The end is here...or is it?

Day 30!  I made it!  Not a single crystal of sugar, not a drop of alcohol, no grains, legumes, or dairy. Last week I traveled 3 out of 5 days and still made it work.  I went to a Mexican restaurant with my co-workers on one of the nights and did not join the others in having a margarita or chips and salsa.  

Was it difficult?  Honestly, most of the time it was an easy plan to follow, although admittedly it requires a lot of planning and creativity, especially while traveling.

Was it worth it?  Yes, I really think it's a fantastic plan for me.  I am sleeping better than I have for years and I feel good.  I never experienced the great burst of energy that was supposed to occur in the second half, but I am not experiencing that daily 3 pm drop in energy anymore.  And...I lost almost 8 pounds.

What's next?  I think I'll keep going.  Not as faithfully or as strictly as the requirements during the 30 day phase, but for the most part - yup. I like my vegetable "rice" and vegetable "pasta".  I'm not having any cravings.  I'm not missing any of the forbidden foods.  Yet.

Will I join in the Friday happy hour tomorrow at work?  We shall see.

Day 16

Well, I've made it past the halfway mark without cheating once!  Last night, I had co-workers over for a team dinner and despite the freely flowing wine, I poured myself a mineral water in a wine glass and didn't even feel deprived. Dinner was Greek themed - souvlaki, Greek potatoes, salad, baba ganoush, veggies, tzatziki, and pitas.  I admit, it was really difficult to make the tzatziki sauce and not have any.  I almost had a slip up when I did my normal taste test for seasonings and then suddenly realizing that I had just put dairy in my mouth, immediately spit it into the sink and rinsed my mouth out with water.  Ok, maybe a bit drastic, but I feel pretty committed to the process.  I can't say I have noticed any extra bounce in my step or fantastic surges of energy.  It's difficult to say whether or not my allergies are any better either.  One huge thing that I'll attribute to Whole30 is that I have had two nights of sleeping through the night (until 4:30 am) which hasn't happened in years.  I could use a whole lot more like that!

Next week, I am traveling for 3 of the 5 workdays.  I won't have much say in where we eat, so I might be eating a lot of plain salad and grilled chicken.  I plan to have an emergency stash of nuts and Lara bars (some flavors are just fruit and nuts).

That's it for now - 14 days to go!

Waiter, I need a drink

Oh, and a pizza, please.  At least that's what I was imagining myself saying.  I'm tired.  It was a looooong day.  For reasons unknown to me, I was wide awake at 4:30 am this morning.  I decided to start my day with a 4 mile run, which it turned out was not very much fun because  my legs felt like lead stumps (thank you squats last night for that lovely feeling).

I had a long, busy, day at work with clients sending in one request after another, extending my to-do list onto a new page.  On my drive home, I had a lengthy debate with myself about whether or not I would be opening a bottle of wine.  It was just one of the days, you know the kind, where you look forward to kicking back and relaxing with a lovely glass of Cabernet.  Usually I find cooking relaxing, and look forward to the prep work, slicing, dicing, and chopping my way to a tasty meal. But tonight I was not in the mood to do anything.

I poured myself a wine glass full of...sparkling coconut water.  Ok, it's not exactly the same as a glass of wine, but the ritual of sitting and sipping out of a wine glass is relaxing.

And, I cooked.

Thai Massaman Curry over rice (rutabaga rice, that is).  Yes, you are reading correctly.  Rutabaga rice made with my spiralizer and then chopped into small bits like rice with the food processor.  It's mild and the texture is just like rice.

  

Check out the size and texture.  It looks just like real rice!

Words simply cannot describe the absolute delicious depth of flavor.  Warm and comforting and SO much better than pizza! My long day just got a whole lot better and I'm glad I stuck to it!

Day Six and Seven

I got nothin'.

I know it's hard to believe that I have nothing to say.  Keith is shocked.

That past two days were relatively uneventful, normal workdays.  This morning I ran a 5k before work and did a leg workout after work.   Breakfast this morning was an over-hard egg sandwiched between potato "cakes."  It was delicious.   Lunch was field greens topped with homemade chicken salad and dinner was pork chops, baked sweet potato fries and sauteed zucchini.  I can't say I'm not eating well.

I feel good, but haven't noticed any changes or improvements yet.  Apparently, great bouts of energy are headed my way; here's hoping!

Well, I guess that was a little something.

Day 5 - A day of interesting eats

Day 5 began with the leftover headache from last night.  What the heck?  I was beginning to wonder if I would or should keep up the program, but interestingly, after playing basketball with Keith for about an hour this afternoon, my headache just disappeared.

Breakfast this morning was sweet potato and blueberry waffles (from the Inspiralized cookbook).   I know it sounds odd, but it was warm, hearty deliciousness!  Just a few simple ingredients and we had breakfast.  Check it out:

Lunch was homemade chicken salad on top of field greens and veggies with a splash of olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper and basil.  Also terrific!

We rounded out the day with triple coconut shrimp (dipped in coconut flour, eggs & coconut and then cooked in coconut oil), beet salad and kale chips.  Life is pretty good!

Day 4 - headache, day two

I was hoping that my headache would be gone when I got up this morning, but unfortunately it has hung with me most of the day.  Quite normal, apparently, headaches should be gone by tomorrow.  

I spent a couple of hours this morning looking at ideas and recipes for meals that comply with the strict requirements.  I always plan my week's meals out in advance to avoid the mid-week, "what the heck are we gonna eat" syndrome.  I recognize that the only way to be 100% successful on this plan is to be completely prepared.  So, armed with my list, I headed to the grocery store and had a bit of a shock at the end of the trip when I realized I spent quite a bit more than our normal budget.  I am pretty excited about our menu choices this week though and will post results as I go.

For years, I have eaten smaller meals and snacked on fruit or yogurt in between, so I assumed it would be a struggle to adjust to the three meals a day, no snacking policy (strongly suggested, not a hard and fast rule).  I admit that I have been pleasantly surprised that I can go 5 hours between meals without feeling famished.  

I'll leave you with a picture of my breakfast this morning.  It's not very exciting, but was pretty tasty.

Day Three

Apparently right on cue, day three brought on a headache this afternoon;  a constant dull ache, only moderately tempered by two aspirin.  The eating plan has been relatively easy to follow and still no hunger pains.  Breakfast was an egg scramble with leftover veggies from last night, and dinner was chicken cordon bleu (without the cheese), cauliflower mash (like mashed potatoes, but no milk) and green beans.  The craving for gum wasn't as bad today, so perhaps I'm breaking the gum addiction.  I even made it through our Friday happy hour at work by pouring LaCroix Sparkling Water into a wine glass.  It's kind of a silly little trick, but it actually works.

Day 2 - Kitchen Gadgets

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a certain affinity for kitchen gadgets.  So, to make meals a little more interesting while on Whole30, I bought myself a spiralizer.

It doesn't look like much, does it?  Tonight I made zucchini "spaghetti" in place of soba noodles for the stir fry we had.  Fantastic!

So, day 2 went smoothly.  I didn't feel hungry between meals and my only difficulty (again) was the slight gum withdrawal I experienced after lunch.

Whole30 - Day 1

For those who don't want to be bored by my daily ramblings for the next 30 days...well, don't read this. As I said in my last post, I want to keep myself accountable and committing to posting daily will help with that.

If you're still reading, you might want to know what Whole30  is and why I'm embarking on this particular 30 day journey.  The premise of Whole30 is that "Certain food groups (like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes) could be having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it." To find out if these foods are affecting you, you cut them out of your diet completely for a full 30 days. No sugar, sugar substitute, grains, dairy, legumes.  NONE.  Oh yeah, no alcohol either.  Including red wine, which prompted Keith to snort with a somewhat evil laugh "good luck with that."  

OK, "so why would you want to do such a thing?"  you ask.  Good question. The main reason is the extra 30 pounds I've put on since the hike, despite my best efforts, dieting, running, and working out. I also suffer from terrible allergies that seem to be getting worse.  And, I'm tired.  I haven't slept through the night in years.  Will this cure all that ails me?  Maybe not, but I figure it's worth the sacrifice for 30 days to find out.

Today was day 1 and so far, so good.  I didn't have to modify the way I eat too much, since lunch is usually salad and some kind of protein anyway.  I didn't feel like I was hungry between meals, so that was a nice change.  My only difficult time today came after lunch when I really, wanted a piece of gum.  It's like dessert to me.  I admit freely that I'm addicted to chewing gum.  Hey, there are worse things.  But, I'm committed to the no cheating policy of the program, so I'll push through.

All in all good day.  Let's see how day 2 goes!

