For a little over three months now (104 days to be exact), I have been in the midst of a challenge. The task was to eat better, continue to exercise on a regular basis, and in that process it was our hope that we could all be in our Ironman fighting shape without having to train for three or more hours a day.  Very few people can keep up with the rigorous exercise routine we had training for Vineman on a consistent basis.  I for one needed sleep, time to let my muscles and joints heal, and my family needed me to be their wife and mom again.
          I am not sure what it is about competition that drives me.  My husband would say that I am an overly competitive person. The fact that I can never let anyone beat me up a hill, running or biking, the fact that Sean and I cannot be on the same team or on opposing teams during game nights, and the fact that it drives me nuts when people walk in front of me during races and slow down my running pace is not proof of this character flaw, right? So when I found myself gaining some of my weight back after Ironman (almost 20 pounds), I knew that a friendly competition would give me the motivation I needed to get back on my healthy living routine.
           So for over one hundred days we biked, ran, and swam 5-6 days a week, we logged into MyFitnessPal every day, and we stayed within the calorie guidelines suggested by FitnessPal (extra added for exercising) 6 days a week.  We got one point each week for each of the above tasks.  It was close for the first two months, but in the last month Leslie and I pulled away and the competition was fierce. It was so close that even this morning, I had no idea who would actually win.  At 8 am we shared our final weigh in and the winner is...Leslie by less than one hundredth of a point (Leslie got 52.877 points and I got 52.868). Leslie declared it a statistical tie, but I am a good enough sport to admit that a win is a win. 

           While Leslie technically won, I do agree with Leslie that we are both winners for many reasons.  First, we both had slowly started to snack mindlessly and to eat meals without even thinking about making healthy food choices.  While I don't want to obsess about food and weight, there does need to be some thought as to what goes into my mouth.  This challenge had me eating out less and making much healthier breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for me and for my family as well.  After the 4-week Hungry Girl plan, I realized that I had a great HG book to vary up the meals I had been preparing.  Her 300 Under 300 book made it possible for us to make sure we were not getting bored so eating out was not tempting.
           I also feel that we both won because it kept all of us biking, swimming, and running.  This part of my routine has not been an issue with me lately, I love my workouts, but it did make it less likely that I would even think about sleeping in instead of exercising.  I know my two Ironman challenge buddies felt the same exact way.
           And finally, I feel like we are both winners because we were both able to get ourselves back to our Ironman level weights without the excessive amounts of exercise we had to do to get there in the first place. It has made us both feel better than we have in years and I finally feel that I have some sort of control because I love the taste of the food I am eating.  When I don't feel deprived, I rarely want to eat food other than what I have prepared. 
           So while I did not win this challenge, I am a winner because I continue to stay healthy, model healthy behaviors for my children, and feel healthier than I have in years.  Thanks Iron Girls for the push...I appreciate your support more than I can say in words!

           Six weeks after Sean and I started incorporating Hungry Girl meals into our eating routine, we are still feeling great. I am closer to my Ironman low weight of 153, and all of this without having to maintain the Ironman level of ridiculous hours of exercise.  Sean and Siobhan are looking fabulous, and they are really enjoying the meals I am making and they both appreciate having a nice, healthy lunch and snacks packed for them on a daily basis.  In my last blog I shared what the first week was like, and now I would like to show you how we dealt with weeks 2-4.  
           

           With the actual plan the book sets forth, Hungry Girl, Lisa Lillian, sets up a plan where each day's meals are all planned out for you.  When I first read the book, I even typed out the whole plan for myself intending to use that to guide each week's eating.  However, because I purchased this book on Kindle, I had access to links for all the week 2-4 meals, and I used this to plan my own version of each week's meals.  I basically picked three breakfasts, three lunches, and three dinners and rotated those throughout the week to keep it simple.
           For breakfast, we tend to have an English muffin breakfast sandwich or a Greek yogurt with fruit.  Even with just these two choices we have a lot of variety. I can vary the meats and cheeses on the English muffin and with the yogurt I can mix in a variety of fruit.  So far we have tried strawberry and banana, mixed berries, pineapple chunks and unsweetened coconut, and my favorite is apple chunks with a little cinnamon.
           While the HG plan offers a variety of ideas for lunches, I have found that sandwiches are the easiest to pack for our mid-day meals.  We love the HG Tuna Melt, but more often we have sliced turkey or ham and cheese.  Because I do not like the taste of fake cheese, I was really happy to discover that Tillamook has a line of Ultra Thin Sliced cheese that includes swiss, provolone, cheddar, and even pepper jack for only 40-45 calories a slice.  I also usually pack a green salad or bag of carrots, celery, and cucumber with a small container of Pace salsa for dipping.  For snacks we like fresh fruit, Yoplait yogurt, pudding cups, or a handful of nuts.  Sean found some 200 calorie packs of almonds at Trader Joe's that are good snacks for the days we work out and have extra calories.
           While our dinners tend to vary more than our other meals, my family loves the HG Crunchy Beef Tacos, HG Big Burger, and the HG Faux-Fried Chicken Strips best.  I like to pair these with potato or sweet potato oven fries or HG Lord of the Onion Rings.  We also have a green salad every night topped with chopped veggies like cucumber, tomatoes, mushrooms, or artichoke hearts (packed in water).  As for salad dressing, I feel the same way I do about cheese.  I do not like the non-fat or low-fat versions at all.  I either use a smaller portion of a dressing I enjoy, or I make my own with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and seasonings.  A little dressing can go a long way to flavor a salad so either poor a little on top, or dip your fork in the dressing before spearing the salad on your fork.
           What I find most amazing about this little tweak in our eating is that we are never hungry--the portions are huge!  We also love the taste of the meals, we have plenty of energy to exercise, and I have finally broken through my plateau.  My family is benefitting from this as well.  Sean really enjoys the food I am preparing and has lost almost 20 pounds in the process.  Siobhan is eating healthier and consuming less fast food these days and Eoin is just enjoying it all because he tends to choose healthy food over junky choices all on his own.  
           I think what is making me happiest these days is that my family is is reaping the benefits of me making healthier choices.  A healthy mother and wife makes a healthy family...and I think that is the best gift of all!

