The Next Challenge...

So this is the last week of the Paleo challenge! It officially ends on Friday. My goal through this competition was to learn how to eat better, healthier and to challenge myself more. Through the 60 days I have lost 8 pounds (woohoo!) and I've learned to cook healthy and yummy! (double-woohoo!). I have also learned to love to push myself and challenge myself more and more. I've learned how important it is to stay consistent in sleeping, eating and working out. This is something I'm still working on getting a handle on all together. I'm learning I need to strictly schedule my sleep and eating patterns as my schedule tends to get out of whack often. 

Eating Paleo is helping my strength ability in the gym and it helps my attitude as I always feel great! Just because the challenge is coming to an end it does not mean that I will revert back to my eating out/carb-loading/sugar high diet I was doing before. I have a lot of goals and I know that I will never get there with that life style!! I have to say I absolutely love Crossfit! I love what it has done to me physically and mentally. It has encouraged the Paleo eating as it works best with the training style. People have often asked when this challenge is over so I can eat certain foods again. It's not over but just beginning! I cannot wait to see what a few months down the road will be like for me!

This challenge may be ending but I'm looking forward to new ones! This Saturday I will be in Miami running my first TOUGH MUDDER race!! I trained for and ran a half-marathon back in 2010. This race is 10-12 miles with 25 military obstacle courses in between. I will be blogging about this experience this weekend! I'm nervous but at the same time I cannot wait!! 

Another challenge I'm looking forward to is I have registered for the  Crossfit Games Open Registration Competition . This will be my first Crossfit competition and I'm very excited to see how far I've come in the past year doing Crossfit. I'm also excited to see what new goals I need to make for myself to get better and stronger! 

Also, I've recently purchased a GROUPON for a kickboxing class! I was very excited to start this as I have always wanted to! My first class was Monday night and it was awesome! Very high intensity workout which is what I like! I left there sweaty and winded but feelin BA!! ;)  

EASY Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

This weekend I had a chocolate craving and decided to make my first batch of Paleo chocolate chip cookies! They were delicious! I made them with some friends so I wouldn't be tempted to eat them all! This recipe was a great recipe and they bake in 10 minutes!! So easy and yummy and so PALEO!! :) 

Ingredients:
-1 Cup of Almond Meal
-1/8 teaspoon of salt
-1/8 teaspoon of banking soda
-3 Tablespoons of melted coconut oil
-2 Tablespoons of honey
-1 teaspoon of vanilla 
-1/4 Cup of Dark Chocolate pieces (I used chips)

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) Line baking sheet with parchment paper - MUST or they do not turn out as good
3) Combine dry ingredients together
4) Combine wet ingredients together
5) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or fork 
6) Fill a Tablespoon of batter and add to parchment paper - make into a half circle 
7) Bake for 10-11 minutes 
8) Let them cook for about 5-10 minutes and they will harden up (but still be soft and chewy) 

ENJOY!!

Day 14-13

Wednesday was my only day at Crossfit this week. :( I woke up yesterday with a cold so I am not feeling myself lately. Just one of those down weeks I guess. I plan on taking the weekend to relax and get better because next weekend I have TOUGH MUDDER! I'm nervous but excited at the same time! The distance is what is really making me nervous. I have bad knees so I'm hoping that they hold up through the 13 miles! I haven't run that far in over a year so it will be interesting to see how I do. I have some good buddies running with me thankfully to keep me motivated! 

Wednesday's WOD:

Strength: 5x1 Eccentric Focus Back Squats (10 Sec down) @ 175 pounds Then: 2x3 Push Press @ 85 pounds supersetted with 2x5 Pistols per leg

Conditioning: For Time: 20 Back Squats @ 100 Pounds, 20 Hand Release Push Ups, 10 Back Squats @ 100 Pounds, 10 Hand Release Push Ups, 20 Back Squats @ 100 Pounds, 20 Hand Release Push Ups.  TIME: 4:40 - This was the first WOD that I was able to do RTG weight. I'm all legs baby... 

Post Wod: 3 Rounds: 400m Run + 30 Ab Mat Sit Ups
Skill Work: Kipping Pull Ups

I can never get tired of this meal... 

Day 19-15

So I took a big break from blogging as well as Crossfit this weekend. It was nice to take a few days off and just relax and get some other stuff done. I was going to go to Crossfit last night but I hadn't spent solid time with the Lord in a few days so that was first priority. It was definitely a blessing and I'm glad I chose my quiet time over Crossfit. Nothing beats precious time with Jesus and his word!! 

