Looking good, Billy Ray!

So I got to see this guy Saturday night:

 

Oh, to be those hands.

With these guys:

Thank you Holden, for being into Maroon 5 and not One Direction. Thank you.

Badger judges the author for putting a naked pic of Adam Levine so close to one of her family.

Anyways, the Lurong Paleo Challenge (finally) started on Monday. Yay! Seriously you guys, I really needed the rigidity of the program; knowing I gots to do right by my team, really helps get me back on track. Now I'm back to feeling like my old Badass-self again.

Gratuitous tire-flipping-beast-mode pic.

I got on the scale on Monday for the first time in weeks. Yeah I know, very weird for me. That's how off the rails and in denial I was, I. Didn't. Even. Want. To Know. That's how I know I've wandered back into disordered-eating land. As a result, I was perilously close to hitting a number I swore I would never see again. Like, one pound from it.

Yeah.

But that said, I weighed myself this Wednesday morning and I am already down 5.5lbs. Which sounds crazy, but not when you understand the Paleo/Not Paleo thing. Major water retention/bloating. Let's not beat around the bush with these numbers shall we? I hate when people do that. I was 199 Monday morning, 193.6 this morning. There I said it. I fully intend to get into the 170s by the time this Challenge is over, I'd really like to see some 160s, but that may be pushing it. We shall see. I am willing to trade any new Crossfit PRs (for the next couple months) in exchange for losing more fat. I've been dabbling a bit in r/fitness and other like-minded places around the intertubes. My big takeaway has been that you don't have to lose muscle to lose fat, but it's extremely difficult to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Thanks to the past year of Crossfit, I have a lot of muscle. More than I have ever had in my entire life. But it's time for a "cut" as they say in the weight-lifting circles. I'm ready. It's time.

That said, here's the plan for this Challenge. All the meats and vegetables. Only one (two, if I really need it) servings of fruit per day. No nuts as snacks. If they are in a recipe, fine. I reserve the right to check new recipes/food combos on Myfitnesspal to make sure there are no surprises. However, I will not be logging every meal on MFP. Though I will be paying much closer attention to portion/serving sizes. There will be no more "Just cause it is Paleo, I get to eat as much as I want." I sorta did that on the Whole 30, and even though it was a very good experience, I did not lose any weight on it. Which I could have had I known then what I know now.

"You know better, you do better," as Ms. Angelou so eloquently put it.

So what have I eaten the past few days? I'm so glad you asked! 

Breakfast -  Bacon and eggs, with 1/2 an avocado one morning, a banana a different morning.

Lunch - Canned tuna with a salad of romaine and carrots w/ balsamic vinegar/olive oil. Raspberries.

             Left over tuna steak and a hard boiled egg over a salad. Raspberries.

             Left over brussel sprouts and sweet potato/ground beef hash with a hard boiled egg and an apple.

Dinner -   Tuna Steak and Spinach

                Brussel sprouts and sweet potato/ground beef hash

               Tonight looks like a shrimp stir-fry with zucchinni and probably half a sweet potato.

For the record, I only get into this "what I stuff in my mouth hole posts" during Paleo Challenges. I always have non-Paleo friends asking, "So what DO you eat?" Umm, lots of stuff? So this is just a way to say, "SEE! HERE! It's not all bacon and steak." 

Though to be fair...there is a lot of bacon and steak.

                                           The Oatmeal is my hero. (pic more bigger here)

Ninjas and Pirates and Lasers and Shit

Dave the Slave got his new rig. 

It only took 24 years, but he finally got a brand new suit and rig that he designed himself and was fitted specifically for him. I may have mentioned in a previous post, that in his high school days and very early twenties, skydiving was huge part of his life and his passion. (alongside flying) But adulthood, responsibilities, a lack of money, and then a lack of time resulted in him not being a part of that world for the past 18 years.

Not anymore.

He's been jumping again for the past 6 months or so, but Holden and I had to go see him jump again on Friday. Note to skydivers: if you have your loved ones come out to see you, please make sure that you can accurately describe your canopy. Dave did not. It was a near sunset jump, so we were actually able to see them in freefall. And then the chutes started to open...and none of them accurately fit his description. Of course the rational part of my brain knew he must have just described it wrong. But the asshole part of my brain was wondering if I just watched my husband jump out of a plane with a chute that didn't open. Yeah. Dave was very helpful in reminding me later that the he has a doo-hickey in his rig that will open the chute below a certain altitude, and though he may still crash and burn, I would have seen something open, even if it didn't open all the way and he still plunged to his death. 

Thanks, honey.

All kidding aside, I really don't worry about him when he is jumping. But at the same time I realize that I don't particularly care to watch. Call it out of sight out of mind, but it's how I cope with worry-brain. 

Anyways, so much awesomeness coming up you guys! Megacon is in four days!!! I love, love, love that it gets to be such an awesome combo of family geek time (Friday Doctor Who Family Cosplay FTW) and getting our freak on (Cyber-punk Time...once the kid goes to grandma's for the rest of the weekend. Woot!) THEN another Adventure Race the following weekend (crap, I still haven't done a race report from the last one. Suck, I do.) In April, I've got a Horseback Poker Ride to put on at the State Park, the Festivus Crossfit Games, Dave and I are taking a motorcycle trip to North GA, AND my bestie Kelly is coming for a visit. Holy shitsnacks my life rocks!

