One Year of Healthy Living

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” - Abraham Lincoln

Remember me? The girl who used to blog semi-regularly, it has definitely been some time since I last posted. The month of March is a blur of busy including participation in my first weight lifting competition the Crossfit Open (Separate Post to come on that). Now seems like an appropriate time to come back to blogging as this week marks the one year anniversary of my health journey.  The below ramblings will attempt to show what I have been up to.

I was crazy enough to participate in the Crossfit Open.  This shot was taken after 15.3 which was a brutal workout of Push Press and Cleans. It is almost to the day of when I first tried Crossfit in 2014. With Allison who got me started on this journey last year.

Picture with Platt at Betsy's Roaring out of my 20's Party

I have done a lot of reflecting on the changes I have made throughout the year.  I think that type of thinking helps keep me motivating and in check when I start to slip in to a pile of Thai noodles. The above photo is one of my favorites from a 30th birthday of a friend a few weeks ago.  I do a double take sometimes with pictures, as I often can't see my own progress in the mirror.  Photos and clothing size help to keep me in check.

This health journey stuff isn't easy and in the last few weeks it has been easy to turn a few exceptions in to a downward spiral of eating pizza every day.  By writing this post, I already feel myself becoming more mindful of the choices I am making.  

I have still be cooking, above is a coconut cauliflower grits and lime shrimp that I made from the Paleo Performance cookbook. VERY delicious and relatively easy. Cauliflower "rice or grits" makes is an excellent substitute for rice or noodles and it gets vegetables in the mix. 

I also made homemade Buffalo Sauce which was super easy and delicious.  I don't think I will ever spend money on buffalo sauce again as this recipe from the Whole30 cookbook is now officially my favorite.  The creators of the Whole30 did a run down of buy vs. make recently: http://whole30.com/2015/03/convenience-foods/  Buffalo sauce for me falls in to the make but I don't think I will ever make my own RX bars for fear that I will break my food processor and honestly why bother they are a delicious convenience food. 

I have been eating out a bit more lately which makes me feel less in control of the things in my food, but a NYC girl has to socialize. When I am out, I focus my ordering around vegetables and meats and try to keep the mantra of "is this worth it" when I eat something with non paleo ingredients.   Some things as I have stated prior on this blog are very worth it (mom's mac and cheese or authentic ramen). My taste buds have changed and I find fruit very sweet and when I am craving actual sweets it's usually related to not getting enough sleep or stress.

The above shot does not do justice to how bright these shoes are.  I recently invested in lifting shoes, to celebrate my one year anniversary and help me with some deficiencies I have in my ankles and calves.  I was skeptical but have to say these shoes have allowed me to add 20 pounds to my back squat which is a big win in my book.  Anything that builds confidence under the barbell is something I will at least try once and while a big investment I will have these sexy shoes for a long time. Do to the Crossfit  Open my workout schedule was altered in the month of March, I look forward to deadlifting and doing some other Oly movements in the shoes in the coming weeks.

Finally, a year anniversary post would not be complete without a round up list of the things that have become regular habits throughout the journey.  

I am.....

- officially a black coffee drinker and I don't miss cream, sugar or sugar substitute.  I love good coffee and can settle for ok coffee but bad coffee need not apply.

- a person who works out regularly without excuses and I actually enjoy it. I work my social life around the gym now. I know weird.

- someone who does not drink beer anymore as it makes me feel awful, I still drink but mostly wine and cider.

-drinking 64+ ounces of water a day, and I never believed it but it does help you eat less and feel full.

-able to cook delicious food and actually prefer it to eating out all the time. I know shocking.

-someone who brings lunch and breakfast to work every day with few exceptions.

-fitting in to a smaller size clothing than I have since college.

-not someone who will put my hope in to the latest diet fad or craze with the expectation that I will lose weight and be happy as I did for several years.

-a person who cares where my food is sourced from and how it gets to my plate and no longer relies on convenience package foods that tout "health"

-happier than I have ever been.

Cheers to many more years of health and happiness!