End of 32

So today I ate 1 egg for breakfast with 2 pieces of bacon. I also had some of the all natural etc OJ. Lunch came early at R. Thomas where I split the flax chips with guacamole and I ordered a tuna and salmon dish. Snacks included 3 large strawberries later in the afternoon along with some pomegranate hot tea. Dinner was set at Urban Pl8 for their 4 course pre-fixe menu. We ordered 1 bottle of wine and split it between 3 of us. The first course was a butternut squash soup (no dairy, they used coconut milk instead!), second course was a mixed salad with pears, walnuts, pomegranate seeds and a light pomegranate dressing, the third was pork tenderloin wrapped around spinach and nuts, served over a parsnip puree with a side of saurekraut. Dessert was the best of course! We got the paleo brownies with a raspberry ice cream - again, no dairy, only coconut milk was used. It was an awesome meal!! I'm full and actually feel gigantic, that's only b/c I'm not used to eating so much. I didn't even finish my first 3 dishes. The meal size just doesn't compare to 1 piece of salmon or chicken from fresh market. Regardless, it was a good meal and great conversation! I'm still on the eating healthy path too. Tomorrow I've got some good and interesting things coming up for food/drinks, but I'll let you sleep on it until then!

Day 31 + some

Tuesday night I drove back into Atlanta from working outside of it and didn't make it in time for any CFPT workouts, so I headed to Chris' to do the workout of the day (21-15-9 DL, HSPU) After warming up, I started the workout, I did 95# DL's and HSPU's with 2 abmats. Well, I flew through the workout, I should have added more weight and tried just using 1 ambat. Next time I'll know better. For dinner we went to Fresh Market and I picked up some salmon and chicken along with a few other items. I ate salmon and had a small apple. For breakfast on Wednesday I had 2 hardboiled eggs and 3 strips of bacon. Throughout the rest of the work day I had an apple with almond butter, 3 big strawberries, and a bit of my leftover turkey burger (not good reheated, so I threw the rest out). I was starving when I left work, but all was good b/c we had dinner plans set in stone. My family and Chris' family were getting together at my FAVORITE italian restaurant in Roswell, Amalfi. I love their chicken parmesan and lasagna, but I decided ahead of time I'll try and get something not breaded or friend and no pasta. They do have good salmon, but I had it for dinner on both of the previous nights, so I ordered chicken limon. It was a sauteed chicken with a lemon caper sauce - not a bad choice. I had some bruschetta, meatball, and a zucchini/eggplant appetizer that was lightly fried. I also had some white wine and for dessert we got a sorbet and a cheesecake slice to pass around the table. I passed on the cheesecake and had a bit of the sorbet. Overall, a successful night I'd say.

Even better were the gifts I got! From my family my parents got me a nice shirt, a cute little rose bush, and a Fresh Market gift card - very very thoughtful. From my brother and his girlfriend, I got The Primal Blueprint cookbook!! My family has been so thoughtful and supportive - these were awesome gifts! From Chris' family they got me a Swim and Sport gift card so that I can get some new bathing suits for Hawaii and such. AWESOME! So the idea is a keep up with the workouts, eat healthy with food from Fresh Market, make food from the cookbook, and then go get some new bathing suits that complement my (hopefully slimmer and more toned) new body! :) Really, all the gifts were great and the atmosphere was wonderful. We talked about NY and such.

After not having a chance to work out yesterday, I got up this AM and did a workout in my apartment gym. For the time I had I did: 4X (400 M run, 15 squats, 15 sit-ups, 15 push-ups). At work already and will probably have some eggs/bacon and maybe some fresh OJ. I have a mentor/mentee lunch today and I think we may go to R. Thomas Deluxe Grill - I've never been, it looks like there are a lot of good paleo items. AND tonight I have dinner reservations for the Urban Pl8 paleo night! YUM!

Day 30!

I can't believe I'm going to say this - I made it 30 days on this challenge. I'll blog more about my thoughts and experiences at the end of October so I finish out the challenge with the group. :)

Breakfast: 2 hardboiled eggs and 4 pieces of bacon at 8:30am. Snack at 11:45 – organic Fuji apple with almond butter + a handful of grapes. I also had some tea this am. Around 2:30 I had ½ of my leftover turkey burger which had onions, mushrooms, eggs and guac – I also added in another hardboiled egg. Other than that I’ve been drinking water all afternoon. If I get sleepy I’ll go back to some tea. I actually enjoy eating these small meals (snacks) every few hours. I don’t get overly hungry and want to eat everything in site. I’m able to balance out what I’m eating. Besides some almonds or grapes I may have later, my next meal will be dinner.

