On Holiday

Today's noms will comprise of grass-fed beef and a fennel/apple salad with fresh orange juice/EVOO vinaigrette. Then it's off to a church retreat in the Outer Banks. So absolutely excited and ready for a gosh darn break! My second cold of the month is finally subsiding *hooray* and sea air should be just the ticket for reviving the spirits. Tabata sprints in the sand sound like fun too...
CFVB's Paleo Challenge ends in ONE WEEK so I will not be cheating this weekend. Have even gone so far as to research the menus of restaurants where we're heading. The car is full of some emergency PaleoKits and Larabars too. A few more hours at the office and then it's play time~*

Thank You Alaska

The world is a fascinating place, our connections with people sometimes mystifying. I was once very good friends with someone who became a CrossFit trainer. If I had never met him I would have never been persuaded to try CF. If I'd never tried CF I certainly never would have attended the 2010 CrossFit Games VA/MD/DC Sectionals where I met Michael Murphy and learned all about the Paleo diet and drooled over his yummy Paleo meals. If I hadn't gone strict Paleo I would never be off of sugar and dairy which means when my co-worker brought the Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwich into the office just now I would most certainly have eaten it. And if I was not so joyously Paleo I could not have educated those around me, and so my boss would not be peeping his head around the corner to proudly let me know he wouldn't be eating his either!

A domino effect of good things. So thank you Craigslist, thank you Alaska.

On a Salad Kick

I think I may be getting too carby? For a while I was clearly not eating enough veggies, my body just wasn't comfortable *ahem* However, I may be over compensating? I keep reading posts where people say "if you eat the right foods you can't eat too much." Well I'm just not sure if that's true. And I'm not shoving sweet potatoes down my throat hand over fist by any means, but I have been more liberal with consumption of greens and fruit:

This morning I had a bowl of berries, 3 pecan halves, a small orange and 3 organic eggs.

Jeffrey and I had a lunch date at Panera. I got the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad. While I used only half the dressing, I did keep the Gorgonzola cheese on there. It just seemed to me like such a small amount of dairy for the flavor impact it imparts. I couldn't finish my whole salad, may munch on it as the work day wears on or have it for dinner tonight along with a baked chicken breast.

Tomorrow I am definitely ready to indulge my desire for grass-fed beef and guac! Still not sure on how much fat I should be consuming. Hopefully the "After" photos of the Paleo Challenge will prove I'm doing a good job.....hopefully.

Pats On The Back

There has been a frustration building up inside more recently as I have been a well behaved little Paleo-eating CF'er: Why is the scale not going down, why am I not a dress size smaller, where are the dramatic OMG results?

Each day I've salivated over thoughts of brownies and ice cream yet abstained. Each day my body composition seems to be right where it was when we started this hard-core-challenge a month ago. It's gotten to the point where I was starting to think "I should just restrict calories and give up on Paleo, it doesn't seem to work." I mean come on!!! I have 20lbs to lose, I eat cleaner than most Americans, I lift heavy things and run around 4 days a week :( WHAT GIVES

Enter good Samaritans!

My voice teacher, who hasn't seen me in 2 weeks, voluntarily said I look like I'm losing weight. Directly after that an acquaintance I hadn't seen in 2 months exclaimed I looked as though I'd lost 15 lbs!!!
-> THANK YOU GOD <-

So maybe it is working? Maybe the small changes are imperceptible to my hyper-critical eye? What I have noticed is bicep definition and rapidly increasing endurance and strength. I wish I was one of those people who "went Paleo and dropped 7 punds in the first week" but apparently I'm not. My trainer has assured me to give it time, that weight loss is also hormonally influenced and that maybe my body needs longer to adjust. So with this encouragement I will continue on my merry grain and dairy free way, but I'd better be having to buy new pants soon~*

Valentine's Day

Ah V-Day, riddled with assorted lame candies for most. My guy was brilliantly good to me, replacing chocolates with every other sweet holiday gift imaginable. We went to a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner where it was so easy to make good choices: steak and shrimp for him, chicken and scallops for me. Honestly there was no room for rice in our bellies even if we wanted it. True the chefs used butter (hey, it's Primal!) and some soy, but in the big scheme of things these items aren't going to affect my overall success in one meal. There was no thought of dessert, really it was the perfect idea for keeping this girl good.

