Wed, May 30

830AM: Alex gets up at 530AM to bike into work so I can have the car today. What a husband! I wake-up a few times as he is leaving. My watch alarm keeps going off at 715AM (set from being in Philly) and it's woken me up the past two days. I guess I had been sleeping through it? Must change it. I set my alarm for 830AM. I'm not ready to get up then. .. and I snooze until 9AM. I get super tired right before my period and I'm guessing that's what I'm feeling.

10AM: I get ready for my first meeting with one of the builders. He is late. Not a good sign. I grabbed a quick breakfast (Larabar) because I didn't think I would have time to eat. .. and now it's almost 1015AM and I'm still waiting! Two other builders to meet today in addition to this one.

1030AM: The one builder forgot about me (grrr) so we re-schedule for 230PM. I am annoyed but at least now I get to have a proper breakfast. I make eggs and throw some of my ground beef/onions mixture on top. I also have a bowl of blueberries and warm banana. Yum. Off to run errands. .. AKA do some last minute shopping for Mexico! =)

215PM: I'm about to heat up some more ground beef when the builder who stood me up in the morning shows up. He is 15 min early. Apparently, he's trying to make up for being late. Sigh. At the very least, we have an awesome convo.

330PM: I finally get a chance to have some lunch. I don't have a lot left in the house (since I'm going to be gone starting tomorrow, I didn't want to buy a ton of groceries) so I eat the last two of my applegate turkey slices and have the last of my ground beef. I also have a spoonful of almond butter. My first of the day!

5PM: Have an awesome convo with Meghan! She reassures me that I've been on the right path and that I can continue to keep on my diet plan throughout my vaca in Mexico. Her advice: stick to meats and vegetables. Be weary of beans and if I want a treat, choose carefully! I also decide that I'm going to cut out almond butter and plaintain chips for this upcoming week. Not planning to take them on vacation with me anyways! Will also just be very careful of the foods I choose in Mexico. No tortilla chips, or tortillas in general. I want to eat seafood whenever I can. Ceviche, here I come. =)

6PM: Xfit MSP. Work-out today is focused on single-leg squats (with dumbells @ 20 lbs). We also do a circuit with push-ups, sit-ups (with a medball), and goblet squats with a kettlebell (34 lbs).

8PM: As I mentioned, we've eaten through most of our groceries, x-Alex's tacos that he still has from last week! Which I can't really eat because he puts corn and beans in it. So we decide to pick up salads from one of our favorite take-out spots, yum. I get an olive oil based tuna salad. Super tasty. Alex gets a sampler with tuna salad, egg salad, and chicken salad. I love this tuna salad. Everything at this kitchen is also homemade, which is nice.

11PM: I head to bed. .. Tomorrow, Mexico!!

Tues, May 29

9AMish: I wake-up around 9AM, when I set my alarm but I stay in bed until 930AMish. Great night of sleep (about 9 hours or so) but given the weather (dreary and cool), I feel like I could sleep more!

10AM: I'm pretty hungry. I have some almond butter. OK, I admit - I'm addicted! At least I've limited myself to one spoonful (even though it's a big spoonful) per day.

1030AM: I make myself a breakfast sandwich with the grilled eggplant slices from yesterday as the "bread". I put a slice of turkey in it, some guac, and 1 over medium egg. Yum. I also warm up a banana with just a little bit of honey to carmelize it ever so slightly and have it on top of blueberries. A great breakfast! I cook with coconut oil for the first time and love it.

2PM: I'm not hungry until much later in the day. I'm running around getting ready for my Mexico trip(mani/pedis - yay), so I between appointments I stop again to have my fav coconut mussels for lunch. (Same as last Friday) This broth has a little less coconut milk and more lemongrass - still very tasty. The mussels are also a little bit smaller. .. but I can't really complain. I am in Minneapolis now!

530PM: Alex and I head to the 6PM crossfit. I'm hungry so I have a Larabar for energy.

6PM: Xfit MSP work-out. We work on the press: 3x 4-6 reps, working up to your peak of 4 (chin-ups while resting between lifts). I get to 58 lbs for 3. We then do 1 set of 15 reps - I use 43 lbs and make it through OK. Metcon is 60 wallballs (10 lbs for women), 800M run, 60 wallballs. I'm definitely out of breath when I'm done!

745PM: We get home around 715PM and sit down to dinner. Not a ton of prep but Alex is eating his favorite tacos and needs to heat up the rice. I have my favorite spinach and ground beef salad.



