Day 11 - 11P2G - Sleep Already!

Winning!

Great day! Long day! Rope climbs made it into the HD workout today… and I’m super excited that it did. I was one, maybe 2 pulls from the top today. I smoked all previous attempts and even had Robert ready with the camera just in case. I lost my footing right before this picture was taken and couldn’t recover from it. Rope burns on both legs getting back down, but I was safe and they were right… you simply don’t fall from up there, you just don’t. I did a mini-celebration then finished the AMRAP… I didn’t make any more attempts for the day, one is all I have in me and then the bruising and burns set in on my shins.

Dinner

 Input: Pretty mellow day for eating. Rue and I finished the leftover pancakes for breakfast, instead of lunch I snacked throughout the day on the lunch items I brought to work, chicken and fresh guacamole, a nut pack, and some grapes. I got a call from the furniture store delivering my munchkin’s bed so I rushed home to open the door for them. We had dinner at 5:30P. It was a great dinner, I took some of the leftover sun-dried tomato chicken from dinner last night, chopped it up and added it and some of the tomatoes to a pasta sauce, I put it over noodles for J&R and I enjoyed my portion over a sweet potato. We had a side salad and some organic carrots, great dinner!

Output: Noon HD @SWEAT360.

Warmup with jogging and drills, 5x5 Kettlebell snatches on each arm. Then a 12 minute AMRAP (As many rounds as possible) I think I did 6 rounds… ??? I was so excited from the rope climb I lost track. After round one, I chose the 4 mini climbs instead… for these, you sit on the ground and climb the rope to a standing position and lower yourself back down. The AMRAP was: 1 rope climb (or 4 minis), 7 Burpees, and 10 Box Jumps.

Random: Today was exciting for Ruthie since her new loft bed arrived. Ruthie has been a co-sleeper, well since day one of her life… we had a brief 6 months just before she turned 4 where she slept in her own bed every night but then she worked her way back into ours. Don’t get me wrong, we love co-sleeping with her, but I also miss sleeping peacefully with my husband too. When Rue is in bed with us, I sleep in mommy mode, and every sound or move she makes I hear it, it makes for not so great sleep for me, but it’s been 5 years so I must be getting adequate sleep or at least close. We ordered her bed, that she picked out about a month ago and she has been telling us that as soon as it arrives, she will sleep in her own bed forever… Well it arrived today, at 5:30P and after we had dinner, Rue and I spent the entire evening putting it together. As soon as her Bennie Bear was in place, she climbed in, said goodnight, turned out her light and went to sleep. Hurray!!!!

For some reason, I remembered a challenge I had given to some friends during one of my many attempts of doing a weight loss challenge. I had done some research on sleep and I’m not sure what article this came from so forgive me for not being able to cite the right source but for kicks I found the challenge I had sent out and copied and pasted it here. I don’t get “points” for anything I’m doing now but maybe I should… remembering to and actually getting some good sleep is so beneficial to a weight loss plan and to good health overall. Soooo random copy/paste from an old weight loss challenge I was running and participating in…. enjoy!

Sleep Already!
Getting too much or too little sleep may widen your waist! That’s right Goldilocks: Getting seven to eight hours of sleep is juuuuuust right. People who sleep less or more are likely to gain 11 pounds over a six year period by making no other changes. Skimping on sack time decreases the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin and increases the appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin. What’s more… overindulging means less time moving.

The challenge: Get at least 7 hours of sleep nightly. Points: 1 point per day this is achieved. Report in your daily journal or in a weekly journal which must be received no later than Tuesday 9/2.

Tips: if you have a hard time getting to sleep (me) try these techniques… who knows they might work for you…

1. Pull your hair (not kidding) I watched a study on Oprah not long ago where the scientists said that by pulling on your hair you can actually trigger the nerves in your head and stimulate it in a way that actually helps you turn off all those other things going through your head, allowing you to fall asleep quicker.
2. Fade to black: Apparently the 2nd most common reason people have a hard time falling asleep is because of light in the room. (the 1st is anxiety). Make your room dark, use blackout shades or wear a blackout sleep mask… and oh yeah, turn off the TV and unplug the night light.
3. Get the right pillow for your sleeping style, and replace your pillow every 12 to 18 months.
4. Quietly listen to music with beats similar to your heart rate, 60 to 80 beats per minute. Check out bedtime beats CD’s www.bedtimebeats.com or try some white noise, like waterfalls or rushing river waters.
5. Score a new pad… it might be time for a new mattress or mattress pad (I know it is for me) Make your bed comfortable and you will toss and turn much less throughout the night. 
6. Change your alarm clock… apparently clocks with blue toned digital displays block melatonin production, keeping you up… if you can see your clock and are having trouble falling asleep switch to an amber light instead. (the orange).
7. Down your dog. Mans best friend could be sleeps worst enemy…

Not getting enough good sleep can actually stall your weight loss. So sleep already!

