Paleo day 6

I am worn the f out. Avoiding no no foods has worn my resolve to a nub. Today was a gauntlet of my own doing, I went and got my husband donuts at 5:30 am, went out to brunch and avoided mimosas and breakfast beers, followed by grimaldis and more beers, then I made green chili enchiladas for dinner. I did have a small taste of the sauce to make sure it tasted right but that has been my only "cheat"
I am over the excitement of doing something new phase and I have transitioned into the "can I just nap away the days until this over?" phase. I am hoping to find the phase where eating like this becomes a habit.
So good night world, goodnight cheese, goodnight pizza, good night cold beer...I'm off to dream of kale and skinny jeans.

Breakfast: black coffee, omelet with turkey sausage, onions, spinach and a side of sausage.
Lunch:  side salad, green tea
Dinner: roasted bell peppers and zucchini with roasted turkey breast.
No snacks, no donuts, no creamer, no cheese, and no pizza.

Just water, thanks!

Today was the first really hard day for the fat kid, I have had days where I wanted to cheat but didn't. I have had days where I was cranky but survived, but today was my first day outside my bubble of homemade foods and my strictly regimented meals. It was my first weekend, my cousin is in town and my usual form of family bonding includes alcohol...copious amounts of alcohol and food. I am half Mexican so it's in my DNA...family = food and alcohol. It was also my dad's birthday and we needed to celebrate. This all added up to a fat kid gauntlet full of cheese, beer, more cheese, beer, cheese again, and a beer nightcap.
I started morning with 7 mile run at 4:30 am, eggs, bacon, coffee, and a smoothie ( and that was just my breakfast). After a few near misses with popcorn and protein bars and a pep talk with the fat kid we headed downtown to meet my folks and show my cousin part of downtown phoenix. Which of course included killing time at a local bar with a killer beer selection and even better menu. By this time my quads were screaming for any tiny morsel of food, my brain was screaming for beer, my stomach was screaming for pizza and I was trying to reign it all in as the fat kid skipped merrily along. When the waiter came around I uttered the forbidden phrase at any great beer joint  "just a water, thanks!"
I really was starving and I felt a cheat coming on so I scoured menu for anything that might fit my parameters. I settled for brisket tacos... hold the cheese, the tortillas, and the beans. I just ate the brisket and red cabbage slaw which was actually delicious and it kept the hunger demons at bay. After we finished up there we met my parents at the arrogant butcher for an early dinner. I know you are thinking "Jesus Christ woman, you just ate the douchiest version of a taco ever. How are you still hungry! ?"
And my answer to that is... Hi. My names Lauren, welcome to my blog. Also... 7 miles,  you judgemental a hole.
It was also a few hours before I ate again, everyone ordered beers and appetizers while I stared at the ceiling and memorized my fingerprint pattern. Everything seemed to be covered in cheese, dipped in cheese, or just a plate of cheese.  My favorite phrase was uttered over and over again... just water, thanks!
But I survived and I enjoyed myself without binging and that says a lot right there. I don't need food to enjoy a night out, I can enjoy the company and conversation instead.  I ended up ordering a burger and side salad (no cheese, no bun). No beer, no cheese, no grains, no cheating.
All this being good has worn me out, time for bed at the party animal hour of 8:30.

Paleo Day 3

I am three days in and the cheese/sugar/grain free world has not come crashing down around me. I feel good, hungry... but good. I am not starving in a way that is unhealthy but it is taking my body to get back on the right track. It doesn't help that Triathlon/Race training amped up this week so I am burning excess calories on top of detoxing and cutting the crap from my diet. I haven't jumped on the scale yet and I am trying to hold out until Monday morning but we will see if that happens. I have a lot of energy and I have not had the headaches that usually accompany a good detox. I am also trying to not focus on counting every calorie that goes into my body. Everything I am eating is fresh and unprocessed so the calories that I am taking in are good calories. My theory has always been to eat as much as I want of the good stuff (carrots, avocados, apples. etc) and try to keep my portions in check for the not so healthy stuff.  Tomorrow is catered lunch day at work and of course they decided to go with Portillos. I scoured the menu and the only thing I could see that fit in my parameters was a burger, no bun, no cheese, no mayo. Just meat. I will bring my own salad and try not to pout.

