10 Days of Action

Goals make these things possible!

It has been several months since I last blogged, or dieted, or worked out, or well done the things I want to do to live the live I want to live, but I did do something and that was read the book, "The Shack", please read it!  It has motivated me to explore a relationship with Jesus in a more open manner, but this story can be for another blog post.  This post is about a kick-start into life the way I want to live it, a jumping off, a beginning of sorts.  I'm calling it '10 DAYS OF ACTION', it is my goal to live 10 days straight of how I really really want to live, to do my very very best over those 10 days.  So, I have goals as to what I think those bests are and will add to them and blog about my 10 days.
First the goals:

• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - Crossfit (now I don't mean just showing up, I mean working my pattooty off)
• Thursday - active rest (golf, walk, yoga, swim, but do something)
• Friday - Crossfit and Happy Hour (yes I can do both, thank you)
• Saturday - Crossfit or something active (hike or swimming) and something fun with friends!
• Sunday - Prep for the week, grocery shopping, food prep, do laundry, clean house, lay out clothes for the week, and all that fun stuff!
• Everyday:
• Walk Layla in the morning for 20 minutes - this means getting my lazy ass out of bed, it means going to bed earlier, it means caring for this wonderful amazing puppy and putting her first!
• Eat Well (cook 80% of my meals, no eating out, lots of veggies, really limit sweets, organic and green)
• Clean house
• Pray / meditate (with a candle and focused intentions)
• Work hard at work, everyday, no goofing off, no surfing, earn my money, and learn new things
• No talking negative about ANYONE, none, nadda, zip -- if you catch me call me out on this, this 10 days is for my positive growth and me focusing on any ones negatives leaves me no where
• Stay in the present time, make a to do list every morning and get it done (be realistic about this)
• blog list and how the day went at the end of day

I'll try and set the blog up like this:

Goals for the day:

Meditation for the day:

Thoughts (negative and positive)

and I'll add food if anyone seams interested. 

I will start this new adventure on Monday, doing some prep work at home on Sunday and being ready to see positive changes in my mental attitude and in my gym time and focus!  

Super bowl = Super Cheats

I did fairly well until today and it was a pretty downhill day, I had some chips and some crackers and some cheese - ok lots of cheese and a few m & m's.  I have a sore throat - had one last night.  I will report back how I feel tomorrow.  I am all set for a great paleo week and am really excited about the gym tomorrow, as is Layla.  Her energy level is back in full force, we had a wicked game of tag when I got home and she is doing some boredom biting.  I would say if she seams well this week then it will be back to the park for her, to burn off some of this energy and play.  I know she misses playing and deserves some serious running.  She is something else and I am amazed at the amount of happiness and joy she has brought in my life.

I got some sad news this weekend, my roommate is moving out, we've had some ups and downs, nothing horrible and he has been a great roommate.  I will miss the friendship and the income (the freedoms this has allowed me).  I like having someone around, it is nice to be alone, and he is pretty funny.  It is always a bummer for me when someone moves out, I always wonder if I'll try and get another roommate or what will happen - guess that is for life to figure out.

Day 30 and all the jeans fit...

I'm sorry I haven't blogged about the trip home, I stayed true to the diet, it wasn't easy.  I really saw where my eating habits started, to be fair to my Mom we do eat really healthy and she always had a veggie and a meat for us, but we were grain heavy and it made this trip home challenging.

My flight was 7 hours late yesterday, this led to a very difficult day 30, very difficult.  I did make it without cheating, but the time I was going to use to shop and prep for today was out the window.  Thank God for freezing my leftovers, today I had more chili and lots of eggs!  LOL!

The jeans really do fit, I just tried on my last pair, I'll take some pictures this weekend.  I am so beat right now that I just want to blog quick and go to bed, so that I can get up and continue living this way.

Here is my post on the Whole 30 from today, it sums stuff up nicely

Day 30 -

Long Post Warning***

Yesterday was the hardest day, I thought I had planned, I had two snacks and a meal with me, but then it happened…I was stuck in an airport, not just any airport, the airport in Pasco, Washington. Little doesn’t describe it well. The airline ordered us pizza’s, we were stuck for 7 hours. Thank goodness that the snack bar had a ‘Washington’ food section and there I found an 10 oz bag of no sugar added, cashew, pistachio, almond, dried cherry mix that cost $10, it was worth it. I made it! I will go over-prepared for now on. :)

Day 30

Stats:

Start Weight 156
Start Pants size 10/33

30 Day weight 140
30 Day pants size 8 (some 6s) / 29

The true victories:

I haven’t slept soundly for at least 3 years and I’ve had recurring nightmares since childhood, I never wake up hungry, I hate going to bed at night. As you can see I have sleep problems. Day 10 slept through the night, by Day 15 I was waking up hungry, I don’t always eat something, but waking up hungry is a start and a goal of mine is to eat breakfast everyday in Feb.
I look forward to going to bed now, I don’t have nightmares, I feel full and not anxious at night. I really believe my nightmares and therefor my anxiety about sleeping was caused by sugar binges late at night. I think this made my brain more active and with my imagination it was a bad combo and became a really horrible cycle. Afraid of sleeping, eat sugar to stay awake, fall asleep, dream horrible, wake up panic stricken and in a sweat, repeat for the last 20 years of my life.

I’m not sure thank-you covers this – Dallas and Melissa from the bottom of my heart – THANK-YOU!
Fellow participants – THANK-YOU – I used your recipes, your encouragement, your struggles to do this and without you I am certain I would not have done it.
Melicious – Your blog rocks! Your recipes are awesome and fun and your joy shows through in every word you write, continue to rock!
Heidi – your story completely inspired me.

As Wayno said earlier this isn’t the end it really is the beginning and tomorrow will be day 31 and so forth.

Day 25 - Feeling Great!