           Over the last twenty years I have been on more diets than I would like to admit.  And over those years my experience has taught me that diets really don't work for me.  I think it was more my mindset than the actual diets themselves.  My perception of a diet has always been that it is a quick fix, temporary eating program that would magically melt the pounds away. I believed that once the weight was off I would finally be happy and all my eating problems would disappear forever. However, more often the weight came right back on plus some extra weight on top of that, and my bad eating habits returned once I was no longer on the diet. The moment I decided not to diet and to just change my lifestyle I have had much more success.
          So given all of that, I feel a little like a hypocrite when I share with you that I have been on a secret mission over the last two months--I tried a diet and I can't wait to share what I have learned through this process.  First I need to tell you that while I did try a diet, I did do it my way.  I used it more as a way to refine my current lifestyle, add more fruits and vegetables, and learn some sensible strategies for making smarter food choices.

           I have often shared my love for Hungry Girl--I love her eating tips, I love her grocery store suggestions, and I especially love her recipe makeovers for fatty, unhealthy dishes we all adore.  Around Christmas time a call went out for her readers to volunteer as testers for her new diet plan.  While I was not one of her testers, I was intrigued to see what an HG plan would look like.  The day her book came out, I bought it on Kindle for a mere $10. I figured that if I didn't get anything from the book, it was no huge loss.  What I was not prepared for was all the new strategies I learned from this one resource.  You must know that I did not follow it religiously and when I wanted an indulgence I had an indulgence.  Sean decided to embark on this trial journey with me as well and even Siobhan benefitted from the healthier foods I prepared for our meals.
          The first thing you need to know is that you do have to know a little about cooking.  You don't need to be a chef, but you do need to know how to use a microwave, stove, and oven, how to boil an egg, chop veggies and fruit, how to toast bread, but beyond that you should be fine. The next thing you need to know is that in the first few weeks I felt like I was always in the kitchen. It took me a while to figure out all the short cuts so her recipes could become a part of my lifestyle. However, after those initial weeks I figured out some shortcuts and tricks I will share with you in the coming weeks.  The final thing you need to know is that you need to be a person that enjoys eating fruits and vegetables...if you don't, then this is not the plan for you.  If you can handle all the above conditions and you would like to find a way to rarely feel deprived, then please read on.

           Before I even started the plan I read the book from cover to cover.  It took me a little over a day, but it was essential that I gather every tip I could to share with you.  Understand that if you are someone that has a large amount of weight to lose, you may want to follow the HG plan a little more closely than I did.  To the left, find a little preview of the 4-week plan.  Week 1 is pretty simple to follow, which helped ease us in.  Like most "diets," this week strives to maximize the weight loss so that there is motivation to move on to Week 2 and beyond.  There are a few major things to know about this plan:

1. The high protein breakfasts leave you feeling full and minimizing a drop in blood sugar
2. Super-sized portions at all meals--she encourages you to eat every bit of the meal, and there were times that I had to stop and save the remainder as a snack for later in the day
3. Healthy snacks throughout the day--because of my high-intensity workouts I added more snacks into the mix
4. Hungry Girl advocates drinking 8 ounces of water with all meals and snacks