NYC recap + Day 29

First of all, my first real trip to NY was amazing! But, onto the challenge talk (more NY talk later). Last time I blogged was Friday morning. That am I had some fruit and eggs for breakfast. I was out of work early, at 11:30 to catch my flight to NY. I actually packed a grocery bag of food….I cut an apple, bagged some grapes, packed walnuts and my almond butter. I figured this would be a good snack on the flight and in the airport, it’d help keep me from eating all those delicious biscoff cookies in the crown room! Speaking of the crown room, I didn’t have any of their snacks; I ate my apple and almond butter and ordered just 1 vodka drink from the bar that I didn’t drink. On the plane I had a few drinks as well, none of their snacks though.

We then land in NY – we’re both starving and end up taking a taxi (with some random super nice people) to our hotel and get out and throw our bags up. Then it’s off to see part of the city before our 9pm dinner reservation. We walked around, saw a lot of sights (I’ll try and spare you on this part – pictures will be on facebook later!) and we grabbed slices of pizza. Chris got pepperoni and I had a mozzarella, tomatoes and basil pieces. We decided to only eat ½ and continue walking. Chris got a cheese slice at another place, but it was just bleh and he threw most of it away.

Anyways, times for dinner. Chris kept this a surprise until we got there – and it was amazing just walking up to it and into the restaurant. We ate at The Modern http://www.themodernnyc.com/ Now, please skip ahead if you don’t want ALL the details of our dinner – but I must say, this is the most AMAZING meal I’ve ever had. Between taste, presentation and service, everything was perfect.

….we ate in the bar room (menu: http://www.themodernnyc.com/menus/bar_dinner.pdf) We both had a few cocktails while sitting at the bar before we got out table. When we sat down we had a bottle of wine and then proceeded to order. I got the wild mushroom soup and Chris had the Alsatian soup. It was the best soup I’ve ever had – hands down. Since I can probably say that about most everything on the menu, I’ll hold back from saying it for every dish. We then ordered 3 more dishes: the steak tartare, the diver scallops, and the roasted long island duck breast. We then asked the waiter for their recommendations: braised tripe and the Colorado lamb saddle – that means 2 more dishes. (yum) Dessert it was strawberry soup (unlike anything I could have imagined) and the apple strudel. Compliments of the house for my birthday we got another special chocolate desert as well. So, yes, that’s a lot of food, but really all the portions were small and were meant to be shared. [feel free to stop reading if you’d not like to know how my body handled this non-paleo food]. So, like I said, everything was amazing. However, about 2 hours into dinner, my stomach started to hurt – I figured it was just an ache and would go away, but it persisted and then I began to think that it’s probably because I just re-introduced dairy and other items into my body. Well….feel free to guess how my stomach reacted – it wasn’t happy and it wanted it OUT. UGH. That led to a not fun evening. One thing I really wanted to do while in NY was go to a nice rooftop bar and have some drinks and see the city – clearly that wasn’t going to happen on Friday. So, off to bed.

Gotta plug this – Saturday AM C and I went for a jog in Central Park. It was a great start to the day - and it felt great after last night’s meal (although my tummy was all empty). We jogged a few miles and walked some more – what a great day. On our way back to the hotel we grabbed an omelet, nothing special, but it wasn’t bad for us. We did more walking and had lunch at 2:30 at Ocean Grill (http://www.brguestrestaurants.com/restaurants/ocean_grill/) We had some wine, split the calamari which we didn’t finish and both had sushi. It was great sushi and an awesome atmosphere. We sat on the sidewalk – I’d definitely recommend this as a lunch spot near the park in a quite part of town. We pretty much had some drinks throughout the rest of the day – we went and watched the GT/Clemson game at the GT Alumni bar. Afterwards, we had theater tickets for Avenue Q, had a few drinks there and then we had dinner reservation at 11pm at Maialino (http://www.maialinonyc.com/)

Dinner atmosphere was different then the first, still awesome. Our friend is a manager there which is why we wanted to try it. We went with the same idea and ordered multiple dishes so we could get a good sampling of the menu. First up was a meat and cheese platter – 3 of each. We then tried 3 different pastas: Bombolotti alla Norcia, Spaghetti alla Carbonara and I can’t remember the 3rd. They were all so tasty and really light. No heavy cream sauces – that was a plus for the diet! We also had the

Pollo alla Diavola and Cavolo Nero Stracotto as our main meal. We split sorbet for desert and then we were brought 2 glasses of grappa. HOLY MOLY that stuff is strong, supposedly it’s like an Italian moonshine. Wowzas! Again though, the stomach wasn’t happy with some of the food – so we didn’t make it out that night either. Although, it was prime time….we ended dinner at 1:30, heh!

