This is an all-inclusive post… of Eight to Great, Days 9-12.

Consider me your cruise ship director.  We have, on this cruise, lots of things about shoes, food, landlords, kids, training and vicious crabs.  It’s all here. And for free.

You lucky duckies. 

image (27)

[Speaking of lucky duckies – check out my “twin” sistah, Sweet Red, up to her eyes in shoes for Swim Bike Sell. I mean, who doesn’t want to be up to their eyes in sweet smelling new shoes. 🙂
All these shoes are going to be up for sale very soon. Stay tuned.]

DAY NINE (Tuesday)

Today’s big news that I did my ab workout… in a swimsuit.  Holy lawd.  

I told Coach Monster that I was committed to executing his workout plan. And today, I forgot the abs until after swim. So I did them. On the pool deck, in my swimsuit. Which wouldn’t be a big deal for all you washboard a types out there… but for me… whoa nelly.

image (19)

Pre-workout:(5:00am) 1 hard-boiled egg, 1/4 cup cashews

Workout:  Bike & Swim (2 hours total)

Post-Workout: (immediately after, 7:40am) 2 egg whites, 1 organic apple

Breakfast: (9:15am) 2 chicken sausages, kale, clementine

I wasn’t hungry until 3:30.  Seriously. And still I wasn’t that hungry, but I knew I would be. And would not be able to get to food between 5-7:30…

Late Lunch:  (3:30pm) 2 whole eggs, 1 egg white scrambled, 1/2 sweet potato, 4 cups of kale, sautéed

Dinner: (7:30 pm)  I was so excited. Had to take the kids to karate and the Expert was making hamburgers (sans bun for us) and sweet potato (chips).  Well, when I walked in the door, there was no burgers. Only eggs. Noooooooooo! Not eggs again!!  But alas, the man had made a frittata, and it was tasty.

My stomach has been a mess today.  I think I’m eating too many cashews.  I’m cutting out nuts tomorrow (that’s what she said.)

I also sort of had a mental breakdown today. The lights in our Hell House —all of our lights have been ON downstairs and we can’t turn them off—damn house is possessed—- (“Well, why don’t you just move, then?”  Because we can’t. That’s why.)—-Anyway.

The lights on -it’s like some form of war torture.  The house is a disaster too, because the Expert and I hate it —-so we don’t put any effort into it. It’s just a place we throw our gym bags, cook and sleep.  Plus, I have inherited a slew of new responsibilities at work. And the chemical changes from Whole 30 are causing just interesting life in general.

Nothing is easy. But it’s all worth it. Right? Right. That’s our story.

sbmon

DAY TEN (Wednesday)

Another recovery day from working out. I am really loving my two recovery days a week.  Wow, it makes a huge difference training five days a week instead of six. Makes me realize that  I don’t want to really do another Ironman. 🙂

Today, I am going nut-free and seeing how I feel.  Also, I woke up hungry, but I was not hungry at all for lunch.  I am battling with whether I should eat when I am not hungry—-or listen to my body and not eat.

Breakfast:(8:15am) coffee, leftover frittata, avocado (1/2) and kale

Lunch: (1:15pm) salad (spinach, mixed greens), 3 egg whites, a few raisins, peppers, pineapple, broccoli, red peppers, black & green olives, olive oil.

I am loving how I am no longer crashing in the afternoons.  How three meals a day (and only three meals) is really enough food.  Today, I wanted to eat pizza and drink wine, but only because of external stressors – and that’s been my go-to for so long.  And beating that down is difficult. But beat it down, I must.

Dinner: A successful day with no nuts. Woot. Feel better. I don’t think cashews are my friend.  (7:00 pm). Had slow cooker chicken and veg for dinner. Easiest recipe in the whole world:  get a Crock-Pot, throw some chopped up onion in it,  take a wholechicken, stuff it with lemons, rosemary and thyme and salt & pepper…throw it in the Crock-Pot with nothing else other than maybe a squeeze of lemon over it, turn on high and cook for 5-6 hours. Easy and very, very good.

