Megan's Fitness Journal

megbeveridge93

Hi everyone! My name is Megan and I've been on MFP on and off for many years. I have a pup named Ollivander who is very lazy and snuggly, and recently my SO moved in with their dog, Kona. Kona is an absolute nutter butter and keeps us on our toes! I live and work in Baltimore, Maryland. City life can make exercise and losing weight more difficult or easier depending on where you live within it. For me, I find it more difficult. However, I recently went back to rock climbing and I'm seeing a lot of improvement!

My health journey restarted about a year and a half ago when my depression and myriad other mental health problems had been hitting me full force for about three years and I had gained 30 pounds. I realized I needed to make a change and I started trying to cut back on snacking and sweets. Of course with nothing to keep me accountable, I didn't do so well. So at the beginning of last year I did three months of Noom and then felt comfortable going it on my own with MFP again. It went well for the first several weeks until I got really lax with my logging. From January to April of last year, I lost about 15 pounds and then started fluctuating in weight for the rest of the year.

January 2019 starts my Whole30 plan. I've never done a restrictive diet before because I love food! I decided since I couldn't get past those last 12-15 pounds, I needed to do a thorough reset of my eating habits. January 1st I cut out grains, dairy, legumes, and sweeteners altogether. Today starts my second week and you know what, it's not so bad. Climbing is getting easier, I have very little bloating, and I'm getting a lot of protein!

My 2019 fitness goals are:

• complete Whole30 and integrate it into my lifestyle
• top-rope climb a 5.11d
• boulder a V4 problem
• ditch my sugar habit
• lose that last 15 pounds

For the beginning of the year, Whole30 is going to play a big role in achieving my goals. By incorporating it into my everyday diet and continuing to exercise through climbing, biking, and walking, I hope I'll be able to improve my climbing skill, endurance, and strength. Ditching the sugar habit is going to take serious willpower (I'm still over my sugar goal on Whole30 because of all the fruit I eat!).

TLDR: I need to lose the last 15 pounds, I'm doing Whole30, I climb, and I have a terrible sugar habit.

Come on the journey with me?

WifiresGettingFit

Hi Megan! Welcome to the motivation journals group!

I'm really interested in rock climbing, would you mind telling me how you started with it and any advice/tips that you'd like to share or wish you would have known when you were starting out?

I looked into Whole30 but decided against it mostly because I don't do well with being overly strict. Of course I haven't been doing well with not being strict either. haha

I love the goals you've set and I look forward to hearing more about your journey.

I'll definitely be following along and I look forward to your next post!

megbeveridge93

It's day 9 of Whole30 and for the first time I made it from breakfast to lunch with no snacking! Small victory, but definitely important. That also means I didn't load up with fruit between meals so I'm kicking that sugar habit pretty well. Right now I just can't wait to get home and eat dinner!

Hopefully I'll have time to go boulder tonight, but really it depends on meal prepping for tomorrow. Each night I make my lunch for the next day and get the ingredients together for my breakfast. I had to start waking up a little earlier to actually cook breakfast, but I think it gives my day a good start! Never in my life have I cooked so much. Especially for breakfast. I'm a fast breakfast person on weekdays. It's been really nice to slow down and spend time with my food, as weird as that might sound.

Something I didn't mention in my intro post is that I've been vegetarian for the past 4-5 years. With Whole30, that had to change. The rules are quite clear and the book breaks down exactly why you can't be vegetarian or vegan on the diet: you simply cannot get enough protein when you cut out soy, grains, beans, and dairy. Now I'm eating fish and chicken, but don't intend to eat red meat. It was a terrible transition, but my body is getting used to it. Today I'm going to go home and have some chicken, veggies, and a potato. Maybe some herbal tea with lemon. Definitely a whole bottle of water at the very least.

Kayla - Thank you for the welcome! I started with going to a climbing gym with two friends who had recently joined. I loved it immediately and signed up for an intro class - that class was totally worth it. When you're just starting out, definitely don't push yourself too hard. If you're not used to using your whole body all at once to fight gravity 20 feet up on a wall, you don't want to go 110% because you are likely to injure yourself. But most of all it should be fun! The climbing community is super welcoming and friendly. They'll help you as much as they can and if they can't they'll refer you to someone else. It's definitely a fantastic workout and a good way to make friends!