Sunday: Breakfast was at Rue 57 (http://www.rue57.com/#Home) Here we had some mimosas, sushi, and breakfast. I had an omelet and Chris had a waffle. We did sightseeing for the rest of the day and grabbed food at Shake Shack on our way out. That pretty much sums up our NY trip. That city sure has some amazing food – I’m ready to go back and try more places! But, for now, I’m back on the paleo diet.

Speaking of – Monday food (I’m traveling again and am not in Atlanta): eggs and bacon for breakfast. Grapes as a snack, for lunch our team went to The Counter and I ordered a turkey burger with an eggs, onions, mushrooms, and guac. I ordered the 1 pounder so I could have some for dinner. I actually saved it for lunch tomorrow and ended up eating salmon for dinner along with an apple and almond butter. Throughout the day I snacked on almonds and had some hot tea. Overall, a nice day back into paleo. I went and ran for a bit today and just want to be back at the gym. Hopefully soon considering the challenge is coming to an end.

Thanks for making it through – I’ll try to keep the blog up to date the next few days!

Best. Birthday.

So the end of yesterday was FABulous! I ended up not snacking on much throughout the day (except my brownies and some almonds) I never had my chili. I was starving when I got home and really excited for dinner. Chris and I got to BLT Steak and the menu looked great. They had a few specials for the night too, and I was looking at getting a side with our meal of squash gnocchi, but we told the waiter I was on a special diet and he talked to the kitchen and they said their is gluten in that dish, so we passed. We ended up ordering a bottle of wine, I got the tuna tartar for my app and Chris got a duck leg confit. WOW, they were both so great. (let me back up) Before we ordered appetizers, they gave us what looked to be a pate with 2 pieces of crunchy bread. I waited to see if Chris said I should try it, he suggested I do. I first had some without any bread, and then had a tiny piece with it. It wasn't anything to rave about, it was interesting rather. It ended up being a chicken (i think) liver pate. One little bite, and I was done with that. Then the brought over the popovers. I've heard people rave about these. I asked Chris to have some first and see if it was something I should just try (I could have made it through without any bread) He said it was really THAT good and to just try a bite. He pulled a small (very small) piece off for me and I ate it all. Yes, it was good, and it was THAT good, but that's all I ate, just the tiny piece on my plate. Yea, I could have gone for more (or the whole thing), but I didn't have to and it wasn't that hard to pass up while it sat on the table. Good.

Back to the appetizers. Tuna tartar and duck. The tuna came over avocado (picture is a lot prettier then I'm describing it!) It was so good, and healthy. It was served with what looked to be huge potato chips. I broke off a piece of that and tried the tuna with it. The chip didn't add much so that was the end of the chips! Chris' duck was so delicious, can't even describe it!

Onto dinner - we ordered the fish (snapper) for 2. What a great choice. The manager came out and presented the FULL cooked fish to us and then took it back in the kitchen to be filleted. It was served with parts of the crispy skin + some julienne veggies in a type of very very light soy-ish sauce. It was so great! I don't think we could have gone wrong ordering many of the things on the menu, but I was happy we kept everything so light. We were brought a dessert menu and I just asked if we could not look at it and pass on everything. We did. Then I was brought out a bowl of fruit with a candle! FRUIT! Fruit! What a great birthday dessert.

The day was great. The dinner was delicious. My company there was even better. The best part of the day/meal - Chris called ahead and told them it was my birthday. They had originally made cookies for the occasion, but he said I was on a special diet and asked if they could do something a bit for paleo - hence the bowl of fruit for our dessert. (Yes, I held back tears when I found this out) I am so lucky to have such a supportive boyfriend. It's made this challenge much more manageable!

Like I said, it was the best birthday!

I'm off to NY at 1pm today and get back around midnight on Sunday. My plan is to try and stay as paleo as possible (I hope a piece of thin NY pizza doesn't fall into my tummy), but I do plan to have good food as well as an amazing time. Expect an update at the beginning of next week sometime :)

25th Birthday! ..and Day 25 of the Challenge!

I'm 25! Wow, old...hah. But guess what, I feel GOOD! I got into work this morning and a co-worker made me paleo brownies for my birthday! So sweet, and I really appreciate the support beyond belief. It's hard to eat paleo, and especially when I'm always surrounded by temptation! Anyways, I took a chunk of the brownies and shared the rest with the office, I think they were ok received, not necessarily well received. For breakfast, well, you can guess, i had some brownies and water, a tiny bit of coffee with coconut milk and cinnamon. Lunch/snack so far I've had an apple with almond butter.

Dinner tonight will be at BLT Steak!!! I've never been but their menu looks amazing! What I'm ordering is already pre-planned. Tuna tartar for an app and the fish for 2. Supposedly I'll need to ask for non 'popovers' [bread]. I've heard they are great and HAVE to be tried, well, not tonight!

