Almost There

Today some of the little family that we have made with this Paleo Challenge are done there adventure. I am not I still have 1 week to go :). Tonight we are having a Paleo Potluck to share how it was and to talk about where we go from here. This is such a great improvement of health I for sure do NOT want to be done with Paleo after this challenge is over.

My Reasons for Staying Paleo

1. I have had several people in the last couple days tell me how good I am looking
2. The food tastes great and does not make me feel like junk
3. My skin is nicer and my hair is smoother/ stronger
4. I have more energy
5. and well I enjoy it!

I am excited to hear about everyone's adventure and how everyone is doing now, everyone is looking so good and everyone has been having such different results.As I was looking through Pintrest (well because I am obsessed) thinking about all of this and I found this picture

This really shows how people really need to stop being so obsessed with weight. It is only a number and there are so many other factors that we can look. Muscle weighs more than fat I am sure everyone has heard that before but it also looks leaner and nicer. Different body types weigh differently there is no way that I am going to bring myself down to weigh 110lbs, not possible and I am okay with that.This girl had gained weight but obviously lost some inches and gained some strength. So before crying while standing on the scale find some other ways to look at your progress.

Here are some ideas:

1. Measure yourself instead of weighing, use a measuring tape and measure around your arms, chest, belly, but and legs. Do this once in a while (not all the time) to see if you are getting smaller not lighter.
2. Notice how your clothes feel on you, are they looser, comfier, not fitting anymore.
3. Look at yourself in the mirror (without clothes) often, notice how you look and if you see any differences.
4. Record your workouts, keep track of every workout you do, how far you ran how fast, how much you lifted how many times, and notice strength and speed increases.

Don't let the number on your scale be something you obsess over, take it with a grain on salt and know that it is going to go up and down for no reason, and something I try to do is take pride in not looking my weight. I weigh a lot more than what people would guess and that is okay I know it is because I work on my strength, and I like being strong. So be happy with how you look not what your scale says.

Again in the last few days I have tried some new things.

Chicken with Asparagus

For this I took a chicken breast and baked it. I then Pureed tomatoes, mushrooms, green onions, salsa and some seasoning. I also boiled the asparagus for about 1 min. When the chicken was almost done I then put the asparagus on the same pan as the chicken and covered the chicken with my tomato mixture and finished cooking. This was delicious. I am really starting to enjoy asparagus and have been eating it quite often.

Steak and Cauliflower

So this is a steak that I cooked in the oven ( it was a cold night and I did not want to BBQ). I coated the steak in almond flour and spices (lots of pepper). and than cooked it. I then boiled cauliflower and pureed it with seasoning and a little bit of beef broth.

Another thing that I tried out this weekend was some Yoga. I have done yoga before but this was the first time that we had done it at the Gym. There was such a good turn out I was happy to see so many people coming in to give it a go. This is something that I think I could make into a regular thing. It is always good to try new things that keep you moving. (sports, dances, exercise classes, yoga, etc.) This keeps your body learning new movements and growing into a mean lean fitness machine.

I also had soccer on the weekend. This game was a late Friday night game it did not start until 10:00 PM. This was a little different for me as I am usually not in that kind of zone at that time of night. I was a little tired from the day. We only had 9 players show up and we were all looking a little groggy. but once the game got started everyone played so well and we had a lot of fun even though we did lose and we were all very tired by then end. Once I got home one of the down falls to this late game was I was wide awake and full of energy from all the adrenaline and running around. This did take a little bit to calm myself so that I could just relax for the evening. When I play soccer or run in general this picture depicts how I feel.

As I am always looking around the Internet for different ideas and tips I found these Paleo tips from a blog eating and other stuff that is about a couple who have finished the Whole 30. So here are their tips on staying successful.

 

-Always have some kind of salad greens on hand.  Salads are easy to make and you can load em up with anything you want (bacon, egg, veggies, leftover chicken, canned tuna, etc…).

Our lil cobb

- Learn to make burgers with grass-fed beef.  A good, hot cast iron skillet, sea salt, and good meat are really all that you need.  Shoot for about ¼ to 1/3 pound per patty.  Cook em up, top them with virtually anything that sounds good and put it on top of some greens.  Good, healthy, and EXTREMELY customizable.

 - Buy a slow-cooker.  These are the BOMB.  You can cook big, cheap cuts of meat without much effort.  We do this once a week and it makes plenty of leftovers.  Try pork butt (shoulder), roasts, or short ribs.