Had an awesome workout today - thanks Ken for giving me the help and direction!  I did the Crossfit Endurance workout on top of my strength work (squat day).  I am squatting, ok it is to a box, and it is with hardly any weight, but everyone starts somewhere.  Endurance work was a row:  Row 1 minute, rest 50 sec, row 1 minute, rest 40 sec, row 1 min, rest 30 ----- so on and then back up again.  It was tough, but worth it.  I am having so much fun in the gym again and feel really challenged!

B - Americano, with coconut milk
L - Chili over cauliflower
S - Elk stick, cherries, and coconut milk smoothie (only had a few drinks of this)
D - two eggs with a big bowl of chili (thank goodness I made that chili on Sunday!)

I cleaned out the fridge and froze stuff and made some snacks for my traveling booty tomorrow.  I just need to shower, pack, and get my ass to bed!  I am super excited about spending my sisters birthday with her.  I have not spent a birthday with her in 18 years, how does that happen?  It is pretty sad, but I am so excited to go home and hang out with her!

My posts may be limited this weekend, but I'll catch up on Sunday or Monday to finish up this challenge!

Day 24 - I am forgetting what day it is now...

Really busy and somewhat stressful day at work, I also took Ms. Layla to the vet today, it looks like she has kennel cough.  Which means that Aunt Tina cannot watch her this weekend (we can't have the Changer's getting sick), this left me with few options as all my friends that can help out have dogs and the vet said she is probably still contagious.  I am going home this weekend for my sisters birthday, I haven't gone home for her birthday for 18 years...
Chance to the rescue, he said he will watch her, I know it is a burden on him and I feel really bad about it, but she will be comfortable here and hopefully get better and that way after next week she will be about back to normal.  They say 4 to 6 weeks with Kennel cough and it's been a week, I guess I didn't plan well for if she is sick and I am traveling....

On the plus side - paleo is awesome and I feel awesome!  I am going to stick with this through Feb, I am thinking I will be able to see ab muscles by my birthday!  So, we will track to that.  I will have a few cheats at the beginning of Feb and a tequila tasting at the end of Feb, but other then those planned cheats I believe it is going to be straight back on it.

B - Americano - with coconut milk
L - Chili with cauliflower
S - elk stick and some cherries
D - stir-fried cauliflower (riced), with coconut ammino's and red bell peppers, and some pepper'd shrimp

Dinner - I totally threw this together at the last minute, I had some peppers I need to dice and freeze and figured I'd throw some in with my cauliflower that I was making to use up and put in the chili.  The stir-fry smelled so good that I added the ammino's and figured it wouldn't go with the chili any longer so I de-thawed some shrimps, flash fried them and wah-la a totally different and completely yummy dinner.  I now have 4 more servings of chili in the freezer, 3 baggies of red bell peppers (great for eggs), a baggie of stir-fried cauliflower for last minute meal, and a bunch of stuff used up before I travel!  Fewwwww,  now I need to pack and order some Vit C for the puppers.

Can you believe it is only 7 more days?  It feels like the time has flown by, this weekend should be interesting, but I know I can do it!

Day 23 - I can't believe I'm in single digits

Ahhh Day 23 one week until I'm done with the challenge - the question remains will I fit into my last pair of jeans?  That is yet to be answered and I'm traveling this weekend - a little scary!

B - Americano with my coconut milk creamer (coconut milk, blended with cinnamon and nutmeg)
L - Chili
S - two elk sticks, coconut milk smoothie, and some cherries
D - I stir-fried some cauliflower, this was yummy and made on the fly, and added it to my chili

Stir-fried cauliflower

1 head cauliflower (chopped small)
3 tbls coconut oil
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

I heated the oil, added the cauliflower and season and let it cook stirring occasionally.  Super yummy and really fast - will use this in the future.

I had a great strength workout and then did some interval rowing, really working on getting some cardio back.  I sure wish I would have taken a body fat percentage before starting paleo, I have a feeling I am loosing fat, but am not sure and it would be fun thing to look at next week.  My Mom sent me a picture of me at Christmas that is really depressing and I am going to post it and a picture of me in the same dress now, I think that will be enough to show the change in my body comp.

Now off to shower and get me and the puppers ready for bed!

Day 22 - Not feeling great -

Woke up today with a tummy ache and just all over not feeling good, this led to not really eating, I really wanted tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich (talk about comfort food).

B - coffee
S - coconut milk smoothie with blueberries (organic these were super duper yummy)
L - a small bowl of chili (which turned out great, I just couldn't eat much)
D - an egg w/ green chili and some chicken sausage

I'll probably head to bed early and try and shake my tummy being upset, cannot believe I'm in the single digits!

Day 21 - THE HOLY GRAIL!!!! I found bacon without sugar...

I did - it's true - bacon, delicious, wonderful, smokey, bacon with out sugar!  I went to a place called 'The Meat Shop' today, as they have grassfed beef and humanly raised pigs, they also make their own sausage and bacon.  I didn't want to go too crazy and spend a bunch of money, but I bought meat for chili, a bunch of bacon, and some bones for Layla.  (who is just as happy with her bone as I am with my bacon)

B - Coffee w/coconut milk cream, two eggs scrambled with chicken sausage
L - None (oops)
D - 4 pieces of back-bacon, a tomato, and an avocado
S - I haven't had one yet, but I'm thinking of coconut milk, so I'll probably make me a smoothie soon

I got my brows and my hair done, I really like my hair and I went to a new lady at the Aveda salon, we have a vision of how I want my hair to look, it will take a couple months, but she is sure we can get there. I feel like 2010, was a pity party stuck in a rut year; and 2011 is already a 'YAY-FOR-ME' year!  I am so grateful for all my friends that helped me through last year and am so excited about all the fun we are going to share this year.