I'm sure I'll snack again before dinner. I've got some leftover turkey chili which looks to be a good 2-3pm snack!

Day 24

So this am I got up feeling pretty hungry. I ate 2 hardboiled eggs when I got to the office and a handful of red-seedless grapes. Water with breakfast. Mid-morning I had some hot tea (non-decaf!). I was super excited for lunch as we went to Village Tavern (not the best menu options, but I had a good one picked out) and a coworker and I split 3 bacon-wrapped scallops and I ordered the spaghetti squash (no cheese and sauce on the side). It came out and looked delicious – I’ve never had this before and I’ve been wanting to try it (just not make it). The bowl had squash, zucchini, peppers, broccoli and onions. The sauce on the side was a roma tomato sauce which looked decently fresh. The meal was delicious, the scallops did have a glaze on it, but it wasn’t soaked in a sauce and I was able to put smaller amounts of the tomato sauce on every few bites that I wanted from lunch. My snack in the afternoon was an apple with almond butter - I shared a few pieces with my coworkers.

By the time I got downtown from work I couldn't get to CFPT, go figure. So I debated trying to workout in my apartment gym, but thought better about it so I went straight to Chris' and did the CFPT workout for the day in his gym. Thank goodness he has a pullup bar and abmat etc. I felt great after completing the workout and not going to a stupid gym with 1 treadmill and elliptical when I had better options!

I brought over dinner for us to make together. 1 piece of hawaiian salmon from fresh market, an apple, a side salad I made with egg, bacon, tomatoes, and chicken and some of the leftover spaghetti squash. It was a mix of food but boy was it tasty! Paleo paleo paleo.

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday - also the 25th day of the challenge!

Day's End!

Alright, so we decided where to eat lunch tomorrow and it's Village Tavern. I've decided on my meal (that way I can't change it) and I just need to ask them to make a few tweaks (no cheese, sauce on the side) and it should be good to go! So excited to finally try spaghetti squash. Anyways, after work today I ran to Whole Foods and got some almond butter and grapes. I've bought almond butter before but never really used it in cooking/eating etc. (see later paragraph)

Anyways, after that I decided to go to LA Fitness. Holy boringness. That is the most un-motivating place. I got on the treadmill and did a walk, ran for a bit, then did sprint on a incline of 11-12 for 20 seconds each (took part of an endurance WOD and modified it) Well, without someone yelling at me or music pumping me up or someone to cheer me on, I walked around the gym for a minute. Studied the scary weight area where ONLY guys were working out and decided I'd just go do sprints on the rower. Did some of those and called it a day. Yea, I sweat and feel okay but it was not a CF workout and it sure as hell wasn't today's WOD. What an eye opener. Sure, I could have pushed myself to run more or go work on deadlifts, but unfortunately the people there looked like boring drones and it just wasn't for me. I am happy I finally got something aerobic in though! I'll see what time I get back to Atlanta tomorrow but I may be stuck going for a run outside (I HATE RUNNING!) or back at LA fitness (see my last capital letters...)

On to dinner and snack. I came in from the gym and was starving, I really needed some energy. I cut up and apple and ate it with almond butter. There's no way to describe how good it tasted. WOW. What have I been missing. What an awesome snack! I brought dinner with me home (staying in Alpharetta for the evening). I pre-made a salad (small side) and I added spinach, eggs, bacon, olive oil, splash of balsamic, and chicken. I also had the other 1/2 of the burger meat. I heated that up but never ended up eating it. I ate my small salad and my mom had made noodles, green beans and ... meatloaf... for dinner! The meatloaf looked delicious, I had a small piece but no more. She said it's ground beef, about 1/3 cup tomato sauce, some breadcrumbs to hold it together, and onions and seasonings. It's not bad for you by any means (although I assume she didn't buy the leanest meat) but I didn't want to make it a cheat with the sauce and breadcrumbs. So a small piece and that was it. She actually wouldn't let me have anymore she said - which leads me to my next paragraph..... the 'what the hell is paleo' talk with my parents.

