The Skinny on ‘What’s for dinner’ (also breakie and lunch)

Full disclosure, I’ve been a bit on and off following a huge change in my family’s lives super recently. Hubby is working a FIFO overseas job which has got me single parenting for half the year.

After almost a week of flying solo I have just about nailed the family routine.

If you’ve only just joined me – I’m a mum to 7 year old boy/girl twins, while heavily routine bound, I’m struggling presently with their attitudes *insert audible sigh here*

The kids for the most part are very well behaved and have good manners, it’s just that when you veer too far from the routine they get hangry, snappy and wingey. ALSO, it’s the last week of summer school holidays here in NZ so they really just need to go back to school!

Anywho, how this has impacted my behaviours:

⁃ not planning my meals correctly

⁃ going for long periods without eating because I’m lacking organisation which leads to me making poor choices

⁃ Impulse control is at an all time low because it’s kind of hard to be without ya soulmate for long periods of time. Comfort eater from wayyyyy back!

February is about getting back to my good eating habits and also introducing some kind of fitness routine.

This heatwave in NZ currently can f**k right off though. Not conducive to good exercising habits when you’re sweating while standing still!!

Aside from that, I’m getting a bit more action on my Stuff.My.Face Insta page, it’s a great encouragement to see that people are actually interested in watching my food journey – I then feel like I must keep up with it, and I’ve found that it’s forced me to ensure the food looks:

1) good to eat

2) easy to prep

3) colourful – use of many different types of veg.

My entire Paleo attempt is based around being easy, relatively affordable and also most importantly about sourcing new convenient products that make life for a paleo’er less complicated and more adaptable.

So, back on the wagon, and improving on what I started,

Jay 😊

My non-resolution

Really I just want to be an overall better self. I have a few low key goals but mostly just want to be an all round choice person.

I’ve spent a lot of time being bitter about not quite winning at some things, but when I really think hard about some of those things – they just don’t even matter.

My entire everything kind of hinges on how I feel, my physical health and emotional health. And really when I boil it all down – my diet and fitness is the first place to begin if I want to be emotionally on the level.

When I think back to my very best and most healthiest days, I think of the solid 18months I spent on a paleo diet. I ran in a ton of road and trail races, I could do 18k on a casual lazy Sunday, I never got sick once and I was overall chill with a super sunny outlook.

I started up again, I’ve hardly been 100% but I have been getting it mostly right for a week now and I’m already seeing some change – less bloating, more energy and just generally happier.

I reached my best when I was blogging regularly, I guess it helped keep me accountable, even if I knew no one was reading. So here I am.

Just to keep it even more real, I’ve been posting daily to my new Iggy – stuff.my.face

So here’s to some cool new stuff, and some solid tried and true stuff, I’m looking forward to a great 2019.

Jay 😊

New year new you… or just better you!

Every now and then you get a dud year. 2018 was my dud year.

I feel like I achieved zero things but expended a crazy amount of energy.

I felt like 2018 was my ‘one step back’ both professionally and emotionally – consequently, financially as well.

Anyone else feel like there was a big fat dark cloud hanging over your 2018 year? Like there was just some great big massive bad juju stuck on your shoulder that prevented you from living your best life…?

If you follow a lot of spiritual insta and fb pages you would of seen the quote “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn” – 2018 was this for me, and 8 days into the year I am feeling a lighter healing sensation that I think will allow me to move forward.

Full disclosure – I have never really been a spiritual person, but if severe illness has any upside, it would be that it forces you into a semi-life crisis and opens your eyes to what really matters in life. Also that going against the grain of your core values carves away at your soul. 2018 spat me out as an unrecognisable person who had lost their way, I felt fake and shallow and the entire opposite of who I felt I really was or am.

I am not a resolutions type of gal, but 2019 is going to be a year of realisation and self-actualisation. For me it will be about channeling my energy in the right ways, and getting right with the universe. This may seem a little mumbo jumbo to some, but there is a lot to be said about sending out positive energy and light to be able to receive it back and that sometimes we are not actually the ones in control, but that there are greater forces at work. For some this is a god, the universe etc etc, I don’t actually know for sure, but what I do know is I’ve spent 2018 paying for something with my actual life, and I don’t actually want to ever feel that way again.

So anywho, taking a holistic approach to getting right with the universe – what I’m eating, my finances, my soul, my family, my environmental decisions on the world and my place in it. It’s all getting a revamp, it’s all going to be part of my 2019.

There are good things coming this year… I can feel it in my bones.

Halfway and Messy Form

This week has been a hard week (meaning last week, forgot to post!).  My run today (Sunday 5th August) almost had me giving up half way.

