We all have 'em: Triggers

I've been thinking a lot lately about why many of us have tried so many "diets" only to give up 2 months in...or perhaps even 2 weeks of 2 days. Why is that?

(As a side note I must say that I don't really consider paleo to be a "diet" anymore, but I talk about it as if it is because I do want to lose weight while eating this way and also because it's quite different than the "normal" American diet.)

Anyways- while attempting to eat '100% paleo' I am usually not '100% perfect.'  Go figure! :P

But I've been trying to figure about what my triggers are so that I can be a little more successful each day.  Here are some things I've come up with:

1) "Hi my name is Julia, and I love all things sugar."
I believe that as a society we are all whole-heartedly hooked on sugar.  In makes sense...it's what fuels our bodies! But boy do we over do it, and boy is all that stuff addictive.  I'm no scientist and can't even cite studies but I've read things that have said that sugar is just as addictive as some drugs.  This may seem a little dramatic but I still think it drives the point home.

2) I love all things sugar even more when I am tired.
I have realized that I must sleep enough in order to make this happen.  Experts say you need a good night sleep in order to lost weight because it allows your body to do a whole bunch of good things that support your weight loss.  Cool, right? Yea, sure.  But for me it's simply because if I'm not rested enough I want to go for sugary things that give me quick energy!
p.s. I wake up super early everyday for work so I have a hard time with the whole sleep thing.

3) I consider dessert type things to be a reward.
These first 3 were a perfect trifecta last week.  Here's how the story goes:  I was tired and hit my wall hardcore around 3p. So what do I do? Head over to the coffee shop to get my afternoon cup of tea. (all is good, so far...)   And then I see this cookie that a friend of mine told me was awesome.  And then I remember that I had played really well earlier that day in a competition so I deserved that cookie.  And then I remembered why I was there in the first place (exhaustion!).  So yea, the cookie begged for me to buy it and boy was it delicious. ha!

4) If I don't plan I'm screwed!
I usually have to pack all 3 meals everyday which gets a little hard come Wednesday or Thursday night when all I want to do is go to bed....but the days that I don't plan I pay for it the next days- both with my choices and with my wallet.

5) I say "well, I can just re-start tomorrow."
Yikes.  This generally leads to one bad choice followed by the rest of they day filled with bad choices.

6) Happy hour.
nuff said.  Can't go to happy hour starving; it's dangerous!  And I need to order better drinks...even if they do cost a little more.

7)  I'm human, and therefore not perfect.

_________________

Now, with all that said- things are going well!  I had lost a few pounds just before Thanksgiving and put them right back on over that weekend but have been back on track and am back down to my pre-Thanksgiving weight.  And I don't regret any of it either.  haha.  And yes- I did have pie for breakfast one morning. :)

Things with school and work are good too!  Some really exciting stuff in the works, actually.  The past couple weeks have been one of those rare occasions where I actually feel like some of my hard work is paying off.  It's been really refreshing.  More on all of this later.

That's all for now, thanks for checking in-
J

Truckin' Along and Building Habits

Hey hey!

Well, after I make a big deal about being back I suddenly disappear again. Although not for as long....and not because I wanted to necessarily either. But alas, working close to 20hrs a week while going to grad school full time leaves extra time at a minimum. :)

I do have the beginnings of some fun recipe and cooking posts though! Perhaps I'll find time this weekend or next to sit down and finish them. :)

I'm truckin' along though. Most days I classify as "mostly paleo" but that works for me right now so I'll take it. Yesterday turned out to be a 100% paleo day which was great.

Perhaps it's just a matter of building my "planning ahead" habits more so that eating cleanly becomes the new normal? I think I might be onto something there... :P

Had a midterm last night and I'm so glad that that's behind me! Now just 5 more school days until the beloved time off that is Thanksgiving. Just the thought of catching up on sleep makes me so happy! Haha.

