Wednesday Cravings: Satisfying Urges

I missed blogging my Wednesday Cravings post earlier today because I was too busy trying to get my soon to be forbidden grub on. Today I went with a Carne Asada Burrito. I plan on getting in a Hot Fudge Sundae tomorrow as well. These consist of everything that I crave as comfort food in the most compact package possible.

Why the madness? Y and I decided last night to join the Fall LEANing Challenge at our gym. For seven weeks, beginning this Friday, we will be eating Paleo. Everyone who enters puts $30 in the kitty and there will be one female and one male winner selected who will split the kitty and get a free month at the gym. The part I am most reluctant about is taking 'before' and 'after' pics. Luckily, the only way they will be seen is when I make it into the top 5 girls. Plus, they will only be up for viewing in person at the gym on the day that everyone who entered gets to vote for the winners. I figure the peeps at the gym know how out of shape I am anyway, LOL.

What the heck is Paleo? "In a nut shell, Paleo eating consists of eating meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. No grains are allowed. No processed food...There are no portion controls. For even better results, add the Zone blocks (portion controls) to Paleo eating." If you are interested, you can get more info here.

Why are we doing this? If you are a regular reader, you know we committed to investing in our health this past summer. Working out with Sean, our trainer at CrossFit Seattle, has been a great experience. That Y and I both enjoy the workouts is amazing in and of itself. That I in particular now enjoy and understand the huge benefits of strength training is mind blowing. I heart deadlifts and back squats. <--Who is that girl?? O, it's me! LOL No longer will I ever be the girl treading on that mill to nowhere.

We also started changing our diets in the past few months, slowly at first and then we were on a real roll! Can I tell you something. Exercise alone doesn't do it. As soon as I started counting my calories/portions and making better food choices I started to drop pounds like never before. You would be amazed at what a cup of strawberries actually is compared to what you think it is (it's smaller). We noticed we also felt heaps better in general. We are pretty upbeat folks but you know that sloshy, I can't put my finger on it, I feel kinda gray, achy, deep inside blah feeling that seems to be there but maybe it's in my head feeling? Yeah, that one, it disappeared!! You hear and read it all the time, eat right, exercise and it makes you feel good. You think, 'I feel pretty good sitting on this couch eating my ice cream, how much better could I want to feel?' OMG! HEAPS BETTER! It's quite amazing.

How do I know it is the diet? Well, for the last two weeks Y and I fell off the wagon. Due to extenuating circumstances beyond our control we couldn't train for the past two weeks. We chose to totally not make up for it and went back to our bad eating habits, it was only two weeks, right? All of a sudden, we felt cranky, kinda sick and sluggish. DING! We are eating crap and feel like crap, d'uh! We want to feel good again!

The Fall LEANing Challenge has come at just the right moment to give us that extra incentive to get back into eating right. We are both super competitive. We plan on taking the entire kitty for ourselves, heh heh heh. Seven weeks of being mostly strict (you are allowed some cheating) is something I can wrap my head around, especially after the ground work I have already done these past few months. Being that much leaner before my next birthday in November will be a huge present for myself, one that I really, really, really want. Changing my eating habits for the better, priceless.

I am now on record and you can expect updates of our progress.

Please send good ju-ju our way :)