Runner's Reset...Lessons Learned

I was so happy to be able to be part of the Runner's Reset with Laura again this year.

 I know that I have written a few things that I have learned from doing the reset but I wanted to put a final stamp of reflection on it.  Laura is incredibly knowledgeable and a very easy person to work with!  If you are struggling with nutrition or just feeling off...check her out!  She's great!  So here are a few of the many things I learned on this 21 day reset.

Prep is King...I knew this before the reset but it was a great reminder after the holidays and life being crazy.  I prepped my lunches and snacks for the week on Sunday.  This meant I was cooking big batches of chicken and broccoli, boiling a bunch of eggs, making a big batch of soup packed with veggies, and portioning it all out so that at the beginning of the day I could stand in front of my fridge and just fill my lunch box!  The portioning out is key for me because I have about 30 min in the morning to pack my daughter's lunch as well as my own and everyone's breakfast.  If everything is already packed and weighed then it is a 1 minute process!  I also tried to prep a few things for dinner for the week too but I wasn't always successful.  Going forward my goal is to continue this as well as add an additional prep day Thursday or Friday for the weekend so I can stay on track!

Wait it Out...My cravings come at two very distinct times of day...late afternoon when I am walking in the door from work and after the girls go to bed.  Late afternoon cravings are ALL THE FOOD cravings while the nighttime cravings are more sweets.  I found, especially with the night cravings, is that if I just would wait even just a half hour, they would either go away or it would be time for dinner...or I fell asleep!  This admittedly is a challenge for me especially for those afternoon ones and has always been a weak time for me.  I am going to practice more waiting it out and busying myself to allow the craving to pass.

Mind your Training...The biggest revelation that I had was when it came to my training and weight I was/am carrying.  As a distance runner(I still feel like a poser every time I write that!) I take 4 month or so cycles to train for a race.  I would say in the past 4-5 years (with the exception of when I was pregnant) I have been keeping myself at half marathon ready.  This has meant I am more or less always following a training plan.  Now I do this because I love the structure of a plan but also so that I can maintain the cardio base that I have built.  As a mother runner, I have a small window of time to get in my runs most of the time.  During the week I have about an hour and about 2 hours (that's pushing it) on the weekend to get in a long run.  What does that mean for me?  Lots of speed work!  What I have learned from Laura is that I may be training my body to hold onto weight especially around my middle!!!  During the reset (and I fully admit I am an absolute work in progress on this because it is changing a deep-seeded mindset) I tried easy runs, fasted runs (which most of my runs are fasted by nature), and speed work.  I also started incorporating more Omega 3s and a probiotic into my daily practice.  I will get back to you on that progress as I continue longer.  It has been hard to really mentally make myself run easy since I want to fit ALL THE MILES into NO MINUTES but I am willing to keep trying if it is going to mean a better feeling...and let's be honest to get rid of my belly!!

Have you ever changed your way of training?  Have you ever done a reset?

WIAW January Reset Week 1

Monday started the January reset that I am doing with Laura from Mommy Run Fast.  I know it has only been a few days into the reset but clearly this is exactly what my body needed because I am feeling so much better and far less of that bloated feeling!  Christmas with it's stress and sugar at every turn did a number on me and boy am I happy to be back on track!! 

As a working mom of 2 lovely ladies, it works best for me to prep ahead and also make the same meals from breakfast through lunch.  This way things can be prepped ahead of time and all I have to do in the morning is grab it out of the fridge and throw it into my lunch box!  This week I have been making it on the fly more but I planned out all my meals and have kept to the same things every day.  Some people need a lot of variety but I could honestly eat the same thing for weeks at a time!  When I was pregnant with our second daughter I ate a BLT almost every day for dinner for the first 3 months!!! 
Here is how my days go from wake-up through afternoon snack:
Coffee....sorry I just have to have something!!!

Breakfast is a green smoothie...protein powder, water, spinach, and a banana
Snack: almonds and a pear/apple
Lunch: I love this tuna avocado salad (Laura's recipe)!  I drench it in some lemon juice and YUM!!

When I get home I either have a handful of nuts or a protein shake depending on what time it is.  If it is too close to dinner I pass!

Dinners so far have been pretty basic but yesterday's dinner I LOVED!!

Brown rice, steamed edamame, and grilled salmon!!!  YUMMM!!!

I am missing my crock pot since some of the other resetters have been boasting about fabulous things they have made in theirs, but I am feeling great and back in control!!

Are you a variety kind of person or do you eat the same day in and day out?

Reflections on Reset

For 21 days I have been part of Laura's awesome January Reset Detox Challenge. 

This could not have come at a better time for me as I was done with feeling bloated from my holiday disgresions and ready to be focused and kick 2014 in the you know what!  With Laura's support and weekly meal plans/shopping lists, I was able to not only able to focus my eating but also learn so much about the things that make it run the way it should. 

Thoughts on the detox

Like I said I have learned some really great things while on this detox about my body and what types of food keeps it running well.  Here are just a few lessons learned.

