodstream and cause extreme blood sugar fluctuations. The best fruit choices for Protein Types are apples and avocadoes (high in fiber and low in sugar). Some people may be able to eat more of these fruits than others.

I don't generally eat a lot of meat. I don't really like it all that much. I love vegetables and fruit. But I also crave pizza, crackers and bread on a daily basis. I often feel fatigued and hungry. In fact I am almost always hungry... to the point where my mind is telling me that if I don't eat I will soon die of starvation. True to form, when I do eat I typically eat anything I can get my hands on and generally too much of it. And when I eat pizza, crackers or bread, I become more hungry and I start craving cookies and ice cream. I have learned in the last few weeks that I am very sensitive to carbohydrates and now I am considering the possibility that I do not eat enough protein to give my body what it needs to feel satisfied.

Thompsons are big eaters.

Having learned all this, I am going to do the next logical thing. I will adjust my diet to fit the DSP. Over the next three weeks I will be following the meal plans suggested in the program and keeping a daily journal on how my body reacts to the new food. I say new food, but the only thing that will really be changing is how much protein I eat. If my experiment proves successful not only will I stop feeling ravenous all the time, but I will have a much better understanding of my body and what makes it behave the way that it does. All Thompsons can benefit from that.

Christmas in Colorado

I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year in Colorado! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

   

Pictures

I purposefully did not post a Spotless - Week 3 set of pictures because I want to put a little more time between the posts so the difference can be a little more noticeable. I did take the pictures, however, and progress is still on my side.

I thought instead I would share with you a few of my favorite pictures I've taken in the last year or so. Enjoy.

Old Town Spring. Apr 2010 

Spring. Apr 2010

Old Town Spring. Apr 2010

Sakhalin. Oct 2010

Lake Livingston. Nov 2010

Savannah. Nov 2010

Lake 31. May 2010

Minneapolis. May 2010

Lake 31. May 2010

Roatan. Jul 2010

Roatan. Jul 2010

San Antonio. Jul 2010

San Antonio. Jul 2010

L'vov. Nov 2009

Cookies!

I went to the grocery store this evening feeling like I wanted something sweet. Unusual. I looked down the cookie isle and tried to find a cookie that didn't have artificial flavors or unnatural ingredients. Nothing. Then I remembered some delicious peanut butter cookies Heather made a couple of years ago. I headed over to the bulk section of the store and got some organic whole oats and freshly crushed peanut butter (it was really cool to see the peanuts go from whole unsalted nut to peanut butter). I also got a little almond butter, free range brown chicken eggs and fresh ground cinnamon.

When I got home I mixed 1 cup oats, 1 egg, 1/4 sugar and 1 cup butters (peanut and almond mixture) in a mixing bowl. I dropped the cookies on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with a little bit of sugar and cinnamon. The sugar wasn't really necessary, but it looks good. Tastes delicious. No preservatives. No fake stuff. You can see for yourself. Yummy.

Spotless - Week 2

Positives for this week. I made a delicious 15 bean soup with squash and various greens. I loved every bite. So yummy. My favorite meal by far was the pesto spaghetti squash I ate Friday. Recipe: Bake spaghetti squash in oven. Remove from skin. Stir in pesto (I have some in a jar from the store.) Top with fresh, diced tomatoes and avocado. Incredibly delicious. Yum. I also ran 5 miles in 40:13 on Saturday and played soccer for the first time in years on Thursday. It felt good.

This weekend I might have messed up my experiment a little. I had a taco and quesadilla at Taco Bell and a ginger cookie while sitting around a campfire Friday night. Then I had a piece of corn bread and biscuit at Cracker Barrel and some lemon meringue pie, a chocolate cookie (I usually don't like cookies, but this one was rich and delicious,) ice cream and cake at a birthday party Saturday night. Oh well. It was all in relative moderation.

Okay. Pictures. It is fun to look at the pictures from today and compare them to last week. I can't say I see a lot of improvement, but the spots have moved around a bit.