I have continued to eat clean all weekend. All through the family and friend gatherings. One of the things I love most about this challenge is that it has literally stripped cravings for bad food out of me. Don't get me wrong- I still crave chocolate and ice cream and pie and all that but I crave the healthiest version possible. I care about the ingredients and what is inside. It gives me a peace of mind knowing what I'm actually eating and putting in my body. I have always struggled with "if I see it, I gotta have it!" and this challenge has helped remove that mentality from my mind. Now if I see a brownie or piece of cake or buttery bread stick it doesn't even phase me. That is a blessing to me as I've always struggled with that and wanted to gain that self control around bad food.

Bacon wrapped date = heaven

 Olive Garden Birthday Dinner- Steak/Chicken and Veggies

 Elevation Burger- YUM!!

Day 20

I can not believe I am under 20 days left of this challenge. It has gone by so fast! Even though I am still so very far away from my goal, I have learned so much so far. I am excited to continue to learn more each day left of the challenge as well as after. 

Yesterday was a long day again but I got through it a bit better as I went to bed earlier Wednesday night to try to catch up on my ZZzzz's... I started the morning off with my first day of mentoring a first grade class. I am currently in the elementary education program and the fun has officially begun! From here on out I will gradually be spending more and more time in the classroom. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be a teacher one day! Just walking into the school feels right. It took time for me to find what I wanted and felt called to do and I definitely feel called to teaching. :) After mentoring, I worked all day and then had two classes after work. I got home, ate, showered, got some homework done and hit the sheets. Full day but I'm grateful for everything I have going on in my life. I am very blessed to be able to do all that I do! 

Breakfast: Quiche
Lunch: Meatza and Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Dinner: Kale, Eggs, Bacon, Sweet Potato Chips
Desert: Almond milk with an almond flour lemon muffin

WOD:

REST DAY!

THIS IS MY GO-TO FAVORITE MEAL.. I CAN EAT IT ANYTIME- IT NEVER GETS OLD

Day 21

Yesterday was an exhausting day to say the least! I am looking forward to taking a rest day from the gym as today is going to be another crazy day. I woke up at 5:00 am and was at the gym for Crossfit at 6:00 am. The WOD literally kicked my butt where I had to take a breather for about 10 minutes or so. Typically I have been doing post workouts to push myself a bit more but I literally had no energy whatsoever to work on anything. That being said, I decided to just take a shower and have some quality time with a friend. We went to breakfast and had a mini devotional session. Had to be the best part of my day! Heart to hearts are my favorite!! After that I went to work from 9-5 pm and then had class until 8:30 pm.. I literally went home, showered and crawled into bed! I was glad the day was over and my body was too as it was screaming "I need rest!" 

Breakfast: Egg/Veggie/Bacon/Ham omelet with Orange Juice, Fruit and Coffee. - Hearty  breakfast but I needed it! 

Lunch: Sample Platter :) - Bacon Wrapped Chicken, Buffalo Chicken Meatza, Pork/Veggies and Chia seed pudding for desert. 

Dinner: Same as lunch minus the pudding. 

WOD:

Strength: 5 min EMOM- 2x 3 second pause at the bottom back squats @190 pounds
Then: 2x3 push press @ 65 pounds supersetted with 2x7 pistols 

Conditioning: 10 min EMOM 3x Squat Clean Thrusters @65 Pounds then Max Effort Burpees until the next minute. Score was 60 burpees.- FREAK-IN KILLER WORKOUT

Chia Seed Pudding- Looks weird but really good!

Here is the recipe:

Paleo Chia Pudding

Who knew Calestoga had such awesome omelets!!? 

 Packed this baby with protein and veggies! 

Day 22

Yesterday I went to the 6:00 am Crossfit class. I woke up and really wanted to just go back to bed. As I was driving to the gym I was debating on going home and sleeping but I didn't. I would majorly regret that. Although I was tired, I'm glad I went. Always glad I go!.... 

A friend and I decided to have a COOK-A-THON in the kitchen and whip up food for the next week. We first made spaghetti squash. We used the recipe from the Fast Paleo blog (under my pages). We also made buffalo chicken and sweet potato meatza from www.paleomg.com. Lastly we made bacon wrapped chicken strips which I have made in the past and are always a good go-to. Pictures are below. Everything we made was awesome and packed with protein! Gotta love MEAT! 

