A New Baby, Airports and 8000 miles

Hello My Friends;





I am trying to get back into the swing of things since I returned home from Alberta, Canada on Saturday.


My brother and his fiance, Nathalie, welcomed their first child, Sydney William MacInnis on February 13th at 3:45 am, approximately 8 hours after Aunti Allyson arrived on their doorstep! Mom, Dad, Baby and Auntie are all doing well despite several sleepless nights. Fortunately, for me, my sleep schedule can resume to it's normal state. It will be a different story for Nathalie and Chris for a little while I'm sure.


I arrived home Saturday evening around 7 pm, went to bed around 10:30 and slept until 11:15 the next morning!!!!! I couldn't believe I slept that long. Obviously, my body had some catching up to do.


I'm wondering if other people struggle while on vacation as much as I do. I find it much harder to stay disciplined nutritionally. I made a decent attempt at drinking water, but as usual, sugar and carbs were screaming my name every day! Now home, I am working on getting back on track. Actually, I'm pretty sure I wasn't quite fully on the track before I left. Maybe that's why I became completely derailed on vacation. No sense in beating myself up over it as it won't negate what I ate. I'm on a journey, at least that's what I keep telling myself.


Now let's talk airports. I don't really know how to start this rant. I just get so sad and frustrated at all the overweight people in airports. Yes, I know, overweight people are everywhere, but it just seems that I take more notice in airports when all I have to do is sit and people watch. I saw this one obese man sitting on a bench drinking a bottle of coke. He took a can of chewing tobacco out of his pocket, unwrapped it and threw the wrapper on the floor. Of course, getting off the bench and walking to a garbage can would have been clearly too much effort for this man. I realize that I am probably sounding quite judgemental here but seriously it was just a sad sight to behold. And while we are on the topic of airports, how about all that lovely airport food. It's everywhere you turn. I do appreciates the Starbucks Chai latte and Cinnamon Dolce latte :) And who can afford it all?? This time I was smart and brought my own snacks so the only indulgence I enjoyed was Starbucks. Perhaps airports should consider putting workout areas throughout the space and see what happens. If you have a long layover why not get some exercise in while you wait for you next plane. I think I'm on to something.



Anway, I taught HIT last night and am feeling it this morning. Taking a break from exercise is good but oh so hard to jump back in. But I'm back and ready to take the next step on my journey to optimal fitness and health. I just started reading Primal Blueprint and what I am really excited about is that David wants to read it to!! If you haven't already, check out marksdailyapple.com. I look forward to keeping you posted on my progress. I hope you can keep this little secret....I'm going to gradually change Evan's (my 14 year old son) diet as well (at least at home). It will be interesting to see his reaction :)

As for the 8000 miles, that is roughly how far I travelled in 8 days to see my new nephew. I'm not sure if I'm feeling the effects of the long distance or could it be the lack of clean eating and exercise?

I hope all is well in your world and look forward to any comments you are willing to share.

Peace

No More Chronic Cardio!

What would you say if I told you it was okay to stop spending hours a week on a treadmill?

Every time I walk into my local gym and see the same people doing the same thing on the treadmill, elliptical or stepper day in and day out, I feel sad and a little bit frustrated. I have suggested to people in the past that they are doing too much cardio and they look at me like I have three heads! Yet, they rarely achieve the results they are looking for by doing the hours of cardio.

I don't think getting fit needs to be as complicated or time consuming as we make it. I'm here to tell you that 80% of your fitness success comes from your nutrition. That's right, 80%. The other 20% comes from the genes you inherited and exercise. So the adage "You are what you eat" is very accurate. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Check out what Mark Sisson, from Mark's Daily Apple has to say on the subject of long bouts of cardio.

"The fact is, our hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t ramp up their heart rates significantly for over an hour every day, and I don’t think we should either. They walked at a very low level of exertion, burning almost entirely stored fats. Once you get into the zones where less fat is burned and where there’s a big dependency on glucose to fuel muscles, your body goes into a less efficient mode of fuel oxidation. There are biochemical costs associated with this shift. Your muscles and liver can only hold 500-600 grams of precious glycogen (stored glucose) at any one time, which means about 2 hours’ worth for the best trained individuals and less for most people. That means that to come back and work out hard the next day requires at least 600 more grams of carbs every day. That’s just too much glucose and insulin to deal with every day."

