Cheating Paleo Style

We've made it 7 days Paleo!!! Our only "cheats" were some mashed potatoes (per our nutritionist they're okay as long as we peel em and we did), Paleo-ish Pizza, and a little indulgence at the movie theater with Organic Beef Jerky, dried Mango, and nuts. Mashed potatoes without milk turn out just fine. You could use coconut or almond milk. I used organic chicken broth and some butter (butter doesn't ding us for dairy, it's considered more of an "animal fat" rather than dairy). They were really good. For the Paleo-ish Pizza, I used a coconut flour crust. I was thinking I would use almond flour, but almond flour is hella expensive and then I'd feel guilty about eating more nuts later. I love snacking on nuts. Coconut flour is inexpensive, LOADED with fiber, and absorbs moisture very well so you don't need to use very much of it.

Here's a link to the crust recipe I used: http://eatthecookie.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/dear-pizza-i-missed-you-so-much/. I changed it a little. I don't have a garlic press, so I added extra garlic powder, I added a little extra salt (based on other comments), and I also added a whopping dose of Italian herbs. I cut out just a lil bit of the coconut milk (also based on other comments), and it was pretty darn good! Somewhere between crispy and chewy...didn't get soggy at all. For the sauce I mixed tomato paste with tomato sauce and some more garlic and herbs. And then (here comes the paleo-ISH part) we topped it off with cheese and pepperoni. We really shouldn't have dairy, but for us it doesn't count as a full cheat. We just don't gain anything by eating it. Here's the end result!

And, as I mentioned before, it's LOADED with fiber. Two little slices and I was done. If you eat this at night, the fiber will wake you up early...if you know what I mean. I might make some muffins, too! Yum!

As far as the diet results so far...I feel AWESOME! I have so much energy, my period has gone virtually unnoticed, I've lost several pounds, and cut down a little percentage of my body fat. I don't WANT to cheat. It's amazing. Still lovin' CrossFit, too. Every time I work out, I'm like "That is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life." And the encouragement from all your fellow CrossFitters just can't be beat. You won't find gym camaraderie like that anywhere else. It's too much fun. So looking forward to the next workout.

Paleo PMS Bonus? And CrossFit Inspiration!

Sorry, dudes...you may not want to read this. It's mostly for the ladies. It's cool if you want to stick around though.

My period actually managed to surprise me yesterday. Seriously. Usually there is this long prelude of crying over Hallmark Card commercials, sore boobs, bloating, cramping. I had NONE of that. Zero. I was shocked. Technically, today would be day 2. I should be doubled over in crippling pain right now. It generally feels like a small animal is trying to fork it's way out of my uterus. I feel fine. Did my WOD this morning, visited two dog parks with the Murph (he went SWIMMING!), cooked breakfast for a late lunch. Overall, pretty awesome day. I googled this phenomenon and saw that this blessing has fallen among other female Paleoticians as well. It even helped erase one young woman's uterine fibroids. BONUS! I'm so excited about this. I had no idea this would happen. Hopefully it will help alleviate some of the other health issues I've been experiencing. It also could explain why I've been a food MONSTER for the past week.

Now I would like to offer up a bit of CrossFit Inspiration. Hubs and I love to watch CrossFit videos online, tutorials, work-outs, all kinds of stuff and I stumbled across this amazing video of a young woman who has Cerebral Palsy. Long story short, cerebral palsy does all kinds of horrible stuff to your body through your brain and nervous system. It can be mild or severe, affect one or both sides of the body. This young lady happens to also be partially blind. Seeing what she could do brought tears to my eyes and filled me with hope about my own future. Check it out. If she can do it, you can too.

4 Days! 52 to go?

Here we are, day 4. Not gonna lie...I've been pretty hungry. And THIRSTY! I've been so thirsty. I've been plowing through 4-5 liters of water a day. I've kind of looked into this and apparently lack of carbohydrates can make you experience excessive thirst. I don't know if that's true, but I've seen some other complaints of this on the interwebz from fellow Paleoticians. I just made that word up..."Paleotician." You like?

Snap. I was going to revisit supplements in this blog and I've misplaced my copy of Get the Sugar Out. Hrmph. I've never really stopped the Cod Liver Oil, that's a built in habit for me now. Have I discussed Cod Liver Oil yet? I buy the Carlson's brand in a big bottle in it's natural oil form...no capsules for this girl. Here's my tip for getting it down the hatch. I pour some in a spoon, and as I'm tipping my head back with my mouth wide open I get the spoon as far back there as I can. I'm basically just pouring it down my throat. I've been doing this long enough that the taste doesn't bother me at all. I usually suck the remaining oil off the spoon so nothing is wasted. This stuff comes in orange or lemon flavor, too, so it really does not taste fishy at all. I like Cod Liver Oil more than just Fish Oil because you're getting the extra dose of vitamin D. According to a lot of Dr's these days, NOBODY is getting enough Vitamin D. I spoke to a nurse who had her levels checked after a week of constant sun exposure and she was still low. Go figure.  Another tip. If you do try this stuff but burp it up, take it on an empty stomach. This might help you absorb it better. Before you buy fish/cod liver oil, do some serious research. What type of fish, where did it come from, how is it processed, etc.