Regarding the upcoming bike trip, I have not been riding enough. So Dave gave me a pass to disappear yesterday and put on some miles. Which I did. All around awesome person, Liza, joined me for a Hooligan-ish ride around the state yesterday. 

We know why dogs hang their heads out of car windows.

It was a long day, but a great one. Here's a link to the route to our destination, Peck's Restaurant at the end of Ozello Trail. Some folks refer to that road as The Tail of the Grouper. If you've heard of the Tail of the Dragon, you'll get it. We may have gotten a little ambitious in our goals for the day. Here's out route home.  So that's 430 miles for a pastry (Yeah, you read that right. 5 points for me!) at the Yalaha Bakery and shrimp and scallops on the west coast. Totally worth it. 

It never occured to me till just now, but our bikes parked next to each other look an awful lot like when we stand next to each other. Even my bike is an Amazon.

Oh and one more thing!!! The Paleo Challenge is FINISHED on the 16th! YAY! I'm glad we participated in it, and the Whole30. I love that I have broken my addiction to Diet Coke and really gotten a handle on my sweets cravings too. But I am really, really ready to take what I have learned and personalize it a bit. But I've gone on enough for one day so we'll save the introspection and plans for another post.

Who shrunk my pants?

Seriously, only I could gain weight doing the Whole 30/Paleo Challenge. I haven't even weighed myself, I'm too scared to step on the scale. But I can tell. The Skinny Jeans that were starting to fit nicely even fresh from the dryer a few weeks ago are now too tight...and they are NOT fresh from the dryer.

This is what I feel like today.

So much for the Whole 30/Paleo Challenge leaning me out. Instead what it did was allow my brain to say, "Oh we're not going to track exactly what we eat? And as long as I eat the foods on this list only, I'm within the rules? Well, alrighty then. Bring on the sun butter/coconut butter/almond binges, bitches!" And since the Whole 30 has been done, it's been "Bring on the Dark Chocolate and Mug Cakes!"

Yeah.

I started half-heartedtly Myfitnesspal-ing last week, but have gotten lazy with it. Then yesterday I caught myself having the "ah, I'll just restart on Monday" (regarding portion control) conversation with myself and realized that I have steered myself right onto the exit for Fattie Land.

This is exactly how it happened before. Get where I want to be, or close to it for awhile, and then slowly start loosening the grip. And before I know it BAM! I'm 250lbs again. I will NOT let it happen again. At least now, thank God, I'm seeing the warning signs, while in the past I was totally oblivious until it was too late.

So what do I do? Back to to strict tracking of calories/carbs and I'm going to shoot for 1400-1500 a day for the next couple weeks in preparation for Megacon. Once I get past there, I'll probably loosen up the total calories, but I must continue to track. I know the Paleo gurus don't like it, but it has been made abundantly clear to me that if I don't, I over eat.

End of story.

Feeling Good...

especially for a Monday.

I was not feeling good Sunday morning, after a super-fun night out with a couple of our favorite couples.

I feel like this picture pretty accurately sums up Evan and I's friendship. I act like a weirdo and he judges me. I'm ok with it. 

By the way, hangovers suck. But if you want to play you've got to pay. I don't even feel like I drank that much, especially compared to how many I'd pound in an evening in the past...and the fact that I was shaking my booty a lot of the night. But eating clean will do that to you.

We spent most of the night at Captain Hiram's. We ran into even more cool people than the ones we brought with us. The band, 60 Watt Sun was playing a lot of 80s hair metal which was a hoot. And the thing was, they were really good. Looootta creepers out Saturday night, though. I felt like a groupie at  a Motley Crue concert circa 1985. Of course, I never actually was a groupie, nor ever saw them in concert back then because I was 12 and that would be weird. Though probably not unheard of.

Moving on....

Sunday afternoon, one of the Crossfitting couples hosted a Paleo Potluck Picnic at their amazeballs home on the Indian River. Seriously. You never realize how ghetto you are until you go into a house like that. It was so nice to get our nom on at a potluck without having to second guess or ask what was in stuff. The food was super-yummy and the camaraderie wonderful as always. I made the Chocolate Chili from Well Fed, which was a hit. No surprise there. You don't like that Chocolate Chili you need to have your taste buds examined.

I also did something productive this weekend too! I know, right? I got my Cyber Punk head piece completed, made a good go at Rose's gun for our Doctor Who cosplay and started my Cyber Punk Hand Cannon. The gun just needs a strap, but the Hand Cannon still needs lots of work. Dave made the handle for the inside, and I painted it, but that is as far as I've gotten. I need to run by the Auto Parts store after Crossfit this week and see if I can pick the LED lights I'd like to add to it. Dave also did a little work too for his Cyperpunk costume. I was afraid his was going to be really boring, and more just an accessory to me, but he's building some silver-hose-thingees that are going to be pretty cool I think. Pics when everything is completed.

Speaking of all that, the panels have been announced for Megacon. There are several cosplay panels that sound interesting, and I'd really like to go to the Wil Wheaton Q&A. We'll definitely hit the big Villian Party at the Rosen next door. It's rare that we get to go to a big city club, especially one with dancing girls, and themed costumes and decor, etc.

Hey honey! I hear they even got that moonshine what come in dem fancy brown bottles and all! Aaaand an indoor outhouse!

Seriously though, the Arkham Nights party last year was pretty impressive, stylistically speaking. I'd like to wear my Cyberpunk to that party, but I'm afraid Dave's going to want to live in his Capt Jack costume. I'm going to be beating the fangirls off with a stick, I just know it.