Aside from all the foodie stuff, the most exciting thing in my world right now though is that I'm searching for a new Horn! It's been really fun looking around and playing on a whole bunch of horns...especially because I can actually afford to buy one should I find one I really like.

And the little added bonus to all of this is that I'm currently borrowing one that is perfectly in my price range that I'm, so far, really liking. I'm going to play on it for a few weeks and hopefully for some more trusted sets of ears but it looks promising so far. :)

That's all for now I suppose; I've got a 3 year old vying for my attention!

Xo-
J

Im Baaaack!

I'm back....almost 4 months later!

Since my last post I think it would be safe to say that a lot of life has happened.  I traveled for a month at the end of the summer, moved to a new city in a new state, started multiple new jobs, and began a Doctoral program.  And amidst all of that kept on living life.

It's been quite the transition this time around but I finally feel like I have a grasp on things here and have decided that it's time to put my weight loss goals back in the forefront.  I haven't really gained any weight in the past 4 months, which I suppose is a victory, but I sure don't weigh less than I did during my last post.

And today, after a couple of days off of school and a questionable date with a pint of Ben and Jerry's I've decided that now is the time.  So here I am...back for more.  But this time my aim is different- I'm not just in this to do "hardcore for 30 days"; I'm here to work on making paleo sustainable for me long term while also working my ass off at school so that I can accomplish the things I want to.  Both of these things require A LOT of time and energy and, to be frank, I have yet to find the balance.  But I'm going to keep trying.  And I'm going to write about it.  So while this is still a 'paleo blog'- I'm also giving myself the freedom to write about other stuff too because we all know we get bored of an only food blog.  And the other stuff is, in a roundabout way, is what motivates me to want to pursue paleo long term.

Before I sign off can we talk about my totally awesome new blog name. :)  I thought it was appropriate!  I'd say that eating paleo requires a good amount of creativity and, well, I'm gettting a Doctorate degree in music...wouldn't you say that requires a lot of creativity too?  So yes, "Creative Living!"   Huzzah!

That's all for now; it feels good to be back!

Until next time-
Julia

Almost, but not quite

I am one of those gals that does when all the experts tell us not to do: I weigh myself every day.  It's mainly a curiosity thing and it helps to keep my accountable.  And surprisingly, when the scales vary throughout the week I don't even really every worry about it because I know that I only count the number that I see on the scale on Wednesday mornings.

Here's the thing though, I saw the scale hit the 20 pound mark twice earlier in the week and this morning I came up short!  So, as you might imagine, I'm a little bummed because I wanted to "officially" be down 20 pounds and now I'm just "unofficially" down 20.  Almost sounds petty to write it but that's where I'm at. *boo!*

So officially? I'm down 19.6 pounds total. I need to kill it the next 2 1/2 weeks....I really want to get down another 5.4 pounds!

Anyways, Happy 4th of July!! :D  I'm off to meat my friend Nicholas for breakfast.

xoxo-
J

Back on Track

That's right!  We are officially back on track!

I was very pleased to see a loss on the scale this week and I feel like I am officially in a groove.  In week's past it has been very difficult to say no to high-carb, high-sugar snacks, but this past week they weren't even a temptation.  When presented with Cheez-its, Oreo's, Fig Newton's, and sugary cereals I happily chose a handful of raisins.  This is a very nice place to be.  

And, I feel like I am finally over this cold.  Morning's are still pretty rough but I finally feel well enough again to head back to the gym this week.  Woohoo!  

I do feel like I must disclose the following though: I did enjoy 24 hrs of 'cheating' from Friday night to Saturday night.  The food choices were still mindful though, and I don't regret that farm ice cream I had with my mom yesterday when she came to visit. :)  And getting back on track today?  A non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

So....as of weigh-in this week I'm down 18.4 pounds total.  I'll take it.

