Sweet tooth!

We've all been there. That dreaded 3-6 days where our hormonal balance is out of whack and our husbands accuse us of being possessed :)

For me, this is the hardest time to live Paleo. All I want to do is attack the candy stand in the checkout line. Give me sweets and give me them NOW!!

After taking the kids to Dunkin Donuts (my Z got a great report card with a '2 free donuts sticker' to boot) my craving was in full swing for something sweet. So here is what I did:
handful of raw shrimp
OJ
Unsweetened coconut
Coconut oil
Veggies

Marinade the shrimp in about 1/2 cup of OJ for a few hours. Heat teaspoon of coconut oil in pan. Roll shrimp in coconut and 'fry' until pink. Steam veggies and voila!

It was just what I needed!

What is your way of dealing with sweet cravings?

Let's get this started!

I am so excited {and inspired} tonight!
A {happy to say new} friend is joining Strend with me this session!! YAY! Misery loves company I always say! :)
It's going to be great. This girl is motivated and her motivation is getting me pumped up! Enough so that I want to blog about a few things Paleo tonight!
Recipes
Cheats
How to get your kids to enjoy Paleo
Everything I know so far. It's been almost a year. Cheese and sprinkles. Did I just say a year?!
WOW!
Hard to believe that a 2 week diet turned into almost a year of living this lifestyle.
I won't lie. I haven't loved every minute of it.
But that is ok. It's done great things for me.
Here are my stats after 10 months of Paleo, 4 months of exercise and one round of Strend {crossfit style workouts}

Lost 22lbs {I have been fluxuating (did I spell that right?!) but try not to be too hard with the numbers}
Lost 6% body fat in 8 weeks. YAY!
Lost 4 inches on my {sexy~HA} body
Shaved 17 seconds off my 400m run
I can now do 29 pushups, 22 situps & 20 pullups (jumping) in 1 minute for each event.

Not too shabby considering a year ago, I couldn't have done any of this! The things I have learned this Strend session are priceless.
I learned it's ok to lift weights. It's not going to make you look bulky. My husband kind of likes the fact that I know what a proper deadlift is. It's his kind of sexy ;)
I learned that my weight will change. And change again. But as long as I am feeling like I am accomplishing my goals, I am good. And I am now ok with that.

My trainer has taught me a lot. I <3 her. She knows when to get angry at you and push you, but then she's also a good friend who is willing to listen and give her advice when you need it!
I feel Blessed to have discovered all of this about me here in Dahlonega. I know these are life/health lessons that I will carry on for the rest of my life!

ok, so here is what I know you are waiting for. The recipes! These are some of my favs. Easy to accomodate to your family. My kids are about 80% Paleo converted. We're working on the rest. They are kids. I still want them to enjoy certain things :)

Paleo Fajitas ~ We eat ours in the lettuce boats, but we let the kids have some cheese and tortillas :) I also like to make some lime shrimp too so we have a variety when it comes to leftovers :)

Paleo meatloaf ~ You can make these mini style. Don't add all the 'yucky' stuff the kids won't eat. Then in the end, add the rest of the ingredients. We always end up with 2 bland mini loafs and 2 yummy ones  for us :)

Paleo Spaghetti ~ Absolute favorite Paleo dish! We use the spaghetti squash or shredded zuchinni for our pasta. The kids get regular pasta thanks to Z's avoidance to spaghetti squash. One day she will learn all the yumminess that comes with spaghetti squash :)

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin ~ 'Nuff said. Yummy!

I will add some more later. The kids are demanding baths right now. Who needs to be clean when there is blogging to do?! ;)

Mmm...Reese's Eggs

So this time of year is hard for me. Worse than Halloween. Can you believe that?! And there is one reason. One simple. Delicious. Reason....


Just a side note, I am drooling looking at this picture. They are my favorite!!

Paleo is hard sometimes. I go for months doing great. Not craving anything bad for me. Feeling good. Then there are days and weeks where I just want to eat junk. I have to force myself to stick to a Paleo friendly lifestyle and do the right thing.

In my desperate attempt to find a Paleo friendly Reese's Egg, I came across this website..
http://paleoparents.com/2011/spunky-holiday-nonas-chocolate-easter-eggs/

They look pretty amazing. We'll see how they turn out as I have every intention on making them tomorrow afternoon!! :)

What is your #1 guilty pleasure??

Whole 30-Day 2

I can do this.

Yesterday. Was. Miserable.

I commonly refer the first day of getting back on Paleo as a "carb crash day". My body is thrown for a loop and I am exhausted. This was no exception yesterday. I slept 3 hours out of the day yesterday as well as crashed last night for 9 hours. Still woke up sleepy. Went to workout this morning and am feeling 100% better this afternoon. I hope that was the worst of it!

Today's workout was fun. I love races and am very competative. This works well with me when it comes to workout. So today was do your reps in the quickest time. Here goes:

12-10-8-6-4

-knees to elbows crunches
-grasshoppers (2 count)
-high knees (4 count)
-push ups (no more knees!! YAY!!)

My times (respectively were) 1:26, :57, :47, :35, :25

Not too shabby. I didn't realize that it was a race during the first round, so I messed up a bit. I think I could have shaved a few seconds off that first time. Oh well, there is always next time ;)

We are T-Minus 7 days until Strend and I cannot wait!! I am, for I think the first time in my life, EXCITED about getting FIT. Not loosing the weight, but just being FIT. Healthy. I think I have finally learned the difference between the two :)

Happy Tuesday everyone! <3

Whole 30-Day 1

I think I am going to die. No seriously...I think I might! ;)

I don't remember Paleo strict being this hard the first time around. I think it might have something to do with the iron that is being yanked from my body, if you know what I mean. Bad timing Aunt Flo, BAD!