Today marks the half way point for the Couch25k programme.  It horrifies me how I can barely run 5 mins straight when once upon a time I ran 2 and a half hours straight at a quicker pace!

But then I have to give myself a break, I’m here, I’m doing it now, I’m starting from the bottom and the plan right now is just to not quit.

I say that while I ignore my Fitbit movement reminders, ha!

On the diet front? Pretty shit, and I’m noticing it during run days.

Week 1 and 2 was almost 100% tracked on MyFitnessPal. Week 3 and 4 – not so much, and the white starchy carbs have made their way back into my life again.  Which I feel made my runs this week feel hard and slow.

My meal planning organisation has been really put on the back burner.

This needs to change.

Also I’ve been cheating…

I have to confess that I treadmill run.  I haven’t made it outside as I’m still having circulation problems in my right leg (damaged blood vessels from multiple Blood clots.  Blood flow restriction to my foot means I land heavy and my form is terrible. It affects my calves, my knees and most importantly my hip.  I feel as if I have to drag my leg which is not ideal.

I’ve been breaking up my runs with biking every Sunday 8-10k at a pretty casual speed.  It helps me to feel as if I’m still make aerobic gains in my endurance. I hope with spring quickly approaching to get more out onto the trails which I have personally found to be easier than pavement.  I don’t know how – whether it’s the forest air or the technical footing aspect I’m not sure.  I find that I feel it’s a more natural movement with less impact on my body, that and the scenery helps.

Anyway, back to my treadmill…

When I started 4 weeks ago I had zero strength in any muscle of my body due to my very sedentary lifestyle.  Now I feel my quads and calves are really being engaged, In turn being better able to support my right leg disability.

I often have thoughts about whether running is really for me.  To face these kinds of challenges on top of hauling an over weight body, you gotta think about if it’s actually sensible.

Maybe I should learn to love swimming or biking or take up something more gentle on the body.

I’m not really at that point of giving up just yet.

When I first started running, I struggled with the results of my first Deep Vein Thrombosis,  my right leg had become significantly larger than my left, the weight difference alone was a hassle.  Now with another bout of blood clotting, my leg again has  become larger and blood circulation poorer.

In light of all this, I’m going to see how I can make it work.  In the past I’ve also had popliteal issues which make form again even more difficult.  Faced with all these problems you’d think I’d opt for biking. But that is really not me!

So for the moment, next week is about tidying up the diet, continuing to work on the running form, but also I feel I am now ready to throw in some strength training even if it is only with body weight.

Have you tried any of these yet – MyFitnessPal (Add me as a friend here) –  Easy to use Calorie Counting and Food Logging Free App, FitBit (Add me as a friend here) – Community based Pedometer with Incentive Badges and Trophies, Couch to 5k or C25k 8 week Programme running app?

They are excellent choices for those who are starting out and want to ease into making better health choices.  These things help educate you on how to sustain your body and build on your fitness and endurance without risk of injury but most importantly without risk of discouraging you because of the evil Blerch saying it is too hard.

Just do it later – The Blerch From The Oatmeal.com

I am looking forward to my first outside run in the next couple weeks, but for now, I move into my rest day Monday which is more about planning and setting up for the week.  More on that in later posts.

So, have you started yet? Maybe you’re coming round to the idea?  Lets catch up for a run sometime,

Jay 🙂

What is a Jam Hunt?

January 5th 2013 I started recording my journey of weightloss and fitness here on WordPress.  As the months went on my journey became more about self-realisation than achieving weight goals and distance on foot.

The words Jam Hunt are actually a shortened version of my (maiden) name – Janine Annette Marie Huntington, I have used them all my life in some form or another.
The more I got into the recording of my journey, the more I viewed the name as a ‘Hunt’ of whats possible – we don’t hunt ducks or wild boar here, we hunt the physical and mental territory or your life’s  not yet known.  Which sounds fairly philosophical, but that’s what happens when you reach a place of what you would deem  to be a limit… and then surpass that.
I never really had any particular goal in mind, except to do better than I previously had, and then next day, to try and do better than that.  The races, yeah they were some of the goals, but they were just a way of measuring how far one could go.

Some people like to do this in their work lives, some in their education, others in a spiritual nature.  For some reason I just stumbled across running, which then turned into a passion for Trail.
As I look back at the posts in my blog I talk a lot about a lot, but often, in real life, I would just go out to breathe in the forest air and run a little… or a lot.
I can remember back to a time where I ran a 15km trail loop… on accident.  I guess that is just what happens when you are trying to find yourself.

