Day 16

Me: "See ya later! I am outta here for a long weekend!"
Office Buddy: "Have a great weekend..."

Text some hours later.
Office Buddy: "Just now leaving work... All I want is pizza and wine."
Me: "Well, you deserve it!"

Ok, todays post is about gifting ourselves with food. Why oh why would I ever tell her she deserved sugar on top of carbs with sitting oil on top!? Do I not care about this friend?! My question to you tonight is how many times have you said- I deserve this while eating something terrible? How many times have you said its been a really hard day, the only cure is a cake? How about Reed and I- we give each other candy and desserts as gifts! How about, if you're good you can have McDonalds? Or eat one bite of vegetables and you can have ice cream! Does any of this sound familiar?

We have a connection in our brains with food. This connection creates an addiction much like a drug or alcohol addiction. Don't believe me? Look it up! I did:

"Like many pleasurable behaviors—including sex and drug use—eating can trigger the release of dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter in the brain. This internal chemical reward, in turn, increases the likelihood that the associated action will eventually become habitual through positive reinforcement conditioning. If activated by overeating, these neurochemical patterns can make the behavior tough to shake—a result seen in many human cases, notes Paul Kenny, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Therapeutics at The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla., and co-author of the new study. "Most people who are overweight would say, 'I would like to control my weight and my eating,' but they find it very hard to control their feeding behavior," he says."
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=addicted-to-fat-eating


This chemical reward becomes habitual because we like/crave/need the feeling. You always hear- I eat because I am sad and I am sad because I eat... Well, yeah!  The only thing that cures drugs is more drugs or a complete break off. This is an addiction and you are NOT alone. Not even close. *** Side Note- whenever my AC turns on these days it smells like toast. Do you think I am going crazy? Reed confirms this.***

My goal today for myself is to begin to re-train my brain that food does not have to be my only reward. In fact, I bought a 75 minute massage today for my 31st day. Reed chose running shoes. I am not saying go broke to gift yourself with something other than 99 cent fries or Dunkin Donuts but maybe a 30 minute time-out or a long bath can be your gift. How about a new kitchen tool or a cooking class? Guys, how about a BBQ with friends or a game night? (This sounds dumb, but I am not a guy so cut me a little slack!) Just think about it. I am not saying I wont ever enjoy a piece of cake again, I will, its engrained in me now, but I will no longer tell myself I deserve it. It will simply be something I enjoy.

I promise I didn't cheat today but this turned into a pretty long blog so no food today. I did, however, put bacon and chives on the cauliflower potatoes last night and man what a difference that made! Have you tried them yet? I also got unsweet tea from Sonic and they squeeze the lemons and put them in there for you! It was great and I didnt have to do a thing!

Day 15

The baby- ASPEN!

All about kiddos! I hope you are having a wonderful 4th of July. Reed and I took our niece to the park this morning. It was a good 20 minute walk, hour outside, then 20 minutes back. We wore her out and vice versa. I then did a WOD really quick in my garage that consisted of 200M row, 20 squats, 10 push-ups- 10 rounds of that. It got hot real quick!  This upped my water intake. Reed did a total of 100 push ups and 130 pull ups! I love my husband! I made some sugar free, pink lemonade popsicles for later and I have pork chops thawing. So far I have had cereal with no fruit then apples and oranges after the workout. I will have a smoothie later with pineapple, banana, strawberry, and coconut milk (if I get hungry or some nuts). Pork chops and veggies for dinner- I may do beans if I feel like I need to. I hope you have a wonderful start to your week! Here are tons of kid-friendly Paleo sites for all of my buddies out there with Cave Kids! XOXOXO

From everydaypaleo.com

http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/04/08/paleo-kids/

http://robbwolf.com/2010/04/16/kids-paleo-and-nutrient-density/

http://thepaleodiet.blogspot.com/2010/02/paleo-diet-q-2-february-2010-paleo-diet.html

http://www.kidspaleodiet.com/

http://robbwolf.com/tag/children-paleo-diet/

The woman from nomnompaleo.com has small children that she makes great snacks and desserts for.

Try those out and see what you think! I hope this helps you help your children. Be kind to yourself and keep the questions and ideas coming! I cannot express to you how much your support means to Reed and I. I told him yesterday I am finally starting to see a difference- after 15 days! I cannot wait for the next 15 days!