So I've eaten pasta my whole life. Yes, I love pasta. I love sauces, the love the 2 together. I especially love bread. So my parents are confused by what's been going on for the past few weeks. My dad actually laughed at me, not only today, but this weekend at the GT tailgate. He thought I was ridiculous and could not keep it up etc etc. Honestly, I was hurt. I explained to them both that I'd appreciate the support and it's not the easiest thing. Then i was questioned, this isn't something i claim to be a master at or all-knowing. I'm giving it a shot. So, why meat, chickens weren't alive back then (yea...i know what you are thinking..) they didn't have this and that. Well, i understand that didn't have brownies 10234328798 years ago, but I can make brownies out of all natural ingredients (paleo). What about sauces and cans that say "all natural". Well, I guarantee that they aren't. Flip them over and read the ingredients. We also discussed lean cuisines and how those are NOT good for you no matter how they promote their lower calories and lower sodium meals. The comments that hurt the most were centered around 'let's see how long you keep this up'. Thanks! I've been supported through graduating GT, playing sports, traveling and having a job, but this one thing seems to be different. Great. At the end of dinner, I felt like they did have a better sense of paleo eating, and by better, i mean, they know more now then the nothing they did before. I encouraged them to give it a try and it more or less got shot down. Going over and above, I encouraged them to try CF, and got a ton of excuses from my dad (he has had a lot of medical problems) but I'm sure they could both be more active. Anyways, it's a topic I'd be happy to bring up again at another time. End of story - another good day of eating and some decent conversation with my family. I'm excited for them to warm up to the idea of healthier eating and possibly trying to incorporate some paleo/workout action in there!

Day 23

So I felt good waking up this am. Last night after dinner I had a banana as a snack and drank a lot of water and went to bed. This AM I had hard boiled eggs and some pecans. A banana as a mid morning snack and a few more almonds. I realized from doing some reading/googling that bananas aren’t the best thing for me as they are carb packed. Oops. Article Well, I’ll try and not eat too many bananas. Lunch I had some of my grilled chicken and about ½ of a burger that was grilled on Saturday during our tailgate – YEA for finding leftovers! I took off the bun and cheese and heated both of those up. This was a grass fed burger with fresh cracked pepper from whole foods. I’m on a good roll! I’m staying in Alpharetta tonight so I’ll be able to re-heat the other part of the burger and some more chicken for dinner and hopefully add a veggie side to it. I already have extra hardboiled eggs for breakfast tomorrow and our team is going out to lunch in Alpharetta. I’ve scoped out the places that we may go out and there looks to be something at all places so I should be good. One place, Village Tavern, even has spaghetti squash which I’ve been wanting to try – although I’m more hesitant as to how they prepare it. We’ll see where we end up going out tomorrow.

Again I woke up with my neck being a pain. It’s definitely less stiff then yesterday, but just as sore. Well, I need to get in a workout! I’m going to run some errands up here and get to LA Fitness (yes, I know – I just said the globo gym) But I’ll have a treadmill to run on and who knows what else. I can’t get down to CFPT and don’t feel like doing a drop in somewhere else – not to mention, I’m limited with my neck. Regardless, I just need to be active. NY is 3 days away. And I want to look as sexy as possible. I’m sure my 2 new pairs of riding boots I bought yesterday will help ;)

Day 22

Today ended on a positive note after the weekend that just happened. I never ended up eating my chili for lunch but had some applesauce and OJ. I just wasn't that hungry. My neck was still sore so I didn't work out. For dinner I ate the leftover chili and grilled chicken for the next day or two. I harboiled eggs as well. I'll be working in Alpharetta the next two days which means I need to pre-prepare my meals. I know the team is staying in tomorrow for lunch but we're going out on Wednesday. I'm not sure where, but I'll stay paleo! I'm really hoping that my neck is better tomorrow, I want to get a workout in!

So my birthday is this Thursday - I'm not as excited about the actual day as I thought I'd be. I'm turning 25, and I really hoped a year after 'joining crossfit' (which includes my 6-8 months of being out of town and not committing myself to CF) that I'd be in a better shape then I am. Honestly, there's just this dress that I really want to wear - well 2 of them. They were gifts a year ago - I didn't look good in them/they didn't really zip up, and I don't look the way I want to in them now. It's disappointing and it just points out that I haven't done what I wanted to this past year. I failed not only myself, but people close to me. Well, at least I've learned from this challenge, as I've said time and time again, it's all about the choices you make. I plan (and this time it's in writing) to be a better me this time next year. Whatever that means, making better health decisions, being at a goal weight, having a better mile time etc. I plan to not let myself down again.

On the Happy Birthday note - I've been excited about trips before: the Bahamas, Mexico, etc, but I am darned excited about NY. This is going to a be a great trip!

