Category: Uncategorized

Fitgain

I am not on a weight loss journey. I don’t measure my success based on the scale, it is usually just a byproduct of my actual journey, fitness gained.

I would be lying if I said I’ve never had a weight loss goal, or cared about losing weight. In college I gained the freshman 15 or 20, but lost it when I trained for my 1st ever race, a half marathon. Was I happy to lose it? Yes. Was it my primary goal? No. Then I gained 80 lbs with my son (try and tell me hormones don’t play a role in weight gain), the lost 60 before gaining it all right back with my daughter. Of course I wanted to lose all that extra baby weight (still about 50 lbs even after birth and initial weight loss) but it wasn’t exactly my first goal. I wanted to run in this race series that consisted of 3 half marathons in a little less than 3 months. I lost pretty much all of that training for them that first year! Even though I did WANT to lose it, I wasn’t measuring my success on that. My success came after completing all 3 half, and going on to do it for 2 more years.

Currently I’ve renamed my journey into a fitgain journey. I want to see what I am capable of, see how strong I am, how fast I can be. I am a firm believer in heart rate zone training for endurance, and I absolutely love lifting some heavy weights. I don’t particularly love HIIT workouts unless it is in my running, but I can see how they are improving my overall fitness. I can see my progress and I want more. I am itching to see where I will go in the next 5 or 10 years!

Please don’t rely on weight loss during your personal journey. There are so many ways to measure your own progress and to set your own goals. You can measure your progress with your workouts. You can measure your progress with your measurements. You can measure your progress with how you feel each day, how your clothes fit, or how your not out of breath running after your kids. Let weight loss become a secondary reaction to meeting a goal of yours.

And seriously…enjoy the journey.

Diet

This word has a stigma with it. If you are on a “diet” you must be trying to loose weight. You’re obviously restricting your eating or setting limitations on what you can/can’t have. You must think you’re fat. You can’t eat anything unhealthy. You’re following some sort of program that is telling you this is the way you need to eat if you want to get those pounds off! There is probably a list of yes and no foods… I could go on and on about the things people think when the word diet is mentioned.

However, a diet is simply, “the kinds of foods that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.” Someone talks about a rabbit’s diet and they’ll discuss that it eats leaves and carrots. A bear’s diet consists of fish and berries. I mention my diet, and suddenly I’m trying to lose weight.

I think you see what I mean here, but just so we’re clear, my diet is what I typically eat on a day to day basis. Now this doesn’t mean I dont have preferences on what foods I consume and what percentage of macros I eat. This is where some confusion lies. I say, “hey, I’m on a low carb diet”. You think why you dont need to lose weight… right?

Well here’s the thing, my goal of my “diet” is to fuel my activities in the best way with the best fuel for my body. For example, MY body doesn’t exactly enjoy a carb heavy diet when I attempt to do long runs. I adjusted so that I eat low carb, so that I’m able to actually enjoy running and not have to find bathroom stops along my route… in the country… where bathroom stops are actually trees. My body has decided it doesn’t really care for dairy much after having my second child. So my diet is void of dairy products that don’t agree with my stomach.

The term diet should not automatically have a negative context of limitations and restrictions, but rather it should be viewed as an informative decision you’ve made based on your unique preferences and discoveries on what your body can and cannot tolerate. A diets goal should be to fuel your day to day activities. Food is fuel. It might be fueling your day at work, or your play time with kids, or your 10 mile run, but either way, the things you put in your body will determine how you feel during your next activity. Your diet directly affects all these activities and your emotions that go with them.

Now, you might have a goal to lose weight, and you might indeed adjust your diet to reach that goal, and that’s great! We are constantly learning what foods work for us and what foods don’t; which foods are helping us toward our goals, and which are not. Just don’t let anyone else tell you your “diet” is wrong. You know your body best, you know what foods make you feel sluggish and which give you sustained energy. And next time someone says they are on a “diet” of any kind, don’t assume their goal is weight loss…

T minus 6 days

So it’s been awhile! I’ve my shoulder surgery recovery has gone slow but on schedule and as expected. I’m not quite too full ROM and I’m only just beginning to start “strength” training. I started leading a water aerobics class MWF that has helped keep me out of trouble in the gym. Oh and I am running in my first marathon next Saturday!!

I started running again as soon as I was out of my bolster sling, 6 weeks post OP, and have since been increasing my long run to be able to still complete 26.2 miles. Even though I threw my time goal out of ther window, I still am determined to run it, no matter how slow. Training has been fun, I even convinced my girls to do most of the really long runs with me, with the exception of the last 20 miler 🤣 I’m so very grateful for their support and their company in all those miles.

I’m super excited to run next weekend and will definitely recap ther race for you!

Slowing down

A week ago I had arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder. They did a bankart repair (stitched down my torn labrium). Since then and for 5 more weeks, I’m stuck in a bolster sling 24/7, except to shower. My “exercises” include hand grips, wrist movement, and elbow movement. So far I’m allowed to walk, albeit slow. Oh and I’m basically one armed for all other tasks…

This has forced me to slow down, literally, everything takes 20× longer than with both arms, and there is A LOT I cannot do. But as I’m forced to sit on the sideline for most of our daily chores, I am also forced to take my time and really play with my babies. Even though I’m limited on how far I can move when we play on the floor, and I can’t run or jump with them, I can make the most of our time together without the guilt of leaving chores undone. Normally I’d play for a few minutes then become distracted by something that needed cleaned/ picked up/ mowed/etc. One of the most positive things to come out of needing to keto my shoulder immobilized is the appreciation of focusing on my kids and really playing with them. Despite the antsyness in me to run, bike, swim, or lift, I’m very thankful that im being forced to take a look at what really matters, especially with one of my babies starting kindergarten this year and the other is starting preschool.