WifiresGettingFit

You're welcome! I'm glad you decided to join the group!

Thank you for the insight and tips, I appreciate it!

knorris84

Wow Megan that's awesome that you get in so much exercise and it sounds fun even. I was very active before I got pregnant and then had to stop during pregnancy because something just didn't feel right. Glad I did or he may have been even earlier 😲. I got back at it after he was born and think I over did it for a while and now I just have a hard time fitting it into the day. I stay on the move at least tho. I rarely sit down until after Tucker goes to bed, except to eat meals of course. Maybe one day I can fit a routine of some sort in.

jcaldwell0331

Rock climbing sounds like so much fun except for the fact that I’m terrified of heights! I’m a self professed weenie so I talk myself out of a lot of stuff. Well, that coupled with me being an introvert. Good luck losing the extra weight and kicking that sugar habit!! I know I need to work on kicking it as well.

megbeveridge93

Happy Friday Junior! I've done really well today with limiting sugar. I had a banana in the morning and strawberries in my salad. I had a construction meeting and field observation today so I did a bit more walking than my normal office days. I'm probably already around 60oz of water and I'll probably fill my bottle one more time. Last night I was drinking it too late and had to get up three times overnight!

Yesterday I didn't get to boulder, but I had a good dinner and was able to meal prep all my meals for today and then clean up the kitchen. I seem to be more productive after sunset and before 11am. If I could be that efficient all the time, my house would be spotless! Both yesterday and today I've managed not to snack between meals. I'm actually really proud of myself for that because I'm usually a "grazer" and snack instead of eating full meals. Turns out it wasn't so hard when I ate bigger meals! Keeping that up will definitely help me reduce sugar.

Hopefully I can get everything done I need to do tonight so I can go to bed early. Tomorrow I'll be going to top rope (climb with ropes and a harness) at a climbing gym after work, so I'll need to be well rested

knorris84

Great job today! I used to be a grazer too until keto. My problem was the things I'd graze on we're not the best choices. Keto has helped so much in that area. I may snack once a day but I usually have so many hours in the day that we eat an early lunch so by supper I'm starving and over eat if I do nibble in between. Have fun tomorrow! That sounds like a blast!

megbeveridge93

Happy Monday!

So I had a busy Friday and I stay off the computer on weekends, but I'm back! Friday I did well with no snacking, but I was ravenous when I got home after work! We ended up going to Red Robin where I got the California grilled chicken sandwich without the bun or any condiments. Basically it was grilled chicken, tomatoes, and avocado and a fruit cup on the side. It was so nice to not have to cook!

Saturday I definitely snacked more. Bae is a bad influence and picks up food whenever they darn well please! I finally got some Whole30 compliant bacon and we had some of that with breakfast. It's definitely been hard having eggs for breakfast almost every day! I got some chicken apple sausages from Whole Foods that I might try. I didn't really have a definitive lunch either day. Sunday I had to eat an "emergency" Rx bar because we walked a couple miles downtown in the snow and couldn't find anywhere to eat that would be compliant. Dinners have been easy, fish one night and chicken the next, both with lots of veggies.

This morning I had two eggs, breakfast potatoes, and some more of that bacon (yummm) for my breakfast! I took my dog on a short walk before work, but we went very slow because it was icy. We're hoping to go climbing tonight to shake off that weekend drag!

knorris84

It sounds like you are getting the hang of whole30. You are doing really great! I couldn't go without my dairy. I did for a while when I went vegan but I missed the heck out of it. I hope you get to go climbing today and have fun!

megbeveridge93

Last night I didn't get to go climbing the best laid plans of mice and men and all that...

Instead we had some fantastic white chicken chili made with coconut milk and had a kind of "date" evening. It was actually really nice. We were both pretty worn out by the Monday struggle so deciding to go tonight was better.

I'm working on tracking down my water bottle which I misplaced Friday. I think it could be at a work site I visited in the morning. I really depend on that thing to drink enough water! I've been trying to substitute with various glasses at home and at work, but it's not the same as having 20oz of water on me at all times.