1030PM: We climb into bed but I chat with my friend Zoe so don't fall asleep until closer to 1130PM.

Mon, May 28

Memorial Day! I'm finally caught-up in my blog. YAYAYAAYAYAYAAYAYAYAY! In general, I feel great. Working-out, eating more at home, getting great sleep. It's been awesome and I definitely feel less bloated. I am starting to feel like I'm going to get my period soon. I'm a little less than 1 week away. Will be interesting how that affects how I feel this week.

9AM: I wake-up. 9 hours of sleep. .. could have slept more but I wanted to get the day started. I decide to take the day off from working out.

10AM: I have some almond butter, a banana, and a couple of slices of applegate turkey. I need to eat a bigger breakfast. I've been bad, Meghan - I know!

1PM: We head over to Mike's place for our paleo Memorial Day BBQ. I convinced my friends Mike and Miranda to go paleo and they've done an amazing job with it. They've experimented with a lot of recipes. .. now we're going to experiment together! We make a feast: paleo-almond/rosemary crackers, guacamole, eggplant chips (baked), sweet potato chips (baked), grilled eggplant, my now-infamous (jk) turkey burgers, and brussel sprout chips (baked). Amazing. I get too full too fast. .. I blame it on the crackers and guac!

3PM: Ok, not sure Meghan is going to be OK with this. .. will look forward to seeing what you say! I decided to make Thai's yummy paleo chocolate chip cookies. My hubby loves baked goods and I've never baked for him before. I have the dairy-free semi-sweet TJ's choc chips, so I decide to give it a whirl. I have 2 small cookies. They taste super sweet. But very good. The upside is that the recipe is from Elena's pantry:

http://www.elanaspantry.com/dairy-free-gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies/

8PM: I am not hungry until later. I think I had far too much almond flour. I have a leftover turkey burger with the side of red pepper pureed sauce.

11PMish: Alex and I are in bed by 11PM and fall asleep around 1130PM or so.

Sun, May 27

I have a spoonful of almond butter and a banana for "breakfast". I go for a run in blazing hot weather. Yikes! I am dying of thirst part way through the lake. Ouch.

I have a Larabar and TONS of water when I get back. Alex wants to go to one of our favorite spots for lunch, Lucia's bakery. Unfortunately. .. there aren't a ton of paleo options there. I settle for a shrimp skewer with a red pepper sauce (gluten and dairy-free) + a side of greens.

My mom gave us some fresh mangos so Alex makes me a mango smoothie for a snack. He and I both have headaches, probably from dehydration on our runs. He cuts up a mango and puts some ice into a blender and puts a small amount of agave syrup in it.

My mom sent me home with some moqueca so I have the rest for dinner. I also make a huge amount of guacamole for a memorial day paleo-BBQ we're going to have with our friends Mike and Miranda tomorrow. I eat it with some plaintain chips. YUM! (But I may have had too many plaintain chips, admittedly.)

I finish off the day with a few more semi-sweet TJ's vegan choc chips. Not sure if Meghan will like that I'm eating these!

Sat, May 26

I was going to go on a run but it's raining cats and dogs. I decide to do yoga in the house instead.

We go to lunch with friends at a great little deli downtown called Bewitched. I had their pastrami sandwich, without the bread on top of a bed of spinach. Delicious! Would definitely go back there for the salad again. Served with some spicy dijon mustard and vinagrette.

We watch the Avengers with my parents and then go to my parents' house for dinner. My mom makes moqueca, a Brazilian shrimp stew, at my request. It's made with garlic, tomato, parsley, and coconut milk. It's one of my fav dishes she makes. She also makes pastel - ground beef empanada-like appetizer. I just eat the ground beef.

We play mah jong with my grandmother. I win big. Here are my winning "tiles":

Fri, May 25

My mom and I decide to meet for shopping and lunch - I need to get out of the house!
I have the same breakfast: almond butter, banana, bacon. Need to make quiche so I'm eating more eggs but I'm sort of tired of eggs.

Our lunch is awesome. We eat at a little place called Beajo's near Alex and my house. It's the first time I've eaten out all week. .. since the Starbucks wrap early Monday morning. I feel so much less bloated! My mom and I share a tuna nicoise salad and have mussels marinated in coconut milk and kafir lime. Yum.

