Week 1 Wrapup

It was good, aside from the migraine!

Monday was great; I felt really good about my decision to start doing this challenge. I drank tons of water, kept my caloric intake up to par and managed to get a lot of sleep. It’s one of the things I really need to focus on now because my sleep, while deep and through the night, I wake up feeling exceptionally groggy and unhappy- it’s been like this my whole life, though, so I don’t know if there’s anything to fix, I think I just need more of it rather than the 7 hours I appear to get every night. It takes a lot of coffee and time to get up to working capacity. I have no idea how to fix this- any suggestions would be so helpful.

I made it through the week without a single cheat and I feel really good about that. I managed to hit my water goal 4 out of the 7 days. I didn’t get enough water on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and I’m definitely feeling the effects of that. My engagement ring fits pretty tight, my breath has been horrible and, the migraine was definitely not fun-I’m still feeling a tinge in my neck, so I hope that lots of water and coffee today will help. I had about 75 oz of water on Friday and not a whole heck of a lot on the weekend while I worked.

This week will be great; at least I’m going to make it great. I will be doing some grocery shopping this week for myself and mom. Tonight is knitting group- but I don’t know if I’ll go simply because I can’t make any of the food there Paleo; I would usually get a chicken curry wrap and hummus and veggies. The wheat wrap and the hummus aren’t allowed. It seems a waste of money to buy the two things and not eat a lot of it… There’s a salad there, but the goat cheese and walnuts are mixed together, making it very hard to justify eating a strawberry and lettuce salad. I can stop at Outpost and pick up some food but I feel bad about bringing outside food in just because I can’t eat anything on their menu.

Last weeks’ workouts were good. I didn’t go on Friday due to the massive migraine that gave me insomnia until 1 a.m. when I finally slept. I worked a short day on Saturday and worked all day Sunday. I got a LOT of knitting done on my wedding shawl. It feels much more real now. I came home on Sunday and printed 50 invitations, stuffed them and, after a fight with Fiance about it, I hand-addressed all 50 of the invites. And I’m 18 short. More about the knitting on the other blog.

Here’s to another great week. I’m super excited to hit some milestones.

Keeping it up

Day 2 wasn’t bad! I had a really grouchy day after a win and then a series of losses at work. It wasn’t a banner day for me, but I should be seeing some income in the following weeks, so that’s good. I showed up for church really early and sat in my car listening to a podcast and knit on my wedding shawl.

I finished up Wednesday with about 3 or 4 oz of Tilapia and some asparagus and chunks of thick-cut bacon. I added some honey-dijon dressing and it was absoluetly delicious and not a lot of calories, either. I finished off another 16 oz of water, bringing my daily total yesterday to 136 oz. I just barely hit my caloric intake goal for the day and was over until I went to bed after burning a few extra calories.

Again, I slept like a brick last night and woke up groggy when the alarm accidentally went off at 5 a.m.. I slept again until 6 and ignored my alarm until 6:30…late. I jumped out to bed, at least managed to brush my teeth and ran out of the house with just enough time to stop at Kwik Trip to pick up breakfast.

GoGoSqueez AppleStrawberry Applesauce on the go.
2 hardboiled eggs
2 packets of carrots (one for breakfast, one for snack)

I made it to work just in time.

I am deep in the throes of carb flu. I got a double migraine aura during lunch (probably not related to carb flu) and I’m lethargic, my stomach hurts and I want nothing more than pretzels with lots of salt on them…and a nap.

I got a salad with mixed greens, pecans, dried fruit and raspberry vinaigrette. I’m sure the caloric content is tiny. I planned to go to the store after work but can’t imagine walking to the other side of the room let alone walking through the entire store and then driving half the groceries to mom’s and settling at my place.

No. Instead I’m skipping the workout tonight in favor of sleeping with a blanket over my eyes so I can’t see light anymore. I’m sure I’ll cobble something together for dinner with chicken and sweet potato fries. I’m too busy trying to stop the room from spinning right now instead.