@knorris84 I definitely miss dairy! I honestly just want yogurt. I don't need ice cream, but let me have my Noosa!

knorris84

Megan I'm sorry to hear you didn't make it climbing but that chili sounds yummy! I may be right there with ya soon on the no dairy. Looks like it may be triggering headaches ☹️.

tcunbeliever

I have a 24 oz cup at work and I totally relate...I wouldn't know how to get my water in without it on my desk all day long.

megbeveridge93

@knorris84 I actually dreamed about cheese last night. No joke.

@tcunbeliever I only started using it in late December and I'm already dependent! Good news, though. The people at the site found it and I'll have it back soon

Last night I finally went climbing again! I went to the older gym around here where the climbs are a lot harder (and sometimes higher) than my usual. My "warm up" ended up being my hardest climb! It was also really crowded so I didn't get to stay long. It was partly exhaustion and partly having to wait to use a wall. It's probably a good thing though since I'm bouldering tonight!

After climbing yesterday I felt really light headed and sort of nauseous. It took me a while to realize that I hadn't had any fruit at all so my blood sugar was really low after strenuous exercise. An Rx bar perked me back up and today I made sure to have a couple servings of fruit so it doesn't happen again. My meals have been kind of weird and spread out today. They're full prepared meals, but I keep trailing off with eating them and then slowly finishing them off. It's definitely not how the program intends you to eat, and it might be a slide back into my grazing habit. I need to put more focus on my food if I'm going to eat correctly.

Today I've had about 2 1/2 servings of fruit, 2-3 servings of veggies, two servings of protein, and one serving of fat. I'll need to load up on veggies and protein at dinner! That's all for now, I'll check back in tomorrow!

knorris84

I know how those dreams are. When I first went keto I had all kinds of crazy food dreams 😂.

knorris84

Btw I think you are doing really great eating like this! I would have given up a long time ago! Great job girl 👏!

megbeveridge93

Whoops, I've been gone a bit too long! Last week on Thursday I started feeling really sick after eating dinner. I had stomach cramps and pains all night and through Friday. They got a little better Saturday and much better on Sunday and Monday. During this time I was unable to eat meat or eggs without instant nausea and more pains. Finally last night I was able to eat chicken zoodle soup! I definitely thought about quitting Whole30 on Friday because I was in so much pain and didn't understand why it was happening.

Today I'm glad I pulled through because I feel good in my skin and I'm downing a huge bowl of that chicken zoodle! Tonight I'm going to climb again and hopefully I'll have enough sugar and protein to stave off any dizziness or nausea. Tomorrow I have some digestive enzyme supplements coming in which should help me with digesting meats.

Tomorrow is the last day of week 3! It's all downhill from there, I think? I seem to be weaker against the temptation of non-compliant foods lately. Idk if it's the Valentine's day chocolates popping up everywhere or that everyone else seems to have forgotten their New Year's resolutions already, but I feel like I'm seeing more and more junk food!

knorris84

I'm seeing it everywhere too! It doesn't help my situation at all either 😉. My last binge fest where I just totally blew keto was after Halloween. I fought it all through actual Halloween but a couple days later it was on. I'd just gotten off IV steroids so it was a bad situation on wanting to eat all the food! I'm afraid I've about done to myself again these last few days. Tomorrow is back on track tho! Great job sticking to your guns! I know whole30 has to be tough so bravo, bravo 👏👏👏

megbeveridge93

Another Wednesday with office breakfast taunting me every time I fill up my water. Ugh! I just want a teeny tiny piece of donut! I think this is the hardest Wednesday of my Whole30. The first one I was full of resolve and excitement and the second one I'd had a huge breakfast and brought a large lunch so I was full. Today I had a larabar and meat stick as I ran around getting ready for work. Not super filling.

Climbing didn't happen yesterday for two reasons: 1) bae was late home from work; 2) there's a pipe broken outside my house and it's flooding my basement. I'm ready to catch a break already! Something's gotta give, right?

Today I have to work from home in the evening because I'm behind from being sick Friday. Ugh. Maybe I'll do a little floor workout.

Yesterday's dinner was turkey tenderloin with veggies and fingerling potatoes. I did a darn good job for never having cooked any meat until two weeks ago. Lunch today was the last of my chicken soup (so gooood) and some extra veggies with nuts as a fat. Dinner will be an adventure today trying to figure out what I have around and making it resemble a meal.