Went to the gym this morning. I think this is the longest I have ever attended a gym membership. I've beeen going now almost every day since the middle of October. Only times I've 'taken off' was when we went on vacation. Even then, I ran. Trying to keep my body in check. Today was strength training. A good prelude to what happens next week. STREND. Dun dun duuuuunnn....*cue lightening and thunder music*

Strend is a hardcore workout twice a week (on top of normal gym classes for the rest of the week) that mixes crossfit type workouts with Paleo living. I had already decided to start a whole 30 challenege today anyways, so this will just help me with the class. I am hoping to loose a drastic amount of weight/inches during this 8 week class. Here's to hoping, anyways.

Like I said in the previous post, I am going to start using my blog to keep track of my workouts and diet. So ignore this last part if you don't want to read it :)

Day 1-Strength
3 minute warm up consisting of:
ski jumps
plank walk
bicycle (abs)

Circut reps (30 seconds)
front squat (45lbs)
push press
lunges (35 lbs)
high pulls (45lbs)
back squat (45lbs)
sit ups
arm curls (12lbs)

Repeat at 40 second intervals.

I am new to keeping a workout journal, so if you have any tips to help me, please post away :)

Confessions of a Paleo Mama

Remember the post where I said I loved Fall?? Well, I changed my mind! I have had the hardest time staying within Paleo these last few weeks. With the stress of Chris being gone, school, all the yummy fall treats and now Halloween chocolates filling up my pantry, it's been REALLY hard!

Over the Summer, Paleo was easy. We grilled meats almost every night, ate clean with all the fresh veggies and have done really good so far. To date I have lost:

16lbs
2 inches off my waist
.75 inches off both arms
1.5 inches off R leg
1.0 inceses off L leg

So, I think I've done pretty good. But now, do I have the motivation to finish out my goal? I would like to loose another 10lbs + some inches by mid December. I know if I could stick to Paleo hardcore the way I did the first two weeks, then I could. But every single day, there is one slip up. Today for instance I drank a powerade. I have been super dehydrated the last few days and water hasn't been cutting it. So I went to grab a coconut water out of my fridge and "oh, lookie there"...they were all gone. I guess my husband drank the last one before he left and didn't notify me. Booo! So, insert powerade and insert guilt. Grrr...I know there is much worse I could have done, but seriously, every single day there is one little slip up like that lately. I really need to get back to being motivated!!

How do you stay movtivated/on track during the holidays??

Paleo Pumpkin Thanksgiving

While looking at other blogs, I found this {free} online book with amazing recipes in it using pumpkin!! YAY!

I am especially excited about the Pumpkin Spice Latte made with coconut milk! This is one thing I really miss, but I know it's not good for me. So this coconut milk alternative is very promising!

ENJOY!

New Recipe...who wants to try it?

Pumpkin Chilli

This recipe looks super yummy!

Of course, everything on this blog looks super yummy! Makes me wish there were more than 365 days in the year ;)

I plan on making this when my husband is done playing soldier boy next month. In the mean-time, if you make it, let me know how it turns out!!

Happy Monday everyone! I have a few craft projects I'm working on today! Pics and details to come! :)

For the Paleo haters...

Who says Paleo is not an easy lifestyle?? Look at this dinner! Does this look hard? Not one bit. Just because you change your lifestyle to something more healthy, doesn't mean you have to give up flavor and taste :)



Paleo made simple:
grilled chicken breast, sliced thin & seasoned with a bit of olive oil, fresh garlic & sea salt
Steamed veggies
Grilled tomatoes with garlic

YUMMY!!

My appologizes for the 'half-eaten' picture. We were so hungry I forgot to take a picture of the beautiful plate :)

Not your Mom's spaghetti :)

Ok, so my blog has been very personal lately. Which is not what I intended. So forgive me. It's been a rough few weeks. But now that things are starting to straighten out, let me share something with you straight from the Heavens......



Meet Spaghetti squash! This amazing vegetable is so versitile. It's pretty flavorless, but adding it to a meal adds a nice texture to your dish. We mainly have used it in Paleo Spaghetti. One of our FAVORITE dishes!

We eat Paleo spaghetti at least once a paycheck. My daughter even tried it last night and said it wasn't that bad. Which for her, is amazing! She is so picky! Hopefully next time I can convince her to eat some instead of regular noodles.

My favorite thing about Paleo spaghetti is all the fresh ingredients I can use it in. Tomatoes, onion, carrots, celery and garlic. All from my garden or local Farmer's Market.



Isn't it beautiful?? :) Alright, alright. I know you're drooling, so here is MY version of Paleo Spaghetti. Don't hate, don't judge. Just enjoy !

Ingredients

• 1 Lb ground grass-fed beef
• 1/4 cup chopped bacon
• 1 large onion, chopped and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 2 tbsp organic tomato paste
• 3 large tomatoes, or 5-7 roma tomatoes
• Optional ¼ cup heavy cream
• Optional salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat a large pot. Add beef and bacon and cook for 5 minutes. Remove meat with spoon and leave the grease in the pot. Then add carrots, celery, onion, garlic and oregano. Cook until soft. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and meats back to the pot. Season to preference with salt and pepper. You can also throw in some Italian seasoning, oregano or hot pepper flakes at this time. Cover sauce and simmer about 45 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, you can add the optional cream if you are using milk fat in your Paleo diet.

Spaghetti Squash: Heat oven to 350 F. Cut squash in half length-wise. Remove seeds (you can save these and roast for a yummy snack). Place squash cut sides down and roast for about 30 minutes.

When the squash is done roasting, take a fork and break apart the ‘spaghetti’ with a fork. Plate with sauce and Voila!