That’s all for today.

Day 1

Yesterday was pretty successful! I received a lot of amazing support on social media from everyone and I felt really good about the decision I had made.

My fitbit died halfway through the day and my charger was at my Mom’s house from when I was staying there last week while she had knee replacement surgery. Her recovery is going SO well and she’s trucking around the house like a champ. I’ve told her to get up and move around once every hour, or after every couple of episodes on my Apple TV that I lent her.

So anyway, yesterday I drank 126.9 oz of water and felt like a whale (Fiance says ‘goldfish, not whale, because goldfish are cute like you.’ So adorable) by the end of the day on my way to the workout. I fit into the ‘in the zone’ classification on my fitbit caloric intake for the first time in a while. I worked out for my 60 minutes at the WOD and I slept like a rock last night. Today my fitbit is charging so my step count will be really low for the week, but I’ve been trying to get up and either go to the restroom or fill up my nalgene on a regular basis.

Immediate changes: After 120 oz of water yesterday, my engagement ring fit better than it has in a while! I had more energy and laughed a lot more at work. Though I did have to pee at all times yesterday, which is a downer, but I’m sure my body will respond much easier by the end of the week. The swelling in my feet went down and I fit much better in my danskos this morning, which used to cut into the front of my foot a lot more.

The workout: Last night was GI Jane: 100 Burpee Pull Ups. I did this shortly after starting Crossfit a few years back and I was 20 pounds less than I am now. It’s not a fun thought to think, but I knew a lot of things since then: I was stronger, I was definitely ‘fitter’ in the sense that I can lift more and have more stamina. But I didn’t think about how would be easiest to do this wod. I did the Burpee straight into a jumping pull up, when I should have done 10 burpees into 10 jumping pull ups. After 30 1:1 reps, I was burning out fast and so was time, so I switched to 10:10 and managed to finish the reps much faster. We were given a 15 minute cap and I got through 70. I finished 75 a few years ago and I have no idea what my time was. Regardless, I’m happy with the turnout.

Food: Instead of the pulled pork and sweet potato fries, I had two of the Chicken Supreme salads from Kwik Trip, two small bags of baby carrots and an apple. Total of about 600 calories. I came home and had an Outshine popscicle which put me into the perfect place calorie-wise to go to bed. After a shower and some searching for beer bottle koozies for the party bus on the wedding, I went to bed and didn’t move until I woke up this morning.

Started my morning late, unfortunately, so I was frazzled waking up. The humidity is insane right now. I poured out some Califia Farms Cold Brewed Almond Milk Coffee into my Ello bottle, grabbed two hard-boiled eggs and dashed out the door and made it to work just in time. I’m 32 oz in on the water front and I feel like today is going to be an OK day. No WOD tonight. No idea what’s for dinner, but salad for lunch. Happy Thursday, everyone.

awesome shirt from Thick to Thin

 

Accountability

On the goal board at Badger Crossfit

I’m done being fat. I hate the derisive comments I make about myself and I know Fiance doesn’t like it either. I hate the way I feel when I have a cheat meal. I hate being naked. Or looking at myself in the mirror.

So today it ends.

I stepped on the scale this morning and wasn’t sad or upset- just disappointed. 253. I’ve never been so heavy.

So I’m doing a Whole 45. I’ll be doing strict paleo with a 1000 calorie deficit until August when I go in for my first wedding dress fitting. Ideally I’d like to be down 20 pounds by then, which is completely doable considering how many times I cheat meal on a weekly basis. Which is where the blog comes in.

Keep me accountable. I’ll post all my food and water intake of the day as well as my workouts. Fitbit will be helpful too; it’ll track my intake and outbound calories. I’ll get on the scale every Wednesday morning. I’ll be working out for an hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

115 days until I walk down the aisle. I want to be able to send my dress in for a size down and I want to be able to not feel self-conscious about my pudge on the big day. I want my wedding ring to go on easily despite likely being swollen. I don’t want to be self-conscious and hate the pictures taken on the big day. I want to love me as much as Fiance does.

