sugar is a son of a beast

Last year during the months of November and December I gave up refined sugar and unbleached enriched flour. In those two months I lost a little over 10# and felt amazing. I didn't revert back to old eating habit in January right away, if anything I tried to keep it up and continued to lose weight. Then life happened, not exactly sure what or when, but slowly the weight on the scale started to creep upward. Before I knew it this year is almost over and I am eating like shit. I don't feel good. And I feel guilty that I have lost complete control of my diet. I also don't think it is fair to Joon who has given so much of his time in helping me get better, stronger, and fitter. I am the only one to blame in this, and trust me I have had a good reality check with myself.

What I think caused me to fall off was my getting sick back in July with the stomach pain and learning that I was allergic to the soy protein in my protein bars. Those bars were helping me so much with satisfying me in between meals and as a great snack. With those out of the picture I am left with trying to fill those holes with healthy choices... add that I am utterly picky.

I am now three days in with no refined sugar, and I am miserable. I know once this part passes I'll be ok but I just want to feel better and not crave this crap anymore. I have had maybe two beers since July, and have decided to hold off on the alcohol for a while. I'm beginning to research different recipes and dishes and trying to cook up two different meals on Sunday to take for lunches during the week. That is helping me some. I like snacks though, I can't seem to find anything that doesn't have unbleached enriched flour, sugar, and that I like. Ugh... sugar really is a son of a beast! And dammit I will slay this pain in the ass beast!

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

post reflection on the sugar challenge

So it's been four days since the sugar challenge I was in ended. And you'd think that I went out and indulged in sweet treats, right? Well I didn't, not exactly. First it didn't help that right after Christmas I caught the Flu bug and was out of the game for a week. I am feeling tons better but still walking around with a nagging cough. So my diet didn't change a whole lot since my taste took a while to return to normal, though I think it's still off a bit. This down time gave me some time to think and reflect on what I learned from this challenge and how I want to proceed from here. For starters, I no longer crave any of my old favorite treats, which is a fantastic thing. I broke out of a bad habit and formed some new ones due to this challenge. I was hoping to accomplish not wanting to fall back to my old ways. So yesterday I decided to indulge in a sweet treat. I purchased this small little SnackWells pack of four cookies. These were one of my go to treats that were suppose to be a healthier choice but were riddled with not so good things. I managed to eat two cookies when I decided to throw the pack out. Not because I had had enough, but because the taste of the cookies were awful. I am amazed how I can now distinguish the taste of something made with good quality ingredients, and bad stuff.

I have no desire to go back to my old eating habits. I have full intentions on continuing on the same path I established during the challenge. I will allow natural sweet treats from time to time, and the occasional alcohol induced outings but I have no desire to ruin all that I have accomplished. I got goals I want to reach. This is the only body I have, I want to treat it right!

day 60 of 60: sugar challenge

The End.

It is the official last day of the sugar challenge for me and my last weigh in was this morning. The result? Well surprisingly I lost another 3#! I say surprisingly because last Friday I got hit with the Flu and have been home sick all weekend couch bound. Today was my first day out of the house to go to work for a few hours and I really wasn't expecting to see much of a difference on the scale. Now I know the loss could be contributed to having been sick and not eating a whole lot, but I know it could also be that I've reached a point where my muscles are burning enough calories on their own. It could be one or the other, or more probably a combination of the two. Either way, I'll take it. I've lost more weight than I had expected to during this challenge. I'm pretty stoked!

Total weight lost from November 1st thru December 31st is 17#. I averaged a loss of 2.125# a week, but in reality that is not how it unfolded. I suspect I will reach my first weight goal in mid-January. If I keep up with my current success I will reach my second goal weight in one years time. Sooner if I am ambitious. I will continue to track my weight loss on a monthly basis as I will continue to keep a cleaner diet and not bring refined sugar and unbleached enriched flour back into my regular diet. This wasn't a temporary thing, it was the road to a new way of life!

I do want to take a moment to thank my wonderful partner, Aaron, for his encouragement and support during all of my challenges and on my road to making a better me. You make me stronger and stay on track with your positive words. Thank you my love.