Day 10:11P2G -- Pancakes & Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Bake

Breakfast

Quick Paleo Pancakes

The dryer is working or at least it appears to be for now… Yay! Hopefully that ends the drama for this week. Food for today was fantastic; I had a late breakfast while waiting for the repair man, of the Quick Paleo Pancakes… I’m not sure what I did different, but they were even better today. The consistency was, well, pancake like. I followed the recipe exactly and made my quick berry compote for the top. Perfect. Lunch was a simple left over chicken warmed with a side of fresh avocado and for dinner we enjoyed for the first time Sarah’s Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Bake from Everyday Paleo. http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/03/09/sun-dried-tomato-chicken-bake/  I followed her recipe, except that I wasn’t paying attention at the grocery store and bought a 6 oz jar of sun dried tomatoes instead of an 8.5 oz jar, and mine were not julliane cut, so I cut them myself. I lost a little of the olive oil in that process but I think it turned out fine. We enjoyed it with a green salad, fresh fruit, and my not quite paleo family added some mashed potatoes and everyone was happy. No crazy activity today, I had to miss Poweryoga @ SWEAT360 but I’m still planning some stretching and inversion before bed.



Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Bake



Dinner

Leftovers Yummy!



Day 9 - 11.5 lbs to Goal: Tuesday: A Lot a Tabata

Roasted Cajun Butternut Squash

Am I the only one that thinks eating will make a headache go away? I don’t know why I think that; maybe it is because if I’m having a caffeine withdrawal headache some espresso usually cures it. I’m proud to say that today, even though I had a frustrating morning and a ticked-off induced headache, I stayed on plan. I did have to stop and think about my food choices and I even noted to myself that food isn’t going to help and drank more water instead. I kept the food choices simple and finished up some leftovers, no wasted food for us this week.

Input:


Breakfast & Lunch

 Dinner for breakfast, the squash just looked too good not to eat this morning, so I cut it in half, heated it up, added some turkey roast and enjoyed it with a cup of coffee. Ruthie boiled egg and a Larabar for a snack. Drank some liquid vitamins in water, then had a repeat of breakfast for lunch but finally finished off that turkey roast… that was a lot of meals with one roast… It was good but I’m kind of glad it’s gone… now I can work on a new recipe. ½ Banana and a raw nut pack before my workout and after stopping at New Seasons on my way home, I didn’t feel very hungry for dinner. I knew I was hungry but after a nice hard workout the hunger was masked a bit. I decided to keep it simple, I sautéed some of the Healthy 8 Chopped veggie mix in a little olive oil, a lot of veggies, added 2 eggs and made a scramble and added a dollop of guacamole. It was fabulous. I may or may not splurge on a little dessert tonight, I picked up some dark chocolate coconut bliss bars… I’m currently not hungry so maybe I will save it for tomorrow.



Leftover Scramble for Dinner

 Output: A Lot a Tabatta
A little jogging, ladder drills, and dynamic drills, then a fast hard AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 10 minutes. I completed 8 full rounds with about 15 seconds to spare and breathe…

8 Rounds in 10 Minutes of:
7 KB Swings (54lb KB for me)
7 Slam Ball shouldering (40lbs round 1, 30 lbs remaining 7 rounds)
15 Bodyweight Squats (fast)

Then comes the Finisher: Tabata Sit-Ups

SWEAT360 - HD 5:30P

Tabata is eight 30 second rounds of as fast as you can for 20 secs and 10 secs of rest. You are supposed to go as hard and fast as you can and count how many you get then on each round after you try to meet or beat your original count. Full range sit-ups, my counts: 11, 11, 10, 10, 10, 10, 9, 10

Great workout! I needed that. No rope climb attempts today… I’m rightfully exhausted.

Why I will never buy an appliance from Best Buy ever again!!!

It started when we purchased the front load washer/dryer combo for our new house, nearly 3 years ago… Delivery and install was included, however when they arrived, they considered placing them in the right place installed and would not actually install them. My dad drove up from Eugene to help me install them, not that it was difficult hooking them up but thanks for the nice install Best Buy.


One month later… I noticed that the main reason we bought this particular unit, it’s efficient dryness sensing, that automatically senses when your clothes are dry so as not to over dry them, wasn’t working. How did I know this.. because it wouldn’t shut off and our clothes when it did shut off were hot like fire. We called the customer service who sent a technician about 2 weeks later. We simply put it on the Normal cycle for 40 minutes so that it wouldn’t over-heat while we waited. When the technician came the first time. He immediately said… it’s not the dryer it is the venting. We then argued about the venting because the manual reads that it needs to vent within 50 feet of the dryer and it was venting 28 feet away. Didn’t matter to him… it was the venting and nothing could be done. Nice… oh and he refused to reinstall the vent hose (put it back on) and said and I quote, “When your husband gets home, he can put this back on for you.” Are you f-ing kidding me? was he saying that because I’m a girl, I can’t put a tube on a receiver?!?! I actually complained about that one… A-Hole!

I placed the hose back on the dryer.. and we continued to use it on normal for about a year then poof it wouldn’t start. Called Best Buy Geek Squad, they sent, oh my gosh, the same technician out. Turns out the fuse that controls the heating element blew, he says because it’s not venting properly making it too hot and thus the sensor-technology won’t work. I said we haven’t used the sensor technology because it has never worked and we don’t want to fry our clothes. He replaced the fuse and still said our venting was too far.