           I need to share that we were rarely hungry and, in fact, at times we had a difficult time eating the portions because they were so large.  It was a little annoying that I was going to the store every other day to get more fruits and vegetables, but at the end of the week we all felt better, so it was really worth the extra effort.  For some reason, my cravings for sweets were minimized.  I think it might be due to the fact that I was allowed to have fruit and other "sweet" snacks, so I never felt deprived.  To be perfectly transparent, in the last few years I have cut out all artificial sweeteners from my lifestyle, but I did use Truvia (a form of Stevia) while testing out this plan.  However, you can replace it with sugar, agave, or other sweetener, but know that you will need to be aware of the extra calories if you are using this as a weight-loss plan. Click here for info on Stevia: Is Stevia safe?               
           Sean loved the food so much that he stuck to the above plan far closer than I did, and after only one week, he dropped over 8 pounds (I know, aren't guys annoying!).  He continues to not only keep it off, but he has also been slowly losing more each week since.  My teenage daughter also enjoyed the food and, because I was packing everyone's lunch and snacks on a daily basis, she made fewer trips to fast food establishments for those little treats high schoolers tend to indulge in. 
          Since I was mostly trying it out to report on my blog, I followed the Hungry Girl's plan about 80% of the time allowing 20% of the time for eating reasonable treats/meals of my choice, so I never felt deprived. While my weight did not fall off like Sean's, I did have more energy and my clothes are definitely showing that I have been able to lose inches along with a few of those stubborn extra pounds.  What I did learn for the first week was very valuable:

1. It is important to start my day with protein.  With all the exercising I do, I especially need to be aware of taking in these lean proteins, so I can repair some of the damage I do with the miles I put in.
2. Because I am not a big breakfast eater, one of the Hungry Girl's suggestions was to at least eat a protein heavy snack first thing in the morning.  String cheese, almonds, and boiled egg whites have become some of my favorite early morning energy choices.
3. Another suggestion I found valuable for this week had to do with gauging the way certain meals and snacks affected my energy and blood sugar levels.  If I felt hungry too quickly after eating, I knew that this meal or snack wasn't for me.  It is important for you to evaluate the way certain foods affect your body.
4. Bulking up my meals and snacks with high fiber and high volume veggies had multiple benefits.  I felt fuller, I felt healthier, and psychologically the larger portions helped me to feel satisfied throughout the day.
5. Water is key--it helps you feel fuller, keeps you hydrated, and along with all the fruits and veggies you are consuming, it also helps you feel more regular.  I know TMI, but it is true.  Now I must admit that I am still working on this one.  While I am drinking more water than I was, I am still not following the HG suggestion of 8 oz. with every meal.

           I hope I have succeeded in illustrating how I have been able to take the "die" out of diet these days.  I feel healthier, I have more energy, and the side benefit is that my clothes are fitting me better than they have in months.  Over the next two weeks I also want to share with you how we tackled weeks 2-4 on the Hungry Girl Plan, and what we are doing now that we have been using her tips and recipes beyond the 4-week period. Try it out and let me know what you think.

          In years past, Mother's Day has meant sleeping in late, eating and indulging from morning until night, and then just lazing around and doing nothing all day long.  Not that there is anything wrong with this picture (in fact as I type this I am wondering if I might be a little crazy), but these days I take joy in a much different kind of celebration.  Today, all I asked for was an early morning mountain bike ride.  I have really come to enjoy this new weekend ritual, and I knew that starting my day off this way would ensure that I would be content throughout the day.
           I have come so far in the last few years. I know some of you might not believe this, but I truly enjoy getting out in the early morning and swimming, biking, or running.  I am a much happier, calmer, and a more settled person since I have made exercise a part of my lifestyle change.  Not to mention that moving my body allows me to eat the kinds of food I love and not deprive myself when I want a little indulgence.  After all, life is too short to eat completely clean 24/7, especially when food brings me such joy.
           So for Mother's Day, all I asked Sean for was a nice early mountain bike ride, so that my kids could sleep in and I could be home in time to have the breakfast in bed I love so much.  This is a win-win for us all.  I was also able to talk Kay and her husband Jim into joining us on our early morning jaunt to the Santa Rosa Plateau trails.  There we were at 6:15 am jumping on our mountain bikes and hitting the challenging trails.  It is funny how all that bike training I did for Ironman did little to prepare me for the rigors of avoiding rocks, trying not to slide out in the sand, and getting the gears just right to get up a steep trail hill.  The endurance is there, but other than that, this is a completely different form of exercise.  I think Kay summed it up best when she stated, "This ride would be so amazing if it wasn't for the rocks and hills,"  but it is this demanding aspect of trail riding that makes us both enjoy it so much.  On a road bike I have times where I can just zone out and focus on my biking form, but today I had to make split second decision as to which side of the trail would be best for my tires to grip, which gear I should use for the slippery ups and down, and when to just take my hands off the brake and let myself fly through the trail and hang on for dear life...and yes, this was fun!