Breakfast: Egg/Bacon/Veggie Quiche
Lunch: Pork and Veggies
Dinner: Squash Spaghetti and Buffalo Chicken/Sweet Potato Meatza!
Snack: Clementine 

WOD:

Strength: 7 Min EMOM 1x3 Clean & Jerk Complex @75 pounds. 1 C/J from Power Position, 1 C/J from Hang Position and 1 C/J from Ground. 
Skill: Free Hand Stand Work 
Conditioning: 250m TT: 1:04 min- Then 6x250m Sprints with a 30 sec rest in between. 

POST WOD:
GHD Sit Ups- 60 Total 
30 Front/30 back with a 10 pound weight
L-Sit work on the rings. 

Slowly Switch-in It Up

The little switches I've made and personally learned to prefer:

- Coffee Creamer- I LOVE my coffee.. like LOVE! and I love my creamer! I will drink black if I have to but I like my coffee with creamer. I have never been a sugar in my coffee gal so that was not something I had to get off of. However I love half and half and that was a difficult thing to get away from. I first switched to almond milk and then to coconut milk. I can do either or and really have gotten so used to it that I don't even think about it. 

- Sweets- this is a big one. I'm a girl. I love sweets and at that craving moment feel like I need them or I will die! The best thing about paleo is that the food is so freaking good and the sweets also fall into that category! The handful of paleo deserts I have made have all been amazing and have not left me feeling icky or over indulged. (minus my recent coconut bread)..The ingredients are what make the difference here I think. I encourage you to look up some paleo deserts and read up on the ingredients and see how much healthier it all is. I get a lot of my recipes on PINTEREST. I'd take a paleo brownie or muffin over a sugar packed one any day! 

                   

Blueberry Cobbler                                       Almond Meal Lemon Muffins

- Cheese! No Dairy on Paleo...Yup that means cheese too :( boo!! I will have to say, cheese is the one thing I really do miss at times. I've never been a big milk person and I really have never been a major cheese person but it is nice to throw some cheese in your eggs every once in a while and also on your pizza but in the end it's really not worth the extra calories when you are trying to lean out. Once I meet my goal I can start to have cheese again in moderation, however for now it is non existent and for my favor!

                                                     Cheese-less Bacon/Egg/Veggie Quiche 

- Pizza.. Oh pizza.. how I love you. I LOVE pizza. It has to be one of my favorite foods to eat. I could eat it for days and never be tired of it. The first time I made paleo pizza I used an organic crust and it was so good. However I was told to stay away from carbs as much as possible even though the crust was way healthier than normal crust. That being said, I have switched to a meat crust- ALL PROTEIN BABY! As foreign and weird as that sounds, I cannot tell you how amazingly easy and good it is! You may say that is not pizza and you may be right to an extent but you need to try it before you dismiss it because it will rock your world! 

                                                                   Meat Crust Pizza

- EATING OUT- One of the main things I have had to change was eating out. I'm a full time college student who also works full time and am always on the go. Fast food and restaurants may be easy and convenient but not beneficial. This was a big-gen for me. I had to completely step away from that life and step foot in my kitchen 1-2 times a day 4-5 times a week. In the past I always looked at this as a waist of time as my to-do list gets longer and longer. I never realized though how much enjoyment I get out of cooking and how relaxing it is. It is now a big hobby that I actually get excited to do! I look forward to creating in the kitchen each time I do it!

I have many switches to still make but I think these are little successes in and of themselves. People say it's a change of lifestyle for a reason. It is a lot less stressful when you don't have to think about choosing between the good and the bad since you already naturally go for the good!!

Day 23

Yesterday was a rough day as I mentioned before that I didn't feel well. I came very close to taking another day off Crossfit but decided at the last minute that I needed to go and it would probably make me feel better once I did. I arrived a bit earlier than normal so I decided to run a nice 1 mile warm up to start and see how I felt. I'm glad that I went because I left feeling a heck of a lot better than when I arrived. I hear people say that when you don't want to go is when you really do need to go. It is very true! All I have to say is lesson learned.. no more coconut bread for me!! 

