Since my discovery that I can have pineapple, I'm making sure to keep up with my Paleo lifestyle. Pineapple is delicious and I will have it as much as I can. I need to make up for 35 years of not being able to!
March 3 was also my spiritual birthday! Just like my tattoo says, March 3, 1982. I was 4. Best decision, EVER!
(this is freshly done)
Sunday had an epic meal plan for dinner: Bacon-crusted meatloaf; creamy, spicy collards; and pineapple upside down cake. My husband was impressed with my pineapple upside down cake, even though I used the wrong pan. It was an awesome first attempt.
Now! Breakfast Saturday was fun. I wanted to make something tasty that would be filling and feed all three of us...so, I made a fritatta. Usually, I follow strict recipes on making fritattas, but no one seems to ever want to use tomatillos in anything other than puree sauces with avocado (which sounds amazing, don't get me wrong). Here's what I did.
Ingredients
4 tomatillos (sm/med), large dice
3 strips of thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, diced
1/2 onion
2T minced garlic
1/4c coconut milk
6 eggs
bunch cilantro, chopped (optional)
1/4c feta cheese (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400* and make sure you use an oven-safe skillet.
Start by dicing your onion and sauteing it in the oil of your choice (olive or coconut...I used olive oil). This will take approximately 7 minutes; during this time, dice your tomatillos. Once the onions are mostly translucent, toss in your garlic and saute until aromatic (so, about 30 seconds). Add the tomatillos and saute for a few minutes.
In a mixing bowl, combine the diced bacon, coconut milk, and eggs. Whisk to a smooth, satiny texture, then poor the mixture over your veggies. Let the mixture cook on the stove top for about 5 minutes, or until eggs set up. Sprinkle the feta (if using) on top and stick in the oven. After 20 minutes, take the mix out and sprinkle with cilantro. Put it back in for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven, crank to broil, and stick it under the broiler for about 1 minute. Cut into your preferred serving size and enjoy! Use some salsa for a little bit of an added kick.
Please note: cooking times vary and a lot of this is approximation. When I create recipes, I don't tend to measure...just eyeball it. I'm terrible, I know.
My anniversary is April 6. As part of a New Year's challenge, we've decided to *do* something once a month. Whether it's go to a museum, travel to Solvang, or take a trip to the moon, we're spending time out of the house and enjoying life.
This month, we're going to the Comedy & Magic Club to see Jay Leno. I'm very excited about this. I love Jay Leno and have wanted to see him for a very long time. I just need to figure out what to wear! Maybe a small shopping trip is in order...
NEXT month. April. The first weekend (the Anniversary), we're going to pack up and drive out to Joshua Tree where Ken's family has a small shack/cabin. It needs some work, but, we're really just going to get away. Taking bikes; taking hiking shoes. I sent him a link for a Paleo brunch and I'm thinking there's enough food in that menu that it would last us the two or three days we'd need food!
Here's the list. The mimosas must happen. They must happen every week. I really think this would be awesome over a potbellied stove!
What do you think??
Maybe these awesome pancakes? I'm just excited to be going and excited to have bikes this time!!!
I know I did my recap of the program before I posted my food log for yesterday, but hey! I was excited! Today, I'm wearing jeans I've not worn in a long time. They need hemmed.
So, yesterday's food was ... well...
RECAP
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 4 strips of bacon, and 2 slices of back bacon
Lunch: homemade meat sauce (which was like a chili), a banana and coffee...and more coffee.
Snack: 3 or 4T of peanut butter and a banana
Dinner: Pina Colada Chicken with three pina coladas! I'm so excited about being able to eat pineapple!!!
So, that's it, really. I'll get the "after" pictures today and get them posted. I'm sure there's a drastic difference.
My goal is to keep this blog updated, but I have issues with remembering (clearly). If I don't update it again, I will in April!!
Today is Day 30 of my Whole30 challenge. I'll do a recap later for what today's foods were, but for now, I want to share the awesomeness of the success.
When I started, these were my numbers:
Weight: 172.3
Bust: 39"
Waist: 33"
Abdomen: 39"
Hips: 40"
Roughly. There was up to an inch variance depending on time of day and tape measure used...and whether or not I could breathe.
As of this morning, my numbers are:
Weight: 161.4
Bust: 38"
Waist: 31.5"
Abdomen: 36"
Hips: 38"
...and I can breathe when I take the measurements.
Not to mention, I feel amazing. I feel healthier, stronger, clearer. I still have a raging case of ADOS... (Attention Defici---oooh, sparkly!), some anxiety/panic attacks, and seasonal allergies. BUT! I have lost my allergy to pineapple and kept off my allergy to iodine! So, yay!
Ultimately, I'd like to lose another 10lbs or so and see if I can drop those numbers to 38-28-36. My first goal was to get my hips to 38"....SUCCESS! Now, to get the other number for my waist to cooperate... :D
I'll do another Whole30 challenge in April, just to make sure I'm super hero ready come Memorial Day for Gamex.
This is it. These are the final days.
....and I'm sick.... fml.