I think I have finally programmed my body not to snack at night. That’s been the hardest thing, but I think I am over the hump.

*And I’m not supposed to, but I got on the scale and 5 pounds has fallen off.

And because everyone loves kids drawings:

image (31)

That would be a “vicious crab” and an “evil whale,” in case you couldn’t tell.

Duh.

DAY ELEVEN (Thursday)

Pre-workout: 1 hard-boiled egg

Workout:  6 mile run, core

Post-workout: 2 egg whites, 1 organic apple

Breakfast:  I wasn’t hungry until almost 11:00, so I waited to eat. I had two chicken breasts, massaged kale (with orange) and that’s it.  I felt so full afterwards.  I didn’t want to eat again at all.

Late late “lunch”:  Around 3:00, I decided that I should eat, so I went downstairs to the cafe in our building, but it was closed. Rats.  I didn’t want to cheat and eat the cashews in my drawer, so I waited.  I thought I would have time to grab something before I picked up the kids from school. I didn’t.  So then I had to shuttle them to karate. Luckily, their karate is next door to Whole Foods.  So I snagged some spicy olives at Whole Foods and a sparkling water at 6:15.

Found out that Ironman Chattanooga is coming in September 2014 – which is a hop-skip from Atlanta. I had to immediately calm my brain and put away my RRCD (Race Registration Compulsion Disorder) when I heard.

The SBM Army was riled up about it, which got me crazed. My first instinct was “YES! I AM IN!”  Yoda texted me and said, “You and the Expert have to sign up so we can train together!” I texted the Expert, who said, “I can’t deal with this right now. We can discuss tonight as you eat kale and eggs.”  Which to the outsider might seem fine…but this was his way of saying, “If you put me through this, I will never cook for you again and you can eat your bloody kale and eggs forever.”

This is me on kale and eggs:

image (26)

Point taken.

And plus, I made a promise. No Ironman until 2016, if ever again.  I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. I will keep my promise. 

Dinner:  The Expert made dinner last night (hands off ladies… he’s mine)…

image (28)

….We had an interesting buffet of things, including Nom Nom Paleo’s shrimp stuffed mushrooms. I wasn’t crazy about them —-I think I’m not that big on cilantro—but the Expert really loved them, and they were definitely a nice change.

Tonight, was the first time I really missed breadcrumbs. Because I love me a good stuffed mushroom.  Maybe next time, I’m thinking crab and something that smells and tastes like cheese… oh my. What would that be? AHhhhh, cheese? 

Sad face.

I do miss cheese. [But not the cheese on my rear end, which is driving my lack of cheese. Make sense? I know you’re keeping up.]

tumblr_mf0crgGJsi1qdei8m
Photo from Nom Nom Paleo: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/37988064841/paleo-shrimp-stuffed-mushrooms

Also, had a lovely concoction of veggies and shrimp.

image (25)

DAY TWELVE (F-f-f-f-f-FRIDAY!)

I love Fridays.

I really love this Friday, because this morning the Expert went to the post office to pick up certified mail. I laugh when I get certified mail, like my friend Charlie says, scares the heck out of me when certified mail comes.  Me too.

Well, today, we received a notice from our landlords to leave the premises of the Hell House if we don’t pay the rent for August that is due.

Funny.

Because the rent is NOT due – because the landlord said they were conceding our rent for this month (because of the hell that is our house, you know).

So now, they are trying to evict us for not paying the rent that they said we did not have to pay.

I love this company. And I can’t wait to be evicted. I mean, that will be awesome blog material. Thank you Jesus for always giving me something to write about. I mean, the material was running low…

Oh, and yes…. as a matter of fact, our electrical is still screwed up. All our downstairs lights are still a-burnin’.