This is the part of Capt.  Jack that Dave keeps forgetting about. Oh please, oh please let there be some gay, fanboys there. 

Whole 30 Wrap-Up

Well, that wasn't so bad was it? No. No, it wasn't. Ok, fine it was a challenge at times, but as I've already mentioned, having Dave do it with me made all the difference in the world.

So because I am lazy and also busy, I present to you my post-Whole30 thoughts and feelings in bullet form.

** Weight/Measurements
No, they're not the most important outcome, but everyone always wants to know so here you go:
Dave - Lost 8 lbs and 5.25 total inches. You can really see a difference on him, no doubt.
Me - I gained .6 lbs and lost 4.25 inches. Three of those supposedly from my thighs. I did not factor in      my chest measurements because I am pretty sure the originals were written down wrong. There's no way my chest was 34.25 back in January, my bras are 36 or 38s.

In the interest of full disclosure we are "counting" our weights and measurements from when the Crossfit   Paleo Challenge started on 1/14, and not Day 1 of the Whole30. Day 1 of the Whole 30 started the day after the Austin trip, wherein I was up 10 flippin' pounds from 1/14. So I suppose if I wanted to I could say I lost 9lbs on the Whole30, but I just don't think that is honest.

* * Palate Changes
We definitely adjusted our palate. Our sensitivity to sweet stuff is much, much more acute. I find myself now looking longingly at the baked goods (most of the time) not out of an actual craving but out of nostalgia, if that makes any sense. I made Paleo-friendly Bakies (cookie-type thing) last night because I could, and they were "meh." I think it certainly helped that I made them with the 86% chocolate, in that it satisfied my desire for something I hadn't had in awhile, but was not sweet enough to awaken the Sugar Dragon. Score! 

I've been reading a lot lately about artificial sweeteners and I'm convinced if I have to have a sugar it's better to just have the real stuff. That said, on the Crossfit Paleo Challenge we're still on, we can't have any real sugar, so just as an experiment I thought I'd try a packet of Stevia in my coffee. I ended up throwing it out. SO GROSS. Which is kinda awesome.

                              

This was me.

Incidentally this drawing is from Natalie Dee. I found a ton of her pics with no credit given to her. Not cool other bloggers, not cool.

** The Diet Coke Dragon Has Been Slayed!
A year ago I cut down from 4-6 a day to 1-2. But even while otherwise doing fairly strict Primal Blueprint since August, I still had 1-2 Diet Cokes a day and Dave the same. I have not had one since 1/14 when the Crossfit Paleo Challenge started, even while in Austin I just had water, coffee...and uh, beer. Dave has not had any since day one of the Whole30. This is probably the most important result of both the Whole30 and Paleo Challenge, quite frankly.

I find this somewhat ironic this road runs through Hazleton, PA. Where I have lots of family whom I don't necessarily associate with "Can Do" - God love'em.

** We can do anything!
Ok, we already had pretty good self-esteem...particularly "couple" self-esteem, if there is such a thing. Parenting, life in general, but specifically our more recent experiences, like the Adventure Races have proven what we have always felt. We're a really kick-ass team. However, when it came to food/drink we weren't always as cohesive and/or supportive as we could be, but as I alluded to in previous posts, this was the first time we had ever really been on the same plan. With our energy and commitment focused on the same goals we were unstoppable. We camped twice with folks who were eating and drinking bad things all around us, we dealt with our crazy-ass schedules and life in general without a single misstep. Sometimes I cooked, sometime he did, sometimes we ate weird meals, and sometimes we had wonderful ones, but we did whatever it took to meet the challenge. And I am super proud of us for it.

What did I not like about the Whole30? Well, for me it made me extremely uncomfortable not to be able to track my calories/carbs or weigh myself daily. However, the Whole30 is about self-discovery and I totally understand why they don't want you to do that. For someone without a history of disordered eating or maybe a lesser case than mine, I can see how it could really help your relationship with food. But for a broken brain like mine, I was getting to a point where my brain was wanting to binge, and working within the Whole30 parameters it was telling me, "Go ahead, overeat those nuts or almond butter, etc. It's not a cheat if it's an approved food!" Yeah, not good. My Crossfit Coach, like most Paleo-folk without eating disorders, seemed rather surprised that I could overeat even on the Whole30. But a messed-up brain will find a way. So now that it's over and I am just on the Crossfit Paleo Challenge I am going to be using MyFitnessPal again. I know they'd rather you didn't. But I have to do what I know is right for me. I'm not restricting my calories big time or anything, I get that. But I need that visual reminder of what I have been putting in my mouth to keep me on the straight and narrow, because my brain does not.

That said, I am really glad we did it. Dave wasn't as strict as I was pre-Whole30, but now that he has been, and has been getting such great results he is jazzed to keep it up. He's definitely gotten the energy boost and clearer head so many who do the Whole30 talk about. I don't think I felt much of a difference in that regard because I was already eating extremely clean, especially Monday-Friday. The only major change for me was giving up the sweeteners and Diet Coke...and alcohol on the weekends.

I definitely think we'll bring it back down to more Primal Blueprint levels, especially when the Crossfit Paleo Challenge is done, but I think we are both super-committed now to a true 24/7 -  80/20 or better. As opposed to the past, wherein the weekends were more 50/50.

So dems the highlights. As I get further out I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on the matter, but for now....

In the home stretch!

I can't believe we are in the last two days of the Whole 30. It's been alternately a piece of cake and a total pain in the ass. But it has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt just how determined we can be, and how much easier challenges are met when we work together. I highly doubt either of us could have done this if the other hadn't been on board as well.