"This kind of training (and diet) raises cortisol levels, increases oxidative damage, systemic inflammation, depresses the immune system and decreases fat metabolism. About the only thing good it does is improve cardiac muscle strength – and even then you get too the point of diminishing returns fairly quickly."

Instead of spending hours in a gym, Mark suggests instead a few sessions of sprints and interval training along with lifting heavy things. He is also a firm believer in lots of play and spending some time in the sun every day (when the sun is available of course). I don't know about you, but I really like the sounds of that!

I'm heading out of town to spend time with family, but plan on starting the process of going primal when I return. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Be well :)

The Primal Blueprint - Paleolithic Diet

Good Morning My Friends;

Although I am sitting here nursing a nasty head cold, I feel peaceful. I did something to take care of me for a change. Feeling really lousy last evening, I made the decision to cancel all of my clients today. That gave me the opportunity to rest this morning and to research and blog.

I have been doing some research on the paleolithic diet. I'm intrigued. I think it makes sense. I think I'm going to try it. Being in the fitness profession, I do alot of reading on many schools of thought regarding nutrition. I recently came across a popular blog called Mark's Daily Apple. This guy is 55 years old and in incredible physical condition. His book, titled The Primal Blueprint, outlines 10 laws that Mark lives by. They are:

Law #1 - Eat Lots of Plants & Animals
Law #2 - Avoid Poisonous Things
Law # 3 - Move Frequently at a Slow Pace
Law # 4 - Lift Heavy Things
Law # 5 - Sprint Once in a While
Law # 6 - Get Adequate Sleep
Law # 7 - Play
Law # 8 - Get Adequate Sunlight
Law # 9 - Avoid Stupid Mistakes
Law # 10 - Use Your Brain

You can find this book on Amazon with several very good reviews.

With so many "newest and best" diets flooding the market today, it's hard know which is truly "the best". My advice is be willing to try different things. Listen to your body. Don't get stuck in a nutrition rut. Educate yourself. Eat foods in their natural form as often as possible. Avoid prepackaged food. Breathe. Forgive. Laugh. Love.Follow your Passion.

Have a wonderful day.

P.S. The next blog: No More Chronic Cardio!

Commit2Blog

Ugghh.....so this blogging deal isn't as easy as one would think. First of all, it's to find the time to sit down and do it. Second of all, it's to come up with something clever and interesting to blog about. Neither of which are easy tasks!

I have this fantasy that I am going to become famous by blogging. The things I blog about will be so inspiring and life changing that everyone will be checking my blog every day just to see what I have to say. But really, who am I kidding? I am just a simple girl who lives in Maine and helps people sweat and attempts to motivate people to take charge of their health and fitness. But hey, you never know, people become famous for the strangest things. William Hung comes to mind here or Larry the General with his catchy tune "Pants on the Ground". Let's not forget Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Rielle Hunter......the list goes on. So I guess it's possible that I could become famous for inspirational and motivational health and fitness blogging. I suppose I have to commit to blogging on a regular basis in order for that to happen.

So my promise to you, my loyal and dedicated followers, is to blog at least once a week. Oh sure I'll do it more often if I can make the time, but for now I won't put too much pressure on myself. I don't want to become famous too quickly :)

Have a great Saturday!

Decisions

I'm going to blog about decisions soon, I just have to decide when :)

Happy 2010

Yes it is here....a new decade awaits us. Imagine the possibilities! Let me share my New Year's Eve with you :)
The day started off uneventfully. I arose at 7:00 am and David said to me, "I thought you were going to sleep in." To which I replied, "I did." I had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts, ground flaxseed, cinnamon, some of Kimberly's delicious sugar-free banana bread, and some green tea. I ran some errands, called my uncle in Cape Breton, and waited for David to come home from work.

Our plan was to travel to Waterville to spend the evening with friends. We questioned the safety of driving to Waterville in the snow but decided to go anyway. Well, it almost didn't happen because David and I had a huge argument over the clothing choice of our 14 year old son. Let's just say the drive to Waterville was a quiet one.