Burpees + Honesty

So I haven't blogged since last Wednesday and I'll spare you most of the details as I'd have a lot to write from the past 4 days (the title tells it all). Thursday I worked in Alpharetta, which I'll end up doing about 2 days a week now. Work was fine. I had prepared food and brought everything with me I needed to eat. Paleo all the way. Got downtown early to get ready for the big wine event at Ga Aquarium. Arrived and the first thing we did was get a glass of wine. Then off to the food - the food was pretty good and at the beginning I did great. I got beef and grits from Dogwood and didn't eat the grits. I tried to pass on pastas, asked for no buns etc. I did alright in the main ballroom, but then we moved out to the rest of the aquarium. = failure. I ended up having some sweets on my own accord. I tried some lobster bisque and other non-paleo items. I knew when I picked them up what I was doing. I caved. But, I also think that I've learned over the past few weeks that I can make the choice to eat something or not to eat something. I have more will power now. Also, I didn't want my $125 ticket go to waste ;) Regardless, I cheated and I owe burpees. Blargh. Friday I planned to stay in - as you could guess my Friday AM started late and I was in a lot of pain from all that wine. I ate paleo at work for the few hours I went in for. Somehow, I was talked into going almost straight to the Eagles concert. I like the eagles, and I definitely wanted to go, but I really had my heart set on doing Friday’s CF workout and NOT drinking and eating paleo the whole day. Well, the workout didn’t happen. We ended up at Park Tavern where I ate some cheese dip and sushi and had sangria and other drinks. Yes, I felt bad. Yes, I still feel bad. Well, that led into Satuday where I did decent at the tailgate, but I think my drinks Saturday night were sugar packed and I had a bit of this and a bit of that. Well, Sunday AM I woke up feeling like shit. And I mean shit. It was definitely partly because of all the alcohol consumed since Thursday night and I think it was because I reintroduced items back into my diet that hadn’t been there in 2-3 weeks. My body was not happy. I had cramps and just wanted to be sick and pass all this nastiness out of my body. Sunday night I finally was able to eat and didn’t feel as bad as I had so I made a turkey chili with all natural and organic ingredients – not a single processed item. YUM. Woke up this am and had a breakfast of champions. Hardboiled eggs, bacon and a bit of prosciutto. Had a bit of coffee with cinnamon and coconut milk (soy and dairy free). Just finished having a snack of applesauce. For some reason I’m still feeling nauseous. I think my body is still pissed off at me, and it should be.

So, let me focus on what I’ve learned.

1. I’m not as young as I used to be and drinking really tears me up. DUH. Not only that, but sugary drinks really take a toll on me. I made the decision to drink and I can make the decision to not drink.

2. When I put crap in my body after being so good to it for 2-3 weeks, I feel like crap. You are what you eat. Well, I felt awful all day Sunday and I think the stomach pain was mostly from what I had eaten. And again, I made the decision to pick up the food and put it in my mouth. I know I have stronger will power and I need to exercise that.

3. I feel guilty from eating poorly. I’m one of those people that never lets things go. When I would get in trouble, I’d think about it constantly instead of moving on. This is taking a toll on me. I feel guilty and bad, I’m waiting for someone to yell at me and tell me how I’ve screwed up 3 good weeks of work and eating for nothing.

4. …what I’m waiting to learn: eating poorly 1 weekend or 1 day or 1 meal won’t mess up my 3 weeks of good work. (again, this would be because I’m harping on the number on the scale). It’s a number, fine. Surprisingly, my clothes still fit loosely and I haven’t had to go back to those ‘fat jeans’. Regardless, eating poorly over time WILL put me back at a place I have no desire to be at.

Overall, I’m taking it all in stride and I really want to learn from this weekend and my mistakes. I’m trying to listen to how my body feels and react accordingly. I’m nervous that my fall back could haunt me and that I’ve given myself the green light that it’s okay for just a small cheat. Right now the goal is to get through the 30 day challenge, and then adapt afterwards. I think another thing I’m worried about is my upcoming trip to NY this weekend for my birthday. I want to have the best pastas, bread, bagels, seafood, pizzas, deserts etc. It’s my birthday, why not. Well, I know how I feel when I eat poorly and I don’t think I can go all out. I want to enjoy myself, and I plan to, but I will definitely make the smartest decisions possible (I do know I’ll be drinking wine, but I plan to stay away from beer and sugary drinks).

The one thing I’ve learned from the challenge so far is that I have the decision to eat healthy and to disregard unhealthy food in front of me. I’ve proven that to myself and I plan to adapt it in NY. Also, I want to set myself up for success and not failure as I don’t plan to be 100% paleo after the challenge ends, I want to find a good medium that works for me, but I do see myself staying very close to the paleo diet as the food is pretty tasty and I feel good on it.

Thanks for sticking through this long rant of feelings and thoughts. Although I find this weekend as an overall negative and failure to the challenge, I realized what I’ve learned about myself and the diet.

--- On another Debbie downer note, I pulled a neck muscle yesterday in kickball (yes, kickball), and now my neck is really sore and stiff – definitely not what I needed before going to NY. I wanted a week of good workouts. So, if anyone has any suggestions on quick remedies or workouts that I can possibly do, please send them my way. J

PS – I’ll try and post the turkey chili recipe later too. It’s great for leftovers (my lunch today!)

