Day 6 of no grains!

This is not going to sound believable but I feel better. I feel lighter and have more energy (though last night I was super tired and slept for about 9 hours, but that had to do with the weekend not the no grains). My knee feels better, I ran faster today than I have all summer, and I overcame a HUGE  groups of challenges this weekend...going out to dinner with a group, a wedding AND opening day of football party! I learned a bunch.

I learned that you cannot assume anything on a menu. When a menu says, "tilapia sauteed with garlic & butter served over spinach" what they might mean is "tilapia fried with a coating that may or may not contain bread served over spinach with a side of pasta". I pushed the pasta off of my plate immediately. As for the fish, the waitress avoided our table so I never found out what the coating was. I simply removed it and ate the inside. Lesson #1 learned.

The wedding. I thought that I had eaten a good amount of food prior to going. I had steak & eggs in the morning and a green smoothie as we headed out to the wedding. I was wrong :( Even the fresh veggies had a dressing on them so I didn't eat them. Luckily my husband came up with the idea of me to eat the toppings of a pizza slice so that I didn't kill people. Lesson #2 learned, always be prepared.

Football season has started and I love me some football. With my friends, football means beer and snacks and pasties (a meat & potato pie) and pizza and hot dogs and the list goes on and on. I was already taking a break from alcohol since September 2 so I had a couple of extra days practice on that front. I was lucky that my sister-in-law provided me with some walnuts, pickles, olives and fruit to munch on as a snack. I made a pork chile verde that was delicious and hardly any leftovers (a huge hit). So no real lessons needed to be learned from this event, but I showed myself that I can enjoy a party without grains and without alcohol.

So how am I feeling overall? Pretty incredible. As I said, I ran faster today and my knee didn't hurt as much. I'm not running as far as I want to but that has nothing to do with grains. I'm finding all sorts of delicious recipes to make and I'm excited about them. I went overboard at the Farmers Market yesterday and love that I did. I even found a CSA that we can join...had some of the fresh eggs yesterday morning and OMG I forgot how amazing they taste. Plus the fact that you don't refrigerate them. I also purchased organic milk to add to my coffee/drink and it tasted like cream.

Oh and yesterday I didn't even want dinner! I did have 2 (small) bowls of chile verde during the game but that's never stopped me before! I'm amazed.

So here is what I ate this weekend and today.
Saturday:
Breakfast was steak & eggs (scrambled) with some cheese, coffee
Lunch was a green smoothie (random leafy greens, 1/2 an avocado, 4 strawberries, 1 piece of pineapple)
Snacks/dinner was the top of a slice of pizza, some nuts and when I got home from the wedding a few pieces of leftover steak

Sunday:
Breakfast: A kind bar and then a little bit later 1 fresh scrambled egg, coffee
Lunch: chile verde, walnuts, 2 bites of the inside of a pasty (meat, onion & potato)
Snacks: homemade kale chips

Monday:
Breakfast: tomatoes, zucchini and cheese mixed in the 2 scrambled eggs. Coffee
Lunch: salad with raw zucchini, tomatoes, feta cheese, walnuts, roasted tomatoes and I made a dressing of grapeseed oil and apple cider vinegar
Dinner: I'm slow cooking pork with corriander, garlic, onions, and spices

***GROSS STUFF***
I didn't realize how terrible my poop was! Pooping is almost an awesome experience now. It happens a couple of times a day and is very easy. I know it's weird but that's the biggest change in 6 days, my poop and pooping schedule.

NO MORE GROSS STUFF
I'm reading Wheat Belly and also reading a bunch of blogs. This article was very interesting.

OK now to get through the rest of the work day :)

Day 3 of 30 days without grains

I feel really good today. Last night was my first workout and I had lots of energy for it. My knee stops aching when I'm working out and today it's not as achy (yay I can get a run in this weekend then!) I could have gone longer but decided I should go home.

I also went overboard at Costco yesterday. Organic chicken breast, pork shoulder (not sure if it was organic or not right now but I do know it will be delicious) but I'm making a chili verde recipe for the Bears game on Sunday (just found a turkey and chicken version!). And I also got some skirt steak (last nights dinner), cabot seriously sharp cheddar (my top 3 favorite cheese), and some feta cheese...all in bulk of course because it's Costco. I was really happy about the chicken breasts since it was $5.99/pound but I don't think I've seen Organic Free Range chicken for only $5.99/pound in the Chicago area before. So we have some food ready to go. I may end up only using half of the pork and freezing some, but everything else is frozen.