Okay fine, my sister and I headed for the crawlspace and were about to re-vent it entirely, but found an indoor method where it vents right into water inside. It seemed to work but it gave far too much moisture in the air to continue long term. Oh and because it was venting only 2 feet from the dryer I turned the sensor back on and guess what… it fried my clothes… smoke literally came out of the dryer. Nice. Back to normal 40 minutes for us. The moisture got to be too much so I actually re-vented the dryer into our entry way 5 feet from the dryer. This lasted about 6 months… fast forward to now… 3 weeks ago… it wouldn’t turn on again.

I called Bust Buy geek squad – they can send a tech out but It can’t be for a week. Same technician comes… I recap the entire issue and my belief that it is a lemon from the beginning the sensors do not work it over heats, and now it is vented 5 feet away… he doesn’t ever remember being here in my house. Really??? I can understand not remembering the situation but no recollection of ever being here??? Last time he was here he saw my inversion table and talked to me about it for about 10 minutes… but now, this is the first time we’ve met… interesting. This time there is no comment on the venting instead, the fuse has blown and the heating element grounded itself so he needed to get two parts to fix it and would be back Saturday AM to do the work.

Saturday was my anniversary and both Jeff and I had plans in the morning… I canceled my plans and waiting for the technician to come or call… at 10:30A I called to find out that the part didn’t arrive so we need to reschedule. WTF!?! Thanks for calling me Best Buy so that wouldn’t have to reschedule my plans… I’m pissed and reschedule for Monday AM. I’m told that if I don’t hear from the technician to call them by 9A. at 3P on Saturday , I get a call from a random parts person letting me know that we need to reschedule the Sat AM appt because my part didn’t arrive on time… Really? No kidding…

Monday AM… I’m doubtful for some reason that I will hear or see him in the AM so I head out to take Rue to school and go to work, at least for the morning. I get a call at 9:20A. The technician is sick today so we need to reschedule for tomorrow instead. Look dude, I’m sorry that you are sick, but schedule another freakin’ person!!! I go to work and proceed once again to move my meetings around and make Tuesday available to working from home… I just want to get this over with…

Tuesday AM…. 9:30A I call Best Buy because guess what… I didn’t get a confirmation from the tech yet. They try to call him and leave him a message, come back to me on hold and tell me that he should call me in the next 20 minutes or so but in 30 minutes to call them back so they can try him again. I have a mtg to attend via phone so I wait an hour and call them back at 10:30A I have to explain the situation all over again, and tell them, I just plain need to confirm he is coming I have another meeting at 11a so please get him on the phone. I then wait on hold for 17 minutes… I get call that goes to my voicemail, then a txt msg from my husband saying that Best buy called them and they need to reschedule… I hung up on the call I was currently on hold for as they were clearly NEVER coming back. check my VM and got an actual Oregon person from Geek Squad telling me that we need to reschedule for today because the technician is sick! Insert head explosion here!!!!

I call her back and in as reasonably kind way as possible I completely freaked out!!! Turns out he is the only technician for this area… his next available appt is Saturday. NO! I asked to speak to a supervisor, they are sending their Washington tech to my house in the morning and if I don’t hear from him before 9:30A I am to call him back directly. How much do you want to bet… he won’t know how to get needed parts to fix my dryer and he will come out here, then have to reschedule???

Thank goodness I paid for the extended warranty for the Lemon that is my dryer… and thank goodness it is so energy efficient and has such great customer service…

New Dated Goal!!!

My ultimate goal has a lot more to do with health than a number on the scale.The real goal is to be healthy and pain free and be able to do whatever I want to do without that nagging inside voice that tells me , "I shouldn't do this, I can't do this, this is going to hurt so much tomorrow... " and mostly to be able to play with my daughter and not have her know that Mommy is in pain. It has been a long 3 years, but I can say that right now in this moment, I can... my goal  has been acheived. I'm not in pain. But it is a continual battle and each day is different. I have to be so careful in my workouts and my daily movements, and sometimes I have setbacks, but for the most part, Charlie Sheen, "I'm winning". I thank God everyday for the strength He has given me and for my drive and persistence to keep pushing forward. But all the mushy mushy stuff aside... there is that one number, that I thought was so far out of reach, that suddenly seemed reachable towards the end of last year. I was 4 pounds from "the number on the scale" that I hoped for. Only to slowly and steadily move farther away from it. With my progress last week and my renewed Paleo vision, I think I have the opportunity to reach that goal. Today I scheduled my yearly bloodwork and checkup that my employer funds as part of our health and wellness program. It is one month from today. Friday April 29th. There are no special anniversaries or birthdays between now and then, well there is Easter, but over the last few years I've gotten really good at the large family functions so they don't scare me or throw me off track anymore. Plus, eating Paleo, I can eat, and I like to cook so it just gives me a reason to try a new dish. So, I have 31 days to lose 12.8 pounds... That's aproximately 3 pounds a week so I need to shoot for 4 pounds a week which is honestly doable. 12.8 pounds is my lifetime goal, but it's not all the extra weight on my body that I have to lose, it is a personal goal set much lower than the possible loss for my body. Wish me luck, I will need it.