To further illustrate the challenges we faced, we spent a good chunk of the weekend at Daytona International Speedway for the beginnings of Speed Week. We arrived Friday evening and stayed through the end of the Sprint Unlimited (formerly knowns as the Bud Shoot-Out - it's like an All Star NASCAR race) late Saturday night. We camped in the infield which was a really great experience. The next day we splurged for the Fan Zone tickets that got us up close to all the drivers and garages. Super cool for even the casual fans like ourselves.

Holden and I are Tony Stewart fans, but somehow I feel as if I have part ownership in Montoya's car as well. (He's the first one in line to go to practice in this pic)

Did I mention it was rather cold? For Florida anyways. Most of our group didn't even stay for the final race because of the cold. It was only in the 40s, but unfortunately most folks aren't prepared for it. For once, Dave was glad for all my overpacking of coats, scarves, hats and blankets so we were comfortable throughout.

The Shoot-out, sorry "Sprint Unlimited", was really exciting. Holden and Dave had rented scanners and Holden was so intense throughout the race, others around us were commenting about it. So cute. Because we had paid for the Fan Zone earlier, we were able to go down and lounge (literally) on the track between the ARCA and Sprint Cup races. It was a really cool experience for all of us.

** My "You Know You're a Crossfitter" moment:  I had Holden hold my feet down to see if I could do GHD sit-ups on the track. (Pssssst: if you're not familiar, tracks like daytona are EXTRMELY banked, cause you know...SCIENCE.) Turns out I totally could. Oh, and I also got up and ran 3.5 miles around the track that morning, cause I'm a weirdo.

Gratuitous my-men-are-adorbs pic.

Any-vroom, we had a blast. And still can't believe we spent that much time at a NASCAR event and did not have a beer. Almost seemed criminal. Ah well. We did eat a crap-ton of nuts. Once again, to prevent us from having to eat any of the horrible choices at the track, I brought a ton of almonds, pistachios, almond butter and fruit. (along with salad and steak) As it happened at the Warrior Dash campout, we definitely ate more of the approved snacks than we normally would have at home...but meh, we're not perfect. The fact that we can go to these types of events and still eat right (even if our protions aren't stellar) and abstain from the alkeehol? I'm sorry, but I'm pretty proud of ourselves. 

You noticing a theme here with me and the Whole 30? Yeah, lots of discipline to eat the right foods, me-not- so-good with portions. That's what happens if I'm not allowed to track calories/carbs. The coconut butter and almond butter were still calling even after I got home. Bastards.

In other news, my copy of Well Fed came in the mail Saturday! Soooo many amazing looking recipes. I made the Chocolate Chili last night and had it for lunch today. It was everything I had hoped for and more. Not as hot as as the Damn Good Chili I've been making lately. Different. Just as good, actually even better IMO. Dave's making dinner tonight because I have a Scout Parent Meeting, but he has orders to make a shrimp stir-fry using the "Best Stir Fry Sauce Ever" from the Well Fed cookbook. Can't wait!

Boogity-Boogity- Boggity!

There is a disturbance in the force.

Normally, the places I frequent on the interwebs are relatively drama-free, supportive places. However, twice so far this morning my hackles have been rasied.

Hackles, I tell you!

On Facebook, a Crossfit friend (who is also in the Paleo Challenge) posted about how yesterday was her first Valentine's Day without chocolate. I think she was proud of herself, as well she should be. But one of her "friends" (and with friends like these...) replied with a bunch of bullshit about how "life is short and you should do what makes you happy. And what do you think of the woman on the Titanic who didn't have desert that night because they wanted to fit into their gown?" Are you fucking kidding me? Maybe it shouldn't have, but that made my blood boil. Don't get me wrong, I am the freakin' poster child for "Life is short, enjoy it now." But here is a woman who is trying to take charge of her health and you're going to try to sabotage her because evidently YOUR life isn't worth living if you can't have chocolate any time you want? I'm sorry, but I'm gonna practice a little bit of discipline here and there and as a result I'm  most likely going to live longer, be stronger and be able to really enjoy everything this wonderful world has to offer to absolute best of my abilities. Or ya know, smoking and overeating makes me happy. Maybe I should go back to that lifestyle, and not be able to even participate in half of the activities I do now that make my life so rich.

The exchange did bring to mind the "arguing on the internet is like.." joke which I will not repeat here. .

The other WTF is literally from the other end of the spectrum. My girl Juli from Paleomg, was given a bunch of grief on her Instagram for posting a picture of some Non-Paleo food. You have to know that her Instagram is her personal space on-line. Her blog, OTOH, the pics and recipes, are all Paleo. Though even on the blog she does on occasion talk about the times when she eats/drinks non-paleo. Which is why we all love her. Fitness and Health are her priority, but she's human  and is ocassionally going to eat something non-paleo every once in awhile. I feel it is so important for her to post when she does, because it keeps us in check. Our society is so all or nothing. Far, far too many people try to be perfect in their dieting/lifestyle changes, and as soon as they wander off course give it all end up and go with FB lady's "Screw it just do what you want whenever you want" philosophy. There IS a middle ground people. You screw up and eat something you know you shouldn't have? The diet/change does not start on Monday. It's starts immediately. With the very. Next. Meal.  It's good to strive for perfection. But at the same time you have to know, that perfection isn't going to happen.

But that doesn't mean you except less than your best.

'Nuff said on all that.

Yesterday Dave and I stopped by a couple of health food markets/cafes and still couldn't find anything we could eat. Turns out the Vegans put freaking Tamari in everything. Gah! So my version of a Valentines Treat was the same thing I've been eating with my dinners this past week. Good old banana, with no-sugar almond butter, and unsweetened coconut flakes. It makes me so happy.
Lunch: Big ass salad with avocado grilled chicken and oil/vinegar. A cup of blueberries/raspberries.
Pre-Workout Snack: I had a Primal Pac.  Honestly, I didn't like it as much as I thought I might. The jerky in it was really good, all the individual bits were actually, but I just personally didn't care of the spices in it. But I'll probably still keep a few on hand for emergencies.
Exercise: 30 minutes of jumping around like an idiot at the Aerobics class at work.
Dinner: Snuck a few spoonfulls of coconut butter. Will NOT be buying more of that when it runs out. Waaaaaay to crack-like to me.Dave made spaghetti squash with meat sauce. Super yummy. I may have also had another banana/almond butter/coconut thing.

So yeah...Dave and I have been discussing where we are going to go after we finish the Whole 30. We will celebrate with some Bakies, but we really want to stay Paleo and not taking any cheats from the Crossfit Paleo Challenge. Let me amend that, I'm pretty sure we'll take a cheat next Saturday night and have a few drinks. But that's about it. We are also seriously considering banning the almond/sun/coconut butters. They are Food Without Brakes for us, I'm afraid. I will also go back to using MyFitnessPal. I'm sorry Paleo/Whole9 world,  but I am just still too broken. If I journal my calories/carbs, I keep my eating in check. I know the Whole 30 is supposed to help you listen to your body, and I think some improvments have been made mentally. But I'm not ready yet to make NOT recording what I eat everyday a permanent thing, which I am pretty sure the scale is going to prove come Wednesday.

Off to Daytona this evening to camp in the infield with the Scouts for the weekend. All the cool kids are coming (ie: parents I really dig) so it should be a good time. Dave and I are packing a crap-ton of food, cause you know there ain't gonna be nothin' healthy at NASCAR central!

Zzzzzzzzzzz

Yeah...like I'm ever so tired I don't eat. Riiiiight.

Still really dragging ass. Last night I took my first Monday evening off of Crossfit (not due to illness) ever. I felt crappy about it, but my shoulder has been bugging me a bit and the WOD for yesterday did not look like it would help matters. More importantly, I was just so exhausted. All that said, I probably still would have gone if not for the fact that Dave and I were in crazy town picking up and dropping off our son and our two nephews all over the place. Their mom (my SIL) passed away very unexpectedly almost a month ago and the whole family is working together to...well, make things work for my bro and the boys. No excuses I know, I could have gone for a run in the dark, I'm a big girl. Or at least done some sit-ups/pushups in the living room. But I didn't. I played with the boys, ate the awesome chili that Dave made, chatted with my bro and then watched a little TV and ate half a banana with almond butter and dried coconut.

As for today, I still feel really, really run down. My energy levels are usually pretty decent so I am not digging whatever the hell this is. I have had a bit of a scratchy throat the past few days. I wonder if the exhaustion is my body fighting off a bug? Oh well, either way I'm pushing through. Last night was nice, but I'm going to Crossfit tonight even if it means dragging my sorry butt in there.

Hey! Guess what? It's Day 23 of the Whole 30!! One week to go! Woot!

This is what I ate on Day 22:
Breakfast: Bacon, banana, coffee and two scrambled eggs. I've started adding a couple of teaspoons of coconut milk to my eggs before I cook them. Good stuff. Oh, coconut milk! Is there nothing you can't do?

Lunch: Salad with shrimp, cucumber, mushrooms, romaine, and cauliflower with one tablespoon each or olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Also a cup of blackberries/raspberries.

Dinner: Damn Good Chili, that my loverly husband made for us. Followed by half a banana with a heaping tablespoon of almond butter and dried, unsweetened shredded coconut sprinkled on top. I had a sudden realization last night that perhaps I have a nightshade allergy. Naturally, I have been super-hyper-focused on my body lately...particularly my belly. The way it inflates and deflates over the course of the day absolutely fascinates me. I really should have taken a picture, because even Dave and Holden were surprised...because after eating the chili I grew a food baby like you would not believe. Seriously. I'm talking 7 months pregnant at least. I brought leftovers in for lunch today, and same deal. BOOM!

Really old references FTW!

Sorry, time warp. Couldn't be helped.

Seriously. Where the hell did this week go? Missed two days of blogging and barely realized it.

Yeah. That.

 And I can't even blame the family because Dave's in Deland taking care of a friend and Holden has been staying at my mom's the last two days helping with his cousins.

But lest you fear my two day disappearance meant I'd fallen off the Whole30 wagon,

I'm sorry. I just wanted an excuse to use this pic.

'Cause to be honest, though I have no fear that I will complete the Whole 30 without any cheats, it has been dang hard, and quite frankly is getting harder. Not gonna lie, I felt like a mild panic attack was starting when I was in Publix last night. The fact that I was just totally surrounded by bad choices was really freaking me out for some reason. Same thing happened in CVS the day before. The Whole30 has opened my eyes (even more than the Primal Blueprint did) to how absolufuckinglutely surrounded by bad choices we are nearly 24/7. 