Meal 1: Pork and Veggies
Snack: Apple
Meal 2: Egg/Veggie Quiche and a side of pork and veggies and a clementine 
2 Cups of Almond Milk

WOD:

PRE-WOD: 1 Mile Run

Strength: 7 Min EMOM 1x3 Position snatch complex- 1 Squat Snatch (power position), 1 Squat Snatch (hang position), 1 Squat Snatch (ground) 

Skill: Muscle up work 

Conditioning: 5 Min ME Push Press @65 pounds, 4 Min ME Pull Ups, 3 min ME Overhead Squats @65 pounds, 2 Min ME Shoulder Touches, 1 Min ME Box Jumps. I did 109 Reps RX

POST-WOD:
1000m Row 

10 min of Abs: 1 Min segments of planks, bicycles, mason twists, leg kicks

Day 26-24.. & The Food Hangover

This weekend I had one of the most relaxing and laid back weekends I have had in a while. It was much needed and much appreciated! I woke up Saturday morning in the hammock+book mood... however I replaced the hammock for a pool chair. I got to get some sun and have some good quality time this weekend with great friends. I also got a pedicure Sunday afternoon.. BONUS! I took both Saturday and Sunday off of working out to fully rest and recover. My legs were killin from all the squats this week. I needed some R&R time! 

I continued to eat clean this weekend however I did not cook as much this week and I have to say I can completely notice a MEGA difference! I grabbed salads at Pita Pit and Moes a couple times and also first watch one morning. On another note.. I would just like to announce that I have officially experienced my first FOOD HANGOVER... and may I say OUCH!! If you have never had this.. take my word for it that it sucks! Our team is allowing ourselves to have 1 sweet indulgent per week and this week I decided to make coconut bread. Even though it's paleo, I definitely had once piece too many and felt like crap almost immediately after as and that hangover has carried into today. All I have to say is LESSON LEARNED! As bad as I feel about having my first hang up through this challenge I have to be grateful. I am learning what my body likes and does not like. I know my body likes my cooking and I know my body doesn't like too much sweet.. not matter how healthy that sweet is. I will be a lot better at planning my own meals and eating my food this week.

FRIDAY WOD:

Strength: 5x2 Eccentric Focus Front Squats (5sec down) @170 pounds. 
     THEN:: Supersetted 3x3 Over Head Squats with 3x5 Weighted pull ups. - I struggled with this set and just did what I could. 

Conditioning: 10 Min AMRAP: 5 Deadlifts @ 95 pounds (RX) , 5 Wall balls @ 16 pounds and 5 Burpees. TOTAL ROUNDS: 10+1

POST WOD:
TABATA= 30 sec on 10 sec off for 4 minutes straight. I did 3 different TABATA work outs for a total of 12 minutes of abs. 
TABATA 1: Butterfly Sit Ups
TABATA 2: Leg Chops 
TABATA 3: Mason Twist 

SAT & SUN: REST DAYS

First Watch on the Go Breakfast: Turkey Patty & Eggs

My weekend basically... Oh the Florida life!!!

Day 27

This week has definitely been a challenging but awesome week for training! I am loving the morning workouts which I never thought I would. It is hard to wake up early  and climb out of bed and go lift heavy weight but it is so worth it. I have had so much more energy as it is forcing me to get to bed earlier at night and get more sleep. We did sprints yesterday which I always hate doing but love once I do. It is hard to motivate myself to do them but I know that I need to and my body loves it.

Meal 1: Eggs, Bacon, Tomato, Avocado
Meal 2: Chicken, Collard Greens, Sweet Potato
Meal 3: Moes! - Chicken, Steak, Lettuce, tomato, Mushrooms, peppers and onions

WOD:

Strength: 10 Tire Flips, 20 Sledge Hammer Strikes per Arm, 10 Box dips (on the box), 3 Rope Climbs
Skill: Hand Stand Push Up Work... ALMOST THERE!! 
Conditioning: 15x100m Sprints with a 30 second rest in between each sprint

POST WOD: 
1000m Row
High Bar & Low Bar Back squats @ 165 pounds- Did about 6 rounds of 5 reps each

Day 28

I've been doing morning workouts a lot this week since I have school Wednesday and Thursday nights now. I have to say that I really have been enjoying it. It is a great way to start my day and it has been giving me a little extra time at home to get homework, cooking and house chores done. My schedule is only going to get more complicated as I start mentoring in a first grade class next week for school before I go into work. My main concern here is getting enough sleep. I am back to getting in bed around 9-9:30 pm trying to get that solid 8 hours of sleep in each night. I've learned it is so important if I want to stay healthy and continue doing the things that I love sleep needs to be priority. 
Yesterday's WOD was hard and I did not get through it all but I did finally did the pull ups without using a band!! It is exciting because I am definitely getting stronger as it has taken me a long time to do kipping pull ups! I am determined now to just stop using the band even if I cannot complete the workout in the given time. The only way I will get better is if I push myself so that is the plan... 