Anyway, where are we now?

At the start – I am literally back where I was some 5 or so years ago.
What was the turning point?
Over the last month I have been working hard to get myself well again.  At times there were days where I struggled to get out of bed.  A run of medication during some screening I was having for Blood Clotting, coupled with unhealthy lifestyle and a very anxious mind threw me into some of the sickest days I have had in my life.  I didn’t have a lot of energy to do much, so I read and Netflix-ed.
One day in particular I came across a Netflix Doco on the Barkley Marathons (notice the ‘s’at the end of the word Marathon) – which I thought was really odd, as the Barkley is fairly exclusive and is technically deemed the ‘underground’ of the running world.  I don’t mean that in a black market kind of way, but rather it is a race where compared to popular events, not too many people are working toward doing it – as the doco aptly named, it is – The Race that eats its young.  Not to mention its extreme difficulty to even just enter.  It was a surprise to see it on Netflix in the first place.

Now I am not about to whip out my tight tights to start training for this, but this is a race that tests how far you are willing to go, but more so, how much are you willing to find out about yourself.
I have read many a Ultra race report, but this is Next Level!  Anyway, if you are at all interested in watching, its on Netflix.

Back to the Start – teaching my body to run again after years of a semi-sedentary lifestyle, but also feeding my body ‘what it needs’ – after years of take out, brunches, ‘treat yo-self’ and beers.

I am on my 3rd week of Couch25k, which must be like the 6th time I’ve completed it – I do this programme because it is manageable and its a good way to ease your body into physical activity.  You can literally be the most un-fit person and still go on to complete it.  It may take more than the prescribed 8 weeks, but you just keep repeating until you feel like you’re ready for the next level.  To be fair, you will never feel like you are ready to move on to the next week, but that is the point.  To push yourself until it is the new normal, and then push some more.
And that’s the thing about fitness and about life, you just have to keep pushing otherwise how else will you ever know what you are capable of.

So my first leg in this new journey is about getting myself back up and running, I would like to complete my first Park Run since it is now in Tauranga around middle to late August, I should be around my 6th or 7th week of the C25K programme.
Park Run is the perfect place to start, it is a timed 5km run for everyone.  There is no first or last, you just turn up, have a run and maybe meet some people.  No expectation, plus, it’s free.  Can’t complain about that!

So anyway,  if anyone is keen in joining me in a month or so, that’s where I will be.

Jay 🙂

 

Back on the Jam Hunt…

I just read my last post to this blog dated January 2016!!!! 2016!!!!

Like why so long ago since last posting though?

Basically because I lost my focus and prioritised other things in my life – work…. and more work.
Health and Fitness took a back seat, as did my creativity and passion for stuff and things.  Which is kind of really stink as it turned me into a stressy, grumpy, sick, tired, anxious, and robotic human being.

Anywho, about 9 months ago (Oct 2017) I sent myself to the doctor, I had been feeling a familiar pain in my lower leg around my calf.  I was pretty sure I had got myself another Blood Clot and was trying to be super hopeful about it just being superficial (Blood clot in the vein/s just below the skin – not super serious!).
I didn’t get to see my usual doctor as it was a short notice appointment so I had to divulge my entire experience with blood clots to new Doc just to catch him up to present day:

2008 – DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) in my right leg originally started in my calf and as was misdiagnosed as muscle pain, kindly made its way up into my groin area, which is a little bit panic stations.  I was promptly sent to hospital for two weeks and was not allowed out of bed being told to restrict movement until the anti-coagulants had kicked in well and good.  Funny Story (not so funny) – I was put in a shared room with 3 other (much older – like 60+year old) ladies all of which were allowed to get themselves up out of bed to shower, pee, do number twos and stuff, but not me, I had to pee and poop in a pan and have sponge baths *unsettling shivers down spine*.  Albeit, it meant that I am still alive to tell the tale today!
On Anticoagulants for 6 months and then moved on with life as usual.

2012 – Fast forward a few years, got a similar pain in same leg, thank the lord Jesus that the ultrasound revealed a superficial clot, again in the right calf.

2017 – Rocked up to the doc, plead my case – ultrasound revealed 3, that’s right THREE Superficial clots and One big fat DVT in a deep vein behind my knee.  The lady doing my ultrasound even snuck in a quiet remark saying that I was too young to be having recurrent issues like this and that usually she is used to scanning the older folk for clots. *insert WHYYYYY MEEEE face*.

