Setbacks

Well, I was doing good on my diet last week; even had a deal with myself where if I didn't cheat for a week I would buy myself a new corset. I did great until thursday, which ended up being my last day at my job(as I transferred to a new one). I decided to celebrate by grabbing some fast food(I have a long drive home and was starving). I felt shitty about it but figured I'd earned it. But then I managed to completely fall off the wagon, and went out for taco truck later that day(mexican food is my main weakness), and have been off since. It's super frustrating, but it is a hard cycle to break, especially when you have a boyfriend who loves to cook.

So I've decided I am gonna try a spin on what I did last year, which was working pretty well for a while until I plateaued. I went from 170 to 150-155, and stuck there. It was basic, old fashioned calorie counting; even taking the time to factor in all my alcohol. This time I'm going to follow the Paleo diet as a general guideline(I can't imagine giving up alcohol, cheese, and bread/tortillas). I think the key here is to moderate the things I love that isn't allowed by Paleo(with the exception of alcohol). I was iffy on paleo, but lots of crossfitters are obsessed with it, so I figure it is worth a try.

Getting back into calorie counting will be difficult, as I haven't done it consistently in almost a year. I think what will work best for me is planning out meals over the week(which is what I used to do), and allowing myself some "cheat" meals. Since myfitnesspal has a droid app, it should be a bit easier.

Throughout the P.I.N.K. reset, I've grown to really enjoy side salads, along with chicken salads for lunch, which are pretty low calorie. My problem is mainly coming from dinners and whatnot, since I'm prone to just saying "fuck it" and going out to eat.

So I'll be starting again next monday. I'll be cutting out beer and sticking to hard alcohol, and cutting out non-paleo foods for the most part(with occasional cheat meals, like a sandwich here and there). So fingers crossed! I think if I can stick to it for a week I'll reward myself with a burrito. Mmmm. Burrito.

In the mean time, I've been getting back into going to crossfit 3x a week. I had been averaging 2x a week, and it's time to step it up. It hasn't been making me as sore as it used to, even though I keep stepping up my intensity. A victory for me(minor for others, but big for me) is that I've gone down in the strength of resistance band I need to use for pull ups. When I started I couldn't do them at all, and had to use a thick blue band along with a pretty thin red band just to barely be able to do them. As of recently I got rid of the red band. Pretty proud of myself, even if it is silly, and I think I may even be able to drop down to the next strength band(a green one in my gym). We'll see!

If anyone wants to friend me on myfitnesspal.com(or f0llow, whatever, I don't remember how it works), my name on there is LittleIcarus.

P.I.N.K. reset, day 7

Getting used to not eating whatever I want whenever I want has been difficult, and I've cheated a lot on this first week. Today I stopped into a taco bell on the way to fill out paperwork at my new job(yay!). I felt sick so figured I should eat, since I wouldn't have a chance to for at least a few hours. Oh and yesterday while I was at a derby bout I got some garlic fries(I had drunk munchies).

This week will be better, though! I'm determined. I'm trying to think of a way to have a small meal after work that complies with the diet. Maybe a small salad? I'm not sure.

Meal wise, I've been sticking to the same meal routine for the most part, with the exception of that I picked up some salmon for dinner.

I was planning to go to crossfit today, but I was hungover and had a lot of other stuff going on, so I skipped out. I'll be going tomorrow instead.

Anyways I have an idea that I think may help me with my meal cheating, which is to set my phones background to one of my before pictures. They disgust me THAT bad. So we'll see how that works.

Speaking of cheating, the boyfriend just got paid for the first time in over a month, so we ended up going out for mexican food. I'm hoping I can make this next week without any cheating.

day 1/2

Hey anyone reading this! For those not in the know, I'm Orpheus, a currently on hiatus roller derby skater out of Seattle. I'm writing this blog to keep myself motivated, and to document my progress. Plus, to maybe help other people doing the roller derby workout challenge(RDWC) stay motivated as well. The plan at the moment is to do a week or two on the pink reset, then start the RDWC next week on the 29th. At that point I'll either continue on the reset for another week, or just start the challenge.

So a quick run down of the Pink reset is that it's a short detox diet that you can do a maximum of 14 days before moving onto the next phase of the diet. It's the new fad diet and exercise program, but I figured I'd give it a go. I take to following a diet a lot better when I have set guidelines, instead of a dubious "count more calories, eat more green stuff).

Anyways! The pink reset gives you a specific list of proteins and vegetables you can eat, with the instruction that you start the day with a protein shake, then for lunch and dinner you have one 4 ounce serving of protein each meal, along with as many vegetables as you want. Snacks in this phase are also raw veggies.