End of day 17

So lunch was yummy, I had some unsweetened applesauce and added cinnamon in it as a snack. For dinner I browned my garden turkey burger and had most of that. I also had a banana about an hour later. After work I went shopping for a new dress for Aqua Vino tomorrow. I was feeling good about how I've been eating and I wanted to get something special. I still haven't lost a ton of weight, and i don't feel much skinnier, but I do have more confidence and my clothes fit better. The dress was cute - now just to bump it down a size ;)

I was sore today and took the day off from the gym, I went the last two. By the time I got home from shopping I was feeling guilty about not working out, so I changed into my workout clothes and got outside in the nice weather and ran for a bit. It ended up being about 2 miles, but I was proud that I did it - especially since I had decided I just wanted a night to relax and not workout.

I've already made my food for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. I've hardboiled eggs and grilled another chicken breast. I have a bit of leftover turkey which I'll probably eat with my eggs in the am. Other than that I plan on bringing a banana and almonds with me to my new client ... so easy!

For aqua vino I plan to be as paleo as possible. 1) I don't want to disappoint myself. (I think I can pass on cake, but tuna tartar on a cracker.... it could be tough! 2) There's no way in hell I want to do 100 burpees as a punishment. Wine however...again, thank you Robb Wolf for saying if we're going to drink, vino is good ;)

I'm looking forward to tomorrow for more reasons then just the evening - it should be another good day of healthy eating!

Day 17 - I feel good, empowered.

Went to bed last night tired as junk! The last two days of workouts have been brutal on my 'i'm used to traveling and not being at CFPT' body. I woke up this am really sore. When I went to get ready for work I looked in the mirror and thought 'hey, i'm noticing a small change'. I stepped ont he scale and once again, it hasn't budged under 132. But, when I went to pick out my clothes for work I chose a top I hadn't work in awhile. Maybe I was feeling adventurous or maybe there has been a small change. Regardless, I actually feel confident in my body. Regardless of the weight on the scale, I feel better about myself then I have in the past year and a half and that means a lot to me. It encourages me to work out and to continue eating healthy!

I was talking to a fellow crossfitter at work today and was telling her about how my weight hasn't changed, but I feel good. She commented that I look a bit better too. Now, who knows if she was telling the truth or making me feel good, but the overall idea is that it's not the number on the scale. To get away from that, I'm going to stop trying to weight myself 2x a day. Yea, 2 x a day may seem like a lot, but I really want to succeed and want to see the change. But like I said before, I've gotten over excited about how fast I lost weight the first week, and that i thought it would just keep up. That wasn't the right assumption. I need to focus on putting good thing in my body and working out.

Speaking of, I had a bit of OJ this am, 2 eggs and 3 strips of bacon. A few walnuts as a snack. I had a small fruit bowl around 12 and am now eating lunch. For lunch I have a chicken breast which was marinated in chili oils from Fresh Market and 1/2 an avocado with some seasonings. I'll plan to eat my garden turkey burger tonight for dinner and grill the other piece of chicken for tomorrow's lunch. I'm on the road tomorrow so I'll pack my lunch and breakfast to ensure a healthy meal.

However cheesy this is, I leave you with my thought of the day: Eating healthy leads to a better you. Inside and out. :)

Over 1/2 way there!

From lunch time to 8:10pm tonight everything has gone well. I had some almonds and grapes as a snack and then I was able to leave work at a decent time to get to the gym for the 5:30 WOD. I was already sore but I pushed through and it felt great to finish. I did HSPU's with 2 abmats and I felt decently strong doing that. Next thing is to work on 1 abmat. I was kinda able to get my toes to the bar in that part of the WOD, although I had more of a swing, and my legs weren't kept straight, but it's better then I've been able to do. Heck, I usually have trouble with kees to elbows! The weight for the backsquats was 45#. I should try and work on those and up my weight!

After the workout I went to Fresh Market and Kroger to get some more paleo foods. Check out my grocery list:
-nitrate/gluten free bacon
-unsweetend almond milk (for coffee)
-salmon (for dinner)
-good olive oil
-organic bananas
-organic baby spinach
-organic
-cherry tomatoes
-organic balsamic vinegar

Great list!

So for dinner tonight I had salmon from Fresh Market and I made a small side salad. Now, I honestly HATE salad. I'm not a fan of lettuce or non-sauteed spinach. But this is a challenge and I'm trying to open myself up to new things. Okay, so for the salad. a very small handful of baby spinach. I drizzled some of my new olive oil over it and gave it a quick dash of balsamic vinegar. I also added grilled chicken, 1 hardboiled egg, bacon, and some cut up cherry tomatoes. Now, let me tell you, it wasn't that bad. It's definitely not something I want to order every day, but I'd consider making it for a lunch to add in some more veggies. I was considering adding in avocado, but I thought I had enough good fats already and enough flavor as well.