Anyway...today I had the same breakfast of a caprese omelette but my lunch is much different. I had made a garlic zucchini soup earlier in the week with my zucchini from my garden so I'm going to enjoy that with a sausage. I have a banana and strawberries with raw nuts for a snack today. Dinner depends on what company we have over for dinner...it may be leftover steak.

Now gross stuff...you can skip this part if you get grossed out about things easily.

POOP!

I am not always the most regular person in the world, but this morning I've gone twice already and they were very nice poops.

***NO MORE GROSS STUFF***

My skin isn't changing yet, but I'm keeping an eye on that one.

I do feel like my back is less achy in addition to the knee...and I woke up this morning at 5:30...decided to stay in bed until 6 but I still woke up at 5:30...next week I will try the getting out of bed when I wake up at 5:30. I do think I have more energy.

Oh how am I forgetting this part! I'm sitting right in front of donuts. I can smell them and they smell super sweet, like too sweet. Mind you I had a donut as recent as last weekend so the fact that I can smell them and that I don't really like the smell right now makes me happy. Though writing about the donuts is making me hungry so I will grab a handful of nuts.

Lastly I did have coffee with milk this morning. No sugar. I have always taken sugar in my coffee. I really wanted coffee though and I wasn't about to add sugar to it so I just added a little extra milk. It may have also helped that I made pumpkin coffee :) Not sweetened just flavored...I'm super glad I got that one Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte in before starting this challenge...as well as that one Pumking Pumpkin Beer in :)

I will try to get a run in tonight or tomorrow morning so I hope to have an update on that front...my fear about going grain free was always "but I need carbs to run so I can't do no carbs"...I think I just was lying to myself. If I really need carbs, I will have a sweet potato with lots of butter, but right now I'm trying to avoid the starches, at least for the first week.

30 days without wheat & grains - a new challenge

Yesterday I decided that I needed a new challenge...not just that I needed a challenge but I needed to do something. My stress level has been crazy, my weight has shot up, my knees ache, my skin is looking rough and I just feel depressed and icky.

After doing a bit of reading I decided it was time I looked at my diet as to the problem. I've decided to do some food elimination and see what that does. So out with the wheat and the grains for 30 days. I'm technically on day 2 just wasn't sure if I wanted to blog about it.

I think, after watching friends of mine take this challenge, it will be good for me. In addition to no wheat and grains I'm also removing alcohol and trying to not put sugar in my coffee...we'll see about that one though.

So yesterday was day 1 and I wasn't really prepared but went for it anyway. I typically have eggs for breakfast and that's what I did yesterday. Eggs and cheese and sausage :) Lunch was an apple and a banana with some nuts...a snack was cheese and dinner was chicken and salad...the chicken was similar to Chipotle chicken...plus some homemade salsa and guacamole.

Today I was more prepared. Breakfast was eggs with tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese. Lunch was cucumber & tomato salad with a few olives, some cheese & olive oil AND more guacamole (avocado is full of good fat and it's delicious). My workout snack (not sure if it will be pre or post right now) is a green smoothie made with strawberries, a little pineapple, mixed greens and weeds and some coconut oil and then I will have some nuts (need protein) and dinner will be steak fajitas no tortilla.

Drinks are water, tea, carbonated water, and green smoothies...coffee too if I can do it without the sugar.

I think I slept better last night but I feel it's impossible to tell this early...I'm excited to see what happens over the course of the next 29 days. I'm working out where I work and today is a weigh in so yes I'm on day 2 but I doubt I dropped 10 pounds from yesterday :)

I just want to feel better, have my skin go back to normal and not have my fat clothes be tight on me anymore. It would also be great if my nose stopped dripping all of the time, but that may be a different problem all together.

Running for Boston

Over a week ago I ran my first race of the season, the Shamrock Shuffle. It's the largest 8k out there, and it's held in Chicago each year. I've run it most years of the 10 years I've lived in Chicago. Approximately 45,000 people sign up each year and about 35,000 show up to run it...plus tons of fans cheering along the way. I have a love/hate relationship with this race, but I do tend to love it more than hate it which is why I've run it 8 times. That race is the official start of running season in Chicago so I tend to find lots of motivation to run once I've completed that 5 mile race. I was feeling pretty good last week and was motivated to run more than I had been.

That doesn't compare to Monday, April 15.

