fitness

“Savages, Savages, barely even human!”

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I did it! I finally did it!

I managed to convince my husband to run in the Fall Savage Race with me in Florida! Wahoo!

I’ve done it two out of the last three years (missed 2013 due to work commitments) and it has been one of my favorite events: a true test of strength, perseverance, and willingness to get filthy.

In 2012, I ran it just to say I did it:

savage3 savage2 Savage1

I don’t remember what my final time was, but considering it was 25 insane obstacles and over 6.5 miles (and I wasn’t in peak shape), my guess is that I was over two hours.

When I did it again in 2014, I had dropped about 15 lbs and trained significantly more. As a result, I did the race in about 1 hour, 38 minutes – and completed all but two of the grueling obstacles!

savage6 savage5 savage4

This year my weight is a bit up (about 8 lbs more than last year’s weight), but I’ve also been doing significantly more strength training and I’m finally working to shed the “sugar weight” I gained from my 9+ months of working two jobs and not sleeping. I didn’t gain it overnight, so I can’t expect to lose it overnight. I’m hoping to be back around 125-127 by the time October rolls around and it’s time to compete.

Fortunately, regardless of my weight, this time I’ll have MY HUBBY to support me on the course! I’m so excited and we’ve committed to train together, so we’re going to finish and finish strong. Will this be the year I beat 1:30? We shall see!

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Moving on UP!

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I’ve been absolutely in love with the stairmaster lately, watching 90-120 minute movies on it 5-7x per week.

I know it’s terrible to do the same cardio machine every day, but I love how intense the workout is (I’m literally drenched in sweat and have to towel off multiple times during the session), but also how strong and sore my legs feel after.

I feel like I’m getting an intense lower body (and back, and core) workout from balancing on the machine, and I alternate between single steps, lunge steps, swing steps, and others to keep the exercise diverse and challenging.

As a result of all of my stepping, my UP band reports that I’ve set a new personal record for steps taken in a single week:

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You saw that right: I walked over 83 miles in a single week!

YOWZA!!

That’s a little over THREE FULL MARATHONS worth of steps taken in just seven days. WHOA!

I’m going to try to take it a bit lighter this week, though, as I recognize that 83+ miles is a bit obsessive, especially for someone who is NOT training to be a pro-athlete. Still, though… I can’t help but be proud.

On that note …I think I’ve earned a snack. Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Paleo …maybe?

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A former classmate of mine (and a good friend) recently posted on Facebook that she has been sticking to the Paleo diet (which I introduced her to) religiously for two weeks and dropped 16 lbs.

SIXTEEN POUNDS!

Mind you, she was not large to begin with, and I honestly thought she looked fantastic, but I could relate to her desire to lose weight and tone up.

She took my advice and tried Paleo, committing to it 100% (I typically cheat with trace amounts of soy/peanuts and lots of cheese/dairy) and had tremendous results.

In just two weeks of eating clean, she shed 16 lbs and has more energy, clearer skin, and is overjoyed with her success.

Looking back, when I first learned about Paleo in August 2013, I went all-in for 90 days and dropped almost 22 lbs. I didn’t count a single calorie, and ate as much as I wanted. I used Paleo alternatives for bread, candies, etc and never once felt deprived. It took a lot of planning, but for 90 days I completely lost my taste for grains (I honestly can’t tell you the last time I had real bread or pasta) and learned to really enjoy cashew and almond milk.

To be honest, I’m not sure why I went back to non-Paleo foods. I know the holidays were a temptation, but I could have prepared Paleo alternatives to everything I craved. I think I just got tired of the pre-planning required, and eventually let all of my good habits fall to the side.

I have no idea why I did that.

Sticking with a Paleo diet honestly didn’t require much more energy than any other lifestyle. I had to plan meals, yes, but shouldn’t we do that anyhow to avoid living on vending machine junk throughout the work day? Yes, I had to seek out specialty foods, but haven’t I driven 30 miles out of my way to get a gourmet treat now and then? Yes, Paleo foods were a bit more expensive, but won’t I spend more in the long run treating diabetes, hypertension, and other health issues from lack of a nutritious diet in the future?

