I Want To Make ALL Of This

You know what I like to do in my spare time?  Troll for paleo recipes.

Every day at about 2pm or 3pm my bf and I have this conversation:

me: what do you want for dinner?

him: I don’t know.  What do you want for dinner?

me: I don’t know.  Do you want chicken, beef, pork, or fish?

him: chicken sounds good

me: ok.  I can make this or this?  Or how about this?

and then I go to the store.

I seem to only have a couple options for each category.  And I want to expand my repetoire.

I want to make ALL of this

online:

• asian short ribs by PaleOMG
• pumpkin muffins by Holly Would If She Could – this or something like it, don’t really care about the frosting as much as I have a shit load of canned pumpkin for some reason so therefore I think pumpkin muffins are in order.
•  heroin chicken from Marks Daily Apple – I like this b/c of the name and also it looks yummy.  One of my bf’s favorite dishes is what we like to call “ambien chicken” but requires stove top so I no longer eat it.  Maybe this is something that can replace it?
• spicy avocado slaw by PaleOMG – I’m not a huge fan of turkey unless it’s on thanksgiving or sliced deli-style.  What I’m really interested in is the spicy avocado slaw!
• blackened shrimp on kale w/ mashed swt pot and andouille cream by Paleo Just Do It  
• sweet & sexy wings by PaleOMG  can anyone guess what my new favorite blog is??
• sausage & apple stuffed acorn squash
• chocolate chip cookies by Primal Palate
• butter chicken from Marks Daily Apple
•  thai honey peanut chicken by Tasty Kitchen
• slow cooker bacon wrapped apple bbq chicken by Six Sisters Stuff
• tropical chopped salad by The Clothes Make The Girl 
• rogan josh from The Clothes Make The Girl
• scotch eggs from The Clothes Make The Girl - hmm….with or without the pork rinds….decisions, decisions.

From Sweet Potato Power:

• sweet potato linguine w/ sage & brown butter sauce
• sweet potato frittata
• chard w/ sweet potato, pine nuts, prosciutto
• sweet potato mash
• sweet potato gratin stackers
• on the go sweet potato quiche
• sweet potato bars
• brownie bites
• chocolate sweet potato truffles

From Primal Blueprint:

• broccoli w/ almond dressing
• scallops w/ almonds & bacon

From Paleo Comfort Foods:

• chicken wings
• biscuits
• fried chicken

I’ll be sure to post all of the yummy results!!  Soooooo…..what recipes have you been stalking lately??

You Know What’s Better Than a Gap Size 6?

So back in April I wrote a post called Gap Size 6!!!  I was so excited to get into that number.  And then I strayed…strayed from eating paleo…strayed from eating well in general…and I strayed from my beloved size 6′s.

It’s been several months since then and in the last 6 weeks I’ve been doing a new program.  I’ve lost more in a month of this new program than I did in 4 or 5 months of eating 4 Hour Body/Paleo/Primal altogether.

And you know what’s better than a Gap Size 6??  An INC Size 4!!  That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I comfortably fit into the Macy’s brand INC size 4 jeans.

You know what’s better than an INC Size 4?? Paying $14 for said Size 4 jeans.  You read that right – FOURTEEN DOLLARS.

I have been wearing some pretty baggy jeans in the last few weeks and mozied through Macy’s just to look.  I saw some jeans that were on sale from $80 down to $35.  I thought…well it won’t hurt to try them on.  I tried on a pair of 8′s and a pair of 6′s.  The 6′s were good, but I know I’m losing weight consistently so I thought to myself, why bother right now.  Yeah, it’s a great deal.  But maybe in a couple weeks the 6′s won’t fit anymore.  I told my boyfriend this when I got home and he was like – of course it’s worth $35 for you to have clothes that fit!  Go back there and get them!  Gotta love my boyfriend.  ;)

So back to Macy’s I went a few days later.  And what do I see??  Those same jeans are now $20!!  Well.  I grabbed several pair, long, cropped, light wash, dark wash…just to try on.  I pulled on the first pair and they were a little snug, but I thought they fit pretty well.  Not bad for a 6!  Took them off…they were a size 4!!!  Holy guacamole.  So I snatched up a pair of less snug 6′s, and a couple pairs of 4′s.  Took them up to the register and paid with my Macy’s card and one of those 20% coupons they always have and all 3 of those originally $80 jeans rang up at $14 EACH!!!!!!!!!  Gotta love Macy’s.