So even though the athlete in me is doing to do more, and the stubborn independent me is hating being so unhelpful around the house, the mother in me is thanking God for this wonderful opportunity to sloooow down and just enjoy.

Nutrition

Did you know there are 6 essential nutrients your body needs:

  • Water
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • Carbohydrates
  • Protein
  • Fats

Food groups were originally created to try and simplify and group items that provide similar nutrients, for example fruits provide similar vitamins and minerals. However it isn’t as easy as that, food groups also promote food businesses (dairy, grains) and as with anything that makes people money, it is becomes more about selling their product than our health. Each “food group” also include more than just essential nutrient. Fruits may provide vitamins, but they also provide simple sugars which are carbohydrates. Vegetables are not only a source of vitamins, but also provide carbohydrates, and fiber. Dairy provides calcium and Vitamin D, yes, but so do seeds, spinach, some fish, eggs and beans. Grains provide fiber, vitamins, and minerals, but so do vegetables, fruit, fish, and many other foods. The meat/bean/legume food group has been renamed as “protein” so it is obvious what is mostly provided by that group now, among other vitamins and minerals.

I want to point out that there is no longer a “fats/oil” food group, and if you try to find out about fats on most government food group pages, it tells you how to avoid them or recommends very low consumption. Yet it is on the list of essential nutrients our body needs… You see fats contain a much higher caloric count than carbohydrates or proteins (9 calories per gram compared to 4). This means, if your counting calories, the easiest way to cut them is to cut fats. Mathematically that makes since, but you shouldn’t be scared of fat. In fact, in most “low fat” foods the sugar content is typically much higher than in the normal full fat version (which is not good for you). Also fats help you feel fuller, longer, thus helping you not overeat. There are “bad fats”, like those found in fast foods, and heavily processed foods, so make sure you read the label to see where those fats are coming from!

Now I personally try not to eat grains and I limit dairy for various reasons, I feel better without, and I can get similar nutrients from better foods. However I am not under the impression that my way of eating is best for everyone. There is no universal way to eat that is good for everyone. Some people don’t eat meat, or any animal products, some can’t eat dairy, some only eat meat, some rely mostly on grains because that is all that is available, and thats ok as long as you are fueling your body with the essential nutrients it needs whenever possible. I am not a fan of the the government pushing so many servings of each food group, when they should educate more on all the various ways to obtain the essential nutrients.

For the most part, paying attention to “macronutrients”, Proteins, Carbs, and Fats, (and drinking water) you will be able to obtain the other essential vitamins and minerals that come along with them. While it is good to understand how many calories you are consuming, it is equally as important to know where those calories are coming from. If half of your calories from breakfast are from sugar, your energy is not going to last very long, and you will find yourself eating more calories sooner to provide your body with the necessary energy. Be aware of how different foods make you feel and fuel your body accordingly!

Here is my last tid-bit of for the day, the best foods for you are those that do not need labels: whole, unprocessed, and fresh.

Vegan Cinnamon Applesauce Muffins

These muffins turned out super moist and my kids LOVED them! They are kind of lumpy when everything is added, but they turn out amazing!

Ingredients:

2 Cups applesauce (I use unsweetened)

1/2 Cup coconut oil (or coconut oil based butter!)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degree F, and grease or line muffin pan.

Mix together all the wet ingredients until well combined.

Add dry ingredients and mix well.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full and bake 15-20 minutes, until top springs back when you touch it.

Take out and let cool on rack or serve warm!

Habits

Habits define how we live and the choices we make. They determine if we are going to have a salad or french fries, run or binge watch a Netflix series. Changing these habits is very possible, but only if you recognize them and the reason you do them. One recent habit of mine that I’ve been trying to change is snacking. After a run (all afternoon) I feel the need to snack. If I really pay attention to this feeling, I know that I am not really hungry, maybe bored, maybe thirsty (I definitely need to drink more water), maybe just need to do some sort of physical movement, but not hungry. So I every time I feel the need to snack, I first drink a glass of water. Hopefully this will become a habit that I do without thinking in the future, but for now I have to remind myself that it is not hunger, or the need for nutrition that is driving these cravings.

I challenge you to find something you do habitually, something that might not be helping you reach your health goals, and try to start replacing it with something that will help you not hurt you!

Introduction

Hello! I am Jayme. I am a Christian, a wife, a mother, a runner, a fitness/health enthusiast, a self-learner, a friend, and now a blogger. My goal in this blog is to share my experiences and hopefully help others along the way. I have a teaching license in Biology and middle school science. I have always loved science and learning how things work. I indulge myself in reading up on nutrition and exercise, and have become passionate in both. I am on a mission to finding what foods make me feel my best, and are best for my family, husband, son (age 4), and daughter (age 2). My son has had a dairy and egg allergy since being tested at age 1, so I have gotten a lot of experience in eliminating those from my family’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner as to not have to make special meals for the entire family. I have found that I personally feel better when I don’t eat grains, and some dairy products. For the most part I try to stick to eating lower carbohydrates, but I make options for my family to keep them in their diets. I am trying to deepen my faith walk and go where I am being lead. I am not perfect, I miss Bible readings and studies, I do not always attend church, and I need to pray more often. But this journey is all about finding myself in Him.

I hope you enjoy the posts and resources that I will be providing on this blog, and please feel free to contact me if you have questions or suggestions!