Don't Stop Believin'!

I think I give up too easily.  Not always, and not on everything.  Mostly just on eating right.
21 day cleanse?
After about 5 days, I realized that H and I can't afford to eat Paleo right now because it's just too expensive to keep lots of meat and veggies in a house where 2 people eat 5-6 times a day.  Our budget was crying when I tried to figure out how to afford good groceries.
Walls like this really bum me out.

So it's now almost 2 weeks before the "big day" and I'm not at my goal weight/body type.  I'm not even close.  I wish I could blame it all on not having money for groceries (Um, have you noticed how processed foods are a million times cheaper than healthy foods? What's up with that?!) but I have to admit that I've been unmotivated for getting my butt to the gym lately.  With H's new night-shift work schedule, I have a hard time sleeping alone in the house, which means I'm exhausted by the time 7am rolls around and end up sleeping in for a couple extra hours instead of putting on my running shoes.  Yes, I'm lazy.  I suck.  Moving on.

Thankfully, even if we can't eat strict Paleo, we can eat following The Abs Diet.  Pre-Paleo, we were eating following TAD and it worked very well for us.  In fact, the only reason we switched to Paleo is because H wanted to eat even cleaner than we already were.  TAD is very similar to Paleo, except it allows for low-fat dairy, whole grains, and other healthy carbs in moderation.  So for the past couple weeks, we've been following TAD more than Paleo.  H first turned me on TAD when we first got together about 4 years ago, and he had already been following TAD for about a year.  He had the books about it, which I read, and it makes sense.

If you want a healthy and in-shape body, you have to put good and healthy things into it.  Bad things = bad body.  Duh.  Seems simple.  I'm not going to lie--it's nice to have whole grains and low-fat dairy again.  Don't get me wrong; we aren't going crazy with it and having oatmeal, bread, potatoes, and cheese at every meal.  But we're not afraid to have a little cheese on our salads, brown rice with our stirfry, or a small bowl of oatmeal in the morning. 

I've also started keeping track of everything I eat.  This is something I haven't done in about 5 years, when I lost a bunch of weight back then.  It really keeps me focused when I see exactly how much I've eaten throughout the day and it makes me second guess eating that handful of pretzels or ordering dinner in instead of making it myself.  Today, I planned out all of my meals and stuck to them.  I almost gave in and hit up a drive through because I've got a bad cold and didn't feel like making anything to eat, but instead I went home and stuck to the plan.  And now, after having stuck to my eating/meal plans all day, I feel so good!!  I"m so proud of myself for not giving up and for staying strong. 

I believe that I can do this.
I believe that by the time I move back to my parents' house in June (after H leaves for OSUT) I will be down to my goal weight.
I believe that once I'm at my parents' house, I won't start eating unhealthy and I won't stop working out.
I believe in myself.
I believe in my goals.

21 Day Cleanse

They say it takes 21 days to turn something you do constantly into a habit.
21 days of going to the gym.
21 days of clean eating.
I am 21 days away from being back to the lifestyle that I so desperately want.
It took 21 days of not eating Paleo (and definitely less than 21 days of not going to the gym) to get away from it.

I am on a 21 day cleanse.
As much as I possibly can be with Homecoming this weekend.  I'm not trying to make excuses, but I'm trying to be realistic.  With JP coming to town and all the tailgating, I know that it will be extremely difficult to eat clean on Saturday and Sunday.  But other than those 2 days, I'm going clean for 21 days.

I desperately need this to refocus myself and get back on track.
I will not give up.
I will not feel defeated.

I've found a TON of inspiration on Pinterest, and it's really gotten me remotivated.  I went on a pantry raid this afternoon and got rid of all the non-Paleo foods in the house.  I also took a lot of the motivational sayings I found on Pinterest's Fitness Board and make signs to hang around the house to keep myself going.  It's so easy to give up after a few days, and I need to remember why I'm doing this. 