@knorris84 I can only imagine how hard it would've been to keep off sugar when you got off the steroids! Just one more week and I can have a small treat. Maybe you could do something like that too. On the last day of the month if you've done well you can have more of a treat than usual.

knorris84

I love that idea! My only problem is that sometimes those treats leads to more and more. I have no stopping sense what so ever! I I hope things get better for you today! Hugs coming your way!

megbeveridge93

The leak is finally done. My basement is almost dry. This week I'm working with a better team. Tomorrow is my last day of Whole30!

Things are looking up! I've stayed compliant to W30 through my flooded basement's reign of terror (somehow) so I just have to make it through the next day and a half! In the past week I've added a little red meat into my meal rotation and found out, to my little vegetarian heart's dismay, that I love steak. It's so good, why is it so good??

I still haven't been able to climb yet and I was hoping to go tonight, but the polar vortex strikes again! I probably need a night to just chill out anyway. I've been eating well so lack of exercise hasn't sabotaged my weight loss, but I really want to start gaining muscle. Maybe tomorrow night I'll be able to climb and get a post-climbing workout in to make up for lost time.

This morning I fudged the guidelines a bit and decided to make those pancakes that only require eggs and a banana. The ingredients are compliant and I can't find any other way to get myself to eat eggs so I decided to just go for it. They were certainly a breath of fresh air! I was full until 11:30 so it was definitely a good choice. Tonight will probably be chicken breast and some veggies. For some reason I just got a flash-back to one of my apartment mates in college who would only eat chicken breast, rice, and mayo because he was building muscle. Gross!

tcunbeliever

You made it all the way through Whole30 - good work!!!

megbeveridge93

tcunbeliever wrote: »

You made it all the way through Whole30 - good work!!!

Thank you! I'm so excited to reintroduce cheese on Thursday lol.

megbeveridge93

DAY 30 WOOHOOOOOO!

At midnight tonight I will have officially made it through Whole30. It seems like it's flown by! It's getting hard to find clothes for work that aren't too loose. I'm afraid to buy anything new because I don't know how much I'm going to put back on with reintroduction.

Closing this chapter makes today feel like a Friday. I've been so unfocused at work as if I'm waiting for the weekend to start, but that's two days away! I suppose eating some good ol' cheddar cheese tomorrow will feel like a vacation from the lifestyle I've had for the past 30 days.

Today I've eaten well. I had two mini cucumbers, a banana, and home fries for breakfast. Lunch was chicken breast, steamed veggies, and pistachios. I had a small snack of mango pieces in between. Bae is at home getting dinner ready right now, which will consist of salmon and some kind of vegetable. I'm hoping for some roasted brussels sprouts! We have set in stone our plan to climb tonight. It's been over a week due to the basement fiasco so I'm really ready to get back on the wall. Hopefully I didn't lose any strength! I'll be back tomorrow to document my first post-Whole30 reintroduction!

knorris84

Great job on completing whole30!!! I've heard how hard it is. That is some kind of accomplishment!!! I hope you get to climb today and glad the basement is all fixed up! So what's the next step? I saw reintroduce cheese right? Wow, I'd be so excited too! I LOVE cheese! 😍

megbeveridge93

Good morning everyone! Today's the day! The sun is shining, the tank is clean and we are getting out of- the tank is clean. THE TANK IS CLEAN?!



If you haven't seen Finding Nemo, I'm very sorry for you.

I'm in an unbelievably good mood today and every time I'm having a particularly good day that snippet pops into my head! It could be because I've lost 8 pounds or that I'm finished Whole30. It could be because I am feeling healthy and I lost 2 inches around my waist. It could be anything! What matters is that today I feel good and I'm spreading the joy.

Down to the good stuff: Dinner last night was indeed salmon accompanied by sweet potatoes and sauteed green beans. I rediscovered that I hate salmon. So I had one bite and struggled to get it down. I had a "dessert" of sweet potato and apple pieces cooked with coconut oil, cinnamon, and cloves. It is my favorite thing I started making during Whole30. I don't have to have cake or ice cream to have a treat, this stuff checks all my dessert boxes and can be eaten with any other meal! Breakfast today was rushed. I had some sugar-free bacon, applesauce, and a banana. I kind of felt like a kid! Lunch was a chicken burger and steamed veggies. I also indulged and got a latte (and said heck with the low-lactose, I'm getting real skim milk), so I'm trying to see how the sugar and caffeine both affect me. Currently, I'm sweating even though it is RIDICULOUSLY COLD outside.