Seeing my friend’s success and how energized it has made her as urged me to recommit to the Paleo lifestyle, and invest more energy and time into nurturing my body and my spirit.

Recognizing that I’m human, I’m aiming for a 90-95% commitment to Paleo: it’s nearly impossible to avoid ALL soy/dairy influences, but I’m going to go out of my way to purchase Paleo wraps and do some baking this weekend of my favorite Paleo desserts, muffins, and breads.

I do have a bit of an obsession with Rockstars (or “death juice,” as I call them), so I know I can’t make myself give them up entirely. I’ve weaned myself down to 1-2 per week, and I’ll set a cap of 1/week moving forward.

I already have a fridge full or almond milk, cashew milk, lean meats, and veggies, so this transition shouldn’t be too difficult… really, I just need to control myself around candy (there are so many fun Paleo alternatives!) and CHEESE (seriously, why isn’t there a Paleo brie yet??)!

Wish me luck, dear friends! On that note …bon appetit!

~ Tori

Sleep is the Cure

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For the past two weeks, I’ve been on a “normal” schedule.

And by normal, I mean I have not balanced two full-time jobs and graduate school simultaneously. I’ve worked just ONE full time job and attended my two graduate classes, which has allowed me to do something I hadn’t done in nearly a year:

SLEEP.

Not nap, but SLEEP. Full, deep, nightly sleep.

For two whole weeks, I’ve averaged no less than six hours of sleep per night. Last night, I got a solid eight hours. EIGHT HOURS!

compute

My mind doesn’t even know how to grasp the concept of “eight hours of sleep.”

Now that I’m well rested, I’ve found controlling my appetite to be substantially easier. Yes, I’m still working to get over the sugar cravings (seriously, I’d created a severe addiction the last nine months while working at the TV studio), but I can control my portions and stop after a few bites (versus the murdurous rampage I’d go in before, like a shark smelling blood in the water).

hate

Seriously, this was my life for the entirety of the last year balancing the two jobs. I had -100% will power.

I’ve also noticed my skin is nearly perfect again, no pimples or dark spots from lack of sleep and raging hormone fluctuations. Woohoo! I’m no longer the pubescent 30-year-old!

I’ve been hitting the gym 5-6x per week, not because I need to, but because I want to. I’m energetic and excited, so I feel even more motivated to exercise than I did before.

I have NOT been weighing myself (I’m trying to allow my body to get back into a healthy food/sleep cycle again before I tackle weight concerns), but I can feel my clothing getting back to its normal fit: loose where it should be, not as constrictive as it was just a few weeks ago.

Huh.

Funny.

Sleep truly was the cure to most of my problems.

Appetite control? In check now that I’m not a walking zombie.
Skin problems? All gone.
Lack of energy? Nope, not anymore. I’m high on life.
Cranky? Depressed? Amazingly, I feel like I’m happier now than I’ve been in years.

While I absolutely miss working at The Daily Buzz, I have to admit that I was sacrificing a lot –too much, honestly– and I finally feel like I’ve got my life back.

On that note… bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Last Week

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This is my last week working two full-time jobs, and it couldn’t be better timed.

My body is officially calling it quits, with a full-blown case of Strep throat knocking me out cold right after the Easter holiday. I only have to endure three more shifts of double-duty, and I officially go back to 9-6pm, Monday through Friday. I couldn’t be happier!

I’ve been eating very clean and not counting calories, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my weight balanced back out at 131.2 after two weeks of just focusing on whole, clean foods and nutrition. I wasn’t weighing myself (and hadn’t planned to weigh myself again for a few weeks), but I accidentally kicked the scale and my curiosity was on fire. Good to see that my body responds to proper nutrition and good care.

I’ll have more to write later, but the antibiotics have me exhausted (and nauseated), so I’m going to take a little nap and check back online later.

