21 Day Super Hero Challenge Update

The Open is over and I managed to only do one of the workouts. I, regretfully, didn’t sign up for the open this year. Not knowing much about the Open and still not having a lot of the important movements down in day-to-day workouts scared me away. I could have done almost all of the movements in 14.1-14.5 except for the muscle-ups. Really, Dave Castro? Muscle-ups?

Awaiting the Open workout announcement

The only Open workout I ended up doing was 14.5, which I really enjoyed! Out of all the workouts, I think this one really tested character for all of the athletes. It took such great perseverance to not stop (or take very short breaks) during this one! It was a doozy!

This Challenge is coming to an end pretty quick! I wish I could say I was as disciplined as I was on my Paleo Challenge. I am guilty of cheating on this challenge and it really threw me off. Once I ate badly I thought, “I f*cked up, might as well keep eating like crap”. Until I had one of my wake up calls yesterday, realizing that it’s getting hot….it’s almost summer…it’s almost bikini season. Eeek! One of my goals during my weight-loss journey was to feel confident this summer in a bathing suit. And this is one I strive to accomplish.

Salami, turkey and avocado salad

So what better way to kick off healthy eating than meal prepping?! That is what my Saturday has consisted of and it was exhausting, but worth it. My morning prep consisted of sweet potatoes, bacon, boiled eggs, organic sausage, Mexican quinoa, and boiled chicken. Going back to what I know and what works for me, strict Paleo.

Prepping for meal prep

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Recipes for the Week!

School started this week and I’m less than thrilled. Lounging around the house and going to the gym when I please is such a luxury. Since I’ve been in and out of a back injury I decided to take an entire week off of working out to heal. So far, I haven’t been to the gym in three days and it’s driving me bonkers. I still go on my Box’s website each morning to look at the WOD, pathetic I know. But I miss the sound of weights dropping, the texture of chalk, and the people that I call my Cross Fit family.

So to distract myself, I’ve been cooking a lot. I’ve been making some food out of my new cook book, Primal Cravings, that I got for Christmas. And also testing out some new recipes from the always great paleOMG. Making all of my meals will hopefully balance out my lack of working out. My weight-loss has been at a bit of a stand still, so not being able to hit the gym sucks that much more.

These muffins are the bomb-dot-com. By far my favorite thing I’ve made this week! Even my picky boyfriend is addicted to them.

(Recipe from paleOMG)

This is a great, quick, meal that tastes amazing. Homemade pesto, gluten-free noodles, frozen shrimp and voila!

(Pesto recipe from All Recipes— did not use cheese in the pesto)

This pizza casserole is definitely a crowd pleaser! Added some feta cheese for extra flavor.

(Recipe from paleOMG)

These are the perfect on-the-go breakfast ‘muffins’! There are a lot of ways to mix them up and make them your own. Next time I think I’m going to add ground Italian Sausage!

(Recipe from Primal Cravings cookbook)

Did you hear? It’s a new year!

Welcome, 2014! Wow am I ready for a fresh start in this new year. Not gonna lie, December has been a month of ups and downs for me. For half of the month I ate pretty healthy with little to no “cheats”. But towards Christmas I started to fall back into my bad eating habits and beer. Lots of beer. I was at my Dad’s house most of the time and did not cook as much as I should have (Note to self: don’t let Dad make his delicious cookies when I come over). I kept telling myself, “On New Years day I will start eating healthy again”. Those are dangerous words! It is so much easier to gain weight than to lose weight and I learned that the hard way. I put on about 4 pounds in December but I’m not letting it get me down. I have come too far and am not in the same mind set I was this time last year.

For Christmas I got a few goodies from my love! I got a few ROGUE clothes and a NutriBullet! I was stoked to get the Bullet because I haven’t had a food processor/blender in years. I have already made a green smoothie and homemade pesto!

 

Post work out cuteness. Just showing my love for this green smoothie.

So it’s time to establish my 2014 Resolutions. But for me, these are promises that I’m making to myself. Promises that I will hold myself accountable for.

• Of course I have weight loss goals, but I also have lifting goals. By March, I want to be able to back squat 200lbs and front squat 185lbs
• I am going to do more things that make me happy
• I will save more money (this will be a tough one)
• I am going to volunteer more at my local dog shelter
• By this time next year I am going to graduate Texas State University

Basically, I want to make 2014 my b*tch. I want to be proud of what I accomplished and not pray that the next year will get better because of previous downfalls. 2013 has been a roller-coaster, lets see what this year has in store.

“It always seems impossible until it is done”

-Nelson Mandela 

My Latest GAINS

Above are my friend, Jackie’s awesome Reebok Lifters. Below are my Vibrams that I have recently been lifting in.

Life has been kind of hectic these past weeks, so my time to blog has been nonexistent. BUT with midterms taking over my time, I have actually made it to crossfit (which I think has helped my sanity). In one of my past posts I told you guys that I was starting an Oly class. I have been going most every Tuesday and Friday and I am in love with lifting. It is so much more than lifting up heavy weights, it’s mental as well. Lifting weights has helped my WODs; almost to RX! Since I’ve started, here are my latest gains…

In two weeks:

• I went from a 75lb snatch to an 85lb snatch
• A 1 rep clean of 105lb to a 1 rep hang clean of 115lb
• A 1 max back squat of 145lb to a 2 rep back squat of 155lb

Oh yeah, did I mention I got a tattoo hours before Oly class when I hit 2 PRs?!

