Let's talk about SLEEP baby...

Tuesday marks the start of week 6 of my training for Siberia. (Three weeks to go!) That means that Igor will continue to pack on the weight onto my high intensity weight training equipment. On Friday I did dead-lifts with 90 pounds...that means by the time we are done with them I will be lifting 100 pounds! Now that is something that I never thought I would do. 

We had to make a slight adjustment to the knee lifts on Friday and the hanging knee twists on Saturday because I pulled a muscle in my abs. Now that is a first for me! I had the pleasure of doing RUSSIAN TWISTS on the exercise ball with a weight in my hand. I had never done those before, and I don't know which are easier, those or hanging knee twists. I am sure the knee twists will be back since my abdominal muscle seems to have recovered. It amazes me how quickly the body recovers from a hard workout. Rest is as important, if not more important in working out. It is the process whereby the body repairs itself and gains more strength.  

I have requested another weigh in and measure this week to see if my body is responding to the supplementation we have introduced to combat my intolerance for the berries. Well, I should not say "intolerance"...more that I am not metabolizing the sugar as well as I should and therefore storing it. I must admit that being this long without sugar is very challenging. I have been as creative as I could, all in the endeavor to NOT cave and cheat. That would only make things worse. 

I owe it to myself and to Igor to stick to my eating plan.

Today I had the most delicious Butternut squash and Costa Rican pumpkin soup with unsweetened coconut milk. It was delicious. I also prepared roast pork with sliced onion and blackberries. On the side we had steamed vegetables. Last night I roasted some red peppers, removed the skin and accompanying the soup I served open sandwiches topped with goats cheese and the roasted red peppers for my guests who were over for lunch. I did not have any of that, I just ate the goats cheese and peppers with my steamed vegetables.

I hope that if my body is responding to the supplements that I will be able to introduce the next thing on the list: Clementine or tangerine and oranges. 

I stumbled across a low carb grocery store and bought some cookies there which are sugar free and gluten free and my husband says they are taste free, but I disagree. To me they taste great. Even if you go to a health food store or a supposed "low carb store" keep reading the labels and know what the ingredients are. They may say "NO SUGAR" on the package, but that could just mean no cane sugar. Or it has some other form or derivative of sugar. Check out the misleading names that can be listed which essentially are SUGAR here.

Let's talk about sleep.

Last week my calf measurement went up, I would like to think that was because of the exercise, but Igor attributes it to my lack of sleep. In weeks prior I had plenty of rest with no disturbances and night and decent bedtime hours. Last week, well let's just say the wheels fell off in that department. Between my son waking me up at 3am with bad dreams, the neighbour shovelling his driveway at ungodly hours, and late nights caused by deadlines...well my calf measurement showed the effects. 

According to Wikipedia:

Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain.

I am queen of the bags under the eyes when I am tired and have not had enough sleep! There is a fancy name for that: "periorbital puffiness".

I got the last of my rabies shots today. Thankfully no more needles until June.

We were given free movie tickets today and spent the evening watching a 3D movie. Now, a night out without the kids was just what the doctor ordered. It has been a long and busy week. This week I plan to get more rest. Igor will be happy.