Design change... ugh!

In an effort to make the blog look nicer... I totally messed it up... sorry. I do have more room now to post pics, so future posts should look better but it totally messed with the previous posts and I can't figure out how to return it to the previous settings... LAME!

D8:14:12.5P2G - Monday



The ingredients

Great start to a new week. I even experimented with a new recipe all my own. Okay I looked at a few recipes to get an idea for what I wanted to make and started making the “It can be this Easy – Roasted Root Veggies and Chicken” recipe from everyday paleo but when I did a scan of what I had to make in the house… I started changing it up a bit to meet my needs and what I had ready to cook.

Chicken & Smashed Butternut Squash
½ Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed
4 chicken breasts
2 TBS Coconut Oil
Garlic Powder, basil, tarragon, black pepper, and sea salt to taste
Nuts & Seeds (Trader Joes Omega 3 Nuts & Seeds snack pack)
Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. I use Demarle cooking products and if you’d like to too, my friend Julie sells it… let me know and I will hook you up, because it rocks! Put the cubed squash in the baking pan or in my case my Demarle bakeware and add 2 tbs coconut oil. Demarle does not need any oils or non-stick anything… the coconut oil is actually for taste and added good fat. Place the chicken breasts over the top of the squash and season to taste. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 15 minutes.

In the oven



after chicken was removed from the top

 At this point you can enjoy or… you can take the very moist ready squash out and mash it then add the nuts & seeds pack and sprinkle with cinnamon.



Smashed Butternut Squash

 The recipe made enough for the three of us, plus I cooked the other half of the squash at the same time by adding a little coconut oil and sprinkled it with a cajun spice mix... (I can't wait to have it for lunch tomorrow). We ate all the smashed squash and had chicken but we have enough left over chicken for 2 or 3 more servings... great for snacks and future salads this week.




Other food for today:

Breakfast: n/a


Dinner's Ready

I had a large Americano on my way to work and at work, I brought some chicken sausage to enjoy for breakfast but never got around to heating it up to eat it. Instead I went from meeting to meeting then rushed off to the gym for my noon workout. Not a good idea, and I won’t do that again tomorrow.

Lunch: Turkey Roast Salad


Leftover Turkey roast… gotta use the leftovers… I will probably finish turkey tomorrow, sorry if it is boring but the reality is that I repeat a lot of meals as I don’t like to waste food and easy and healthy is what helps me stay on track. I warmed the turkey and added it to a mixed green salad loaded with chopped veggies, and a tomato salsa, this was a very large salad and hit the spot. 



Turkey Salad



Snack: smashed dried bananas. YUMMY!!! Another café Americano at 4P… uh oh… that might keep me up.

Output: TRX @SWEAT360

Three rounds of 11 different TRX exercises… TRX on Mondays is challenging. I decided to give the Rope one try and only one try… 2 good pulls is all I had, but I think I have this footing thing figured out… it won’t be long before I’m at the top.

Ruthie Bee bits…

While I was preparing dinner tonight, our little chef wanted to make a couple creations of her own: hard boiled eggs and dessert for her and daddy. Other than the removal of the boiled eggs from the stove, her two creations were entirely all her own and she asked me to post these recipes for her.

Boiled Eggs by Bee

Add water to eggs in a pot, bring to boil, reduce to medium and cook for 15 minutes. Cool in running then cold water. Remove from pot. Refrigerate. Crack one egg and peel and rinse. Cut in half length wise with “sharp” knife being super careful. Add small sprinkle of sea salt and crushed black pepper and eat.

Random Dessert by Bee



Dessert for two by Bee

One Strawberry Jello snack cup added to plate and chopped up. One large strawberry cleaned and chopped up and added to jello. Top it with whip cream and add a side of one orange, peeled. Perfect for sharing with Daddy.

D7:14:12.5P2G -- Week 1 of 2 Summary

Fun First week back on Paleo… I was down 4.5 pounds for the week, then I had an anniversary celebration followed by a “Faileo Day”. No worries, it happens. Total for the week is a net loss of 2.5 pounds. Due to the celebration and clear day off I had yesterday… I will shoot for double that loss for this week. I’m looking for 5 pounds to disappear from now until Monday. Pretty steep goal for me, however, I’m still in the pre-stages of being back on track so I think it’s doable.



Fresh Basil Pot from TJs



Yesterday started out great with a great family breakfast of fresh basil eggs and turkey bacon, no recipe needed, simply chop up some fresh basil and add it to your scrambled eggs… this idea came from our friends Ian & Nicole… fresh rosemary is also really good in eggs. Trader Joes currently has their basil pots for $3.99 I think. I can never seem to keep any plants/herbs/veggies alive in our garden, we simply don’t have enough sun due to the season and the giant trees covering our house and yards but these herb pots will stay alive for months and I will add their yummy-ness to many of our meals.



