Winter Hiking - good for brain and body!

Accomplished my third winter High Peak hike this year today! Snow conditions required snowshoes, which are much tougher to use than microspikes and require different muscle/balance use. I had a BLAST and am very proud of myself. About a 7 mile roundtrip hike this time (we wanted to have an "easier" day, though it is never truly easy to climb a High Peak - they are serious mountains).

I almost didn't summit - conditions were a little rough and the summit, well, you'll see in the photos. It's a bit scary. But I did summit :)

Pictures from Wright Peak:

In my super cozy down jacket - love it!

Me and my friend, Tara, mid-way up

Climbing up the OPEN, rocky, exposed, SUPER COLD, windy summit!!!

Huge person-size cairns so they can be easily seen, no matter the weather - Algonquin Mountain in the background (2nd tallest in NY)

Dramatic views caused by cold!

Algonquin seen from Wright

Colden seen from Wright

Descent just as tough as ascent (mentally, especially!)

Chris and I at the trailhead :)

Gorgeous, though cold, day! Feeling pretty awesome (and tired) after all is done. We started the hike at 7 AM (2.5 hour ride each way) and I am home by 4 PM! We hiked like rockstars, very proud of all of us :)

My brain is calm, my body is exercised, my spirit is lifted.

Hiking is good for the soul - moving around this world, connecting with nature, realizing how big and how small we all are, in the end.

Namaste!!

No Grains, No Gains - A Day in the Life....

NO GRAINS, NO GAINS: A GROUP A OF PRIMAL/PALEO/GRAIN FREE WOMEN WHO BLOG ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES/LIFE/BENEFITS WITHOUT GRAINS. A GREAT WAY FOR OTHERS (WHO MAY BE WANTING TO LOSE WEIGHT, REVERSE AN ACUTE/CHRONIC HEALTH TREND, AND/OR TRANSITION FROM COMMERCIAL WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMS) TO READ ABOUT REAL LIFE WOMEN WHO ARE LIVING THE LIFE AND SUCCEEDING!

Our topic this month is "A Day in the Life..." and I am using pictures to tell my story (so if you have a slower connection, it might take a minute to load up!). 

I wanted to do a day where I went IN to work, since I mostly work at home, to show you how I prep for heading into an office and classroom with food and such. But, alas, my chosen day was a snow day, so here's my reality! If you notice throughout the pictures, I have all homemade food, but I'll let you in on a little secret... the ONLY thing I cooked this day was eggs! The rest of the time, I just heated up pre-prepared foods. I do my food prep in the beginning of the week, with some little additions throughout. I like it super easy (especially when Chris is traveling, as he was this week, I don't go through so much trouble to make a big sit down dinner) to make sure I have time/energy for errands, work, exercise, etc.

Anyway, here's my day:

I woke up to see this at 7 AM, after getting an email that school was canceled. I knew what this would mean. Shoveling. A day inside. General annoyances. - the storm was bad enough that it really was a "stay inside" kind of day, getting on the roads was dangerous.

This is what I do first every morning... I call it pre-breakfast because it is often only 140-170 calories. Just a snack to get food in my stomach, get the metabolism started, give me some energy. Not a full meal. Also my vitamins and water! (Don't want to take vitamins on an empty stomach)

Typical cat watching me feed the dog his breakfast, wishing HE got canned food, too.

Shoveling.. not my favorite thing (usually a Chris kind of chore) but is a good workout. Takes about an hour to do the front steps, sidewalk, driveway and back patio. Shoveling done by 9AM.

Koda wanted to go out, still, and since I was all bundled up in my snow gear from shoveling already, I figured why not! Notice the woman cross-country skiing down the road.

No one had shoveled yet, really.

Koda really love the snow.

Around 10AM - only thing I cooked that day, eggs. With spinach, roasted sweet potatoes, avocado, ketchup and water. The eggs look like that because I sprinkled flax seeds all over them.

Pre-breakfast and breakfast usually add up to under 500 calories, but I was hungry from shoveling, so I added a little more food.

Didn't have to go in to school to teach, so I took the opportunity to settle down at my home office to work on my dissertation. With a mug of coffee with organic creamer (I'm off the chemical creamer, but still using cream - my only dairy I still consume).

My messy but cozy little home office nook.

I don't really eat a MEAL again throughout the day. That's pretty typical for me. I like small mini meals throughout the day. If Chris is home, I will combine two mini-meals into an actual meal to sit and eat with him. This is borscht! Low calories, high nutrition. Water.

Moar working.

Break from working - workOUT! This is a hard circuit and I usually don't make it all the way through to the last plank, hahah. But sometimes I do. This day, I did.

Getting stronger!! I am doing at-home workouts (varying between leg strength, core strength, general cardio and yoga) 6 days a week. It is paying off.

