Products that help me eat healthy!

 My Amazing In-laws gave me this food processor for my birthday last year. . .right in the middle of my first whole30 and right after getting tons of produce from a local u-pick farm.  I love this thing and I use it just about every day, don't think I could cook the delicious paleo meals that I do without it! Get one!

 I just purchased this beauty for myself to help me get a few more veggies in every day.  Love it!  I try to juice 2-3 times a day but when I have a sink full of dirty dishes that doesn't always happen since I have to clean it immediately after using it.  Didn't think I'd like all the green juices but I love it!

My parents gave me this beauty for Christmas, I don't use it every day but it is perfect for zucchini noodles, salads, sweet potato noodles and much more, it make paleo "pasta" much more enjoyable.

 

 

Tomorrow night will be my last night working nights, at least at a consistent basis, I'm really looking forward to having a normal schedule again and most of all have a routine so I can run and go to crossfit every day!!! Starting school in the fall and made sure my schedule will allow crossfit and running time!  Hopefully changing back to a normal schedule will give my body the boost that it needs to those the next 60 lbs!!!! Looking forward!

Lacking Motivation and the Happenings

So I am totally lacking motivation went off my whole 30 at the end of last week and I have eaten terrible since. . .thai food, pizza, popcorn. . .I need some motivation or positive thoughts sent my way to keep it up through the summer months, it should be easier these months but I lost my groove.

I did however meet my goal of losing 10 lbs by memorial day I got down to 214.0 lbs!!! Now I bounce between 214.0 and 218.0 and that's pretty average for me to bounce between 5 lbs but I want to lose another 10 lbs before July 7th and I just don't have it in me right now for some reason.  The heat does not help, with running or with cooking. . .no A/C kinda ruins my meal plans, but we are trying a lot of grilling recipes to make up for my lack of cooking in the kitchen.

So besides losing those 10 lbs I hit another big goal of mine.  I have been running at 12:30 min mile for the last several years since Owen was born.  But I knew I was stronger and lighter and that I could run faster so I started pushing myself and watching my speed on my Nike+ my fastest mile to date is 10:20 min mile!!!!! I knocked 2 min off my time.  Now I have only been running one mile at a time lately mostly because I have been running in the heat of the day but I think I could keep that pace up for a 5k.

I recently found out that I will be unemployed as of the first week of July. . .can I just say I am sooooo excited!  More time to work out more time to sleep more time to play with Owen!  I work nights and it is literally killing me.  My hope is with a normal sleep schedule and regular day time schedule my body will finally regulate it's self and I can have a normal routine to stick with and the weight will just melt off!! I know I'll still have to work my butt off but maybe I'll see the results a little faster. . .that is my hope anyways.

So I guess I should post more often since so much has happened since my last post.  Maybe with my new schedule I will become a better blogger.

I'm still here and still Crossfitting

I've decided that I'm just not a blogger, I get really excited about blogging until I post a few and realize it's a bunch of work and then I give up for awhile. 

I have been crossfitting about 3 times a week now and I've recently started running 4-5 times a week, it helps because I can just run whenever I want. 

My biggest accomplishment lately is that I've decreased my mile by over a minute I was averaging a 12:28 minute mile and now I've averaging 11:08 mile.

Oh and not only have I been running and crossfitting but I'm also teaching some friends to crossfit too, we meet in my backyard or at the park and I teach them all the movements and we do a WOD once or twice a week, whenever my work schedule will allow. 

Oh yeah and I started juicing. . .LOVE IT!!!

And even more good news  I'm down to 217 lbs.  That means I'm just 7 lbs away from being at my pre-pregnancy weight. . .when I get there I get to go get my hair cut and colored, and buy myself a VERVE t-shirt.  When I get down under 200 I get to buy some shorts or capri's. . .I need to hurry for this one I'm living in church skirts and workout clothes, it's getting hot fast!

So there is my update! I might get brave enough to post some of my ugly bikini photos soon, we'll see how confident I'm feeling.

Zone Diet

I will be the first to admit I HATE zoning!  But I know it works so I have traded Paleo for awhile. . .this is hard because I love Paleo and now that I eat Paleo most of the time reintroducing dairy and some grains into my regular diet has been weird.   But I have plateaued and I need to lose this weight faster than I am so I'm committed to the whole month of April zone!

I have tried several times before to do Paleo-Zone and it's just too strict and eating that many veggies every meal is really difficult. 