Day 13 and 14

Can you even believe its been two weeks? Today, I can- if you would have asked me yesterday it was easy-breezy!  Today, was rough! Ok, lots to say today so let me do my food real quick. I had family in town so lots of non-paleo mouths to feed including: my sweet, baby niece Aspen.

breakfast-

Paleo pancakes

Mixed fruit

Snack-

mixed fruit

Lunch-

leftover spaghetti stuff

Dinner (by Reeds parents pool)-

Sausage and guac

mixed fruit

Snack-

cereal with 1/2 banana

breakfast-

frittata and sausage

snack-

apple and some brisket

lunch-

burger with guac, lettuce, tomato, and onion 

green beans

***Pause. Reeds parents had 5 desserts (banana pudding pie, peach cobbler, blackberry cobbler, chocolate on chocolate cake and ice cream) at their house today and chips and cheese dip with Rotel. Normally we would gorge ourselves on all of this. I am telling you we seriously struggled today. I came home in a bad mood with a headache and I think it was because I was straining so hard not to cheat. We both made it through but it could have been our toughest yet.***

Dinner- 

lunch was late so watermelon and a smoothie

Reed made a Paleo frappacino today for all of you that care about coffee. I tasted it and its not bad at all and I loathe coffee. 

1/2 banana

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp cocoa powder

1/2 cup coffee

1/4 tsp vanilla

ICE

Ok, men tune out of the rest of this if you do not wish to know anything about sports bras. I care about this because I spent MANY a year in a "real" bra and 3 sports bras. I used to run with Reed and cry (yes, for real) about how I couldnt breathe and it didnt matter I still hurt. Reed bought me a sports bra from Luke's Locker on Valentine's one year and I could not believe the difference it made. I am not kidding, I literally cried when I put it on, jumped up and down and didnt feel a thing. Hmmm, I cry a lot huh? I did full on gymnastics in high school by taping my breasts down then putting a sports bra on top then my leotard. I know so many women struggle with finding the "right one" and since this blog focuses on health I found this to be a vital part. I feel no shame in telling you I am a 34 DD and I can Crossfit, powerlift, run, and do cartwheels because of this bra and a little determination. My brother now works for Luke's Locker in the Woodlands and he gave me to top 5 sports bras.

Fiona

1. Moving Comfort- Fiona (this is mine)

2. Moving Comfort- Juno

3. Moving Comfort- Maia

4. Nike- Victory Compression

5. Enell Sports Bra

He also says women are raving about the Lululemon racer back tanks but, I can't do a tank alone. Also, Lululemon Tata Tamer. Check them out and see if they make a difference in your workouts! Good luck!

Tomorrow I will have posts about feeding your Cave Kids! Although I do not have children I find this comes up a lot. You don't want to make food just for yourself and you do not want to feed your kids crap all the time either. I hope this is just a jumping off point for those of you with kiddos. Stay tuned tomorrow as I will research tonight. Consider it your 4th of July gift! :) 

Day 12

Hey guys! Ok, let me start off by saying that I have noticed that I wake up before my alarm goes off and I feel great in the morning. It has only been 3 days of that and only 12 days of eating clean but I do see a correlation. My moods are very balanced. There are no big up or down shifts throughout the day and I think that is something major people deal with when they reduce their carbs and sugars. Speaking of that, I Googled "sugar withdrawals" and you would not believe how many websites are dedicated to helping people and educating them on what to expect when withdrawing from sugar and the likes.
While reading I saw that most people experienced extreme headaches and tiredness. Although I felt this on many diets before, I cannot say that I have had concurring days of headaches or sleepiness. I am not saying "my way is the only way or the best way" I am simply stating that has not been my experience. I think it is because I have allowed natural sugars like fruits and honey to be entered. I try to eat them sparingly but looking at my previous posts you will see I love my fruit. How do you feel when you take out the sugar? One friend said she is crabby and moody but is very early into her clean journey. I told her to see if it continues or eat a banana (lots of sugar) and see if she feels better. That way she can bring in natural sugars (lower in glycemic index than a banana) but you get the idea.