Day one: Wednesday 6/17/15

Breakfast: Coffee, two hardboiled eggs, two oz of Johnsonville Summer Sausage

Lunch: Bowl of homemade chili with pork, beef, onions, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, mustard and BBQ sauce.

Dinner: Pulled pork and sweet potato fries courtesy of mom’s kitchen.

Snacks: Baby carrots, summer sausage.

Water: At about 20 oz thus far today. Want to be able to refill my nalgene twice more by the end of the day.

 

Next grocery shopping trip: Friday after crossfit. Going to pick up nuts, almond butter, seeds and craisins to make a trail mix for when I’m hungry at work.

Here we go! Wish me luck!

One of Those Paleans

There are a few things that make me a bit weird when it comes to eating paleo.

1.) I suck at eating out. I tip really well when it comes to making the wait staff work to get my order just right. I also usually have to tell people ‘I can’t eat there’ so we have to find other places (read, more expensive) to find food.

2.) I have a tendency to get creative on occasion. Stuff I’ve never made before doesn’t scare me nearly as much as it used to.

3.) I like to proclaim to people that the brownie you just ate and loved was actually made with Sweet Potatoes. And it’s gluten, dairy and sugar free. So there.

4.) I no longer can properly process gluten and especially dairy. It’s not a pretty picture and I have to impress on people how much I cannot cheat if they want to see me in an hour.

5.) If I taste something Paleo and I want to taste it again but not for the price I just paid for it, I will find it elsewhere.

So that brings us to the last three meals I’ve had.

Last night the Urban Caveman Food Truck came to Badger CrossFit and I was elated they brought Truckasaurus out of hibernation and were back on the food-prowl. Boyfriend was finally over his viral plague, so I told him to get something and we would have some awesomeness for supper. He got the cashew chicken curry and I got a chicken salad wrap and their texas style pulled pork with sweet potato mash.

Now, I adore both of the things I got. To the point where I was doing some online searching to try and find the recipe for the chicken salad; of which I may have found one. I’ve been eating chicken systematically throughout the week, so I’ll refrain from making it this week but next week is another matter!

I like the pulled pork but I feel like, if I had the recipe, I’d likely never make it unless I really wanted to. I like that the pork is a little prize for myself after a hard day. It’s so warming and lovely.

Today was another fun one. Boyfriend and I woke up at our normal time (Read, me up a half hour after him because I suck at waking up) and he heated up some Cranberry Orange Buttermilk muffins he’s completely obsessed with. Like completely. Like he told me he would have them for breakfast every day for the rest of his life forever and ever amen. So I keep making them and I make them in double batches so I get 24 muffins out of the recipe.

I went to work with two chicken breasts with the plans to eat them with some thousand island as a dip and some carrots. It’s not amazingly paleo but it works. But then an email came through at about 11 saying that a soup food truck would be outside today. Simmer is made out of an old short-bus and it’s adorable. The smells coming out of this bus were fantastic and I could have sat in there all afternoon just soaking in all the smells. They cater to a vegan/gluten free crowd, which made me a little apprehensive, but I was very happy to see a Brussels Sprouts and Rosemary soup. A few of my coworkers came with me and we became snow-covered quickly in the fat snowflakes falling at speed to the ground. I double checked with the woman in the truck and she told me essentially everything that went into the recipe. When I was satisfied that it was sufficiently Paleo, I got a 16-oz container. While it helped keep my fingers warm I could smell the deliciousness as I was walking back to the office.

The taste is phenomenal. It’s based with a vegetable stock and it’s blended so it’s not like eating giant sprouts and cauliflower florets. It’s not too salty and it has a very well-rounded flavor, though I did feel the rosemary overpowered it at times. I was so happy with the flavors that I did some digging and I found the soup! I was a little happy to say the least, and I have intentions to make this for me and boyfriend this weekend. It’s expected to be cold and snowy this weekend, so it’ll be perfect.