I hope everyone is doing well!

Bon appetit, my friends,

~ Tori

Whole Foods = Health

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For the last week, I’ve really been putting my focus on whole, natural foods. Fresh fruits. Raw veggies. Minimally processed, organic when possible.

And, though I haven’t been weighing myself, I’ve noticed some differences already.

Skin is clearing. I don’t need my morning coffee. Hair feels softer, and more manageable.

Just by reducing my consumption of processed foods –especially sugars– I’ve noticed a major improvement on my physical health. My nails are growing faster, and the bags under my eyes are finally starting to recede.

Even if my weight never moved an ounce, I think I’d still feel confident that this is the way I’m supposedly to eat for life.

On that note… bon appetit!

Today’s breakfast!
Morning snack!
Midnight snack!
The best salad Crispers has to offer.
Who said you can’t eat healthy from a gas station? This is from Wawa!
Veggie tray!
It feels like it’s looking at me.
I love snap peas.
Best breakfast blend.
I love onions and peppers.
GUAACCCCC!
A boat full of salsa.
Apricots: nature’s candy.
Burrito salad!
So many onions!
Bad breath alert.
I like a little chicken with my salsa.
Snack during class!
The wrap is made of tomato and mango puree! Amazing.
Frozen mango = best dessert ever.
My favorite!
Veg blend!
Banana for energy!
Bird’s Eye makes the best blends.
Celery: AKA, nature’s floss.
Steamed with a little garlic salt and a drizzle of olive oil.
A sprinkle of parmesan for good luck.
Veggie overload!
I love D’anjoi pears.
Steak fajitas with no tortilla!
Salsa boat!
It’s all about that B!

(Just a small sampling of what I ate over the last week)

~ Tori

Absenteeism

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Absenteeism.

(noun)
frequent or habitual absence from work, school, etc.:

rising absenteeism in the industry.
This also applies to health, nutrition, and overall personal accountability.
This is my first post in nearly a month. In the last few weeks I’ve put my overall health and wellness to the side, and, as a result, my weight is back up to 136 pounds.
Rather than beat myself up (as I’m prone to do), I’m going to recognize this as a wake up call and a reminder that my body needs me to take care of it. It’s tendency to revert to its former self (I used to be 215+ pounds) is never going to go away, so I can never put my nutrition and health on a backburner. Life doesn’t work that way.
I’m not going to go crazy. I’m not going to commit to a ridiculous diet or exercise plan. I’m going to be realistic.
While I’m still working two jobs, I’ve reduced my hours at the studio and, as a result, I’m finally starting to get a bit more sleep. It’s still not as much as I should be getting, but I’ve gone from 2-3 hours per night up to 3.5-4.5 hours, with naps getting squeezed in when possible.
Now that I’m better rested, I think I’ll find it easier to make better food choices and more realistic to hit the gym 4-5 times per week.
I get out of the studio at 7am and, moving forward, instead of racing home to squeeze in a 60 minute nap before work (that leaves me groggy and more tired than I was before), I’m going to hit the gym for a 45-60 minute HIIT workout.
This will help to give me energy for my day, but, more importantly, will free me up in the evening to go to bed earlier. At present, I’ve been trying to workout between 6pm and 8pm at night (which tends to be the most crowded time, slowing down my workout) and I’ve found it hard to wind down for bed, because I’m running on the high and energy boost from my cardio. By working out from 7:15am to 8:15am (with time to shower and get to the office at 9am), I should find it easier to get to bed earlier at night (the goal is by 9pm) and the cyclical effect should be more energy, more sleep, and more hormonal balance.
I’ve stocked my fridge and freezer with healthy snacks — which includes pre-portioned freezer bags of fruit/veggies for morning smoothies — and I’m not committing to anything unrealistic: I’m just going to eat healthy, eat whole foods (avoiding processed as much as possible), and watch my overall portions. I want to live a healthy lifestyle: I don’t want to diet anymore. As you can see, diets don’t work for me. You can’t be absent from a healthy life, but you can definitely fall off of a band wagon for a crash diet.
That being said, I’ll try to post on here every few days with updates, but mainly I’m just going to focus on being healthy, being strong, and taking care of myself.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Bon appetit, my friends!
~ Tori

Confused, but happy …?