I also have to fess up to weighing myself. I'm sorry. I can't not weight myself and not journal. At this juncture I'm at the same weight I was when I left for Austin. (I started the Whole 30 the day after we returned) Which kinda bums me out a little, as I'd really hoped to be down more than that by Day 19. But I guess the flip-side is, Austin was going to happen either way and a detox after that trip was definitely needed. Just kinda sucks that it takes 3 weeks to make up for 4 days/10lbs. (sigh)

Not going to get depressed over it. An old friend who I don't get to see nearly enough invited me out to a Country place to see a band tonight, so out I shall go. And in this situation, for several reasons (safety, late night IHOP visits, etc) I'm very glad I won't be drinking at all tonight.

******

Some things I've been eating the past couple days in no particular or detail...(What? I'm not journaling, how am I supposed to remember what I ate two days ago?)

Mega-breakfast!

I made Rabbit Stew on Tuesday. Yup. You read that right. I'd seen it at the Mexican Butcher's in town and always wanted to try it. It was...ok. Some parts of it tasted, yes, like chicken...but other parts were kinda gamey. But it was edible and I'm glad we tried it. Holden loved it. Dave pretty much felt like I did about it.

Other than the Turkey Leg at the Warrior Dash, I ate out for the first time on the Whole30 on Wednesday. We went to a Thai place and after almost having a panic attack due to not finding anything on the menu compliant , I settled on a grilled beef salad, plain. I brought my own oil and vinegar like a good girl.

Last night, I had to cook for just myself again and had nothing that wasn't frozen (hence the panic inducing stop at Publix last night) and ended up making myself coconut shrimp. It was actually really good, but I made too much. I felt like I overate it and I still threw some away. (sigh) I'll get this shit right one day

Ugly, but tasty.

In the exercise realm, did Crossfit as usual Tuesday and Wednesday and the silly aerobics at work yesterday. On Wednesday we did the Hero WOD Loredo, named for .S. Army Staff Sergeant Edwardo Loredo, 34, of Houston, Texas, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, may he rest in peace. We had a cut-off time of 35 minutes and I did it with 15 seconds to spare. For the record, walking lunges are like time-delayed burpees. They suck. I'm so sore it hurts to sit in a freakin' chair right now. But then I think about how much better my ass and legs and looking and then I feel better.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay classy inter-tubes!

Friends who get dirty together, stay together.

The Warrior Dash was good fun, as expected.

Seemingly half the box showed up, which was AWESOME.

And even more awesome was the fact that Women in the Wind - Space Coast Chapter President and one of my favorite human beings on the planet, Liza showed up too!

I'm telling everyone on FB that I carried her across the whole course this way. 

Crossfit! Raaaar!

The only obstacle that gave me any pause at all was this one:

But even it was not bad at all.

It was more mental than anything else. You had to pick and choose your foot/hand holds a bit, but it was totally do-able. Though I do have to admit to there being a bit of a disconnect still, between what my body can do and what I think it can do. Once or twice I thought I had found myself in a position wherein I might have hard time getting up and over, but each time I stopped, thought about, then gave an ooomph and away I went. No problemo. Which is very cool.

I double-checked and the Turkey Legs at the WD were Whole30 compliant. Thank Gaaaawd. It was bad enough we couldn't have a post-race beer, but to not even be able to eat anything would have really sucked.

PALEO! Fuck-yeah!

I'm happy to report that we survived, nay ENJOYED a great evening at River Ranch with Liza and Carlos and all our Crossfit peeps without any alcohol. Shocking, huh? And waking up in a hotel room (it being just the two of us) and not wisp of a headache or anything? Weird. Great. But weird. 

I'm not going to do a detailed breakdown of our food Friday-Sunday because we grazed a lot over the weekend and I can't remember specifics. I know I ate too much fruit and too many almonds (in accordance to my weight-loss goals). However, we were Whole 30 compliant. All things considered, I'm not going to beat myself over it. I packed a metric shit-ton of food for the weekend so we would have no excuse to go off-plan, (pineapples, strawberries, blackberries, almonds, bananas, kale chips, etc) but as a result we did nosh quite a bit more than we would at home, especially around the campfire. But seriously, we didn't drink and "gorged" on fruit and nuts while everyone around us was drinking beer and eating cookies. Please excuse me while I throw my shoulder out patting myself on the back.

Regarding meals, I will say that I much more successfully made the Caribbean Plantain and Meat Casserole Friday night. Turns out when she says to make sure the plantains you use are black she means it. Not plantains with some black on them, I mean to-ta-lee haven't-these-gone-bad black. As it stands if you actually follow the directions they are A-wait for it-MAZING. Seriously. As in this-can't-possibly-be-Whole30-hell-even-Primal-Blueprint-allowed. But it is my little chickadees, it IS!

Which brings us to.....drum roll please...

Day 15!!!!!!!!

We're 1/3 of the way!! Woot!

Day 10, I am in you!

Crossfit was fun last night, in the way that only Crossfit can be...by that I mean, not ha-ha fun, but I-did- something-awesome-today fun. The work out was a 20 minute Ladder of 2 hand-stand pushups, (or pikes, in my case) 4 box jumps (Rx for ladies was 20") and then 8 butterfly sit-ups. After each round, we kept the pikes at 2, but added 4 to the total box jumps and 8 to the sit-ups. So by the time I got to round six, I had to  do 24 box jumps and 48 sit-ups to complete the round. I managed to complete the 6 rounds, plus 2 more pikes, 28 more box jumps and got 11 sit-ups in when the time ran out. The awesome part was that pre-WOD, I really thought I'd poop out and have to go down to a lower box by the final rounds. I even set up a 16" box, just in case. But did I have to use it? Nope. (Holla)

What I felt like doing the whole WOD on the 20" box:

What I really looked like:

Only, ya know, not as cute.

