Setting Yourself up to Suceed or When Failure is NOT an option

Like most people I have something I'd like to accomplish for 2014. I don't want to call them resolutions because honestly those fail within the first 90 days.  Instead I'm setting myself Goals and sub-goals.   

Truthfully I can't fail. My health is on the line.  I have a liver disease and the only way to reverse it is to shed the weight.  I am also in a program to  for weight loss surgery HOWEVER I can't depend on that in case in the end I don't qualify for it for some reason.   So I AM changing my mindset, I AM going to hit my goal targets and I WILL heal my liver through health and wise food choices.   This is no other option at this point.  

2014 Goals

1.  Keep reducing my carb intake and make sure I don't eat the forbidden five: rice, white potatoes, pasta and bread. Totally give up gluten

2.  Walk or do some sort of fitness three days a week for the from Jan-March, 4 days a week from April to July and five days a week thereafter

3.  Meditate twice a week

4. Enroll in a self-enrichment course.  Something fun and just for me.

5.  Do a Whole 30 detox sometime in the next year.

6.  Keep my room tidier and help more around the house in general. Less laziness and more purpose 



Some of my sub-goals are: going to bed early and getting at least 8 hours of sleep,  drinking more water and more active listening, less time on my iPhone and more time with the ones I love.    Also to make more of an effort to like the family dog and take her on frequent walks.

My end goal for 2014 will be to run a 5k.  And yes I said run.  There will be no walking for this lady.  I know I have an inner runner in me trying to bust out and dammit! She will this upcoming year :)


So I don't fail I'm setting mini end dates for each goal and not trying to lose a X amount of weight.  I'll just focus on the above and weight loss should be a positive side effect.  I know when I focus on losing a set amount it sets me to fail city because I get discouraged when the scale won't budge.   

Tomorrow I'm taking my measurements and weighing myself.  Then I'm going to put the scale away. Other than my weight program weigh-ins I will not be checking at home.  I'm going to listen to my body and how I feel and go from there.   

I'm also going to blog more to keep myself accountable so please follow my journey and we will all have a fantastic New Year!!!!

Much Love!!!   

Janurary 1, 2014- Whole 30 Reset Challenge

I decided that a New Year deserves a fresh start and I noticed that Stupid Easy Paleo is going a Whole 30 challenge so I signed up.

The Whole 30 challenge is 30 days of getting the junk out of your body and giving it a "reset"  this isn't a cleanse but a way of getting back to eating whole foods and detoxing the crap out of what your body doesn't need.

I totally recommend reading "It Starts with Food" or visiting the Whole9 website here.

I have this book on my kindle so I'm going to re-read it over my holiday time off.  There are printables on the website if you get the book in e-reader format and it is available for Kindle & Kobo formats.  I love this book so much I've puchased for a few friends for their e-readers.   Amazon has it priced for kindle at 9.99 U.S. and Chapters has it priced at 9.99CDN for the Kobo.

The Whole9 website also has a email daily support program for 14.95 but I am not sure if I'll subscribe because honestly who has the extra money post holiday spending. 


If you want to join in and maybe start a Team Prairies Primal just post a comment and I'll try and coordinate this for us :)   Group participation always have a higher success rate.

Happy Holiday!!!

When you don't read through the recipe

I tried two paleo curry recipes this week.   This curry chicken from My Heart Beets

And this Meatball Curry recipe from Paleo OMG

The chicken turned out fantastic though I think I will use bone-in chicken thighs for more flavor.

I think the meatballs would've been better if I had paid more attention to the measuring spoons I was using when adding all the spices.  I pretty much used to much and both days I had them for lunch at work I had bad stomach pains after.   With both curry's I had steamed cauliflower as I didn't want to haul out my food processor to attempt cauliflower rice.

I still want to try and make Paleo Mayonnaise so maybe I'll try later this week.   I also want to attempt to improvise making Nom Nom Paleo's Sous Vide Crispy Chicken Thighs without a Sous Vide.

I'm not sure how much weight I've maybe lost. My scale has been wonky but my clothes have been looser so I'm taking that as a good sign.  Ive been mostly good in the last month with only a few cheats here and there.   I'm still having a hard time making breakfast at home and getting to work on time but even at McDonalds I'm just sticking to scrambled eggs and their sausage patties.  I need to see of the sausage is grain free though and maybe make my own at home on the weekends.  There are a few good recipes I've seen so maybe another Saturday experiment is in order.

Happy Holiday Everyone!!

2013 Holiday Wish List

I haven't done a wishlist in awhile so I figured its time. This is something I'd love to remember to do annually.

Without further ado

Fiona's 2013 Holiday Wishlist

ASICS GEL-FUJITRABUCO NEUTRAL 2 Women's GORE-TEX Trail Running Shoes

Fitbit Force

Polar RCX3 GPS-Enabled Heart Rate Monitor

Athleta Gift Card- Awesome Workout Clothes!!