This is it.
This is the time to change.
It's simple:  You either do it or you don't.  Time to choose.

xoxo, M

Taco Casserole

H and I love Mexican food.  In fact, "love" may not even be a strong enough word to describe it.  We have an amazing local Mexican restaurant in town that we go to, usually where we split the fajitas for two (shrimp, chicken, steak, and chorrizo) sans rice and tortillas.  But going out to eat can get pricey, so I was super excited to find this recipe and tweak it to fit our needs.

Warning: This isn't strict Paleo.  We used some dairy, but you can take that out or cater it to your Paleo needs.  The original recipe also has layers of flour tortillas alternated with the casserole, but I omitted that to make it more Paleo-friendly.

Taco Casserole


1-1/2 to 2 lbs lean ground beef (I used 96/04)
Taco Seasoning (1 packet, or your favorite loose seasoning from your local farmers market)
1/8 c diced red onion
2 jalapenos, diced
1 c shredded cheese
2/3 c chunky salsa
Shredded lettuce and sour cream, as needed

 In a little bit of olive oil, saute the diced onions, then add the ground beef.  Make sure to break up the ground beef while it's cooking.  As the beef starts to brown, add your taco seasoning; if you're using the packet kind, follow directions.  If you're using the loose kind (like we have), make sure to add about 1/4 c water to 3 Tbls seasoning.  .

 Simmer the beef over med-high heat until all the beef is cooked and the water has cooked down

 Once the beef is cooked, add to your casserole dish with 2/3 cup of the cheese and the jalapenos.  Mix well.

 Pour the salsa on top of the casserole, then sprinkle the remaining 1/3c cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes--enough to heat everything through and melt the cheese.

I served it with shredded lettuce and sour cream, with a few more jalapenos on top (we like it spicy!)

Go ahead and enjoy!!
xoxo, M

Confessions

I have a few confessions to make...  ::deep breath::  Okay here goes (and no judging, please)

H and I have fallen off the Paleo/Crossfit wagon.
I have gained 5 pounds back.


There.  I said it.  It's been awful keeping this inside, and it feels so good to finally say it.  Guh.  It has been such a hard month (Yes, a month.  I know...remember, I said NO judging!).  We have had people here constantly.  No, seriously.  I'm not using hyperbole (Don't know what that means?  Hmmm sounds like someone didn't pay attention in English class.  Go get the dictionary.  I'll wait.  No I promise, I'll wait right here.

...waiting...

Figured out that it means "extreme exaggeration"?  Good.  Let's continue.) Between our best friends coming up from home to spend the weekend, my sister and her boyfriend coming up for a weekend, our friends moving back into town for the school year to start, me starting a new job, H helping his fraternity during recruitment (which was 2 solid weeks) and me helping my sorority during recruitment (which was over 1 solid week), plus having our best friend come to town and then going home for a wedding, we have had so many days with non-Paleo people around and having to grab food on the run that Paleo went out the window.  Ugh. 

I hate it.  I hate not feeling skinny.  I hate not eating healthy and feeling guilty after the bad meals.  I hate feeling sluggish because I'm putting crap into my body instead of healthy fuel.  No bueno.

Today, H and I finally had a day of nothing.  I mean literally we had nothing to do.  No where to go.  No one visiting or coming over.  No errands to run or chores to do.  We legitimately sat and watched season 5 of Dexter (Go. Rent it. Now.) and had the chance to eat Paleo ALL DAY.  No one coming over to offer getting pizza or fast food, or having special food needs that don't involve steamed broccoli and grilled chicken.  We had eggs and bacon for breakfast, slow roasted turkey and broccoli for lunch, and seasoned chicken and salad for dinner. 

I feel so good! It's been so long since we've had a full day of Paleo, and I forgot how good it feels at the end of the night.  I'm so thankful that we can finally get back on track and I can drop these 5lbs!  I have a wedding dress fitting in 3 weeks, and I'd like to have at least those 5lbs off (preferably more like 10lbs...)