To the details of the day:

Breakfast: The mushroom/broccoli casserole and some bacon. The casserole alone wasn't cutting it. Grabbed coffee and a banana on my way in to work.

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti squash with ground turkey/marinara sauce with a tangerine and a few strawberries. See yesterday's post for the holy-too-sweet-batman reaction to the fruit.

Pre-workout Snack : Handful of almonds

Crossfit: See rambling, boastful paragraph above.

Dinner: Dave was kind enough to make dinner AGAIN. He slapped together a Paleo Shepard's Pie that was crazy yummy. He also made some Paleo Mayo which I am looking forward to trying with some tuna tomorrow for lunch. I'm so happy we are on tjhe same wave length now regarding our health goals and methods for attaining them. For years, everyone once in a while he would get into something (cleanses or juicing, for example) and it would be something I just wasn't on board with and vice versa (weight watchers, tracking, etc). So we'd both end up feeling not really "heard" or entirely supported while in reality the other really was trying, they just weren't in the same head-space or into the same thing. But now we are, and it's aaaaaaaaawesome. 

Til tomorrow, stay classy interwebs!

Weekend Wrap-up

We totally made Week One of the Whole 30 our bitch!

How hard has it been so far? Not very, actually. But, and this but is almost as big as my own, this is due to the fact that getting to this point has been a very gradual process. I get why eating Paleo and especially the Whole 30 is so difficult for the average CW-type eater. I would have balked at it years ago too. However, the path that has led me to this point has been gradual enough that making the transition has been relatively easy. Though Weight Watchers is far from Paleo, their current formulas really do encourage folks to eat less "bad" carbs, and more protein sources, as well and fruits and vegetables. I figured out real quick that my Paleo meals (not that I knew to call them that at the time) would end up giving me more bang for my buck, points-wise. And then when I felt I had run my course with Weight Watchers, I got introduced to the Primal Blueprint and started eating to that plan. From there it's just a short hop to full-on Paleo and then the Whole 30.

That said, it is still not without it's challenges. This week I did struggle a few times with not being to drink soda. The funny thing is I find the temptations for soda are the same as when I quit smoking. I don't crave the actual thing (nicotine/caffeine/whatever-the-crap-they-put-in-diet-soda) but I'll be in a situation wherein I would normally partake and that is when I want it. When I finished grocery shopping the other day I came so close to grabbing a soda out of the cooler next to check-out. It's all about the habit of having it, not so much the thing itself.

I also think I am eating too much fruit. From what I gather if I wasn't trying to lose weight it wouldn't be an issue, but I am. I'm not going to lie, trimming down some more is my largest motivator for doing the Whole 30. I'm averaging around three servings a day of fruit, and I think most folks keep it to one per day, if that.

So that said, here's the weekend's breakdown:

Friday
Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, coffee, banana.

Lunch: Salad with chicken and oil/vinegar and grapes.

Exercise/Dinner: Dodgeball was, say it with me, you know you want to...AAAAAAAMAZE-BALLS! Sweet Socrates, it was so much fun. There are no words, really. We all kept saying, "We need to do this every week!"
Afterwards we had a paleo cookout at the gym. Dave grilled us up some chicken breasts, and I had some spinach salad, some melon and paleo shrimp cocktail. Kinda missed having  a beer with everyone, as they are all on the Paleo Challenge, not Whole 30 and can...but oh well. The indian leg wrestling made up for it.

I don't think I've seen Dave have so much fun, ever. Seriously, the dude was giddy out there.

Saturday
Morning: Went directly to Crossfit, without even coffee. Gah! Did Grace and then ran a mile. (30 clean and jerks, RX was 95#, I did 65# in 4:34) Afterwards, Holden, my mom and I ran down to the Farmer's Market in Vero and then hit Fresh Market and Publix. I ate an apple at Publix.

Lunch: After all the shopping I didn't have it in me to cook anything fancy and I wasn't feeling salad. So breakfast for lunch! Two scrambled eggs and a chicken-apple sausage.

Snack - Picked on a wee bit of honeydew, pineapple, bacon and prosciutto. Guess what I was making for the evening's event?

Dinner - Attended a Sweet Potato Queen party at my friend's house. She was kind enough to make a Pork Loin in the crockpot that I could actually eat. Aside from the bacon/prosciutto wrapped melon/pineapple I brought, it was the ONLY things I could eat. I also had an avocado when I got home.

I am Patti, Queen of the Amazons. No, really that's my Sweet Potato Queen name.

Sunday

Breakfast - Bacon, eggs, banana and coffee. The previous day's search for a crumble-type sausage that was sugar-free was not fruitful. Really bummed about that.

Lunch: A salad with chicken, cucumbers, pine nuts, mushroom, onions, oil and vinegar and half an avocado. Some honey dew on the side. Super Yummy. 

Exercise: Ran 3 miles with Dave, Holden biked alongside.

Dinner: Steak (I forget what kind of cut it was, my bad) and roasted brussel sprouts. We were both jonesing for a little something more afterwards so I made a smoothie of one cup of strawberries, one banana and 1/2 cup coconut milk and split it between the two of us. Mega-yum! But do you see what I mean about too much fruit? Part of me thinks it's ridiculous to worry about eating too much fruit. But then again part of me would have thought it ridiculous at one time to think whole-grains could be bad for you too. So there's that.