Basil Eggs, Julie's Fresh Guac, & Turkey Bacon



I had leftovers for lunch, some turkey roast and vegetables that Jeff had brought home from a Thai restaurant. Then because the dryer is STILL BROKEN!!!! (long story, let’s just say I am VERY unhappy with the Geek Squad from Best Buy, and that is all I will say for now,) I spent a few hours at two different laundry mats, the first one SUCKED so I found another, this was not how I really wanted to spend Sunday and I think it is what caused my Faileo breakdown… I started getting really hungry, I had brought a couple snacks with me, a Larabar, a pack of nuts and a larger water… I ate/drank them all, but when I got home I was still really hungry at the same time that Jeff and Ruthie were hungry too. What I should have done is made dinner but no, that is not what we did. We decided to try and talk Ruthie into leaving the house, which is not always easy on a weekend, she is such a home-body… she tells us, she will go out to eat but she wants to have Izzys. We have never been Izzys as a family, I haven’t been there since I was a kid, but she went with a friend and really liked that it was a buffet and she could get anything she wanted then make ice-cream after… so in my laziness, I suggested we go to Sweet Tomatoes, I could get a great salad there right??? Well we went, and I got an okay salad, sans any real protein, I stocked up on the Broccoli salad dish, with the nuts and dressing, it tastes really good but most definitely dairy involved, I then had a piece of corn bread, and a fresh hot choc chip cookie that was delivered to our table, then some ice-cream with Ruthie… None of it I was actually hungry for, but it was there… if I would have only had some good filling protein, my evening would have gone much better… oh well… Jeff and I agreed that we are done with All-you-can-eat… forever… or at least a year or more. Even Ruthie ate too much, her tummy hurt and we all went to bed early.



Today is a new day, it’s week two of my committed online journal… after this week you’ll have to let me know what you think, should I continue to journal for the world to see, or stick to adding recipes and randomness once in a while?

Journal Day 6 of 14 - 11th Anniversary

Brunch:

10:00A Brunch at my house. I have great friends… for some reason I thought we were meeting at 10:30 so when everyone arrived at 9:30 I was still in my jammies, cleaning the house and being super lazy… I thought I had another hour and hadn’t even started my coconut pancakes… but… Julie and Jen came with ready to go food, while I tried on borrowed tops, they made a version of the quick paleo pancakes with added coconut flour, an apple cinnamon compote, loaded eggs, with veggies and roasted red peppers (awesome touch), real bacon, and fresh fruit. I got finished trying on clothes just in time to make us some Café Americanos and enjoy! Next time I will be more prepared to help… but I love my friends for not caring about the messy house or messy me. We ate and drank coffee, I forgot to take pictures, sorry.

Anniversary Dinner at The Brazil Grill: www.brazilgrillrestaurant.com


11th Wedding Anniversary


Neither my husband or I are the “all you can eat type”, we are more the best food we can get for the right value, we often share food at restaurants to keep the price down and it works for us because portions at restaurants are generally so big it’s perfect for two. This was going to be an experience for us. This is an all you can eat restaurant where the servers walk around with food (meat and pineapple) on long skewers and if you turn your ready sign from red to green, they come directly to your table continuously bringing different types of meats until you turn your read sign red for a break or simply to eat.


Strawberry "something- Brazillian"



I started taking pictures right away and because I use the Hipstomatic photo app, there is a wait to see the images, I just kept taking pictures as the food really comes fast. It turns out my app was set to black and white and I didn’t realize it. Oops… a variety of meat on a plate, in black and white doesn’t actually look very appealing so I don’t want to give you the wrong impression of how good that meat was by posting them.

Our reservations were at 6P, we arrived a few minutes early and already had a full plate of food by 6P. We managed to stay and eat until 7:20P when we left, there is no waiting for anything other than chewing, so let’s just say, we got our money worth.

The Pineapple

I think we tried everything on the menu except the black forest ham, I am not a huge fan of ham so by the time it came to our table, we just passed on it. We started with a small salad with a Brazil vinaigrette, a ½ of a hard-boiled egg with some rose sauce, and a spoonful of Tobouli. They brought us Garlic bread of which we both had only one bite of then it was all meat from there.

• Marinated Prawns
• Chili-Lime Pork Loin
• Marinated Chicken Legs
• Bacon-Wrapped Chicken
• Marinated Lamb
• Linguicia Sausage
• Roasted Cinnamon Pineapple
• Beef Tri-Tip
• Bacon Wrapped Beef Filet
• Mustard Beef Sirloin
• Beef Sirloin

We had a little of everything and a lot of pineapple I think I had 5 pieces of the heavenly sweet cinnamon pineapple. My favorite of the meats were the Mustard Beef Sirloin, and the Beef Tri-Tip. My least favorite was the Marinated Prawns, they seemed to be marinated in salt and it came with the shells on.

We took breaks and talked and by 7P you could have rolled us out the door, but because it was our anniversary, our server brought us an ice cream banana Sunday, with chocolate and caramel sauce on top. We didn’t want to be rude so we tried several bites…


Banana Sunday

 After dinner we headed to Powells, the local, giant bookstore, to walk a little… the weather outside was too cold to go for a walk so this was the next best thing. We finished the evening with a Burlesque show at the Bossonova featuring a live orchestra/big band. It was a perfect way to celebrate our 11th anniversary.