Which makes me want to stick this animal on them:

photo (9)

Despite the smile, this dangerous creature is a “vicious ghost shark with talons.”

Duh.

Pre-workout: (4:50 am) I’m telling you, I’m no foodie.  Clearly. Yes, 1 hard-boiled egg.

Workout: Swim and spin

Post-workout:  (7:10 am) Same ole: 2 eggs whites and 1 organic apple. I’m having a hard time choking down these egg whites. I need to come up with something else to eat post-workout.

Breakfast: (10:00 am) two Applegate chicken sausages, kale & spinach with olive oil. I couldn’t choke these down either. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I don’t want to eat??? I seriously must be dying.

Lunch:  will be leftovers from last night.

Dinner: Remains to be planned. So we’ll see.

I feel good going into the weekend. It’s just a workout weekend and hanging with the kids. The lazy kind of tea-drinking, snuggling type of weekend I think we could use. Supposed to rain, so likely putting down 10 miles on the treadmill and 3+ hours on the trainer, and I’m a-okay with that.

Have a great weekend, friends.

*Special shout-out to long-time SBM friend, Monica, who is tackling her first half iron this weekend. Go, Mo, go!

========================

What is SBM’s Eight to Great?

So I started the SBM Eight to Great to give us all some motivation and incentive to be better together.  Eight weeks of full commitment. So whatever changes are you are going to make, whatever eating regime you plan to follow, let’s do the healthy things together.  We already have almost 700 people on the Facebook group! You can join the Facebook group here.  And yes, you can start anytime.  This is about changing YOUR life. So let’s go!

The main tenets of the Eight to Great are:

1) Eat clean– no junk food, no (or very limited) processed food, low (or no) sugar, no booze or Filet-o-Fish sandwiches (written more with myself in mind here). I am following Whole 30, but there are many ways to get to healthy—-we all must find what works for us.

2) Train hard – work hard in your workouts with your big goals in mind. If you need a free beginner tri guide, go here.

3) Just Keep Moving Forward – if you fall down, you pick yourself back up and go!

Go here to sign your commitment to GREAT, and get ready for an amazing, life-changing 8 weeks! Go here to download an awesome goal-setting worksheet from Whole 30.

6 Responses

  1. Gosh I am so glad you blog. No offense but it is nice to see someone elses life in KAOS. Thank you Meridith for putting it all in prostpective for me. Have a great weekend. And yes, GO MO, GO!!!!

  2. I am reading the book “It Starts with Food” … not sure if you read this too before beginning the Whole 30, but I knew I read somewhere about not being hungry … it says (pg 157) and maybe other places too, seems I read it more than once, but it says to temporarily override those signals from your body or risk further hormonal disruption… basic three meals are a minimum requirement… within a few weeks your hormones and hunger mechanism should self-regulate and you’ll be able to start listening to your body for real… = )

  3. because you may not have enough to do, I really think that Keep Calm graphic would look lovely, as a sticker on my car, plastered on my chest on a tee, or a simple poster, would do…. 😉
    you may like this story-
    We live in so cal. My son went to SCAD in Savannah. The school clearly advised he rent an apartment within one block of a park. Cool, only son did not confirm, which direction the block should be (it was north, he rented online, south). We arrive Labor Day weekend to hell row house and in my gut I knew we should have walked away, but there was nothing available THAT day, we had driven from San Diego and funds were limited.
    It took the entire semester to get out of that lease with Georgia’s rental laws. I was shocked!
    Needless to say, the apartment was broken into, nightly drug deals were witnessed and the contents of his room went missing one day. I finally got him a room at the extended stay, and you covered that pretty well! I feel for your family and the Hell House

  4. I don’t want to feed your RRCD, but you could do Chattanooga Ironman as a relay team. Gets you the medal, but not all the training. Or just sign up to volunteer. Or just go to be an athletic supporter.

    Good job hanging in there with all the life stressors and such. You rock!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *