Back on the Wagon

Beef Stew, mmm

Ah, the holidays, the time of year when it's so so easy to pack on the pounds. I recently completed a fitness challenge and in 8 weeks went from 135 lbs and 24.5% body fat to 127.6 lbs and 22.1% body fat. I was so proud of myself. I stuck with my plan of eating a Paleo diet along with training for RunGirl 13.1 and got great results. Then came Thanksgiving...dun dun dunnn...

My family and I traveled to my in-law's out of state. I planned on sticking to my Paleo diet but fell off the wagon only a few hours into our trip. Once I got to our destination it only got worse. The pie, oh the pie! Eggnog sweet potato, pecan, chocolate, coconut, and pumpkin! Yes, I ate some of every single one. More often than not there were multiple pieces involved! I have no one to blame but myself and I take full responsibility for my pie eating ways and the 4 extra pounds I came home with.

Now I am home and back on the wagon. There is no pie here and there will be no pie here. I have filled my refrigerator with vegetables, fruits, meat, poultry and coconut milk. I have nuts and seeds in the pantry. I will prepare most, if not all, of my meals here at home.  I am officially back on the wagon!

In true wagon style I made beef stew for dinner last night. I omitted the flour and potatoes that would normally be used. I seared off the beef in bacon grease (mmm, bacon) and used turnips, parsnips, carrots, celery, onions and garlic. I also kicked it up a bit and added some chopped kale toward the end.

Not a bad way to get back on the wagon. I'm going to try my best to stay here, but it's going to be tough. This week alone I've got 2 Christmas parties to attend, and I'm hosting 3 Christmas weekends for family! I better start planning the menu!

Let me introduce myself

October 2008

May 2009 

Hi, I’m Lea. I’m a wife, stay home mom to two boys (ages 3 and 5), and an endurance athlete. Endurance sports are what help to keep me sane. I haven’t always been an athlete. In fact, aside from being on the crew team for two years in high school I’ve pretty much been a couch potato. Fast forward through college and two pregnancies and I found that I went from a size 8 to a size 16.

In 2009 I was miserable at a size 14/16 with two toddlers in diapers to chase around and had a stressed marriage. In order to cope with the stress I started walking. Every day I would put my boys in the stroller and I would walk. One day I decided that I would try running. That lasted for about a minute! However, over time I walked less and ran more. The weight was coming off and I was feeling better. I started seeing a personal trainer and got even better results. Things were looking up. Late in 2009 I got a flyer from Team in Training in the mail. That led me to enter the endurance sports world in 2010 and I haven’t left.

It’s now nearing the end of 2011 and I have completed several 5k and 10k races, 1 marathon,  2 half marathons, 2 olympic distance triathlons, 2 sprint distance triathlons, and 1 ten mile trail race. I am back to a size 6/8 and feeling better than ever. I am enjoying raising my boys and happy in my marriage.

June 2010 

October 2011 

So, what’s next? I’ve got a half marathon on the schedule for December and then it’s on to half ironman training. I anticipate tough long hours of training but also look forward to finding the strength within to push myself further than I’ve been before. I hope you’ll follow along with me on my next endeavor. I’m sure there will be ups and downs and at times will be very unglamorous, but it’s going to be exciting!