Tomorrow we head back into the gym and I couldn't be more excited!
So yes, I confess that we've been off the wagon and haven't been eating/Crossfitting like we should.  But ya know what?  We're not letting this side-tracked month discourage us or make us give up.  Instead, we're letting it be a reminder of how easily we can get distracted from our goals and give us more reason to stay focused on what we want.  Woot woot being back on track!

xoxo, M

Today's WOD

I've been a bad CrossFitter.  I couldn't even tell you the last time we went to CrossFit down in Findlay, and we've been bad about hitting the gym the past week.  H and I have been so busy with prepping him for the Army, job hunting, and all my Avon stuff (I've been recruiting new reps like crazy!) and we've really gotten out of the habit of the gym.  I hate it--I feel like I'm being a waste, and I feel more guilty than you can possibly imagine!  We've done a little bit of stuff around here, though.  We've done some weight circuits at the house, and H has been rucking to prep for the Army, so my weight hasn't been going up or anything...it just hasn't gone down either.  Putting on my bathing suit, though, you can clearly see that my love handles and muffin top are diminishing, and I'm leaning out!

H has to hit 22% body fat within the next week if he wants to get his special forces contract for the Army, so it's been strict Paleo around here.  I'm okay with that---I think I needed to refocus myself anyway.  I made homemade apple chips using our dehydrator the other day so I can have something to munch (thanks Sweets and Sneakers on the Go, which is written by a college friend of mine, for the idea!) and H made homemade beef jerky in the dehydrator so we can have some quick protein after the gym or on the road.  We've been eating a TON of eggs and steak lately, and I don't think our fridge has been without peppers in almost a month thanks to Berman Orchards in Port Clinton.  (They also have the most INCREDIBLE Georgia peaches, which we buy in large quantities since it's an hour drive for us to get there, but it's so worth it---if you're even remotely in the area, you need to make visiting Bergman's a top priority!) 

So we've been refocused on eating strict Paleo again to help H cut body fat, and man has it done wonders for him!!  He's leaning out like crazy and it's making me so jealous!  It's like he eats lean for 2 days and drops an inch off his waist; I eat lean for 2 weeks and I'm lucky if I drop an inch---soooOOOOooo unfair!  Stupid boys and their stupid ability to drop weight easy...  ::pout::

So I'm like 25 pounds from my goal weight, which makes me really happy because that means I've lost 20 pounds already.  I bought my wedding dress for our JoP wedding in November, and I'm hoping that they'll need to take it down a bit when I go in for my last fitting!  ::fingers crossed::  Today, though, H really kicked my butt at the gym.  Our CrossFit Findaly gym is currently being moved to a new location and won't reopen until August 8, so we did our own WOD at the local college rec center:

The Dirty Thirty (as named by H)
5 squat to hang clean to push presses with dumbells
5 push ups
5 overhead toss-and-catches with a medicine ball
5 burpees
5 flutter kicks

Do this circuit 6 times, resting 45 - 60 seconds between each set.

Oh.  My.  Gosh.  I didn't think it would end up being that bad.  It's only 5 of each exercise at a time, right?  This kicked my butt.  By the time I got done with my sixth set, I was pretty sure I was going to throw up.  My shoulders hurt, and I know that because of the squats I'll be hurting tomorrow for sure.  PS. Prior to our WOD, we ran and did hang-clean skill sets.  Ouch.  On the bright side, afterwards we jumped in the pool and relaxed for a bit---nothing feels better after a hot, sweaty workout than floating in a cool pool.

So now we're back on track.  I feel good great!  :)

xoxo, M

Paleo Egg Cups

I know it's been too long since I've posted about Paleo or Crossfit, but to be honest...we haven't done anything too exciting with Paleo or Crossfit lately.  We've had a lot of visits from friends/family, and sometimes that makes it really hard stay on-track.  Needless to say, we've been eating Paleo probably 50/50 lately, which is not something we are proud of or happy about.  So today is our focus back into Paleo.  We're stocked up on meat like crazy, and we're going to get more veggies today.  Plus, thanks to Bergman's Market in Port Clinton, Ohio (most amazing local farmer's market/grocers EVER) we have the juiciest, sweetest Georgia peaches in the entire world (well, okay, except for maybe in Georgia...)

