Reviewing Old Posts is Interesting

After reading my past posts my goodness I kept talking about Paleo but never jumped into it.  Woohoo!  Goal accomplished we are now jumping into it.  A little update of exercising abilities I had NO knee pain today.  None....Zero.....Zippo....Zilch.   I was able to do lunges because of this my goodness I hope this no knee pain continues.  I don't think I updated that I can now do jumping jacks again.  I could not do them until late January.  Honestly saddened me to know a basic PE exercise I could no longer do.  It is eye opening when you see how much you neglected yourself.  No longer neglecting myself.  I cannot, I need to get healthy I depend on it.  If I don't get healthy I will not have a job, nor a full life. 

I Refuse to be Addicted

I have talked about going Paleo for months now.  Hearing how great it would be to my health blah, blah, blah.  The more and more research I did the more I felt the need to go to a Paleo lifestyle.  What exactly is a Paleo lifestyle?

Read about it here: http://www.practicalpaleoliving.com/what-is-paleo/

I call it the "Caveman Diet"  but.....I hate that word "diet" at the end.  This is a lifestyle change NOT a fad diet.  It is NOT a glorified Atkins!  I eat meats, nuts, veggies and fruits.  It isn't a low carb diet it is about eating the healthier carbs with proteins.

I am now on Day 3 of complete Paleo.  When I say complete I mean: No Dairy, No Grain (corn and rice are grains), and No Sugar.  Let's just say along with hormones right now I am irritable, exhausted, restless (as in I just feel jittery).  Now I have done the South Beach Diet before (yes a fad diet) and went without the grains for 2+ weeks.  I thought that was bad but no cheese.  Now as much as I keep on looking at how awful and weird I am feeling I think of the activities I cannot do due to being sick all of the time:  many church activities, spending time with friends, singing, hiking....and I am sure the list can go on.  In about 14-21 days of strick Paleo I should be feeling energized and better.  Looking forward to less stomach problems.  Now the goal is to be 85% of the time.  This means I can have grains, dairy etc. occasionally.  I just don't want the "occasionally" to start until I am about 21 days done with strick Paleo. It is teaching my body not to crave these things so often.  Today was a little interesting as Pizza was provided for everyone today.  I ate my Chicken Egg Muffins and an apple but the smell and sight of pizza made me want some.  Tomorrow we are supposed to be having Olive Garden....ummm....yeah....I'll be eating at my desk as my will power for pasta is non-existent so out of sight out of mind.  Now the cool thing about the Paleo lifestyle is that there are substitute recipes for many grain recipes like pancakes....you would use Coconut Flour (made only of dried ground up coconut) and Almond Flour.  You can still eat dark chocolate.  Honey, Stevia and Maple Syrup (pure maple syrup) are used for sweetening.  No artificial sweeteners.  So far I have an amazing support system I think it is because all who know me know what I have been through with being sick the past couple of years and since testing has produced little results I am trying to see if it is a food intolerance.  When you are intolerant to a food you crave it.....I crave pasta and bread.  I can eat spaghetti everyday and have before.  I also have symptoms later that go alongside with the food intolerance: headaches, intestinal issues....

I have not given into the jitters.  Trying to prove to myself that food does not control me.  Seriously it really shouldn't if I have problems saying no to a food for an allotted time I am allowing food to control me.  No bueno.  I think of 1 Corinthians 9:27.  Need to beat my body into submission....be disciplined not be controlled by anything like an addict.

Paleo Begins

So we are hoping to truly be on this journey of eating like a "caveman" also known as eating Paleo.  Mainly this entails meat, vegetables, fruit and nuts.  Now there are special recipes like "Paleo Pancakes" using Coconut or Almond flour.  Tonight to prepare for the weeks breakfasts I made "Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins"

Yes the muffin shape is odd....they are dinosaurs.  I do not own a "normal" muffin tin.  When Chris and I registered we wanted a dinosaur tin and a butterfly tin (okay fine he couldn't care less I wanted those tins).  I only received the dinosaur tin so....dinosaur muffins it is.  The recipe was simple and quite tasty. 


Here is the link: http://fastpaleo.com/buffalo-chicken-egg-muffins/#comment-97456


I'll be sharing more pics and such as time goes by....after all my blog is very boring as it seems to really only have words.

Oh....Blogging That's Right....I Forgot

So I really did not mean for so much time to pass between blogs my goal was to blog AT LEAST once a week.  So what has been going on....well lost a total of 15 pounds so far and several inches just knowing some of my old clothes are fitting is encouraging enough.  Our computer I thought was going to die but amazing what canned air can do to it.  Poor little Toshiba thanks for continuing to be a faithful computer.  I still haven't changed my eating habits completely.  Confession:  Eating 3 meals a day with snack in between....has not been happening.  We need to plan better and do more prepping for the week.  I HOPE to have some breakfasts and lunches made out for the week on Saturday (will freeze them of course).  I am going to have another trainer because my current one is mean ;-)  (nah not really just wanted to throw that in there to see if she is reading this).  She is going to still be in my life and heck she is a Facebook friend, I have her phone number and email so there is no escaping me muwahahahahaha.  Anyway my new trainer was telling me she had issues with IBS and she highly recommends a book called "Wheat Belly"  I have been interested in this book for quite some time and told her I really wanted to start Paleo....go figure that is what helped her problems with IBS.  Okay, Okay I get it.  I bought the book tonight and hope to truly study it out.  I thought about it today....I study subjects for school, and the Bible soooo.....why am I not studying out a healthy lifestyle?  Now I have watched some documentaries that have been great.  I highly recommend "Fresh" (it is a low quality film so bear with it) this one tackles why I really only want to eat organic and grass fed meat and/or free roaming as chickens don't really eat grass.  +Chris Esquilin  and I just watched "Hungry for Change" on Sunday; I will be watching this one again and taking notes as it is a plethora of information.  It explains that our bodies crave sugar and fat, the importance of positive mentality and much more.  As for working out it's been rough couple of months getting sick with bronchitis along with the "normal" health issues.  Here it goes changing my diet hoping my health is due to food intolerances.  One thing that I need mind change about going "Paleo" is that I cannot look at any food as being forbidden or I will lose all control.  I must learn that I "can" have anything but learn not to "want" that food item.  The next couple of weeks will be hard but it will all be worth it.

Frustrating Yet Satisfying Day

It was a frustrating day.  Let's just keep it at that to be safe never know who is reading and I do have this public.  Anyway...I had training again today and before I go into the I am feeling some muscles in my arms WOOHOO!  Okay....back to the training I got to use the punching bag for kicks today (to help me release some of that frustration) kicks are A LOT higher I am thinking about waist height now.  I have to do a semi side kick....kicking with my laces not my toes. They are also a lot more forceful of course that may be because of my day but I'll take it.  Also I am now able to do 15 pounds in curls.  I started at 5 pounds and am not up to 15...we did have to drop weight after 5 on one arm and go to 12 but it is so great.  I remember looking at the 5 pound dumbbells and then looking at the 15 pound dumbbells and looking forward to getting to that level.  I have come to the conclusion I am stronger than what I have EVER been.  I was more in shape in High School but weaker.  I think I could do 10 pounds in dumbbells.  My legs were strong in High School but my arms were weak.  Looking forward for the weight to come off to see some muscles in my arms as my arms have always been big....my guy friends thought it was muscle (it was discouraging cause no it wasn't).  Okay this was a short update but an update nevertheless. :-)