I'll be posting about my 'Paleo-Pants-Party' tomorrow as I make chili, but I'm in a pair that I haven't worn in forever and feeling pretty awesome about that too!  Oh and a shout-out to Ken for making me do all those good-mornings yesterday my hamstrings are on fire, hmmm will those work in place of lunges?  I sure hope so, I really can't lunge.

I can't believe I'm in single digits with this challenge, I'm already planning my meals for the week after the challenge so I don't slip off, I'm going to be working on my bikini quest next!

Day 20 - some CFSW girl time and a happy puppy!

Day 20 is swiftly passing me by and not even a temptation, ok I won't lie I really wanted a glass of wine at dinner, but I didn't have one!  I am slightly worried about next weekend, I know I'm going to want to have a drink with my sister, but I know I have her support in this and am excited about finish up this challenge with my family by my side (I love them so much)!

So today was my first official 'Pay-It-Forward-Day', it was one of my goals for this year.  I am happy to report that paying it forward really helped me today, it helped me focus on all the things I am grateful for and really just helped me be in a pleasant mood.  YAY!

OK - food run down -

B - Americano, coconut-milk cinnamon added to it
L - Chipotle, I had a bowl with pork (humanely raised), medium salsa and guacamole (supper duper yummy)
S - Nada
D - Pita Jungle - I had grilled salmon and sauteed spinach (dilish) and Layla approved

So nice to see all the girls and hangout with some that I hadn't before!  I'm just amazed an motivated by my friends, Tina is challenging herself to hike Camelback 8 times this month!  8 times!  She has done 4 and is on track for finishing this challenge and moving on to the next challenge next month!  I am trying to decide what my challenge will be next month also!  I know I want to keep eating this way, but I also know it is time for me to tackle some of the things on my list.  I will start working on that more.  LeeAnn had a great meeting this week and I am happy it went well, she has also invited me to do some hiking with her and I am making a point of doing that this month (LeeAnn hold me to that!)

I am getting my hair-did tomorrow and am super excited about going to The Meat Shop, fingers crossed for some bacon made without sugar and some good meat for the chili and osso bucco I am going to make this weekend!

Day 19 - Loving Life -

I anticipated being very hungry today - but to my surprise and thankfulness I wasn't.

I, of course, woke up late.  I had already made arrangements for Layla to go to Doggy Daycare (which is heaven for dogs), so I buzzed around getting ready (big interview today) and getting her ready and left the house about 20 minutes late and with breakfast ready to be heated up at work.  Ahhh but there is the problem, I was late for work and had a mysterious 7-12 meeting show up on my calender.  No time to eat, straight to the meeting, the funny thing was, I wasn't starving, I knew I was hungry, but I wasn't  dieing and I surely didn't feel like cheating, I wonder if my hunger from yesterday was all in preparation for a difficult day today?

B - Americano (I did add some coconut milk, with cinnamon and nutmeg in it - this maybe why I wasn't starving, yummy fat)
L - Greek salad with steak, no dressing, this was good.  It was my first non-grass fed steak and I will say my tummy was pretty rumbly afterwards.
S - US Wellness summer sausage with mustard and my coconut milk smoothie (finally)
D - 2 eggs, with the green chili sauce and chicken

I should note that I have been taking a tablespoon of Carson's fish oil (buy on Amazon) in the a.m. and in the p.m.  I also take a really good gluclosomine pill (let me know if you want the brand and I'll post it), this is for my old knees.  I take one HTP-5 right before bed (to help me sleep) and once my non-stevia added natural calm comes in I'll take that too!
I highly recommend taking fish oil to everyone (that isn't allergic or at war), start taking it now!  It is easy for me to take it as a liquid and Carson's isn't fishy at all, no fishy burps either.   Use the fish oil calculator on the Whole9 website, yes it will be a lot and yes you should take that much.

Layla is one pooped puppy, I don't think she has really moved since laying down on the bed.  I'm excited about Crossfit tomorrow and looking forward to a lazy, yet fun weekend!

Day 18 - 'The Day that Hunger Struck'

I was pretty hungry all day today and I ate accordingly:

B - Chicken Sausage & a Coconut Milk Smoothie
L - Chicken Sausage, two eggs, and the rest of my stir-fried veggies
S - US Wellness Summer Sausage Slices w/ some spicy mustard and the rest of the Smoothie
D - Crock pot Chicken Verde, with an egg, and a 1/2 avocado
S - Cashew butter and a 1/2 an apple (breaking my fruit rule, but I was still very hungry)

Remember back to when I got my basket and the 'Mexican add-on', well this week-end I made salsa verde with the tomotillo's, onion, jalapenos, garlic, a bunch of cilantro, some salt and other spices.  I realized yesterday that I would never eat it, so this morning I threw some chicken thighs in the crock-pot and covered it with the salsa and a sliced squash and some chicken broth.  I had a yummy (though needed more spices) dinner waiting for me after Crossfit!  I'll use the sauce for my eggs in the morning the next few days, eggs are so good like that!  I added some more jalapenos to the container tonight, so hopefully it spices up a bit.  I took a picture, but it isn't to pretty so I won't post it.  The meal (which I'll eat for the next couple days) really didn't take much time.  I threw all the fresh stuff in the Cuisinart and the salsa was ready really quick, it probably would have been better if I had roasted the tomotillo's and the jalapenos but it worked fine!

I noticed that I was rather hungry today, still craving protein and fat - I was actually day dreaming about eating a spoonful of coconut oil tonight (I didn't, but I wanted to).  It is amazing how quickly these 18 days have gone!  I can't believe the changes I have noticed in this short of time, I can't wait to track my progress throughout this year, I am really committed to eating like this the majority of the time!  It is over 100 days before we get a day off from work and that time it will be swimsuit weather.  I keep imagining staying committed for that amount of time and all the amazing things that could change.  The really great thing is I feel great about this year!  I feel like I am making the changes that are needed to accomplish the things that I really want to accomplish!

