Summer of my Mediterranean Diet

Day 24 - "Strive on heedfully and be ever mindful to see the world as it truly exists, without envy, without judgment, without hatred... to do this, one must know oneself intimately to understand the source of happiness or unhappiness that exists within" .  - Siddartha/Budda. This was a quote given to me by a gentleman who came to pick up Chinese Food at the restaurant where I worked, when I was fifteen years old.  I never knew what made him express that to me.  I often wondered over the years if some angelic force whispered for him to share it with me.  I think I still have the original writing somewhere in a dusty box, but it doesn't matter because the words became etched to memory long ago. Yesterday, I had planned on attending that Gentle Yoga class that I raved about last week.  I was truly looking forward to it and then suddenly, 90 minutes before class would've started, I had this "episode".  It was as if someone pulled the battery out of my

Day 23:  Tuesday after a 3-day weekend.  ( which is like a very harsh Monday morning ). I am finding my way back to center.  I am seeking it with determined intention and action.  It isn't just falling back into my lap.  I think we always need to remember that.  Intention truly is so much of the battle.  Last night, in an act of intention , I put my workout clothes beside my bed and set my alarm for 7am.  Yes, I love not having to wake to an alarm (especially one set for 6am), but I still need some structure to my day.  Finding the right balance between structure that feels reliable, secure and nurturing vs. structure that feels too rigid or unyielding is key.  Ironically, I didn't even need the alarm.  I woke around 6:45am and enjoyed resting with my eyes closed until it was time to reach for those nearby workout clothes.  Just setting the intention was enough to get me back into a healthy routine. God, do I love to sweat!  Who would've thought that?  I mean, not a

Day 22:  Week 3 Weigh In.  Day 1 of Week 4.  Memorial Day 2017. Can you believe the tall, whispy green plant to the left of my pretty rose vine is asparagus?  So cool.  Don't mind the weeds, I will take care of them soon.   This is my first spring in my new house and I am delighted by all of the surprises I find as each season turns.  I don't have a green thumb, but as I dig deeper into this Mediterranean Diet experiment, I find myself contemplating gardening with a more serious openness.  I'm not there yet, just contemplating.  But seeds are being planted in my mind. I have had a rough weekend.  I fought with a very unpleasant head cold and had still been feeling so many pms symptoms.  I have been bloated and miserable.  Last night I was overcome with repeat acid reflux symptoms, a slight fever, sheer discomfort, muscle aches and fatigue.  And then it hit me...  I have been very aware of what I was putting into my system and maybe not as aware of "how well it wa

Day 21:  2:16am.  It's the middle of the night.  Bad choices woke me up.  Inner voices battling kept me up. What the hell am I doing?  Why am I doing all of this?  I am not even losing weight yet!  I am tired.  My body hurts.  My muscles are sore.  I feel stupid.  This ridiculous period/non-period is making me crazy!  My tiny kitchen is pissing me off.  I want to cry.  Hard.  I want to ugly cry and get it all out, but for some reason, like my period, it alludes me. Yesterday was a busy day.  It always feels busy and a bit chaotic when everyone is home.  I love my family, don't get me wrong , but it's much harder to sustain discipline when I am distracted or entertained by their company.  Last night, my husband chose Moe's for dinner while we were out shopping and running errands in the evening.  I cringed (that place is not Mediterranean by any stretch), but I wanted to be "agreeable" and "flexible" and try to prove (to myself?) that I could m

Day 20 - Well, I made it.  Mostly.   Last night, I concluded my "week of trying a new dinner recipe each night from my new Mediterranean Cookbooks".  Yes, I ate out day 4, but it was Mediterranean food, so I'm calling it good enough.  I no longer beat myself up if I don't get 100%.  I'll proudly take 80%, because 80% is far better than 0.   Sadly though, it ended on a flop. Last night, from my Mediterranean Cooking , by Sterling, I made Olive and bell peppers brown rice.  I went to the store specifically to buy the feta cheese stuffed olives, although I had to settle for blue cheese stuffed olives because they didn't have the feta ones.  I grabbed a loaf of bread to round out my meal and reaffirmed that I need to start baking my own bread very soon.  But one mountain at a time. I felt pretty special making my own roasted red peppers for the recipe, blackening the peppers and peeling the skin.  The rice mix certainly looked pretty when I was done, but Yuc

Day 19:  I am still adjusting to the "no alarm clock" mornings.  On one hand, it's wonderful.  On the other, I feel a bit out of sorts.  For the first couple weeks, I had my workout done and ready to start breakfast by 8am.  Having my day start later is making me feel unproductive before I've even begun.  But, I've had a hard week and the weather is dreary, which doesn't help.  I am sure I will get into a new routine soon. In the meantime this morning, I am thinking of a phase I read recently, "Allowing SLOW to Move Into You" - by Tina Firewolf.  I met her a few years ago at a seminar she gave at the local library.  Then a couple weeks later, I attended a workshop she held.  I am very taken with her and try to keep up with her on social media, since she left the area. In her article she states:  "When the mind doesn't run from a fearful "gotta make life happen standpoint" Slow moves in and become our new "house-mate&q