It's been a while

So folks, it's been a while since the last post about our Appalachian Trail thru hike.  Quite a while. It's hard to believe that two years has passed since we started our hike.  Just yesterday we pulled out the journal I kept and we read about our first days on the trail.  What a longing to return to the trail! I can't explain the mystical pull of the trail, but for those who have been called it's a constant yearning, begging to be fulfilled. I remember back to when met others on the trail who were on their second thru hike and wondering why they would choose to do the same trail again.  I understand now.  For now, we satisfy ourselves with day hikes and a few overnight trips (breaking out the old tent).

We returned to Colorado and re-joined the working world and the land of busy once again.  A lot has happened since our return: Keith returned to work with Natural Grocers,  I got a job with a fantastic new company, my oldest daughter moved back in (with three cats) and we bought a house. Although we have settled down a bit, we are talking about a lot of exciting prospects for the future and are planning on next hike/walk on the El Camino in May 2016.  In preparation, I have embarked on a daily routine of learning to speak Spanish.  That's a story for another day.

Our next camping hiking trip is coming up in June, where we will be joined by our best trail buddy Trouble and her fiance.  It is a two-week road trip from Denver to the Grand Canyon and back through New Mexico, with plenty of stops along the way, My plan is to update the blog and post our daily stops.

In the meantime, I am about to embark on a 30 day lifestyle/diet plan called Whole30.   I am going to use the blog to help keep me accountable, and will post daily updates about my progress.

Katahdin!!!

The end has arrived. How surreal it was for us to reach the summit of Katahdin on September 29, 2013 after 193 days of hiking. This was our goal: 2185.9 miles to reach this summit.  We made it.

We could not have asked for a better day. We had clear blue skies and 75 degree weather. We could see for miles. The views of the mountains, the fall colors, and the myriad of lakes and ponds below was dazzling.  As we reached the summit, we were greeted with cheers and applause from about two dozen of our fellow thru hikers who had already reached the top. Our friend Henry, who provided us with such amazing trail magic in New York, had joined us for the last fifteen miles. Trouble's boyfriend, Michael, also joined us for the hike to the summit and proposed to her at the top (she said yes). What a fitting finish to our long journey.

Our first view of Katahdin

 

 

 

It is with mixed emotion that I write this post. As we hiked our last miles, I contemplated the parting words I should write that might adequately close the chapter. I don't think I have them. We were ready for the journey to end. We are ready to start a new adventure, like finding a new place to call home. And yet, it is with trepidation that we venture back into the non-trail world. I won't call it the real world, because life on the trail was real in a way I wish more people would embrace. Our community of hikers accepted one another unconditionally, offered friendship freely, and showed genuine warmth, kindness, and generosity. We laughed heartily every day, even those days when the weather was miserable and our moods were sullen.

We didn't love every step, but we loved the whole adventure. It feels strange to trade in our tent and sleeping bags for a bed indoors. It feels strange to spend hours in a car instead of walking to our next destination. We have spent the last thousand miles and almost three months hiking with our friend Trouble and her dog Melkie. We have started every morning and ended every day with them. It was strange and sad to say our goodbyes and head to our separate non-trail lives.

I hope we can retain the life lessons we learned. I hope we will all continue to be more accepting and understanding. I hope we will focus on the good and offer others around us a taste of hiker goodness.

To those who supported us and helped us, we thank you. Thank you to those who kept us fed and sent our food packages. We are ever grateful to those who offered us rides and opened their homes to us, complete strangers who were stinky and dirty. To all who left trail magic, you cannot know how much our spirits were lifted by coming across something as simple as an apple, a candy bar, or can of soda at a trailhead, and sometimes so much more. Many thanks. To my fellow hikers, you are all awesome! We love you all and will miss you. Thank you for your friendship. We have memories that will last a lifetime.

I will sign off with these words: If you encounter mountains in your world, climb over them, one step at a time. And if life gets overwhelming, just head out for a walk in the woods. You just might see us there.

Canadian Bacon a/k/a Dina
p.s.  in the coming weeks, I hope to put together a slide show of pics.