Carnitas slow cooked

- Speaking of leftovers…when you cook, cook too much.  I almost never cook a lunch, but lunch is always homemade.  Leftovers are necessary for Paleo-survival.

- Buy tons of eggs.  Hard boil them for portable protein.

- Feed the dessert beast.  If you must have something sweet, try fruit.  If regular fruit isn’t enough, try adding heat (bake or sauté) and some cinnamon.  

Baked apples with cinnamon (dessert!)

- And finally, leverage the Pros.  If you are running out of ideas, or if you are craving some specific dish but don’t want to cheat, chances are that someone out there has an answer.  I google “Paleo (insert dish/ingredient here) recipe” almost daily.  There are TONS of resources out there. 

I am almost done this challenge but the Paleo lifestyle will not be ending and hopefully one day I will be a pro at it and maybe even get my Ryguy to join in.

Half Way!

So I am half way through my 30 days of strict Paleo. Everything is going great all of the side effects I was having at the beginning are gone, no extreme thirst or anything like that. I have been able to find lots of yummy and easy recipes, I am not eating as often or as much as I used to and I don't feel hungry because of that. My workouts are just as strong as they were before, I am also finding that I am recovering from workouts quicker and I am not getting as sore as I used to.

The last couple days I have tried a couple of new things first is that I have noticed that I have kinda been using fruit as a comfort food, when I feel snacky or like something yummy I go and grab a handful of grapes or a couple of strawberries. I read on some one's blog (I don't remember which one as I read several a day) that fruit is like Paleo candy and you wouldn't eat candy everyday before you were Paleo so you should not be eating fruit everyday.

This upset me a little because I really do enjoy my fruit, on its own, with breakfast, after a workout, in my salads, but after thinking about it maybe I do need to keep my fruit intake in check and try to limit it. So I went all day yesterday with no fruit and well it was pretty darn easy actually. I just packed yummy veggies that I like instead of an apple and when I wanted to just snack on some grapes I just didn't eat anything. I have found that when I am feeling a little snacky if I just have a glass of cold water it seems to help take it away. That is something that I have heard before that most times when people are "hungry" and feel that they need to have a snack that they are really just thirsty and confusing the sensation. So this may be some explanation.

As it is half way to the end. (of the 30 days because this Paleo will not be ending) our little group received an email from our Ring Leader B. This is the email:

Hey Paleo Pals!

Wellllllll......the good news is that our 30 day challenge is at its half way mark!  Is this a good thing?  I ask myself this question because as all great things in life, they must come to an end.  BUT do they really?  I know you guys are starting to sweat, is this crazy woman going to make me do this challenge for another 30 days, will she make it worse and make it a 3 or 6 month challenge!  What I am hoping is just that, that you have made it through something that you may not have been interesting embarking on solo and will continue.

With our comrades by our sides it makes it less scary AND we are more accountable to be apart of something.  In this case a group challenge that has everyone doing their OWN personal challenge.  Maybe it was the sugar demons that you wrestled with, coming out on top and having hog tied the little suckers!  Maybe it was becoming more conscious of where your food comes from.  Or realizing that your snacking was the brat that needed a time out.  Whatever your reason to give Paleo a go remember what you really gave yourself: "Me time", respect, health, positive energy, self discipline, accountability......oh the list goes on!!!  

So here comes the homework!  I want you to reflect on the past few wks.  Make some time to grab a cup of tea, a pad of paper and a pen.  I want you to spend some time writting a letter to your self.  Tell him/her how proud you are of the determination, amount of time spent planning meals, sticking to a plan, etc.  Remind your old self of how you used to get through your days, what your sleeping patterns where like, whatever you want to tell them.  THE point is that challenges and success in our lives teaches us and gives us hindsight.  That's what I want you to tell your old self!  Also, make a pledge to your former self that the 2 of you will never meet again!  It was fun well it lasted, but like ex's......there is a reason you moved on without 'em!  

SO am I implying that you will NEVER EVER EEEEEEVVVVER eat shitty, processed food or booze again..........you get to decide :0)  Let me know how you do with this little task.

Cheers!

B

You can just feel the motivation pouring out of her! I love it! She really does a great job of keeping us all going! We would truely be lost without her knowledge and guidence :) But, Homework huh? she did later call it selfwork instead of homework which I enjoyed a little bit more it seemed a little less forced although I will do it as I know she could definately kick my butt so I better stay in line ;)

My Relection


Dear Self:

GOOD JOB!!!! I am so happy that you have been able to do this. I know that this is something that you have thought about doing for a long time and to finally commit to do it is great! Now for future goals I need you to stay on this road and keep not giving into temptation even when you dont have the pressure of this challlenge to help you. Stay away from all of the food you used to eat and you know makes you feel like junk. A little indulgence every now and then will be tolerated but try to keep it to a minimum okay?!

