Anyways, this week it was short ribs Which got made into burgers <—click that!

So delicious. I used a bottle of Steve’s Orinigal paleo maple mustard sauce in a recipe finally! SO good.

That was an epic meal. It made enough food to last Brad and I three meals apiece.

What a ridiculously horrible thing that happened in Boston. People are really sick, but I enjoyed showing my support by wearing a race shirt. I’ve never worn a race shirt ever. Not a day in my life! I can’t stand the feel of “cheap” technical fabric. But I really liked the design from last year’s Little Rock marathon shirt, so I donned it and wore it Wednesday. Kinda fun being dressed like this at work:

I am starving to death right now. Coming up on hour-12 of a fast.  I am trying intermittent fasting. I’ve tried it in the past, and it seemed like a pretty easy way to maintain my current weight instead of gaining all the time. I weigh a lot, so I am going to see how it goes this time around. The reason I like IF is because it suits my lifestyle! Since I choose to do my fasting in the first part of the day, I can sleep in a tad and then rush to work on an empty stomach. I pretty much do that anyways minus a couple pieces of fruit once in a while. Now I can justify my laziness. Sounds so much easier than trying to decode the Zone diet, doesn’t it??? lol

One thing that spurred that decision was reading this article about why women should not run. WTF?  (For the record, I think that while this article may have some truth to it, it is mostly BS) I have been a runner for YEARS and I’ve felt like for as much hard work as I put in that I was having an unreasonably difficult fight against the bulge. I would count every calorie and do LOADS of cardio back when I was in college. Granted, I was 15-20lbs lighter back then–but I had exactly the same amount of fat that I do now. Possibly more. And very little muscular definition compared to what I have now.

I don’t all that different do I? 20lbs heavier? I’m just dressed up in one and post-race in the other…

I will continue to be a runner, but I won’t do obsessive cardio like that any more. It’s not very fun to elliptical for an hour while everyone else is hanging out at the pool having fun. I think the HIIT that comes with my CrossFit workouts is exactly what my body needs. I feel much stronger and healthier now than I did then….probably also because I’m not afraid of calories anymore. Or fat.

Happy Friday!!!!

Thanks to glossy magazines and stick-thin supermodels, a common perception of successful weight-loss is extreme calorie restrictions or placing certain ‘bans’ on yourself from enjoying the foods that you love the most. In this mindset, going on a diet can seem like a daunting, challenging and extremely dull way of life. I myself have, in the past, fallen victim to the classic weight-loss traps by cutting out sugar from my diet, calorie counting, eating less carbohydrates and so on. In short, restrictions do not work, and will consequentially lead to over eating, feeling exhausted, weak, and miserable due to deprivation of vital nutrients.

Listen to your body

Your body knows you so much better than any 7-day meal eating plan from an eat-like-this-and-look-like-her magazine feature. So what if it is 10 in the morning and you are hungry, don’t starve yourself, just listen to your body and eat. The belly rumbles between hunger and eating will not benefit any weight-loss attempt, in fact, what you are listening to is your metabolism slowing down and entering starvation mode. Keep your metabolism fired up and in fat-burning mode all day, by listening to your body and eating when your body needs fuel.

Fat burning mode

Eating when your body needs food provides a constant supply of energy to your system. So now there is no excuse not to go to that fitness class, walk or cycle to work, go for a swim, and get active and burn off some energy. Eating a calorie restricted diet is counter productive when it comes to weight loss, as your body holds onto every calorie you give it for basic bodily functions such as breathing and keeping you alive, leaving very little energy for getting fit and healthy. Eating to meet your bodies daily needs, gives adequate power to work out at your maximum potential, building stronger muscles and sweating off fat without the feeling of exhaustion before burning out.

The Daily Challenge

Challenge yourself to do a something active everyday, whether that is walking or cycling to work, signing up to try out new fitness classes, picking up some weights in the gym, yoga, Pilates or swimming. Exercise is the key to building muscle, burning fat and looking slimmer and toned. If this increased active lifestyle causes you to feel hungry more often (and it will) then eat more often! By starving yourself, you are slowing down your digestion, causing bloating, something which is not desired if you are aiming for that beach body flat stomach look. And finally, if you do follow magazine-style low calorie eating plans that leave you hungry for most of the day, potentially you can stop burning fat, and in place muscle mass is used as the main energy source. The scales may encourage you by reading less, but this is simply because muscle weighs more than fat, so in reality your are only losing strength and tone whilst not changing shape at all.