My goal's have shifted since the beginning of the summer and are now the following: This week I really want to get down the the 20 pound mark.  This is what I am shooting for.  And then from weigh-in this Wednesday I've got 2 1/2 weeks until I move and I'm planning on losing an additional 5 pounds within that time frame to bring my weight loss to a grand total of 25 pounds.  Boy will that feel good!

In other news, things are picking up these next couple weeks.  I've officially have an apartment lined up in Hartford and have officially begun making my moving plans.  I even bought 15 boxes yesterday along with tape and packing paper! This week begins the "going through everything" phase and then I hope to space out my packing within my last 2 weeks here.  It all seems a little daunting still at this point, but I hope to take it one day at a time and keep the stress levels down. :)

Until next time y'all-
J

I've been silent for over a week on here; oops!  Unfortunately I came down with a cold last Wednesday so haven't been feeling up to blogging and all that.

But, it's been a good week!  I weighed in last Wednesday...I stayed exactly the same from the week.  Not ideal at this point obviously, but I will happily blame 'that time of the month' and move on.

As far as the goals I set for myself, here is how I've done:

- The first goal was to workout 4 times; this was an epic fail.  I worked out once, got sick the next day, and haven't felt well enough to workout since.  It was also over 100 degrees on the heat index a couple days last week which made is impossible as well.  But, I succumbed to taking Sudafed this morning so am actually feeling up for working out!  I'm going to head back for a Step aerobics workout this evening.
-Goal #2 was to drink at least 64 oz. of water each day: goal achieved!  I thank the cold for this one a little, but I have been drinking water like it's nobody's business.  Go me!
-I also haven't had coffee since my last blog post....go me!
-Sleep has been good most night's too!  A few mornings I have woken up on my own before my alarm clock but I've been feeling rested so I'm counting that.
-Definitely didn't blog 4 times...sorry guys :P
-And lastly, I only ate out one time!  Had a grilled chicken salad with dressing on the side.

I've been weighing myself often and been keeping close tabs on myself so am anticipating a loss tomorrow.  Can't say for sure how much; I'm hopeful I'll drop a little more between this morning and tomorrow morning. 

Anyways, last night was the exception to good sleep so I'm going to go take a little nap while the kids I nanny for are taking their nap.  

thanks for reading! :)

~J

Goal setting

I don't have much energy but I thought I would check in before heading to bed.

Things were going great paleo-wise but I took a step back the past 3-4 days or so.  It was that time of the month and for all you women out there, you know what that can be like!  I craved every kind of bad food and was just EXHAUSTED.  Not all was lost by any means but I'm excited to get back to 'normal' tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a big day...I've got 5 weeks until I move out and head to a 2 week brass quintet seminar.  As they say, it's go time!

I've got to 1) save money, 2) practice my instrument, and 3) eat paleo.

1) Can't afford to purchase anything that isn't essential at this point.  Kind of a bummer because I feel like I have been working so hard but the reality is that I have a lot to save to make everything happen that is in the works.

2) I've been doing 1.5-2 hours daily and that changes as of tomorrow.  I must and will get back to practicing my normal 3 hours.  I have a lot of music to learn and I want to sound my best going into the seminar.

3) Paleo: I still have the same goals and am still just as committed.  I will keep working and I will keep dropping weight.  And my best friend is doing it with me now...we are going to help each other.  I want to lose at least 10 pounds in the next 5 weeks.


Goals for this week:
- Workout 4 times (have a run be at least 1 of those times)
- Drink at least 64 oz. of water daily.
- No coffee. Only tea if necessary.
- Get at least 7 solid hrs of sleep a night and shoot for 8.
- Eat 100% paleo.
- Blog 4 times. (this counts as 1!) ....writing is cathartic and I'm convinced that I'm more successful when I blog than when I don't.
- Only eat out 1 time. (I made plans with my roomie to go out to eat Thursday night but other than that I'm staying home)  

I gotta say, it feels good to have written those down.  I'm off to go work on the sleep one...time to head in that direction since I've got an early morning tomorrow.

Thanks for listening. :)