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

day 54 of 60: sugar challenge

I had an exciting Christmas Eve weigh in!! I had not expected much of a loss, I was shooting for maintenance. But this morning I weighed in 3# less than my last weigh in. WHAT! Yes... I am so excited. This obviously proves the lack of working out two weeks ago is what inhibited any loss in last weeks weigh in. I am now officially 10# away from my first goal!! Give me a moment as I do my happy dance. :)

So in one weeks time I will be doing my last weigh in for the sugar challenge, as it is coming to an end. The end result of this challenge thus far? I will not go back to eating refined sugar on a regular basis, if at all. I have seen too much progress and feel too good to want to put much of that crap back into my body. I will, however, begin a monthly weigh in on the last Friday of every month to keep record of my progress with my continue healthy eating and CrossFit workouts/monthly challenges. So stay tuned!

day 50 of 60: sugar challenge

Alright, so I had my weigh in this morning and I managed to lose the 0.5# I gained last week but that is all. That is ok. As I suspected with the reintroduction of beer into my diet and having a couple of outings that involved drinking and the lack of working out last week, this was bound to happen. I also know that I should not always expect a weight loss as I am still building muscle. What I should be happy with is that I am able to maintain my weight at the very least.

In 10 days will mark the end of this challenge and my 7 month CrossFit anniversary. A lot has happened for me between the two. I have lost more weight than I had expected to see on the scale in the past 50 days, and in the last 4 to 5 months I have really noticed the changes in my body. I know that if I keep up with eating right and training hard I will achieve my fitness goals. I know I am on the right track. :)

sugar challenge still going strong

I realized that I never posted about my weigh in last week. Probably because I was a tad bit disappointed with it. I gained 0.5# during that week and I know I can attribute that to the introduction of beer back in my diet as well as being out of CrossFit for a full week due to my knee. But that is alright, it was a slight increase and not the end of the world for me. I am not drinking beer everyday, just had a couple of events I went to. Plus I have gone everyday this week to CrossFit. I expect a better outcome in my weigh in this Friday. Stay tuned…

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

day 33 of 60: sugar challenge

I'm not going to lie, I was a wee bit nervous to weigh in this morning. I was certain that I'd see a one to two pound gain on the scale. But I didn't. I actually lost a pound. Not a big loss as I really wasn't expecting that, but pretty happy with a loss of any kind! A little over a month into the sugar challenge and I'm convinced I made the right decision. I can not express how good I feel, internally. I feel like things are beginning to function better. It's amazing how well your body will treat you when you treat it well. If I were you, I'd rethink the refine sugar...

fighting through the wall

So in yesterday's post I was all excited about losing 3.5# that it slipped my mind to share how my week went that led to that wonderful loss. I have noticed that my diet has slowly changed without consciously trying. It's interesting to realize that when you begin to work your body hard, it will ask for the appropriate fuel that is needed. I still haven't experienced cravings for the sugary weaknesses that had a hold of me for many years. I'm so thankful that I have overcome that. Now as a reminder, I am not giving up ALL sugar, I'm giving up refined sugar. What I also have been conscious of is how much natural sugar I am taking in. My fruit intake has increased, but not excessively, more like to a healthier level. Other than fruit, the only other thing I ingest with some natural sugar in it is a 1% chocolate milk. It is reserved only for after a workout and I know dinner isn't coming right away. It helps hold me over until dinner time. I have tried to minimize how much I drink of it though, and I notice that the taste for it isn't as strong as it once was.

What I do think contributed to my big loss this week is that I really paid attention to my body. I fed it more protein, more green, drank plenty of water, and made sure I stayed on top of my vitamins. I also began to focus more in class at CrossFit Stumptown. Both coaches have told us many times that when we hit that wall where you feel like you can't go on anymore, do five more. So three times this week I focused on pushing myself in that way. And the results? I finished 1st in one class, 2nd in another, and had the most rounds in another. What I noticed I did in those classes was that I pushed myself beyond that wall. When I began to feel tired or weak, I pushed. I didn't linger in between reps or movements, or took my time drinking some water. I went from one movement to the next with controlled haste, I only sipped water, and I kept reminding myself of the goal. I'd use a time I wanted to beat. Or a person I wanted to stay ahead of. It's 90% mental in my opinion. When the side stitches began and the breathing got rougher, that's when I knew I hit my wall, so I focused on five more. I believe that extra effort and my improved diet played a major role in the 3.5# loss this week.