So this morning, on our way back to a 90/10 Paleo lifestyle, I made something fun for breakfast.  I've never made them before, but I've heard about them and a friend of mine has made them in the past that were very yummy, so I decided to play around this morning.  These are my Paleo Eggy/Omelet Cups!

Fairly quick and easy to make, plus they are adorable and kids tend to love them.  They reheat very well, too, which is good for leftovers.

Eggy/Omelet Cups

6 strips of bacon

6 eggs

1/2 cup green pepper, diced (for the ones we made)

1/2 cup any other veggies/meat that you like in your omelet--get crazy!

Salt & pepper to taste

Cooking spray

Cook bacon until it is cooked but not crispy.  You're going to need to bend this bacon in a circle, so you want it to be cooked but bendy.

Spray a muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray--seriously, don't skip this step or you'll be sorry!

Bend bacon around the inside of the muffin tin, almost like you're lining the sides of each muffin cup with it.  The bacon will probably overlap, and that's totally okay.  

If you want to make omelet cups, crack your eggs into a bowl, add a little water, and mix like you're making scrambled eggs.  Then pour the egg mixture into each muffin cup, filling it to just below the top lip of the cup.  If you want to make regular ones, crack one egg directly into each muffin cup.

Add your veggies/meat now.  We just did green peppers because we're running low on veggies, but other things you might want to add include:

-Mushrooms

-Colored peppers

-Tomatoes

-Onions

-Spinach

-Broccoli

-Chunks of ham

-Chorizo or other sausage

-More crumbled bacon

-Cheese (if you're straying a little from strict Paleo)

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Oven at 350*

Bake for 12 minutes if you want a runny yolk in the regular cups.

Bake for 15 minutes if you want a cooked yolk in the regular cups.

Bake for 15 minutes for the omelet cups.

 

Here's our omelet cups (on the left) and our regular cups (on the right).  They turned out SO GOOD!  I only made 6, like the recipe says to do, but in the future I'll make more so we can reheat them for leftovers throughout the day.  Yay for mini omelet/eggy cups!

xoxo, M

Updates and Experiments

Alright.  I am 5 weeks in officially today.
I am down 15lbs total.
I have lost 4 inches off my waist.
Most of my stomach problems have gone away.
I have a ton more energy.
I can tell I'm getting stronger, and I can even see my muscles developing.
I'm recovering faster after workouts, and I can workout longer and run longer without getting as winded.
My calluses are getting bigger (yay inspiration!)

Overall, after 5 weeks of Paleo and working out/lifting/CrossFit, I am officially obsessed with this new lifestyle and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner!  Before I started all of this, I bought a really adorable bikini that I want to fit into.  I put it on, took pics (no, I will not show them to you--they are scary, and I don't want to have it come back and bite me in the butt when you want compensation for your therapy bills because of what you saw) then hung the pics in the kitchen.  Yesterday, H made me put the bikini back on, which has been happily living hanging on my dresser mirror, and retake my pics.  There is definitely a difference!  I'm by no means ready to wear that thing to a public beach (oh God, could you imagine the therapy bills?!) but I'm proud that it fit better yesterday than it did 2 months ago.  Yay progress!

I've been doing some experimenting in the kitchen, too!

I made some awesome roasted broccoli (it gives it a nuttier taste, and is very yummy!) and a tasty easy roast pork loin, and yesterday I made Paleo-friendly mayo so I could make egg salad today.  So far, all 3 experiments (which is what H likes to call them...) turned out great and I'm really impressed with myself.

