An Introduction

A little site orientation to get you started!

Hiit (High Intensity Interval Training): \

is an enhanced form of interval training, an exercise strategy alternating periods of short intense anaerobic exercise with less-intense recovery periods. HIIT is a form of cardiovascular exercise. Usual HIIT sessions may vary from 4–20 minutes. These short, intense workouts provide improved athletic capacity and condition, improved glucose metabolism, and improved fat burning.^*wikipedia

RUN: (Real, Unprocessed, Nutrition) :

*If you came to blog for running information, sorry you came to the wrong place! I do not run, not yet anyway! Anyhow....Real Unprocessed Nutrition....hmmmmmm...that one may take longer then this space allows. I am leaving this part as "under construction" for the time being!

Don't worry, I will come back to it.

My blog name is "Lumpy", I am a 45 year old mother of two children under 10. I struggled with my weight most of my life, hitting my peak weight somewhere over 220 after the birth of my two children and a battle with cancer. I say "somewhere over" because I was so disgusted with myself after seeing 220 on the scale that I stopped weighing myself. In the past, I had successful weight loss with the Weight Watchers program and with monitoring calories in/calories burned technique. However, those techniques no longer worked for me after I turned 40. I am not really sure what changed in my body, but something changed. I tried logging every morsel that went into my mouth and exercised 5 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes for well over a year. I had absolutely no results. I even went to an endrocrinologist to have my thyroid and hormone levels tested. Everything came back completely normal. Her advice was to cut my calories from 1200 down to 1000 a day and exercise 90 minutes a day, 6 days a week. My answer to that was a loud and clear "NOT"!

During most of the year of 2011, I was lost and fell into a deep depression. My health was suffering greatly with no real explanation. I had just survived a battle with cancer, surgery and radiation. My blood pressure was extremely high on a daily basis, enough so that I was put on blood pressure medication. I suffered from almost daily migraines and neck pain, which I also required medication. My body continued to plummet as I suffered from IBS, diverticulitis and an extremely large ulcer that required 3 colonoscopies and 2 endoscopy's all within a year. On three occasions I found myself in the local emergency room with my blood pressure so high that I was dizzy and in fear of having a stroke. I felt completely miserable and nothing I tried to seem to help me.


As January 2012 approached I decided I would do a week long prayer and fast with our church, during the first week of the new year. I chose to do a Daniel Fast. This is a spiritual fast, that typically lasts up to 3 weeks. During the fast, no animal products or sugar are allowed. Some unleavened and unprocessed grains were allowed, however I opted not to eat those as well. I ate mostly veggies, nuts and fruit for the first week. By the end of the first week, my blood pressure was completely normal. I decided to extend one week to two weeks! By the end of two weeks, I lost 5 pounds and my blood pressure continued to be perfect. I was on to something, FINALLY! I started to investigate a Low Carb lifestyle (check out Jimmy Moore Living La'Viva Lo Carb), and slowly added in healthy fats like olive oil, avocados, high fat dairy products and lean meats. I was starting to make progress finally, but really still had the "diet" mindset. On my daughters 10th birthday, I decided to splurge and have a piece of cake with frosting. Within 15 minutes, I was in bed with a massive migraine and my blood pressure had spiked up to my old numbers. Although I suffered that day, I was given a great insight into my health. I was having almost an allergic reaction to sugar and processed grains! Over the course of the next year, every time I "cheated", the same thing would happen to me. I realized I was no longer on a "diet", I was changing my lifestyle and my relationship with food for my health, not just my weight
 
Over the course of 2012, I lost 42 pounds, without any exercise! I felt fantastic. As I looked back over the year, I realized that my health was actually NORMAL! I no longer suffered from IBS, diverticulitis, migraines, fibromyolagia or high pressure! I was no longer fatigued, my skin and hair looked much better and I had more energy then before I had my first child. Even with all the great benefits of this new lifestyle, I was getting bored with eating the same old "stuff" everyday. Meat, eggs, cheese and veggies can get old fast and there are only so many ways to cook these things. I scoured the Internet for recipes and came across the Paleo/Primal way of eating. I discovered that I could bake and eat "grain like" food but with nut flours! The more I found, the more excited I became! I am not a strict Paleo follower, as I have kept high fat dairy and legumes (beans and peanuts) in my weekly diet. I also found that I can not use the typical sweeteners recommended in most Paleo recipes because the "natural sugar" of honey or maple syrup still reek havoc on my blood pressure. So many of the recipes that you will find on this page will use high fat dairy or stevia. Please listen to your own body when following these guidelines. You may not be able to tolerate high fat dairy products. You may be just fine using honey or maple syrup. I use a TEMPLATE of Paleo/Primal and have tweaked it until it was perfect for ME! You may be completely different. You may be criticized for using dairy if you say you are following a Paleo plan. However , the key is to find out what works for YOU.

In late February 2013, I discovered the awesome power of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)! I LOVED IT! I can get my workouts done in under 20 minutes daily and I see my body changing for the better every day! I workout with very minimal equipment in my own house and have had excellent results.I have lost and additional 5 pounds and 9 inches from my body since starting the HIIT program!

Many people have marveled at all the changes in me in the last year. I get asked daily to share what I have done to get so healthy. Although I LOVE telling people about it, it is much easier to write it out in this format! I hope you find the information here helpful for your own journey. Remember to check with your physician if you have medical conditions before you start this or any other program. Remember to tweak and test your own tolerances to foods to decide what works best for you!

I hope this helped in some way! Here's to a new lifestyle and new changes in your health! Here are some before and almost after pics of me! I still have about 10 lbs to go before I am at my "goal" weight.