And the result of having lost 10.5# in three weeks? Well for the first time in I'd say six or so years, I was able to try clothes on a size smaller. For a woman whose been overweight for some time now, this is an enormous achievement. I can't wait to see what next week will bring…

day 22 of 60: sugar challenge

Oh. My. Goodness. I am not sure how to react to my weigh in today. Should I jump up and down? Scream with excitement? Do cartwheels? Wait... I can't do cartwheels... yet! Ok ok... so this week I lost a total of 3.5# adding to a complete total of 10.5# in three weeks. How?! I mean awesome, but how?!

               :::BREATHE NIKKI:::

Ok, I am better now. I am feeling pretty happy with this development. I honestly thought the weight loss would slow down to a pound a week, which would be awesome, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd have a large loss like this week. Maybe this will be the last of the large losses, and that is ok. But apparently whatever I am doing is working... and so I shall continue with it.

day 8 of 61: sugar challenge

So I am officially 8 days into my sugar challenge! So much has happened this week to be excited about. For starters, I didn't have any withdrawals like I expected to have. I was sure I would be a severe grump but besides momentary grouchiness, usually because I hadn't eaten yet, I was pretty mellow. Secondly, I have lost 6 pounds in 8 days! I honestly did not expect much weight lost as I believe I am still in the building muscle phase of my CrossFit training. But alas, I did. I'm pretty stoked to see such a significant change on the scale with just a change in my diet.

Yesterday, on the 7 day mark, I added fruit back into my diet. During the first 4 to 5 days of the challenge I found that instead of craving crappy stuff like cookies, donuts, chocolate, and so on, I was actually craving bananas and mangos. Mind you, I haven't had a mango in 15 or so years, so that caught me off guard. My first bite into a banana yesterday was a delicious one and surprisingly, a very sweet one.

I'll be honest, I really expected this challenge to be difficult. I was so certain that I'd be craving chocolate of all kinds. I don't seem to be missing any of it. I hope the challenge remains this easy for me. How about those of you doing the challenge with me? How are you progressing? Feeling?

day 1 of 61: sugar challenge

Today marked the beginning of the end of refine sugar for me. To refresh your memory, I am doing a sugar challenge through the end of the year. The goal with this is to withdrawal from the cravings of refined sugar, retrain my brain and body in what is good sugar, and in the end have no desire for the crappy food. I put myself up on a similar challenge to give up soda years back, and it worked.

By the end of today I already begun to experience the effects of not having any sugar. My workout was a struggle, I felt weak and slow. Afterwards, a trip to the grocery store was a difficult task. I was hungry, instinctively I wanted to grab whatever sweetness I could find, even a banana. But thankfully, I remained strong enough to walk past all the temptations and grab what I needed and was out of there.

I know this will be a very long journey, but it will be a worthy one. For those of you who decided to join me... GOOD FOR YOU! Be strong. Remember it's a mental game, beat it!

q & a: "why do you talk about CrossFit so much?"

From time to time I've had friends, acquaintance, and strangers ask me questions related to my CrossFit experience. I give my answer, but more often than not I wish I would have had more time to think about the question before answering. So I decided to start adding the questions I get related to my CrossFit experience, everything from the fitness to the diet and everything else in between, and my answers here on my blog. So if you ever have a question, please ask by using the "contact me" form to the right of this posting. So on to the most popular question I get...

Q: "Why do you talk about CrossFit so much?" -various people

This photo was found on Pinterest.

A: Simple. I drank the Kool-aid. Ok no, seriously there was no drinking of Kool-aid- that would be bad, too much sugar! But why do I talk about it so much? Well, for one, I'm extremely excited about it. When something good, positive, rewarding, exciting, (you fill in the possible word) happens to you, you want to share it with the people you love. Right? You got that dream job. You met an incredible new person. You won the lottery. You get the picture here. This situation isn't any different. I found something that makes me happy, that makes me feel good, and in a short time has proven results with all the hard work I put into it. And yes, usually with all new things that happy feeling tends to fade and you don't really care to talk about it anymore. Unfortunately for those of you who are tired of hearing me talk about it, it has not faded. And it won't. Why? Well, its an ever evolving thing. There will always be something that I am getting better at. There will always be something I finally did that I couldn't before. There will always be a PR. There will always be new results. Why wouldn't I want to share this with you? Granted, any of you who are reading this right now must enjoy it or you wouldn't keep coming back. I can only hope that some of you will be interested in a tasting the Kool-aid. Ready for a change?