On another note: I have my first day off this weekend. I think my WOD will be to clean all the things for time.

Stay warm, all!

A Herd of Turtles

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I left for the Games. It feels like it was only a couple weeks ago that we were on the plane coming home with a bunch of the Rogue equipment guys and 2010 champ, GRAHAM HOLMBERG. Boyfriend saw him, I didn’t. Though we did our best to stalk him.

I wish I could say that I’ve been wodding a lot, but ever since I got back from California and even before then, I’ve had way too many things go wrong that have prevented me from entering the box.

July 19: I hurt my back moving apartments. It took three weeks for my back to stop being so angry. RockSauce, RockTape, regular ice and chiropractor visits and rest made me go stir crazy but my back got better, so I was OK with it.

August 19: I got a cyst on my left ovary while rowing a 5K. This definitely was a monkey wrench thrown into the mix. I felt pain during the Monday WOD that week but thought it was general female issues until Friday night when my toes were curling in pain and we were headed to the ER. A prescription for Percocet later and we were on our way. I was tender for a good week. The cyst is also messing with my weight. I’m way heavier than I have been in months and I have to assume it’s because of the cyst. I just want it to go away and stop messing with my body.

Now that I’m feeling better, it’s time to get back to my regularly schedule WOD life. Monday was a doozy for one who hasn’t wodded regularly in weeks. It was also about 95 degrees outside, 110 in the box (I swear that thermostat is broken. It always says its 90 degrees in the box. NOT TRUE).

Anyway: Monday.

4 rounds:
15 wall balls

10 Burpees
15 tuck jumps

3 rounds:
150 m run
10 hang power snatch

2 rounds:
10 Power Cleans
10 hand-release push ups

1 round:
60 wall jumps (vertical jump)
60 mountain climbers (2 for 1)

Dying. Just dying.

The burpees were so hard and the snatches killed my already aching shoulders and forearms. I pussed out on the wall balls (6 pounds) and only did 45 pounds for the snatches and cleans (my clean is 95 pounds. I muscled those suckers up). The mountain climbers are so awkward for me. I jiggled a lot. I knew there would be a lot of hardship during this WOD so I did everything I could to make it a little more bearable. I was still dripping in sweat when I finished.

I ran during that WOD. I figured 150m was the best time to do it because it would be short and couldn’t possibly aggravate my achilles enough. I took it extremely slow, to the point where I could actually breathe and carry on a joking conversation with the coach while I ran back in. He was proud, to say the least.

The rest of the classes had a 25 minute time cap. I was in the 6:30 class so we didn’t have a cap and I couldn’t (read: Wouldn’t) not finish and/or stop at 25 minutes. Robb told me to do so but I told him ‘that’s not how I operate’ and he continued to cheer me on through the whole thing. 25 minutes came and went and I was working on the snatches. I finished in 36:46 and collapsed on the mat for an unknown amount of time. I couldn’t properly grip things.

I know you’re supposed to leave your ego at the door but I don’t feel like I’ve done enough unless I actually finish the workout. I can’t DNF. It’s simply not in my nature to not finish.

I stood up when Robb was kicking us out at the end of the night and he gave me a congratulatory hug because he knew I hadn’t wodded in two weeks and I haven’t run in 7 months.

My favorite part of the night was exclaiming to boyfriend that I had run. He had proud.

I then drove to pick n save and picked up a rack of already-cooked ribs, some potato salad and some fresh fruit. I ate dinner at 9 and it was amazing, if not paleo.

I woke up the next morning feeling pretty good but DOMS hit pretty quickly by the afternoon. It hurt to sit, to fully extend my arms and to bend at the waist. It even hurt to walk and laugh.

Sweet potatoes were my savior this week. I had some fries last night as a snack because I’d had dinner at 5 and it was this teeny tiny little salad with nothing on it so I was famished. I’m feeling better, though I didn’t think I’d be able to make it through Wednesday. Better start slowly, in my opinion. I’ll be at Friday night, though!

