Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater!

Round 2 of being sugar free certainly isn't as bad as the first go round was. I'm 6 days into the challenge and it's definitely easier this time. I haven't suffered the debilitating headaches or the lethargy that left me in a semi-permanent state of laziness that lasted 5 days.  I have however, cheated... And just 4 days in! I don't even want to admit what it was that I cheated with for fear of bringing back the nausea that it caused to begin with. But it won't happen again, you have my word.

I've also decided that these 30 days would be a perfect time to tackle another challenge. My friend Kristin at Running To Somewhere is doing a 30 day Ab Challenge and is looking for others to challenge themselves with her. Since my ab workouts always seem to take a backseat to other "more important" stuff, I've decided to devote an entire month to them. Wish me luck :)

Oh! I have super exciting news... Can't spill all the details yet, but I have 2 exciting product reviews and giveaways coming up!!! So keep an eye out.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Hiking and just *Breathing*

First I wanted to say, thank you so much everyone for your heartfelt comments on my post yesterday. It really meant so much to me. Being the adrenaline junkie that I am, I found it extremely difficult to voice my fear, and to have been greeted with such support was overwhelming. So again, thank you all (and yes Julia we do need to become RL friends!).

On a much more positive note than yesterday, I got out for a great hike with my best friend today.  It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky. We hiked up White Pine trail in Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT (and yes it killed me to be there and NOT climb, lol!).

Pre-Hike Picture

Our goal was to get to the lake but when we reached mile 2.45 we lost all trace of the trail in the snow. However, we weren't dissapointed! We decided to just to relax a bit before our hike back down, it was so nice just to *breathe* the amazing mountain air. I made a snow angel and my bestie and I made a snowman. It was great!

Snow Angel!

Our Snowman :)



The hike was absolutely gorgeous. The trail was almost entirely covered with snow after the first half mile but we kept going and didn't have any issues til we lost the trail. On our hike down we decided to keep acting like kids and run! We ran everywhere we could (and some places we probably shouldn't have, lol). We splashed in puddles and ran thru the running water (it was like a waterfall on the trail.). It was amazing, we're already planning our next adventure. Here's some more pictures from today. Enjoy :)

The crazy high river rushing down

Puddle Jumping!

Beautiful Blue Skies

What most of the trail looked like...

Our Route

Reached an elevation of 8,627 ft before we turned around.

Our view at our highest point

The sunburn...

And more of the sunburn...

Who wants to come rub aloe on my back, lol?

Do you have anything fun planned for the summer?

I *THOUGHT* I was a Strong, Independent Woman...

And apparently I have thought wrong.  Today was a gorgeous day and being the first official day of Summer I wanted (ahem... NEEDED) to get outside. It was a pretty hot day so I didn't feel like dragging the kids out with me just to listen to them whine the whole time and to be quite honest I needed some alone time to clear my head.  I figured I'd get out for a solo hike today.  I looked up some local trails and kept reading "moose and mountain lions" in the section that stated what kind of wildlife you'd run across. That didn't sit too well with me (I've already had one mt. lion encounter while living here!), so I looked for an easier trail that would be a little busier since I was going alone. Found a perfect trail and got ready and headed off. Got almost there just to find that the road to the trail head was closed and I couldn't walk there. Then from a friend's referral I decided on a different trail down a different canyon. 

I got to the trail head and almost had a panic attack! I was seriously frozen in the car and couldn't muster up the courage to go on a solo hike.  I've always thought of myself as a bit of an adrenaline junkie and I'm still not exactly sure what I was so terrified of, but I couldn't do it.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn't so much about hiking alone it was just about being "alone".  Through my entire adult life I have never been alone.  I went right from living with my mother to living with my boyfriend/father of my children.  I don't think I've ever had the time to get truly get to know myself on my own.  Maybe I have a subconscious fear of being alone.  It would make sense. I've let myself stay in an unhealthy relationship for 10+ years, staying not just because of the emotional abuse that made me believe I *couldn't* leave, but fear of actually being on my own for the first time ever (don't worry, I've been taking the necessary steps to leave for a while).  I made unhealthy friendships when I moved to Utah and knew no one just so I wasn't alone again.  It seems to be a vicious cycle in my life.