Oh and PS -
I spied my lower back dimples today (they are coming back!)  - I heart them!

Day 17 - and a new puppy trick

Meals are getting easy, if not a little repetitive, I am going to have to spice it up this weekend and try some new things.  Living without bacon and ham has been hard for me.  I sure wish there was some made without sugar, I am venturing to a butcher shop this weekend and they cure all their own hams, bacon's, and sausages, so I will be asking if they have any that are sugar free - crossing my fingers!

I need to get a grill, I think that would help spice things up a bit too.

B - 1/2 salmon cake & coconut milk, berry smoothie (I added a bit too much ginger - eek)
S - none
L - salmon cake & left over veggies
S - paleo kit
D - 2 eggs over-medium (these turned out perfect), with asparagus, tomatoes, & onions
LN - I had a couple bites of the chicken sausage that I was cooking up for breakfast tomorrow.

Layla had her 3rd day of puppy training and we worked on sit at the door and wait and then come and sit.  She does really well when she focuses, honestly I need to work with her more at home, I'll be adding 15 of structured work with her every night to my schedule!  Which sadly means less time for Glee, boo.  Layla learned roll-over today!  OK she doesn't really know it, but she tries and it is very cute.  I'm really blessed that I found such a darn good companion, she is just a treat in my life.

So, I'm feeling like it is all down hill from here, and hoping that I don't get lazy and cheat, I kind of feel like I've proved I can do this at this point and that is not the right attitude to have.  I'm very very tempted to weigh myself and I think I'll be bummed out if I do, so I am sticking to the Whole30 rules and not doing that.

Day 16 - feeling good -

Day 16

B - Chicken & coconut milk smoothie & Americano
L - Salmon Cake and left over chicken salad
S - Chicken salad in bell pepper & a pear
D - Salmon Cake and Stir-fried Veggies with Coconut Ammino's ( I just threw all my veggies that were getting ready to go bad in the pot)  It was terrific.

Had a really good Crossfit workout - I squatted - ok it was only body weight + 25lbs and it was to a box - but come on it's been years since I did that!  I also rowed and stretched a bunch.  I have a fair amount of energy and am excited for this week.  I am starting to feel like my old self, ready for some challenges in the gym and at work, feeling energetic about life in general.  I have a job interview on Thursday, the job would be a big change and would really force me out of my comfort level, I think that would be a good thing, but it is a bit scary.  I'm on the downhill side of my 30, but still the uphill side of making this a lifestyle and not just a temporary change.  :)

Day 15 - Paleo Pants Party!

Ahh heres to lazy Sundays and a pretty big test to my dedication to these 30 days.  Went to watch the football game with friends at the bar today and though I really really wanted a drink I resisted.  I am trying to avoid making big 'cheat' plans also, as this 30 days is a jumping off point to eating like this the majority of the time.  I find this a tad difficult and it will be something I work hard on in the month of Feb.

B - chicken & coconut milk berry smoothie
S - Paleo kit
L - Olives, and chicken salad stuffed peppers
S - chicken, small apple, almond butter
D - Salmon Cakes & stir-fried zucchini

Dinner 

Salmon Cakes
2 Cans Trader Joe's Salmon
1/4 cup diced onions
1 Stalk diced celery
2 eggs
1/2 diced red bell pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup almond flour

Mixed this all up and formed 4 patties, cooked in walnut oil - these were yummy and I have 3 left for meals this week.

I also made up some tomotillo salsa, I think I'll cook some pork in this later this week, it is tasty, but needs a night to develop the spices.

Layla seams to be on the mend, no coughing today, which is great and means I should be able to take her out and about this week - whewwwww - I was starting to feel sorry for her as she has kind of been stuck at home.


So, exciting news is that I very comfortably fit into my next size down jeans - in fact they are a tad loose on me!  Super skinny jeans - here I come!  Hmmmm what's next a bikini (ok I won't push it - yet)!

I had more fruit yesterday then I normally do and I had pretty vivid and active dreams (not nightmares), I really do think this is a sugar sensitivity thing.  I love sleeping well and I am feeling that my sleep has improved, but it will be difficult to keep the sugar out of my life.  I guess I know it is a trade off now and will have to make decisions based on that knowledge.
Looking forward to a fun week of eating well, working out, and playing with Layla!

Day 14 - Crossfit Fun and Games

Today was pretty much a breeze - besides not getting any sleep last night because of a coughing puppy - ugh.

I got up early and got my Bountiful Basket, I got the organic basket, which is $25 and I got all this stuff - plus some potato's that I'll give away at work:

I also got the 'Mexican Add-On' and got all this yummy stuff - I see some tomotillo salsa in my future!

Meals went like this:

B - Chicken Sausage and egg, 1/2 the berry & coconut milk smoothie
S - None
L - Chicken salad in bell peppers, stir-fry veggies mixed with homemade mayo, & black tea
S - Apple with piece of Turkey breast & nuts
D - Scotch egg and big bowl of stir-fry veggie salad with tomato & dried pineapple

We went and watched the gym compete in a local competition and everyone did really well - it was a fun day out in the sun.  It is certain that I'll be a little bit burned, but it was worth it.  Layla isn't coughing and she is eating, but she has been rather lazy today, hopefully she is on the mend.
I got a bunch of stuff done around the house, now I am ready to go watch some football tomorrow - GO SEA-SHOCKS!!!

Day 13 - and possible kennel cough

Today was a breeze, honestly food is getting easier and I am really learning to not over think it and to remember it doesn't take long to whip something up!

B - chicken sausage & coconut milk, berry smoothie (I added almond butter, ginger, & cinnamon)
S - nothing
L - chipotle (yummy)
S - kale chips - which I munched on while making a bunch of stuff tonight!
D - scotch egg and stir-fry veggies (that I didn't stir-fry) mixed with my homemade mayo and some spices (it was very similar to ranch)!