Mini-meal 2 - around 2 PM, sauteed brussels sprouts and onions with soy sauce.

Mini-meal 3: nitrate-free deli turkey and mustard... and my little treat, SELTZER! I had this soon after the brussels sprouts, very hungry from workout.

Shoveling round 2. Another hour here.

Immediate after shoveling snack (SO HUNGRY) - banana and sunflower seed butter. I put cinnamon on top because it's very beneficial to your health to have cinnamon every day. I use a lot of spices and herbs and the like in EVERYTHING, whether garlic or black pepper or cayenne or cardamom or coriander or or or or..... you get the point. Spices make you feel more satisfied with your food and have a myriad of health benefits.

Pretty normal for me to have eaten about 75% of my calories by 5PM... I know already I will up my calorie allotment to 1700-1800 because I worked out so much this day, it is set at 1500 to remind me that I am trying to lose a few pounds. But I rarely stick with the recommended amount.

Cat says I am dumb for going outside at all. So much cozier in bed.

Worked hard today, self-motivated, so I wanted a reward. Lit up a candle....

....and took a bubble bath!!! I've learned I've needed to do these things for myself, especially on weeks when Chris is away. I am not getting the companionship or help that a partner brings to the table, and if I do something nice for myself, it makes it all a little less stressful!


Koda was loving it outside and just played with his ball all by himself in the snow (throwing it and then searching for it in the snowbanks)... he didn't want to come in and pouted whenever I tried to get him in.

Last mini-meal: butternut squash with turkey "mix" - I mix them up and put salsa on top. Really loved how this "mix" came out - nice and flavorful with Mexican-type spices, lots of onions, mushrooms and tomatoes. Very nutritious. Once again, this was all pre-cook (the mix and the squash) early in the week so that the rest of my week just entails EATING, little to no prep or cooking. I'll gladly give up a few hours early in the week to enjoy the fruits of my labor for the next six days :)

Settling down for the night... snow all shoveled, words all typed, food all eaten, life all lived... time for dog cuddles.

Oh, but first, a little treat.... hot cocoa with vanilla almond milk. Settled down in front of the TV for the night, with the dog, with my cocoa. Kind of made the semi annoying cooped up day worth it :)

So this is how I ended my day... calories are closer to 1700 actually because I ate an extra bite of sunflower seed butter after taking this picture, hahahaha 

This is generally how I like my nutrient balance to be every day... ideally, I would take 5% from the carbs and put them in the fat category. But not every day can be perfect. Some days I eat more fat than carbs. I was super hungry today due to all the burning, though, so the higher carbs are normal.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd the climax of my evening - CRIMINAL MINDS!!! <3 JJ

So, this was actually a pretty normal day for me. I usually will, you know, LEAVE THE HOUSE and do some grocery shopping or errand running or work or visit a friend, whatever. But the snow made that not happen at all.

But as far as the food, exercise, and animal shenanigans.. that's all the norm. I prep TONS of vegetables, at least one meat/veggie mix, and other assorted snacks for the week. I eat mostly veggies, peppered with lean proteins and fruit and fat (like the avocado). I aim for COLOR, COLOR, COLOR :D Seriously, it's a goal, because then I feel comfortable that I got a well-balanced day of nutrition. I also aim to eat my GOMBS everyday (Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries and Seeds).

I always walk the dog and I always do a workout (some days it is less intense though!). 

I always drink tons of water. Water with every meal and snack.

These are just things I have taught myself to make habits. It took a long time to teach myself these things. I adopted a new healthy habit (like taking a vitamin or always having a cup of water with food) every few months. Until, after a few years, they were all just there. And all my days were healthy, and my weight was consistent, and I felt really great. And those days where I don't do so well (like my impromptu girls night) don't really matter that much - because 95% of my days are filled with good habits.

It's not so hard, in the end. Ten years ago, I would have looked at this pictorial spread and go "OH MY DEAR LORD - that seems AWFUL!! That woman must be SO HUNGRY and tired and BORED!!!" But the exact opposite is true, though I would never have believed it. I wake up with energy, gain energy throughout the day, and just plain-old feel awesome. There is no bloaty, inflamed, lethargic crap dragging me down, like when I used to eat a more Standard American Diet.

And I am grateful for these healthy habits that gave me this healthy body. I will never forget that I am alive and well today because I kept my body strong. I get to cuddle with my dog and talk to Chris and laugh at dumb Facebook stuff because I put the effort into being healthy.

I love my days (most of the time!).

If you want to see how other women who follow a paleo/primal template live their day-to-day lives, give my fellow bloggers a read:

Gwen http://www.skynsurf.com/

Jeanette http://wolfforlife.blogspot.com/

Lynda http://achangeoflife.blogspot.com/

Leigh  http://poonapalooza.blogspot.com/

Karen http://gardengirlkp.blogspot.com/

Stiffness!