Thoughts from Zen Master a/k/a Keith:

This is it, I thought as we made our way along the trail toward our summit of Mt Katahdin. This was the final day of our journey, and as Dina said we could not have ordered up a more perfect day. I have so many thoughts and feelings about this day and the rest of the journey that Dina has already expressed that this may seem that it is coming from the same mind. For those of you that know us best it comes as no surprise, we are so much in sync with each other.
For the past 193 days we have lived in the woods so to speak, basically reducing our needs to their simplest level. All we really needed was shelter, food, and water. While we carried our shelter, a tent, there was always the need to find a location to pitch it. The food part, ditto, we pretty much had that covered thanks to months of cooking and dehydrating our meals. A special thanks to all of you who mailed boxes to us, keeping us fed along the way. That only leaves the need for water which I kind of took to a different level. So much so that Dina often said I was a water freak, as I often carried more than what was needed. I’m getting off on a tangent here, so I’ll get back to what the people and the trip meant to me. Going into to the hike I did not really expect to become part of a group or think that so many bonds would be formed so easily out here. How wonderful it would be if the rest of society could be so readily accepting, and trusting of each other. While for the most part the days would be spent hiking solo due to different hiking speeds, it was always the breaks, or end of the day gatherings where you realized just how much in common you each had with one another. You compared feelings of how you thought the day was going or went, what were the high and low points etc. or just shared time and space with someone out on the same adventure. Everyone is quick to offer, or share with each other what they have that might fill a need. To those of you that I have shared those moments with, I will miss you all. How special it was to me to see so many of you gathered at the summit, cheering us on for those final steps. Hugs were abundant. What a great feeling of camaraderie and accomplishment shared by us all.

For me this journey has been the fulfillment of a dream. One shared by Dina, so yes how special it was to me to be able to share the journey together. As I have told some of you it also goes deeper than that for me. My dad often said in his later years that he wanted to live on a houseboat, but he passed at a young age without fulfilling that dream. My daughter Stephanie, whom I lost to cancer at the much too young age of twenty six, I’m sure must have had dreams of things she would do someday, but never got the chance. We all say it, one day I’m going to do this or do that, go here, or there. How sorry and sad it makes me that they never got their chance. So in part this journey was not only me fulfilling one of my dreams it was also for them. For all of you reading this, as Thoreau said, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams”. Find a way to make your dreams come true. Take or make the time. Don’t be the one later in life saying I wish I had done this or that. If only if I had not worked so much I would have done…..

It truly is the little things or gestures that were so very meaningful and uplifting to us along the way. How enlightened our day was when we came upon trail magic left for us. To those of you, I thank you so much. To the other trail angels that seemed to go above and beyond, opening your homes to us, picking us up road or trailside and taking us where we needed to go, giving us free lodging or zero days when they were so truly needed, for you words will not adequately express my feelings of gratitude. To all our trail angels I can only promise that I will find a way to pay it forward. Again, what a wonderful world it would be if everyone just did one random act of kindness for another each day.

 I had such a great time through it all. I love all of you that shared this journey with me making it that much more special. I hope to see many of you again, who knows, maybe in the woods, yes, I still love to hike. So as we parted so many times along the journey I will close with the often heard “see you down the trail”.

               

 

The Final Stretch

We are now just a week away from our final steps on the trail. We entered the hundred mile wilderness today and slack packed fifteen miles, some through pouring rain. The terrain was typical Maine rocks, roots, and mud, but certainly gentler than what we experienced in southern Maine. 

Our next post will tell of our summit experience!

Maine

Well folks, I confess: I'm tired. Exhausted really. We are now only two miles from the 2000 mile mark, with 188.2 miles remaining. We are nearing the end and are looking forward to completing our trek. 

 Our journey through the Whites was slow and difficult. We are now in Maine, and the terrain, while different from New Hampshire, has been challenging and difficult. Imagine long, steep climbs up and down granite rock faces, some of which made us wonder if we should have rock climbing gear. Imagine hiking through days of rain and thunderstorms that roll in as you reach the peak of a mountain (truly not where you want to be in a thunderstorm, and yes, I shrieked like a little girl at the booming thunder overhead.) Imagine boulder fields and steep rocky descents. Imagine every size of tree root, all twisted and gnarled together in a path of mud and rocks, which are all treacherously slippery when wet. Imagine mud bogs, where you might sink to your knee in mud if you step in the wrong place (yes, I did). Imagine that you are gingerly proceeding down a rock face one baby step at a time only to have your feet suddenly come flying out from under you so that you land ungraciously with a thud on your ass. Imagine fording a river up to your thigh with a swift current. Imagine all of this while carrying a 35 plus pound pack on your back. At this point, you might be asking if we're crazy, or why in the world we continue. We ask ourselves the same questions from time to time. We are not always happy on our hike. And yet, we love it. The feeling of accomplishment when you conquer the worst possible conditions is part of what keeps us going. And, just when you need it, the most amazing views imaginable. We were descending a peak with gorgeous views of the valleys below the other day when I turned to Trouble and said, "Stop.  Listen. It's so peaceful here." This is the answer to our why. 

