AshleyEllefsen.com

It has always interested me to observe how we weave patterns into our lives.  I love those movies that analyze seemingly small incidents which later turn out to be the premise of someones entire existence.  I often try to do this with my own life.  Now, I wouldn’t classify myself as a “deep thinker”…..most of the time my motto is, “it is what it is” and usually in life when the first sense makes sense, there’s no need to delve deeper.

I appreciate how when you improve one area of your life it often seeps into other areas as well.  A simple example of this is when you begin to get the right amount of sleep for your body on a regular basis.  You wake up in a better mood….therefore, your entire day is shaped differently.  My bodies premium sleep number is 8 hours.  If I get less I find myself anxious and irritated throughout the day.  If I get more, I am groggy during the mid-afternoon.

I find that these simple life patterns are of extreme importance.  They shape our attitude, our relationships, and not to be overly-dramatic but they really do shape who we are and how we function.

If I was a gambler I would put money on my belief that if you are unhappy with an area of your life you can, if you WANT, identify a cause (which is a behavior) that would help you improve this area.  Feeling lethargic?  Add 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise to your daily routine.  Feeling depressed?  Listen to 20 minutes of positive thinking tapes daily.  Relationship with your spouse not quite what it used to be?  Make an effort to change the way YOU treat that person and watch how they respond.

Of course, my suggestions are incomplete.  Every action does not cause the same reaction for everyone.   Thank goodness, there are hundreds of actions which you can tweak to find which one or which combination works best for you.  (I suggest using the process of elimination to find the best solution for your situation).

I tell you all of this to get to my final point……This last week (week 2) of living the paleo lifestyle, I noticed a 4.5 lb. weight loss.  Now, I know it doesn’t sound like much….and it’s not.  But, I have to consider it this way.  In the last week, my clothes fit better and my arms, legs and stomach have more muscle definition.  So, I’m chopping up my minimal weight loss to muscle increase!!  Which is awesome!

My pattern:  I workout, eat right and supplement consistently……I feel better about myself physically, therefore I have an improved attitude regarding my physical appearance and I’m more motivated than ever to keep working hard!

As I mentioned in, “It’s a Primal Thing” a couple of weeks ago…..I’m not changing anything except my “diet” while experimenting with this lifestyle.  My exercise routine remains the same.  My body tends to plateau after 2-3 weeks of the same routine, but below is the workout I have been using since beginning paleo.

• • 30-45 minutes of cardio at least four times a week (treadmill, elliptical or stair climber)
  • 45 minutes of weight training at least 4 times a week
  • I tend to “super set” each of my exercises in groups of two or three.
  • I always do four sets of each exercise: 15-12-10-8, increasing the weight as I decrease the reps

• • • Legs
      • Traditional squat
      • Standing calf raise
      • Leg extensions (machine)
      • Leg curls (machine)
      • Bench step up’s with free weights
      • Wide squat, toes out sumo with barbell

• • • Chest/Triceps
      • Incline chest press with dumbells
      • Assisted dip machine
      • Chest fly machine
      • Overhead cable extension
      • Traditional bench press
      • Tricep extension

• • • Back/Biceps
      • T-bar row
      • Hammer curls
      • Pull down back machine
      • “21’s”
      • Upright row
      • Concentration curls (on preacher curl bench)

• • • Shoulders
      • Arnold shoulder press
      • Dumbell lateral raise
      • Pushups
      • Rear deltoid cable pull
      
      

I would consider week 1 on this diet…..errrr, I mean, “lifestyle” a HUGE success!

For anyone who knows me, you know that I love to eat.  I love to eat fancy, succulent meals just as much as I love to snack on junk food or indulge in a bowl of ice cream!  I was born in Georgia and my mom is a Southerner, so I was taught that when you’re entertaining guests….you eat, when you’re celebrating….you eat, when you’re grieving….you eat, when you’re stressed….you eat.  (Not to mention….when you’re hungry….you eat)!  Get the picture?

So, my week 1 major breakthrough came on day 4 when I completely stopped having hunger cravings!  I will forever celebrate, (with a big medium-rare steak) this day.  It will be marked on my annual calendar as the day that my mind overruled my stomach.

I know all of this probably sounds silly to those of you out there who can exercise a great deal of control when it comes to eating.  But, for someone who has never cut out bread, pasta, potatoes and rice from her diet….I’m feeling pretty strong, like I can accomplish anything I set my mind to!

I’ll confess though that the first three days were not easy.  I felt like I was always missing a huge part of my meals.  I would look longingly at the empty space on my plate where my large portion of carbs used to go…..and again, my belly would rumble it’s disapproval.  I was hungry between meals for the first few days and would open the pantry to a sea of “unapproved” foods, taunting me.  But, I stayed strong and  ave lived to tell the tale!

On a more serious note, the first thing I noticed was that when I was at the grocery store I was only shopping along the perimeter.  What I mean is, no aisle browsing.  There was rarely anything on my grocery list that I found down the center aisles of the store.  I spent most of my time in the produce and meat sections.  The benefits: less temptation buying, less time at the grocery store and less money spent on my overall grocery bill.  The downside to the lifestyle: I had to add an errand and stop at my local whole foods market in order to find some of the more specialized items on my shopping list this week.  Humorous side note…..I took the kids with me and Maegan, the more outspoken of the three immediately made a comment upon entering the store (and as loudly as possible i think) about how “funny it smells”.