Dinner

Tonight I made homemade mayo and it turned out lovely, I understand why the recipe called for light olive oil, mine tasted a little olive oil heavy and when I make it again I'll get some light stuff - I think it will be perfect.
I made the recipe from Melissa 'Melicious' blog that I posted a few blogs ago, if you go to her blog and search mayo - you'll get the recipe.  I followed it to a tee and it actually took me about 4 minutes to add all the oil - so pour that slow.
I also made scotch eggs, chicken salad, my berry smoothie, cut up a pepper and packed my lunch & snacks for a Crossfit outing tomorrow.
There is a little friendly competition tomorrow at a local Crossfit and Amy, Tina, and LeeAnn and I are all venturing to watch some of the athletes from our gym compete!  I am excited as a day with the 'Crossfit Girls' is like 5 days of therapy for me - I am really blessed to have found them and really I need to spend more time with them.
That brings me to another wonderful-charming-intelligent-and-handsome friend of mine Joe Luke!  That is who I went to lunch with today and he is so sweet I swear he listens to me bitch for an hour straight and remains positive!  It is awesome, I miss working with him.  I did send him on a mission to find a guy I can go on a proper date with this year - we will see how he does!  LOL!

On to kennel cough - Layla woke up at 4:00 this morning with a horrible gagging cough, this hasn't gone away.  LeeAnn said that is what Rudy sounded like when he got kennel cough.  She did play and eat and drink today so I am just going to ride this out and hope it doesn't get much worse.  She usually sleeps in my bed, but she has chosen to be in her kennel and doesn't sound to great right now.  Eeek - I hope she and I can get some sleep.  Poop boo boo.

Day 12 - Missing Pieces - Doggy Day Care

Today was day 12 of paleo and though I felt great today, I got rather bored at work and this led to reading reviews, which led to resteraunt menus and I started feeling like I could never eat that stuff again - which is silly.  My ultimate goal is to be 90% with Paleo and be alright with the 10% I'm not.  Which leaves lots of room for sushi, foi gras, sake, and what not.

Run down on the meals today:

B - berry coconut milk smoothie and a chicken sausage (Whole Foods)
S - none
L - roasted chicken and roasted cauliflower
S - grass fed paleo kit
D - chicken sausage (so yummy I wanted it for dinner), roasted cauliflower, heirloom tomato salad

While I made dinner, I de-boned the rest of the chicken, to turn into yummy chicken salad that I make with the homemade mayo I am making tomorrow for my lunch on Saturday - you know you have turned a paleo page when you plan lunch two days away!  Ha Ha!  I also made another berry concoction for breakfast tomorrow, this time I added some almond butter, ginger, and cinnimon - it is so terrifically good!

Today was Layla's first day in doggy day care, now I cannot afford to do that very often for her, but on days that I am going to be out of pocket and can't get her the exercise she needs I am going to do that.  She had so much fun!  They give you a little report card and she played with all the big dogs, her report card said, "Layla is a very social/playful dog and was fun having in daycare today!  She played with many new friends and had no fear!  Layla loved the pool and enjoyed tag, chase and wrestling around a lot!  Come back soon! "  She is one pooped out puppy, she ate when she got home and went to bed, it is pretty awesome and I feel really good about that decision.

Missing Pieces - and some frustration - I want to do this Challenge and I am doing it for myself, but the gym sponsored this and each participant put in $50, the deal is if you cheat then you forfeit your $50, and if not you get your $50 back.  I don't remember what happens to the forfeited money.  I post on their website too and hardly anyone ever responds, even the person running it.  It makes me a little sad and if I wasn't motivated for myself it would be demotivating.  I am lucky to have the Whole30 website also and I post there and get feedback and feel supported, just wish my gym was the same way.  I feel like I'm being annoying by posting anything.  Oh well...

I think I'm all set for tomorrow, I just need to get my ass to work early so I can get my oil changed, take Layla to the park, and get my booty to Crossfit!  I know I can do it!

Paleo Day 11 - Energy is increasing - mood is mellowing

First I'll run through the food and then the day!

B - Americano - I swear next week I'll do better
L - Chipotle (woo hoo)
S - none
D - Organic roasted chicken (Whole Foods), kale chips, greens, and an heirloom tomato salad
S - Coconut milk, berry, icee thing

Dinner!  Yummy

Berry Coconut milk icee thing

For dinner I just cut up the tomato's and sprinkled some vinegar and salt on it.  

The delish looking berry thing is:  1/4 cup frozen berry mix from TJ's, 1/4 cup coconut milk, cinnamon, ice and some water, blended this to make a drink, but it came out more like and ice cream thing - it was tart, but super yummy and is probably the reason I am feeling energetic when it is bed time.  

OK - for the day, I had a rough time getting out of bed today, just really sleepy, the GREAT thing is I have been sleeping really solid, with little to no dreams, seriously feel peaceful at night and it is awesome!  I believe the root of all my sleeping problems is sugar - seriously - I will expand on this in a future blog because it is rather scary.  On that note I won't be having any more berry drinks before bed, but I think this would perfect in the morning with a couple eggs!  Hurray!  Oh and I only drank 1/4 of it so I have some in the refrigerator right now.

Here is the bad news - duh - duh - duh - my knee is swollen.  I know it is from the stupid run, but that means I can't do the interval training that I wanted to do to take the 4 minutes off of my run, I am not going to let this get me down.  I am not.  I did 6 minutes of interval training on the rower and will keep doing that and work up to 15 minutes of it.  I need to get some lungs if I want to do the run.  I am icing my knee right now so hopefully I can better control this and not let it control me the way it has in the past.  

