So I'm having a blast baking cooking tonight! After work I went straight to Whole Foods with the idea to make some new paleo items. I made my list before I went (otherwise I would have had not idea what I needed to buy). Check out the pictures below! Almond meal, arrowroot, and flaxseed...I'm still not sure I know what these are! :) I also picked up veggies, a grass fed beef pattie and some other items! Dinner was ground up beef pattie with some avocado.

Then I proceeded to the kitchen to try my hand at making paleo brownies. Yes paleo! I just put them in the oven, and I just realized I forgot to add my applesauce I bought. Darn, I hope they turn out alright. Next on the list, I'm going to try and make some veggie fritters. A friend gave me a receipe I want to try and it looks like it could be a healthy snack (something other then nuts). Check out the pictures below - we'll see how they taste when all done!

I'm a happy B!

Late addition/edit. I'm definitely thinking of getting into whole foods tonight to grab some items that I can make a paleo dessert/treat out of. I think there are some good recommendations out there and I'm looking forward to trying something new. A piece of fish or chicken also sounds good for dinner! :)

Day 4

Stepped on the scale again this am. 133.2 - not a bad number. Consistent enough.

Came into work early, like 7:15 and go figure, i was starving so I ate 2 hard boiled eggs right away and that craved my hunger until about 10:30 when I ate 1 more egg and some bacon. Not a bad start to the morning...but get this...

So my entire building (yes, all 28 floors) hired a BBQ caterer to serve food to all tenants during lunch today. YUM. Even though I have some leftover chicken and 1.5 scallops I figured I'd give it a try and go with my coworkers. Well, the smell is overwhelming when we get to the top floor of the parking deck. Lines are long and the food looks amazing. So, it's now my turn in line and we have people who are serving the food for us, first up: beans and mac and cheese....MAC AND CHEESE. That's like a favorite! Who doesn't love cheese + some mac, all in a hot gooey goodness?! Well, I told the lady "I'll pass on both" She looked at me and said "both?" and I kindly answered "yes please". (I'm sure my teeth were grinding when I said that - oh how i love cheese!). On to the bread. Easier pass then the cheese, easy to say, "no bun please". I got a bit of pork, chicken, and brisket. Next onto sauces. On the side i kindly said. Easy enough. Lastly...dun dun dun, the cheddar cheese biscuits. UHHHHH, how yummy those looked, but I just kept walking (or sulking). DONE, got through the table - all paleo! I went to get my silverware and the man handing them out said "Didn't you get our award winning biscuits?" Again, a kind reply was "I have a dietary restriction". However dumb I felt saying that, it was easy and got me out of the situation. SUCCESS!!!! By the way, I didn't even DARE go look at the sweet tea or the desert table - yup, a whole table dedicated just to deserts which had lemon squares and other goodies.

I must say that I succeeded and am very proud. Although writing about the desert is really making me crave sweets. I think my next move is to get some good paleo 'sweet' treats I can make myself to keep from salivating throughout the day every time I think of a treat.

Overall - a great accomplishment!

Day 3 Lunch/Dinner

Lunch went off without a hitch. I reheated my little bit of turkey burger leftovers and added in some avocado. I also cooked some chicken last night with chili spices so I ate about 1/2 of that as well. YUM! I snacked on a few almonds and walnuts the rest of the day and had some pomegranate hot tea! :)

Onto dinner - it was gratifying to know I could go out to eat and NOT order the worst thing on the menu or onion rings! Chris and I and another couple went to Urban Pl8. It's a great place if no one has been there, very paleo and primal friendly. My big hurrah was not having any wine at dinner - although I was very very very tempted, and was pretty much on the verge of ordering a bottle (even told Chris we should get one) but we didn't! Alright. We had chicken lettuce wraps for an app where I didn't put any of the sauce on and I ordered scallops (I asked for them to be made paleo to take out the beans/corn - but she didn't) for my main entree. They were ok - I wouldn't get them again, but they were healthy. I ate about 4.5 out of 6 of them. Desert - I know what you are thinking - how can desert be paleo....well they had a delicious paleo brownie!!(eggs, almond meal, cocoa, honey) It was fantastic and really hit my sweet spot where I've been wanting anything sweet. Overall - great meal and day and it was all in good company.

It's especially exciting to talk about paleo recipes and diets with friends - but i have to be cognizant that I don't go overboard when not around these people or try to continually talk crazy paleo b/c I really have no intention of drawing attention to myself. Heck, it's only been 3 days.

Overall, the past 3 days I've felt great. A bit grumpy from really wanting sweets and I'm hungry ALL the time. I've read blogs that said it'll pass, and I hope it does soon. Regardless, I'm excited to see what I can pick off a menu when we go somewhere not so paleo friendly. A challenge is a challenge and I'm 1/10 through it!

Day3

Well, stepping on the scale this am was a surprise - 133 pounds! I sure don't expect that number to keep going down as fast as it has. I've done paleo for a few days here and there, and i've seen these results before - I can't let myself get fooled!