Day18:  Last night, right after I made and ate this delicious dinner (which I will get to in a moment), I crashed HARD!  Dishes all over the kitchen, climbed into my bed, crashed.  It was very early and I did my best to try to relax and watch tv.  Shortly after, I began having bad lower back pain and menstrual cramps, so I grabbed my heating pad, took an Aleve, lights out, tv off, good night! Today was the first day that I didn't have to wake up to a 6am alarm (since my kids are done school for the summer).  I slept until 8am and could barely pull myself out of bed to make a cup of tea and get a simple cereal breakfast.  Then my words came back to me from yesterday's blog about excuses and I realized I needed to soften that this morning. Here's the thing.  I meant what I said yesterday.  You have gotta want it!  You have got to have a burning desire and you can't make excuses.  BUT, you can't be Super Woman either.  You have to tune in and listen to your body

Day 17 - I think it is finally starting to hit me that this is a marathon and not a sprint.  Change is hard.  It requires serious determination and discipline.  But, mostly?  It requires desire!  You have got to have a burning desire to make any lasting change.  Not a half-assed, toe dipped in the pool, too many excuses paltry effort of going through the motions without emotionally connecting to what you are doing and why.  You've simply gotta want it! As I was driving back home from the bus stop this morning, (woohoo, the last time for 88 more days since school is now done for the summer) - I noticed my stomach was contracted.  I had my belly button pulled toward my back and good posture and I could feel my stomach muscles tight in my core.  I compared this to the big giant marshmallow of a belly I started with and felt good and strong in my body.  I still have a ways to go, but I know that I am getting there. So last night, from my hardback cookbook Mediterranean Cooking ,

Day 16:  Last night was agonizing.  For some reason, my muscles decided to call mutiny.  Each and every one of them ganged up on me in spasms.  It started with a restless feeling in my legs and a soreness in my arms, but it really progressed from there.  I kept waking up in pain and stretching and releasing my arms and legs.  I was exhausted and couldn't quite seem to wake up enough to have presence of mind to do anything (perhaps take an Aleve?).  Instead I existed in half-asleep misery, unable to get comfortable. When the alarm began this morning, I didn't even try to convince my angry muscles to put on my workout clothes.  Instead, I reached for a soft robe and fuzzy slippers and promised them another hot soak in an epsom salt bath and a long session of yoga later today.  I emailed the yoga studio that I attend sporadically to see if they still had the 75 minute gentle yoga at 5:30pm and to please sign me up as a drop in for today. For anyone local, that is Sri Yantra

Day 15:  Monday.  Week 2 Weigh In.  Or what I like to call "one step forward, two steps back".  I will waste no time getting to it.  I gained 1.6 pounds this week.  To recap:  Starting weight:  178.00  Week 1:  173.2  Week 2:  174.8     I'm all about keeping it real, so I will admit my first thought was WTF?  Followed in quick succession by, "is the scale broken?", "was there too much salt in my Panera broth bowl I had for dinner last night?", "am I getting my period?", or the furthest reach (even I will admit), "is my hair holding extra weight from all the humidity?".  My next daunting thought was, "Why the hell did I declare I would post my weigh ins each Monday?  What was I thinking?".  No pressure or embarrassment there .  Full disclosure:  I do not weigh myself between weigh ins at all.  No peek.  Not one glance at that scale.  So when I do my weekly Monday morning weigh in, I am truly in suspense

Day 14 - Sunday.  Rest day.  My second week is coming to an end. When I first came up with this whole experimental plan for myself, I declared Sunday would be a day of rest.  I imagined that I would need it; that I would look so forward to a lazy day to rest my body and take a time out.  I imagined I would crawl toward it like an oasis in the middle of a desert.  Turns out, that isn't actually the case.  I would not have believed that two short weeks ago. Yesterday, (Saturday) was a very fun, active day.  I walked around the flea market in the morning and later I rode my bike 5.6 miles and then after that, I played tennis for about 15 minutes.  Let me repeat that - I rode my bike 5.6 miles.  Me.  All by myself.  My husband rode near me (on his own bike), but I pushed my pedals round and round on my bike for almost 6 miles.  Once or twice I had to push it a little ways up a big hill that I just couldn't quite tackle, but only for short lengths.  The rest of the time, up t

Day 13 - Happy Weekend.  I want to broach a sensitive topic today.  As you read, please remember these were my personal feelings about MYSELF on a very vulnerable day in the past.  It is not a reflection or comparison to anyone else.  It is not about size, it is about vulnerability and insecurity and the voices in our head (that either shame or empower). Yesterday, I was walking through Walmart, pushing my buggy toward the checkout lanes.  I was lost in thought and feeling really light on my feet.  I found myself wanting to do knee lifts as I walked across the floor.  I stopped myself realizing how ridiculous that would look, but was taken aback by my inclination.  I do a lot of leg movements like that during my dvd workouts, I guess my legs just remembered and were ready to go. It made me think just how far I've come with my fitness goals and then I remembered a day last September when I felt the exact opposite.  To give some quick background, I had joined a local gym and

Day 12 -  Good morning.  Today, I have a little pep in my step.  I feel so good on the days I power through my arms and abs workout.  I feel good the other days too, with the cardio workouts (and the cardio workouts with the resistance bands), but pure strength training days are different.  For some reason, afterward, I feel ready to climb a mountain.  It doesn't hurt that it's Friday and the sun is shining. Let me take a moment to stress something.  When I began this experiment only 12 short (long) days ago, my intention was to change the composition of my body mass by focusing on building muscle. My hope was that would lead to a faster metabolism, more health and vitality and definitely weight loss (fat loss, not muscle and water loss).  Doing a quick assessment, I feel this is working.  I really feel so much stronger in just that short amount of time.  I feel more confident, more at ease overall and definitely that I am making huge strides toward achieving that mind-body