Day Four...

...Of strict paleo! After last week's complete mishap I decided I would go strict this week to kick myself back into gear. I'm feeling great. I found some great turkey burgers at Target on Sunday. They are Jennie-0 93% lean. The package comes with four perfectly portioned 4oz patties. Each has 120 calories, 5g fat and 24g protein. woo! woo! Do I sound like a product placement pitch on the Biggest Loser? I think I do. Biggest Loser loves their Jennie-O turkey!

Anyway, instead of mixing ground turkey meat with my bare hands it is nice to be able to just throw the already sized burger on the George. I had my last one today for lunch with some avocado and a V8. I know, a V8 may not technically be strict paleo, but I couldn't look a salad if my life depended on it today. Sometimes I just have those kind of days. I needed some veggies and it did the trick. I had a Lemon Larabar for a snack this afternoon which satisfied my sweet tooth. I love lemon. Ohhhh how I love it.

Tonight I will be grilling up chicken for the rest of the week. I have one zucchini left for a small portion of noodles one night. Also, I found some beautiful portobello mushrooms that will be grilled as well! I think I'll slice up some red onion to go with it. Suddenly I really love onions. It is a completely strange transition for me. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought I would use the words love and onions in the same sentence. Apparently you can train yourself to like anything if you try hard enough.

One month until sectionals. Keeping it clean!

What A Week

Yes, I've been absent. We have had quite a week in my household. We found out we will be moving to a completely foreign (to me) part of the country this summer. My husband will begin his medical residency that will last for five years in Michigan. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.......

I have come to love Tulsa and I truly love my CrossFit gym. It has literally become like a second home to me. The idea of leaving my CrossFit Jenks family is really tough. I love you all and I do mean that...every single one of you. You make me better and make me smile. Who could ask for more? We laugh together and hurt together. It's awesome. I get to train with a stellar group of athletes. I don't think I am lying when I say it will be almost impossible to find a group like ours anywhere else. I may be biased, but it is the truth.

Anyway, I tell you all of this because this week has been emotionally draining. A lot of ups and downs. Everyone reacts to stress differently. I am not a person that does not eat when I get stressed. I am a person that eats and makes excuses like "I need it because today was tough". I'm not like that on a regular basis, but when it comes to life changing events, I let myself off the hook. Here are a few things I indulged in that I am admitting to all of you:

• Chick-Fil-A
• Chili's Chips and Salsa
• Chocolate Lucky Charms (Seriously? What the heck!)
• Bread dipped in olive oil
• Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
• Cheese, cheese, cheese
  

I tell you all of this because I want everyone to know I am human. I don't eat perfect all the time. When life throws me curve balls I do react in ways that surprise me. Did I really just eat that? What was I thinking? During this week I did eat pretty clean most of the time minus listed indulgences above. To the average person my diet would still have been stellar. However, to me this week was completely unacceptable. My almond butter and bottle of water are back on my desk. My apple is in my purse. I'm ready to get back to being me!

Thankfully, one week of so-so eating didn't kill my performance. I PR'ed Grace this morning at 2:55. That makes me feel better. Learn how you react to stress so you can be prepared when life comes at you too fast. I can paleo no matter where I live. I will have no excuse. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited about what is ahead of us. I'm just sad about what I have to leave behind.

Now grab some carrots and go watch the Olympics!

For Your Viewing Enjoyment

I thought this was somewhat entertaining and since it is Friday I believe a video is in order.

Be smart on Super Bowl Sunday. Enjoy, but don't overindulge. Swap out your chips for celery and carrots. Have fun and eat smart!

I'm Completely In Love With...

Zucchini noodles and raw cashews.

I have been going through cashews like they are going out of style. I'm forcing myself to stop for a few days. I'm getting a bit concerned that I might bee eating too much fat. I usually don't worry about that, but if you knew how many cashews I have been eating lately you might tell me to stop too. They are just so darn good. I eat five and then I need five more and then five more and then...it just keeps going and going.

I'm so excited I discovered zucchini noodles. I honestly can hardly tell a difference from the pasta. If you haven't tried them yet, you really need to. They are so easy to make and will fill you right up. I'm getting better and slicing the noodles. The first time I had a quite a battle with my peeler, but the last few times I am getting into the groove. I'll be a zucchini noodle slicing pro in no time.

There have been lots of grainy treats brought into the office this week. Amish friendship bread, bagels and a huge box of cookies and brownies from on of my vendors. I'm not going to lie, this week it has been a bit of a challenge to walk past all of it and not reach out and grab just a corner of the bread or tear off a piece of bagel. I just have to rush back to my office, grab a few cashews, guzzle some water and the temptation is gone.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Paleo and Inflamation

As I have posted about numerous times I have been battling a shoulder injury since late October/early November. I'm finally over the hurdle, throwing weight overhead, doing pull ups and even burpees are back in the picture. I'm not 100%, but I'm not in pain.