If you are considering this lifestyle are are not sure where to start, there are hundreds of blogs, chat room discussions and websites with helpful information.  Many of them also offer recipes and meal plans to help you streamline your grocery planning and meal prep for a week.  I’ve decided to subscribe to one such website: www.paleoplan.com.  It is $9.99 a month, and I think well worth it for the amount of time it saved me the last two weeks.  The authors of this website plan 4 meals a day, with the recipes and a grocery list for each week.

I’ve found that after living this way for nine days though, that I’m not eating 4 meals a day.  I’m getting in about two meals a day, 3 on the days that I’m working out.  This is a nice break from the “7 small meals a day” plan which I previously subscribed to.  I find that this is MUCH less work and less time consuming.

Another thing I love about this plan….I don’t have to count calories!  Here’s the rule:  Eat when you’re hungry (from the approved foods list, of course), and eat until you’re satisfied.  The beautiful thing, I can eat until I’m completely full and still NOT have that after-dinner, lower belly bloating (ladies – you know what I mean).  I continue to supplement with XanGo daily multi-vitamins and anti-inflammatory juice along with a probiotic.

Physically, I haven’t lost any weight this week.  I’ve continued working out regularly, making it to the gym a total of 5 times.  However, by the end of the week, I noticed a slight difference in my cardio endurance and energy levels.

My final thoughts for this week are, if you’re thinking about giving this a shot, you CAN!    Yes, it’s important to live a healthy lifestyle.  However, this isn’t for everyone.  Everyones body is different – find what works for you, fits into your lifestyle and suits your tastes!  And, always remember: have FUN and be CONSISTENT!

I made one big mistake….

A few weeks ago I had one of those moments….one of those, “darn!  I wish I would’ve done that differently” moments.  It’s the same feeling I get when I think back about my teenage years.  When my mother would tell me, “You’re going to wish you would have done that differently in a few years (always with a knowing smile in her voice)”.  And, of course I would usually chuckle and think to myself, “What does my mom know?!  She’s  completely out of touch.”

Now, as I near 30, I realize that what I’ve heard so many people tell me in the past is coming to fruition in my own life.  You know. I’m sure the majority of you have heard it or maybe you have even experienced it for yourself.  And….here it is…..when you reach 30 the weight just doesn’t come off the way it used to.

I’ve never been an “athletic person”.  I didn’t play sports as a child, I wasn’t involved in   competitive sports in high school and I was never involved in dance or gymnastics.  In fact, I’m a complete klutz so that wouldn’t have worked out very well for me anyways.

Fortunately, I was blessed with good genes.  As an adult, I’ve been able to skate by with infrequent workouts and a lax diet.  I did however begin working out more regularly and paying more attention to my health about 3 years ago.  Still, I’ll admit….it was half-hearted; with the exception of the two months leading up to my wedding.  During this time, I turned “it” up and reached my peak physical condition.  Otherwise, what was the need?  I could control my weight and my energy level was consistently good.  Why should I spend time working out when I could be doing more important things? Ha!

More recently, however, I’ve noticed that those extra couple of pounds aren’t coming off the way they used to….instead, they are settling right around my mid-section.  I’ve tried for the last several months to justify this extra weight…..I’m busy at work, I’m taking care of a family, I’m traveling quite a bit and it’s difficult to eat right….

Now, don’t hate me.  I have friends that say, “What are you complaining about?  You look great.”  But the bottom line is this; I just don’t look, or more importantly, feel the way I want to.  I know what my body can and SHOULD look like, and I’m just not okay with settling.

So, I broke my cardinal rule last week……(insert evil music here)……I stepped onto a scale at the gym.  I weighed in at 140.6 pounds.  Now, at the age of 28 I am weighing more than I ever have in my life.  Granted, I’m closer to 5’9” than I am 5’8”, and I have a naturally muscular build.  But again, these are not excuses.  “Wearing my weight well”, is not a phrase I like to hear.  Now, as a woman, I know better than to weigh myself, which is why it’s my “cardinal rule”.  I also know, It’s only accurate to weigh on a specific day every month, based on my cycle.   Which is why I have always judged my weight by how my jeans fit, it seems to be the best way for me.

Enough is enough is enough…..this is what I told myself last week when I decided to make a decision!!!

I hate the vicious cycle and I won’t be a victim to it…..feel fat, say I’m going to make a change, eat right for a couple of days, then back to my old ways, feel guilt……and it starts over again.

So, what am I doing differently this time?  THIS is what I’m excited to share.  I began researching how food is naturally intended to interact with the human body and ran into some very interesting articles.  I also have a couple of really great friends who encouraged me to look into what they are calling a “lifestyle”, not a diet.  It’s called Paleo, or the “Caveman Diet”.  Basically, you can eat when you’re hungry from a list of approved foods and you stop when you’re full.  The general rules are, no processed foods, no grains, no legumes, no dairy.  Pretty much….if you can kill it or grow it, you can eat it.  But you can’t eat it if you grow it and it requires cooking or processing.

According to wikipedia, “Paleolithic nutrition is based on the premise that modern humans are genetically adapted to the diet of their Paleolithic ancestors and that human genetics have scarcely changed since the dawn of agriculture, and therefore that an ideal diet for human health and well-being is one that resembles this ancestral diet”.

So, I’m going to give this “Paleo lifestyle” a shot.  I’ve done quite a bit of research and don’t see any reason NOT to give it a shot.  I’ve never cut grains completely out of my diet (because I love bread, noodles, rice, and everything else that isn’t on the plan), so this will be pretty interesting.  I’ve heard really positive feedback from several people and am really excited to get started!!

Week 1…..I’m on my way!