Getting calories no matter the food source

This past weekend I was in Avon by the Sea, NJ for the IKFF CNT level 1 course put on by Steve Cotter and Ken Blackburn. Top notch guys. We spent Saturday and Sunday outside in the sun on concrete swinging, cleaning, jerking, snatching, and squatting kettlebells. It was a great time, but all that time in the sun made this homegirl hungry!

I prepared for the weekend away by grilling and packing 3 chicken breasts, 4 apples, a couple clementines, package of beef jerky, 4 hard boiled eggs, 1 lb of cashews, and a couple Babybel cheese wheels. I figured with all this food in tow I could still eat in Zone proportions.

Eff. That.

On the drive up Saturday morning I noshed on some scones my partner in crime for the weekend brought. Didn't snack much during the breaks, but had a couple of these wraps as well as a few of my cashews.




I drank as much water as possible to stay hydrated in the heat. And damn it was hot. I didn't have anything after lunch (1pm) and went to town on the bag of cashews. Couldn't stop eating. We were meeting a few people from the cert for dinner, but the food selection and prices didn't agree with me, so I just opted for a simple salad. I was starving and almost forgot about the scones in the car. On the drive back to the hotel after being out for dinner for 2.5 hours, I had a couple scones. As soon as I got in the room I had an apple and cheese wheel, chicken, and some more cashews. I was finally starting to get the take back from E to F.

Sunday morning started with a breakfast of eggs, sausage, a little fruit, and a couple small containers of peanut butter. Pretty close to a 4 block, 3x fat breakfast I would normally have. I was better about snacking on Day 2 and grabbed a couple strips of jerky and cashews during breaks. Lunch was 4 of those little wraps and a ton of water. I had 1.5 wraps post cert. Everyone took the wraps with chicken, so I was left playing pick-a-wrap and the fish didn't agree with me.

The ride home was going to be a long haul. The wrap was enough to get me off of fumes, but I needed something else. I saw a sign for Dairy Queen on our way out of town, but didn't think to stop until my partner in crime mentioned he could go for some ice cream. Mild berating went on as I was chastised for not mentioning the DQ on the way out of town.

Lady Luck, possibly disguised as a Girl Scout, was on my side when we saw a sign directing us to a Dairy Queen at the next exit 1 mile away. Signs guided us through a couple more turns and we thought we were heading to no mans land when I saw the red sign peeking above the tree line. I swear I heard harps playing and angles singing, too. My mind was made up long ago and I went for the Tagalong Girl Scout Blizzard.

Now I was hoping to find a picture of said Blizzard, but I thought this would be more enjoyable.



De.Licious.

And worth every 1,190 calorie.

I also had 4 scones and a lingering chicken wrap that partner in crime couldn't finish after his large shake, chili cheese hot dog, and two chicken wraps.

A very successful weekend - completing the cert and ingesting ridiculous amounts of calories from fat.

Could I have stuck with what I brought? Sure. Could I have made wiser food choices? Sure. Could it have been much worse. Of course. Am I still eating like that? Not even close. Monday morning I was back to my 16 block, 3x fat regimen. I was thinking of cutting back on the fat or going down to 14 blocks the first few days, but decided against it. I'm not looking for a 'quick fix' to get back on track, and feel the only way to do that is to get back on the same wagon.

But I tell ya.. that Blizzard was awesome!!

Not-so-annual check up

I went to my "hey, you really need to go to the doctors" appointment this week as it has been... oh, since January 05 since my last annual visit. I'm bad about making appointments and was nagged more than anyone can tolerate being nagged (I say that with a lot of love!<3) and finally called in April or so to set up an appointment with a new doctor. Her website shows a 2-3 month waiting period for annual exams for new patients, so I was stoked when I got one for November. Score! Hey, I was just happy to have made said appointment to end the nagging, but apparently this was only the beginning as I had to deal with a barrage of "did you ask to be put on a wait/cancellation list?" questions and "you should really call to see if you can move up your appointment" urgings to finally "CALL ALREADY!"

I like to watch people push the already lit buttons on an elevator.. The door will shut, you will get to your destination, and repeated pushings won't make things move any faster. That. is. me. I was moving at my own pace until Dennis Hopper jumped aboard and sped things up for me.

So I called back in mid July and got the appointment moved up to early August... and waited for more questions... none! Time to get the vitals checked, blood drawn, and a few moles checked out.

Basic stats
Weight - 160.8
BP - 120/72
Temp - 98.8

I have a number of moles/freckles around my bra/HRM line that I wanted checked out, and she said most of them look good - none with an irregular shape. But there is one of particular interest that is a bit raised and discolored, so I got a recommendation for a dermatologist. Place bets now for the over/under of when I finally make that appointment sans nagging. ;)

I'm most interested in the blood work results after switching to a meatatarian lifestyle after 8 years as a vegetarian. In addition to eating meat, 50% of my daily calories comes from fat in the form of cashews, almonds, avocados, eggs, bacon, and olive oil. I have not eaten bread, pasta, rice, or legumes in one month and ate it in limited quantities before then. My carbs come in the form of vegetables and fruit and make up about 20% of my daily caloric intake. That leaves 30% protein in the form of eggs, chicken breasts, buffalo burgers, beef jerky, pork chops, bacon, salmon, and buffalo flank steak, which I will be trying for the first time tonight. This is all wild, grass fed, hormone free, no additives meat/fish/poultry. I also consume small amounts of dairy in the form of raw cheese, Babybel light cheese wheels, and cottage cheese. Everything is measured, counted, or weighed and tracked in my public FitDay journal.

So far I'm down almost 5 lbs since July 7th and only a few cashews away from the 150# range again. I feel much stronger, but can't say I notice a difference in how my clothes feel or fit. I'm going to stick with the 20-30-50 breakdown for another week and then I'm off to Michigan for a long weekend where I'll splurge on s'mores and god only knows whatever else is lying around. I'll be a little more lax and not weigh/count everything, but will be mindful of quality and quantity of food. Life can't revolve around a scale and I won't let it control me.