My heart broke a little reading that, since I've never been big on veggies, but my boyfriend(/pseudo finance/future husband) has been after me to eat more greens, so I guess it's for the best. Here's a good a place as any to tell you a little about myself!

I was always a pretty skinny kid, then puberty hit. I went from weighing 95 pounds to somewhere around 110-120 practically overnight, and had the joy of starting middle school as an 11 year old with C cup breasts. Not ideal for little tom-boy me. Through school I held my weight around 130-140, and for a while had a bout of combo anorexia/bulimia(it was standard for me to only eat a can of tomato soup during the day, and throw it up after). Luckily that was short lived.

Fast forward to when I'm 14 and I leave home due to having an abusive family life. I'll spare you the details, but I spent the next 2 1/2 years on the street before getting an apartment. During those years I lost a bunch of weight due to, well, being homeless. After getting a place, I gained back a bunch of what I had lost due to a combination of depression, cheap malt liquor, and cheap food. Then I was at my heaviest yet at 140-145.

While homeless. Nevermind the underwear

I turn 18 and happen upon derby, and like so many others fell in love instantly. "Finally!" I thought, "a place where I fit!" So I skated religiously, but even then I still maintained the same basic weight and shape.

Fast forward a few more years, and I'm 20. I literally looked in the mirror one day and said "holy shit I do not like what I look like naked." I hadn't noticed myself gaining weight at all. I decided that I had had enough and wanted to lose the weight and become a mean derby machine. So I went and bought a scale and weighed myself for the first time in years.

Holy what the fuck batman. I was sitting at 170. How the hell did I gain 30-40 pounds without noticing? I was floored. I knew I had put on weight since getting off the streets, but that much seemed ridiculous.

So I started dieting, doing some good old fashioned calorie counting and following the meal plans on sparkpeople.com, and cut out malt liquor after I realized that one 24 ounce can was accounting for 25% of my daily calorie intake. I followed this diet pretty religiously for several months, and lost about 20 pounds, but plateaued and was stuck for several months.

During that time I went through a shitty breakup and in two months undid all the progress I had been working on for the last 6-8 months. Gone! Just like that!

/end life story

So here I am now. I joined crossfit in december and have been doing that 2-3 times a week since. I absolutely love it, and knew my nutrition had to follow. I checked out a bunch of diets(paleo, zone, paleo zone, low carb, etc) but nothing fit. So here we are now, with the pink diet. I also made new years resolutions to stop eating beef burgers, fried/breaded chicken, and all soda(except the occasional diet soda in a pinch, but for the most part if I need something bubbly and flavorful to chase my vodka with I use safeway's sparkling flavored water stuff. Delicious and 0 calories!)

Note: i'm not doing the work out portion of the pink diet, just following the diet. I'm already doing crossfit(like I mentioned), and will be following the RDWC's workout schedule.

FOOD STUFFS, DAY 1/2

Breakfast:
Made a protein smoothie, the most basic one the pink diet offers(it's called pink drink 1). It contained:
1 scoop whey protein powder
1 cup almond milk
1 cup frozen strawberries

This actually worked out pretty well for me, since I normally have to make myself eat in the morning and it is not appetizing often(I wake up super early for work, so in the past I cooked my food the night before). However, drinking a shake was easy and keeps me pretty full till lunch.

Between breakfast and lunch I snacked on some baby carrots on day 1, and baby carrots + cucumber slices day 2(it's a long time between 5am and 11).

For lunch I had made a big salad with mixed romaine lettuce and spinach, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and chopped carrot + onion. On top of that I put some pepper and 2 tbsp of newman's own brand light Caesar dressing. The first day I cheated with adding a slice of turkey bacon and a small handful of cheese. The second day I didn't.

Snack was more of the same above.

Dinner was 4 oz flank steak, with broccoli and cauliflower both nights. Delicious!

On day 2 I cheated by having 2 pieces of turkey bacon in my bloody mary. Blame the boyfriend. Plus (since I don't remember if I mentioned this before), day 1 I went out for tacos. I am weak and powerless over tacos. On one of the days I drunkenly got a burrito. Bad week.

Cheating aside, it's going well so far. I imagine i'll stick with the meal plan I've outlined above for the rest of the week.

Now, for some gross before pictures, goals, and measurements!

These photos were rather depressing. Sorry for the crappy mirror pics and quality.

Measurements:

Chest: 42"

Right Arm: 12.6"

Left Arm: 12.2"

Waist: 41.7"

Hips: 44"

Right Thigh: 23.2

Left Thigh: 23

Weight: 167