As for working out, we'll have a lot more time for that now.  H will be leaving for the military a little sooner than expected, and we've been really buckling down on working out to get him into the right shape to get into the program he wants.  While it means he'll be leaving me a little sooner than planned (and therefore I must be down in size a little sooner than planned so I can fit into a size 8 wedding dress!) I'm excited for his adventure and show him how much progress I'm going to make while he's gone for 17 weeks at OSUT and Airborne School--he's going to come home and I'm going to be out-of-control-sexy-strong! ;)

I've had a lot of people asking about what I eat with Paleo and how it works, and I think the greatest place to see what to eat is Rob's Quick Start Guide and the best place to see why I eat Paleo and how it works is Fitbomb's explanation.  If you're interested in trying out Paleo, even just for a couple weeks to see how it works, these are 2 great resources to get you started.

Paleo Mayo

Making my own mayo has always been a scary idea.  Partially because I didn't want to know what was in it, partially because I was scared that there was no way it could taste as good as regular mayo, and partially because I'm brand loyal to Hellmans.  But I did it--I made my own mayo!  I was tired of not being able to have tuna salad or egg salad, and I want to make a Paleo BLT pizza (I'll get to that recipe later), all of which require mayo.  So after some searching and reading around, I found a good recipe at Everyday Paleo.  It's mild (a little more mild than store-bought mayo) but just as creamy and delicious!

Paleo Mayo

1 egg (let it come to room temperature)
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup mild olive oil (not EVOO)


In a food processor, crack in one egg and add the ground mustard and lemon juice.  Mix until it has thickened up a little bit and is a lighter/pale yellow color.

Here's the tricky part:  SLOWLY add the olive oil while continuing to blend the mixture.  I mean seriously slowly.  If you add it too fast, your mayo won't emulsify and it'll get weird.  The best way to do this is to drizzle in about 1 teaspoon at a time through the small opening in the lid of your food processor.  If you don't have a small hole or opening (the one in mine is seriously super tiny, but it worked perfectly) then open the lid, drizzle about 1 teaspoon onto the mixture, then blend well.  Continue to add the olive oil very slowly until it's all combined. 

Adding 1 cup of oil slowly took me almost 5 minutes.  Like I said, it should be very slow.  Once it's all added, blend for another 15 seconds, then transfer to a container and put in the fridge.  I put mine in a washed out sauce jar (yay recycling!).  The mayo will continue to thicken in the fridge.

I used mine to make egg salad:

Enjoy!

xoxo, M

Easy Pork Loin Roast

Often, our local Meijer puts their pork loins on sale, which is great because we can eat off of that for a few days.  Check your stores and sale flyers, and stock up on these.  They create quick and easy Paleo meals--but be warned!:  You MUST trim off the extra fat from your loin.  You may want to leave a little on for flavor and good animal fats, but pork loins usually have a whole slab of fat on the bottom and you probably want to take most of that off.

I did mine in a crock-pot because it's easiest, but this can be done in the oven--see the note at the bottom of this page.

Pork Loin Roast

1 large pork loin (we usually get one that is 3-5 lbs)
EVOO
Ground rosemary
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Cut the fat slab off the pork loin to make it a leaner cut.  You may also have to cut your pork loin in half to make it fit in your crock pot or roasting pan.

Drizzle the pork loin with EVOO and rub the oil into the loin.  Generously sprinkle the loin with ground rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper, then pat it into the loin to make sure it's coated (don't rub, pat...like a wine stain on your white carpet)

Place the loin into the crockpot (we had to wedge the loin in to make it fit, even after cutting it) and put about 1/3 cup of water at the bottom of the pot.  You could put veggies like carrots, celery, onions, etc. in at this point, but we did it just as-is. 

**If you want to cook this in a roasting pan in the oven, you need to put the water on the bottom of the pan.  Then you want to either put in a small cooking rack or use veggies to keep the roast off the bottom of the roasting pan.  Cover the pan with foil and seal around the edges to keep the moisture in--this will make sure your roast doesn't dry out.  Cook it at 300 degrees for 5 to 6 hours.  The roast should be white (NO PINK!) all the way through when you cut it open**

Cook the roast in the crock pot on low for 2 hours, then on high for 1 1/2 hours.  The roast should be white (NO PINK!) all the way through when you cut it open.

