Square One

Fair warning- this post is going to be all over the place since I haven't posted for a few days. So many things have happened, and I'll be attempting to update y'all on my workouts, new found love of intermittent fasting (seriously, LOVE), no-sunscreen sun exposure, my wedding planning, and my recent trip to Connecticut.

A few months ago, I decided to extend the Memorial Day holiday weekend by a few days and take a trip back east to where my mom was born and raised, near where I was born and lived for 7 years (and visited frequently after our move 3,000 miles west), and where I plan to get married in the fall. The idea was to hammer down as many wedding details as possible. As of the Wednesday before I left, the only detail I had sorted out was a hefty deposit on a venue that I hadn't even seen. In addition to me having a holiday on Monday to work with, I would only miss minimal amounts of work, even MORE of my family would be in Connecticut that weekend because my cousin graduated from college the weekend before. My mom and I made a list of things we needed to do, and set out to accomplish them.

As if wedding details aren't enough to fill one's brain and patience to capacity, my own personal agenda involved not getting sidetracked from my intermittent fasting, workouts, water consumption, and grain free/clean eating while on this trip (especially since I knew I'd be tasting wedding cakes). I have a huge Italian family that does nothing but talk about food, eat food, and push food. For me, now that I don't think about food that much, or even care about it, its obnoxious. I can't even explain the disfunctionality between my family members eating ridiculous amounts of food, and then lamenting it. Food, food, food. I know how they are, I fully knew what to expect going there, yet, when I was there, it was STILL shocking to me. Before I left for the foodland, I was just hoping that I could slip under the radar with my eating, and no one would give me any crap. Wishful thinking.

Here is a rough outline/mini blog of each day last week up until today, and how I handled my cross country flights plus 4 days away from home with the nosiest food pushers you'll ever meet:

Monday- Wednesday in Seattle- ate and worked out like usual (fasted workouts, eating window 1pm-8pm)

Thursday- early am flight through 3 time zones- packed beef jerky, nuts, and dried fruit to eat on the plane at noon PST, and had dinner plans in Connecticut at a friends house in which the food options would not be up to me. I was very nervous beforehand about that dinner, but, then I received a text asking what I do and don't eat. I hate stressing people out that are feeding me with all my restrictions, but I did mention I eat meat, vegetables, all fat, and fruit. It was an excellent meal of grilled meat and veggies, salad, and the best corn on the cob I've ever had. It was perfect. I arrived at my grandma's house shortly after, visted for a bit, drank a lot of water, and went to bed early since I had plans to visit a CrossFit in CT in the am, and workout there.

Friday- woke up at 7am EST, drank my usual amino acid energy drink and took some BCAA's. Everyone knew I'd be heading to the gym, so it wasn't weird that I didn't eat food before going. I worked out with the foreign gym at 8am, and had an AWESOME workout. Seriously, it was so perfect because all the moves were things I could do- run, Kb swings, sit-ups. Best of all, I didn't embarass myself and get last in the workout, in fact, I felt so good and strong, it was the best fasted workout I've had to date. It was also the most humid weather I'd ever worked out in. I was dripping in sweat after the stretching warm-up. My mom and I had a jam packed day of caterers, venue visits, etc., so as soon as I returned from the gym, I showered and we ran out the door. We stopped for lunch at a fancy deli at noon, which was perfect, so I had my first meal of a small thing of chicken salad, and a huge container of curried cauliflower. More touring around and meetings followed, and dinner was at 6pm. Dinner was bar food- ick (my cousins just opened up a bar, and we needed to support it), I made the best choices I could- grilled wings (which were so damn spicy I could only get 4 down) and some sweet potato fries.

Saturday- woke up at 7am EST, and had my first round of battling with my grandma and others about what I wanted for breakfast. I just kept saying "I'll get something in a minute" or "we are headed out the door to taste cakes soon" I consumed my amino acid drink and BCAA's. At 11am, we really did have to taste cakes, and I was nervous about that. My first food of the day would be sugar, and not protein. In a fashion that a me of 2 years ago- or even 1 year ago wouldn't recognize, I literally only tasted 2-3 bites of a chocolate cake and a vanilla cake. To taste the fillings, I dipped my fork in each, barely coating the tines, just to get the idea. And, there were some I didn't even bother to taste because I knew I wouldn't like them. They tasted good, but I was easily able to control how much of each I had I was able to stop myself. Watching my mom on the other hand was different. She tasted everything, ate way more cake then I did, and it was like she was compelled to eat everything on the plate, just because it was there. We ate a delicious lunch at 1pm- I had mixed greens with balsamic and roasted pork belly. It was heaven. At 5pm, we attended a large family BBQ, and I ate some braised pork shoulder, cole slaw, salad, and got to taste some samples from the other cake place I was thinking about. The cake was so sweet, I literally had to eat each bite with a strawberry to tone it down. I much preferred the first cake place.

