"diet" a self professing JUNK food JUNKIE

June 2011       -      June 2013 

PREFACE: I am a part time working momma with 2 children.One diabetic and gluten free so food is a highly sensitive subject in my life I know more about food then I ever wanted to mostly because of my daughters diet.... I usually prepare a kids meal(gf and proper carb counts for her needs)  and an adult meal I try to keep stuff simple and fast.

I eat, I don't "diet" I try to make better choices...sure some days are better then others but usually most are worse. It's a very conscious decision to chose to eat good and not fast, cheap and easy....with that said I am weak minded!! I love fast food, I love stuff that isn't healthy and I am most certainly a binge eater ;O I find myself in the pantry eating marshmallows like if no one sees me it didn't happen. However, your body tells the story of what you eat so hiding while eating won't work! My biggest weakness is breakfast 1. I am NOT a morning person and 2. McDonalds breakfast is my all time fave "food" gross, I know but hey I am human and I am professing my love of crappy food here!

Back to the begining: In January I joined a gym a real gym with the intent of not going there just to use the treadmill (see previous post about how much I love running;) and with-in a month I was hooked but I knew I had to change my diet or I was wasting my time...lots of my time...I come from a catholic family (aka grandma) so I'm aware of the religious observations like lent and lot's of people catholic or not observe lent because sometimes we just need an excuse to do something challenging. SO I decided in February that I would give up fast food! At first it was easy then about 2 weeks in I wanted to cave BAD but I didn't and by day 40 I no longer craved sweet tea or whoppers! Along with not eating fast food I changed a lot of my habits at home like swapping out all grains for whole grains no more liquor at home and limited my beer intake drastically, increased my water consumption and cut back LOTS of sugar.

I try to stick to a simple concept "clean eating"(not a diet of clean eating it's a thought process) single ingredient foods or 5 or less ingredients like fruit, vegetable, whole grains, brown rice, lean meats etc...

a good day consists of
Breakfast: COFFEE (I love creamer :/) oatmeal, a couple eggs and a piece of fruit OR greek yogurt with chia seeds and wheat toast/ english muffin(wheat of fiber one) with peanut butter.

snack/post workout: protein shake or protein bar I like builder bars the most.

Lunch: Chicken, vegetables brown rice, fruit. Yesterday I made a buffalo chicken wrap and it was heaven with half an apple and peanut butter.

Snack: this is so random....it's what ever I am craving cottage cheese, fruit, veggies, pretzels with hummus, yogurt, granola etc....I usually work in the afternoons (part time) so I grab stuff to eat on the go...

Dinner - fish, sweet potatoes and salad (I adore sweet potatoes!)

Desert:  just about every night it's graham cracker with peanut butter and milk - it used to be a stack of oreos and milk ;O

So that's my typical ideal day....it's a matter of replacing your current food with better options. I don't suggest trying to revamp everything you know or eat,
start small and go easy :D find good food you like and stick to it.

NEXT BLOG POST ~ supplements, vitamins and protein!

Your #1 Question Answered - an example of my week

May 2012                       May 2013

I get asked alllll the time by stalkers strangers what my work out plan looks like and I recently discovered Muffin Topless ( and pretty much live by it) it's pretty much identical to what I was doing but here she has it all planned out and with a future. It couldn't have come at a better time as my own plan was starting to feel stagnant :) I sometimes substitute/add a certain exercise to more suit me or my gym but for the most part I stick to what she has planned out http://muffin-topless.com/muffin-topless-summer-challenge/

I jumped right to weeks 5-8 as I wasn't just begining and needed more of a challenge I also combine a couple of days into one to suit my busy life ie: yesterday I spent an hour walking/hiking(with my 5 year old up a mountain or maybe a butte but it feels like a mountain) for cardio and last night I did shoulders and back. Tonight I will be doing just cardio tomorrow arms and cardio, thursday legs and friday off, Saturday Chest and cardio etc....I am off her days of the week but you get the point :) I almost always do some sort of AB work after I lift weights and before my cardio.

Typical AB work out where I get the best results
3x10 cable crunches 50lbs
3x10 ea. side Kettle Bell oblique dips
3x10 leg raises either bench, hanging or laying on the floor
and 3x20 bicycle crunches.

Getting some definition - it's diet that really matters on abs

 Ocasionally I switch up my ab routine but always end up back at this one :O

If your wondering what my cardio is please refer to my previous post about how I HATE running ;) 

Happy Summer - enjoy and hope that helps! Most important thing I do, is to do it - Lift weights ladies lose weight and be fit - no more fat skinny girl here!

I love cardio & HATE runnning!

my favorite 5k you can read about it here

 

I am sure most readers are thinking how is that even possible? Simple I absolutely am not a runner nor do I aspire to be one. I DID do the C25K twice and I gave it an honest effort and it did come naturally to me I didn't struggle to do the C25K I made decent time and often improved my time as the weeks went on. I ran a couple of 5K's and if it weren't for a good cause would have complained more ;) I even did a learn to run clinic in 2011 in the DEAD of winter, we ran in absolute blizzards covered in snow running in snow, it was fantastic ;/ the last 5K I ran was with my lanky runners body of a husband and it was the most frustrating thing we have done together (and mind you we are raising two very needy children) I committed and said out loud many times I hate running I am not a runner and that's fine with me I will leave it to the people who find it mind clearing and beneficial. Sure I run a mile here or there maybe even two.