This morning I woke to having only gained 1 pound (probably the icecream/dairy). You know how when you drink too much you feel like it’s coming out of your pours the next day? Does meat do the same thing?

I’ll post our yummy breakfast (basil eggs) and my weekly summary later this evening.

D5:14:10.5P2G



Yesterday's Sumo High Pull - 24KG



Summary:

I'm blogging a little early today, because... well... I have plans this evening. I have my workout done and my food planned so we will just go with that. Tomorrow though, should be interesting, I'm hosting a paleo kid-friendly brunch at my house, we are going to try some coconut pancakes with yummy toppings, an egg dish and whatever my paleo moms bring to share. Pictures and recipes to come. Then in the evening, my husband is taking me to Brazil Gril for dinner, for our anniversary. Yay Meat! I'm not planning on staying Paleo for the evening but it might just end up at way, though the "lean" portion of the protein is probably out the window,and I will have my share of the pinapples that everyone talks about. Pictures definitly coming... here's their website and menu if you are interested. Sorry ahead of time to my vegetarian friends... this place is all about the meat-eaters, which I guess I fall in that crowd these days. http://www.brazilgrillrestaurant.com/index.html 

Input

7:30 my favorite husband cooked us turkey bacon this morning and scrambled eggs… yummy! Thank you sweetie. Café Americano once I got to work. 11:00A the 2 left over slices of turkey bacon I snagged from home. aproximately 1P, i'm heading to a little thai restaurant I know to have some soup and shop next door to see if there is something nice I can wear for my special date tomorrow night. Did I mention we are celebrating 11 wonderful years of marriage? I couldn't luckier or happier. I have a nuts & seeds pack for a snack later this afternoon and for dinner I'm planning a turkey roast with some mock-rice (made from cauliflower) and a small salad. If there is time tonight I will add those pics and my recipe for mock-rice.

Turkey Bacon & Eggs

Output



3/25 - HD 9:15A @SWEAT360



Managed to get in an early workout today. I went in at 9A to once again attempt the dreaded rope… but I think today counts as a no attempt… I tried a few times to use my right foot instead of my left foot to make the “J-Hook” with no luck. My arms, specifically my left arm near my elbow is really talking to me today so other than playing with some footing that didn’t much work, I never even made one real attempt up the rope today. I need some rest then I will try again on Monday. I did take pictures though of my playground. Enjoy! The workout - image is from "The Board", Warmup: 2 Min. Jump rope, ladder drills and mobility work. Skill: 5 rounds of 5 (each arm) of 5 KB Snatch. I used 16kg (32lbs?). For the Slam Ball Shouldering I used a 40lb ball for the first round then switched to the 30lb ball as my left arm is really hating me by now. Even the rope snaps.. ouch!. Good tough workout... I'm looking forward to a couple rest days.

My Playgroud (AKA SWEAT360): http://www.sweat360.com/



The "Ropes"





My view to the top, which I have never touched!





Next week: Dips are on the menu




Don't you wish you could play too?



Primal Toad - $50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

One of the blogs I follow is doing a $50 gift card giveaway just for following his blog. So if you were already checking out my favorite links and came accross his, sign up for his newsletter or fan his facebook page... for a chance to win a gift card that you can use to buy a few new cookbooks.. or anything you want.

http://www.primaltoad.com/amazon-gift-card-giveaway-2/

-Karie

D4:14:12.5P2G



Quick Paleo Pancakes



Daily Summary



Wow! What a great day today. Surprisingly productive at work (considering), great company by two great friends, cooking, cleaning, and a great workout… all because the stupid dryer broke for the 3rd time and I had to work from home due to the technician’s four-hour window. Jeff took Bee to preschool for me so I had some extra time getting ready this was the first time I tried a new recipe for breakfast in a long time. Julie came over bearing tons of clothes to go through, I love how she loves to goodwill shop… Since she was here I showed her the recipe that I wanted to make for some friends and some for myself too and since Julie is an amazing cook/chef/food experimenter… took the recipe and added many wonderful spices and slight changes to it with complete ease and wow, did it turn out yummy. I’ll post the original recipe but know that I have no idea exactly what changes she made to it, other than some fresh ingredients, more roasted red peppers and herbs, oh and some red wine, the rest is a mystery. Then she took a recipe that we were both contemplating for some chocolate cookies and reduced the amount of almond butter, used a left over dark choc bar and grated it, instead of chocolate chips, added a tiny amount of raw organic sugar as well as some coconut powder for consistency and some dried cherries we had left over from a salad kit. I’m sitting here at 8P writing my summary of the day, truly satisfied with how this day went. I’m not hungry, I tasted great food and I kicked butt in my workout… now to catch up on some water to rehydrate a little watch a little TV and rest… ahhhh! Oh and I think we’ve decided to give Brazil Grill a try for our anniversary dinner. I’m so excited…(insert giant smile here).