Meal 1: Chicken, Collard Greens
Snack: Small Cobb Salad
Meal 2: Eggs, Bacon and Sweet Potato Fries
Coffee: 3 Cups

WOD:

Strength: 5x2 Back Squats (10 sec down) @ 165 pounds THEN: Supper-set of 3x3 Push Press @ 75 pounds with 3x5 Pistols per leg

Conditioning: 40 Pull Ups, 10 Split Jumps, 10 Pull Ups, 30 Split Jumps- Time was a little over 15 min. The pull ups killed... hence my ripped hand picture below...

POST WOD: 100 Bicycle Crunches 

Day 29

It's all down hill form here!! (even though I have been counting down my days... lol) 

Yesterday I did not WOD as I have an exam tonight at school and needed to study. I tried to minimize my portions yesterday and definitely felt more hungry at meal time. I have not been able to cook my meals up for the week so I'm going to have to get creative fast for the next 2 days! :/ I may throw some paleo chili in the crock pot or something easy tonight as I am a busy bee this week... PLAN PLAN PLAN...

MEAL 1: Cobb Salad with Buffalo Chicken Wings 
SNACK: Dates and Almond Butter 
MEAL 2: Eggs, Sweet Potato Fries, Bacon - LOVE Breakfast for Dinner... 
Coffee: 2 Cups 

Changes At Half Time

Last night we had our first team meeting with one of the consultants for the Paleo challenge. We are just at our halfway point so we went over what our strengths and weaknesses have been through this challenge. I have been having a lot of people tell me that I am really leaning out and look a lot skinner so I have to be doing things right. There are always changes though to make to be more effective though. Personally for me, the food has been easy because I have really enjoyed cooking and creating new dishes. I have not cheated or eaten anything un-paleo at all. Nor do I desire to. The food is just so good!! Even the treats have been paleo. However, I do think I have been having too many paleo treats lately. Even though they are paleo I need to remind myself that I am trying to SHRED not maintain. The treats are fine to have every once in a while but I need to just focus on the solid protein and veggies and water. That being said, as a group we decided that we will only allow ourselves to have 1 PALEO indulgence a week from now until the challenge is over. So I have 3 life lines here and will have to use them wisely! We also decided that we need to incorporate more cardio into our training. We have committed to 3 solid days of cardio work (outside of our WODs). One of the main concerns for me personally was not the food but the portion sizes of the food. I have just been focusing on changing the way I cook/eat and not focusing so much on how much I'm eating. I am going to check with a nutritionist and/or coach who would know better than I would and see what they suggest.

Changes for the remainder of the challenge:

-Limit Fruit as much as possible 

-Smaller portions

-3 Solid cardio days/week

-Limit to 1 Paleo sweet/indulgent per week

Day 35-30

Wrapping up the past week since I haven't blogged since last Tuesday, I ate clean all week but I had company in town so I wasn't as good at writing down what I ate. I did of course take pictures so I have photos of some of my meals. I did not cheat at all. Still going strong with the paleo!! Half way through this challenge!

I did however have more fruit than normal and made a couple paleo treats. I made lemon almond meal muffins and paleo brownies. I also had a paleo chocolate dipped banana wrapped in bacon and almond butter made by a friend (it was amazing!). 

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday and I had some friends over for the game and food. I decided to make everything paleo and tried to stick as close to game day style as possible. 

The menu consisted of:

-Buffalo Chicken Wings (I made the sauce homemade- It was yummy)

-Grilled Chicken Bites

-Sweet Potato Fries

-Plantains (amazing)

-Guacamole

-Bacon Wrapped Dates (amazing)

-Veggie Tray

-Strawberries

-Brownies (amazing)

-Frozen Banana with chocolate, almond butter and bacon (amazing)

**Can you tell I really liked the menu?** ;) 

Sadly I forgot to take pictures of all of this :( I don't know what I was thinking!! Sorry there are no previews... but take my word for it when I say the food was very good... and all CLEAN/PALEO! :}

MONDAY  WOD:

4 Rounds: 

400m Run with a 25 pound plate

10 Burpees 

Breakfast: Brownie w/Almond Butter... :/ (Ah- I couldn't' resist!) 

Lunch: Buffalo chicken, Sweet Potato fries and Grilled Chicken bites

Dinner: Same as lunch but with cucumbers and a clementine

Coffee: 2 Cups

Tea: 2 Cups