What I don't like is waking up in the am starving. I got to work and ate breakfast at 8am. 3 hard boiled egg whites and 3 pieces of the nitrate/gluten free bacon. Still so tasty! So far no one has brought in any sweets - hooray! I can't believe my body still feels hungry - I think its all a trick b/c I haven't had anything processed in 2 days.

I've decided to share this blog with friends - not publicly yet, but even if they do or don't read it, it's out there for people to see - so no messing up!

End of Day 2

I finished off day 2 strong. Continued to snack here and there on a few nuts at a time to curve my hunger. I was starving leaving work, but knew if I could push through I'd have a nice dinner. Got into CFPT for the 6pm class and completed the WOD (AMRAP 12 mins: 8 hang power cleans - did 55#, 8 wall balls - did 14# (RX), 8 KTE) I was able to get in 5 rounds. I was happy with that since I thought before the workout began I could only get about 4 in, but my first round was 2 minutes!

Success at the gym and for dinner!! Went to Fresh Market. Picked up some pomegranate tea bags, a turkey garden burger, and some asparagus. I *attempted* to grill the burger in a pan on the stove = failure. So I broke up the meat and ground it up. I ate about 4/5 of it with 1/2 of a avocado that I seasoned with some minced onions, garlic salt, and celery salt! All I can say is YUM YUM! I also threw a piece of chicken in the oven and cooked that and wrapped it in foil for tomorrow's lunch with the other half of avocado (if it saved). Tomorrow's meals are all planned out which i'm realizing is helping me keep on track! Urban Pl8 for dinner with friends who are helping support me and vice versa with a more paleo lifestyle!

On another note - I took my pictures for sumbittal to Bridget today. UGH and YUCK. I'm excited and nervous to see what changes will/can take place - I really just need to buckle down on the diet!

On a second note - F the person who decided to bake the most delicious looking cupcakes today and leave them in the kitchen that I HAVE to pass to get to the bathroom. AND screw the other person who bought chickfila for lunch and sat next to me so I could smell it for a whole hour! Yes, the spicy chicken sandwich is amazing and it had me salivating! Sheesh!

Day 1 and 2 Recap

So CrossFit Peachtree decided to have a 30 day competition where people change to a strict Paleo diet for 30 days. (Check it out - it's listed here: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/09-27-10/). In order to track progress, before and after pictures are to be taken. We're also supposed to buy and read Robb Wolf's book the Paleo Solution. Well, the time has come for me to be accountable for my weight. I've struggled and struggled for the past year or so. Fluctuating up and down. Going Paleo for a week and losing weight, then going back to my standard weight the next week. I have yet to find a good balance and am constantly frustrated and have found myself going to bed crying so many nights wishing I was as thin as I used to be. [ENTER PALEO CHALLENGE]. I'm terrified that I'll fail, more scared that I'll be hungry day 4 and want to eat everything in site. I'm not scared of losing the weight, I'm scared of NOT losing the weight. So, here goes the effort and hopefully a change I can sustain longer then a month. I bought the book! Went to the bookstore in the rain on Sunday and started checking out recipes....notice that bread and all the yummy yummys are missing. It's OK, i can do this I told myself! So, how's my progress. I figured I'd start Monday September 27th (as opposed to Friday October 1st - how can I be expected to resist so many temptations on a Friday!)

[ENTER START DAY] Monday September 27th. I wake up in the AM and weigh myself first thing. 138! Ok, that number can go down please. (note - the lowest I've been in the past 1.5 years has been 131) Alright - focus focus. I hard boiled eggs the previous and brought those in to eat. I had 4 (egg whites only) for breakfast, skipped on the coffee only b/c i tend to put in sugar and cream and that is NOT paleo. Damn. Ok, lunch is grilled chicken breast from leftovers and I ate that with some onions/peppers. Dinner was from Fresh Market - picked up a LOT of stuff to supplement my empty fridge/cabinet. I made a piece of Hawaiian salmon and had some almonds. Ugh, I was STARVING afterwards, but made myself drink lots of water and go to bed early to not think about it! I did get back into the CF gym and did the following workout: (10 rounds of: 15 DL and 15 pushups and I used 75#). I was happy with my time at 19:18!

[DAY 2] Tuesday September 28th. It's really not fair to wake up in the morning starving! I got into work, and ate 2 hardboiled eggs with 3 pieces of nitrate and gluten free bacon. I had a snack of another egg later and then had salmon (I cooked 2 pieces last night) for lunch. I've had a few almonds and walnuts here and there and my stomach is growling as if its still hungry. How annoying. I'm making myself drink a lot of water and have also had about 1/2 cup of hot tea. I'm looking forward to dinner or another snack that's not nuts/eggs later! I also plan to get back into the gym. So far so good.

---side note: there are definitely 2 nights where I already plan on cheating. I'm going to Aqua Vino at the GA Aquarium where is a huge wine event and my birthday on the 21st. I still think if I'm able to successfully make changes in my diet then that will be a HUGE accomplishment. Still it'd be nice if this challenge wasn't over football season/beerfest/wine events/my birthday - but then it wouldn't be a challenge, and like I have before, i'd keep putting it off...