I am a broken mess of a human being. A lot of snow fell in the area yesterday and I spent a good portion of the day shoveling. (Chris is traveling so it was all my chore!)

I also have been doing some pretty intense workouts from Monday to Wednesday. I've been wanting to build some strength and endurance for the winter hikes we've been doing on the weekends. We plan to do another hike this weekend, as well. So I've been taking it easier on Thursdays and Fridays so that I'm not super sore on Saturday for the actual hike.

But add 2+ hours of shoveling to my normal circuit workouts (I did a core workout yesterday, arms/cardio on Tuesday and legs on Monday).. Ow. Ow, ow, ow.

And I did need to do a little shoveling this morning, took me about 20 minutes. I'm actually writing this blog post now to sort of put off the dog walk but I know I have to do today. My quads are actually still sore from the Monday work out.

No pain, no gain?

It's true, though.

I am significantly stronger than I was last December. My muscles are popping out again and I just feel overall stronger and fitter!

It's worth it.

Looking forward to the hike this weekend - third weekend in a row! The more you hike, the easier it gets (mentally especially!!). Also, my improved fitness through the past month should add to my hiking ability.

Had a great breakfast of eggs, spinach, tomatoes and avocado this morning - snacked on a fruit/coconut milk smoothie I blended up. 

Now time to man up and get that dog walked. He needs exercise just like I do!

Namaste, friends.

Snow Day, another article against getting rid of grains

For the very first time in my life, I did NOT want my university to close due to snow. I was supposed to lecture today, and now that I can't, I am going to fall behind in my plans! But, oh well, such is life, I will just warn the kids that I might have to talk really fast to get in all the material for a day or two :)

The snow fell hard and is STILL falling hard. And Chris is not here (traveling for work), and our snowblower is HUGEMONGOUS. Like, insanely so. I don't know how to use it, and kind of don't want to... it's a monster to push around. So I went out at 8 AM and did the first round of shoveling. Exhausting. But, a girl's work is never done - and I got Koda out on a short walk. Not too many people had shoveled yet, but he was desperate to go, so I relented as I was already all geared up for the snow from shoveling.

Oh, and I weighed 122 today. So my little night out with the girls was easily mitigated by all my good behaviors before and after! More days of those same good, healthy choices ahead of me :)

So, here's this article:

The Smoke and Mirrors Behind Wheat Belly and Grain Brain

I don't like to pretend there are no critics of the way I eat (no grains, no dairy... focus on fruit/veg/nuts/lean meat). But I think this article is absurd.

It is claiming that these diets without grains are hurtful and that grains are one of the healthiest things we can eat. Well, we'll agree to disagree on that front. It is claiming that people who give up grains think they have carte blanche to eat "prime rib and cheddar cheese." Um, okay.

See, here's the difference: an unhealthy diet is an unhealthy diet, whether that diet includes grains or not. If you make bad food choices, you do. That's the bottom line. I was eating a healthy diet when I ate grains (and maintained good health for the most part aside from some inflammation) and I eat a VERY healthy diet off grains. In fact, a more healthy diet without grains because I've replaced all my grains (pasta, bread, rice, etc) with sweet potatoes, squashes, and tons of green veggies. I have NOT replaced my grains with more, more, MORE MOAR MOAR red meat and grease.

That's why, in the end, whatever you eat.... I think you should mostly eat vegetable matter :)

It is also assuming that people who don't eat grains eat a low carbohydrate diet.... um, I eat plenty of carbs (fruits and veggies have tons of carbs... and I eat a lot of starchy plant matter, like squash and bananas, etc).

They also claim that people who give up grains are ruining the earth by funding the meat industry. Maybe some people are. But if you are following a HEALTHY diet, you are not really replacing grains with more meat. You are filling in the gaps with most veggies, then fruits, and extra fats (avocados, coconut oils, etc). Perhaps I eat a touch more meat than I used to, but not by much.

I also am a proponent of local, grass-fed, humanely raised meats. We buy from local farmers, the local co-op, and make the best choices possible at the grocery store. We eat LESS meat to be able to afford BETTER, safer, healthier meat.

So... I shared because, why not? Why pretend no one has a problem with my diet? But I also think it's garbage.

Bad science, bad logic all over the place.

Alright... off to eat and get to work at home on this snow day!!

Namaste <3

Honesty time!

So, as you all well know, I have been stressing and struggling a bit lately (it was pointed out that I might be having some emotional reactions to the whole "almost dying" craziness... I could definitely see that).

Add to that- Chris is out of town this week.

I'm not in the best space.

