tasty treats of primal eating

following the primal way of eating for the occf 30 day nutrition challenge provided me with the opportunity to eat some really delicious food combinations (and some not so tasty ones). here are some photos of just a few of the yummy foods i consumed during that time, as well as today!

(From 30DNC: Broccoli Quiche, Zucchini Carbonara and Roasted Grape & Onion Pork Chops. From Sunday 3.25: Breakfast Burrito (Filling & Rolled Up), Jambalaya)

and the winner is...

ME!

i won the nutrition challenge. :D when i thought about doing the challenge, i wasn't going to be a paid participant, i was just gonna follow the diet and see what happened. paige talked me into being a full participant and now, i'm certainly glad i did! i never thought i would win though...i just wanted to change the way i ate and see how it would affect my workouts and how i felt. it changed everything for me and it has certainly changed the way i look at food and at life in general.

i have already, but i sincerely thank everyone (coaches, fellow athletes, my family, friends, etc.) for their love and support. i couldn't have done it (nor have stuck with it) without them. i'm gonna do it again in 30-day increments until it becomes second nature for me. :) i'm looking to see what the next 30 days will hold and what the results may be.

oh, btw, i won the pot. 440$. i sure could use that right now. :)

13.2 lbs...boom!

the 30 day nutrition challenge is complete! i made it 30 days without a sunkist, potato chips, bojangles, etc. it actually wasn't that hard because most of what i was making and eating was actually really delicious! i promised to post pictures and i will...in the near future. for the remainder of the week, i am vegging. i had bojangles for dinner last night, i am drinking sunkist (although i'm not over-indulging)...i actually even almost forgot about my girl scout cookies.

as for my results: in the scope of body composition, i moved up in bmi brackets from moderate to good. awesome! with regard to weight loss, i lost 13.2 lbs. amazing! of that 13.2 lbs, 7.6 was fat mass and 5.6 was fat-free mass (which is not great, but is contributed to variables like calorie intake, dehydration at time of testing, etc.). in terms of measurements, i lost inches everywhere (chest, waist, hips, thigh, biceps), with the greatest change being at my hips with a difference of 1.75". in the photos, there wasn't a huge difference (at least to me) from the front, but definitely from the side.

in more tangible results...after swapping my winter wardrobe for spring/summer duds, i found 3 pairs of jeans that i've held onto. the first pair i pulled out was a size 2 long from gap. my reaction, "when was i ever a size 2?!" just for kicks, i tried them on - zipped and buttoned. my response, "TODAY!". WHAT?! a size 2? holy moly! today, i tried on pants at ATL after my shift. my next purchase will be black pique crop pants with zipper detail..in a size 4. the size 6 was just too big. weird!

so, i'm taking a few days off my "diet" (also to include celebrating my irishness on saturday) before i get back into it next week. i'm gonna do another 30 day challenge, go get another body composition test/have paige measure me and compare my results. i am SUPER close to my goal weight...about 3-10 pounds left.

the moral of this challenge: what you consume makes a HUGE difference in how you feel, how your body reacts, how you look. couple diet with working out (i prefer crossfit) and changes happen, baby!

whirlwind

whew! what a whirlwind! after closing the door on my internship with apex, a window opened. a part-time gig at a little ol' place called ann taylor loft. :) yep, that's right...i'm working and getting paid (albeit about half of what i was receiving in unemployment assistance)! it's super fun and a nice change of pace. everyone's super nice and it's great not having to be in the car for 40-45 min. one way. my commute is about that..round trip. awesome! :) i'm loving it so far...it's been 3 days. ;)

oh, and i have another interview opportunity for a planning position. this time, i'll be traveling to se virginia (3 hour drive) next monday, 3.19. :) wish me luck!

with regret...

March 1 2012. The day I was able to find the right words to express what is abundantly clear. The unpaid planning internship with the TOA is no longer the right place for me. This is a decision I wanted and had to make. I did not want this decision to be made for me. It is a great opportunity so it is with deep regret that I must walk away...

For the past two years, I have felt like I have been in a constant state of limbo. April 1 2010, I moved home, prepared for it to only last maybe 6 months. It's been nearly 2 years. That's a huge pill to swallow in and of itself. March 2011, I began what I had hoped would be a short-term internship with the TOA Planning Department. After 6 months, things changed. I became more distant, unwilling and uninterested in the work that I was tasked with undertaking. The blue spells became more frequent and seemed neverending. Being unemployed at 28 is not something I had planned on, never expected. I have been on dozens upon dozens of interviews all over North Carolina and beyond with barely a nibble. Not knowing what the future holds is extraordinarily frustrating and a feeling I have mostly been internalizing (not healthy).

I sat down with my parents earlier this week to have pretty much the same conversation (and tears) we've had off-and-on over the past two years. It's a harsh reality knowing that not only does no one seem to want me (Why not? I'm awesome!) and I'm disappointed with myself, but I feel like my parents are disappointed in me as well. It's not like I haven't been trying HARD for two YEARS to find a new job!

The search has been an on-going process, but it's official that I am no longer focused on finding a planning position. It's definitely still my first choice, but I need something that's going to, if nothing else, pay my bills when my unemployment benefits cease to exist (which is soon).

So, please, if you know of any leads either in/around Raleigh, or elsewhere, please send them my way. I would surely appreciate any and all that may come through. More importantly, prayers and kind thoughts are always appreciated. Pray for my emotional health, that the blue spells would become less frequent and lengthy. Pray for people I encounter, that they will be able to see just how awesome I am and that they will want me as a member of their company/organization/etc. Pray for my family, as we continue to work through this tough time. Pray for me, that I will continue to seek God's guidance above all and do all that I can to pull through and FINALLY get a job.