Work-out: My mom and I walk around the lake (about 4 miles) and then I go to Crossfit. We have a cardio-filled circuit training work-out where we're moving almost the entire session.

Dinner is back at home. Alex and I finish the last of the turkey burgers.

Thurs, May 24

More of the same. .. Almond butter, banana to start off my day. I've been sleeping 10+ hours and going to crossfit in the evenings so haven't been super hungry. I also have a couple piece of bacon.

Work-out: I do 35 min of yoga with my "Yogafit" DVD

I finish off my rotisserie chicken and turkey burgers.

Believe it or not, I'm starting to get sick of sitting on our couch, watching TV already. I became obsessed with the show Scandal. Unfortunately, there were only 7 epsidoes for me to get thru!

Wed, May 23

We did a lot of grocery shopping. .. so I do a lot of cooking! I make so much for the first time and proud of myself. I even use a food processor for the first time. So happy that this challenge has inspired me to learn how to cook!

Work-out: Crossfit MSP. Backsquat (with a tempo) - 8, 6, 4, 8 reps. I work up to 95 lbs. My legs are still super stiff from all the driving.
Breakfast of scrambled eggs, guac, plaintain chips, and few pieces of bacon.

For lunch, I have more rotisserie chicken and spinach.

For dinner, I make the best turkey burgers. .. EVER! I finely chop garlic, onions, and tons of mushrooms. It keeps the burgers moist but difficult to handle though because they're really sticky.
They turn out delicious. .. if I do say so myself!

I found some vegan semi-sweet choc chips at Trader Joe's. I have a handful. They taste really sweet to me.

Tues, May 22

To be honest, I don't really remember what I ate for breakfast. Assuming that I had almond butter, banana, and perhaps a lara bar?

Also not sure what I had for lunch. .. I think more turkey. =) We hadn't yet gone grocery shopping and I was determined to NOT get off the couch.

Work-out: Crossfit MSP. Push jerk.

We finally make it to the grocery store and I pick up a classic rotisserie chicken with a minimal amount of additives/spices. I put that on top of spinach for dinner and top it off with some sesame and olive oil. Yum!

I have a few plaintain chips, as well.

Mon, May 21

Back on the road again! Alex and I embark on our looOong trip from Cinncinati back to Minneapolis. We get on the road at 530AM. I sleep as much as I can along the way.

I wake up around 730AM or so and I'm starving! We stop at Starbucks and I cave: I get the chicken sausage and egg white breakfast wrap. I know there must be a lot of bad ingredients but at the very least, I don't eat the wrap!

I fall back asleep for a long time. Other than Starbucks, we don't stop for any other "meals". I packed more turkey, so I have that for lunch. The only other not-so-great snack I have are veggie trips I found at a stop along the way in WI. Not terrible but I was really craving something salty and it hit the spot.

We get home around 6PM, un-load some stuff and then head to my parents house to un-load some more. We also have dinner there. My mom makes salmon. Finally, another great home cooked meal!

I also have a V8 for my beverage.

We're finally home!

Sun, May 20

I wake-up super late. We head to hold our new little nephew. No time for breakfast so I grab a Larabar.

I've definitely had my fill of these bars. Not every day but I'll definitely eat them on the go if needed.

When we get back to the house, we have another Schildmeyer omelete. Yum!

Workout: I get in another 30 min run on the treadmill. It feels great.

For dinner, Mr. Schildmeyer makes crab cakes because he knows I love them. Unfortunately, he uses panko crumbs. .. I didn't mean to be rude but I asked him not to put any in mine. Still good but something definitely hurts my stomach. He used some processed mayo and I don't think it sits well with me.

Sat, May 19

I'm helping throw a shower for my soon to be sister-in-law. The day starts out with one of Mr. Schidmeyer's omeletes stuffed with turkey, spinach, lavender, yellow peppers, and mushrooms. Yum!

These are the shower favors I bought (did NOT make). They were a huge hit. And I didn't even eat one! I had some fruit at the shower and some turkey and chicken salad. .. without bread, of course!

We left the shower a little bit early because my other sister-in-law (and Alex's brother) went to the hospital to have their second baby! What a weekend. Here we are in the hospital with the happy couple and my niece, Luci.

We head back to the house around 8PM to put Luci to bed. I stay with her while my nephew, Alan is born. I raid the Schidmeyer's fridge. .. I'm starving! Luckily, there was some cooked shrimp in the fridge and more turkey. I try to have it with some guac but take one bite of the guac and realize its not good anymore. I look more closely at the package and it expired in Jan. Yikes!