On Sunday, April 14 I went for a short run with my dog to make sure I keep the miles in and start building up to running more days than not. It's getting more tolerable in Chicago for outdoor running so I like to build up my miles. On Monday, April 15 in the morning I went for a longer run, nothing big, but I love running on Patriots day...I'm an east coast transplant so I remember things like Patriots day and I like to think that I'm running in the spirit of Marathon day. I love Marathon day and tend to read up on it during the day. In October each year I cheer on the marathon runners in Chicago (except for the year that I ran it) and it's just so inspiring.

So I run on the 3rd Monday of April each year just to feel even more connected with the running community. That late afternoon though, my running desire increased about 100 fold. That runner inside of me that has been hiding for the past few years woke the f up. After the watching and reading and listening to the news, I knew that I needed to rejoin my fellow runners. We are a funny lot...we run to eat, we run to drink, we run to reduce stress and anxiety...but we run. If someone tries to stop us, it makes us want to run more.

After this explosion, I want to run more than I have in years.

I am fortunate enough to live in a very strong running community. The Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) posted that there was going to be a unity run on Tuesday, April 16. I didn't know if I could make it there in time, but I was going to try. When I started to waiver a bit...my husband said, "Go, you know it's what you really want to do" and I went. I am so happy that I went. I was able to run with 100+ runners on the lakefront of Chicago to show our unity with runners all over the world. I was able to run with runners who had completed Boston the day before, the year before and many years before. I was able to run...no one could take that away from me.

I am a runner, I will continue to run...I will not be scared away from running...I will not be scared away from racing...I will not be scared. Try to stop me and I'll go stronger...it's the stubborn New Englander inside of me perhaps...but I will not be stopped...I'm stronger and more determined now to run even more.

Sometimes you do get what you ask for

This morning I realize that I was dwelling and worrying. I was thinking that I was losing friendships in my life and I didn't understand why. I was focusing on that negative part rather than focusing on all of the positives. I realize that some relationships are meant to be short-term and others long-term, and some flow in and out. Holding on and forcing a friendship to remain is not healthy.

I was being a negatron, and it was pulling me down. So this morning, while I'm wondering why these relationships seem to be ending (in my mind) a friend posts something that grabs my attention:

62 Fast Tips to Get UnStuck By Robin Sharma 

1. Believe in your vision and gifts when no one else believes in your vision and gifts.2. Start your day with 20 minutes of exercise.3. Make excellence your way of being (versus a once in a while event).4. Be on time (bonus points: be early).5. Be a celebrator of other’s talents versus a critic.6. Stop watching TV. (Bonus points: sell your tv and invest the cash in learning and self-education).
7. Finish what you start.
8. Remember that your diet affects your moods so eat like an athlete.
9. Spend an hour a day without stimulation (no phone+no FaceBook+no noise).
10. Release the energy vampires from your life. They are destroying your performance.
11. Write in a journal every morning. And record gratitude every night.
12. Do work that scares you (if you’re not uncomfortable often, you’re not growing very much).
13. Make the choice to let go of your past. It’s dusty history. And polluting your future.
14. Commit to being “Mozart-Level Good” at your work.
15. Smile more (and tell your face).
16. Do a collage filled with images of your ideal life. Look at it once a day for focus and inspiration.
17. Plan your week on a schedule (clarity is the DNA of mastery).
18. Stop gossiping (average people love gossip; exceptional people adore ideas).
19. Read “As You Think”.
20. Read “The Go-Getter”.
21. Don’t just parent your kids–develop them.
22. Remember that victims are frightened by change. And leaders grow inspired by it.
23. Start taking daily supplements to stay in peak health.
24. Clean out any form of “victimspeak” in your vocabulary and start running the language of leadership and possibility.
25. Do a nature walk at least once a week. It’ll renew you (you can’t inspire others if you’re depleted yourself).
26. Take on projects no one else will take on. Set goals no one else will do.
27. Do something that makes you feel uncomfortable at least once every 7 days.
28. Say “sorry” when you know you should say “sorry”.
29. Say “please” and “thank you” a lot.
30. Remember that to double your income, triple your investment in learning, coaching and self-education.
31. Dream big but start now.
32. Achieve 5 little goals each day (“The Daily 5 Concept” I shared in “The Leader Who Had No Title” that has transformed the lives of so many). In 12 months this habit will produce 1850 little goals–which will amount to a massive transformation.
33. Write handwritten thank you notes to your customers, teammates and family members.
34. Be slow to criticize and fast to praise.
35. Read Walter Isaacson’s amazing biography on Steve Jobs.
36. Give your customers 10X the value they pay for (“The 10X Value Obsession”).
37. Use the first 90 minutes of your work day only on value-creating activities (versus checking email or surfing the Net).
38. Breathe.
39. Keep your promises.
40. Remember that ordinary people talk about their goals. Leaders get them done. With speed.
41. Watch the inspirational documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”.
42. Know that a problem only becomes a problem when you choose to see it as a problem.
43. Brain tattoo the fact that all work is a chance to change the world.
44. Watch the amazing movie “The Intouchables”.
45. Remember that every person you meet has a story to tell, a lesson to teach and a dream to do.
46. Risk being rejected. All of the great ones do.
47. Spend more time in art galleries. Art inspires, stimulates creativity and pushes boundaries.
48. Read a book a week, invest in a course every month and attend a workshop every quarter.
49. Remember that you empower what you complain about.
50. Get to know yourself. The main reason we procrastinate on our goals is not because of external conditions; we procrastinate due to our internal beliefs. And the thing is they are stuck so deep that we don’t even know they exist. But once you do, everything changes.
51. Read “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”.
52. Know your values. And then have the guts to live them–no matter what the crowd thinks and how the herd lives.
53. Become the fittest person you know.
54. Become the strongest person you know.
55. Become the kindest person you know.
56. Know your “Big 5″–the 5 goals you absolutely must achieve by December 31 to make this year your best yet (I teach my entire goal-achieving process, my advanced techniques on unleashing confidence and how to go from being stuck to living a life you adore in my online program “Your Absolute Best Year Yet”).
57. Know that potential unexpressed turns to pain.
58. Build a strong family foundation while you grow your ideal career.
59. Stop being selfish.
60. Give your life to a project bigger than yourself.
61. Be thankful for your talents.
62. Stand for iconic. Go for legendary. And make history.7. Finish what you start.8. Remember that your diet affects your moods so eat like an athlete.9. Spend an hour a day without stimulation (no phone+no FaceBook+no noise).10. Release the energy vampires from your life. They are destroying your performance.11. Write in a journal every morning. And record gratitude every night.12. Do work that scares you (if you’re not uncomfortable often, you’re not growing very much).13. Make the choice to let go of your past. It’s dusty history. And polluting your future.14. Commit to being “Mozart-Level Good” at your work.15. Smile more (and tell your face).16. Do a collage filled with images of your ideal life. Look at it once a day for focus and inspiration.17. Plan your week on a schedule (clarity is the DNA of mastery).18. Stop gossiping (average people love gossip; exceptional people adore ideas).19. Read “As You Think”.20. Read “The Go-Getter”.21. Don’t just parent your kids–develop them.22. Remember that victims are frightened by change. And leaders grow inspired by it.23. Start taking daily supplements to stay in peak health.24. Clean out any form of “victimspeak” in your vocabulary and start running the language of leadership and possibility.25. Do a nature walk at least once a week. It’ll renew you (you can’t inspire others if you’re depleted yourself).26. Take on projects no one else will take on. Set goals no one else will do.27. Do something that makes you feel uncomfortable at least once every 7 days.28. Say “sorry” when you know you should say “sorry”.29. Say “please” and “thank you” a lot.30. Remember that to double your income, triple your investment in learning, coaching and self-education.31. Dream big but start now.32. Achieve 5 little goals each day (“The Daily 5 Concept” I shared in “The Leader Who Had No Title” that has transformed the lives of so many). In 12 months this habit will produce 1850 little goals–which will amount to a massive transformation.33. Write handwritten thank you notes to your customers, teammates and family members.34. Be slow to criticize and fast to praise.35. Read Walter Isaacson’s amazing biography on Steve Jobs.36. Give your customers 10X the value they pay for (“The 10X Value Obsession”).37. Use the first 90 minutes of your work day only on value-creating activities (versus checking email or surfing the Net).38. Breathe.39. Keep your promises.40. Remember that ordinary people talk about their goals. Leaders get them done. With speed.41. Watch the inspirational documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”.42. Know that a problem only becomes a problem when you choose to see it as a problem.43. Brain tattoo the fact that all work is a chance to change the world.44. Watch the amazing movie “The Intouchables”.45. Remember that every person you meet has a story to tell, a lesson to teach and a dream to do.46. Risk being rejected. All of the great ones do.47. Spend more time in art galleries. Art inspires, stimulates creativity and pushes boundaries.48. Read a book a week, invest in a course every month and attend a workshop every quarter.49. Remember that you empower what you complain about.50. Get to know yourself. The main reason we procrastinate on our goals is not because of external conditions; we procrastinate due to our internal beliefs. And the thing is they are stuck so deep that we don’t even know they exist. But once you do, everything changes.51. Read “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”.52. Know your values. And then have the guts to live them–no matter what the crowd thinks and how the herd lives.53. Become the fittest person you know.54. Become the strongest person you know.55. Become the kindest person you know.56. Know your “Big 5″–the 5 goals you absolutely must achieve by December 31 to make this year your best yet (I teach my entire goal-achieving process, my advanced techniques on unleashing confidence and how to go from being stuck to living a life you adore in my online program “Your Absolute Best Year Yet”).57. Know that potential unexpressed turns to pain.58. Build a strong family foundation while you grow your ideal career.59. Stop being selfish.60. Give your life to a project bigger than yourself.61. Be thankful for your talents.62. Stand for iconic. Go for legendary. And make history.


