So the Paleo thing never really showed me much improvement. I’ve switched to a more Atkins-style diet by severely restricting carb intake in an effort to drop weight more quickly before the holidays come up. If I can keep up the 20-30g/day until I leave for Germany and effectively lose ~20 lbs by then, I’ll switch to healthier eating once I return and hopefully balance my fitness/weight with good PT. Why does it have to be so hard?

Completely irrelevant to diet, but I hate doing long distance. I think I tolerated it much better in my last relationship because I had kinda checked out already. I guess now I know how he felt while I was away. Being away from the one you love is like hell on earth. The few minutes each day on the phone or Skype barely keep me sane. He worries that the pain of being apart will drive me away, but we both entered this relationship knowing we’d have to part ways soon and how much it would suck… and we stayed the course anyway. I could only be so lucky to find someone who loves me like he does.

As far as weight goes, my sister-in-law Lisa and I decided to keep each other accountable by weighing in each Saturday. Last Saturday being the first, I somehow managed to tip the scale at 170.0. I think I was just bloated because the very next day I was back at 166.8. Either way, we took down our base weights and began our mission. Lisa is trying to get down to the 130-range by January as well, so we are in the same boat. Yesterday I was down to 164.4, so I think I’m on track! Lisa lost three pounds too, but she’s training for a marathon so I would be surprised if she didn’t.

For exercise, my CO thinks I need to run with him everyday. I think I’m going to break that way. At over 160 lbs, I can’t run 4+ miles each morning without feeling it in my knees and hips. I’m not old, but I am heavy and my joints don’t like it. This upcoming week I will miss morning PT several days to do some blood work, but hopefully I’ll get a chance to sit down with him and explain that I need to work on it on my own (aka hit the gym in the AM rather than kill myself trying to keep up with him for miles and miles). I already have CrossFit 2x a week in the afternoons, and I’m dieting. Plus I’m an officer; I think I should be able to take control of it on my own.

I must say, this first week of work/diet has been hellacious. I can’t remember when I’ve been more depressed, but I’m determined to get out of this slump (both physically and mentally) in time for the holiday season in Deutschland. :]

The Paleo diet is essentially another type of low-carb diet, if one had to generalize. Good foods are meats, veggies, some fruit (melons and berries) and nuts, and fats (certain oils, eggs, etc.). Bad foods would then be dairy, grains, most fruit (apples, bananas, oranges, etc.) and sugars. It sounded like the Atkins diet only worse since I can’t have dairy, but I don’t have to count calories/carbs/anything and eat until I’m satisfied. I know it’s completely doable, and Amanda does a sort of twist where every 30 meals (roughly every 5 days if you eat 5-6x daily) she gets a cheat meal–she eats whatever she wants for that one planned meal. I’ve done Atkins/low-carb in the past, so I know it works and isn’t hard, and since I’ve ballooned to my current weight, I need something to help jumpstart the weight loss journey pronto.

I didn’t do so well on the 5-6 meals today, but I did do okay for the first day. I had a scramble this morning with onion, green bell pepper, tomato, ham, and a single slice of cheese (I had to!). I had about 1/2 cup of milk to drink with it (which I might have normally drunk 1-2 cups) and that was all. It was more like lunch since I didn’t crawl out of bed until around noon (I had to drive a friend to the airport earlier), so I didn’t eat anything else until dinner which was all Korean BBQ! The great thing about Korean food is that, besides rice, you can eat almost everything and abide by Paleo. Meat is often marinated with something sweet, so you have to be careful with that, but most of the side dishes are made from vegetables with garlic, sesame oil/seeds, red pepper, etc. It’s probably a large part of how I managed to lose 15 lbs in Korea two years ago (and having rice too!).

So, that is the new flavor of the month for now. I hope it’s something I can sustain until the end of the year, or at least until I visit mi novio in December. I don’t know if I can give up on such scrumptious carbs as found in dairy and desserts, but I will try my best for the rest of the year. I’ve got 30 pounds to lose after all.

• I signed for and moved into the condo. Yes!
• I also set the place up with electric, water, garbage/recycling, and internet is on its way. Good thing I got advanced DLA…
• I scheduled my HHG to be delivered next week and made an appointment for a brief to get my storage shipped as well.
• I finally got to cook real food at home!
• I tried out CrossFit this morning and got my ass handed to me in less than 10 minutes. We’re going again tomorrow morning. :]

Now I just have to keep PTing, get my car serviced (maybe with my next paycheck? ), and start in-processing next week. Hooah!

