Seasons of life

Does anyone else ever look back at different seasons in their lives and wonder about specific pieces of them? I understand how over time we might grown and change.  Make new friends, loose touch with old ones.  Develop new hobbies or habits, get new jobs etc.  but sometimes I wonder what would be different if I still do X or never started doing Y.  If I had never met my husband or if I would have still met him even if I hadn’t been friends with the friend who introduced us.  

What parts of our lives are fixed points and which parts are timely-whimey-wibbley-wobbley as the Doctor is known to say.  

Just some random thoughts when I can’t sleep at 4am.  

The struggle is real

it is 4:00 am and I am wide awake.  I have no clue why I’m awake but I’ve laid in bed for the better part of 30 minutes before I even picked up my phone trying to fall back asleep.
This is just one reason Spartan training has been difficult for me.  I’m sticking with it and continuing to try but when you don’t get enough sleep it’s hard to get out of bed to train in the morning.
My alarm goes off in an hour and a half.  Maybe I’ll be able to get some more sleep tonight so I can kick tail this morning.
What do you do when you’re awake in the middle of the night?

One day at a time

Well I'm five days in.  It's been rough but I have stuck to my meal plan 98% (my period started yesterday, I had a dark chocolate bar).
I'm taking it one day at a time in hopes that I can follow my plan until we leave to head to Kentucky for the Fort Knox Spartan Sprint.  I know I'll have to waiver some while we are traveling since we will have to eat on the road and won't always have control but if I can take it one day at a time and eat according to my plan then it will be easier to stick to healthy choices while we travel.
Wish me luck :)

Well that was scary

Recently I received the opportunity to have a plethora of functional –medicine style tests ran courtesy of BLUEPRINT fit by Quest Diagnostics.   BluePrint Fit was the daily sponsor for Charity miles about a month ago and I received a promo code to get these tests ran for free.  I figured knowing more about your body is always a good thing and these tests would be a great way for me to get a baseline for various things like nutrient levels, how my metabolism works, my hormones and other magical numbers.  I didn’t anticipate any numbers coming back outside of the normal range with the exception of a few hormones (I was diagnosed with PCOS about 3 years ago so my hormones can be all over the place sometimes)

Surprisingly my hormone numbers were all within the normal range, but a few other numbers came back that were a bit concerning.  

When I was in my mid-20’s my doctor ran a routine blood screening to test things like cholesterol and my triglycerides were extremely high.  The assumption was made given my name and fitness level at the time that this was related to recent diet decisions so the doctor brushed it of even though I have a family history of heart disease.   The next year when she re-ran the tests my numbers were even higher and I was informed that I needed to take steps to lower my triglycerides otherwise I would probably need to be put on medication (statins) within the next few years.  

Shortly after that conversation my husband and I started using Advocare products and learning more about the differences between healthy foods and “Health” foods (I was living on lean cuisines and other high-sodium convenient diet meals for lunch during the week).  With these changes my triglyceride levels returned to the normal range where they have remained for the past few years.

Unfortunately it looks like I’m starting to lose my battle with genetics and am going to need to be more cognizant than ever about the types of fat and the amount of sugars I consume in the future.   My Blueprint fit results showed that I was borderline high not only for triglycerides but also for LDL (bad) cholesterol, and c-reactive protein (a measure of chronic inflammation that generally correlates to risk of heart disease).

I may have been motivated to do my 30 burpees most days, and to take steps towards being prepared for my first Spartan race before getting these results, but now at less than 4 weeks out I’m not only upping my training game but my diet is going to be on point.  

Wish me luck!

PS- I'm considering starting an instagram account...what do you think?

What I'm eating

OMG my lunch today was amazing.
I made this chocolate hummus with a couple of modifications (extra maple syrup and cocoa power please!) and had it with strawberries and pretzels for dessert...
It
was
amazing!

Keep on keeping on

I'm still working on getting into the habit of working out every day.  My husband and I have been going on walks the last few days and it has been wonderful.
Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Gatlinburg, TN with some friends from college and went on a 6 mile hike.  It was wonderful - but I think it was also a good check in for me to get a baseline of where I am as far as being prepared for our Spartan race.   I think my cardio is in a better spot than I give myself credit for-as long as I can stay hydrated and don't run too fast to need to really catch my breath I'll be ok but my upper body and core strength need more focus.  So I am going to work harder on getting my burpees in and making the effort to go to the local park to hang from monkey bars and pull ups.
Wish me luck!