Just workin' on my fitness

Life has been whirlwind busy from one weekend to the next lately. I’m not complaining by any means, I’m just not quite sure where the time goes! I’ve had two really awesome-fun weekends in a row. My work weeks haven’t been too shabby either between getting out into the field and getting out and away from the office for meetings.

Due to the advent of busyness I’ve not finished the book as soon as I’d hoped. I’m still about 5 chapters away actually – like half the book. Fortunately, Mel summarized a lot of it in numerous posts so I know sort of what’s coming up in the book. Thus far I’ve been in more of the exercise part of the book and no diet stuff thus far.

I’ve been making an effort to do high intensity interval training work outs 3 times a week for 30 minutes or so. I got in several of these workouts two weeks ago and one last week. But then I was in the field for two days, on my feet and on the move all day pursuing some semi-strenuous (fence building, post pounding) activities. I was so tired upon arrival home after those days that I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything else. Exhausted. Utterly and completely exhausted. Walking around in a swamp is sort of like walking on sand in that you put forth a lot more effort to move yourself over unstable ground. I ended up even being a little sore – but I’m totally okay with that! && then this past weekend was full of hiking and climbing and exploring and adventuring...more activity and thus no HIIT workouts. The cardio workouts for me aren’t so much to become some crazy athlete so much as I want to be healthier. Heart disease is super mondo bad on my dad’s side of the family and combating that is important. Additionally, building good fitness now will help with this ski season.

While I haven’t gotten to the diet chapter(s) yet, I have been tweaking my diet trying to eat better. There are so many different ways and trends to fuel your body. I have a lactose sensitivity, which means I tend to get sick if I eat things that are excessively rich in lactose (cheesecake is NOT my friend, nor are mass amounts of cheese, yogurt, ice cream – milk itself has never been an issue, strangely). Additionally, my stomach does not handle high levels of grease (I get sick in the same way I do for high lactose). So high fat/grease and rich lactose have never been major players in my diet. I feel much better without them.

In a quest to feel even better I’ve been toying with gluten free and less grains/sugars/etc. The idea of a paleo (veggies, meats, fruits) intrigues the hell out of me. But until I move and start my pantry/kitchen over again, this would be impossible as all things I crave are at a very easy reach right now. But I’ve really been trying to incorporate more gluten-free and paleo-esque things into my diet. Its healthier eating overall and I really like it. I get full and don’t feel guilty about it and my body doesn’t feel burdened down by too much heavy, “bad” food. Think lots of quinoa and tofu or meat and veggies and eggs all combined in some way with some yummy seasoning/spices. That’s a lot of what I’ve been consuming as of late. Its pretty quick and easy to cook usually, and overall really healthy! I recognize that I don’t need to lose weight. That would be silly, but feeling awesome all the time is a pretty good goal to have, I think.

So there you have it. A brief update. I’m sure there is more to be said and I will have more to say, but with the whirlwind that is work + school + horses & life, my scattered mind can only come up with these thoughts currently.

West Virginia from one of my favorite [secret] vistas this past Sunday. Leaves they are a changin'