Hello World, I am back!

Happy New Year everyone!  I can't believe it has been since September when I wrote on here last.  The holidays just seem to drain the living life out of me, and I don't become human until about the second week of January... which happens to be now.  Isn't it funny how when we are little kids, we couldn't wait for ole St. Nick to arrive?  It seems that once I turned forty I couldn't wait for him to get his fat ass back to the north pole!  Makes me sad really!  I want to like the holidays... but it has become so much work! 

Since I wrote last, I finished up my treatments with the doctor I was seeing.  The more I saw her, the more I ended up not liking her much.  She helped me... I will give her that!  I lowered my cortisol, conquered the parasite within, and lost 15 lbs.  Ok... 12 now... the holidays through me a bit off track.  Only because I haven't exercised!  I know that for a fact.  We stuck strict to our Paleo diet, and I think that made a world of difference!  I did cheat and have some Brie!  First Dairy I have had since July!  Yikes!  And it was damn good let me tell ya!  I think that 's the only thing I miss... CHEESE!!!!  Anyway... back to this doctor!  On one of my last visits she tried to tell me that I had to continue to see her because that's the only way I would be able to get my supplements, including the pre-biotics and pro-biotics I was taking, which I might add...she claimed she formulated herself!  Wrong!  I'm a business woman for crying out-loud!  I am not stupid!  On the back it had the company that formulates the product and distributes to physicians and vitamin shops!  Needless to say, I found them on the Internet and I don't need her to get them.  Honesty people!  That's all I ask! 

So we rang in the new year quietly and at home.  Of course, we were all just happy that the Mayans weren't right and the world was going to end in December.  People were going crazy I tell ya!  I heard rumors of people selling pet insurance on the Internet.  If you paid these people, they would pair up your family Fido with an atheist, because they were saying only non believers in Christ, and pets would remain on the earth!  Where do people get this stuff?  Really?

We had crab for New Years!  I also made a coconut shrimp cocktail!  So delish!  Of course, I was inspired by one of my favorite sites... Everyday Paleo... But of course, me being me... had to change it up a smidge!

Coconut Shrimp Cocktail

 

 

2 lbs Raw Shrimp

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Can Coconut Milk

1 Jalapeno (I think next time I'll use 2)

Zatarain's Seasoning

Spices of choice

Chives

 

 

Bring water with Zatarain's in it to a boil.  Add Shrimp and cook until pink.  Drain, rinse and set aside to cool.  (I usually rinse to stop the cooking process.)  While Shrimp is cooling, put coconut milk into a bowl, add diced bell pepper, diced jalapenos, and spices.  I usually use our own blend that we make... it is very similar to Emeril's Essence, so if you have that... add that to taste.  Add Shrimp to mixture, put in cute little bowls, and top with chives.  These need to be refrigerated a few hours prior to chow time! 

 

 



This is my party, I'll cry if I want to!

My flip flops have been filled with a personal pitty party as of late.  I got out of my routine and into a rut once again.  Today is the day where I am going to turn this bad boy around again and get back into the groove.  (At least that's what I said to myself last Monday)

 I had every intention of getting rid of those excuses.  I left work and headed home... was going to put some dinner on the stove and head up to my room of pain...  as in exercise room people, has nothing to do with Christian Gray.    However, Life had a different plan for me.   I come home to this...

Anyone who knows me will know that this was enough to send me over the edge!  Dishwasher was full of clean dishes, but no one had emptied it, and of course the sink was loaded with things that needed to be washed.  And I am supposed to be controlling my stress response!  RIGHT!  Needles to say... my Monday ended with a bang and a good cry! And ended with one of these... which of course is not good for my inflammation!!!

Last Tuesday, was my body wrap day!  First, I need to add in that I didn't make my weekly doctors appointment the prior week, too much going on between home and work.  I did talk to her on the phone though... we rescheduled my body wrap for this week, and planned to get caught back up with her next week.   I was looking forward to getting stuffed into saran wrap like a sausage in a casing!  .  Between the dish episode, deadlines at work and the fact that my period was due in 3 days... well you get the picture.  Oh and let's not forget that I hadn't worked out in um... 4 DAYS!!!!!





I was put in the little room, and told to strip down once again... I am just glad there are no mirrors!  Yikes!  So, only in my undergarments, standing with my arms up, legs spread like I'm under arrest... it begins.  They start by rubbing an exfoliating substance on your skin and, and then wipe it off.  The cream is rubbed on, and the stuffing of the rolls into the saran wrap is on.  It was really hard to get pictures while laying like a mummy, and I couldn't bring myself to tell the girl that I was taking pictures of my sausagness!  Here's a leg...

 



It went well, but leave it to my body to actually gain an inch in one spot!  Go figure!  Just my luck lately. 

The week ended with family coming to visit, still no workouts, and my period!  Peachy!

