Weigh In Wednesday - Jan. 8

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Hello everybody! Welcome to Weigh-In Wednesday!

Please go check out my sweet co-host!

Ash @ A Step in the Right Direction

If you're new to the link-up, please leave a comment & say hi!

Here's to a fresh start in 2014! I hope everyone had a relaxing Christmas season/New Year/any other holiday you celebrate but now it's time to get back on track! For the past few link ups, our numbers have been down so I'm hoping everyone was just busy with the holidays. If you love WIW, please share us with your friends. I'm going to fix the link up button finally so hopefully that will help as well!

As for me? I gained a few pounds over the holidays and now I'm back to where I started again and losing. What is my plan for the year?

Right now I'm pursuing a gluten-free & dairy-free clean eating lifestyle change (I hate the word "diet"). You may remember when I did the 10 Day Advocare Challenge back in the summer. I ended up losing about 8 pounds (and kept it off) and I felt great! As soon as I was done though, I had a whirlwind of events that included lots of alcohol, fried & otherwise unhealthy foods - the wedding, trip to Atlanta, baseball games, etc. Then I went off to school. 

So why do this if it appears to be unsustainable in my life? I have a lot of reasons. I know that the proteins in wheat products and dairy products often cause inflammation in our bodies - even if you don't have a full blown intolerance or severe allergy. I also know from experience that I feel better when I'm not consuming these products - I feel full of energy, lighter, more regular, etc. 

I've also read and researched a lot of anecdotal evidence that suggests giving up dairy may reduce or eliminate my acne and keratosis pilaris (those red bumps on your arms and legs...). This is REALLY important to me with the wedding coming up.

Pumpkin oatmeal Pancakes!

This is an experiment. I'm going to eliminate these products as much as possible for as long as possible and see how the results stack up. I'm pretty confident that I will never, ever completely give up dairy products. I think I will always allow myself to indulge in cheesy goodness once in a while. I will probably never totally 100% give up wheat products either - it sneaks its way into sooooo many products that you wouldn't even guess contain wheat. But I will do my best to limit their consumption.

So what do you eat instead? All the things I SHOULD be eating more of! TONS of veggies! I can get almost all my nutrients from a plant-based diet. I'll also throw in some lean meats, fish, eggs, and lots of beans and nuts. (I would be bad at Paleo - I love beans & legumes!). 

I'm cutting my alcohol intake WAYYYYY back. When I look back at Winter Break, I probably drank half of those days. I really don't need it slowing me down while I'm training - or ever. Again, I'm still going to enjoy a drink or two once in a while but I'm really limiting myself. I just don't need it. And those darn craft beers are loaded with calories!

My last bad "meal" - Yes that's a cup of garlic mayo

Long story short, it's all about clean eating! I'm trying not to focus on the things I "can't" have and instead on what I can have and what will make me function at my highest level. 

It's been rough at school so far - we've been piled under a foot of snow so I haven't been able to get my car out yet (I don't have a shovel at school). Therefore, I've been living on whatever I had in my apartment which is pretty much just soup, canned vegetables, a few frozen meals from trader joe's, and exactly ONE apple. I'm all out of fresh fruit (except a jar of prunes & applesauce) and I'm hopefully going to figure a way out of here so I can go grocery shopping!

I start half training officially next week. Until then, I'm just trying to get some type of activity in daily. Starting the day with some stretching/easy yoga and progress from there.  

Time to go study! It's my first day back to school. I'll do a Wedding update later :)

How cold is it where you are?

What's your goal for the week?