Butternut Squash Lasagna



Input

8A Quick Paleo pancakes with simple fruit compote. Café Americano. Noon-ish. Butternut Squash Lasagna. 2P: Chocolate Cherry cookie. 5P More Butternut Squash Lasagna. I just got back from the gym and will have a small snack later, probably some fruit, or maybe a fruit bar.

Output



Fantastic!

 Due to the WFH scenario I missed my normal noon workout time so I scheduled myself into the 6:30P class. I got there a little early and jogged ¾ of a mile to warm up then I headed for the ropes… I had company, turns out I’m not the only one determined to beat that darn rope! My first attempt was again my best attempt… I think I should stop there. I made it three full pulls up, where I can see the top of the orange wall… I did it really well but my leg above my ankle is so bruised from bad attempts I thought I should try using my other leg.. well let’s just say… that didn’t work… apparently I’m left footed for rope climbing and that’s that. Tomorrow I guess… the rope awaits. Maybe I will remember to take a picture of it or better yet have someone take a picture of me at the top… (yeah right – dreaming). On to the workout.



Double Chocolate Cherry Chunk

 Warmup: Jogging, a variety of mobility drills: kicks, slides, lunges, butt-kicks, etc. Skill: Handstand Pushups! Woo hoo! Any chance I have to be upside down, I’ll take it. A little secret for those of you who didn’t grow up with me… I have spent A LOT of time upside down. Other than the Dotson twins I could out handstand anyone I knew. Because I have this crazy bad back I found a lot of pressure release in inversion training. Let’s just say I’m very comfortable upside down, so hand-stand pushups are fun for me. I did 6 or 7 rounds of 5 or 6 handstand pushups. I use the cork yoga block flat on the ground as my depth marker and I did a few handstands away from the wall as well, just for fun. Workout: One lap around the building then 5 rounds of: 15 Body Weight Squats, 7 Burpees, and 5 Sumo Kettle Bell High Pulls I think I was using a 40-pound Kettle bell… but I’ll have to check the weight tomorrow to verify, I’m not really sure why I didn’t look at the weight. I worked hard all 5 rounds. Stretch & cool down.

Recipes:

Quick Paleo Pancakes (Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf)
2 Eggs
½ Cup unsweetened applesauce
½ Cup almond butter
¼ Tsp of Cinnamon ( I used more like a full TBS, I like Cinnamon)
½ Tsp Vanilla
Coconut Oil

Mix ingredients together (except the coconut oil) into a batter. Heat a skillet and add a little coconut oil. Make pancakes.

Quick Berry Compote - Karie Mawer
½ Cup Frozen mixed berries

Small amount of smashed ripe banana

1 TSP of Pure Maple Syrup

Put together in micro-safe cup and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir together and pour over the pancakes.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

http://www.health-bent.com/proteins/paleo-butternut-squash-lasagna

Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies
http://www.health-bent.com/treats/paleo-chocolate-chunk-cookies

D3:14:12.5P2G

Breakfast

Input

7:30A Egg Whites with Healthy 8 chopped veggie mix (chopped broccoli, carrots, green cabbage, red cabbage, jicama, green bell pepper, radish, and celery.) Café Americano. 11:45A Larabar. 2:30P leftover spicy BBQ Chicken breast with TJ’s micro ready Brussels sprouts (ingredients: Brussels sprouts, olive oil, ground pepper and salt). 7:00P Dinner with family at Chevy’s Jeff, Rue and I shared the Mixed Grill fajita… notice the giant platter of protein and veggies… I stayed Paleo and ate only the protein and veggies… except for the handful of sinful tortilla chips… oh well, at least I enjoyed them. 9:00P 2 slices of dried mango.



Lunch

 Output

PowerYoga @ SWEAT360 & 5 Rope Climb Attempts – Made 3 full pulls and stand ups… I could actually see the top of the orange wall this time. I think this was my best attempt so far and it was my first try of the day. The four remaining attempts failed completely where I couldn’t seem to find footing – lame. Tomorrow…before HD… This rope is going down!!!


Dinner (for 3)



Daily Summary

Feeling a little hungry today and even a little shaky but I think it has to do with those rope climbs and then a quick work meeting delaying my lunch to 3:00P it was planned for 1:15… I then skipped my afternoon snack knowing that we’d be going out to dinner tonight with family. Dinner was great, we really enjoyed the mixed grill fajita at Chevy’s and it was the perfect amount of food for the “three” of us. I’m told the tortillas were good too; our little Bee even ate two of them. Loved being able to spend some time with my sister and her family, someday I hope to have family living closer to us. 2.5 pounds in 2 days... not bad, I'll take it. 12.5 to goal.

KBM Journal -- Tuesday -- D2:14:13P2G



Breakfast



Input 

So Good Creamer!



