Friday Five: 2 Posts in 1 month!

Make the most of yourself, 

for that is all there is of you. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I know, I am getting wild and crazy over here posting more than 1x this month. Without further delay, my Friday 5.

• So more on Whole30. It is a truly magnificent program. People do it for many reason, weight loss, getting rid of sugar or other food addictions, simply to be healthy or to help identify food intolerance. At the point I started, like I mentioned in my last post I had already did a 6 week trial of reducing gluten & dairy and saw improvements in my joint inflammation and ease of weight management. Whole30 for me was going to be about finding food intolerance. I didn't find any, but I did have success in other ways. Whole30 requires an extreme level of conscientiousness about what you are putting in your body. When you are a working mom with a short commute, it takes meal prep. I had never been totally into that. Now, I love Sunday prep for the week, it saves me time, takes the guess work out of eating and my whole family is eating much less processed food. Total win in this regard. I validated gluten and dairy sensitivity. In addition to the inflammatory properties, gluten zaps my energy and slows my digestive system. Dairy, while not an immediate effect on the digestive system, it does slow things down a bit too.  Both are things I can have infrequently, but not without known mostly tolerable consequence. The big unexpected win was not the mild weight loss (5-6 lbs) since I wasn't trying to lose weight. Rather, the shocker was losing 3 inches on my waist, 2 inches on each thigh and seeing wonderfully athletic performance results.
• Update on Physical Therapy. My 2x a week for 12 weeks is over. I have 6 more sessions to monitor my reintegration of full function exercises. I was rear ended last September, but didn't get treatment until a flare up of my left trap muscle in November. The trap was symptomatic of a deeper issue. My ab muscles where they connect at the rib cage weren't working properly. Basically lazy. My shoulders and glutes have been doing work to compensate for my poor ab function. I have spent the last couple months retraining my abs which has resulted in visible abs, taller posture, faster running speed from moving more naturally (like dropped a full minute off my fastest running time).
• I have the day off, my biggest decision today was do I run in the crisp morning air or wait for a warm afternoon run in the sun. I am choosing the latter.
• Current diet: Trying to stay whole30 for most meals, but still having non-gluten grain and some dairy too.
• Current exercise regimen: Taking a break from a mostly weightlifting schedule to train for a half marathon next month. Training is going well, still maintaining some strength training, but allowing myself to build mileage. Trying not to lose weight or muscle mass while running has been difficult. I really am trying to come to grips with the fact that my body is going to look differently in every stage of being. If I am lifting only, I'll look one way and if I am running more, my body will respond and shift accordingly. Breaking away of societal expectations, the scale number, the jean size and all that jazz is surprisingly difficult. What is even more deceptive is that if you go by ability, that can be deceptive too. I ate like crap and was easily able to do the things I wanted to do like half marathons and triathlons. Being a former athlete, my brain sees me as an athletic build even when I am a little extra fluffy. I have had my athletic body back for a while now and I am faster, stronger and more confident when my body looks how my brain feels I look. This will be my measure for a while. My current body dynamic has had nothing to do what I can accomplish in the gym or on the road, it is so much more connected to how I use my body correctly (thank you PT) and fuel my body, more than I even realized. As a former division 1 athlete, I ran my fastest mile at 6:31 having just inhaled a Taco Bell Burrito and Chips Ahoy cookies. Was I a rock solid athlete? Hell yes I was. Do I feel better now than I did then. Hell yes I do and without 3-a-day trainings to get there! No I am not a 6:31 miler anymore, but I feel fast and strong and that means a lot to me.

Why I Kick A$$: Learning and Growing everyday.
The Big Picture: Exercise this past year has become for me a way of life, not a means to an end. I need it, I want it and it makes me happy. Pretty cool feeling.
Thankful Three:

1. For my morning gym partner
2. For learning to be more domestic as part of the Whole30 experience
3. For having today off from work