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I’m not sure what is happening with my body, but the last few weeks have been interesting.

I went from 131.8 to 139 in the span of seven days (with no major binge-eating on my part), and it stayed in that 137-139 range for almost six days. I was freaking out.

Then, suddenly, yesterday my body seemed to let it all go …

Not to be graphic, but the ladies room was my best friend. I felt like a faucet was turned on in my bladder and never turned off, and by the time I weighed myself this morning, my weight had gone from 137.8 (yesterday morning), to 130.8 this morning.

Really? Seven pounds? That’s obscene.

While I’m thrilled to be back in the 130-132 range (the thought of gaining 5-7 lbs in a week was terrifying to me), I’m horribly confused by my body and equally frustrated by the fact that I seem to have little to no control.

I’ve been eating closer to 1,500-1,700 calories (with yesterday as the exception, as I skipped dinner out of exhaustion and landed at around 1,200 for the day), and I’ve only made it to the gym one day (Monday) so far. I’ve reached a point where I’m at a loss for how to keep the scale moving steadily in a negative direction. In fact, I would settle for just staying the same.

Anyone have advice? How do I switch it up? How do I keep the motivation going?

I’m frustrated today, and my thoughts are highly disjointed (as you can probably tell), so I doubt I even make sense in this post. I guess the mixed emotions (happy to see the weight gain wasn’t permanent, frustrated by the massive fluctuations) are wearing me out …not to mention the hours.

On that note, bon appetit my friends!

~ Tori

Recap of Yesterday and Today’s Plan

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As expected, I didn’t stick 100% to my eating plan yesterday …which was a good thing. I realize, both due to introspection and the helpful advice of a friend, that I was setting myself up for failure, as I planned to eat way less food than my body needed to function on a 20+ hour work day.

My original goal was to come in around 1200-1250 calories, but I actually came in around 1,750.

Now, bear in mind that I was awake from 12:45am until 10:30pm yesterday, working job numero uno from 1:45am until 8am, and then job dos from 9am to 6pm. Following work, I hit the gym for 90 minutes on the elliptical from 6:30pm until 8pm, enjoyed dinner and a little social time with my hubby, and then crashed around 10:30pm …just in time to start the process again.

Where did my extra calories come from yesterday?

  • Trail Mix someone brought to a work meeting. (Except for the m&ms blended in, this wasn’t too bad.)
  • Four cubes of cheddar cheese after dinner.
  • Dried mango slices after dinner (this stuff is my crack/ candy).
  • 2 Hershey’s Almond Kisses left on my desk by an anonymous saboteur (whom I secretly love, because I needed some chocolate at the moment).
  • Toasted Coconut Almonds, which I made the mistake of buying before realizing that they’re as addictive as heroine. My husband and I have been unintentionally polishing off a can in the span of two days.

I’m not disappointed with my day, as I still ended with a calorie deficit (I burned approximately 1,166 calories in exercise yesterday, between the three 10-minute walks I took at work and my 90 minutes of elliptical), and I never really binged on anything, which is normally my biggest downfall. I’m not a have-one-or-two-bite-and-be-satisfied kind of girl. I’m more of eat-the-entire-bag-of-Dove-chocolates-and-then-hunt-down-something-else kind of lady, if you know what I mean.