So I decided to choose a few "easy" Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks that I could pre-measure, weigh and package to make it easier for me to follow.  Today is Day 2 and so far I have been perfect to the gram!  This is not all I eat, I eat leftovers and when I have time or really want something specific I zone it out and make it work.  But this just gives me something to grab when I need something quick. Especially the snacks! I'll try and post at least 3 week of different meal plans, we all know how good I am about posting so we'll see how that goes!  I hope this helps you Zone!  Good luck!


Here is Week 1 Plan:

Breakfasts 3 Blocks

"Sweet Potato Hash"      
1.5 C = 2.5 C, 1 P
2 Eggs in EVOO
.5 C Strawberries

"Oatmeal"
2/3 C oatmeal
1/2 C blueberries
1/2 C cottage cheese
1 T protein powder
1 1/2 t walnuts

"Quesadilla"
1 corn tortilla
1/4 c black beans
1/3 onion
1 green pepper
3 eggs
3 T avocado

"Steak and Eggs"
2 oz meat
1 egg
1 slice toast
1 cup strawberries

Lunch 3 Blocks

"Tuna Sandwich"
3 oz tuna
3 t mayo
1 slice bread
1/2 apple

"Chicken Salad"
3 oz chicken
1/4 tomato
1/4 cucumber
1/4 green pepper
1/4 c black beans
1/4 kidney beans
1 1/2 T dressing

"Deli Meat"
3 oz deli meat
1 pepper
1 tomato
1/2 onion
3 macadamia nuts

"Taco"
2 oz taco meat
1 oz cheese
3 T avocado
2 corn tortillas
1 large salad

Dinner 3 Blocks

"Skillet Dish"
3 oz Italian Sausage
1 c canned tomato
1/2 onion
1 pepper
1.5 zucchini
3 c spinach
1 t olive oil

"Burger"
3 oz burger
2/3 c sweet potato
1/4 onion
1/2 pepper
3 T avocado

"Fish"
4.5 oz fish
1 1/3 c zucchini
large salad
1 1/2 T dressing
1 cup strawberries

"chicken"
3 oz grilled chicken
2 c broccoli
1/2 c salsa
2 cutie oranges

Snacks 1 Block

1 oz cheese
1.2 apple
1 macadamia nut

1 tomato
1 T guac
1 oz deli meat

1/4 C cottage cheese
1/2 C pineapple
3 almonds

16 oz Jerky
12 oz raisins
1 macadamia nut

Bruised but not broken

It was a rough week of workouts. . .I only made it to 3 this week but they were tough.  After doing some crazy lifting on Monday I am bruised from my crotch to my knees. . .I've never had a bruise in one particular location before and it is a little awkward, last week I almost set up an annual check up with my gynecologist. . .good thing I didn't. . .she would have for sure thought I was being beaten!

I got over my bruises and made it back to the gym on Tuesday for some more lifting, double unders and toes to bar. . .that was a killer WOD my arms felt like they would fall off when I was done. But it feels so good to sweat and I really do love lifting especially now that I feel like I know what I'm doing and know how much weight I can handle.

I got lazy toward the end of the week and it didn't help that the workouts didn't sound like a whole lot of fun.  Pretty much anything that involves squats I'm not a huge fan of.  My knees kinda hate me especially when doing squats so I kinda avoid those WOD's when I can.  I know I'm a wuss.

I have been doing a lot of Paleo baking. . .unfortunately I'm at work and forgot my cook books to type of the recipes but keep reading I'll get them up on the blog eventually.  Work has been slow I only blog at work and I haven't worked for a week, so I guess I'll have to start blogging during Owen's nap, when/if he naps.

Delicious Paleo treats I've made, I'll get the recipes or links up soon!:

Key Lime Pie
Apple Cupcakes
Waffles
Carrot Cupcakes

I was going to make paleo sugar cookies but I lacked several expensive ingredients so we made the real thing and I ate one and sent the rest to work with Adam.

I've been doing pretty good with my meals I'm still 100% paleo except for my 2 cheats a week.  I try to Zone as best I can but the Zone part is hard and takes more time and thought.

I have noticed that I've been super moody lately but that my moody days are always the day after a cheat meal. . .the cheat meals  I don't think are really even worth it if not only my body feels crappy but my emotions are all messed up too!

I am strong both body and mind and I'm better when I stick to what I know my body needs instead of giving in to what I think I want!  I haven't been perfect in this challenge but I have come so far and I'm doing and feeling so much better than ever before!

Favorite COOKBOOKS!!!

First of all today was a huge accomplishment I did 10 linked double unders doing our WOD!!!! For those of you non-crossfitters that means I can jumprope swinging the rope twice under my feet in one jump and I did it 10 times without stopping. . .huge huge huge. . .before today I couldn't even link 2 DU's.  Only problem was I got so excited I couldn't even do one after that. . .but it was awesome, wish someone would have seen it besides me. . I'll try and get some video next time to prove to the world I can double under!!

