Whole30 update

Well, I am starting over. I am going back to day 1 on Whole30. This past weekend, I consumed too much wine and martini's while on vacation, and I may have indulged in a sweet or two. Oops. Because of this, I am starting fresh on my Whole30 adventure. I want to be true to the program and I know I have the ability to do it 100%. No cheat moments. No excuses. I won't be doing my daily Whole30 post - to be honest, it was starting to stress me out. I will, however, update on my progress throughout the 30 days. I am so excited to see where I will be in 30 days. I know it will be life changing. Thanks for hanging with me.

Food for Travel

This weekend Adam and I are in Indianapolis for his cousins wedding. I was somewhat unsure how I was going to be able to eat good this weekend. There are airports, parties, and the rehearsal dinner, the wedding and reception! We will also be eating out for all the other meals. I knew I had to come up with a game plan or the weekend would be a disaster for me. I knew there had to be a way to make good food choices while I'm away. A lot of the meals will be provided to me, or i may not have a choice in where we go, and therefore not much choice in what I order....so I brought my own food! I packed to go salads for the airport and bought other foods that will not spoil over the weekend. Don't worry, I'm not going to whip out my own food at the restaurants or wedding festivities, but I will be prepared to eat something small right before and keep something in my purse that I can eat on the way back to the hotel. In my salad, I put grilled chicken, raw veggies, lettuce, and I have a travel size container for my EVOO dressing. I also made a cucumber and tomato salad drizzled with EVOO and some oregano. I purchased some Lara Bars and beef jerky from Grassfed Gourmet that will fit nicely in my purse for a snack/lunch while we are out running around town. I also bought some tuna and chicken in a pouch that I can eat in the car or hotel. I have realized there are no excuses for eating clean while you are out of town. And you cant forget the yummy chocolate covered almonds!! It may not be convenient or the best meals I will ever eat - but I will not go hungry and I will not make poor decisions.
Have a great weekend and remember you are in control!!!

Whole30 - Day 3

I snacked a little too much today. I think that they don't want you snacking on Whole30, but I did. It WAS all paleo - just a few macadamia nuts, and a few pieces of butternut squash and parsnips as I was cooking dinner. I wasn't even hungry. I just snacked because it was right in front of me. This is something that I continually struggle with and I am working on it. Tomorrow I'm going to ensure that my meals are large enough so I don't need to snack in the day. Wish me luck on Day 4!

Breakfast: Chicken & Egg Frittata
Lunch: Left over Date & Shallot rosemary chicken
Dinner: Pistachio Pesto Chicken Pasta

Fun Food Friday's

I know that sweets (even Paleo ones!) should be NOT consumed on a regular basis. Treats are treats and should be treated as so (see, I DO love 'treats'.), but that doesn't mean they are not wonderful indulgences. And who am I kidding, I have the biggest sweet tooth! I should really try to avoid chocolate more than I do :)

Moving on... since I do, in fact, love chocolate, and my coaches at IronTribe, I decided to make them a little 'Paleo' treat for Valentines day. You know, to show my affection. I thought for a few days on the perfect treat to make and skimmed tons of recipes. I wasn't settled on any one recipe in particular, so I decided to combine a few of their ideas, with mine and make......Reese's Cups! Or, rather, a modification of them.

They are so simple, and so addictive. These are best if made for someone else so you don't eat them ALL. If you intend on making them for your household....well, I tried to warn you.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• 1 cup almond butter (or any other nut butter, pecan would be good!)
• 1 Tbsp raw honey

You will also need mini cupcake wrappers or candy mold. The mini cupcake wrappers are so easy and less messy.

Instructions:

1. Melt chocolate in double broiler or microwave
2. Mix nut butter and honey until well combined
3. Line a muffin tin with the mini cupcake wrappers. Not necessary, but will make your life easier.
4. Pour a small amount of chocolate in the bottom of each wrapper. Just enough to cover the bottom. Freeze for 10 minutes
5. Form balls out of butter mixture and place on top of chilled chocolate in the mini cupcake wrappers. Be sure that there is chocolate visible around the edges. 
6. Pour chocolate to cover the nut butter in each mini cupcake wrapper.
7. Freeze for 10 minutes.

I like these best when served chilled, and this is now going to be my go-to dessert when I am cooking for others. Delish.

Some terminology

I thought it would be helpful for me to review some terminology that may appear in some of my blog posts:

• Paleo: a lifestyle diet that consists of eating lots of meat and veggies, nuts and seeds, little fruit and NO grains, dairy or soy. 
• Primal: very similar to the Paleo lifestyle, except you are able to consume dairy. Dairy does have its limits which includes full fat milks, grass fed butter, and a little bit of cheese, for example. 
• The purpose of both Paleo and Primal is to not eat any (or very little) processed food.
• My ultimate goal is to be 100% Paleo; however, I am having a hard time eliminating cheese. I can do without it on my salads, burgers, etc, but put a block of cheese in front of me and I cannot resist taking a slice or two. Send me into Whole Foods and I AM going to sample the cheese they have around the store. I am also not quite willing to give up my wine :)

• IronTribe: the Crossfit gym that I am a member of. Crossfit combines high intensity, functional movements that will make you a better, all-around, athlete. Crossfit trains you to be a general, albeit amazing, athlete. You will not be the BEST marathoner or the World's Strongest Man, but you will excel at everyday life. You will be able to run long distances, lift heavy weights and bear crawl with your 4 year old nephew. We train for life. 
• WOD: Workout of the Day.