1 Month!

Well...it's been 1 month since I've gone Paleo and what do I have to show for it???  Well, muscle tone is improving, I'm eating way better than I have in over 5 years, I'm no longer a prisoner of calories and portions, my digestive system is learning to LOVE me again (that's huge!) and I'm not gaining weight...yes most lose weight with in the first month, but so what my body is stubborn and hates me thru all the tortuous diet schemes I used to put it thru, but I'd much rather maintain than gain considering how I'm eating now.  What I will really need to do is take my measurements and see how i'm doing...just need to find that pesky tape measure...I always seem to misplace it after I use it...

To celebrate my 1 month on Paleo, I made myself one hell of an awesome ribeye (best one I've cooked by myself yet, which doesn't say much as Matt is our steak guy) that was cooked almost perfect for me, it could have been a little more on the rare side, but I was not complaining!  I pan fried this sucker in some butter and mmm mmm good it was!  On the side I had some cauliflower mash, yum!  Matt once again requested it for his dinner so I made a big batch so I could have some and we could some more the next couple of days if we'd like.  I don't care if you think you hate cauliflower...you'd more than likely love the mash, in fact, if it was made for you and know one told you that it was cauliflower, I'd bet you'd never even know!  Yes, that is just how amazing it is!

yes...I have avocado with just about every meal...the only difference is how much...

My eyes happened to be very large when I scooped out that large helping of the mash, but it was soooo good!

Some other notable meals that I have recently made were some chicken thighs baked with some bacon, onion and brussel sprouts (holy yum).  I baked the chicken thighs on 350 for about 30minutes.  I only salt and peppered them before.  I then chopped up the bacon and fried it up.  When it was done, I removed it from pan and added the brussel sprouts and onion.  I fried/sauteed them until done and mixed bacon back in, those flavors were amazing.  It was a pretty simple and quick meal to put together.

Another night, I believe it was Matt's first night on nights was meatloaf!  He doesn't care for meatloaf so him being on night's is the perfect time to make dishes that I know he'd be less than thrilled by.  I haven't had meatloaf in a long time due to the fact standard meatloaf these days is just not something someone eats when trying to watch their weight...This however hit the spot!  I adapted the recipe from Kait's Primal Kitchen as she used ground bison and I didn't have that so I replaced it with half ground beef and half ground pork.  I also used seasoning leaning more towards the Italian flavors to try and match my mom's which I loved growing up. Other than those changes, I followed the recipe to a T.  With my meatloaf (which smelled sooooo good while baking...) I had some left over spaghetti squash...excuse my picture of my mound of meatloaf as I wasn't very smooth about getting my slices out of the loaf pan...oh well!

It was good the next day and the next, both cold and re-heated...mmm

My workouts for this week have gone pretty well...It's been BEAUTIFUL here so I have done them ALL outside, except Monday's as I just did some yoga while waiting for my meatloaf.  Tuesday Bear and I went for a walk/run...the run segments being short, sweet and fast.  We did this all the way into town and went down by the marina where he rested and I did squats and push-ups before turning around and coming back.  I felt so good after that workout...thinking about a repeat today!

Wednesday was a 21-15-9 workout with kettlebell high-pulls, hand release push-ups and flipping burpees...those are really going to be the death me...lol.  Thursday I did 4 rounds of 10 push-ups, 20 kettlebell swings, 30 sit-ups and 40 body weight squats.  It was very nice being able to do this outside on our patio...I hope we leave this area before the real fall/winterish weather starts because I don't want it!  

Have a great weekend! TGIF! :0)

TUNA! I love TUNA!

Happy Monday!  A new day to another week!  It is STILL on and off rainy here (wth?!?) and still very chilly.  I suppose it is better than ice and snow, but still!  I would like to enjoy my fall while I can.  Before we know it, I'll be back in a southern state where fall is not a "normal" fall.  I like this little town but I am looking forward to getting out of here, mainly because I don't have much option to the stores and quality food items.  It gets a little frustrating when I have items in mind and then none of the stores have what I am looking for.  Just a tad bit of annoyance...next time I know I am going to small town, I will make sure to take some extra products w/ me in the case this happens again.

So as for my butt kickings in the last week, I already shared the first one so here are the last 2...

I had to hold plank for as long as I could and my time would determine how many rounds I would complete for my WOD.
Round was:

• 5 burpees
• 10 sit-ups
• 15 kettlebell swings

I held my plank for what seemed like a very long 3 minutes.  This meant I had to do 12 rounds.  I completed all this in just under 20minutes.  The last 2 rounds I was definitely cheering myself on to finish strong!  It works I tell ya!


My last workout on Saturday was this...
2 rounds of:

• 75 body weight squats
• 50 kb swings
• 25 burpees

I finished round 1 in 5:53 and round 2 in 6:28...I was tired thru out the workout but not due to the workout.  It is nice knowing tho that I don't have to spend 45 minutes or more doing a workout, I like having quickies over and done with.

