A college student taking in the world around her. Becoming the person I want to be and offering advice, my experiences, and random thoughts with those who are interested. ~Started December 3rd, 2018~
I opted for a cardio hit workout, and this one didn’t disappoint! I got my heart rate above 158 for 30 minutes straight. This workout was hard, but a good alternative to running.
It’s been about 6 months since I started the whole food plant based diet and I love it! I feel so much better physically. I’m not as bloated as I used to be, I don’t need to worry about how much I’m eating, and I still get to enjoy the foods I loved before starting this diet by using substitutes.
I’ve finally found my core 5 meals that are my go to when the week gets busy and I don’t have time to meal prep. I’ve read a few books about being on a plant based diet, and I’ve started keeping my own recipe book with all the meals I’ve tried and loved! I finally feel comfortable with this way of eating.
When I walk into the grocery store I know exactly what I need and where to find it. I know what substitutes to use, what foods to avoid, and how to plan my meals for the week without either making too much or too little of a certain dish. To put it simply, I feel confident about eating a whole food plant based diet!
With all this being said, I have also come up with a motto when it comes to eating this way. My motto is: eat a whole food plant based diet 90% of the time and enjoy my guilty food pleasures 10% of the time. These are the foods that are processed, not vegan, or even may contain dairy. The important thing is keeping everything in moderation.
I didn’t want this diet to be one of those “oh I can’t eat that, but I really want it” diets. I wanted it to be flexible and realistic. With this approach I was able to find what foods didn’t agree with my stomach: highly processed foods and diary. These are still things I try to avoid, but let’s be real I definitely use my 10% guilty food pleasures pass.
With the 10% pass it allows me to go out to dinner with my friends and order what I want, even though I often tend to opt for the healthier options that are vegan or plant based. It also allows me to eat with my family and not have them worry about what I can and can’t eat. Like I said, I didn’t want this diet to be a burden on me or those in my life and I’ve found that this 10% rule alleviates this.
Overall I am really happy with where I am at with not only this diet, but my overall health. I feel healthier, I look healthier, and I have motivation to workout and give my body the fuel it needs. This change in my diet was hard at first, but the longer I stick with it the easier it gets. I’ve actually started craving fruits and veggies over chips. I really like this change I am starting to see with myself. I am really glad I took on this challenge of healthier eating because some of the recipes I’ve been finding lately have not disappointed me!
October was a slow month when it came to working out. I had to take a week and a half off due to getting my wisdom teeth out. This threw me off my routine. I know this time was needed to heal, but it made getting back into a routine a bit more challenging and rest days easier to take.
I am still trying to get back into a routine and find workouts to accommodate the healing process of my mouth. I’ve noticed the pits in my mouth throb when I get my heart rate up. Due to this I haven’t been running, but easing into ab workouts and full body yoga flows. The last week of October the throbbing finally got better and I don’t really notice it anymore. This was a huge hinderance on my workouts, so now I’m hoping to do higher intensity workouts and run more throughout November!
I’ve been itching to run, but want to wait for my mouth to fully heal before pushing myself. I’m excited to see what November brings and aim to continue eating healthy, staying hydrated, and working out for at least 20 minutes a day 5 days a week.
I decided to switch it up and do a rep based workout vs timed tonight. I did 5 different ab exercises with 30 reps of each and repeated it 4 times. This was a good way to switch up my routine and really focus on getting through a specific number of reps versus holding out for the time to end.
Tonight was also the first night my mouth didn’t hurt when I worked out! I felt very accomplished and am excited to keep pushing myself to do harder and harder routines. My goal is to try and a get a run in this weekend – hopefully by then my mouth will be completely healed and I won’t need to worry about the weird pulsing that happens when I get my heart rate up.
I’m still pretty sore from getting my wisdom teeth removed Friday. I am going to use another rest day to heal and recover. I’m hoping to get back on a routine later this week!
Tonight I did a super easy, low strain abs workout. My mouth hurt a bit while I was working out, so I decided to take it slow and do some exercises that didn’t cause much pain. It was a little frustrating not being able to get a whole routine in, but I also need to listen to my body and take time to heal.
Feeling sore from my wisdom teeth removal today. Decided to take it easy and let my body heal.
Working from home makes the time fly! Getting stuck in the same routine of waking up, rolling out of bed, hopping online, and working until dinner each day in and day out makes you lose your sense of time. I can not believe it is already October. It seems like just yesterday we were enjoying our sunny summer weather. Which has now turned into Fall with leaves changing colors and the weather getting colder.
Last month I did a lot of at home workouts instead of running. I’ve really started falling in love with these types of workouts and foresee it as my main type of physical activity for the time being. they are easy to fit in, adaptable to how I’m feeling each day, and I still feel like I’m getting a good workout in.
With this being said, my goals for October are as follows:
Tonight Alex and I ran around the Ballard neighborhood. It felt amazing to get outside, get some fresh air, and workout. So glad he decided to run with me!
Alex and I headed up to Bellingham to spend the night and go out. It was a nice Fall day in Bham and felt great to get out of Ballard for a bit.
I was feeling a little stiff / sore from my run yesterday and decided to stretch it out with some yoga! It was a good break for both my body and my mind. Setting aside time to reflect and get in touch with how my body is feeling makes a huge difference.
I got my heart rate up and saved my knees at the same time! It was a solid workout and felt good to sweat it out after work.
My Not-So-Secret Diary 