So today is Wednesday... the following week and I actually have been working on this post for a week!  I figured I would just finish it up and catch you up! 

Still in my funk!  Doctor's appointment today... I haven't had time to get my blood work done, and I am sure she is going to give me a swift kick in the ass!  Haven't worked out in, let me count, 13 f-ing days!  Are you kidding me?  No wonder I'm feeling like crap... slipping back!  So... guess I need that swift kick from doc today! 



Excuses, Excuses!!!

Have you every noticed that once you miss a day of workouts... it's so easy to keep missing them?  Once you make one excuse, the others just come so easy!  I also notice that's when I start making bad decisions.  You know... the little devil voice sitting on your shoulder... "You already missed your workout... you might as well enjoy yourself".  Ugh!  Hate that devil!  That pretty much sums up my last 3 days.  Then of course the disappointment and disgust  in myself kick in.   You know the drill!
I also missed my doctor appointment last week, and my wrap!  Can you hear the violins?  I am just having a freaking pitty party this post aren't I?

Ok... rant is over and so are the excuses!  Today is Monday... the start of a new week!  Let's talk about some good things shall we?

One of the highlights of my weekend... purchasing my new Keurig!  I was very worried that it wouldn't be a practical kitchen gadget during the holidays... but I think it's going be even better than a regular coffee pot!  You can brew a cup lickety split, and you only brew as many as you need... no left over coffee sitting in the pot, or a crew of angry, hung over, caffeine deprived people sitting around with blood shot eyes waiting in line for a full pot to finish brewing!  Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Juan Valdez (we name all of our kitchen appliances).

Tomorrow is body wrap day!  Looking forward to wrap #2.  I'm going to try to be sly and get first hand pictures, but any of my body rolls jump into the picture... I can assure you they will not be posted! 

 

Creamy Pesto... My new obsession!

This week was kind of a strange week at our house.  My hubby was on a fishing trip, and gone for almost 5 days.  I used this time to experiment with some new recipes that I've been wanting to try.  I must say that he has been really good about this diet, he feels better and for the most part, stuck to it on his trip!  I'm very proud of him. 

You will notice when you start cooking Paleo, you really have to change your way of thinking and sometimes that takes a while to do.  Who would've thought that you could use walnuts, avocados, and other things of that nature to make things creamy?  I mean, you think creamy... you think CREAM!  Well brothers and sisters... cow milk is intended for baby COWS!  Not humans!  We are the only species on earth that drinks milk as adults!  Seriously... think about it.   You don't see cow's walking around in a field drinking off of each others cow boobies do you?  Nope! 

Anyway... on that note.  Getting the family to think outside the box has been a bit challenging.  But at some point, a piece of chicken and some broccoli just gets boring for dinner, especially when you are a house hold of foodies!  So, with him gone, this was my chance to experiment a bit.  The kids just didn't have a choice.  A few good things came out of this week, however, my favorite had to be the Creamy Pesto recipe that I found on Everyday Paleo. 

 

I know that the picture above does not do this deliciousness justice!  I seriously can't keep my fingers out of this stuff.  Just put your big people panties on and get over the fact that it looks like a pile of poop! 

 

The recipe was called Sun Dried Tomato Meatballs with Creamy Pesto!  I made the whole shabang.  It was easy peasy and extra yummy!  You should click on that link above and get cooking!  Check out these babies cooking!  Delish!!!

 

 

Shoot on over to Everyday Paleo and give them a try!  



Chili Verde... MMMMM!

Now that we have got the hang of this Paleo lifestyle... I just really want to start experimenting and try to make some creative dishes.  There are a lot of people out there who have already started doing this and why re-invent the wheel I say.  Later I will probably get daring and start experimenting with my own, but right now I just want to focus on this new way of eating! 

Some of the people I am currently stalking... Sara Fragoso over at Everyday Paleo, and Juli Bauer over at PaleOMG!  First, Sara has been doing this for a long time.  She has recipes that are super easy to make and fit in with a family lifestyle.  I just ordered her new book, I will let you know how it is.  Juli?  What a hoot she is!  Love her!  I love her writing style... she tells you how it is and she comes up with some pretty awesome recipes! 

So this Chili Verde... it's a Everyday Paleo Recipe!  (Click on the Chile Verde and it will take you there)!  I'm a huge fan of Tomatillo's and every chance I get to cook with them, I jump on it!  I cooked this pot o' goodness all afternoon on Sunday while I cleaned the house!  It was absolutely delicious.  As as side dish... I made some baked okra.  I've been loving the farmer's market lately, and honestly, I think that's the only thing I like about summer.  Anyway... they always have fresh okra there.  In the olden days of yore... I would have breaded, fried and threw in a green tomato!  In most recent "gluten free" days of yore... I would have done the same but with gluten free flour.  How am I going to Paleo this I wondered?  Well, one thing I have learned with the Paleo lifestyle, that most of the time, simple is better!  That's what it really is all about you know, taking fresh food and not adding tons of crap to it.  Real food DOES taste good!  I washed it, cut it up and threw it in a bowl.  Tossed it with some coconut oil and some seasoning and baked it in the oven at 425 until the outside was crunchy!  It was just my son and I eating that night, and honestly there was not one okra morsel left!  It was awesome! 