I needed this today, more than I knew. I'm digging into the negative side rather than the positive side. I am projecting negativity towards the relationships, so no wonder I think that they are ending. If they are ending, well then this is the moment that they are supposed to. I can't keep hold of the past, especially when I want a future that is pure and good and clean.

So today I share this wonderful positive list. It's helping me out of my funk!

Grateful and thankful

This morning I decided to head out to work a little early. I had a number of things I wanted to get done, and I also thought I could get some gas in the car. Little did I know that fate was playing her hand this morning.

As I headed out and made it less than a mile from home, I was shown how grateful, blessed, fortunate I am. I have eyes that I can see with, ears that I can hear with, a heart that beats and feels, and a desire to help others, especially when they are in danger.

You must be wondering how less than a mile into a trip all of this self realization can occur. The answer, a blind man walking across a busy, four lane street, not at an intersection.

This man was older, and he was alone. The car in front of me stopped before I even saw the man. We were in the left lane headed west so many cars just kept going around me and the other car in the right lane going around the man. Once I saw the man I didn't know what to do. He seemed to be yelling...no, he was yelling "HELLO?" The car in front of me yelled from her window, "You can cross, we stopped". The old man just stayed in the middle of our lane yelling "HELLO?" One woman on the sidewalk watched and had the same quizzical look on her face as I must have had. That was it, this man needed help.

I jumped out of my car and went up to the man (my car is still in the left hand lane of a busy street). I went up to the man to let him know it was safe to cross. "HELLO?" now I was worried that I had gotten myself into a bigger situation than I knew. "WHERE IS IT?"

"Where is what sir?" I replied, not knowing what to do besides try to help him cross the street.
"I NEED THE MARKET, WHERE IS THE MARKET? I NEED TO GO WEST!"
"Sir, you're in the middle of the street, let me get you to the median at least"
"NO I NEED TO GO"
"Sir, I don't know what to do"
"TAKE MY ARM"
"I'm sorry?"
"TAKE MY ARM!"

I understood he did want my help, so I took his arm and we headed back to the sidewalk. The woman who was on the sidewalk helped me get him safely out of the street. The car that was in front of my sped away, leaving my car just there in the middle of the street. It didn't matter, that was just a thing, not a person, and people could see the car was there.

"Sir we are at the sidewalk"
"I CAN'T USE MY LEGS"
"Ok sir, but we need to get you out of the street."
"I CAN'T USE MY LEGS!"

He pulled away from me and started walking west. Luckily, the woman on the sidewalk was there to help me guide him away from the street. She was able to figure out what market he wanted to go to and we slowly turned him around. I asked her if she was ok to handle him and she confirmed she was.

I went back to my car and jumped in and in an instant, I realized how lucky, fortunate, grateful, blessed, and 50 million other positive words I am. I have the ability to see things, and not only to see but to hear and speak and feel. I have the strength to see that someone needs help and I do my best to help.

There are so many things that we complain about in this world. I try to stay positive all the time but I whine quite a bit. It takes a moment like this sometimes to smack me upside the head and remind me how great I have it. I love and care and was able to help someone, I didn't just pass them by. Yes I helped him, but he and the woman on the sidewalk helped me so much more. Compassion, there are still people who care and will help a stranger...and there are strangers that help us more than we knew we needed helping.

It's ok to mess up

It's ok to mess up every once and a while. When you do your best and mean well, and you try to make an effort for things to go smoothly, it's ok that things will get messed up every once and a while.

In fact, I think when we mess up we learn more!

This may seem like kindergarten stuff, but it's a good thing to be reminded of. I am one who is very hard on herself when things aren't perfect. I'm re-learning that it's ok though. Regardless of how small of an imperfection, it's nothing to get upset about.

So your fact of the day, it's ok to mess up...and the side fact...don't be so hard on yourself.