Keep up the good work and keep feeling AMAZING and more and more of your goals will be possible.

Sincerely
Jasmine




Here are some of my recent workouts that some of you may want to give a try.


WOD


100 push ups

- You can only rest in a full plank position, if you rest with your chest on the floor ( you can no longer do a push up) you immediately do 10 burpees.

Time: 5:36

WOD

5 rounds for time

- 5 Hand Stand Push Ups

- 5 Deadlifts 155lbs

Time: 3:28

* my little bother beat me at this workout and he was so darn proud of himself, he doesnt usually get that pleasure but since he does modified HSPU he had a little bit of advantage but I was still a little erked, I don't like to lose. But it is always in good fun *

I train a couple of young girls and we regularily talk about my challenge as it kinda boggles their minds a little bit on what I eat. They do not understand how I eat lunch if I cannot eat a sandwhich. This is something that comes up from a lot of people. "What can you eat? That cuts out EVERYTHING!" and as we Paleoers know that is not true in the least. You just need to start getting creative and thinking outside the box, get away from this standard meal plan of meat and potatoe or pasta thing that we all seem to be obbsessed with. This also came up today when I was listnening to the local radio Kraze 101.3. They were talking about a Paleo Restaurant (I did not hear where it was located) and they immediately were commenting on how gross that would be and criticiznig everything about is when they knew nothing about it except two dishes that they served. This upset me a little bit as they are people that people are listening to and they are giving this bad opinion about it. After I heard this I went and googled restaurants to see if I could find one as I have wished for a long time that there was one around, I would go there for sure. I did find one however it was in Berlin. A little bit of a travel for lunch.

I think that this is such a great idea and that something like this would maybe help mre people realize how good the food can be and all of the different ways you that you can cook things and make some yummy dishes and it would be great inspiration for trying things at home. So maybe one day someone will do this here. And if you know of one that is near by, somewhere in Alberta please let me know as I would love to try it out.

So while we are talking about trying new things I have tried a couple here myself. First being this Chicken and Cauliflower

This was so good I found it on a blog called "she cooks he cleans" This was a really good site, she is a mother that cooks paleo for her children and I really like children friendly recipies, they always seem less scary and definately yummy.

Almond Chicken and Cauliflower

Almond Chicken

• Chicken Breast
• Almond flour
• Garlic Powder
• Pepper
• 1 Egg
• Water 1 tbsp

- First you cut the chicken into small pieces, than you mix the egg and little bit of water (1 tbsp) in a bowl, in another bowl you mix the almond flour, garlic powder and pepper.

- Dip the chicken in the egg mixture than in the almond mixture and place on pan

- bake for about 20 min at 375 degrees

- so yummy and easy

Cauliflower

- You boil some cauliflower, and when it is all done you put it into a food processor I use my magic bullet, you add chicken, or vegetable broth, and spices. I used Garlic, pepper, a little bit of dill and tarragon. (I have no rhyme or reason to any of my spice choices) and you puree it all together and voila!

- I really love doing things like this with cauliflower because it is easy and yummy and gives you that side that we all love, and I definitely get sick of salads. Cauliflower does not have a strong taste so it really tastes like whatever you put into it and when it was like this it has the same consistency as whipped potatoes.

Another thing that I gave a try was something that I found on Pintrest. I absolutely love this site! so for this you take your green onions (which I also love) and cut them up. you then place them into a clean water bottle. Put the water bottle in the freezer. you than have pre-cut onions whenever you need them that are not going to go bad as fast. you can just "pour" them out of the bottle whenever you need them. Brilliant. I can always use a time saver!

I was talking to a fellow Paleo Challenge goer at the gym last night and we were talking about how even though we have not weighed ourselves it definitely feels like we are losing weight. I really think I am but we will see at the end of this. This does go back to what I have said before and you can not out exercise a bad diet. Neither of us have changed out workout regime at all if anything I do less now than I have previously. This is just something to think about is you are thinking about doing this diet and need some more incentive.

Half way has brought us here and we will keep on going and I am excited to find more new things to try! I am REALLY excited for these next two weeks to be done so that I can make some Paleo cookies! At a photo shoot a while ago at the gym one of the ladies who has been eating Paleo with her family for some time made this amazing Paleo chocolate chip cookies and I can not wait to have some like that when I am done this!