New tattoo before Oly!

24 Day Challenge Update:

So, eating paleo has been progressively getting easier to fit in my daily life. I have enjoyed the process but give major credit to anyone who eats completely paleo 24/7.  When the challenge first started I felt dizzy at times and felt like what I was eating wasn’t enough. For me, eating needs to be a happy balance. After the challenge is over I think I will eat paleo-ish. Meaning that I will eat mostly paleo but will be adding in some carbs. What I do enjoy about the caveman diet is paleo baking (like you couldn’t tell from my past posts). I have never really enjoyed baking until I had taken up the paleolithic diet.

Weighing in on Monday so wish me luck!

Pre-Oly class sweet potato and bacon! Potatoes for PRs!

OMG, that’s paleo?!

So it has now been a week into my 24 Day Challenge and has been surprisingly difficult. I think I’m just now realizing how lenient I was with my paleo diet. I’m now looking at every nutrition label and asking waiters what is in EVERYTHING. It’s not easy watching everyone around you eat what you would want to be eating. Especially when it’s usually those disgusting people that can eat whatever they want and not seem to gain a pound. I have found out that it is a constant battle to keep my taste-buds interested. Eating so many boiled eggs and sweet potatoes have had me craving everything in the book. So to counteract this I have started looking up multiple paleo recipes from different websites. A few websites that I have been cooking paleo from are nomnompaleo and paleomg.

Since it’s October, I overdose on pumpkin everything. So it’s no surprise that my latest obsession has been these paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! These muffins are just the right amount of moist that they could easily be mistaken as a cupcake (and taste just as sinful)! They were a hit with my whole family and I’ve already made them twice due to my boyfriend eating three of them a day. Luckily with this recipe I had most of the ingredients. Hope you enjoy the recipe from paleomg!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup of Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix together wet ingredients in a bowl: pumpkin puree, maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla extract
• In another bowl, mix together coconut flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, powdered ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
• Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well
• Fold in chocolate chips
• Line a muffin tin with paper liners—use an ice cream scoop to one scoop of batter per muffin
• Bake for 35-40 minutes

Healthy Sweet Tooth

I’m usually not one to have a sweet tooth. When having an unhealthy craving, I usually just crave carbs or something greasy. But this time was different, I wanted something sweet that didn’t come with the guilt. So I made Sweet and Salty Almond Butter Mini Muffins and Paleo Banana Bread Muffins.

Sweet & Salty Almond Butter Mini Muffins

Sweet & Salty Almond Butter Mini Muffins (Grain Free)

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 Cup of Almond Butter
• 1/3 Cup of Agave Nectar
• 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
• 1 egg
• 1 Cup of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl except for the Enjoi Life chocolate chips
• Once mixed, fold in the chocolate chips
• Then distribute in muffin pan, filling each about half way with batter
• Bake for 8-10 minutes until muffins are golden brown on top
• Let cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!

(Original recipe from boxgrl81. I slightly modified her recipe for what I had in my kitchen. For more healthy food posts follow boxgrl81!)

Paleo Banana Bread Muffins

Paleo Banana Bread Muffins

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 Ripe Bananas Mashed
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tblspn Chia Seeds
• 6 Tblspn Water
• 2 Tblspn Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1/4 Cup Melted Coconut Oil
• 1 Tspn Vanilla Extract
• 10 Packets of Stevia
• 1 Cup Coconut Flour
• 1/2 Tspn Baking Soda

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix chia seeds and water in a bowl, set aside
• Mash bananas in separate bowl then add wet ingredients, then chia seeds, then dry ingredients (mixing as you add ingredients)
• (Optional) Fold in 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to mixture
• Then distribute evenly in muffin pan filling about halfway
• Bake for 40 minutes until top of muffin is a golden brown
• Let cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!

(Original recipe from lueckelookingfit on Instagram. Follow her to see her weight loss story and for more Paleo recipes!)

The Caveman Diet

Personally, I have tried every diet known to man. Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, low carb, low calorie, vegetarian, just to name a few. Most of them did do their job; most of these diets made me lose weight. The problem was that they never stuck. I was always hungry, craving something else, wanting to binge eat or feeling weak.

When joining Crossfit, I quickly learned that the preferred way of eating was the Paleolithic (or “Paleo”) Diet. This diet consists of eating mainly nuts, fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, and fish. Basically, excluding dairy products, grains, legumes, excess sugar, and vegetable oils. This is probably the easiest way to eat healthy in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, every once in a while I do cheat and eat a nice Chipotle burrito with rice, but I don’t crave it like I once did.

Seasoned grilled shrimp on a bed of lettuce

Eating a steak with veggies and quinoa leaves me more satisfied than ‘counting points’ with weight watchers low calorie foods that still leave me hungry. Going out to eat is also much easier when eating Paleo because you can actually eat! As long as you are following the guidelines it is much easier to stick with this diet because you WILL see the results.

Above Picture: Egg Whites cooked with bacon fat and two slices of bacon
Bottom Picture: Quinoa with grilled chicken

Enjoi Life chocolate chip Paleo pancakes

Egg frittata with egg beaters, ground turkey, broccoli, onions, bell peppers, salt and pepper