The good news, besides the sleep is three part:  Layla did fine by herself on the patio today, I won't do that every day, but I will some and I won't feel guilty about it.  I fit into a pair of my skinnier work pants that I haven't worn for a few months! and last but not least - I had a wonderful lunch with my friend Kevin today, chatting and catching up - it was awesome!  

I did go to Crossfit - no excuses allowed - I have goals damn it!  I did some warm up and then some dead lifts and presses - then rowed for a bit.  I'll get there, my body just isn't going to let me push as hard as I want to and that is just going to have to be ok.

Here's to day 11, a sleeping puppy, and wonderful life!

Paleo Day 10 - Puppy Class 2 - blah blah day

Walking in my front gate today I discover a foot deep hole that someone has dug, now I'm pretty sure that Chance (my roommate) didn't do that and when I walk inside and out to the patio I see a puppy covered in dirt.  We had class to go to so that meant a bath was in order, which on the list of things that Layla likes to do that is number 100000andnever, but I'm in a crappy mood and really don't have time for her BS so in the bath she went.  I'll run through my food today and then venture back to puppy class.

B - black tea (really I am trying to do better)
S - tuna and walnuts and pesto
L - same as dinner last night
S - macadamia nuts
D - lemon & garlic marinated sea scallops and greens

I know I need more food, which may be why I'm grumpy pants today, the thing is I want something sweet, but nothing sounds good enough to make me cheat and everything else seams like to much work.  I did stop and get some frozen berries from TJ's and I'll get some coconut milk tomorrow and try and make a berry smoothie - maybe that will help with my 'funk'.

On to puppy class, well I figured it would be a rough one, because obviously from the digging, Layla was bored and didn't get enough exercise today - bummer - but to my surprise she did well.  Down is by far her hardest command, but towards the end of the session she was doing that like a pro.

So far we have learned:

Sit, Down, Look at me, 4 paws on the ground, leave it in the hand

Then tonight we learned:

Puppy push-up (really cute we will work harder on this), leave it on the ground (needs work on this), sit and wait, and down and wait

Layla is really smart she just gets bored and frustrated, so her and I need to work more and obviously I need to exercise her more - eek I don't know where I'll find the time - but I want a happy and content doggy so I will just need to figure it out.

OK - off to bed soon - it's almost past my bedtime.

Paleo Day 9 - Here come the fat cravings

Feeling pretty fantastic today, I'm not starving like I usually am at this point, I think it is because I have cut out the sugar completely, I have a feeling that is a big problem with my past failures.  I have only had 1/2 half of an emergency Larabar, that was Friday (sorry I forgot that on my food).

Today food stuff:

B - Americano - I swear I am going to do better...
L - two eggs scrambled with some salsa and a big bunch of spinach
S - walnuts and tuna (yummy)
D - Greens (same recipe as before, except no bacon (just bacon fat) and I added some spinach that was about to go bad, pepper crusted coconut crisped shrimp, and pesto sauce.

Recipes:

The picture does not do this meal justice!

Pesto Sauce:

1 Cup olive oil
1 Cup walnuts
4 Garlic cloves
Salt
A bunch of basil (I used about 4 cups, could have used more)
Juice of half a lemon

In food processor, add first 4 ingredients, process until smooth, then add the last two process again.  I could probably drink this (fat cravings for real).

While this was happening I was boiling eggs, making greens and rinsing my already cooked, cleaned, and peeled shrimp (it's the only way I'll buy them I had a problem once with them).

Shrimp:

Heated up some coconut oil, put pepper on shrimp, crisped the shrimp.

The pesto doesn't look great, but it really is!

I went to Crossfit today, had a decent workout and am feeling pretty good!  

Drill Weekend - Paleo Success - Fitness Failure

Just a quick update, I'll try and give my meals for the last three days and get back on track with my blog this week.

Friday -

B - None
L - Scotch Egg, pan seared zucchini (this was really easy to make and delish)
S - Scotch Egg, blueberries
D - Grass-Fed Paleo Kit

Sat -
B - None
L - left over cauliflower - meat mixture stuffed in a pepper
D - Scotch egg

Sun -
B - Paleo Kit
L - same as Sat
D - Paleo Kit

OK the largest problem you see above is the quantity of food (really lacking in leafy greens and quantity), but I can honestly say I am not hungry and I feel purty damn good, I would say quality has played a key in this.  I am really proud of not cheating, but know I can do better.

So, though my diet was a success I had my first ever fitness failure, I kind of thought it would happen, but am still really bummed that it did.

We are tested in 4 area's and a fail in any of them = a fail over all.  The areas are: waist measurement, push-ups, sit-ups, & run.

My breakdown:
Waist Measurement = max points 30"
Push-ups = max points are 10, I got 9 with 27 pushups
Sit-ups = max points are 10, I got 8 with 38 sit-ups (I can do better on this!)
Run = I needed to do it in a few seconds less then 17:00 to pass, I ran it in 18:00.

I have a million and one excuses, but the reality is I couldn't breathe, I didn't have the lungs and if I would have spent 30 minutes on the bike or 15 minutes on the rower a few times a week last year as I was recovering I could have killed the run.  So, I am not giving any excuses, I F'd up and I had a year pity-party for me and my knee, well that is over!  I proved it is over with changing my diet and now its time to work on this run!
A few positives from this test: my knee doesn't hurt - that is F'ing huge - HUGE!  I feel fairly recovered (a little sore, but pretty good). I rocked the push-ups!  It proved I am on the right track with diet.  During my Paleo Challenge I am not supposed to weigh myself, but they weighed me today so check this, a week before the challenge my Dr. weighed me at 158lbs I was sick that week and started the challenge the next and now it is a week after the challenge began and I weighed in at 140lbs!

Hold me accountable - please!  They are letting me 're-test' next month, 3 weeks from now.  I promised I would pass which is 1.5 minutes off my time, but what I really want to do is get above a 90%, which is 4 minutes off my time!  I really want to do it and am going to work my ass off the next three weeks to accomplish this goal.