I also spent a good part of the day cooking for the week ahead. A broccoli and mushroom breakfast casserole and Paleo Chicken Burritos for lunch. I'll let you know about that one tomorrow, trying the first one today.

In closing, (holy crap, this was a long post) you want a better look at the Sweet Potato Queen outfit don't you?

You're welcome.

Please do not attempt to feed the wildlife.

Dave and I have begun the Whole 30 as of this morning. You have been warned.

Technically, we also started a two month Paleo-Challenge with our friends at Treasure Coast Crossfit last Monday. However, Dave's epic 40th Birthday trip to Austin, TX was this past Thursday through Sunday, so...yeah.

Look! I even went to Crossfit while I was in Austin. Not ya know, actually worked out or anything, but walked by and had Dave take a picture of myself outside the building.

Which is why we had been planning for the past couple of months to start the Whole 30 today. But then the TCCF Paleo Challenge popped up and we wanted to be a part of that too...and next thing you know we're in it to win it....Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Sorry TCCF teammates, but I regret not the Gourdough's Heavenly Hash Donut, the Oscared Beef Tenderloin at Jack Allen's Kitchen, the Spinach Enchilada at The Oasis, nor the Fat Tires at far too many awesome bars to count. But we're done now and ready to get back to business. Especially after reading more of the Paleo Solution on the plane home and realizing that grains are probably the cause of my Hashimoto's and Lack-of-Gallbladder.

INFORMATION I COULD HAVE USED....well, many year ago apparently. Better late than never, I suppose.

I'm going to try to post daily for the duration of the Whole 30. For my records, and for anyone following along at home who is thinking about giving it a shot. I suspect it will be a challenge, but since we are already Primal/Paleo (vacations aside) the transition should not be too painful. But stay tuned, I'm sure the process will be entertaining either way, like really bad TV.

We had our measurements taken at Crossfit last week. I'll get those numbers and post them later for a baseline. But I do think it is worth noting what four days of debauchery will do to you. On Thursday morning, before we left for the airport, I was 177.6 lbs. This morning (we returned last night) I was 187.2. Crazy, huh? When I am "good," gains like that disappear in a week, but still...really? The tough part is that doing the Whole 30 we are not supposed to weigh ourselves or track our food. Things I do and have been doing almost EVERYDAY since May of 2011.

Yikes. But the scale has been put away and myfitnesspal will just have to go unused for a month. I am committed...or maybe should be.

Current State of Health

Holly over at Holly Would If She Could put out a challenge for everyone planning on doing a Whole 30 in January to write a 'Current State of Health' post, so here goes:
If you asked me prior to our Christmas party on the 15th and then  Christmas weekend, I would have told you that I was kicking ass and taking names. Dave and I both have been really good about being Primal. I've also continued to religiously track my total caloric and carb intake as well. I know that goes against the Paleo/Primal philosophy, but through trial and error I have determined that it is a necessity for me. I've spent too long as a food addict, I just can't trust the brain to stomach communication. Maybe someday I will. But not yet.

That said, I will do the Whole 30 as intended. Meaning no calorie counting. But in that case, my foods are so limited (translation: the yummy hacks are not allowed) that I'm not so worried. But I digress.

Exhibit A of Foods I Have Been Overeating: Paleo Cinnamon Buns courtesy of Homesteading and the City

Yeah, they're "allowed" but they're still high in total calories.

After allowing waaaaaay to many non-primal foods down my gullet over the weekend as well as just too much of the good stuff (but it's Christmas!) the bloat has been unbelievable! Don't get me wrong, I'll get a food baby after eating some fruit, but it goes away after an hour or two. This has been lasting for days. It's just so...ugh. And the fact of the matter is, this used to be normal! I used to not even notice it. It blows my mind, what we learn to accept as normal.

I have not been sleeping well at all. Pre-Primal I had started having trouble sleeping but it got waaaaay better once I started eating Primally. (it's a word, now) And bathroom issues, of which I had a few, cleared up too. Guess what's back? (um....eeew)

As of Christmas evening Dave and I both said, "Ok, it's been fun, but ENOUGH." As a result I am feeling better already. I'm starting to deflate and the bathroom issues are starting to sort themselves out. And the best part? I'm craving the good foods.

And the good news is we have not slacked at all in our Crossfitting. (also a word, now) In fact, we kept to our regular schedule and then some. So at least I have that going for me. It was oddly quiet in the box last week, so I finally made Dave take a cliche' Look-At-Me-Crossfitting pic.

This would be so much more impressive if I wasn't still using a band...and a green one at that.

I know, I know. Patience, grasshopper.

I won't actually be starting my Whole 30 until January 22nd. We're going away (the location is a surprise) for Dave's 40th birthday and there is no point in starting it before then. Which I actually think will be for the best for more than one reason. There are so many awesome folks on the interwebs starting on the 1st or 2nd, I can just follow along and steal all of their recipes, tricks and tips. Muahahahahaha. But to sum up the State of My Body, forays into CW eating for the Holidays and subsequent consequences aside, I've been in the best shape of my life. However, I do still get wicked sweets cravings and have plenty more fat to lose off of my body. Those are the two things I'm hoping to see the Whole 30 have an affect on, fingers crossed.

In closing, here is a picture of Joey and Badger, because cute:

They look guilty for a reason, I'm sure.

PS If you've been reading this and have no idea what the Whole 30 is click here.