Next stop, Monson, ME, our last stop before the finish at Mount Katahdin. 

Us, Two Socks, Trouble and Melkie at the Maine border. 

Two Socks fording one of the easier river crossings. 

Happy to be in town for resupply, laundry, showers, and lunch of a half pound burger. 

The Whites

Since my last very short post, we have made slow progress through the White Mountains. The terrain is the most difficult we've encountered thus far, but also the most beautiful. We have had to readjust our mileage, finding that our longest day in the Whites has been twelve miles, a far cry from our previous 17 to 20 mile days. 

It is difficult to explain to others how slow and difficult our hiking has been the last several days. Two days ago, it took four and a half hours to travel a mere three miles, and we were so exhausted that we set up camp instead of pushing on the extra five miles we had originally planned on doing. The day was cloudy and misty, and the pouring rain that we had hiked through the day before left everything slick. Most of our hike was over a jumble of rocks which when wet were treacherously slippery. Everyone in our group of four slipped and fell, and I was incredibly anxious that someone would be seriously injured.  The day left us mentally and physically spent. We all decided a day off was in order, and are taking a much needed rest day in Gorham, NH. 

We are looking forward to crossing the border into Maine in a few days. Our last state!  We have heard reports that the terrain is even more difficult than what we are currently traversing. That thought is a little daunting, but we will press on with our slow, steady pace. 

Internet and phone service has been intermittent, but hopefully we can post another update soon. 

The waterfall beside the trail while climbing Mt. Moosilauke

View across the Franconia Ridge. This was our best day on the trail, hands down

One of the huts

We were surprised by this sign at the visitors center at the summit of Mt. Washington. We thought perhaps there might be showers or something else to distinguish it as a hiker restroom. Nothing.  I, exhibiting my usual rebellious nature, promptly used the regular restrooms meant for the tourists. 

Some of the difficult , rocky terrain we have encountered. 

The lake at Lake of the Clouds hut. 

New Hampshire

I have so much to share and so little time! I am lying on my sleeping pad on a cot in a guy's garage: someone we just met this afternoon. We hiked into Crawford Notch this morning and then spent the afternoon doing our town chores. 

 I am sleepy and not in the mood to spend the hour or so typing on my phone to update the blog. However, I also know that there are folks our there wondering where the heck we are. We are currently making our way through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, which are breathtakingly beautiful. 345.2 miles to go until we summit Mt. Katahdin! I promise more details when we take a day off. For now, a picture of us at the summit of Mt. Moosilauke. 

1700 miles

Sadly, I have not written in my journal for a week, which means this post will be fairly short. We are still in Vermont, in a little town on the trail called Killington, at mile 1701.5, currently waiting out another rain soaked day at Mountain Meadows Lodge (view from the sitting room below).

Vermont has earned its reputation as the mud state. The trail will be dry and hard packed, and then out of nowhere we find ourselves trudging through thick patches of squishy mud. 

Vermont has also been a reintroduction to climbing mountains again.  We climbed Stratton Mountain, which is where Benton MacKaye conceived the idea for the Appalachian Trail, and the next day Bromley Mtn. which is host to ski slopes. 

Below is a collection of photos for this week. Perhaps next week I'll be more detailed. 

These two girls were working on the trail as we climbed Stratton Mtn. 

View below from atop the fire tower. 

Stratton Pond shelter. 

Stratton Pond. 

View of sunrise from Kid Gore Shelter

Our stop at Green Mountain House in Manchester Center. The owner, Jeff, hung a Canadian flag in Trouble's and my honor. 

Zen Master made salads to go with our lasagna and garlic bread. 

Two Socks and Melkie

Me on the ski lift atop of Bromley. A ride up would have been nice. 

Zen Master found a little friend. 

We came across two areas filled with hundreds of cairns - amazing!

Maneuvering around a fallen tree on the trail. 

Here we are at the marker for 500 miles left. Two Socks, Trouble, me, Zen Master, and Melkie. 

Melkie shows his happiness by rolling in his back. I thought it would be fun to do the same. Melkie approved. 

Crossing a stream. 

We're a few days from Hanover, New Hampshire, our second to last state. 

Till next time, Canadian Bacon out.