I have pictures of my cooler and some meals, but I'll post later, I'm a pooped puppy!

Scotch Egg and Zucchini

Everything ready for the cooler (wish I would have eaten it all)

Paleo Day 5 - wheeeeewwww

Quick food run down, not my best day and you will see why...

B - black tea, got to work and got to busy to eat what I brought.
L - beef stew, 1/2 bag steamed spinach, 2 apple pieces
S - two eggs, bacon, salsa scramble, 1/4 avocado, the rest of the apple (eek)
D - 1/2 hard boiled egg, one of the most delish scotch eggs I've ever had, and some kale chips (OMG SO GOOD)

It is easy to see I lacked food today, the funny thing is I'm not hungry and I don't feel deprived.

Let's do a run down of the day and then I'll post the kale chips pictures and stuff!

After work -
Took puppy to park, played and played
Stopped at Sprouts, grabbed the rest of the stuff for this weekend
Gas station - filled up for weekend of traveling
Home - hard boiled eggs, made kale chips, made scotch-eggs (for this weekend), packed Layla (her first trip to Tucson and I am taking her to the shop I hope it's ok), packed me, washed rinsed and cut all needed veggies for trip, burned myself on stove, ahhhhh sitting down to blog and get my booty to bed on time, no Facebook time for me - boo - but YAY to sleep!

A special thanks to: http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.blogspot.com/  I got the recipes from her (I adapted them a bit, but when don't I)

OK Food stuff:

Roasted Kale Chips

Kale
Olive Oil
Salt
Cayenne pepper

Pre-heat oven 355, wash kale, remove stems and cut to chip size, dry kale - salad spin - and then lay out and dry, the drier the better.  Olive Oil the kale, loving rub the oil in every piece of kale, sprinkle with spices.  Bake for 12 minutes or until crispy, I seriously almost ate a whole bunch of kale - cracked out on this!

Scotch Egg's

3lbs sausage - I used chorizo (sp?) from Sprouts because it was the only sausage without sugar!!!  Oh and it is yummy
7 hard boiled eggs (you should peel them unless you want them super crunchy)

Pre-heat oven 375, wrap the sausage around the egg, your gonna need to pound it out as flat as possible and the lovingly with a smile handle that meat until it smoothly surrounds your egg.  Place on a foiled baking sheet (easy clean up) and bake for 20 - 25 minutes, mine took 35 and could have been in a bit longer, but that's 'cause I like it a little crunch!

Yummy Kale Chips!

Scotch Eggs all snuggled in ready for their trip!

I'll try and remember to take pictures of my cooler and what 7 meals and 4 snacks look like all packed up!
Oh and Happy Birthday to my lovely wonderful super duper fun war buddy Cat!

Day Four Paleo - Poop is here!

Ahhhh lovely day, happy day, joyful day!!!  This post will be a tad personal, I poop, like regularly poop.  Every morning and sometimes at night after a big meal, well the first three days of Paleo, no poop, poop is gone and it doesn't feel good.  Today though all is better!  Now I should make big strides!  Woo Hoo!

I made a delish beef stew for tonight's dinner:

2lb stew meat
2 onions
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Deikon (this was a mistake but yummy)
2 Parsnips
4 pieces of bacon
Cayenne, pepper, salt, parsley (fresh), garlic salt, red peppers

Caramelized two onions, then browned the meat, then cut up all the veggies and put it all in the crock-pot and let it cook all day.  It smelled amazing, but a funny thing happened when I got home, oh wait I'll get to it let me take you through my meals today.

B - Hard-boiled egg, blueberries, walnuts, a couple pieces of broccoli
L - Rest of my greens (sad face) and 1/2 can tuna
PWO - OMG I think I found the best thing in the whole wide world!!!!  After lunch, at my desk, I had 1/2 can of tuna and one zip lock baggie that had some walnuts in it - hhhhhhmmmmmm - yup I dumped it in to eat after my workout.  I had it and a few pieces of butternut squash.  Holy hell it was heaven and I mean it!
D - so I think I was on a protein buzz, but I decided I didn't want my stew and I really wanted some eggs with spinach, so I cooked that up and swiftly stored the stew.  1/2 in freezer bag, 1/2 in refrigerator.

If I had some meat spice for the tuna it would have been perfect, I know what my PWO meal will be for now on!!!  YAY.

My workouts are not that extreme, basically I am warming up with the Crossfit class and then I am doing a heavy lifting cycle, dead-lifts and strict presses, and then a ton of foam rolling and stretching.  I'm easing my old-tired-broken body into this so I can be a strong-fit-healthy body sooner!

Paleo Day 3 / Puppy Lesson's Day 1

My Paleo food looked just like yesterdays, except I had:

Americano from Dutch Brother's, black (if you have one of these you should go to it, their coffee isn't bitter at all)
Then a couple hours after I was awake I had a hard-boiled egg, some olives, cut up red bell pepper, walnuts, and some blueberries (I had this as my afternoon snack too).

On to puppy lesson's - Layla did good, though she stops listening to me, like completely ignores me.  It is a little frustrating because she will pay attention to the instructor, but it is like she tunes me out.
On a little worried note, she has a scrape on her belly by her hind leg, I don't know how she got it, I'll inspect it shortly and see if it requires some cleaning.  She was super-duper whiney last night and I'm thinking she got it yesterday and couldn't get comfortable today - bummer.

I'm really working on my sleep so I'll be off to bed shortly, trying to put away time for 8.5 - 9 hours a night - that seams like a lot, but I've heard it is really important.  On Tuesdays this will leave little time for reading or food prep, still need to do better on that - though I have stuff ready for the crock-pot tomorrow.  Check back in because I think it will be good!