John Berryman once said "We must travel in the direction of our fear."  So in an effort to do that and overcome my fear, I'm going to do one thing that scares me every month, and do it on my own.  This month is already almost over so I better get on the ball and get started. Wish me luck :)

 

 

Are you scared of being on your own? Or are you more of a lone wolf?

Have you ever done anything that straight out scared the bejeezus out of you?

 

Winner ~ Winner!

Carin from Mommy Racing Diaries!

Congratulations, you are the winner of my favorite things!

Just email me your info at climbrunliftmom @ gmail.com.

And, finally... I didn't make it to 100 followers on Google Friend Connect.

But! If I added up my followers on Networked Blogs and Feedburner I'm over 100! Woo Hoo :)

ltlindian from average girl doing average things!

You are the winner of Lauren Brooks Vol 1 Kettlebell DVD!!

You're going to love it! Just email me at climbrunliftmom @ gmail.com with your info.

Thank you so much to everyone that entered! I'm already looking forward to my next giveaway :)

Giveaways!

Just one last reminder to enter my Favorite Things Giveaway! I will be drawing a winner tonite at 9 PM (Mountain Time) and announcing it shortly thereafter!!

Also check out Miles, Muscles & Mommyhood! Jen is hosting a Tough Chik Giveaway that ends tonite at Midnite! If she reaches 350 followers by tonite she's throwing in an extra prize!

Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day, I would like to take the time to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the great Dads out there, my own Dad included. I would not be who I am today without his influence, support and encouragement. So thank you so much for everything Dad!

Me and my Dad way back when

My Dad embracing his role as Grandpa these days

So this is where I got it from, lol...

Make sure you take the time to show your Dad how much you appreciate him today!!



My week in Pictures

So this week wasn't as anti climatic as I made it out to be in my last post. I just wanted to make sure you all checked out my guest post for Blonde Ponytail. I certainly hoped you all enjoyed it. This week has been busy to say the least! I've gotten to my Bikram yoga class twice, which was amazing, I usually only make it once a week. I've had a nice spinning workout and kettlebell workout. And.... I got out climbing. I really wish I had pictures for you... But... As I've mentioned before my camera hates me (in all fairness, it tolerates an extreme amount of abuse...), so I have no climbing pictures. As you can see in the pictures it is broken, and it still "works" sometimes. Only when I don't need it to however.

I treated myself to haircut this week! It's really been much overdue. Haircuts are not a high priority for me sadly. It's been over a year since my last haircut though so it was necessary. I just got a couple inches trimmed off and I'm so happy, it feels so much better!

Hit up the health food store this week too. I was having a wicked kombucha craving this week! So I restocked myself for the week, mama is happy! As you can tell my favorite flavor is citrus. I'm seriously contemplating brewing my own... I can foresee this becoming a very expensive addiction.

At the same visit to the grocery store I stocked up on Peanut Butter!!! I don't think I can express in words how much I love peanut butter. Since my 10 day sugar free challenge was over I decided to treat myself to a white chocolate peanut butter that I've been hearing about around the blogosphere. I really thought it was humorous (in a sad way) that a natural peanut butter with white chocolate has less sugar than a regular processed peanut butter. The other two tubs are the peanut butter you make yourself (PURE PEANUT BUTTER!). That'll seriously keep me happy for about... 2 weeks, lol.

And onto the biggest news of the week!!! My little man lost his second tooth!!! He thinks he's super cool now. It makes me so sad that this is happening. I cannot stop my baby boy from growing up!

So, how was your week? Anything exciting going on?

What is your camera of choice? How much abuse does your camera take?

Do you love Kombucha? Buy it or brew your own?

What's your favorite Nut Butter?

Hope you all have an excellent weekend!!!

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!! Winner will be drawn and announced tomorrow evening!

Would you rather....

Read a boring post from me here (I have nothing to blog about this week!)

or....