           The other thing that has changed is how I view celebrations.  I used to think that every holiday meant a free-for-all in the eating department.  My breakfast usually consisted of a huge omelet, several slices of bacon and sausage, greasy hash browns, buttery toast, and this was just the breakfast.  We have all been eating so healthy these days, so Siobhan used the Hungry Girl resources to make me the most delicious, filling, but reasonable breakfast I have ever had for Mother's Day breakfast in bed. I had a Morning Waffle Dip sandwich, a big serving of fresh berries (including blueberries we picked yesterday at the Temecula Berry Co.), coffee, and my all time favorite drink, a Bloody Mary done Hungry Girl style.  And I was able to eat this all for under 500 calories.  Eating a little lighter for breakfast and lunch will allow me to indulge in one of my all time favorite meals for dinner, ribeye steak and a baked potato.  

           Which brings me to my final reason why I feel I am celebrating a whole new kind of Mother's Day.  I can finally brag about the fact that I have become a healthy role model for my children.  No longer will I be the cause for their unhealthy eating and weight problems.  I know that they will remember to be active and to make reasonable food choices, because I have modeled this for them.  Eoin will still eat his beloved sweets, but the fact that he frequently chooses a big, juicy apple or a bag of fresh veggies to snack on tells me that he is on the right track.  And the fact that Siobhan is researching healthy recipes on her own and making better versions of the fatty, sugary treats she enjoys gives me hope that at college she will be making these decisions a little more often on her own.  Niall is now running and exercising on a regular basis, and he sees the balance in his life as well.  Sean and I can be content in the fact that we are finally making sure our children will have a better chance at not wasting their 20's and 30's overweight and unhappy like their parents.  And this is truly the best Mother's Day gift of all!

Parents must lead by example. Don't use the cliche; do as I say and not as I do. We are our children's first and most important role models.
                                                                         Lee Haney

           I don't know about you, but I tend to make some mistakes over and over again without seeming to learn from what they should have taught me in the first place. What I mean is that there are just some things that even though I know what the negative consequences will be, I can't seem to stop myself from continuing on the path that I know should be avoided.  I had one of those experiences last weekend, and I am paying for it this week.
           Last weekend, Kay, Gabby, Lesly, and I ran the La Jolla Half Marathon.  Let me start with the fact that I have really never wanted to do this particular race because while I love running hills, I have heard that this race has more hills than even I enjoy tackling.  However, I have this very persuasive friend, who shall remain nameless, that appealed to the bling lover in me by enticing me with the fact that with the Carlsbad Half under my belt, I only needed to complete La Jolla and the America's Finest City (AFC) race to get the coveted Triple Crown Medal.  With that extra medal held in front of my eyes as a carrot, I signed up for La Jolla before I even know what I was doing. And once I sign up for a race...I am in!
           The problem is that over the last couple weeks I have been having an issue with my right hip.  Nothing big, but a clear sign that I needed to take it easy.  The week before the race I did not rest like I should have done to make sure my hip was ready.  Instead I decided that I could not miss my T/TH early morning runs.  How could I let everyone down or miss out on the fun?  Needless to say, by Friday I was actually limping around.
           You would think that this would be a sign that maybe I needed to bow out of the race and admit defeat for once, but I rationalized this away.  Maybe once I warmed up on the course, my hip would be fine.  Maybe I could just walk the race and not run.  Maybe, maybe, MAYBE!  And with all those maybes in mind I decided that I couldn't let my friends run by themselves. I needed to finish this race so I could complete the Triple Crown, right?
           As you can probably imagine, my hip pain never went away, and with my competitive nature there was no way my legs would slow down.  And I have to say that the hills were even worse than I imagined.  I knew I had to run up the La Jolla Torrey Pines hill, but having never been on the state reserve path that runs parallel to the driving road, I didn't know that it was actually steeper than the road we drive on.  And when the race route was not going up, it was going down, which tends to be harder on my knees.  This was one tough race!  Imagine my surprise when I got to the 12-mile sign, only 1.1 miles from the finish line, and I see that the next 3/4 of a mile were literally straight up--who does that to a runner??
            I did finish the race, and I must admit it was honestly one of the most beautiful races I have ever done.  Much of the race runs parallel to the ocean, and it was an unbelievably beautiful day.  We actually had perfect running weather, so of that I must be thankful.  However, that decision not to bow out of this race, made my hip worse, and for the first time in years, it has been a whole week without one mile run.  I am being smart now.  I rested a couple of days, and I have only been biking and swimming to let that hip rest.  I am finally feeling better now that I am listening to what my body needs--finally!
           Once again I have learned that I must listen to my body and take time to rest.  I am in this exercise thing for the long haul, and I have to keep that at the front of my mind at all times.  If I need to rest, I need to consider that a part of my exercise routine and remember that one or two days off is not going to keep me from reaching my fitness goals.  I might not get that shiny bling, but that is not really the end of the world, right? Maybe this time I will finally learn from the past...maybe!