Yesterday I once again had to postpone climbing. My main man was emotionally worn out from the day (therapy, and it's his last week at the job he's had and grown with for years) so we decided we'll go today, no excuses, no exceptions. I hope he'll get a picture of me on the wall so I can compare it to an older photo that's pre-Whole30. I'm really excited to see the difference visually.

knorris84

Great job! That's quite some fantastic results! I'm so proud of you! I hope you get to go climbing today! I LOVE finding Nemo! I'm still a kid at heart. I still love all my old movies and made my son watch cars the other day just so I could watch it 😉.

WifiresGettingFit

Awesome job!!

I also love finding nemo!!

Fish are friends, not food! haha

megbeveridge93

Whoops. I meant to write a log yesterday, but I guess I forgot!

I finally got to go climbing, which felt great even though my hands have gotten a bit soft in the meantime. I'll be going again either today or tomorrow and I can't wait. I also walked about two miles on Monday because it was so beautiful out! Yesterday I had a short walk at lunch and I'm hoping the rain holds off long enough for me to do the same today.

Food reintro has been interesting. Lactose is most definitely a no-go! I felt absolutely awful after having it on Thursday and I do not want to repeat that experience. When I woke up in the middle of the night it was like someone had filled a balloon inside my stomach. Yikes. Sugar has shown itself to be my true enemy. I've been breaking out, I've had energy crashes, and I cannot stop thinking about more sugar. There are donuts in my office break room right now and I've thought about them at least once every five minutes since arriving. That is ridiculous. Grain doesn't seem to have an effect besides making me feel very full. I think it could be a good thing every once in a while because it helps me to stop eating. As long as I'm eating whole grains it might be worth permanently adding them back into my diet.

For today, the only non-Whole30 thing I'll be having is a slice of gluten and wheat free bread with my tuna salad

megbeveridge93

NSV: I am wearing my favorite dress and it is loose! Woohoo!

Dinner last night was chicken soup with rice noodles, but I really didn't even need the noodles. I got way too full too fast. Next time I'll be doing zoodles or just soup. Breakfast today was some turkey breast lunch meat, mango pieces, and a half-caf coffee with nutpods creamer. I was definitely tempted to have some cheese with that turkey, but I held off so I didn't have to start the day bloated.

Lunch is chicken breast, sweet potatoes, an apple, and some nuts. I've managed to keep away from the donuts in the kitchen both yesterday and today (it's just the rejects now) so I'm pretty proud of myself.

As I'm sure I've said before, a non-strict diet doesn't work for me. I will find excuses to eat what I want when I want if it's just me saying "I shouldn't" instead of "I will not." SMART goals are a thing for a reason and Whole30 meets all the requirements. Being in the post-Whole30 stage I'm really scared of backsliding all the way into my old habits. I think I'll need to make a new goal each week from here on out. A Thursday is as good as any day to start!

Specific: I will stay under my sugar goal every day.

Measurable: My sugar goal is 45g.

Achievable: It can be achieved by keeping added sugars to a minimum and recording how many grams of sugar each item has.

Relevant: Being aware of the amount of sugar in my foods will help me to have a healthier lifestyle.

Time Constrained: I will do this for the next seven days.

megbeveridge93

Scale: down .8 lbs this week
NSV: ate lunch until satiety, not until I was full
SMART: under by 4g of sugar yesterday

Instead of eating and then recording, I chose what I ate yesterday and this morning based on the amount of total sugar and added sugar. Unfortunately a lot of what I ate had way too many unnatural ingredients, which is not in the spirit of Whole30. I'm still trying to stay as close to that as I can without feeling unnecessary restriction. Today I started out with processed food, but I aim to keep my foods simple for the rest of the day.

Dinner last night was naked chicken burgers (no bun) with honey mustard and sauteed vegetables. For breakfast I had more of the turkey I had yesterday wrapped in a corn tortilla. Lunch was my chicken breast and sweet potatoes that I didn't feel like eating yesterday, buy I only got through about 3/4 of it before feeling satisfied. I haven't been hungry again yet so it was definitely enough

Tonight is climbing as long as bae is up for it. I need to build up those subdermal calluses again. I think I'll make that steak I have in the fridge to fuel up!