Next post is going to be recipe-rich, I think. I make chili every week and I’m going to be making some awesome cookies on Labor day. I hope you all have a great and long weekend. I’ll be knitting, baking and enjoying every second of my day off! There will likely be a WOD in there, too.

2013CFGAMESKAL

The title is the tag. I can’t wait for a full weekend of CROSSFIT!
Boyfriend and I board a plane on Wednesday afternoon to LAX and the home of the CrossFit Games, The StubHub Center on the campus of USC: Dominguez Hill.

25,000 people will be there
90 men, women and teams will compete to become the fittest in the world
I will be there
I will be knitting

So. On the CrossFit front: I’ve been doing plenty, but haven’t for a week as I’ve been doing a sort of CrossFit: Functional fitness. I’ve been moving apartments and I’ve been doing quite a bit of lifting, boxing, sorting, etc. with help from Boyfriend, best friend and Mom. I’m currently wrapped in Kinetic tape on three spots. It’s working, too, which makes me very happy.

We had 1 rep max a couple weeks ago and I did pretty good! I PRed my Deadlift (170), Bench Press (70), Clean and Jerk (95) and Snatch (75). Everything was at least a 10 pound PR, which made me really happy. I am also so close to bodyweight Deadlift, so I’m hoping that by the time we do 1RM again in three months, I’ll get it.

On the Paleo front, I recently made sweet potato brownies from Again Faster and took them into work. By the end of the day I had eaten 6 (I was hormonal, what can I say!) and everyone was asking me for the recipe. I even made them with agave nectar so my boss could eat them as she’s preggo.

Other than that, I’ve been working like crazy, knitting some and trying not to freak out over the smallest things. I have only two days of work before Boyfriend and I make our way to California.

So: The Knit/Crochet-a-long:
6 days, starting Midnight on the 22nd, until Midnight on the 28th. Knit something; anything. We are all on Ravelry to post pictures, offer encouragement, and be each others’ judges and coaches. We’re going for no DNFs. As I am the only one attending the actual Games, I’m going with something simple so I’ve picked up skein of Malabrigo Rios to mix with Wintry Mix Plucky Knitter. I’ll do random stripes in just stockinette as it’ll be a quick knit as well as a fun set of colors. I expect there will be plenty of funny looks but I don’t care. I’m so excited to be going again! See you all on ESPN 2 and 3!!

I’m off to my apartment to ice my sore back from picking up countless boxes. Then I get to go unload them.

Life as RX: It’s About Time!

Thank you, everyone, for enduring with me while I go a month without writing. Life has been a little nutty… and awful… and I hate my current situation but I’m still working on it. If things work better in my favor soon, I’ll have a job in a week or two. Cross your fingers!

Anyway!

I started Paleo and CrossFit a little less than a year ago. I’m so glad all of you are here and reading.

I almost thought I was going to skip the WOD on Wednesday but I decided to do it, since I wouldn’t get another WOD in until next Monday. Two this week wasn’t really enough.

I made sure I drank enough water and showed up early to the box with the intent of working on my Double Unders. I had been really happy with them lately after finally breaking the 2-string and got to 4. I was determined to get to 10, which I did 10 minutes and multiple red welts forming on my arms and shins later.

I didn’t look at the whiteboard, as I usually don’t nowadays, until much later; like when everyone at the 4:30 class was all but done. I knew that they were doing Double Unders and Burpees, I just hadn’t bothered to look at the combinations.

I briefly considered doing this WOD RXed, but figured I’d lose my cool and never be able to get the DUs done. I said this to Brie and she said “Which way would give you a better workout?”

The answer was simple: RX, though it’ll take twice as long.

“Then don’t stop when you’re doing the burpees so you can take your time with the DUs.” which made a lot of sense. I usually take FOREVER with my burpees so I knew I’d have to finish the burpees pretty quickly so I can take my time missing some of the Double Unders and still finish with a good time.

