Self Imposed Obstacles

Life has a way of giving you just enough to make it hard but at the same time not so much it drives you over the line into insanity. At least that is the way things have been going lately for me. I have been inconsistent at best with my nutrition and my workouts over the last few months just kind of bouncing around with no direction or set goals in mind and for me this is not a safe path. I need my own self imposed direction placed upon myself to keep me pushing forward otherwise a few months go by and I feel like I have nothing to show for it.

Although I feel like I have accomplished so much personally and professionally over these past moths I feel as though I have neglected myself and I need to refocus my energy on myself again. Monday I will start P90X3 again and focus on it as if it were the first fitness program I have ever done.

It may be some form of undiagnosed disorder but I need to reorganize the garage (my gym) this weekend and clean the place up so I feel motivated and comfortable out there each morning. There is nothing like working out and being distracted about what needs to be done when you should be focusing on wheat you should be doing. Once I get that done I will be ready to attack each day.

When it comes to eating I have pretty much gotten myself under control when it comes to proper food intake and portion sizes. My biggest problem is that sometimes I do not enough during a long day at work. I have also grown into the habit of prepping my meals out a few days so I have clean options that I can grab and go with. This makes the odds of eating junk a lot less likely.

I know this will be the right thing for me because lately I have been feeling run down and a bit tired. When I am working out hard every day I have much more energy. I have completed my usual October of late night Baseball Playoff viewing causing a lack of sleep streak which always coincides with my having to complete the budgets for the next year at work. Now I can break away from the mental stress I subject myself to each year and apply my efforts back into my workout.

I have tracked all of my workouts over the past few years with a heart rate monitor which I was able to see the pattern I had created for myself and helped me to understand why my body was performing the way has been. Not trying to make excuses but really to better understand how my mind and body works so I may be able to better myself in every way.

This leads to one of my favorite quotes ever.

“Excuses are a list of self imposed obstacles that prevent you from having a better life.”

Life gets in the way. When you are driven to a goal you must make detours to get to your final destination. 

Maggie, The Apple of My Eye!

Life is getting in the way lately but I am not complaining. For instance I am sitting here at work and can hardly focus on anything because tomorrow my baby girl will have scoliosis correction surgery. There is a much longer medical term for this but I can’t spell it and you can’t pronounce it so I figure why bother.

She is now fourteen years old and braver than I was at her age. This girl amazes me with how calm and focused she is. I am scared to death and she is determined as hell.

Last week, my wife gave her an opportunity to cancel the operation when she finally made mention of her fears and she said “no I want it done”. It is amazing how kids can be so brave and when they should be leaning on their parents for support their parents are secretly leaning on them for the same help. 

It will be a long stressful five hour waiting period tomorrow I am sure but in the end with God’s help I feel confident that all will work out for the best.

My daughter as is my son is everything to me. She is so much like me that it annoys me, but then again she is so very different than I am that I am in awe of her greatness. We have the same sense of humor which absolutely disgusts my wife some days and helps us to relate to each other on a different level other times as we try to out do each other. Basically, she gets me and what else could a father want than to be understood by his daughter.

Most days I can do nothing but shake my head as I watch her grow into a beautiful young lady. I am sure this will be another thing that will keep me awake at night. If my sister thought she had it hard with me looking over her shoulder I can imagine my baby girl will also have a more difficult time of it with any boy that dares to step foot into my house.

Maggie is as smart as a whip and loving, she gets that from her mother, but she is also carefree, confident and above all caring of others at the same time. I cannot wait to see her beautiful smiling face after this is all over with tomorrow and then watch her take on high school over the next four years.

I ask that you keep her in your thoughts and prayers over the next few days. 

On a different subject; I decided to go back to being 100% Primal, and made my adjustments over the weekend to starting today. I feel at my best when I am eating this way and decided it was time to buckle down and get to business. I have become so much healthier over the past few years with Beachbody fitness programs being my primary vehicle toward a better lifestyle. I am stronger and feel much better but nutrition was something I never really totally committed to.

When I did the 21 Day Primal Blueprint in June of 2012 during my transition from my old job to my current job I lost 16 pounds in that twenty-one day period and I should have never stopped.  I spent the weekend putting things in place and I am looking forward to committing and making the next set of changes in my journey.

The goal is to be in better shape at 50 years old than I was when I was 30 years old and sadly I do not think it will be all that hard to accomplish. Maybe I should make that goal 20? Maybe I will. That’s what goal setting is all about. 

Summer Obsession!

First day of summer for the kids from school today, this is the time of year when believe it or not I have a difficult time working out. I lack the motivation to get up and get things done before I have the fatherly duties of driving my daughter to school. Without that looming over my head I procrastinate and end up missing my window to get done the things I should. The kids are home so I lack the push to head out into the garage and execute.

Last year at this time I had six days until I would be unemployed for the next five months and I started out this time with the confidence that I would find work in no time so I was looking forward to a few weeks off with the family. Two months later I was most likely clinically depressed and did not realize it. What kept me from sinking as low as you can go? Being a Beachbody Coach and whichever workout I would do that day. I also discovered the Primal Blue Print and changed most of my eating habits. This summer I will dive deeper into my Primal experiments and commit more effort to see how I can continue to improve my health. These things kept a bad situation from being a horrible experience.