Yurbuds Inspire Pro For Women Earbuds

I also would love a FitBit Aria Wi-Fi scale.   So I don't have a lot of my list but none are inexpensive so I tried to keep it to the items I really wanted the most.  

What is on your healthy holiday wishlist?   

The truth is out there

There are good truths and not so good truths. My bad truths is my health but the good truth is that I can change that.   I can choose a new truth and make it mine and that is the beauty of it all.  KISS = Keep it simple silly:  Eat real food, move around, lift heavy things, and get a good night sleep. 

Here is another of my truths

It's not a pretty truth but it is my reality for right in this moment in time.  I know this can change but I've gotten close before and I now I can do this again.  Eat real food, move around, lift heavy and get a good night sleep.  This is my mantra, my chant, my new truth.

Here are my stats currently:

Height: 5'8 1/2

Current Weight: 260lbs

Shorts size pictured: 20

Tank top size: Old Navy XXL ( got to love their vanity sizing)

October 14th I'll be posting up another set up pictures and we'll see if my new truth is working.

Much love & bacon

Battling Gluten, NAFLD & Bacon Jam

Today was pretty productive though this past week was less so.  But I'm relaxing and enjoying the weekend while processing information from the specialist I saw yesterday regarding my liver.

I had found out a few months ago that I had Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Most likely from years of being obese and yo-yo dieting. The doctor said I'm on the cusp of having major damage and while it wouldn't necessary ruin my chances for weight loss surgery he wants to see some improvement before he is giving his blessing.  So my goal for the next six months is to lose at less 10% of my body weight so roughly 26lbs.  Its now not a matter of trying but now to actually do it.

I had five great gluten free days and then I gave in.  Tomorrow is Sunday so I'm making it a new start and kicking the gluten habit once and for all.  I also am trying to go low fructose to help my liver.


This morning my husband drove me and my nephew to this local place called The Enjoy Centre.

This place is massive with a Organic health food store, greenhouse, gift shops and bakery/cafe. I was pretty much able to find most everything on my grocery list including coconut aminos, maple sugar, veggies, and gluten free pies!!   I think this will be my new go to store instead of trekking southside to Planet Organic.

I then picked up happy eggs from my egg guy and some frozen grass fed ground beef from my new favourite butcher that is only three blocks from where I live.  No fresh grass fed beef but I was advised its coming so I'll be getting short ribs, a roast and bone broth bones.

Later this afternoon look at what I made 

This is bacon jam that I made from this cookbook

This was very easy to make though I recommend at least doubling up on the recipe.  I was able to get about 500ML of jam out of the posted recipe.   I'll be using the jam on eggs, burgers, etc.  I'll be making a lot for holiday gifts this winter too :) 

Much love & Bacon

Making Pancakes

I LOVE pancakes!! Unfortunately conventional pancakes are very hard on my stomach and while the gluten free mixes are tolerable they are quite dry.

Today on Facebook The Civilized Caveman posted a grain free, VERY simple pancake and I'm please to say they are super tasty and even my dh loved them.

Without further ado              

Paleo Pancakes

3 bananas

3 eggs

1/2 cup of Nut Butter ( I used Maranatha Roasted Almond Butter)

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

1. Preheat a skillet to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Combine all of your ingredients in your blender or food processor and mix well until you have a batter
3. Grease your skillet with coconut oil and pour your batter making 3-4 inch pancakes
4. Cook 2-3 minutes per side and then flip for 2-3 minutes
5. Serve topped with some grass-fed butter or topping of your choice
6. Enjoy

 I have enough leftover for tomorrows breakfast and I bet this would be outstanding with breakfast sausage or bacon too. 

 Props out to the Civilized Caveman for making it easier to have pancakes now with the rest of the house!!!  

Also, this morning we visited a small manmade lake in Edmonton.  I saw LOTS of ducks too :) 

The baby ducks were the cutest too!!   Afterward we came home and I prepped my meals for next week.  I hard boiled free range eggs, made four Scotch Eggs and sauteed these flat beans in my favorite butter.

I'll have the beans this week with leftover Butter Chicken, DELISH!!!

Much Love & Happiness!!

Do Over

Hurrah!!

My blog has gone through the final stage of re-vamp and I'm happy to Announce the new name and url address

Finding your Primal Bliss!!!

There has been a 180 shift of my way of thinking and with my gluten sensitivities ( which I found out is a family issue)  I've been look more and more toward a primal/paleo life shift.

Right now I'm reading

Because I'm more of a Fantasy reader I've made myself a deal.  Two chapters of The Primal Blueprint and then two chapters of whatever I want to read.  So far it's a pretty good read and I'm learning a lot about fat and its role.