But things quickly picked up! I drove down to apply for that condo in DuPont and found out I’m the first in line. All they would do is run a credit report, so being close to 800 I have no worries. Tomorrow I’ll call to confirm everything is set, and drive back down to Olympia to sign the lease and start moving in. This means I can finally do all the moving in crap, buy groceries and cook good food, and focus on PT!

Speaking of PT, Natalie and I were able to visit Trident Athletics today and the co-owner Amanda was awesome. She was high-spirited, excited, cute, and had a great body–all the motivation we needed to give it a try. Friday we get to go back and do a little intro session to see how we like it. I imagine we will love it. And I love having a solid PT partner! I’ll keep the blog posted on how CrossFit goes for us… I plan on losing at least 20 lbs by the time I get to Germany during the holidays, and this might do it! This is maybe the first time (at least in a long time) I’ve been genuinely excited about exercising and working up a sweat. :]

All in all, it was a pretty sweet day. I love when that happens.

Some good news is I was able to go to the gym after my post a couple days ago with my cousin. I managed 30 mins on the treadmill, 15 on the bike, 15 on the elliptical, and another 10 on a rower. 75 minutes of cardio is a great start! As soon as I get settled into the place in DuPont, I might go try out Trident Athletics with a friend of mine. She’s thinking 3x a week, but that’s a big commitment! Can I do it 3x/week for three months? I definitely need to make sure I hit my goal of a 20-30 lb weight loss by the end of the year, and this might be my ticket there. It’s nice to have a friend who is motivated to stay in shape and helps keep me accountable.

Today is August 1. I have five months aka 22 weeks aka 153 days left until the end of the year. That means I have to lose at least 4 lbs/mo or ~1lb/wk. This is completely achievable! It looks like such a feat when I say I want to lose 20-30 lbs by the end of the year, but when you calculate it to just ONE pound a week? Who can’t do that??

The plan? Well, once I get my housing situation fixed and get settled in, I will resume PT. This means more walking, more running, more biking (I will buy a bike by the end of the week!), more everything. I’ve got P90X on my computer so I can do that at home, free gym on post (a “perk” of the Army, hehe), and plenty of buddies nearby ready and willing to work out with me. One pound a week? Piece of cake! Mmm… cake.

1. Successfully completed Basic Training, OCS (with a couple hiccups), Chemical BOLC, and, in less than two weeks, Tech Escort.
2. Ended a six-year relationship which probably should have ended years ago.
3. Fell in love with a man who is smart, creative, romantic, passionate, ambitious, and very, very sexy… and he loves me, too! :]

All in all, a very eventful time with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears… but also a ton of laughter, smiles, and good times. I made some of the best friends I’ll ever have. I could not have made it without several of them holding my hand (in at least one case literally!). I love you guys. You know who you are.

Moving forward, I’ll be heading back up to Washington for my first duty station at JBLM. Exactly what I wanted. Before I broke up with my ex and found someone new who will be on the other side of the world. In hindsight, I really should have requested somewhere on the east coast or overseas–or at least ask to change my orders. I have to live with it now, but never fear: I’ve already planned a trip to Europe for the holiday season! Woot.

View from the top of The Incline

Yesterday I managed to scale The Incline in Manitou Springs. If you haven’t heard of it, Google it. It is a BEAST! I can see why people come here repeatedly–the workout is intense and getting to the top is a satisfaction like no other.

As painful as it was yesterday, my legs and ass hurt more today and will probably feel worse tomorrow. This only concerns me because I’m shipping out tomorrow! Right now, I actually only have two hours left before I have to head over to the recruiting office to catch the shuttle up to Denver. I have just a few errands to run, things to buy, and then I’ll be set. Or as set as I can try to be. I haven’t prayed and meditated as much as I should have over the past week or month, or ever I guess, but I know God is with me and will guide me wherever I go. Wish me luck… or better yet, pray for me!

John 8:29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

Should I be? No… for He is with me, wherever I go, lighting my path. Despite knowing that He will take care of everything, I still have a sense of unease in my stomach. Maybe it’s just butterflies at the thought of facing the unknown. I don’t know what lies ahead; all I know is that I must persevere. These next six months will be the most challenging in my life; if I can just hold on, He tells me everything will be wonderful afterwards. If you can spare me Your grace, Lord, I will hold onto your Word.

1 Peter 5:10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.