Monster costumer dash 12' 1st place costume this race was miserating ;/ back pain

St. Patty's Dash 2013 I ran for beer (31 minutes)

So how is it possible to love cardio and hate running - simple I want to be fit healthy and ehem...skinny, not like Kelly Rippa (RUNNERS BODY!Jel a little!) So my cardio routine consists of circuit cardio, typically 15 minutes on an eliptical, then the stairmill, a bike and yes the dreaded treadmil usually a 10 minute mile and a 5 minute fast paced walk. That's 60 minutes of fairly intense heart pumping sweat dripping cardio with out RUNNING the whole time. I have a bad case of ADD too so bouncing between machines benefits me menatally and physically so much better then running. I can accomplish so much more then just running which I would never do for 60 minutes even if I were being chased by zombies, it wants me that bad it can have me :)

I only ran to break in the shoes I won at said Monster Dash - BROOKS baby!

So that's my fat burning cardio no running routine. I strive to do that twice a week and 3 if I am really feeling it but with leg day in the mix I find it hard to do that. On my weight training days I try to get in 25 minutes of HIIT cardio - basically 5 minute warm up on the treadmill walking at a fast pace and as high incline as you can handle (I do 12-15 and I have to hold on so I don't fall off) the incline works your booty my problem area :O (yes I have a cellulite laden booty!) then I crank it up to a sprint and I sprint for 30 seconds then I stand on the side while that sucker runs (this takes a little skill) and rest for 30 seconds I do that for 20 minutes then cool down for 5 minutes WARNING you will sweat like a pig while doing this! HIIT is a FAT burning cardio so as you can see I rarely do any steady cardio I find it getting harder and harder the more weight training I do. It's hard to body build and lean muscles so chose your work outs carefully. My advice - if you are in fact doing some sort of body building routine chose you cardio carefully - long stints of cardio(marathon runners don't really have time for body building anyhow and vice versa) and weight lifting will confuse the muscle and you may not achieve what it is you are trying to do :)

PS NO gym?! The best at home HIIT in my opinion is a jump rope. Warmup jogging for 5 minutes then jump rope 30 seconds on 30 seconds off for 20 minutes - EASY...NOT but worth it!

Bucket list 5k - COLOR RUN (check September 2013 then that's it, unless it involves beer!)

Me: well....the highlight reel....

 I was literally begged to blog - I literally suck at it so bear with me ;) 

so much more to come I PROMISE

Where to even start?! Mostly I get asked how tall I am - funny story, I was measured once (middle school) and stuck with that, turns out I lied all these years I am not 5'6" I am actually 5'7" which I am pretty proud of at the moment because most people shrink with age ;)

Senior year homecoming 1998

Growing up I was always an average girl maybe even skinnier than most.... post high school I had a rocky start to the real world and put on some weight from a size 2 to a size 4 with boobs even!

Work party January 2005

I started dating my husband at the young age of 20 he was a noodle too... tall... 6'3". We were struggling college students and we had time to play tennis, roller blade, basketball, swim and workout. I never thought we would be anything but tall skinny noodles ;O All that changed when we got married and I got pregnant(immediately) it was my new lease on life to EAT, and I ATE everything and did nothing I was working full time newly married and very pregnant. I gained weight so quickly that I had pains beyond my wildest imagination the whole time, some-days I couldn't walk because of the strain of the weight on what was once my small frame :( the morning he was born 5 weeks premature I weighed in at 205 pounds I cried, but chalked it up to normal baby weight as my OB never said it was un-healthy?!! Imagine my shock when I delivered a tiny 6 pound 11 ounce baby boy....I wondered hoped if there were 10 more coming....The labor was fast but the routine of a typical hospital birth had it's toll on me. I gained so much fluid weight that I couldn't tie the shoes I had walked in with...I suffered baby blues, continued pain and had damaged my sciatic nerve due to weight. A few weeks after he was born I couldn't stand wearing any more of the hideous high water maternity pants so I broke down, finally left the house and ventured out to buy pants - and I did buy one pair, a size 14! mind you I was a size 4 when we got married WTH! It still wasn't enough to convince me to do anything about it, being thin always came naturally to me so I thought with time I'd recover....and over the next couple years I did a little but never completely.

Um not noodles! January 31st 2005

July 2005 - 5 1/2 months postpartum ;/

It wasn't till last may when that little baby was now 7 years old and I have since had a second baby which I sailed through that pregnancy (education and trauma will work wonders for a second pregnancy) only gained 35 pounds and had a natural drug free delivery (craziest moment of my life!) Anyhow LAST MAY after discovering MamaLaughlin I decided I should re-evaluate my body, sure I was content, but being a "fat-skinny" girl was no longer going to cut it. I was 30 soon to be 31 and I decided to take baby steps I worked out at home (damn Jillian) ate better and got more active, riding bikes, swimming the norm summer stuff.

Summer 2012 145-148ish

Life  overall had been stupid stressful last year and in January my husband and I decided to join a gym(hoping to reduce stress). We became ADDICTED.... I have lost 14 pounds since last May and gained some impressive muscle for a noodle! Putting me first took years and I have never felt better and my kids are so inspired by me and my friends have been inspired to start their own fit journeys and complete strangers have been my biggest cheerleaders (you know who you are MLFC'ers ;) I have no goal YET other then to be in the best shape of my life, to discover muscles I didn't know I had, to look good in ANYTHING or NOTHING ;) and to inspire others to do the same! I never ever thought I would be anything but a noodle fat or thin....

1 year post the most stressful year of my life( a whole other post!) and April 2013

I have so much more to say I don't even know where to start but that's me in a nutshell! I hope to answer all your questions about how I got my "guns" or abs and what I eat because honestly I love food and lying to myself about how I am not a binge eater ;) small steps ladies....You'll get there....where ever that is -

 Just like Mama L if your inspired be sure to pass it on, a little hard work and a lot of dedication is all you need to feel and look good :)

~Rachel aka Fit Rachel (finally!)