Me (Stef) and my hubby (Mark) in our Christmas 2008 Photo (taken by John Hornberger Photography)
I never was much of a cook until I started getting really serious about my health about a year ago, heck, when I was in grad school I nearly burnt the apartment complex down trying to cook a chicken breast! Now I’m out of grad school and have had time to re-explore my passions in life, which includes learning better eating habits to achieve my short and long term fitness goals. I’m a rock climber at heart and a geologist by trade, I love to rock climb and camp! I also enjoy cycling, running, and weight lifting. A finger injury (ulnar nerve problem) from a cycling accident while training for the BP MS150 left me on the sidelines from climbing and cycling until recently and focused me on my running.
In my profession, a lot of models are created to predict the geology miles beneath our feet and translate it to reservoir presence, quality, and performance. The one rule that is universal in creating models that you hear over and over again is “garbage in, garbage out”. It’s a great rule to live by not only for creating models, but for fueling your body too! You put garbage into your body, it will begin a negative feedback cycle that leaves you feeling like crap and not feel up to doing the things you love. However, if you give your body the right fuel, you’ll feel great and energized like when you were a kid with boundless energy to expend on activities that you enjoy.
I’m not a certified nutritionist, but you will see lots of nutritional info on my site (all calculated on the Daily Plate at Livestrong). It’s taken me some time understanding what fuel my body needs to help me feel right and perform at its best. For me, includes a high protein, high fiber diet where I strive to achieve a 30/30/40 macronutrient split most days (30% protein, 30% fat, 40% carbs), though I don’t sweat it if I don’t get there, as long as I’m feeling good! Due to my diet and exercise regimen, this past year and a half I’ve lost ~25lbs and have gone from ~28% BF down to ~18% BF, very close to my ideal of 18% BF while maintaining my weight. I’ve also dropped my cholesterol from >200 to ~160 (>200 was my wake up call, not right for a 20-something). My gains in my cardiovascular health have been impressive as well, in Feb/March 2008, I was straining to walk/jog 15 min/mi. However, in Feb/March 2009, I am now racing at a 8:26 min/mi pace (see my Racing log). My climbing has also improved drastically, going from climbing 5.6-5.7’s in the gym (~May 2008), to climbing 5.10a’s in my peak (Dec 2008) before injury (see my climbing log for term definitions) and am slowly climbing back into my peak performance and (hopefully) beyond!
I believe that eating well is paramount to achieving body image and fitness goals and I hope you join me on my journey. Please, don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions and please support me with comments if you enjoy my site or have tried any of my recipes. I do this purely as a hobby and keep going from positive support from people like you!