Breakfast: Smoothie-kale, banana, pinapple, coconut water, and 1/2 scoop of egg white protein powder
Lunch: Leftover beef curry and 2 cups of spring mix
snacks: 2 apples, 1/2 avocado and small portion of roasted turkey
dinner: Mexican Chicken with green chili and lime, pan roasted zucchini and 1/2 avocado

workouts: 1:10 min bike ride  

Paleo day 2

A little more hungry, a little more cranky, and very sore from riding/running/swimming/biking. I haven't strayed from the plan but I had a couple moments where I came close. We normally never have any sweets in the house but with Easter, chocolate seems to be everywhere. I made it through the day and I really tired. I don't know if it's from getting back into race training or getting used to eating right again. Tonight we made a curry recipe out of the whole 30 book and it came out pretty well. It was ground beef with carrots and cauliflower, seasoned with salt, pepper, curry, and garlic salt.

Breakfast: smoothie with kale, strawberries, and vanilla egg white protein
Lunch: leftover peppers and sausage with two cups of spring mix

Dinner: ground beef curry with carrots and cauliflower

Snacks:  bell peppers, apple, grilled chicken and avocado

Paleo day uno

I have survived day one. I can't say that I skipped along like a bunny on crack all day but I didn't feel like I was being dragged behind a pizza delivery guy either. I tried to focus on not grazing all day and making more out of my meals. I ate slower and took the time to plate my foods. Normally I race through my meals and then spend the next 20 minutes scavenging for more food.  I will try to blog a couple times a week and keep everyone updated

Food day 1
Smoothie: kale, strawberries, bananas, coconut water
Carrots
Chicken, avocado, and salad
Chicken, avocado with lemon pepper
Grilled zucchini, bell peppers, sausage
And enough water to sink a boat

More information than you actually needed about my stomach

I have been toying with the idea of paleo again lately. I couldn't stick with it last time and I had a very hard time cutting out the dairy and sugars. Which exactly why I should probably try it again. I have worked on cutting down my cheese and sugar intake because I really do feel better when I limit them, but to cut them out completely? That has always been a commitment I was not ready or willing to make. 

When the topic comes up, people tend to ask one question.

Why?

 Well. Shit. Um. 

because. 

How do you politely explain to someone that every time you drink milk or heaven forbid you look at a carton of ice cream your gut immediately throws a hissy fit that even the best parent would walk away from?

Or that after cutting the majority of sugar from your diet, one kit kat can leave you feeling like the Hindenburg blimp ( Full of hot gas and crashing quickly)... too soon?

How about trying to knock out 10+ miles on a stomach that is requesting that you waddle ( in the most embarrassing way ) into every gas station, Starbucks, or grocery store you can find. Not to mention the judgy looks you get from the starbucks employees when you walk back out again and don't buy a coffee but rather skip out with a smile that only runners understand. 

I am sure this is way more information than you bargained for 

Anyways. Paleo... 

(ugh, right?)

No cheese. No dairy. No sugar. No grains. No legumes 

that is a lot of no's. 

Yes vegetables. Yes Meat. Yes Eggs. Yes fruit. 

Yes, healthy, whole, clean eating food. 

I know this will help me feel better and be the best athlete I can be. 

I have 2 tri's, a 6 hour race, and at least 1 full on pizza binge in my future that I need to be ready for. 

I can't perform at my best if I don't feel my best, right? 

I want to be the best me that I can be.

 I don't care if I never run a 6 minute mile, I don't care if I never qualify for Kona, I don't have any interest in placing in my age group either. 

But I do care about finishing, I do care that I never DNF, I care that I give my best effort possible. 

So I will go full on paleo/ whole30 crazy and see what happens. 

The sky may open to rainbows and unicorns 

Or I may go crazy and be cranky for 30 days (Lucky Scott!)

This craziness starts on Monday 4/21 (after an Easter binge)

I will try to update how I am doing as often as possible. But it may just be a grunt. If it is just a grunt, you can loosely translate that to

 "Screw off and give me a kit kat"

Either way. Lets do this!