This goes great with roasted broccoli or a nice salad.
Enjoy!

xoxo, M

Roasted Broccoli

Broccoli tastes a little different depending on how you cook it, whether it's steam it fresh, boil it from a frozen bag, or roast it in the oven.  This was my first time roasting it, and it turned out quite yummy!

It's really simple to make, and it goes with pretty much anything.  I got the idea of it from Nom Nom Paleo Roasted Broccoli & Bacon, but I tweaked it a little and didn't use any bacon (although that would be yummy...hmmm I'll be trying that next).

Roasted Broccoli

2 crowns of fresh (uncooked) broccoli
2 Tbl EVOO
Sea salt
Pepper
Garlic powder

Cut up the broccoli crowns and stems and place them into a gal-sized Ziplock bag.  Add the EVOO and sprinkle in the garlic powder to taste (I used a very small amount because we like just a hint of garlic, but you decided what you like).  Now shake it up!  No seriously...shake the bag.  Make sure each pieve of broccoli is coated with some oil and garlic. 

I let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Take a baking sheet and cover it with foil, then spread the broccoli out on the foil.  Sprinkle the salt and pepper on the broccoli.  Place it in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees and bake for 35 minutes. 

At 35 minutes in the oven, the broccoli with still be a little chewy, but if you hate mushy broccoli then 35 minutes will be good for you.  If you like your broccoli a little softer, then you may want to go for 40 minutes.  Yes, the broccoli will be browned in some spots--that adds flavor, so don't worry, it should look like that.

Enjoy!

xoxo, M

CrossFit Day 2 and Adventures in Paleo!

Today was our second day of CrossFit On-Ramp.  I was seriously so anxious on the way there, because I thought "Okay, day 1 was our intro to CrossFit, so they probably went easy...and it was really freaking hard...so that means today is going to be even harder!"  I kept telling H on the way there about my nervous tummy, and he just kept reminding me that I could do it--he's so good and supportive!

We got there and got to meet Jonathan, who is the owner of Rugged Fitness.  He was a lot younger than I expected--kind of refreshing.  Another guy, James, came in to do his WOD while we On-Ramped.  It was just H and I again tonight, but that's kind of nice.  I really prefer one-on-one training (or as close to it as I can get--small group works too!) so it's nice to get that help and focus at RF. 

Tonight was definitely not as hard as Monday, which was kind of a relief.  Warm ups included using the rowing machine (love it!) and dynamic stretching.  Our skill set focused on presses and push presses, which we learned form with using PVC pipes--almost weightless!  It's nice to learn form before worrying about actual strength training on it.  Then we moved onto the WOD: counting down 10 to 1 wallballs and sit ups.  So much fun!!  Wallballs are great, and my abs feel awesomely sore after the sit ups!  Jonathan scaled it for me, so I only used a 6lb wallball and I only did my countdown from 8, but I know I could have done more.  I got through the workout and felt great!

...I think I'm loving CrossFit...even though I'm not good at it by any means.

I've been linking my blog to my Facebook, too, which is a first for me.  I didn't actually think people would want to read about my Paleo and CrossFit adventure, let alone ask me about it.  But the more I post, the more people I have messaging me, emailing me, and chatting with me about Paleo and CrossFit.  I'm glad to share information and help people find their healthiness and happiness through my own search!  Remember, though, that I'm also in the learning process, so some of this stuff is my own trial and error--just be warned :)  If you really want more info, check the "What is Paleo?" tab at the top.  There will be a "What is CrossFit" tab coming soon, too, so keep an eye out for that. 

Feel free to come along on the adventure, ask questions, post comments about your own adventures, and join in on the Paleo/CrossFit fun!

xoxo, M