So head on over to Sara's page, go get some Tomatillo's and give it a shot!  You're gonna love it! 

This Paleo Thing Called Love!

It's been a few weeks since I posted here... I really haven't promoted this site in anyway, yet have noticed that A LOT of people keep peeking in at it.  Makes me wonder how many people out there are suffering! 

This Paleo thing has caught on in my household like wild fire.  Hubby is even sticking to this diet, and for him to keep not eating cheese and making cream sauces... you have to know that it has made him feel better.  My doctor and I are going back in forth with how much weight I have lost.  When I said that I had lost 5 pounds, she said 7.  Ok... I can live with that!  However, this morning I got up and my scale says I've lost 9 pounds.  Does that mean I lost 11 on hers?  Oh how I have to wonder.  Don't see her until Friday, so inquiring minds will never know.  I didn't start this to actually lose weight... I started it to start feeling better, but I can't deny that fact that losing the weight isn't the most freaking coolest thing ever!  Anyone with a thyroid problem can relate I am sure!  Maybe the creature living in my gut has done an Elvis, and left the building!  Whatever it may be...It's awesome! 

New thing I had done this last week was a body wrap!  Ok... so the main reason the doctor recommend this was to help start pulling the toxins out of my body. The only side effect However, is you could lose inches off of your body!  Ah shucks!  And after my treatment, I showed a 5 inch loss across my body.  You must note that all body wraps are not created equal! Most will cause you to lose water weight, so once you leave and drink a glass of water, it's right back on.  The wrap I had was a body wrap by Herbalogica.  It works from the inside out to stimulate your lymphatic system and to remove toxins.  Those toxins that we store in our fat cells are the targets here!  Those are also the little creeps that cause cellulite.  Anyway, I being the scaredy cat that I am about and procedure... I was a little freaked out.  I usually am when put in a situation where I don't know what to expect.  All I can say is that I am totally pumped about my treatment this next week!  It wasn't bad at all!  They started me off by putting me on this machine that shook my booty like you wouldn't believe.  I think I was on it for 10 minutes.  It stimulates your lymphatic system, but seriously takes your breath away until you get use to it. I later heard that it burns 300 calories.  Ok... now this kinda pissed me off because there's no way a shakey machine could burn as many calories as I do getting kicked in the ass by Jillian Michael's videos, and if it did, wouldn't everyone have one.  So I'm just going with the fact that it stimulated my lymph, and kicked it into gear!  Next step was to get exfoliated, slathered with cream and wrapped like a mummy in saran wrap!  It looked something like this...

Mine looked similar, however I don't think this broad has had two babies, two miscarriages and a c-section... so needles to say, mine looked a smidge different!  The strange thing is you waddle to a bed, and lay there under a blanket for 45 minutes.  The cream to me smelled like those scented pine cones that are out around Christmas time.  It smelled yummy!  It can get a little warm on your skin, but that goes away pretty quickly!  Laying still for 45 minutes for a high strung, cortisol loaded human being was the hardest part for me I think... but I think most of that went back to the just not knowing what was going to happen!  Oh and there is the fact that you have to stand in a room and basically bare all your rolls to a complete stranger... I got to keep my panties and my bra on, but this just didn't make it easier!  Once again... I got over it! 

This week I have been inspired to try some new Paleo recipes... so be on the lookout for those.  Now, I am off to visit my workout room, where Jillian Michael's will once again point her finger at me and tell me I suck if I can't finish my push ups!  Love that woman!  She frightens me! 

Where did the weekend go???

I'm not sure what happens these days... the weekend just flies by.  In my opinion, we should have three day weekends and four day work weeks.  Two days just isn't enough time to get chores done and have down time too. 

As far as the diet is concerned, I have lost 5 lbs.  I am taking all my supplements religiously and am feeling pretty darn good.  I love the Paleo way of eating... I don' t feel swollen anymore.  My stomach is flatter and all in all I just feel good.  The hubby is feeling pretty good too!  Our bloat seems to all be a thing of the past, which is freaking awesome.  However, it can be hard... like this weekend we went to dinner to celebrate our daughter's boyfriends birthday.  Macaroni Grill!  Italian food???  The first thing they bring to the table is BREAD!  Now for me, I haven't had bread in so long it didn't bother me, however, hubby was another story.  He wrote a letter on the table to the Paleo Diet...

 

 

 

Dear Paleo,

My husband is just feeling deprived... he will get over it!

We feel better and look better... Thank you!