A little bit about Wednesday: The temp peaked at 86 and it felt like it in the box. You were sweating before the class even began. My legs were sticking together and I could feel sweat dripping down my back during the Deadlift strength portion.

So, the WOD:
40 Burpees
50 Double Unders
30 Burpees
50 Double Unders
20 Burpees
50 Double Unders
10 Burpees
50 Double Unders

In order to RX it, you had to do chest-to-deck, stand up with a clap for the burpees and, obviously, you had to do the Double Unders, rather than the 150 singles each round.

I was nervous. My hands were sweating. My brain was in overdrive. 3, 2, 1… GO!

I didn’t look at the clock more than once in the entire WOD. I don’t know how long the burpees all took but I know I sucked on the Double Unders. After swearing a few times, noticing that people were onto their 50 double unders AFTER the 30 burpees and I still had 12 to finish on my first set of DUs, started getting to me. I blocked it out, strung a few sets of 3s and 5s together and managed to get to the burpees again.

I don’t think I’ve quite explained to you all how much I hate burpees. My back hurts every time I do burpees. My knees get gross from the mats, my wrists hurt from being forced to carry my upper half and, if dehydrated for the WOD, I get dizzy when getting up. I left wet handprints on the mat as my sweaty palms hit the rubber again and again.

I was onto the 20 burpees while others were done and many were just finishing up. When I had finished the 20 and moved to my rope, I was sure I was the last person on the floor. Brie, Dan and others hung around, cheering me on and counting for me.

What’s weird about this WOD is that I got exponentially better at Double Unders as the WOD went on… In the first two rounds I was stringing two or five together, but by the 3rd and 4th, I was stringing 10 together each time I started. Every now and then I’d trip up and pace a circle before taking a deep breath and starting again, only to stop after 10, sucking air like my lungs didn’t exist.

10 more burpees and 50 double unders stood in my way. I don’t remember doing the burpees. I blocked them out. It was too hard to get off the floor that I decided my brain didn’t need to remember that moment.

50 Double Unders, broken into sets of 10s and nines and my last two after tripping on the rope a few times, and I was done. I collapsed to my knees, gave the high fives offered to me and asked for my water.

Robb came over after a few minutes and gave me a high five while I was still on the floor. “24:32. RX” I yelled at him, “Make sure you write RX on that board!”

“I’ll put it up in giant block writing.” he joked.

And then he really did.

I hung around the box for a good half hour after I was done and got my bearings. I almost puked. I held it down. I made it home in one piece and proudly announced on Facebook that I had RXed my first WOD in 10 months. I was so proud of myself.

I later realized that I had just done 200 double unders when my previous PR was 10.

Thursday morning I was getting ready for an interview when I noticed a band of bruises on my right forearm. And a welt between my first two knuckles on my left hand. And some red marks on my shins. I love this sport. Doesn’t even matter if I’m bruised and beaten up; I absolutely adore CrossFit. I felt so strong. And still do. Every day.

Seriously?

I’m sorry to my readers for this is a serious RANT piece.

Naysayers are everywhere and yet I haven’t seen one in a good long while, if ever, against Paleo.

Until Today.

Murphy sent me a link to a post by celebrity writer/blogger Kimberly Snyder (The link has been removed on the Kimberly Snyder website and auto-redirects to some kale chip demo. meh.  I’m not sorry). I’m almost sorry I’m giving her the views on her website. Her ‘beauty detox’ sounds like a load of dookie and I can’t even believe she thinks she’s a credible source of dietary instruction.

I read this article and grew more and more frustrated at the lack of credible information in said article. Sweet potatoes are allowed in Paleo, Fruit isn’t, Paleo doesn’t have celebrity sponsors or frozen meals or addition of grains and totally processed foods in their crap bin of the frozen food section. Seriously?

