playing catch up!

sorry for the delay in posting-i am so unorganized after a busy weekend! and busy weekends=not so healthy food choices. yep, i had a few slip-ups over the weekend but got right back on track come monday morning!

saturday was mike's birthday, and i bought him concerts tickets to kenny chesney and zac brown band up at lambeau field. we went with our friends lauryn and reed and had a great time!

me, mike and lauryn in front of lambeau field!

here was our fruit for the day: vodka infused strawberry.

this counts, right!?

i may or may not have had a few cocktails throughout the day.

needless to say-it definately was a day of indulgences. gotta have those every once in awhile!

on to monday-ugh! how i hate mondays! it was my coworkers birthday today so my supervisor bought us lunch from panera!

i got the strawberry poppyseed chicken salad and it was fantastic!

 i didnt have much for groceries after a weekend away so i just rounded up what i could for paleo meals for the day then hit up the grocery store after my CrossFit workout last night. the workout last nite was thrusters-after a one mile run.

i learned quickly that this workout needed some focus. after my first attempt to lift 80 pounds over my head, i dropped it.

feeling discouraged. and extremely intimidated, i was having a hard time walking back up to that iron.

gave it a rest. shook it off. and walked back up there, and successfully lifted that weight over my head, maxing out at 95 pounds.

i have never done anything like this in my life, so for my first time, i'll take that! the support of the coaches and all of the crossfitter's is simply amazing! they are so encouraging and positive and make you believe you really can do anything if you put your mind to it!

today i woke up with enough time to make breakfast. looks pretty similar to other days!

unsweetened chocolate almond milk. a plum. and egg whites with onion, pepper, and spinach.

i used to eat a lot of oatmeal with peanut butter and banana for breakfast, but since grains are off limits, oatmeal is a no go! im trying to come up with new breakfast ideas...perhaps a steak would do?

morning snack was celery sticks with almond butter. yummm.

we get an hour for lunch, so when the weather is nice, i like to get outside and go for a half hour walk. its nice to clear my mind and get out of my CUBE! ahhh!

i was starving by the time i got back today:

i had a salad with peppers, onions, cucumbers, carrots, deli turkey, sunflower seeds and a vinagarette dressing. this sucker held me over all afternoon but my tummy was grumbling by the time i got home from work.

go ahead. laugh!

i did.

i got home, made guacamole, and started defrosting hamburger to make hamburger patties. i defrosted the burger too long and basically started cooking it in the microwave! so much for those patties :)

i just threw the burger in a pan with peppers, onion, mushrooms and some garlic.

still tasted pretty darn good! i had some romaine lettuce hiding under there too!

alright-i've got more catching up to do around the apartment and laundry to get done yet.

i best get to it and rested up for my long work day tomorrow!

bacon!? i'm in!

after running some errands last night i had a hard time deciding what i wanted for dinner. but i was starving, so it needed to be something quick! bacon and veggies it was. protein. fat. veggies. fruit. CHECK!

that's a paleo, GO!

it was good! but i was hungry about an hour later....hmmm...so what did i do? i went to bed :) had to get my in my 8 hours of sleep as part of this 60 challenge also. then i woke up early this morning to catch the 6am CrossFit class.

handstands and cartwheels today...hah! sometimes i think they incorporate these things just for a good laugh. just like the day they told me i had to do a somersault.....

needless to say, breakfast was eaten on the fly, and in shifts this morning since i had about 30 minutes to get myself ready before having to leave for work.

unsweetened chocolate almond milk. leftover bacon. a hard boiled egg. and a peach.

quite the combination, i know. but hey, it did the trick!

look what i was tempted by as i walked through the kitchen at work today.

too many birthdays in this place this week!! ah!

dirt cups! i love these things!

but you all should know, i did NOT eat one. dang it.

that's will power my friends :)

i had to run a few more errands during my lunch today for a special someone's birthday tomorrow. which left me having to inhale my lunch when i got back.

cleaning up leftovers from the week!

steak. bacon. asparagus. mushrooms. onions. carrots. cauliflower. yep!

that doesnt look very appetizing does it? whatever. i thought it tasted good.

we're going to to dinner tonight at a restaurant on lake wisconsin for my boyfriend and his twin sister's birthdays! first time eating out on the paleo challenge-let's see how i do :)

can i pleaseeeee have a cocktail!?

or maybe i should hold off until tomorrow? i bought mike tickets to the kenny chesney & zac brown band concert at lambeau field tomorrow. i am not a huge country music fan, but i love any music thats live so i am super excited! and we are going with some really good friends, so there is no doubt in my mind that were going to have a blast!

hope everyone has a great weekend!

missing chocolate milk.

so, if you're wondering-i DID resist the temptation to dig into those treats at work yesterday. go me! yesterdays lunch was brought in by the great dane, a local bar & grill in the madison area. a coworker of mine was collecting donations for united cerebral palsy and if you donated you got lunch! i chose the webster street chicken salad and it was delicious!