I also have these books on my kindle that are well worth the read in my opinion

I really recommend It Starts with food. I think its a very great starting point for anyone in this eating shift.

Right now I'm not 100% gluten free but I'm getting better and being more aware of what and how much I'm consuming.  Right now I'm hovering around 80% gluten free.  This has also made it easier to pinpoint when I feel lousy and hour or so after eating and ugh! that gluten bloat.

I'm eating more vegetables and lots and lots of lovely eggs.  I don't have to shy away from bacon and I find the taste of grassfed meats and full fat butter divine :) Right now as I am unable to buy butter from grassfed cows here in Canada I'm able to find a 83% fat butter imported from Poland at our local Italian grocery.


Today I'm doing 6 10 minute walk/jogs on the treadmill.  I find myself getting bored quickly on when I walk indoors so I think breaking it up during the day will be easier.  I have my podcasts and currently I'm listing to this one

While Paleo view is more parent oriented I really enjoy it.

Much Love & Happiness :)

What I've been up to lately

I've been busy with work and dealing with dh's health issues and now in the beginning stages of the house we live in being renovated.  I'm also planning a trip to Portland, Oregon in October to see family which while is a good thing is lots of planning in a short period of time.

I was also accepted into our areas weight management program called Weight Wise. I had decided to become more pro-active and asked my GP to send in a referral.   I had my first appointment on July 29th after  five months wait.

So far I've seen an RN, Dietician and Psychologist.  Monday I see a internist and later I have a appointment with a sleep doctor for my sleep apnea. 

And yes, I decided to have weight loss surgery.   Now I know it seems like a cop out but trust me it's not. I've never had surgery in my life and I'm deathly afraid but here are my reasons for my decision:

• I've been obese for over 23 years 
• I recently found out a cousin who was three years younger than me passed away for weight related issues. I have some of those same issues
• My dh has serious health issues and if they get worse I'll be his primary caregive and I want to be in the best possible health I can be
• I want to run and run  without my belly flapping like a penguin clapping.   I'm sure I'm the only one that hears it but still Bah!

It will take up to two years before I'd have the surgery due to wait times but in the meantime I need to lose at least 10% of my body weight so approximately 27lbs.

I have my weight loss binder done up with all my paperwork and whatnot and on payday I'm once again taking body shots to keep track and I'll chart my measurements also.

I continue to try and be gluten free and I'm striving for a Primal/Paleo lifestyle.  I want to try CrossFit, run more, go back to yoga class and be the inner me that wants out so badly.

And look at this :)

This is me today on the almost TARDIS blue track.  I'm going again tomorrow and I plan to go every weekend that I'm able too.

I got this!!!

Long Weekends are for what?

     I have a four day weekend and while part of it will be enjoying outdoors, take a yoga close and trying to clear my body of a bad case of bronchitis, a big chunk will be choosing a domain and host for this blog and exporting it all to a wordpress blog.
   
     So here is my weekend "battleplan"

     Friday:

• Have breakfast with the other half 
• Buy humane mousetraps (my cats are pretty lazy)
• Take my nephew to the movies
• Think of a awesome domain name that sums up the direction the blog is going
• Shop for dinner and get ready for the Farmers Market tomorrow (make a shopping list)

Saturday:

• AM Yoga  - Consisting of 6 reps of sun salutations and 10 minutes of meditation
• Farmers Market
•  Nap
• Clearing up my hard drive and finding a host for the blog
• Lunch
• 10 minutes of quiet reflection/meditation
• Getting my bike out of the garage and prepping it for the summer and to sell.  

Sunday:

• Light breakast
• Yoga at 11:30
• Work on the blog
• Nap ( I do love my naps)

Monday I'm undecided but I know it will consist of doing some AM yoga, working on poses and finding a good restorative sequence to do before bed.


Namaste

For Realz

I've not been doing to bad. I haven't blogged lately though as my husband had to have surgery twice for having carpal tunnel in both wrist.  Since my last post and now I've found out some things about myself and I have decided to start blogging again in earnest.

First discovery:  My body can be pushed beyond certain limits and survive, even thrive.  I've starting going to a personal trainer once a week and he has made me realize that I am more capable to doing more than I had allowed myself. 

Second discovery: Yoga isn't just some excuse to prance around in lululemon all the time.  I've only gone twice but I'm seriously hooked.  I practice asana's almost everyday at home and I've found that even five minutes of meditation a day is helping me immensely. 

Third discovery: Gluten hates me.   I've still been eating things with gluten but I've become more aware of how much I'm eating and try and eat less.   I'm still having digestive issues but I am hoping eventually I'll be mostly gluten free.  I'm not celiac but there is a suspect that I may have a intolerance there.



Much Love & Namaste

Welcome Back to me

I've been gone for awhile but now I'm back. I'll be revamping this blog also in the next couple of weeks so please stay tuned :)