Game On!

It all starts this Wednesday.  A nutrition challenge at Centerville Crossfit.  There are two things that force me to commit to something:  1)  Money and 2) the word "challenge".  Any time I part with my hard earned cash I expect a return on investment.  So if I pay big money for jeans, I had better look darn good in them!  And I am always up for a challenge.  I have never been able to mentally understand those people who don't like challenges.  Is it laziness?  So confusing to me....

Anyways, I have pretty much lived my life this past year eating the standard Paleo way.  Over the past 3-4 months I have slipped to about 80/20 on this.  Okay, okay, let's be honest, it's probably more like 70/30.  There is something about going to a lake every weekend and eating pizza, chips, drinking beer, etc... that I just can't say no too.  But the lake house is officially closed and it's time for hibernation to begin.  And by hibernation I mean cooking and food prepping on Sundays, working out 3-4 days a week, and vacationing to some place warm at least 2-3 times during the winter.  

I went ahead and started prepping yesterday for this week.  I know the challenge doesn't start until Wednesday, but why wait?  Pictured above are the precooked bacon egg biscuits.  These have diced onions and tomatoes on the bottom with salt and pepper on top.  I went ahead and cooked these and just warmed them up this morning for breakfast.  While the oven was warm I cooked the whole remaining pound of bacon on a sheet pan.  I can pretty much eat bacon cold, warm, or scorching hot.    

Other items I made on Sunday:  

• Browned some ground turkey and added taco seasonings with a can of diced tomatoes (think Rotel, only I'm cheap and buy mine at Aldi's)  I will use this in lettuce wraps with some guac.  It's also good tossed in with eggs.
• Marinated pork loin.  This sucker is going to last me all week.  Random strangers are going to receive some pork loin by Wednesday.  
• Cut up vegetables for quick cooking and/or snacking.
• I will be making Fruit N Nut Bars tonight to hopefully help with my sweet tooth.

It's really day 1 for me and just knowing that I'm not suppose to eat sugary yummy food is making me want it more.  And the fact is I'm pretty good at making Paleo dessert type foods to get me by.  A whole month of no honey might just kill me.  Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but you just never know.

Breakdown of today so far:

• Woke up at 6:30am.
• Ate two bacon and egg biscuits at 7:30am.
• Got to work at 8am
• Met with Chiropractor at 10am (this is a whole other post... grrrr)
• 12:30 lunch:  Two burgers with lettuce and onion.  Not the greatest choice, but we eat lunch out daily and todays choice was the Fried Food Capitol of Moraine, Ohio called Treasure Island.
• Tonight I will be walking on the treadmill (again.... grrrr!!!) due to my back being all out of whack.  Dinner will be either the pork loin or the browned beef.  I'm leaning towards the pork loin with some grilled veggies.

My Experiment

It's time for a serious post....

Over the past two months I have woken up every night with horrible night sweats.  Drenched.  Go ahead, say it - GROSS!  Yes, it really is.  The last time this happened was two years ago when the doctors had me heavily medicated for endometriosis.  So of course, what have I been thinking the problem is... hormones.  I have literally been scouring the internet looking for new information on hormones, thyroid, replacement therapy, natural remedies, etc....  I had literally diagnosed myself.  I was also slipping into semi-depression just knowing that I would have to go back to the obgyn soon.  Two years ago I was in that office on a weekly basis either for tests, blood work, shots, or surgeries.  It's a bad memory.  It is also what caused me to change my life.

As many of your know I began eating Paleo in September of last year.  My journey began with 30 days of strict eating.  No cheats.  This meant no sugar, fake sugar, grains, beans, or dairy.  (Hopefully I didn't leave anything out.)  Once my 30 days was over my gym conveniently started a Paleo Challenge and I signed up.  This continued throughout the winter and helped me to lose 38Lbs.  But most importantly, I felt great!!!  Once spring hit I decided to ease off on the strictness and go 80/20 on my diet.  Mainly I have been eating strict Paleo (with an addition of a Diet Lemon Lime soda nightly starting about two months ago... remember this) and on the weekends I am less strict.  Ok, who's kidding who... I drink beer.  Other than the beer, I'm still pretty much a Paleo eater on the weekends.

So let's get back to the night sweats.  In addition to the night sweats I have been having hot flashes.  The boyfriend will ask if I'm going through menopause with a humorous chuckle.  Little does he know that it's very possible and scares the hell out of me.  I'm already down an ovary so God only know what this body is doing!  (And I mean that literally.... only He knows.)  My final downer.... cramps.  Yes, I know most women have pms cramps, but I'm so lucky that I have them on a daily basis.  Right now they are just mild, but when my endo is in full swing I won't be able to sleep through the night without a heating pad.  Being a woman is grand.    I really do have a point to all of this..... here it comes.....

After a crazy conversation with my brother about my rising ailments he says to me "I wonder if you've become so healthy now that your body is fighting off your nightly Diet pop filled with fake crap?"  WTH?!  Is he nuts?  So a couple of days ago I decided to stop the single nightly can of Diet Lemon Lime.  Guess what?  I've slept through the night... completely dry, I haven't overheated during the day, and I've had ZERO abdominal pain.

This has since led me to do some Googling on the side effects of artificial sweeteners.  Holy crap, it is mind blowing.  Here is one good read, but you might want to do some research yourself.  All of this was just another reminder that what we put in our mouths really does effect our body, not just the number on the scale.

Day 18 of 50 - Serious cravings today

I'm having a strange day.  I'm craving everything.  I haven't had cravings like this in over a month.  For some reason the thought of laying on my couch in comfy sweats with a Reese's peanut butter cup sundae just sounds divine.  But I'm also remembering the after effects of that:  stomach pains, immediate tiredness, racing to the bathroom before my gut explodes (don't you just love visuals?), should I go on?

Another thing getting me through, I received an email today telling us that our halfway measurements will be taken on the 29th.  Halfway?!  It's hard to believe that we're almost halfway through this.  This is reason number, okay I don't have a number, but this is just one of the reasons I love Centerville CrossFit.  During this Paleo 50 Day Challenge we will be having a workout together followed by a catered meal, during our halfway check-in we will be hearing about the ease of shopping for paleo foods with snacks, and at the end there will be a group dinner to award the winners.  (Winners are chosen based on least cheats, measurements, total weight loss, and I think most dramatic change from before and after pictures.)  The group atmosphere and camaraderie at CF is like no other.  Through all my bitching and moaning before, during, and after a workout... I truly do love going.

So how will I combat my cravings?  Thinking almond butter and a banana.  Or maybe some super dark chocolate with almond butter.  Then again, this may pass by the time I get home.  Hopefully.

Oh, and here's an updated pic of me from NYC this past weekend.  I have about 20 more pounds to go, but I really do feel so much better now that I eat paleo.  And of course the workouts help too.  :)