Some notable meals from week:
I made some yellowtail tuna steaks...they were pretty delish!  For sides we had a cucumber salad using rice vinegar and by request some cauli mash (matt hates cauliflower but LOVES this stuff!)

I love me some avocado and will eat it whenever I can!

The tuna steaks were pretty easy, just salt and peppered them and pan fried them for about 2 minutes each side...came out perfect!  The cucumbers are just sliced and I add rice vinegar, no specific amount, I just eyeball it depending on the amount of cucs I have.  As for the cauli mash, I use KPK's recipe.  I may add a little bit more garlic but we love our garlic over here!  I didn't have a food processor at this point in time (either a hand held mixer or the bullet) so I used the hand held...worked great (made a mess tho) and made it more like chunky mash vs creamy mash.  I have since gotten a food processor so creamy from here on out folks!

One of my other go to lunches when I'm being less than creative or just want something quick is tuna salad...I throw some romaine lettuce down on the plate, mix up my tuna/olive oil/green onions/seasonings mix/hardboiled egg, tomatoes and some avocado...add a little balsamic vinegar and bam! a very quick, easy, tasty, filling lunch.

something about tuna in olive oil and balsamic vinegar...it just works!

So today started the split shifts for Matt's work...he is on nights...our schedule is about to be rocked!  Actually, I stay pretty much on my normal schedule and I tell him that I cannot switch to his as it's too rough on my body...I've tried it before.  So maybe I'll start being better about posting more regularly with having so much time on my hands...maybe ;0)

Congrats KPK!

First and foremost I would like to CONGRATULATE Ms. Kaitlin over at Kait's Primal Kitchen for reaching a 1000 'Likes' for her facebook page!  Way to go girl!  I think you are an amazing person who obviously LOVES what they are doing and LOVES informing others.  You are awesome at it and I'm really glad I have the opportunity to work with you. You inspire me daily!  I'm very excited for your e-cookbook!  :0)  If you have not checked her blog out, what are you waiting for?!?  It's a must see/read!

Moving on, it's been rainy and chilllllly here!  Fall has definitely arrived no doubt.  Luckily I have plenty of indoor workouts to keep me going for day's I cannot get out for a run or walk (1-2xs a week obv weather pending).  I am missing working out in a gym having someone to be in my face and able to correct me and encourage me.  It's definitely not easy doing it on your own.  I have to play multiple people while I workout!  I'm my own cheerleader (thankfully only 1 neighbor and she's old and yells bloody murder all the time anyways, so I'm pretty sure I don't care if she hears me for 20mins yelling positives at me), I'm my own assistant trainer as well, having to look in the TV or Fireplace to make sure my form is correct and I'm the actual worker outer...lots to do in those quick workouts!  I am not complaining tho as I'm lucky to have space and the means to do workouts with out a gym.  I will be happy though to be back in a city that has my gym or be back in AZ to work with Kaitlin.

The past week as far as food goes has been a little harder for me.  I had taken out fruit and nuts...not easy as they are a love in my world.  Fruits I have been pretty great about, especially considering I have some Honeycrisp Apples staring at me from the counter and I have to pass them up :0(  Nuts has really been tough...there has definitely been a couple of days where I grabbed a small handful of almonds, ate them and then got mad for caving...but you live and learn.  Now I don't feel as bad since I admitted to my slight mishap.  Good thing this is a lifestyle change vs a crash diet.  Lifestyle just means I have to keep chugging away and figure out what works for me and what doesn't.  (whew, my little confession has me feeling much better, now I can get on with it!)

This post seems to be more a spill of what's been on my mind vs. a food etc post.  I do think that allows people to see my progress though and that it is not all perfect going in such an opposite direction in relation to diet.  My cravings are not bad really.  I do not miss many carb items such as bread, pasta, rice etc.  I do however have one crazy on and off craving for ice cream and not just any ice cream but Dairy Queen soft serve...mmm.  I do have to say seeing my favorite Halloween candy in the stores is hard, but I'm not struggling with not being able to have it.  I'm waaaayyyyyyy better off with out LOL.

Overall, I am still pretty much status quo as far as weight goes, but I'm trying really hard to put that out of my mind as this is not what this is about.  I cannot go by what the scale tells me as it changes day to day, minute to minute so I am learning to get over it!  I do however notice more muscle build tho.  It'll all come together, just have to be patient and know that it is my overall health that is being benefited here and the less I stress the easier this will all be.  I think I've done a pretty good job discarding all I know about calorie counting, cardio, portion obsessions and everything else that comes w/ the typical "diet".  I'm learning to get over my "fear" of fats and realizing it is not all about long cardio bouts.

So basically I'm still tweaking and I'll figure out how this will all work the best for me, it will just take time and experiments.  I can't say enough tho how great it is that I can eat a good size yummy meal and not feel ridiculously uncomfortable afterwards.  It's a very freeing feeling.

Hope yall have a great rest of your Sunday evening and a great week! :0)