Day 3 musings -
Slept horrible last night
Energy felt ok today, though I felt a little wired
Started having those weird cravings, like I must have DQ, I want a cookie, I'm eating that whole block of blue cheese (all of this is silly and I can't wait for it to pass)

Paleo Day 2

I did better today with the cooking and eating, todays meals:

2 eggy muffins, black tea
Breakfast Steak, collard greens
Coconut, Curry, Chicken (in the Crock-pot), a side of greens, and 1/2 an avocado
I tried to drink a lot of water, I still feel dehydrated so maybe not enough yet.

The greens are actually my very favorite paleo side dish, I could seriously eat these every day!

How I make them:

4 pieces of bacon
1 Diced onion
1 Cup chicken broth
1 Bag collard greens (Trader Joe's)

I fried up the bacon in a big pan, when done take the bacon out and shred it, add the onion to the bacon grease and saute, add the greens, add the bacon and the chicken broth, cover for about 10 minutes!

So the chicken was a throw together and I'll work on it, as it has strong potential to be great.

6 Chicken thighs
6 Chicken wings (I like having the bones in the crock-pot)
1 Can Coconut Milk
1 Chopped Onion
1 Can chopped tomatoes
Curry Powder
Cayenne pepper
Salt
Black Pepper

Throw in crock-pot.
This needed more spice, I think next time I'll brown the chicken with salt and curry powder and I'll use more Cayenne pepper, I'll also omit the tomatoes and figure a different veggie to go in.
It did have good flavor - so is a good starting point!

Lunch

Dinner

I have enough chicken and greens for lunch and diner tomorrow, also another breakfast steak so I should be all set for the next day or so, I packed a snack bag for work tomorrow, though should be coming home at lunch to take the puppy for a walk.

On the journey side of this blog - I went back to Crossfit today!  I had a nice strength workout and tiny tiny cardio workout.  I'll be doing a strength cycle for the next six weeks with Ken guiding me ;).
I take my fitness test this weekend for the military and I think this may be the first time that I will ever fail it, I'm really saddened by this, because I know if I took it next month I would pass and I wasn't supposed to have to take it until March - so yeah I'm a bit pissy about it.  My positive reflection on that is it is a baseline and really won't affect me in a negative way.

Tomorrow is our first puppy class and I am very excited, I really want to get Layla walking on the leash better, I would say that is my number one priority.  I think her number one priority is to get me to cook her an egg (which she loves and I do make for her).

Only 28 days more of the Paleo Challenge and I'm pretty happy about it!

Day 1 Paleo

Today I was all ready to go to a Paleo cooking class being offered by my gym (the amazing and wonderful Crossfit Southwest), but last night I was having bloody noses (gross), from being dehydrated and sick still. I decided not to go.

I knew I still needed to do some prep work for this week, luckily I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday, which is really good as I have drill this weekend and need to get some stuff done to prep for this.

I took Layla to the dog park, where she ran and wrestled and played and had a blast!  Then when I got home I made a brunch for myself.  Breakfast is my toughest meal, not because I don't like it, but because I am not hungry until around 11:30, even when I get up early, it's weird.   For my brunch I had two eggs, some spinach, and the rest of my puppers stuffing, it was super yummy.

Later in the day it was on to some shopping and then prep work for the week:

I made egg-muffins, I kind of make up my own recipe for this, but there about a million of them on the net.  This is what I do:
Pre-heat oven to 350, mix whatever ingredients I want to use with about 7 eggs, bake for 25 minutes.  Today I used some spinach that needed used up and a teaspoon of Trader Joe's salsa.  I didn't grease the cups because last time that didn't work so I used liners (this didn't work either), going back to grease next time.  They are edible though and will be my breakfast next week.

 

I also boiled up some eggs for snacks, it was about at this time that I realized I had thought of nothing for dinner - ugh.

What to do?  What to do?  The most important part of eating Paleo is to be prepared and here it is day 1 and I am not prepared, but I didn't fear, I had broccoli and some TJ's chicken patties.

I used LeeAnn's famous broccoli recipe: cut up some broccoli, add salt, red pepper flakes, garlic salt, some olive oil, and a cup of water, cover, cook on high for 5 minutes (tops).  I added some chopped bell pepper and wha-la dinner.

So, the Paleo challenge begins, I am a little nervous, but am ready for the fun - thanks to my friends that have stopped in to read the blog!

2011 (and some 2012 Goals)

There is a chance that I'll add to this list, but this is my list this year!

Family

-Hike the Grand Canyon with my Mom

-Go on an overnight hike just me and Layla (eek)

-Send everyone a birthday card this year (2011)

Fitness

- 200lb Dead lift

-10 Pull ups (in a row)

-30 Days strict Paleo eating

-Run the Pat Tillman Race

-Run the Bisbee Stair climb

-Make a whole Paleo Thanksgiving meal

-Score above a 90 on my fitness test

Fun

-Train my dog to:

leash walk

sit

stay

roll over

high five

greet

play dead

-Read 3 classic novels 

-Organize a rafting trip

-Go surfing (preferably to a class)

-Go to Thailand

-Go to a Blues Bar

-Couch-Surf someone else's couch

-Go to John & Melanie's wedding in Michigan

-Watch the sun RISE over an ocean

-Take Tina camping, this sounds like a funny goal, but Tina doesn't like the outdoors and I think she would have fun! (a cabin counts)

-Go to the Ballet
-See my friend Cat
-Organize a hike (girls time)

Fextra

-Organize my closet

-Organize my garage

-Paint my bedroom an extreme color

-Paint my baseboards

-Go out on a proper date

-Organize a charity event

-Do the 3 Day Cancer Walk

-Buy a gun

-Have a 'pay it forward day' once a month for a year - post on FB and Blog

-Buy a little black dress

-Take a college class

-Go to a City Council meeting