Breakfast:
Protein shake
Snack:
Protein ball (recipe to follow) and a boiled egg, what a combo!
Lunch:
Salad from Freebirds with lettuce, tomato, salsa, guac, chicken, and veggies. It was just so-so. Nothing to write home about
Snack:
Apple
After workout:
Protein shake
Dinner:
Turkey Spaghetti with squash and zucchini noodles. Ok, the pasta sauce is high in sugar so I used half the jar and got the one with the lowest sugar I could find. I will research making my own next time but let me say this was, by far, our favorite meal yet!




Protein balls (Reed raves about these)- take 4-6 pitted prunes and put them in your food processor until it makes a paste ish substance then take 1 Cup almond (can use chopped, sliced, or almond meal) and 1/2 walnuts and hit that with the processor, next 2 TBLS coconut oil, and I put about 1 TSP honey and mix it all together. I then diced strawberries and dumped out my pastey mixture on top of them. I started rolling them into little balls. The first batch I put my avocado chocolate pudding on and then rolled them in coconut shreds. The second batch no pudding, just shreds. Next time I will experiment with apples or bananas. Come over, have some! *Recipe from Nomnompaleo.com

I bought a Julienne peeler from Bed Bath and Beyond today with a wedding gift card. It is in the dishwasher- picture to follow. I peeled the zucchini and squash with it and it makes noodles. I am not kidding. No cutting or dicing. This thing does the work for you. Popped it in a microwave safe bowl with a little EVOO and garlic salt and voila! Noodles! *Also form Nomnompaleo.com- told you she was the shiz!

Reed and I rocked a Crossfit workout that included Muscle Ups, 165 (his was much more weight) lbs deadlifts, and burpees tonight and felt great. Now I am just waiting (in my clean house) on my sweet baby niece to get here. Have a wonderful Friday evening/Saturday morning. This weekend I will have information on the perfect sports bra (sorry guys) and the best homemade ice pack.

Day 11

Oh crap, I am late! I decided to ice my shoulders, do a load of laundry and shave all on one morning. Great thinking. Crap, I need something for breakfast and lunch. Run around, run around. Blend up a protein shake, jump in the car. Crap, I am late for real. Its only 10 minutes but I sure do hate being late. Awesome, missed a phone call from the boss- she never calls in the morning. Calling her right back. Drink a sip of the shake:
Betsy: Hey girl, I am running around like crazy this morning!
Me: If you only knew. (Another drink of the shake, gosh its freezing cold holding it between my legs).
Betsy: Well, when you get to work I have a closing to go to right away so Ill meet you in the parking lot with Amy's cupcakes. If you could set those up for me that would be great!
Me: Yep, you're the boss. (Crap, forgot about Amy's bridal shower at work today).
Betsy: See ya in a bit.

Get to work and have to set up cupcake display. Put them on the plate really fast and DO NOT lick your fingers. Go, Go, GO! OMG- its a yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting. This is my kryptonite. You can do this- you are better and stronger than some flour and some sugar. I put it down and literally ran out of the conference room.

How did your day start? Has it ever started like that? Show up late to a function and just grab whatever they are eating. Did you ever think, I dont have time, Ill get a Chick-Fil-A biscuit on the way in. Or how about I wont even eat breakfast! I know I have chosen all three of these at least 20 times.
I am NOT, by any means, a dietician; however, I have a few thoughts on this. Is eating healthy more time consuming? I bet I could make my protein shake before a person even got done paying for their food in the drive-thru. Is it expensive? Ok, some items are more expensive but last I checked apples and oranges were cheaper than cereal and milk. Don't get me wrong some items ARE more expensive and you CANNOT beat a $5 already ready pizza but eating healthy doesnt always mean spending more $$$. Is eating healthy less convenient? Yes, there are days when I come home after work and a hard workout and do not even want to consider pulling a salad out of the fridge. I don't even want to prepare the dressing- from the bottle. You do have to make food but I think the benefit from a hand prepared meal far out ways the option I would rather pick up on my way home. (Even though every once in a while I will make a trip through the drive thru too) :)

Ok, so I am on a soap box and in no way deserve to be on one. Please, I have been hard on myself for 11 days. No pats on the back here but I want you to know that no matter what I put in my mouth from now on, I know in my heart of hearts that something natural is better than anything I can grab in a drive thru. Whether or not you eat healthy is your choice, but I do want you to know that its ok to eat the cupcakes as long as you know that a bowl full of colorful veggies is better for you. Ok, enough, I love you and I will learn along with you.