7:30A: 2 Scrambled Eggs topped with generous amount of Pico & Mango Salsa, one strawberry, 16 oz Pike Roast w/Hazelnut creamer. 11:50A: Small banana.1:30P: Salad Greens topped with freakin’ hot spicy chicken breast and mango salsa. 3:30P Kirkland Wholesome Fruit & Nuts Snack Pack (Dried Cranberries, Dried Cherries, Almonds, Walnuts, Dry-roasted pistachios).5:30P: Larabar. 6:30P: Loaded burger no bun from Gogos… (hamburger on a bed of iceberg, 4 tomato slices, a pile of med hot pico salsa, and red onions).8:00P: Flattened Bananas (only my favorite sweet treat in the world right now). Water: about 100oz.

Output – Sweat360 High Def
Warm Up: Jogging, Ladder Drills, Agility – kicks, slides, lunges, pushups, etc. Skill: Rope Climb – 15 min … progress made but I can still only get about 3 legitimate pulls. Workout: 7 Rounds of: 7 Squats, 7 Ring dips (with band assistance), 7 KB Swings, 15 DUs (double-unders). Cool Down: Stretch and rollouts

Recipes and/or throw-togethers


BBQ Chicken Lunch

 Surprisingly hot BBQ Chicken: I threw this together last night while I was making dinner because the chicken had been thawing in the fridge for a couple days now and it was definitely time to cook it up. All I did was add some Organic BBQ sauce to the top and put them in the oven on 350 for about 30 minutes. The BBQ sauce contains brown sugar so not Paleo, but all things considered… there were no chemicals in this sauce, it was grain free / dairy free, simple, real ingredients… close enough for me for the little amount I used. Smells great… a bit on the spicy side.



Loaded Gogo Burger



Daily Summary: How did today go?

 

Trader Joes Rocks!!!



Someday I will actually reach the top of that stinking rope!!! I made some progress today, though very little… I think I will need to schedule some rope time practice for myself, at least once a week… these last 3 weeks I’ve been sick and my strength has been low… Other than the frustration I have for not being able to do something… (I hate that)! I had a great day! I even had my monthly massage by Jessamyn… Yay! Not sure if you noticed but I lost 2 pounds since yesterday… I’m not sure how that is even possible but I’ll take it. 13 to go.

Day 1: 15 left

Deciding on a Sunday night to start fresh can be a little challenging... luckily I hadn't completely lost my way so my fridge and pantry are fine for a few days... although the pantry was soooooo out of sorts and needed a fresh start of its own as well...

I don't have pictures of all my food  today... and I probably won't post pics of every single bite... but be forewarned... I might. =)

Monday:

Breakfast @ work 8:45A ish : 2 Hard Boiled Eggs, 1/2 banana, 16 oz Americano with hazelnut cream (made with coconut milk) remind me if I forget to take a picture of my creamer... it rocks!

Lunch 12:15:  Lean Beef Burger patty, tomato, guacamole, red onions, about 2 tsp of organic TJ Mayo all wrapped in lettuce. 24 oz of good ol' fashioned H2O.

Snack 3:30P: One Chicken Sausage: These are pretty yummy I found them at Costco... even better... the only thing is the red peppers are very juicy so this tends to be a messy snack. I slice it down the middle and heat in the microwave (at work), then eat. These are also really good chopped up and added to eggs in the morning. I heat it on the skillet when i'm at home.

Pre-dinner snack: My little Bee was too hungry to wait for dinner so I opened up one of the Cherry Lara Bars that I just purchased but hadn't yet tried... I had a bite... she ate the rest... I've always loved the Creamy Peanut Butter Think Thin bar... but peanuts are a legume so I was looking for a paleo friendly keep in my purse/car/coat type snack that is good for both me and my daughter on the run... The Lara Bar which the ingredients are listed as: Dates, Almonds, & Unsweetened Cherries... (and that's it) is totally Paleo and really really yummy... clearly as my five year old wouldn't give it back to me, that's always a good sign.

Dinner 6:00P "Catfood".... okay it's not really cat food, however it is what my family calls it... Ruthie was pretending to be a kitty and wanted to eat it without her hands one day and forever it will be called catfood... Catfood is really ground turkey burger with taco seasoning... sometimes I season it myself with cumin and some other salt free seasonings... but mostly I simply use "taco seasoning"... I never use the amount they suggest... probably a third of it at most. Once made, Ruthie and Jeff made a burrito out of a whole grain tortilla and their favorite toppings.... I  make a mixed green salad add any veggies I have on hand, tomatoes, broccoli sometimes i add a Trader Joes nuts & seeds pack (the Omega 3 version is fantastic on salads) but today it was nice and simple. salad greens, pico de gallo, mango salsa, sliced avacado, and "catfood". I love this dinner... it is very satisfying.

I spent the rest of the evening cleaning the very messy pantry and making a huge bag of canned foods and sauces that I will donate to the food drive... speaking of... Jill if you are reading, I have two cases of vegemeat and dinner cuts that we are not going to eat... I'm saving them for you, I got them not long ago at the Adventist Book Store... yummy... but not really on my plan... i'm keeping a few in the pantry for special events where I need/want to make some veggie taco soup but the rest needs to be eaten. 

Evening Snack... I had about 1/4 cup of dried fruits while I was cleaning the pantry... drank plenty of water and took my meds... 

That's it for today... I'll take better pictures tomorrow.