I have just recently had some results back as part of Clot screening tests – I have been diagnosed with a Protein C Deficiency  As a result I am now on life long anticoagulant medication – which in the scheme of things isn’t that bad, just comes with some pretty rats risks which are also manageable.  Luckily I am a manageable kind of guy!

After much deliberation and some pretty poor timing from my health issues, I finished up work about a month ago to focus on healing myself, but also to take some time to work on who I am and what I want out of this life – near death experiences tend to do that to you.  I also figured long term (life long) use of chemicals in your body (anticoagulant – Warfarin) would bring about it’s own risks and perhaps in certain circumstances may shorten the length of my life.
These are some big things to deal with at 34 years of age and I have to keep telling myself that it could always be worse.
Just very sobering and kind of gives you that ‘Come to Jesus’ feeling.

There is much more to the story but lets not get too dreary.  The purpose of this post and of this blog is to force me to live my best life by reviewing some of the good things, work toward being more than I am and applying a holistic approach to nailing life!

So let’s get back to where we left off,
You keen?

Jay 🙂

Hello…

Back again,

Beasting again!

I have just come out of a 5 day Stomach Flu… the 4th one in 2 months to be frank!

And while it helps drop a few kilos, it actually doesn’t help in any other way at all!

I am just sick of it, the slow creep in of grams sticking to my sides, the late afternoon slump, the SUGAR cravings!  Just sick of it!

I’ve gone back to Paleo! What is Paleo? Nomnompaleo – Paleo101

I spent a good 9 months leading a solid Paleo life, and my god! Why on earth did I stop!

I was feeling awesome, I was running awesome, I was generally awesome!

Now I am not so awesome!

But I went to get back to Awesome!

Today is my second day back at it.

I made Bone Broth for the first time ever – The Health Benefits of Bone Broth

and Sauerkraut!  StupidEasyPaleo – Sauerkraut

I am meal prepped to heck to make sure I don’t stray due to starvation and Hangry’ness!

Me and Paleo –

Hardest thing about Paleo –
Breakfast, or more so, the change in perception of Breakfast.  Breakfast now must become First Lunch/Dinner, this is if we are trying to reduce sugar at the same time!
The Planning – this is the part that you MUST take time to do, without it you are sure to fail!  By planning I mean you need to literally map out every week and every day – 3 meals and two snacks a day! MUST!
Sourcing Ingredients – If you are trying a new recipe, the last thing you want to see is an unfamiliar item in the ingredients list.  AND furthermore the hunt for those items can be a bit annoying!  Give it a few weeks, once you build up a sweet stash of essentials it wont be such an issue.

BUT…

Easiest thing about Paleo – BACON

 

I also look forward to getting my first run in for 2016, I was hoping to get it in sooner, however not such a good look to be shitting yourself out on the pavement!

Happy Days,
Come Beast a little with me,
Jay 🙂

Where has the time gone…

…definitely not on Pimping the Beast.

Although I had a great many plans, I only lasted a week or two and found myself in another funk!

But we are always hopeful, and I never stop thinking about running!  If things were easier, I would be doing it every single day! Alas, we will get there!

So let me catch you up…

Tarawera Ultra (in relay) has been put on the Back burner.  

I was thinking of lessening my leg of the relay by adding in another couple of people to my two person team, but then my buddy Glenn ran into some injury issues, and effectively put himself out of running for a little while.  I also felt a lack of confidence in myself to get ready in time.  I know I have done it before and was proud of my results, but this bad boy is a whole nother kettle of fish!  I will be sad to not be able to run with some of the greats!
Tarawera has become exponentially popular in a short amount of time, and us holding on to an entry and possibly not being able to make it to the Start Line would just be selfish.

My heart breaks not being able to get myself there, but all is not lost.  We live to fight another day!

Team Couch2Kawerau will have to size up 2016 for the win!

Ekiden! 

It is speedily approaching!

This weekend in fact.

And we are theme’ing it again.

My original thoughts were to go with Nacho Libre, but a half body stretchy suit didn’t quite sit well with the rest of my team.  Really, I just wanted to wear a cape, a moustache and My undies on the outside!

We compromised.  And by compromise, I mean that I am making everyone wear their undies on the outside whilst wearing a cape!  All while running around the lake!

Right up my alley!

Where to from here…?

I haven’t decided yet.

The kids are off to Daycare in 2 short months, I start my new business with a friend, and the hubby continues to do what he does.

I want to commit to some longer distance stuff next year, but I have to stop promising myself the good stuff and then later realise that I have to let myself down.

So going forward…

I will run! – Where I can and When I can, and yes, I promise to be better to write all about it!

After all its not about being the best, its about being better than you were, and doing what you love!

