Time Machine

Woah. I've been so busy this week and I think this blog has been the very last thing on my mind.

The meals have been pretty great so far, not too much complaints about them. I do however miss snacking and if I had to punch someone for a soda, at this point I'd lay someone out! Soda (or any drink with flavor!) has been the one thing I miss the most. I haven't missed Taco Bell, and I can find a healthy alternative to most foods I like, but I'm restricted to drinking bland water.

My derby wife Krazor, my boyfriend and I went to the Natural Grocery Co-Op yesterday for lunch. Krazor, who is also taking the RDWC, and I were just drooling over all of the snacks and drinks we couldn't have. There were fresh muffins and scones at the deli and while I was paying for my food I looked over to see Krazor just staring at them. I quickly said "Krazor! Get away from there!" We laughed and then I joined her. We were reading the ingredients of every muffin and scone and cupcake. I'd say "Oh man! That one is sugar free. Aaaaaw, but it has heavy whipping cream." Krazor would chime in "ORGANIC! Organic whipping cream!" I'm sure this will become a long running joke with us.

In attempts to satisfy my junk food craving I bought whole wheat pita chips and flavored sparkling water to have with my avocado, bean sprout, tomato and hummus pita. I love pita chips and they may be the very thing that saves me in this battle of cravings. Krazor bought a sparkling water to go with her whole wheat sandwich. We were both excited to have something we thought was going to be a God-send. I mean, how could you go wrong with a berry or cran-raspberry spritzer?! Apparently, you can go very wrong. They just tasted like carbonated water, which is anything but delicious. Maybe we got defect cans that they forgot to put flavoring into. I choked mine down and Krazor couldn't bare to finish hers. Adding insult to injury, my boyfriend was drinking a bottle of root beer. We'd ask "How's your root beer" and he would smirk and say "I mean, it's alright but it's no IBC." We'd laugh. It was a really awesome afternoon, despite having awful spritzers. I also turned Krazor onto pita chips and she bought about three bags.

Later that night a couple of us newbies and some of our jeerleaders got together at Cougar's house (Cougar's den) to make signs for our all-star team, Bomb Squad (they are playing their first game of the season tonight!). While everyone was snacking on chips and salsa, cookies and drinking soda and alcohol Krazor and I sat with a bowl of almonds and our waters. I'm very proud of how strong we are. I don't think I'd be able to do this if I didn't have such a great support system/derby wife.

It's day seven now and I'm excited that this week is over and a new and tastier week is to come. SMOOTHIES AND MILK, BITCHES! Anyways, I should probably get back to doing my job so I can get out of here and get to Indianapolis to see my favorite sports team, FORT WAYNE'S BOMB SQUAD, go wipe the track with some Craptown girls.

Hugs and slugs.

Snow and Sweet Potato: Day Three

Alright, so I decided to make the titles more interesting (and kind of cheesy?) just for fun; they're going to be a little reflection on my day.

When I posted on day two I hadn't yet made it through the entire day. Updating this blog will be a little erratic because I most likely won't update it every night. Just to give everyone and insight to what my life looks like I'll tell you this simple phrase. School, work, derby, volunteer, repeat.

I am somehow balancing being a full-time college student, a part-time assistant manager at a holistic pet food store, derby and volunteering at Black Pine Animal Sanctuary. I go to school 5 days a week, work about 4 days a week, practice 3 times a week and volunteer my only "free" day to the animal sanctuary (with practice in the evenings).

Anyways, I'll try to update this the day AFTER the respective day I am writing about. So back to the reason I'm even blogging!

Day two I did the workout video and holy shit, it was harder than I expected. I didn't even wear my skates because I didn't want my dad to walk out and look at me like I was stupid (he actually walked out and asked why I didn't have my skates one). The core part nearly killed me! Damn it, BioDiesel! I'm used to taking a plyometrics beating from my leagues trainer, and now a coach, with a gazillion and two planks, low walks, holding skater positions and squats. That's just a small window of the insane leg workouts we do. The leg section didn't really get to me as much as the core section did. Because of this, I have a goal of focusing on my core and getting those abs I've always wanted!

So day three went pretty well....except the insane amount of snow that resulted in practice being canceled. Oh, and the fact that I can barely choke down a sweet potato. Seriously? Those things are awful and I will not be eating one again. Every time I took a bite it was like taking a shot of the world's worst liquor; I actually was chasing every bite with a big gulp of water.