I will try to make that again sometime this week for lunch - that's my challenge to myself. Eat a salad for a meal. Uh, never thought I'd say that to myself.

While I cooked my salmon I also threw a piece of my marinating chicken in the oven. I took a few slices off of that for my salad and I'm thinking I'll eat the rest of the chicken for lunch tomorrow with a side of applesauce or fruit.

I am looking forward to trying coffee again tomorrow for the first time in 2+ weeks with my unsweetened almond milk and some fresh ground cinnamon!

I'm 1/2 way there! :)

Day 16 - Still on it!

Food update. So last night I had my salmon and some OJ, but i ended up not having any applesauce. This am I fried 2 eggs before work and had some OJ, I was really hungry when I got up. Mid morning I did some nuts. I'm eating lunch right now and am eating a piece of salmon I cooked last night (I cooked 2 pieces). Once again, it's so easy to stay on the paleo path if I pre-prepare my food. That'd actually be my first advice to anyone who is trying to switch or ease into Paleo. It makes going out to lunch during the workday so less tempting if you know you have good food already prepared.

I didn't touch any of the donuts that came into the office- but damn they smelled good. I've got fruit and nuts to snack on before the end of the day. I'm heading back to CFPT today for another workout, but man I'm still sore from yesterdays! I'll try and cook some of the chicken I have marinating from Fresh Market tonight for dinner and lunch tomorrow. Thursday I'm working in Alpharetta for the day. I need to plan to bring my lunch and breakfast that day since I know my new team will want to go out. Also, I'm leaving early to go to Aqua Vino. If you haven't heard of it, check it out here: AQUA VINO. I've gone the past 2 years and it's amazing. I really do plan to stay as paleo as possible since as of today I haven't really cheated (no beer, no bread, no wheat etc etc) I don't want to blow it! THANK GOD Robb Wolf says that wine is good - since it's a HUGE wine event :)

Really? Some random person just brought warm gooey donuts into our office...and I changed where I sit now, which happens to be right next to the kitchen! ARGHHHHHH!!!!!

End of day 15!

Survived the CFPT workout of Tabata This! I didn't put up the best numbers, and I did the workout on the smallest pull up band - but I pushed through and I'm going to be sore! Wowza. Welcome back to the gym Becky. After the brutal workout I went to Fresh Market like planned. I walked in and had a sample of Fresh Squeezed OJ. I checked out the ingredients and it only said fresh squeezed oranges. No sugars added, no preservatives and it was non-pasteurized. I picked up a 1/2 gallon as it was pretty tasty and I've been missing OJ. I googled to see if it was paleo - and it appears that it is. I know it's got some high sugar and carb counts - although these are natural and not like bready carbs. I plan to ask the CF gym tomorrow on the blog and see what their take is on it. I haven't really cheated on my diet so I want to make sure I keep it up! (No way in hell i want to do 100 burpees!) Anyways, other items I picked up at CFPT included 2 pieces of salmon, a garden turkey burger and two pieces of chicken in the sweet chili marinade. I also got some eggs and unsweetened applesauce and fresh ground cinnamon. Perfect shopping experience. Of course it's more expensive then a bowl of pasta, but the taste is there! Speaking of pasta, I'm really wanting to try kelp spaghetti. I couldn't find it at Fresh Market and last time I was at whole foods I briefly looked and couldn't find it. Perhaps I'll consider ordering it online?!

Anyways, dinner tonight is some OJ, a salmon, and a side of applesauce. Again, I'm feeling great about the way my clothes are fitting! I'm really noticing a difference, but after dropping those pounds fast I've hit a plateau and I've had no weight loss in about 5-7 days. Regardless, I feel good. But I had a goal weight of 125 pounds by my birthday (less then 2 weeks away). I'm not sure that'll happen, but as long as I keep working out and eating healthy, I'll be happy with the progress I've made :)

---post edit thought. The braves play tonight - GO BRAVES. And oh boy, wouldn't it be delicious to enjoy one of these while watching them play: AMAZING BEER

Day 15!

Day 15 update. I had 2 hard boiled eggs this am for breakfast. A cup or two of hot tea with no sugar or cream (our office is freeeeezing today). I had a few walnuts as a snack. For lunch I had the sausage that I had sauteed the night before. It really wasn’t that good – it tasted fatty and gritty. Gross, I’m thinking of tossing the whole bunch and just buying something else for the next few days from Fresh Market tonight! I also had some grapes with lunch. Mid day snack was a fruit bowl (about 3 strawberries, 6 raspberries, a handful of blueberries and grapes) … so tasty! I’m excited to get into the gym tonight – the workout looks good. And there’s always the convenience of Fresh Market right across the street!

--Just found out that sausage is a fatty meat too. No more of that for me - luckily it tasted like junk!