Chicago

Chicago

Land of deep dish pizza

The mecca of hot dogs

A drinking town with a sports problem 

Beer, Baseball, Da Bears

and my home for 3 of the next 5 days

Fun Fact about Chicago... Its also the location of United Airlines headquarters. 

I will be going for work and I am uber excited, I have never been before and I can hardly stand it. 

I will be going for a menu presentation, this is my first one and I am not sure what to expect but it sounds dangerous. My boss has assured me that we won't be doing a tasting but I am still a little wary. It's not like being paid to eat food made by great chefs would be the worst thing in the world but its a little hard to tell an executive chef that you are trying to stay away from cheese or that you don't like seafood. In my experience they take this as a challenge... "well that's because you haven't had my orange roughy in a tangy mango and passion fruit glaze with a side of  blah blah blah" and they are usually right but it makes an awkward situation when they aren't and you are looking for a potted plant to spit out the monstrosity that is assaulting your tongue... Not that I have ever tried to spit my food in a potted plant, I wrap it in my napkin (like a lady). 

This also means I will be away from the gym, there should be one there but I tend to push working out to the back burner when I am out of town. I could also run outside but I tend to turn into a scared white girl from Mesa when I run by myself in an unfamiliar place. I once convinced myself that Heather had been beaten, killed, and probably thrown in a bush when  I lost her on a run, turns out she got lost in a neighborhood. There was also a javelina that I thought was a dog. Don't pet javelinas... but that's a story for another day.  

Where was I?

Oh right, making myself workout is not always easy. It's even harder when I am out of town. 

I have an itinerary but I am not sure yet when I will be able to work out. We will be going out to dinner both nights we are there and leaving the hotel early to get to the office. 

There is always the option of squats, burpees, and pushups in my room though, right? 

Yep. Lets go with that. 

My plan is to eat as clean as possible when it does not mean eating to earn a paycheck. 

This kind of seems like an insult to one of the top culinary citites but it seems like kind of an insult to my goals as well. 

This won't be easy but it's not really hard either. Just deciding what I want more. 

I want authentic deep dish pizza that gives me heartburn for days. 

dammit. 

What I meant to say was... I want to be fit and healthy. I don't want to be upset by my pant size when I go shopping. I want to run for fun. I want to be ridiculously confident naked (sorry, TMI). I want to be proud of a rockin body that I know I have put my best into. 

I guess that means I better go eat some kale while doing squats and holding our fridge or 

something... 

also...

Go Bears! 

Confessions of an emotional eater

Lies I tell myself: 

I'm going to turn Frozen off after Let it Go so I can get stuff done. 

I'm not hungry, this salad is very filling and I hardly miss the cheese. 

I am going to wake up at 3:45 and go to the gym before work. 

Nobody needs tacos. 

Squats are fun! They are like the Disneyland of the gym.

You know what this smoothie needs? More kale. Definitely not more kit kats and ice cream. 

Cheese is overrated. 

Coffee tastes good black

Seriously, I am going to turn Frozen off. 

Confessions:

I feel like a huuuge douche when I talk about things like eating Paleo, kale, almond milk and protein powder. 

Sometimes I put my headphones in at the gym without any music playing so I don't have to listen to the meat heads talk about all the things I just referenced in my previous sentence. 

Some days I loathe running with a hatred that is unmatched, other days I can't live without it. 

I eat the worst when I am alone. 

I am an emotional and closet eater. 

I can eat more than your average linebacker. 

I have watched frozen 3 days in a row. 

Sometimes I eat so fast I wonder how I don't end up throwing up in the grass like the dogs after they drink too much water. 

I spend a lot of time thinking about pork 

I plan my next meal as I am eating my current meal 

(and not in a grown up who plans her meals and grocery shops according to those plans kind of way)

Also, I rarely blog when I am in a deep abyss of pizza and beer. That's a good sign that I am being dragged and run over by the proverbial wagon. 

sigh. 

That last confession stung a little. 

I will not eat my feelings, I will not eat my feelings. 

Donuts bad, kale good (and kinda douchey)