This all happened about 2 weeks ago.  The 6′s are now baggy and the 4′s fit perfectly.  :)

50th Post, 6 Months, A New Year

So many milestones today!  But the biggest one is the start of another year for me.  My 35th year.

I spent the last 6 months obsessing over my weight, what I ate, and how I prepared my food.  To be honest, that is 6 months too long for any obsession.  Sure I could stand to lose a few lbs.  Yes, I should exercise more.  But writing about my shouldas and couldas isn’t really making me a happier person.

I love writing and felt a little limited by the subject of food alone.  So I’m going to try to write more often and have a different focus.

I’m sure exercise and diet and specifically paleo/primal will still be a topic I write about…I just don’t want it to be the ONLY topic I write about.

I hope you’ll join me!  Suggestions are welcome!  Who knows where another 6 months will take me…

OMG…YUM!!

I just had to post this recipe – even though it’s not great for weight-loss, it is PERFECT for any chocolate cravings you may have.

You know those scrumptious chocolate lava cakes you find at restaurants, the ones with the melted middle?  This is the paleo version.  Found at my all-time favorite recipe blog Paleo Perfectly.  I love this chick.  I have yet to make something from her website that I don’t like.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (I wasn’t sure if the +1 T was for dusting?  I just put it in the bowl and dusted the muffin cups liberally…probably used a little more than 1T.)
• 1/3 cup honey (she suggests agave or maple syrup or honey…I don’t always like agave, so went with honey this time, might try maple syrup next time.)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp coconut flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Grease muffin cups heavily, and dust with cocoa powder.
3. In large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy.
4. Mix in cocoa powder, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and coconut flour. Mix until smooth.
5. Pour into muffin cups and fill until 3/4 of the way full.
6. Bake for 8 minutes or until the top just sets. (I did 9 minutes and wished I had taken it out at 8…not bad, but not as gooey as I wanted).
7. Enjoy!

I should’ve put my hand in the picture to give some perspective.  This is a salad plate.  These are small muffin size cakes.  The recipe made 8 total.  I would like to point out that I did not have all 3 cakes…but I did eat 2!  I put the rest in the freezer…not sure how they will hold up, but this recipe is so easy that if they don’t, another batch is only 10 minutes away!

No progress = good progress?

Well here I am at the end of April…4 months into this journey.  Just to recap – the first 2 months were pretty strict 4 Hour Body way of eating.  By March, I hit my lifetime legume quotient and basically ate a more paleo diet.  April came and I was ready to buckle down for another month.  But it didn’t really happen.  I ate well probably 75% of the time.  The other 25% was filled with mostly sweets…donuts (who am I eating donuts all the time?), gummy bears, starburst jelly beans (thank you Easter Bunny!), brownies, and whatever else was around.  I also had my fair share of fruit throughout the month.  As much as I thought I would have some pasta or bread or other grain, I really didn’t.  (progress?)  I actually had 2 different nights where I had brown rice pasta and it was just ok.  I piled my plate high and barely touched the pasta.  I would’ve been better off with a bowl of meat sauce.

The good news is that I didn’t gain a single pound in the month of April.  I have remained at the same weight as my last weigh-in.  I consider this lack of weight gain/weight loss as progress.  Now I know what I can do to remain at the same weight!

However I don’t feel like I’ve hit my goal just yet.  My 35th birthday is in exactly 2 months.  And I want to start my 35th year in the best shape of my life!  I want to be healthy, I want visible abs, I want to do the splits!  And I’m almost there.  Seriously, I’m healthier than ever, I have a hint of abs, and I can *almost* do the splits!

I want to focus on cardio this month.  I want to commit to walking 30-45 minutes per day during the week – which sure seems like a lot to me right now considering I do about 0 minutes of walking for exercise per day.  But May 1 is a new day and a new month and I’m going to start new habits.  I’ve been going to Bar Method about 2-3 times per week and would like to commit to 3-4 times per week.  I like the 12pm class which has been on MWF only and starting in May they will offer it MTWTF – so I might even be able to make it 5 times some weeks.  And so I continue on in May with renewed efforts!

On the Paleo Bandwagon

This week my boyfriend (J) has been on the paleo bandwagon big time.  He’s my partner in crime in everything else in life and it’s nice to have him along on this ride too.  He’s been so supportive of me since I started in January.  Sometimes he would eat what I ate and sometimes he didn’t.  Well this week he really buckled down and ate paleo every day with me and I think he truly liked it.  We tried some AMAZING recipes (courtesy of Paleo Perfectly).