I chat with Mr. and Mrs. Schildmeyer for awhile and then head to bed for another great night's sleep.

Fri, May 18
Cinncinati! We wake up really late. We're both exhausted. We drove 8 hours on Thurs + moved me out of my apt, which took a few hours. I eat a little bit (banana and spoonful of almond butter) before heading down to the Schildmeyer's basement to work-out. They have an awesome set-up: weights, a few barbells, a treadmill, and eliptical and a huge TV.

Work-out: 30 min run on the treadmill, 21-15-9 backsquats at 75 lbs

For lunch I have plain turkey slices with hummus. I regret the hummus. As Meghan anticipated, it makes me feel bloated!

For dinner, Alex's parents take me and my sisters-in-law out for dinner. It was very cute. They got champagne to toast my (and my soon to be sister-in-law's) graduation.

I have giant crab cakes for dinner. Delicious!

Thurs, May 17
Moving day is hectic. Luckily, I made a bunch of stuff to bring on the road with us. We drive all 8 hours and manage NOT to buy any bad food for us on the way. YAY! A definite win. We snack on all of the below.

Bacon (from TJ's, nitrate-free).


Almond Butter (limiting the amount I have, per Meghan's advice). It's not crack to me. .. but it is really, really good.

 Mini Quiches. Perfect for on the road. I had Larissa try one before I left and she loved it. Eggs, spinach, and turkey. Yum.

Applegate Turkey slices from TJ's.

Ground beef salad. I even brought olive oil and shallot infused white vineagar.

Butternut squash. We don't finish it but it proves to be a great snack.

Update

This challenge has been so much harder for me than trying paleo for the first time last November. I'm admittedly more strict (and more informed, thanks to Meghan!) this time around but with everything going on - graduation, moving from Philly back to Minneapolis, with a stop in Cinncinati to visit Alex's family - it's been crazy. I've finally gotten a chance to slow down. .. and shamefully, need to update my blog! SORRY, MEGHAN. UGH - I'm so bad! Since I've missed so many days, I won't be as detailed as I was in the past but I will go back and enter in the days that I missed, starting with my big move Thurs, May 17. It's hard for me to believe that I moved already over 1 week ago!

I will also get back into the habit of diligent blogging for the last week of the challenge!

Here goes. ..

Mon, May 7 - Day 12

815AM: I wake-up around 730AM and am nervous that my phone is going to run out of battery and I'm going to miss my alarm. Luckily, it doesn't. I sleep until 815AMish. I get about 8 hours of sleep.
915AM: Again, I'm treated to an amazing breakfast. Mrs. Woskob made salmon on a cedar plank. We eat that with homemade avocado salsa. Think Meghan will love this breakfast. Filled with protein!

 

10AM: We get on the road and head toward Philadelphia. We drive Larissa's sweet grandfather to Hershey, so he can see his wife, who is there at the rehabilitation center. It takes us a little while longer to get there because of heavy rain. Larissa does an awesome job driving through it.

2PM: Surprisingly, I'm just now starting to get hungry! I guess that is what a lean, protein filled breakfast does for you! Larissa and I are still about 45 min away from getting back to Philly so we snack of a few handfuls of almonds.

3PM: We stop at Hummus and have their schwarma platter: marinated, grilled (on a spit), pulled chicken thighs. Yum. We have baba ganoush, hummus, beets, and tomatoes as sides. I eat the hummus (but Larissa doesn't). The rest of the day I'm burping up garlic. Gross.

4PM: I am surrounded by crazed exec. MBAs racing to finish their consulting project. Our team's deck (I'm the TA) is 133 pages. Yeah. I'm not hungry for a snack but I do need more than water to quench my thirst. I have some ginger ale but then look at the ingredients. Yikes! No more ginger ale for me.

730PM: Have my farewell Xfit dinner. Was a blast - without alcohol. Almost all of us are doing the BCCC. Abbey tells us to stop asking her nutrition questions! HahA. Larissa and I share our fav Oyster house dish - the Clam bake for two: split lobster (not pictured), kale, chorizo, steamers, and mussels. Delicious.

10PM: I get home and want a little something else as I'm cleaning. I have a spoonful of almond butter.

11PM: Climb into bed around 11PMish and talk to my hubby!