seriously my photos dont do this salad justice. i am currently using my phone to snap my food photos-ill work my way up to the fancy stuff later! but this salad consisted of mixed greens, roasted chicken, granny smith apples, sun-dried cranberries, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, and a side of honey citrus dressing.

i picked off the chesse (tear) and tomatoes (ick!) and dipped my fork in the dressing rather than poring it all over the salad.

paleo experts: can you tell me if this dressing is ok? since it was from a restaurant i dont know exactly what was in it. im thinking i may need to take a point away for that one!

after work i hit up my crossfit gym for an intense workout, rushed home to shower, and then off to job #2 for the day. bartending. now, its times like this when i really start missing my chocolate milk and protein shakes! that was how i recovered after a workout....it was quick and tasty! but thats a no-go for paleo.

i have a feeling we're going to be good friends through this challenge:

beef jerky!

any suggestions on quick, paleo, go-to recovery foods would be great!

once i got to the bar, it was packed. typically there are horseshoe leagues on wednesday nights, but with this wild weather horseshoes was cancelled and everyone thought it would be a good idea to come to the bar for food and drinks! i was slammed. losing energy fast after that intense workout and hardly any food. i had intended on throwing something on the grill as soon as i got there because, well, i can! not the case last night.

eventually i caught up, for about 5 minutes, threw a nice big burger on the grill with some mushrooms for myself. it only took me about an hour to eat it because i of course, got busy again. so, sorry to say, no pictures of that meal!

breakfast this morning was more scrambled egg whites with peppers, onions and mushrooms. some raspberries and unsweetened chocolate almond milk. doesnt quite compare to chocolate milk...but i guess it will do.

have a great day and i will be back hopefully this evening with more!

i have a fun weekend ahead of me that i should start preparing for!

treats already? come on!

wednesday mornings i have to be to work at 7am. i'm not complaining, because i love being done by 4. but lets be honest, i need my sleep! so i typically dont roll out of bed until the last minute. this leaves me time to shower and get myself ready. grab a lunch to take to work with me, and out the door i go. i havent taught myself to actually get out of bed at 5:30am when my alarm goes off, so that leaves no extra time for breakfast on mornings like these. i usually throw something together once i get to work. sorry, no scrambled eggs today!

a banana with almond butter. i'm gonna try this with a frozen banana next time!

sorry about my fantasic photography.

check out my sister's blog if you're looking for good photos!

this didn't hold me over as well as the eggs did yesterday, so i went to grab a morning snack and look what i found, TALKING to me in the kitchen here at work:

treats!? come on!!

I sadly walked away, and grabbed this:

pink grapefruit! it did the trick!

i just hope i have the willpower to stay away from that strawberry dessert :)

paleo challenge.

as i stated in my last post, i've been wanting to create my own blog for some time now. i am obsessed with reading others blogs, but always asked myself what the heck i would write about that would be of possible interest to others? finally, i just decided i am going to do this for me. this is my journal. read it if you want.

i recently completed a build-up program at CrossFit Farmland. starting yesterday, the coaches started a 60 day "live, eat, and train better" partner challenge. without going into too much detail, the challenge consits of eating a strict paleo diet and attending at least 3 workouts at your local crossfit gym. body measurements are being taken at the beginning and at the end of the challenge, along with your performance on a particular "wod." let me tell ya, it was a hot one yesterday! oofta!

this is what finally motivated me to create this blog. i am going to share with you what i eat daily on the paleo diet, which in short, is a diet based on meat, vegetables, fruits, and some nuts and seeds. high protein, low carb, high (good) fat. i am also taking before and after photos of myself to share my progress!

yesterday the challenge began. i ate paleo all day, but ill be honest and say i hadnt had a chance to make it to the grocery store, so my meals were rather boring! ill save those photos for a rainy day.

however, here are my eats for today:

hello veggies!

cooked up some green and red bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, and spinach.

scrambled in some egg whites. ta da!

raspberries for my morning snack.

and i totally forgot to snap a photo of my lunch. beginner here! but it consisted of a spinach salad, with some leftover rotisserie chicken that i threw on top. sunflower seeds and balsamic vinagrette. carrots and sugar snap peas on the side!

my afternoon snack was an apple with almond butter. yum-o!

and last but not least, dinner! i grilled up some venison steaks with asparagus, mushrooms, and onion. delish!

off to watch the rest of the brewer game, then to bed i go!

here goes nothing!

well, here i am. i finally created my own blog! i have had this thought in the back of my mind for months now as i absolutely love reading others blogs. i have been inspired by many other bloggers out there and felt like it was time to join in on the fun! body image has always been a lifelong struggle for me and i am finally finding that i have a passion for exercise and healthly living. this is going to serve as a tool to hold myself accountable and stay on track by blogging about my daily eats and exercise routines and any other tidbits of information i find helpful!

enjoy!