I couldn’t help myself from posting the below comment after I saw all the people saying ‘thank you for your post Kimberly!’ and ‘you’re so insightful, I’m so glad I didn’t fall into the trap of the fad diets like this Paleo-bunk!’

So I spent a few minutes and wrote this little ditty.

FAT IS YOUR FRIEND, PEOPLE!

I’ve been Paleo since May of last year and I have been steadily losing weight ever since thanks to the fact that I’ve turned my body into a fat-burning, muscle-building machine. I eat eggs and bacon regularly and split my plate in half of meat and vegetables. I only very occasionally allow fruit as the diet calls for due to the sugar levels in most fruit. I eat lean meats, nuts and root vegetables that are farm fresh, grass fed and NATURALLY occur in the world. If it came from the ground or walked on the ground, I allow it. I have lost 50 pounds, at least 15% body fat and gained multiple pounds of muscle thanks to using Paleo in tandem with CrossFit. I have boundless energy that I didn’t have before starting Paleo and my body is naturally beautiful, my skin is flawless and my PCOS is gone all thanks to Paleo.

The people you’re talking about who gorge themselves on as much food as they want are either training for extreme weight lifting or they’re trying to GAIN weight in the form of muscle. Look at Rich Froning Jr. or Chris Spealler. They eat MORE during the day so they gain muscle to help in their CrossFitting. Average Paleans will also employ portion control, rather than just being extreme with their protein as you’re misleading your readers to believe.

Paleo begins with removing all grains, dairy and legumes, whereas Atkins starts with nothing but protein for weeks and then weans you onto fruits, vegetables and grains, making it an inconceivable diet that will not work or last long. Paleo has lasting qualities in that you can eat chocolate (the darker the better!) and coconut and almond milk offer more calcium and vitamins than dairy milk. Sweet potatoes are allowed and have better nutritional value than white potatoes. Those people who think that eggs will raise your cholesterol just haven’t realized how good they are for you once you cut out all that crap that’s weighing you down.

My 63 year-old mother began Paleo after the urging of my brother and me and she incorporated eggs and bacon three times a week as well as being strict Paleo and she lost 11 pounds in a matter of 6 weeks. Her cholesterol and blood pressure are returning to normal for the first time in decades and she has Paleo and FAT to thank for it. She is boosting her metabolism by fueling her body with nothing but what she’s meant to be eating. Grains and carbs were suffocating her body and she’s finally feeling lighter, sleeping better at night and feeling better overall.

How dare you call something as ingenious as Paleo a ‘fad diet’. I can honestly tell you that Paleo is not going anywhere, nor does it need celebrity sponsors to support it in commercials. Just ask the CrossFit community. EAT <b>CLEAN</b>, TRAIN DIRTY.

I’m still a little frustrated, but I’m now seeing more and more people on the Paleo side of things, who see the light, if you will.

I just wanted to post this here in case my comment didn’t make it to the light of the comment board for too much longer.

 

Please note: Inflammatory comments with false information will not be posted on this blog. I know what I’m talking about, otherwise I wouldn’t have this blog. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m not going to allow you to be a troll. I also have your IP Address when you post. Please practice safe Internet. Thank you

Long Time…

I know it’s been a month since I last blogged… it’s been a month for all of my blogs… I’m not proud of it. But I think it’s about time I came out of hibernation.

The whole 30 challenge wasn’t as stellar as I was hoping, mostly because I had a bit of a…broken…ankle which stopped me from going to the box all that much, so I only lost about 7 pounds overall, and I’ve been struggling with it since then. I’m growing thinner, my chest is smaller and my pants absolutely don’t fit again.

I’ve been still strict Paleo with the exception of dark chocolate since the beginning of the year and my weight has been down since I’ve sprained my non-broken ankle so I’m not working out and being Paleo helps me lose the weight whereas Paleo + CrossFit means I gain weight… I’m sure I’m just not eating enough.

