Giving Thanks and Stomach Aches

Happy (Late) Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day and/or holiday weekend surrounded by the people you love and plentiful food. I hope you all have plenty to be grateful for. I know I do. I was so excited for Thanksgiving and to see family and friends I haven't seen for too long. I started out the day running a 5K Turkey Trot with my best friend Jaclyn, who goes to college a couple hours away and is busy becoming a fantastic nurse, so I hadn't seen her for months. An old teammate of mine, Sarah, and her boyfriend Mitch also came to town and ran with us. It was chilling and my legs were killing me from lifting legs the day before, but I kept up with Jaclyn's jogging pace (she's a cross country runner) and finished in 26 minutes and some odd seconds. Then I hit the gym and worked upper body before the festivities began.

We went to my Mom and Dad's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I got to see my grandma and grandpa on my Dad's side, my brother and his girlfriend (they're having a baby!) and I got to meet her grandma and grandpa as well. It was a nice time. Pictures from my childhood were broken out, which is not a pretty sight, but I've learned to laugh at it now that I'm so sexy (kidding, ish). The women-folk talked about babies, since a new one's on its way, and further convinced me that I will not be ready for a mini-me for some time.

After my parents' we went to Joseph's Mom's house. His nephew was there, and he is so adorable I just want to squeeze him. Which I often do. We watched shows about tattoos. His family is awesome. We also got leftovers at both houses. Double awesome. Plus, his sister gave us an entire Oreo pie. It tasted awesome, but now I'm craving sweets again like a mofo and I must stop.

I ended the night with two bottles of wine. Shame on me. I have such a low tolerance for alcohol these days, those two bottles were too many. I never drink.

Thanksgiving also turned out to be a learning experience for me, because it was the first time I had eaten anything non-paleo in about a month. My body was not a fan of it. I had half a cappuccino mid-morning with Joseph and had to give him the rest because I felt like my stomach was tying itself in knots. I didn't feel too terrible after lunch, just sluggish and blah. By the time I went to bed I was a tad drunk so I felt pretty good. The next day not so much. It wasn't even a hangover, I was just crabby and bloated and felt like crap. I still kind of do. It's been hard to get back on track the past two days. We're short on groceries and I've been short on time. I'm planning on going back to 100% paleo tomorrow though. I'll either get creative with what I have or I'll go a little hungry. Whatevs.

How did your Thanksgiving go? Are you suffering from holiday food hangover?

How I Plan to Keep Losing This Winter: Part 1

I told you in my last post about my progress over the last month and a little about what I've been doing to get there. I've been feeling great and extremely motivated, but the hard part is coming. THE HOLIDAYS. Not to mention my 21st birthday shortly after. Winter has always been my diet downfall. During summer it's warm and lovely and I am the queen of sweat and fresh foods. Winter comes and all I want to do is stuff my face and go into hibernation. Not the case this winter, no sir! I am on a mission and I have a plan to not just maintain my weight loss thus far, but to continue to lose so I can meet my goal weight by February! You want in on the plan, eh? I thought you might....

MY DEVIOUS PLAN TO KICK WINTER WEIGHT GAIN'S A$$:

1. Stick to my freaking workout schedule. This is a pretty obvious one, but with all the festivities around the holidays, it's easy to start skipping a workout here and there, and eventually stopping going all together because you think you're too busy. DON'T DO THIS. Make working out mandatory, do it and get it done before your important plans and feel good about what a badass you are.

2. Gain control of my sugar cravings BEFORE the season gets into full swing. I've already done this part. I finished my 21 Day Sugar Detox two days ago. No sugar of any kind, real or artificial. I lost six pounds and feel more in control of my cravings. That's NOT to say I don't crave sugar any more, but my cravings are so much more manageable.

3. Don't say yes to EVERY treat I'm offered. Just because it's the holiday season doesn't mean you should have a treat every time they're around. A random Tuesday at work is not a good reason to engorge yourself on gingerbread men.

4. Make healthy dishes to bring to parties. I love pumpkin pie. I do NOT want to skip pumpkin pie. So I offered to bring dessert to my family Thanksgiving dinner. Little do they know it will be a paleo pie, grain-free, dairy-free, the works, and according the recipe it is just as good as the real thing. I will be doing the same thing for Christmas get togethers.

5. Indulge in the things I really LOVE, but don't forget MODERATION. There are some damn fine cooks in my family. If you think I'm totally going to skip out on all the delicious treats they'll be packing, you're high. The key is BALANCE.

6. PLAN PLAN PLAN. I've got an intense workout and maybe a 5k planned for Thanksgiving morning. I'll be killing workouts all week and keeping my diet pretty tight so I can indulge a little bit guilt free on Thursday. Same thing will go for Christmas parties and my birthday. Most days I will keep on my normal, healthy diet, because too many treats and days of slacking WILL add up.

My next fight is scheduled for February 23rd, and I'll be fighting at 135 pounds, so I've got approximately 15 pounds to go. It will be essential that I control myself this winter. You could join me and get a head start on getting ready for bikini season! Just a thought... ;)

Do you have any other tips to prevent holiday weight gain? I'd love to hear your thoughts!