I'm also supplementing with a Cal-Mag-Zinc capsule and Glucosamine-Chondroitin. Glucosamine can seriously help with recovery when busting your ass and chondroitin is good for your joints. Cal-mag-zinc are all things that can also help curb cravings when you're trying to get rid of carbs and sugar. That's why I was looking for my Get the Sugar Out book. I think I posted something about these supplements in an earlier blog but I can't find it. Boogers.

I have been hungry. I'm not sure I'm getting enough protein...I need to research that. I may have solved my hunger issues for today with my dinner: ALMOND BUTTER BACON BURGER!

Yum. That was good. I feel pretty satisfied at the moment. If I had any sweet potatoes right now, I would have had a big pile of that with this burger. But I don't have sweet potatoes right now. Maybe next time.

8 Weeks to Change Your Life

Okay...so it's time to bite the bullet and nip this diet issue once and for all. Seriously. If you've been following my blog, you know I've "crossed-over" to the CrossFit side of working out. I finished the fundamentals program at Crossfit Bellevue and have been working my way into doing the regular WOD (workout of the day) classes there. They had a nutrition seminar yesterday about the Paleo Diet (which I've also blogged about) to kick off an 8 WEEK PALEO CHALLENGE. See the picture above? Those are all things you can eat on the Paleo Diet. That's a lot of food! Variety...all delicious...healthy.  So why has it always been so hard for me to stick with it?

That's a difficult question to answer.  I kind of feel like hubs and I tend to sabotage each other on diet. One of us will be trying really hard to stick with it, while the other is like "PIZZAPIZZA." Luckily, we are doing this together. And there's MONEY involved. And PRIZES. Incentive. That's what we've been lacking (as if better health is not enough). They've even come up with a handy spreadsheet to help us track things and calculate points. Half the work is already done. The other half is hitting the gym. 3 WODS a week or more. You get BONUS points for doing other healthy things...like 8 hours of sleep at night, and supplementing with fish oil.

I guess I'm kind of starting over with the blog.  I've tried to stick to strict Paleo before and my heart just wasn't in it. This is the real deal.  Not only are hubs and I doing it together, but about 40 other people at the gym are doing it as well. They've taken my "before" picture. It's been captured. No turning back.  No grains. No dairy.  No legumes.  Here we go.

Dear Blog...

...I'm sorry I've neglected you :-/ It's kinda hard to keep up when you seriously have no time to write. I can't believe it's been so long since I sat down to do this. So what have I been doing with my time?

1) I've completed CrossFit Bellevue Fundamentals! 10 workouts spread out over several weeks working out M/W/F. I think the last workout I blogged was #2? I promise I'll catch up.

2) Hubs and I went from three kids in our Tae Kwon Do classes on T/Th to about 25 students total, give or take a few. Our largest group is the adult group...we have about 15 adults, which is exactly the opposite of what we had going in Missouri. It's crazy! And ALL of our students are AWESOME! Everyone is so dedicated. We had our first Orange Belt Testing with the original 3 and I am so proud of them. It was extremely difficult to not cry while they were getting their belts. These little guys are so awesome.

3) I work. A lot. I'm in the middle of a 9 day work week right now.

So, basically, I haven't had any nights to sit on my ass and do nothing. At least, to do nothing coherently? If that makes any sense?

What else, what else.  Um...I gained 5 lbs. Which is pretty much expected for a CrossFit noob who's upping their protein intake. When you haven't been working out like that and you throw yourself into it, you put on muscle pretty fast.  Ignoring the numbers on the scale, I'm looking at these little differences in my body. My arms look a little more cut, my waist looks a little smaller, my upper back looks a little tighter. Not too shabby.  I'd post pictures, but I'm being lazy right now.

My nemesis is still DIET. Argh. I'm eating clean only about 50% of the time. My body is not going to really change till I kick my bad habits in the arse. One day it's eggs, nuts, fruits, veggies and fish...the next day it's Muscle Milk + Cake/Ice Cream for dinner. What the hell?  I just love food SOOOO much. There's nothing wrong with the good stuff...fresh protein and produce is delicious!!! What's better than ripe, juicy strawberries? Pan seared Tilapia? Crisp spinach? Donuts, apparently. Ack.

All I can do is keep trying, right?  Anywhooo...sorry there's no pictures in this one. I'll try to be more consistent in my posting. Now that I'm no longer in fundamentals, I have a little more freedom in my schedule.

*sigh*

I'm just gonna sit here and veg out while my abs scream at me. I'm not even going to edit this right now. If you find spelling and grammatical errors, please, make fun of me.