Something as simple as salad dressing which reminded me of a dressing my grandma used to make for family dinners.  It was probably just some wishbone mix, but I LOVED it.  And really hadn’t tasted anything like it until this recipe.  My boyfriend’s mom used to make something similar so it took him back too.

We tried pork for the first time this week.  I know that probably sounds funny.  But I never eat it and I didn’t think J liked it, so it just never figured into my grocery list and menu-making.  But this week when we were standing in line at the butcher’s, the guy in front of us bought some pork and out of nowhere J asks him how he prepares it, is it good, can we grill it…so in addition to our steaks, we also tried one teeny tiny piece of pork.  We grilled it up before our steaks as a little protein appetizer and damn if it wasn’t delicious!  Kinda fun to add a whole new item to our repetoire!

We also tried steak lettuce wraps with asian slaw – which was so yummy and a great way to have leftover steak.

And right now I have some banana muffins cooling – this is the first time I’ve used coconut oil, almond flour, or coconut flour.  I added some cinnamon to the recipe.  Super moist and tasty –  success!  And I have some water with lemon and mint chilling in the fridge.  Perfect for this almost summer-like day in Colorado!  Gotta get it in before it supposedly snows tomorrow!

PS – No weigh-ins this week.  I’ve decided not to bother until the end of April.

Goodbye 4HB, Hello Primal/Paleo!

I’ve become obsessed.  First I was obsessed with 4HB…I wanted to make sure I had all the details down and knew all that I had to do in order to lose 20 lbs in 30 days.  And although I didn’t lose 20 lbs in even 90 days, I wouldn’t change a thing.  4HB helped me take a good hard look at what I’ve been eating, it helped me make the leap to no carbs (which is still shocking to me) and eventually led me to my newest obsession…Primal/Paleo!

I’m not even sure how I started reading about Primal/Paleo…I have a few friends who have posted about it on FB.  I even found an article on Tim Ferriss’ blog about Paleo (check it out here)!  I’ve read the books Primal Blueprint and the Paleo Diet as well as countless websites, blogs, and forums.  (Some favorites include: marks daily apple, whole 9, and everyday paleo)  And it just makes sense.  It’s essentially what I’ve been doing – eating whole foods, protein, vegetables, no white stuff, no legumes, no potatoes, corn, peas, processed foods.  They encourage organic/grassfed/etc…and although I’m working on it, I’m not stressing about it too much either.  I’m still learning all the details but I think Primal/Paleo is the most logical next step for me.  My goal now is not about 20lbs of fatloss, it’s about being healthy and feeling good.  I don’t really care about what the scale says, I care more about what my buddha says!  (buddha = stomach).  I’ve found that beans don’t work for me…and turns out that legumes aren’t great for people with autoimmune diseases!  Who knew?  My body told me before I read about it.  When I eat 3 slices of cheesy pizza like I did on Saturday, even if it tastes super yummy (and it did!)…my body is not a fan of it (big buddha-ache!).  Not sure if it’s the cheese or the crust, probably both.  But I’m learning to listen to my body.

So this is my plan right now – eat protein and vegetables (in that order…for more info why, check out Athletic Greens’ email here and his follow-up email here), take athletic greens and fish oil every morning, some fruit (mostly berries)/dairy/wine on weekends only, not be concerned with 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking, 1 cheat meal per week…and I’m going to try to stay gluten-free at this meal as well…wish me luck!

 

 

12 weeks + 4HB = 32″

Today marks the end of 12 weeks on the 4 Hour Body diet and my grand totals are (drumroll please….)

-8lbs

-32″ overall

• neck  -.5″
• shoulders  -5.5″
• chest  -3″
• left bicep  -1.75″, right bicep  -1.25″
• left forearm  -1″, right forearm  -1.5″
• waist  -2.5″
• hips  -3.25″
• left thigh  -4″, right thigh  -5″
• left calf  -1.25″, right calf  -1.5″

I admit, I got the book thinking that I was going to lose 20 lbs in 30 days.  I thought I had to lose 20 lbs in order to lose that many inches!!  In my opinion, the inches speak louder than any number on a scale.  And I was very careful to measure at the same spot every week.  But even if my measurements are off by several inches…the numbers are still an incredible accomplishment to me.  I am the smallest I’ve been in my adult life!  Even after years of working out with a personal trainer and running and biking and swimming in preparation for 3 different triathlons – I wasn’t wearing baggy size 8 jeans like I am now!  I am leaner today after 3 months of just changing my diet and eating a certain way.