Read an exciting guest post from me on Blonde Ponytail's blog?

That's what I thought! Go HERE and check out my adventure inspired guest post for Jess's weekly "Would you rather?" series.  Feel free to come back here and share your thoughts on it too! How adventerous are you really??

And just a friendly reminder... My Favorite Things Giveaway is ending on Sunday! Don't miss it!!

Hope you all have a great weekend! Get out there and get your adventure on :)

Day 7 - 10 of 10 Day Sugar Free Challenge

I've been a bad, bad blogger! No update since day 6 of the sugar free challenge. My apologies to you all.  I guess the reason I haven't felt a compulsion to blog the last couple days is because, well... I've felt great! I feel like my body has completely adapted to no sugar, no caffeine and no dairy. When I weighed myself this morning, I was down 10 lbs from Day 1 of the challenge. 10 pounds in 10 days! That's like biggest loser style weight loss! I figure it was my body's way of saying "Thank you for not feeding me junk!" And just an FYI... Amanda from Run To The Finish is going to be having another Sugar Free Challenge coming up! So do yourselves and your bodies a favor and follow her blog and sign up for the next challenge! I know I am, with no cheating this next go round.

I've absolutely loved the results of this challenge. My energy has been amazing! My endurance has also improved! I went hiking/climbing in The City of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho and I only had to stop and rest once. We hiked probably 5x the distance I normally hike while there and I normally have to stop and catch my breath more than a few times. I will have a City of Rocks post coming up soon, promise! I'm in desperate need of a new camera, so my pictures are very much lacking as of late (aka nonexistent).  

Jess and Amanda - I restocked my Peanut Butter!!!

Don't mind my sun burn/wind burn (and bad self photography, lol)

Now onto the really important issue... I restocked my peanut butter! Crisis averted! I know you were all panicking on my behalf, so you can relax now ;)  I also want to wish some amazing Utah bloggers/runners good luck for tomorrow, it's the Utah Valley Half/Full Marathon! Go check out Julia, Ruth, and Alicia and wish them luck tomorrow!

And lastly... Just a friendly reminder about my giveaway! Deadline for entry is June 19th! I'm 28 followers away from giving away a Lauren Brooks DVD!! Spread the word, you know you want to win it!

Did you participate in the Sugar Free Challenge? How did it go? Share your experience (good or bad) here. Also go back and give yourself an extra entry to my giveaway if you participated!!



Day 6 - 10 Day Sugar Free Challenge

I'm just going to come right out and say it... I cheated, again. I gave in and had a cranberry bran muffin (they use real cranberries, not dried ones!), I was out and about running errands today and I didn't plan ahead. I let myself get too hungry and I made a bad choice due to hunger. I cut out fruit sugars the rest of the day to make up for it, but it is what it is. I still can't believe I couldn't go 10 WHOLE days without cheating. But... I must say I didn't think I'd cheat with cereal and a bran muffin. I figured if I cheated it would be with diet coke or alcohol (honestly debated buying some Jim Beam Rye... yeah, I'm that bad).

Bad, bad, bad, bad...

Anyways, my weight has stabilized. Haven't lost anymore weight this week, which is probably good (6 lbs is a lot for 1 week!). I really think my body is adjusting and I'm already planning on how to make this a more long term lifestyle choice (with a few modifications). I've upped my water intake incredibly, about 90 oz total daily. I had the energy for a workout again, and went for a 4 mile run in the rain. It was ah-ma-zing! I absolutely love running in the rain, it could be one of my favorite things ever (after rock climbing of course!).

Sad, sad day...

And lastly... I finished my tub of peanut butter today. It was a sad moment! I <3 my peanut butter. Time to go the store and make some more I guess. This is one thing that I absolutely cannot live without!

Have you made big lifestyle changes (Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Etc)?

How was your transition?

What is one food item you cannot live without?