I was never exactly sure what was wrong with me, but after numerous orthopedic specialists in my family examined me it was determined I was suffering from a shoulder impingement and really annoying tendinitis. An impingement can take anywhere from one month to three months to fully recover non surgically. While my workouts were limited to lower body and cardio for months, I really tried to focus on my diet. There is research that supports that the paleo diet helps with anti inflammatory response in the body by removing things from our diet that keeps us, well, inflamed.

Read here for information from The Paleo Diet Update on anti inflammatory responses.

Take the information as you will. I'm certainly a believer in modern medicine. I grew up with doctors in the family and will be married to one for the rest of my life. I believe in resting your injured areas, listening to your body, ice, heat and Ibuprofen. I also believe that I benefited from a clean diet during my injury. Food that God intended for us to eat can only do positive things for our bodies. At least, that is the way I look at it. I don't believe that only eating a clean diet and not taking proper measures to help your body will heal you.

I do believe that a clean diet will never hurt.

Take care of your bodies.

In food news:
I made a great mix of coyote squash and sweet potatoes last night. The flavors were a great combination together. Chop them up, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 45 minutes @ 350. Yum.

Paleo During Power Outages

The weathermen are scaring Oklahomans. Word is a horrible winter storm will hit Wednesday night bringing an inch of ice and multiple inches of snow. This also means we are at a very high risk for power outages across the area due to thick ice accumulation. Tulsa had a horrible ice storm a couple years ago that left most of the city without power. We went without for three days. I had to throw out all of our food. The power outages were totally unexpected.

This time we have some warning. I hope the forecast is wrong and it will just be cold. I'm heading to the store today just in case. However, I started thinking about how I can stay on paleo if in fact I am stuck in my house with no power. I can't heat up meat, cook my veggies, etc. What to do?

Here are some items I am going to make sure to have on hand. I may have to make a few sacrifices, but I can still stay as clean as possible given the situation:

• Enough pre cooked meats that are cooked well enough to eat cold (cooking tonight!)
  
• Canned tuna
  
• Beef Jerky (may have more salt and other stuff than I like, but an easy source of protein that will does not need to stay cold)
  
• Larabars
• Fruit (apples and oranges)
  
• Veggies like carrots and celery that do not need to be cooked
• Almond butter
• Nuts
• Bottled water
• Hard boil eggs (making a batch tonight)
  

Knowing it will be super cold, I will store all my items that need to stay cold in an ice chest and keep in the garage where I know it will stay below 40 degrees. Foods that are perishable (meats, cheeses, eggs) that stay above 40 degrees longer than two hours should be discarded and not eaten. Be smart and don't make yourself sick! When in doubt, throw it out.

Here is a good site with information on how long certain foods are good in the fridge and freezer if the power goes out. It never hurt to be prepared. I hope everyone stays warm and enjoys lots of wonderful power so you can keep eating the way nature intended. :)

Inner Turmoil

I have this problem. I'm too competitive. Sure, I come off as a nice, sweet girl. Inside, I'm actually quite evil. Ok, I'm not evil, but I really really really like to win. I get very upset with myself when I do not "win". I want to be the best. Let me clarify what I mean by winning. I don't necessarily mean beating others, but I also mean bettering myself, setting PR's, etc. All my friends know this about me. I'm Jekyll and Hyde.

As my shoulder is slowly getting better, I am able to do more and more in the gym. Thank goodness. The past few months have been complete torture on me. Watching everyone else go for it, hit new PR's, get better...and I am...healing. I'm having trouble reeling myself in. Do I go for it and lift heavy because I feel "OK" or do I do the smart thing and continue to build back up slowly so I don't re-injure myself. Of course, my brain wins out, but believe me it is an inner battle every day I walk into that gym. To not be able to put "as Rx'd" by my time everyday anymore makes me want to scream.

I'm so lucky to workout with a phenomenal group of females. Seriously, I know some gyms have some good girls, but I know our group is one of the best. Any of us could beat another on any given day. It keeps us motivated and working hard. To all my fellow CFJ ladies, thank you for kicking butt. You are all awesome.

The inner turmoil doesn't just happen when I step into the gym, it happens every day when I think about what I put in my mouth. Every day a sales rep brings in a plate of cookies or bagels. Every time my boss brings in a new batch of twizzlers (my absolute favorite mind you). Mental toughness. That is what it takes to be great. Diligence, patience and flat out hard work.

You don't lose fat and get a six pack by eating well some of the time. You don't get a sub four minute Fran by going to the gym and working hard every now and then. Five seconds...I just need to drop five more seconds...Those are all things I'm still striving for and I will continue working hard to achieve. This inner turmoil will make me better. It is teaching me patience and that when you are down you are not out. You just have to be smart.

Slow and steady wins the race. Be awesome today.

Zucchini noodles for dinner tonight. Can't wait.