The best part about all of this is that I FEEL good.  I sleep better than ever.  I have more energy.  I used to have migraine headaches twice a week.  I have not had a single migraine since starting this program.  That in itself is worth it to me.  Those were brutal and I didn’t think I had any control over them.  But now I do.

And that is something to celebrate…with a big bowl of fruit!

I Have A Confession…

I stopped eating beans.

There I said it.  It’s been a couple weeks, probably most of March.  I just started hating them.  Hate is a strong word, but I think it is aptly used here.  They made me want to throw up.  I just couldn’t do it anymore.  I’m glad I started out with beans.  I think it helped me stay on track in the first 2 months.  Kept me full from meal to meal.  But eventually I had a few meals without beans and my stomach just felt better.  I adjusted to eating protein and veggies.

Seeing as beans are such a huge proponent of the 4HB…I’ve wondered if I’m still “on plan”?  The answer is yes.  I’m on plan.  My plan.  And my plan is ever-evolving.  Looking back at this blog will illustrate just that.  I’ve tried being strict, I’ve tried being relaxed, I’ve tried cold therapy, I’ve tried kettlebells, I’ve tried drinking wine and not drinking wine during the week.  I’ve been constantly tweaking this program every week.  And this is just one more tweak.

I’m coming up on the end of 12 weeks (!!!) on the 4HB and have started thinking about how I’m going to tweak it for the next month.  I’ve been learning more about Primal/Paleo diets lately.  And although they include fruits and sometimes even some dairy in their plans, protein and vegetables are the main ingredients.  It seems like a logical next step for me.  I’m still working out all the differences between the programs and will most likely do some sort of combination of the three.  There are things I like about 4HB and there are things I like about Primal Blueprint and there are things I like about the Paleo diet.  I’m picking and choosing what works for me.  Like I have all along.  :)

 

Double Cheats & a Free Week!

Ahhhh…..what a nice relaxing week of not worrying too much if I’m doing this whole 4HB diet to a “T”!  Last week I had a double cheat weekend followed by a week of eating sensibly but with a few freebies every day and this weekend is turning out to be a double cheat as well.  In addition to eating well, lots of protein and veggies, here is a list of my “cheats”:

Last Saturday (which is typically a Free Day for me) – hash browns, english muffin, pizza, cheese, bread, a few vodka tonics, top ramen

Sunday – hash browns, one pancake, sushi, a mini pie which I like to call a pie-lette (actual size is smaller than the palm of my hand), mac & cheese cup

Monday – 1/2 of a small yam, blueberries

Tuesday – greek yogurt with honey, gummi bears (a lot)

Wednesday – cheese on chipotle bowl, 1/2 of a small yam, blueberries

Thursday – banana, 1/2 of a chocolate bar

Friday – two 6″ corn tortillas, a little cheese/sour cream (I made chicken enchiladas for dinner), 1/2 of a chocolate bar

Saturday (TODAY!) – banana, granola w/ milk

I would also like to add that I had at least one or two glasses of red wine EVERY day – normally I may have one or two glasses in a week, the occasional diet coke – which I usually don’t have at all, and quite a bit of cottage cheese for protein – which I never really had before.  I cut out the protein shakes in the am and stuck with whole foods (hence the cottage cheese).  I went to the Bar Method 3 times but did zero kettlebells or ab work outside of class.  I did take a couple short walks this week, but that is the extent of my exercising.

I did sneak a weigh-in yesterday – c’mon….I was so curious to see if I’ve gained a ton of weight for suddenly eating fruit and all the other off-plan items!  I’m happy to report that I weigh exactly the same as the last time I weighed in.  And I even managed to lose 1/2 inch this week.  So all in all, I would say this week was a SUCCESS!!

I’m not planning on going full-out Free Day today.  And tomorrow we have a family brunch to go to and we are bringing the mimosas.  I’m not going to miss out on that!  So this weekend will be a half-assed Free Weekend.  Monday will be the start of a new week and I am going to try to be super strict with food and up the exercise…for REAL this time!  :)  FYI, rebounding isn’t my thing.  Looks fun, wasn’t so bad the first couple times, but I need a serious sports bra to keep the girls happy.  I think I’ll stick with walking.  And with the 70*+ days we’ve been having, getting some vitamin D might not be a bad idea either.