Now if you recall from my last blog, these friends of ours live in the land of sugar. Yes, there is candy in virtually every corner of this home. There is an entire candy table downstairs in the family room. There was a gumball machine in our bedroom, get the picture. We had only been there about 20 minutes when Evan came to me with a chocolate in his hand demanding that I eat it because it was so delicious. I told him I would but I wanted to have something a little more substantial first. This appeased him and he went away. Well I am here to tell you people that I held on to that chocolate until 12:10 am!!! At one point, the hostess tried to throw it away but I rescued it! I ate that chocolate and some other chocolate and went to bed. I drank no alcohol, instead I enjoyed some pomegranate sparkling water and some seltzer. I dreamed of chocolate overnight and ate some on the drive home this morning. I have continued to consume chocolate periodically through out the day and will enjoy some wine given to me by my step-son for Christmas with dinner this evening. I will then taste some gingerbread that has been in my freezer for about three weeks and yes, I may even consume some more chocolate before all is said and done!

You see, I decided to give myself this day to indulge in some sugary delights but tomorrow it's back to business. I feel too good to let it all go by the wayside now. I had honey in my tea for the first time in a month and it was a little slice of heaven. I will most likely continue to have honey in my tea as honey has so many healthful properties. I haven't quite figured out how I will incorporate sugar into my diet from this point forward but I can tell you this, I have changed! I have discovered discipline where I thought there was none. I am stronger than the sugar that tempts me and my strong healthy body will be the proof.

I will leave you with this and my wish for you to find the discipline to do what you thought you could not do.

Allyson


There's No Challenge You Cannot Face
Challenges make us stronger.
They push us to try harder.
They allow us to be brave.
They offer us courage.
They engender hope in us.
And sometimes we go farther
than we ever dreamed possible.......
just by believing that we can.
~Ashley Rice

It Hasn't Been Easy

Hello Folks;
Well, I am on Day 30 of my "no sugar" goal. It has been my most challenging goal to date. I would like to say it has been perfect but that would not be totally truthful. There was the holiday party with the dish that appeared to be a casserole but turned out to be some delicious pineapple dish. It was on my plate so I ate it! It was a small portion, I promise. Then came the day after Christmas. We had company for dinner and I made my very first pumpkin pie. It looked beautiful and how could I not have a piece of my very own pie?? I enjoyed a glass a wine with dinner and a piece (and a half with whipped cream (no sugar). One of our guests hails from Germany and brought with her some traditional German desserts. Wouldn't it be rude to not at least try a small sampling? So I did, a small sampling of German desserts. David was king enough to take care of the rest of the pie but not before I had another medium sized bite (with whipped cream). And then I went to Kimberly's yesterday and she hands me a bag of Icelandic Dark Chocolate. Here is my confession - I had one small piece of it before I put it in the fridge for safe-keeping. Right now David is reading this and is in shock that he had no idea that there is delicious Icelandic choclolate in the refrigerator. Don't worry honey, I'll share it with you :)

So there you have it my friends, the honest-to-goodness truth. I have found that this goal was easier in the beginning and as the end of the month quickly approaches I am wondering how I am going to maintain this goal as I honestly believe it is one worth maintaining. Having more energy, sleeping better, and seeing progress on the scale will have to be my motivators. As for New Year's Eve.....I am going to the house of dear friends where there will be sugary treats galore! I plan on running (or walking, depending on the weather) a 5K on New Year's Day so indulging in alcohol or too much sugar will not a great race make. Wish me luck.

Yesterday, I made this delicious healthy scone recipe and wanted to share it with you. It calls for sugar but I chose to omit it. The applesauce and dates are enough sweetness for me.

Happy 2010 my friends!

Delicious Date Scones (From Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook)
1 1/2 cups of spelt, kamut or whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buttermilk or skim milk soured with 1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp of Sucanat or rapadura sugar
1/2 cup pitted, chopped dates

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment or wax paper.
3. In a bowl of a food processor with the dough hook attachment, place flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add buttermilk, and applesauce. Pulse until a ball of dough forms, the process for several moments. The kneading helps to form elasticity in the dough. Now add chooped dates and process again until evenly distributed. If you prefer to knead by hand, add the dates before kneading.
4. Remove dough form bowl and place on floured working surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough t a thickness of about 3/4 of an inch. Cut into eight triangles and place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until scones are golden brown on top.
Enjoy!