Halfway There! 10 Day Sugar Free Challenge

 

Today I woke up feeling much better. I think I was so mentally drained from all the emotional crap going on in my life right now that I just couldn't get it together today.  I cheated for the first time this morning.  Breakfast was a bowl of Kashi Autumn Wheat (7 g Sugar) with 1% milk (12 g Sugar).  The interesting thing was that it normally tastes just "sweet enough" and today is tasted overly sweet!  So obviously my tastes are adjusting. Lunch was PB on WW Sourdough, and dinner was rice/beans in the slow cooker, all my snacks were sugar free as well.  I'd say the day was a success overall.  I even managed to get in a workout, 40 minutes of kettlebells was exactly what I needed (win your own KB dvd here!). As I was finishing my workout my daughter came in the room, and I realized the bell that I was swinging weighed as much as she did. It pretty much made my night (yes.... I know, I need a life, lol).

How did you spend your weekend? Relaxing or racing?

Giveaway Reminder!

I just wanted to remind you of my awesome Giveaway!! It's ending June 19th and I'm up 64 followers! I need 100 followers to giveaway Lauren Brooks DVD (which is completely amazing!!). So spread the word, I'd love for a lucky reader to be able to experience her amazing workouts!

Here's a little visual of what is up for grabs!

And maybe this!!

Day 3 & 4 - 10 Day Sugar Free Challenge

Day 4 of 10 done... Day 3 went OK, and by OK I mean, not terrible, like kill me now terrible. I had a chronic headache for most of the day. I felt extremely impatient and cranky, and I also started having wicked cravings for dairy and bread. Another unpleasant side effect was the extreme lethargy I was experiencing! I wanted to get out and do something, but I couldn't muster up the energy to do more than lay around reading all day. Seriously frustrating. Didn't take pictures of my meals yesterday. And honestly I didn't eat very much (bad, bad I know) because of my low energy level. I've lost a total of 6 lbs since starting this challenge, which leads me to believe I was totally poisoning my body with sugars and other processed foods. 

Day 4 went OK as well. The day started out better and I felt a little perkier in the morning than I had the last couple mornings. I actually had the energy for a workout for the first time since starting the challenge too! An hour of spinning was just what I needed. As it got closer to bedtime I got an awful headache and seriously bad sugar cravings. I shut it up with some tylenol and a spoonful of peanut butter :) Hopefully the next couple days I'll get better about taking pictures, because my meals are surprisingly picturesque these days :)

I also wanted to share how strong I am with you all today. My wonderful droid smart phone (RIP) has passed on, and Verizon was wonderful enough to lend me a loaner (see image below...) until my replacement can be sent in 3-5 days. Needless to say, I'm completely lost. No apps, no Internet, etc. So along with my sugar withdrawals I'm going through technology withdrawals.  

Sad, sad loaner phone :(

If you are participating in the Sugar Free Challenge, how is it going? Are you experiencing cravings and headaches? Have you cheated? What are some yummy sugar free treats you've found?

And has anyone been in my situation phone wise? How did you survive, lol? I know I should embrace it and just enjoy my temporary freedom from technology, but it's so darn hard!

*cue worlds smallest violin*

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Day 2 - 10 Day Sugar Free Challenge

Today I woke up feeling much better! I stepped on the scale and was down 3 lbs in 1 day. Granted it was probably due to dehydration from being hungover and basically starving myself yesterday. So I can't even be happy about the weight loss. Anywho.... After my Whole Foods trip yesterday I'm completely stocked up on healthy goodies and was completely prepared. I had 3 healthy (SUGAR FREE) meals and 2 sugar free snacks. And lucky for you all I actually took pics of my meals!

Breakfast - Oats w/ flax, pure peanut butter, and raspberries

Crap! Cheese is lactose! Oy.... Disregard this picture, lol.

Dinner - Broiled Cod and Veggies (the kids picked)

Bedtime Snack - Big Ole spoonful of PB :)

I haven't worked out yet today (or yesterday! bad bad bad...) and I'm thinking it will be another rest day for me. I've had a massive headache for about 3 hours now... Going to chug some water and tylenol and keep my fingers crossed it's gone by the morning!

How was your DAY 2 if you're participating?