March 29: Ups and downs

I've been going through a couple of ups and downs lately, mostly downs. We moved in December and lost track of our healthy eating habits: more restaurant visits, eating when hungry, take-away... and unfortunately I also became ill on-and-off (probably related to some food issues and the unhealthy eating). I had an airway infection, the flu, airway infection 2 and airway infection 3.

All this led to gaining almost 7 kg (15 lbs) and no more working out.  This had to change so we decided to enroll ourselves in a supervised nutrition program: No nonsense nutrition program. We had to keep a log for 5 days (3 week, 2 weekend) and based on that log in combination with current weight, fat percentage and goals we received our individual program.

The program consists out of 12 weeks. The first four weeks you get a strict balanced program you have to follow and the following weeks you learn to take your own eating habits into control.

Let's hope that all these downs will turn into a lot of ups. :)

October 11, Diet and health, allergies, intolerances, sensitivities....

Two years ago, while traveling in July, I've had a terrible rash on my legs that lasted for two months and was treated with high doses of cortison. Since I also had several digestive issues I decided to get some medical exams done. In September of that year I underwent a series of exams to figure out what caused the rash. We never found out and I had two minor outbreaks since that big one in July.

We did found out that I was extremely allergic to dust mite, pollen (trees and grasses) and cats, I was moderately allergic to raw tomatoes and hazelnuts, I had an inconclusive reaction to gluten and no dairy allergy. They also found out that I was on my way to getting hypothyroidism anytime soon.

Although I didn't have outbreaks anymore I had a (severe) migraine almost every week and breathing issues for which I had two inhalers. I wasn't doing CrossFit at that time but my boyfriend was. So in January of the next year, he wanted to do the paleo challenge at our box and I joined the challenge as well.

It was hard: I was a daily cheese and bread eater. I felt really bad the first week but it went better the next three weeks. And surprise surprise... no more migraines.

We have been on a semi-paleo diet ever since. We eat no dairy, no gluten, no preservatives... but we do eat rice, oatmeal and sometimes potatoes and beans. I have had several cheat moments: crisps, pizza, ... and most of the times when I have a cheat meal I feel bloated, tired ... and often the day after I have a migraine that lasts for a couple of days.

Adjusting my diet in combination with CrossFit helped me cut down on my inhalers. I'm only using one at the moment and not on a daily basis.

I know I'm not intolerant for most foods but there must a correlation between my health issues and my diet...

10 day evaluation

So I've been following my strict paleo / crossfit regime for ten days now and I must admit that I haven't felt so good for a while (although I have trouble just walking after the Murph). I can't really say that my energy levels are up but mentally I feel great.

And let's not forget the main reason why I'm doing this: I want to get ready for swimsuit season. I'm happy to say that it is going in the right direction. I have lost 3,6 kg in 10 days. Pretty good result, isn't it? :D

First morning run... ever!

In 4 weeks the summer holiday begins and that is officially the beginning of bikini season... so it's time to pick up the pace and push my workouts to the next level.

From today onwards I will workout every day in some way, either at home, at the box or on the road. In combination with the paleo diet I should have some results by the end of June.

Since my work schedule is already pretty full I am creating a new time slot in the morning before work.

Today was day 1 and we went for a morning run. It had been six months since my last run so it was definitely an experiment but it went just fine.

We ran 3,5 km (2.18 miles) in 24 minutes. Not that fast but a great start!!