I made pancakes for dinner last night after seeing the recipe on Paleomg.com. She made banana, vanilla and coconut pancakes with a berry compote. I knew I had everything except for the vanilla bean at home and Boyfriend looked like he wanted to eat the screen they were so delicious-looking. I told him I’d make them for dinner when he came over on Sunday and I hoped they’d be amazing.

The recipe calls for two bananas, smashed (perfect, there’s 7 in the freezer), 3 eggs, 3 tablespoons of coconut flour, a splash of vanilla, 1/4 tsp of baking soda and that’s it!

When I made it, the batter was super thin, so I added almond flour to thicken it a bit and got it to a pancake-consistency but it was kind of a mess to make them. Paleo pancakes are much heavier and much more dense than All-Purpose pancakes, so they don’t flip and/or rise the way AP does. Some of them wound up being rather messy until I went to a smaller pancake size (about 2 inches in diameter at most) and was rather successful. They also need to be much more brown before flipping. Oh! and you need higher heat on the pan/griddle. Trust me on that.

We finished off the pancakes with some of the delicious sides made by Boyfriend’s best friend Jon and his wife Amanda for Christmas. I was so grateful that they made these things Paleo for us that it made the massage I bought her seem so mediocre. She created a wine jam, honey butter and lemon curd. Last night was the first time I’d opened the jars since we got them and it was all SO DELICIOUS. The lemon curd was so tart and sweet at the same time and the honey butter made my heart go all aflutter. The jam was the perfect consistency and mixed all together, the pancakes were just amazing. Boyfriend ate them faster than I’d ever seen him eat.

This morning we woke up and the first words out of his mouth were ‘I think you should make some pancakes for breakfast’ and kept insisting (even to the point of whipping the blankets off me and practically pushing me out of bed) until I was in the kitchen making the pancakes. I altered the recipe slightly in that I didn’t use coconut flour, but almond flour and I only put 2 eggs rather than 3 in the mix. It made the batter thicker right away and it was much easier to pour and cook. We used just the curd and honey butter and I wound up scraping up the remnants of it off the plate when the pancakes were all gone. Golly it’s good.

That picture just doesn’t do it justice at all.

So now I get to digress:

My mom started Paleo (HI MOMMY!) at the beginning of the year and has since lost about 11 pounds and astonished her doctor when her cholesterol and blood pressure came back with increasingly normal numbers. The first thing I said to her when she told me this news? “I TOLD YOU BACON WAS GOOD FOR YOU!”

I’m a really great advocate for fat and bacon, to be honest with you. It’s weird that I tell people ‘eat fat’ but they don’t quite understand how good fat is for you. I mean come on… I wouldn’t be nearly 50 pounds down if I ate carbs. There’s a mason jar half-filled with bacon fat reserves, there’s always at least a pound of bacon and 12 eggs in my fridge and I willingly absorb the shock of groceries by shopping on the perimeter of the store. I don’t remember the last time I had bread…or white sugar…or milk chocolate. I no longer have migraines, I have more energy every day and I sleep way better at night. The pros outweigh the cons immeasurably when it comes to eating Paleo.

So when someone posts a status about eating egg whites with spinach and tomatoes, I think, “Where’s the bacon?” to which I get the reply “Bacon got me into this mess” which I just simply can’t believe is true.

Pasta got you into this mess. Bread got you into this mess. CHEESECAKE GOT YOU INTO THIS MESS!

Cut out grains, dairy, excess sugars– and eat clean foods fresh from the market and you’ll be amazed at how quickly the fat falls away to reveal the real you. This world is so full of processed foods or the new ‘fad’ foods to tell you how bad fat is for you and you shouldn’t be eating eggs or bacon because they’ll ruin your cholesterol when it’s simply not true. Take my mother for example: her blood pressure AND cholesterol are down because she’s eating clean; she’s eating bacon and eggs and she’s getting healthy. She ate carbs before and was on tons of medication to regulate her body… I’m willing to bet that in 6 months she’ll be off almost all of her pills and will just be taking fish oil and a multi-vitamin.

The cavemen had something going for them.