   

It’s easy to think that working out lasts only as long as a workout. Wrong! Your goals and your method for getting there need to be with you day and night. A rolling list of to do’s: drink your water, watch your posture and be become more aware of your body, eat more food, resist the bad food, stretch that muscle group, research that question, find support for that issue, help others to succeed in their goals, drink your water, it is a continuous process day in and day out.

Some people call the workouts I have been doing an obsession, and my behavior obsessive. If it is, it must rank as a healthy one and it certainly doesn’t hurt anyone. I manage to hold down a challenging career, be a present parent in both of my children’s life, a supportive husband, coach a little baseball, and maintain a pretty active outgoing life with friends and family, all intertwined quite happily with this ‘obsession’.

Because of my obsession I have become a better parent, better husband and a better person. I know this just by the way I wake up each morning and get out of bed with that much more energy than I did before all of this started. I look myself in the mirror each morning and like the changes I am making and the progress I see. Everyone should be this obsessive about their life, you only get one. 

Today is a Good Day!

Things are starting to come together, on a Saturday, Yes a Saturday I woke up at 6:20 am without an alarm while my wife was still asleep to get out on a bike to peddle for 17 miles with no destination but to end up home again. I did not set an appointment with someone so I would have to keep my word and be on time, I just did it? Anyone that knows me knows first off this at one time this was the time of the morning I would return home from the night before and that I enjoy my sleep time so this hours are not a norm for me. I know for sure that I will never be one of those old men that are up at the crack of dawn to tinker around the house and read the paper but the thought of this does scare me a little.

I have had more energy lately, between my fitness program and my nutrition plan I am finding it easier to maintain a level of comfort each day and do not find myself feeling worn out or my mind wondering in the middle of the day. I have increased my training some with the addition of Asylum and backing off slightly, less days, with my running, swimming and biking. I increased the distances and try to stay within a percentage of my heart rate (zone training) and this is working for me.

Eating Primal 80-85% of the time really has helped me achieve this, I do not get hungry almost ever. In fact I have had days where I have experimented with intermittent fasting and it seems to kick start my metabolism. There was a time where my body used to go into starvation mode if I was not constantly feeding it and would store fat. The strange thing is, and I can’t figure out why this is happening, I am continuing to drop inches but not weight. In fact I gain and lose weight like a roller coaster, I can feel that I am stronger but I am not yet seeing the decline in weight I would like to see.

Most importantly I am enjoying everything about what I am doing right now and want to ride this wave in the hope of all things coming together. With that said I am going to reward myself a little today as my wife and a few friends head out to a local Beer Festival. It looks like it's going to a beautiful day so get out and do something. 

Lemon, Prosciutto and Spinach Smothered Chicken

Who doesn’t love prosciutto?! Prosciutto gets all crispy and delicious and is the perfect flavor to complement the crispness of lemon. One of my favorites dishes is Chicken or Veal Saltimbocca, but as I try to stay away from pasta and remain Primal I need to get my fix without falling off the path of what I am doing. This plate gives me that experience without the guilt. But don’t just take my word for it, try it yourself and see!

4-6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken breasts

2-4 T fat of choice: coconut or olive oil, butter, animal, etc.

9 oz fresh spinach

4 oz prosciutto, torn into pieces

2 shallots (or ½ medium onion), chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Meyer lemon (regular lemon would work, too, but Meyer lemons are ridiculously amazing in here)

salt and pepper

pinch garlic powder

Optional ingredients if you eat dairy:

1/3 cup feta cheese

sprinkling of Romano

*Feta and Romano are excellent, healthy choices if you can eat dairy. Romano is almost always made from the milk of grass fed sheep and feta is also usually made from the milk of grass fed goat or sheep.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 375.

In a 9×13 baking dish, add 1-2 T fat of choice. Salt and pepper both sides of your chicken breast and add a small sprinkle of garlic powder to them.

Bake for 20 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, add 1-2 T of fat to a large skillet over medium heat.

Add your shallots (or onion) and garlic and cook for one minute.

Add the prosciutto and spinach to the pan and cook just until the spinach wilts. It won’t take very long at all.

Remove the skillet from the heat.

Once your chicken has baked for 20 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and spread the spinach mixture evenly over each chicken breast. If you are using the cheese, sprinkle the romano over each spinach topped breast and then add the feta.

Cut ¾ of the Meyer lemon into very thin slices and make sure to remove the seeds. Place the slices over the chicken breasts. Squeeze the juice from the remaining ¼ of lemon over all the chicken breasts.

Place the baking pan back into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until chicken is cooked throughout. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

And yes, you can eat the whole Meyer Lemon slice – rind and all! It’s amazing!

Pomegranate Arugula Salad

A simple salad that will fill you up and provide taste, texture and personality all along a Primal plan. 

4 cups of arugula
½ cup of pomegranate seeds
¼ cup of chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

In a large salad bowl, combine arugula, pomegranate seeds, and walnuts. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixture, toss, and serve.