Hopefully I can hold myself to that to see out the year – how quickly is Christmas approaching?!?!?!

Anywho,

Still running,

and running!

Jay 🙂

P.S.  Saw this today on my run, totally pissed about this Runner litterer!!!  Hiss!

New Recipe for D-Day! Pimping the Beast!

Today is the first of August, which means it is only 1 month till Spring is here!

It also means that I have officially started The Paleo Kiwi: 31 Day Challenge!

Today has just meant a lot of tightening up for me.  Because I have been mostly paleo, the only challenge I really had was keeping away from my children’s snack box!

I also felt like a treat, I lost another 500 grams, so I decided to work off enough calories to try out a new Recipe I have been saving for such an occasion!

Who doesn’t love a good roast!?!

I decided to go with a Roast Chicken, usually the ‘Non-Paleo’ me would load up on Carbs – crispy roast potatoes, tons of chicken gravy and lets not forget those tasty supermarket bought dinner rolls, DELISH!

But we didn’t have any of that today!

Today it was Roast Chicken, Roasted Sweet Potato and Coleslaw.

I was walking through the Supermarket this morning trying to find a pre-made coleslaw so that all I had to do was add dressing…

Nope!

Every pre-made had a million ‘other’ ingredients, a lot of them in ‘Chemical’ language or some of them were things you would never have thought should actually go in Coleslaw!!, so I went old school and made my own!

I went simple as Pie with the coleslaw – Carrot, Cabbage and Beetroot – I didn’t really have too much time up my sleeve because I spent all my time making this bad boy…

Paleo Mayo – from The Paleo Mom

As far as homemade dressings and mayo go (tbh – never made one before) this one is pretty darn tasty!

I didn’t quite whip it for long enough to make it super creamy, but that was fine because in a coleslaw it doesn’t really matter!

I mixed up about  2 tbsp of the Mayo with my 3 cup worth of grated veg and it was done!  Well not actually done, I let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so.

So for Paleo’goers, totally give this one a jam!

Paleo Mayo

• ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ½ cup Avocado Oil
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• ½ Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 2 egg yolks

1.    Combine olive oil and avocado oil in a measuring cup (or other good vessel for controlled pouring).
2.    Place lemon juice, vinegar, mustard and egg yolks in food processor or blender.  Process until creamy (maybe 15 seconds?).
3.    With blender or food processor still running, VERY slowly dribble in the oil (think of it taking at least 3 minutes to add in all of the oil).  It should stay thick and gradually get lighter and lighter (and look more and more like mayonnaise) as you add the oil.
4.    I typically like to pour out my mayonnaise into a bowl and whip it by hand with a whisk at the end just to make sure all the oil is well incorporated (if you have a really good food processor, you probably won’t need to do this).  You now have paleo mayo!!!

Totally didn’t see that Paleo Mom actually has her own recipe for The Best Creamy Coleslaw.  I will have to try it!

So if you thought that just because you have gone Paleo, that you would have to miss out…

Fear not!

We have Mayo!

Jay 🙂

P.S. Long Run tomorrow!! Excitement stations!!!

Freeking out about fuel! Pimping the Beast!

Today I finished the last run required of me before I go into Long Run Saturday.

Tomorrow is also the 1st of August!

Tomorrow we start 31 Days strictly Paleo.

30 minutes ago, I was freeking out about what and how I am going to fuel for this run.

Last week, where I completed around 8k (not considered a ‘long run’ but in respect to my timing and pace, it kinda is, especially when you run that 8k on The Mount!) in the last 2 or so k I started to feel tired and drained.
I put half of this down to being unfit, and half of it down to not eating/drinking correctly before hand.

I know, I know, there are probably people out there saying this, that and the other about the fact I shouldn’t stress so much about it, but when you care so much about performing, it IS kind of a big deal.  I am a little bit of a perfectionist, and I want to get it right!

Anywho, googled a bit, read a bit and have come up with a bit of a plan to get things right.

Foods that have been recommended to me for pre-run include:

Low Fibre Fruits – banana, peaches, melon
Egg
Protein Powder
If you are in a pinch – Baby food, fruit kinds and animal product types.

So I will give it a jam.

I shouldn’t need any ‘during run’ fuel, and I only need water, no electrolyte bevey required.

I have roughly 9k on my agenda, but will skip running ‘Up’ the Mount this weekend.

Wish me luck for the next 31 days, sounds like there is a good group of people participating, so I am amped to ‘keep it real’ with them.

So…what are your August Plans?

Gonna try a Paleo month with me?

You should so totally try!

Running and running!

Jay 🙂