• Sugar is not my friend...at least if I want to ever get rid of this belly fat!  I laugh because as a teenager I can remember surviving off of Mike and Ikes and Swedish Fish because they had no fat.  If I only knew then...or if I only had my metabolism from then now!
• Gluten is right up there with sugar....getting away from the sugar and gluten I was able to get rid of the bloating and sluggish feeling I was having.  I felt lighter and had more energy.  I had pizza a few days ago while out to dinner and I was burping it up and feel so sluggish the next day!!
• I could be a pescatarian...seriously I not only loved eating only fish (week1) but I felt so much lighter doing that.  I didn't miss any other meats at all but it was harder to plan since my hubby is certainly a carnivore!  
• I have to make a decision daily if I want to eat what I'm craving or eat what is going to make me feel good.  I know that eventually what makes me feel good will become what I am craving (at least I hope so!)
• Food is fuel...not a punishment or reward...Laura helped us to see that these changes weren't because we were punishing ourselves but because we wanted to fuel it the right way!

Favorite meals

Although I didn't try all the foods that I wanted to (I have some in the memory bank that I am ready to try) there were a few of my go-to meals that I loved in a pinch!

fritata with spinach, peppers, onions, and mushrooms

Tuna Avocado salad courtesy of Laura

My always favorite green monster smoothie

Scrambled eggs with spinach and mushrooms

grilled salmon with lemon juice over lettuce (forgot to picture the banana peppers...i die!)

Going forward

Like I have said several times in this post, I learned so much about how my body feels while certain foods in it and how it feels without those foods.  Even though I of course want to fuel myself with the best foods, I know that I am not perfect.  My goal going forward is to continue to be mindful of what foods I am eating and fill my cabinets and fridge with those foods that make me feel great!  Once I plan and prep my week, it is very easy to stay on track so this is a goal as well.  It was an awesome experience and I am thankful that I was able to do it!!

WIAW...Detox Style

I am 3 days into the Winter Detox with Laura and I have to say that I am feeling great!  Now please note that yes I still come home from school and want to eat my way through the cabinets...and yes I find myself reaching for my kids snacks absentmindedly....and sugar is on my mind after dinner...but the difference is I am stopping myself and I've survived!!

I honestly feeling empowered now that I have control over my eating.  I do realize that I have only been in this rodeo for 3 days and am probably in a honeymoon stage, but after the holidays I needed this...to regain control...to let my body recover!  One of the things that is awesome is that I am not hungry!!  Laura gave us a lot of recipes, a sample menu, and a shopping list to start us off...I've followed it pretty closely and I honestly am full most of the day!  Here I thought I would be ready to eat my fist!!  I wanted to share with you for WIAW what my last few days have been like with foods!

Breakfast

Eggs, mushrooms, and spinach

Snack

Lunch

Laura's awesome tuna avocado salad over greens with banana peppers

Dinner

Fritata with spinach, peppers, onions, and mushrooms

I know I had a lot of eggs today but it is just the way it worked out...I needed something fast and quick to make for dinner! 

I'm linking up with Peas and Crayons for WIAW!

Monday Motivation

I mean why not start the week with a bang!  Today I start the Winter Reset with Laura and start training for my first half in New Bedford in March.  This year I'm gunning for that sub 2hour time and I KNOW I'm going to have to put in the work!  I'm prepped to eat clean and I've got my Another Mother Runner Own It plan in hand!  Bring it 2014!! 

How are you starting your week?

Why We Eat

I can remember growing up that my father used to always say, "I eat to live...you all live to eat." Now while he did enjoy food, and had a crazy obsession with trying to find the hottest pepper our there and then see if he could find someone to eat it, he literally ate to live.  With Crohn's Disease, food for him is often times the enemy and a meal for him has not existed for many, many years.  Each time there was something in our family, there was food.  I can remember when my grandmothers (yes both of them in the same week) passed away there was a whole tray of sandwiches that we devoured not realizing we were hungry!  Food was comfort at times.  As I got older, food for me was just the opposite.  As life got crazy, my food intake dwindled.  Instead of stress eating I avoided it as a way to control something.

As the years have gone by my relationship to food and my emotions have gone in many different directions, leading me to the last few weeks.  I always in a way prided myself as a person who did not stress eat, but the other day as I snuck another bite of the chocolate treat on our kitchen counter I realized that I was no longer that person.  Stress was taking up space in our house and I was eating...a lot.

I'm disappointed in myself for letting my stress take over my ability to make a good decision...for undoing some of the progress I had been working so hard on.  I am working on taking a step away from the sweets and thinking about why I am actually eating...am I hungry?  Am I stressed/sad/worried?  There are so many reasons people eat...to celebrate, to mourn, to hide, to treat....but I want to be eating for one reason...to nourish!  I'm getting back to my HBBC2013 clean eats and listening to Amanda's daily emails! 

Why do you eat?

As if she knew I was needing a reset, Laura from Mommy Run Fast posted about her 21-Day Post Holiday Detox Challenge that she is hosting in January.  This is perfect timing for me since it will carry me from HBBC trough January...and apparently I can't be trusted alone these days!!

This challenge is for anyone who needs either a happier gut or like me needs that guidance and boost to a better overall feeling!  Laura is offering 3 different levels of the challenge from a solo venture, to group coaching with Facebook support, to group coaching with private sessions with Laura herself!  The challenge is running from January 6th through January 25th and you can sign up here!  Laura is also running an Early Bird Special if you register before December 15th for $10 off your registration by using the code "earlybird"! (who doesn't love saving money!) 

Sooooo...Who's detoxing with me?