So I did something I normally wouldn't have- walked down to my neighborhood bar (it was its grand opening actually!) where several people I knew were gathering for happy hour to try it out. I was just craving friendly human interaction. I told myself on the walk I wouldn't drink - I'd had a really great, healthy day eating-wise and exercise-wise. Didn't want to screw it up.

But I had two beers. Then my friend invited me to dinner with her and another girl - I was already feeling loose, so I went and had a GREAT time laughing and talking with the girls. But I drank two more beers and ate a sandwich.

So my night was fun and relaxing and much needed. I forgot my stress for many hours and fell asleep fast. I laughed a ton - in a really real and deep way (sometimes laughter can be dry). I connected with others in a way I haven't been able to in a few weeks.

I kind of.... felt like myself.

The things I consumed didn't need to happen, though. (Though I imagine the effects of the alcohol are what allowed me to completely relax and enjoy my evening- I've been so strict and ascetic for a while now, and with nothing but things like baths or walks to de-stress... eventually the stress builds UP). Like I said, I'm not in a great place mentally so I'm not always making the BEST decision. I'm so painfully human.

New day, moving on. Picking up the healthy behaviors right where I left off. 

That's my reality.

Namaste.

What I Did for the Super Bowl

Ahhhh... Superbowl time!! My truly least favorite time of the year (holiday wise)!

I hate watching professional sports (I enjoy watching the Olympics every 2 years- watching truly amazing athletes at their peak!). But, in general, I have a very unpopular opinion of football (family, friends, online, etc- everyone loves it!). To me, it is a boring waste of time ... Imagine if everyone played football the same amount of time they watched it! Also, most of my friends use the game watching as extra excuses to drink beer and eat crap. 

The Superbowl is the climax of these bad behaviors that seem to epitomize American behavior: couch sitting, TV watching, overeating, celebrity idolizing, etc. I know humans throughout time have loved watching games and talking about the athletes (Roman gladiators, Mesoamerican ballgame, etc) but I think our culture takes the obsession to a frenzied, unhealthy level.

Needless to say, I didn't watch the game, haha. I didn't go to my friend's party (though I had to listen to a conversation about the absurd junk food that would be there). 

What did I do? Lived my normal day. Recovered from my long hike (calves were insanely sore still!). Grocery shopped and prepped for the week - we got some amazing produce and our kitchen is overflowing with colorful food :)

I've been OVERhungry after these winter hikes- 8+ hours of constant movement in freezing temperatures seems to trick my body into thinking it is in survival mode. I definitely overate after the hike and had extra snacks yesterday, putting me at the high end of my range: 123. I feel much more normalized today, going to be eating my usual meals and snacks.

Off to start the day- get to school and get some things done before returning home to walk the dog :)

Namaste!! (And please don't be offended if you like football, to each their own! I have my own vices, football watching is just one that I simply do not understand and wish didn't exist, hahaha. Yet I am but one woman whose opinion on that doesn't matter!)

Hiking as Mood Booster

First, to every single person who commented on my last post: thank you! You all said some things I needed to hear, gave me advice, and made me feel cared about. I am brutally honest on this blog about the realities of my life (my disordered eating, my grief and depression) because I want to connect with others, get through this together. Let others who are struggling know they aren't alone. And to let people know that maintaining a healthy body is possible and IMPORTANT when fighting depression. I am not AS honest about it in real life, to my real life friends, because it is so much harder to admit face-to-face that I am sick. But, as I said, doctor's appointments are approaching and there is light at the end of this tunnel.

So.

Went on my hike yesterday - another 9 miler up a High Peak (Phelps Mountain this time!). I carried my snowshoes on my pack, but never put them on. The snowfall hasn't been much this month and the trail was really packed out. We did have to wear microspikes to deal with the ice and lack of traction, though.

Let me just say: what a WORLD of difference a week makes! I felt so much stronger, so much more capable, and had not one bit of trouble climbing the mountain. In fact, I felt exhilarated.

The last mile of the hike is straight ascent, too. And I just walked right on up (obviously paused a few times to catch my breath) but never took a full break. My heart, lungs, muscles and brain were all working efficiently and harmoniously :D

I am still pretty stressed and obviously dealing with some depressive issues - but I am not so deep into these problems that I am not doing the things I need to do to get me out to the other side. The hike, the fresh air, the beautiful scenery, the feeling of ACCOMPLISHMENT and strength.... it all helped a ton. Best medicine there is!!!

Best not to wallow, sometimes. And sometimes, that's really hard to remember. But yesterday was so worth it.

Some pictures from the day:

If you can enlarge - there is a bard owl hidden among the branches :D So cool!!!

My big hiking group hanging out on a frozen lake :D

The icy conditions!

My calves are really sore this time (last week it was my quads). Going to do some yoga and walk the dog today to stretch them out!

All my love to you out there <3