Reed said the popsicles were great so give em a whirl! I also just made some protein balls (snacks) and I will taste them before I post the recipe, just in case. I am still trying to figure all these foods I have never tasted. Oh and check this out! A store that has NO PACKAGING and of course its in Austin, they have everything!

http://news.yahoo.com/americas-first-zero-packaging-grocery-store-open-austin-155410687.html?bouchon=623,tx

Day 10

Let me start off by saying I forgot we had dessert last night. A whole apple sliced up with cinnamon and honey and baked. Reed and I decided this would be really good in the winter! I have also had some watermelon the last two days (one of my faves!) and I forgot to post.

Breakfast:
Cereal with strawberries. I have been asked about my cereal today. I make my own with sunflower seeds and sliced almonds (unsalted), unsweetened coconut shreds, a fruit, and coconut milk. This is my favorite coconut milk and a picture of the cereal. Its great- try it!

Snack:
1/2 avocado and a boiled egg
Lunch:
Salad with boiled egg (yep, tired of eggs today), tomatoes, and a vinaigrette dressing. That spelling doesn't look right but spell check keeps correcting it to that!
Snack:
Apple and some chocolate almond milk. Big thumbs down the the almond milk but eh, how would I know if I didn't try?!
Protein shake after Crossfit where I overhead squatted 105 lbs 8 times- just a highlight!
Dinner:
I was craving steak so I had a bacon wrapped filet and some asparagus. Wal-Mart has these filets pre-packaged. Probably not the best steak you have ever eaten but it was pretty good.

I made chocolate pudding tonight!

2 ripe avocados
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup cocoa powder unsweetened
2 TBLS coconut oil
1 TSP vanilla

This was pretty good, especially if you like dark chocolate. Do not dish out a whole lot because it is very rich. If you have some fresh berries (I didn't) I bet it would be a great addition on top. I put some coconut shavings on mine. I also mixed some strawberries, coconut milk, and a little honey in the blender and poured it into popsicle makers for a creamy treat during summer. I will let you know how those turn out later.

I was asked about high sugar fruit today and here is a list of the glycemic index on fruit.

http://www.southbeach-diet.info/low-carb-fruit.php

Stay kind to yourself. There was a lot to cover food-wise today but I want to cover some emotional/spiritual stuff tomorrow. Until then- chew on this!

Father, we are abundantly blessed with foods of all kinds, both vegetable and fruit, meat and bread.  Thank you for those who diligently work the land and reap the harvest that we might place food on our tables and be nurtured physically.  You make the grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth.  All we have needed Your hand hath provided. Great is Your faithfulness, Lord, unto me.  Amen.

Day 9

Work is a bit busy these days. This is really good for me but always makes me want to grab chocolate covered pretzels- what the heck right? I felt really good today and I have been drinking tons of water. It is hot after all.

Breakfast:
Cereal with strawberries
Snack:
boiled egg and 1/2 avacado (this filled me right up, surprisingly)
Lunch:
Mi Cocina salad again- no tortilla strips and this time no cheese!
Snack:
Apple
Dinner:
Marinated Caribbean Chicken and kabobs with onions and peppers. Pretty good considering its vegetables lol! I put some garlic salt on them.

I started to wonder why I am doing this today and I had two phone calls right off the bat. A very good friend called to tell me she had changed the way she is eating and has felt changes immediately. I am so excited for her- I cannot explain how awesome it is to know she likes the way she is feeling. We got another phone call from a family member that said they were going to start following the blog too. I am actually starting to perk up and understand why I am doing this. This is NOT a DIET! I will eventually eat cake and pizza again- I will just pick times to do it. I want to indulge in food when I am celebrating. I don't want everyone to think I will continue being this strict for the rest of my life. I am doing a very strict 30 days to wean myself from processed foods. I want to prove to myself that I can survive and thrive on good, healthy foods. Do not think of this as some quick fix or something you will do for a while and then return to your old ways. It is not that. This is a way to taste new foods and treat your body right. Be kind to yourself because no one else will! This is why I do this! Who wouldnt want these people around them as long as possible?!