I love that I can actually see and track my progress, but I still hate that most of my workout consist of modification movements because I'm still too weak to do the "real thing" but that's what keeps me motivated knowing that if I just keep with it one day I'll be able to do every workout prescribed!!

COOKBOOKS

So I have been on the waiting list for most of these books at the library for a month or longer for some of them but most of them were well worth the wait and some of the I purchased as soon as I glanced through them when I received them from the library.

  Pracitcal Paleo is a great book filled with tons of recipes and great information about Paleo eating. . .it has some great sauce recipes and flavored salt recipes that I haven't tried yet but I will! Got this from the library but would love to own it didn't feel like I had enough time to make all the recipes I wanted to.

 Just got this recipe book from the library this week, I did make some waffles that were okay but not as delicious as the waffles I from a pinterest recipe I found earlier this week.  But the recipes are simple and filled with ingredients I regularly have on hand.

 This is currently my favorite recipe book,  it is filled with great information about the whole family eating paleo and how to get your kids involved in cooking.  There are lots of great recipes and even some great cheat recipes in here that even my husband has enjoyed!

 I think I broke the law and photocopied about half the recipes in this book when I got it from the library and they are all delicious.  I think this is the book I got my caveman ketchup recipe from and I use that all the time!

Just started cooking a few recipes from this book this week and so far they have all been delicious!  

I love new cookbooks they help me get lots of great ideas of what to make for every meal. . and give a great variety, otherwise we might be stuck eating chicken salad every night.  I have learned how to cook with lots of new things and I now have new "staple" ideas that I keep in my kitchen at all times.  And learning to cook with healthier more natural foods that taste better and make me feel better!  

Also just recently found out that I don't have the greatest genes when it comes to cancer and heart problems. . .I can't help but think that all of this healthy eating and new lifestyle might help me continue to be healthy or at least healthier than I would have been if I would have kept eating junk and pretending to workout sometimes!  Go get a book and try out some great Paleo recipes!!

NEW CHALLENGES!!

I have not given up in fact it's quite the opposite.  After spending Christmas with family and eating pretty much everything I try to avoid I came back feeling like poop.  But I did have a few huge accomplishments while I was gone.  I attended two WOD's at two different gyms on vacation in the middle of winter. . .I normally don't workout when I'm visiting family but I did it.  I got up early and I went on my own and I realized even more than I had before that my gym "Crossfit Verve" is pretty much the best gym in the world!  I didn't get any instruction at either gym I attended, the people were nice enough but my expectations were way too high.

Anyways I got back from visiting the family and immediately started a whole30.  It felt great to be eating healthy again and I never wanted to cheat or go back to the junk I was eating before.  I completely my whole30 with a final weigh in and body fat dunk test. . .and before completing my whole30 I started a 6 week challenge, I'm doing it on my own but Crossfit verve is doing a big competition of it all.  I am trying to add Zone to my paleo eating and it is hard to measure every single meal and add protein, veggies and fat every time I put something in my mouth.  But regardless of how I do I write everything down! I've made it to at least 4 workouts including yoga since I started and hoping to just keep adding to it.

Challenge starting stats Jan 25th, 2013:

227.0 lbs

My body fat dunk test was better than I had expected even though I was only down 5 lbs from September I lost 10 lbs of body fat and gained 5 lbs of lean muscle mass.  Also I dropped 4% body fat!!! 

Starting Measurements:

Bust: 39

waist: 35

hips: 49

Arms: 16

Legs: 28

I still have a long ways to go but it's good to know I'm making progress. . .hopefully this challenge will get me over this plateau and get me to my pre-pregnancy weight just over 10 lbs away from that.

I told my husband his has to start eating 2 paleo meals a day and has to cut out soda completely so far so go, he hasn't been perfect but he fits into his jeans that had gotten too tight so it's a start.  It makes it easier too when I don't have to make him something different to eat! Being the awesome wife that I am I have found some awesome recipes that helps him get through the day while feeling like he gets an extra treat, a paleo treat!

One of our favorites has been

Paleo Chocolate Pudding

1 Can full fat coconut milk

1 cup dates

a few drops of vanilla

4-5 Tb. cocoa powder

blend the dates and some of the coconut milk in a food processor, then strain the small date pieces to get a better "pudding" texture. add the remainder of the coconut milk and other ingredients in the food processor and mix through.  place in fridge until thickens. ( A couple ours) it tastes good immediately too if you just can't wait.  Here is the link for the original recipe.  My husband loved mixing some fresh berries in with it.  ENJOY!!