Day three's meal plan was as follows:
Breakfast
1 veggie "sausage" patty
1 slice of low-fat pepper jack cheese
1 slice whole wheat bread w/natural peanut butter
1 pear

Lunch
3 ounces veggie "Turkey" lunch "meat"
.5 cup lettuce
.5 cup tomatoes
1 whole wheat tortilla
tiny bit of mayo

Dinner
1 veggie "chicken" pattie
1 cup broccoli
1 baked sweet potato

Snacks
string cheese
mixed nuts

Day three was awesome, with the exception of dinner. I was actually quite sad when I was eating dinner. Lunch though, oh man! That veggie wrap was unbelievably good and has scaled to be one of my favorite dishes now. I was hesitant about the mayo because I absolutely hate mayonnaise and think everything about it is disgusting. I put very little on the tortilla because us derby folk don't scare too easily! I generally am a picky eater and with this workout I've been majorly pushing my boundaries and eating things I normally would never try on my own. Day three and I've already had THAT much progress. =]

Because practice was canceled due to weather, I decided to do the video for the second night in a row. This time I put on my skates and invited my boyfriend, Dakota, over to work out with me. I was proud of him for working through his cold and doing some of the exercises with me. I did giggle a bit when he was complaining about the stretches and laughed when his face read "I'M DOING IT! =D " during exercises. He admitted to his favorite part was watching me stretch (and of course I was wearing DerbySkinz). Dakota is really an amazing support system in anything I do.  

I'm now writing this at the very end of day four, but will update that tomorrow after practice. This update is long enough and I have school, work and derby tomorrow.

Hugs and slugs!

Day Two

Alright, so it's day two and so far so good! When I first looked at the meal plan I thought it was going to be super bland and the portions, on paper, looked small.

I was wrong!

Everything so far has been pretty tasty and one cup of something is a lot more than I thought.

This is what I ate for day one:
Breakfast
1 veggie "sausage" patty
1 slice whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter
1 cup of grapes

Lunch
1 cup lentil soup
2 cups spinach salad w/ .5 cup of cheese and olive oil and vinegar dressing

Dinner
1 cup whole wheat pasta
5 ounces ground veggie "beef"
.5 cup of tomato sauce and .5 cup of Parmesan cheese

Snacks
1 string cheese
1 clementine
1 handful of cashews
1 piece of dark chocolate

What I ate (and will eat) today:
Breakfast
.5 cup low fat cottage cheese
1 slice whole wheat bread w/natural peanut butter
1 apple

Lunch
1 veggie "chicken" patty
2 cups spinach salad w/olive oil and vinegar dressing
.5 apple

Dinner
2 veggie "burger" patties
1 cup broccoli
.5 apple

Snacks
1 string cheese
1 oz. veggie "turkey" lunch meat
1 cup strawberries
1 cup popcorn

I was terrified of the lentil soup when I bought it in the store. I was looking through all the soups, thinking they all looked pretty tasty. Then I got to the lentil soup and of course it had to look the yuckiest. When I made it on Sunday, I was reluctant to even try it. I thought about replacing it with something else from the meal plan; but derby girls don't turn away from a challenge or run (or skate) when things aren't exactly what we want. To my surprise the soup was damn good! I am actually looking forward to eating the rest of it next week.

As much as I now like lentil soup and string cheese and the amazing pasta I made for yesterday's dinner, I really miss pizza and it's only day two! I'm thinking about looking up some recipes for a healthy home made pizza, just so I can get my fix. My favorite pizza is broccoli pizza, so I'm sure I can whip up a diet friendly pizza. If weight watchers can put pizza on their meal plan, I can too!

Day one I had practice that night. I was excited to see how my new diet was going to improve my stamina. I didn't really feel fatigued, despite getting up relatively early and having a long day. I did, however have minor head aches from what I can assume as not getting sugar. Before the challenge I was a Taco Bell and Powerade fiend and ate a ton of sugar all the time. Taking white sugars completely out of my diet so abruptly probably sent my body in a panic because of the sugar deprivation. Today I am feeling much better.

Right now, as I type this, I'm eating a cup of raw broccoli. Bring on day 3.

Why?

I've been excitedly telling friends and family about my choice to get healthier and become a stronger skater with the Roller Derby Workout Challenge 2011. To my surprise, many of the people I have told have gotten a look on their face like they smelled something rotten and asked "Why?" or remarked "You don't need to go on a diet." Even my dad and boyfriend had these reactions. I tried explaining to anyone who didn't think it was a good idea that the "diet" was formulated for skaters and is full of protein. I didn't understand why anyone thought this is a bad idea for me, because until I took on this challenge, my diet was made up of mostly frozen pizzas and Taco Bell. I didn't feel well most of the time and was always sluggish (even if I slept all day).


I do, however, have someone indefinitely on my side. My league mate and derby wife, Krazor. She too is participating in the RDWC and we both agreed to be each others main support. It's only day one and we have already talked about how we're doing and how we're liking the diet so far.

So with aspirations to be rostered on SWAT this season, I am taking on this challenge and I'm going to come out with a lot of muscles and a better eating habit!