So, I didn't recap yesterday...and, honestly, I don't remember much of it. I remember I ate eggs for breakfast...I think I skipped second breakfast and eventually had a salad for lunch...then Ken took me to dinner where I had a steak and shrimp, mashed potatoes, ice cream (I KNOW I KNOW!) and a glass or three of red wine. I don't honestly remember much. It was an emotionally and physically exhausting day. I helped my best friend and chiropractor for 6 years, Kara Nania, sell off her equipment and clean her office. There were so many times I wanted to cry...but, I didn't for her sake. I couldn't bear seeing her beautiful face streaked with tears. It's a long story, but suffice it to say she'll be greatly missed.
I skipped the gym today because I feel like crap. I have zippo energy and whatever energy I appear to have is likely from sheer adrenaline. I'm skipping the gym tomorrow because I think it will be about the same.
...but, I'm not skipping today's recap...
RECAP
Breakfast: buffalo chicken salad (this was left overs from a few nights ago...I left it in my boss' fridge from the other day when I only ate half.
Lunch: Southwest chicken salad. Nothing paleo about this, but it was 3pm and I was starving.
Dinner: GF Chicken Noodle Soup to make me feel better.
I also had two bananas and 3 whiskey & sodas because...well... I feel like crap. The whiskey and soda is my form of medicine, seriously. It's making my voice sound less crackly.
I've been knitting tonight. I can't wait to fit into it! It's a backless halter and I hope to make it look amazing. If I finish it before March 10, I'll wear it to the Comedy & Magic Club when we go to see Jay Leno. :D
Today was pretty painful on the muscles. I loved it! I already posted my gym update for the day, so this is really about the food intake.
Doesn't help that I'm coming down with a cold or pollen-related allergies or both. Regardless, I hate not being able to breathe. Especially when breathing becomes integral to working out. Sleep would have been nice, too. I managed to snag about 15 minutes this afternoon. It helped. I blame the drugs.
So, here's my recap of food for the day!
RECAP
Breakfast: half a tray of Fresh & Easy rotisserie chicken breast;
2nd Breakfast: the other half of said tray;
Lunch: buffalo chicken salad, but only about half of it;
Dinner: Piña colada cicken & confetti f'rice. This was an experiment in allergies. I have a pineapple allergy. The Whole30 has had testimonials of folks who've kicked various allergies--food and otherwise--so, I figured, hey, why not! It was TOTALLY WORTH any hives I may break out with later.
I have a goal. My goal is to be spandex-ready and worthy by Memorial Day weekend. Specifically, May 24. To that end, I talked to one of the trainers at my gym yesterday about personal training.
I was set up for my free consultation for this morning. I am fairly certain the guy was trying to kill me. I've been doing StrongLifts 5x5 since November and only recently hit plateaus in everything. I did a 20% deload and am going to work back up from there.
The guy who was doing my consult today, thinks I should stop SL because it's "advanced" and I need to work the smaller muscles to build them up to push through stalls, etc. Resistance training.
But. I like SL.
I also like the torture he put me through today. I, personally, think both would work nicely together to get the results I want.
We'll see if the trainer agrees. Her name is Nike and she told me she wanted to train me. She knows what I lift; she knows my goals. We chat because she's awesome. As much as I like the super-cute trainer, Daniel, I think he'd be a little distracting--though, he's pretty awesome as a bench press spotter. Very encouraging.
Anyway. Chris, the training director, really put me through some hardcore stuff and I discovered I have a phobia of balls. He had me doing squats with a yoga ball and I was afraid I'd pop it (hey, I've been told I was *fat* all my life...). Then, he wanted me to do burpees with an 8lb weighted ball. I knew the instant I put it down, my arms would slip and I'd break something...and I just sorta stood there, staring, trying to psych myself into it. I finally turned to him and said, "Can I not do that with this?" He was confused and started talking about strong cores, etc. I said, "Yeah...see...it's not my core I'm worried about...it's the fact my hands will slip off the ball and I will collapse onto it, crushing my sternum." He laughed and handed me a set of 12lbs dumbbells...that were circular on the ends. I put them down on the mat and stared a minute...then stood up and said, "Can I just do regular burpees? I'd rather not roll around and really hurt myself." Apparently, though, this fear of mine is because I don't have a strong core. Couldn't possibly be because I have no depth perception and very little coordination...coupled with a severe lack of confidence in doing anything involving something that requires depth perception and coordination. I digress.
There were a few exercises I just couldn't do. Planking and lifting a 12lb dumbbell was the first...followed by the stupid weighted burpees...and ending with a step thing where you step up onto a raised platform, balance and lift the 12lbs dumbbells over your head, then step off the other side. Remember a lack of depth perception and such? I also have a lack of balance...and a bad knee....which gave out on the step down.
TIME TO WORK THAT KNEE! Dear lord, I thought I was going to die...and I'm a pretty strong girl... But, then again, my left knee *is* pretty jacked up. As is my left shoulder. I'd really like to do things like what I did today as a supplement to my strong lifts. Hopefully, they'll agree.