Of course my dearest Tay did gift me with some extra dark chocolate which we nibbled along w/ fresh strawberries at lunch. However, as I've been crawling up the walls with recent chocolate cravings (HOT FUDGE BROWNIE SUNDAE) I think the recent treat has quelled the most likely hormone-driven taste beast. Also, I'm getting back into IF: yesterday I staved off eating until 1pm. Will try to implement 15-18 hour fasts 3 days a week and see how my body reacts.

Thursday Night Dinner Night

Chef J knocked it out of the park again! This meal was Paleo-concious and ridiculiusly delicious. Drawing inspiration from The Foodee Project, Jeffrey whipped up a beef filet with red wine mushroom sauce ( http://www.thefoodee.com/blog/page/2/ ) alongside smashed cauliflower and steamed veggies. I'd provide a photo of the beef-tastic awesomeness of it all but we were far too eager to enjoy the fare. I got to have a redux of the meal today for lunch because Jeffrey, in his continuing generosity, prepared extras!


MAKE THIS: http://gavanmurphy.com/beef-filet-with-red-wine-mushroom-sauce/

Breakfast:: Variations on a Theme

I love my breakfasts and have been pretty satisfied with them each morning. When I get home from the morning WOD I'll eat half an apple (the other half comes to work) then on to cooking my fare. It's always a combination of the following proteins which I try to keep at 3 blocks (although honestly the Zone gives me a headache and I don't like construction):

farm fresh eggs
natural pork sausage
Canadian bacon


...this melange of meat is often accompanied by a carb or fat if I feel the meal needs to be rounded out:

onions
mushrooms
salsa
avocado


Today I'm throwing a few sun-dried tomatoes in the mix <--smells enticing. The pic above is from a Sunday brunch Jeffrey and I enjoyed: frittata with chicken sausage and veggies, sweet potato hash and a bit of cumin-laced avocado spread leftover from a party the night before.

Super(bowl) Sunday

It's been a great weekend! CFVB had a Paleo Potluck and blew my mind. It was so amazing to attend a party, eat lots of food and know it's all approved. The almond stuffed, bacon wrapped dates and baked salmon w/ Dijon mustard and pistachios were my standout favs. Those and a pepperoni, prosciutto, marinated artichokes & mushrooms bake *delish*

I made a roasted pepper and walnut dip with baby carrots and cucumbers for scooping. It's SO easy to make and pretty good if you ask me. I nabbed the recipe online where there are many variations of it. This one was the simplest and I added my own small improvisation:

2 cups shelled walnuts
1/2 heaping tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 jar (12 oz.) TJ's fire roasted yellow & red peppers –> drained
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

In a food processor, blend walnuts, cumin, and salt until walnuts are finely ground. Add peppers, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.

Tonight I baked up a second batch of Paleo Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies from the good people at Health-Bent. I replaced the almond butter with hazelnut butter. Zowie that stuff is good! The brand I purchased had some added sugar *fail* so there was no need for any added sweetener. When these babies are hot out of the oven and you've got a cold glass of almond milk there is no reason to ever crave a "normal" cookie again. Thanks Health-Bent!!!

http://www.health-bent.com/treats/paleo-chocolate-chunk-cookies

Overwhelmed - in a good way

I have been cooking up a storm, trying new recipes every day. Cheats are nonexistent. i went out with the family to Cheesecake Factory and didn't even want the bread or dessert. However, life is moving crazy fast and I'm sucking at keeping this thing current.
J is cooking dinner tonight: SALMON! So it's sure to be amazing. We will be using white wine in the recipe, hope that doesn't mean total failure? I'm doing really well, so happy and feeling great :)