Here is today’s gameplan:

Breakfast #1 (2:30am):
– Wawa Egg White and Steak Bowl w/ extra veggies (approx 220 calories)
– Wawa coffee w/ nonfat French Vanilla creamer (not Paleo creamer, but it’s all they had in the non-dairy spectrum, approx 60 calories)
– Gummy Prenatal Vitamin (20 calories)
– Gummy Biotin (15 calories)
TOTAL BREAKFAST ONE CALORIES: 315

Breakfast #2 (7am):
– 10 stalks of celery (30 calories)- Half Quest Cinnamon Roll protein bar (85 calories)
TOTAL BREAKFAST TWO CALORIES: 85

Lunch #1 (10:30am):
– Trader Joe’s Broccoli and Kale Salad, no dressing (260 calories)
TOTAL LUNCH ONE CALORIES: 260

Lunch #2 (1pm):
– Granny Smith Apple (80 calories)
– Half Quest Cinnamon Roll protein bar (85 calories)
TOTAL LUNCH TWO CALORIES: 165

Dinner #1 (5pm):
– Trader Joe’s Veggie Tray (125 calories)

Dinner #2 (9:45pm – or whatever time I get home from school):
– Crockpot Egg & Veggie Baked Thingie (approx 250 calories)

Other than a few walks at work, I likely won’t be able to workout today, as I’m in school from 6:30pm until 9:30pm and then will come home, eat, and crash.

Much like yesterday, I’ve planned for about 1,250 calories, but I’m positive I’ll come in closer to 1,400-1,500 by the time the human-me gets into the picture. If that trail mix reappears at today’s meeting, or the magic Hershey’s fairy pays a consecutive visit, I won’t be complaining.

On that note …

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

DAY ONE: Projected Eating & Food Plan

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I figured posting my food plan for the day on here would help me stick to it, so here goes. Please keep in mind that I’m awake 20+ hours per day, so it’s going to look like I eat a LOT (6+ meals per day), but this is unavoidable due to the fact that I can’t survive more than 4 hours without eating SOMETHING.

Breakfast #1 (2am):
– Medium Green Apple (80 calories)
– Cage-Free Hard-Boiled Egg (60 calories)
– Gummy Prenatal Vitamin (20 calories)
– Gummy Biotin Vitamin (15 calories)
– Coffee w/ Light Cream (45 calories) — technically, the cream isn’t Paleo [no dairy permitted], but I haven’t made it to Whole Foods yet this week to pick up the delicious coconut creamer.

P.S. I know it’s absolutely ridiculous that I still eat gummy vitamins at 30 years old, but it’s the only way I stay consistent. Who looks forward to a chalky pill every morning? No one. A delicious, sour-apple flavored vitamin? Yes, please!

Breakfast #2 (4:30am):
– Celery Stalks (25 calories)
– Cucumber Slices (30 calories)

Breakfast #3 (9am):
– Grilled Chicken Breast (110 calories)

Lunch #1 (12pm):
– Broccoli and Kale Trader Joe’s Salad, no dressing (260 calories)

Lunch #2 (3pm):
– Baby Carrots (35 calories)
– Grapes (105 calories)

Dinner #1 (6pm):
– Mango GemWrap (15 calories)
– Spring Mix (15 calories)
– Rotisserie Chicken Deli Meat (60 calories)
– Bolthouse Cilantro Avocado Dressing (20 calories)

Dinner #2 (9pm):
– Pan-fried (with Coconut Spray) Swai (130 calories)
– Steamed Butternut Squash (65 calories)- Garlic Cauliflower (80 calories)

Miscellaneous:
As you can see above, this adds up to about 1,050 calories, so I’m allowing myself a flex/cheat of approximately 150-200 calories to use at my leisure throughout the day. I’m not going to name it here, as I’m not sure what it will be yet! I’m not going to restrict myself on this cheat, with the exception that I’ll try to keep it as close to Paleo as possible: no grain, no dairy, no soy. My bet is that I’ll splurge on the leftover mango I have at home, or maybe steal a piece of two of extra dark chocolate from the office. We shall see!

I’ve struggled for a while to stay under 1,600 calories per day (impulse-eating, not planning out my meals), so I’m hoping this extra diligence and planning will serve to keep my calorie consumption in check!