Sunday- woke up at 7am EST, said my usual "I'll get something in a minute" over and over, and distracted everyone by my serious need to go to the beach that day- it was goregous out. I packed up some leftover pot roast, veggies, and chicken wings to take to the beach, and once again slipped under the breakfast radar. The beach was fantastic. I only applied sunscreen to my face and decided that this would be my true test. I layed out in the sun in my tankini for 20-30 minutes on each side, and then put on my beach dress cover up (sleeveless, deep V-neck) and walked around the length of the beach for another 40 minutes or so. I felt myself getting some sun, and began to panic wildly internally. What was I thinking?! I kept looking at my skin, and it wasn't visibly red or even pink, but I was STRESSING big time. The majority of my worst ever sunburns had come from the very beach I was on! If later that evening I turned into a lobster like I was SURE would happen based on past experience, I'd be miserable for my flight home. Literally full blown internal panic. I tried to calm myself by thinking I'd only been in the sun for 2 hours max. The car ride home after the beach, I kept checking my chest, arms, etc. Still no pink. We went to a movie after the beach, and once the movie was over, I checked myself for color. My skin was flushed a little pink, and my bathing suit tie line around my neck was barely visible. Surely I was in for more? There was no heat coming off my skin, it was a litte red, but not painful or anything. Dinner was more leftovers, and I watched as everyone ate ice cream and hot fudge without the slightest inkling of wanting any. I then listened as everyone said "oh, this is it, the last bad thing I'm eating, and then tomorrow I'll be good." My mom said all the pants she brought were now too tight for her to button. Weird.

Monday- fly back to Seattle day- Woke up 8:30a EST, and my chest was just slightly pink. No pain, no burn, my hawkeyed sunburn nazi mom didn't even notice it, so it couldn't have been bad!!!! Also, I remembered I had eaten some sugar/grains in my cake testing the day before we went to the beach, so maybe that is why the slighest red showed up? Either way, its strange and baffling. Part of me wants to knock it off, and keep wearing sunscreen, but part of me wants to push the boundaries of this no sunscreen thing. I was unable to escape going out to breakfast at 10am with my mom and grandma before I left. I figured, it was still a 14 hour fast, so it was ok. I ate a 2 pieces of bacon, a few potatoes, and a few bites of egg. It was so greasy, I couldn't handle it. I was on the road at 11am back to the airport to return the rental car and catch my flight. I had a 2 hour layover in Newark, and got a burger and some yam fries (yes, I ate the bun, I'm still alive, and the Paleo gods have not struck me down). Six hours of sitting and 300 pages into the second book of the Shades of Grey series later, I was back in Seattle. The bf deluxe picked me up, and brought some snacks of carrot sticks a cheese slices. I had a few of those, allowed all the frustrations of the weekend to fall out of my mouth in a fashion the bf deluxe is VERY used to. When I got home, I had a package- it was a dress I ordered from Nordies as a potential wedding dress to bring with me to my appointment this weekend. Kinda weird that I had to order a dress from Nordstrom online to bring with me to Nordstrom store, but whatever. If I don't like it, I can return it on the spot. I liked it a whole bunch, bf liked it a whole bunch, but I want my friends opinions (hence the appt. at the store this weekend). I'll also try on some other dresses when I'm at the store in case there is an even better one. I showered, and then went to sleep.

Today, its back to the usual. Woke up at 6am, downed my usual BCAA's, water, and amino acid drink. Worked out at 12 noon, and had a post workout refuel meal of banana, low fat protein, and some carrot sticks. I feel great, I don't feel bloated from my weekend, my clothes all fit (even looser?), I'm awake, etc. One thing I did notice on both ends of the cross-country journey- I adjusted to both time zones without issue. I guess that's another bonus to chalk up to the paleo/IF way of eating? I'll test it out further when I travel to Turkey in September. Ha.

As far as my personal agenda, the weekend was a huge success. As far as wedding planning? Not so much. I have less done now than I did before the trip. How is that even possible you ask? Well, my mom and I reached an agreement that the venue we have been holding since November 2011 is not right. I always suspected this, but it took her seeing it in person to verify that. My feelings now are that I'm back to the drawing board. Except the date that we set (and honeymoon that is booked) are 3 months away. I don't have any time left. Some decisions need to be made, and made fast. A courthouse wedding and reception in my backyard is not looking so bad now.

At least I might have a dress now? This is my life.

Stayed tuned for tomorrow's post on divine anti-cupcake intervention, and why airports might just be the new DMV.