30 Day Paleo Challenge - Day 30

Day 30.

This is it. The final numbers are in.

What have I learned during the past month of 100% paleo?

1. It’s possible to stick with something longer than six hours if you set it up right. Let people know what you’re doing, blog about it, be accountable. Don’t let people shove cake in your face. Be vocal about your goals. Talk about it until you make other people throw up. Be annoying. It’s ok.

2. However, no matter how many people you tell, you’re still ultimately accountable for yourself. I had multiple opportunities to cheat, but I knew if I did, I wouldn’t want to face myself. I did this for ME, and myself is proud of myself. If you want to cheat, fine. You’re only hurting yourself. I didn’t want any regrets, and guess what. I don’t.

3. Days 9-20 were the hardest. You’re right smack in the middle of your commitment and it starts getting a little mundane. Redundant. You have to constantly be recommitting yourself and reinventing ways to keep yourself interested. Mix up the meals, mix up the workouts.

4. I’m not at the size I want (yet), and I’m ok with that. Yes, I’ve lost weight. I’ve lost more weight than I thought possible in a 30 day time frame. Pants from three years ago fit me again. I can feel my hip bones. But you know what’s more important to me than that? I’ve gained an insane amount of confidence. I am lifting heavier at Crossfit. I’m excited to get up at 4am to go get sweaty.  I can do double-unders, for crying out loud.  I’m jumping taller box jumps. I’m freaking awesome.

5. My body and I will always have issues with each other, but my husband thinks I’m awesome (see above) no matter what. He’s my superman.

6. it’s vitally important to clean out your fridge and cabinets and takeout menus. If it’s not there, you won’t eat it. Or stare at it and cry. Delete Plum Tree and Papa John’s from your phone list. Look the other way when you drive by Dunkin’ Donuts. Florida, is it really necessary to have one on every corner?

Don’t answer that. Their coffee is amazing. It’s my inner carbohydrate-and-sugaraholic that has the issues, and she’s currently hog-tied and gagged at the moment.

7. Eating is important. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with eating for most of my life. I’m from the old-school of fat-free/calorie-free, and while that works for some people, it gave me no energy, piled on the guilt if I strayed out of the caloric confines, and I was shaky and crabby. A lot. If you’re exercising hard, you need to eat. Period. Focus on proteins, healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, coconut oil) and good carbohydrates (fruit, vegetables) for muscle recovery. I actually discovered that the more I ate (not like half a cow or anything, but a decent-size breakfast/lunch/dinner) the more weight I lost. Skip a meal and my body hung onto those pounds like a life preserver.

8. Not eating is also important. I had to break some hard habits – eating while I’m reading, eating while I’m watching TV, eating on long road trips out of pure boredom in the car. Throw out the excuses. Habits can be broken. Just because it’s a holiday or a special occasion or a Thursday doesn’t mean you have to revolve the occasion around food. Practice not eating whenever you’re faced with a habitual eating situation.

9. It’s hard. I’m not going to be one of those “I lost five million pounds in three minutes and you can too!” sort of person. This was WORK. Hard work. No one wants to exercise and eat healthy 100% of the time. We all wish for some sort of magic pill that would melt away our hips and genetically-cloned cottage cheese thighs. And yes, I started Crossfit back in March, so I can’t completely say the 30 days had anything to do with this – but my thighs are actually looking smooth for once. Squats and bacon, people. Squats and bacon.

10. The results speak for themselves. Like I said, I’m not yet at my personal goals, but these past 30 days brought me a heck of a lot closer. After vacation, I might just do this all over again.

Measurements Day 1: June 23, 2013

Chest: 37 in

Waist: 36 in

Hips: 42 in

Thigh: 11 in

Arm: 10 in

Weight: 163.2 lbs (highest weight of my life. So sad!!! Never again!!!) 

Measurements Day 30: July 22, 2013

Chest: 35.5 in (-1.5)

Waist: 35 in (-1)

Hips: 41 in (-1)

Thigh: 10 in (-1)

Arm: 9.5 in (-0.5)

Weight: 153 lbs!!! (-10.2) 

I'm so frustrated. I'm frustrated because after years of watching the scale creep up, THIS happens. It just shows how important it is to make up your mind to actually do something, and when you put your mind to it, IT CAN HAPPEN. In 30 days, I've seen more results by sticking with a plan than I have in THREE YEARS of yo-yo dieting.

Pick something. Stick with it. See results.

Repeat. 

Today: Today is meant for relaxation. Exploring our private walk-out cottage on the beach of an exotic island. I’ll make wise choices with my food, but I’m not going to stress about it. This week is for me and Matt and thinking back over our past 10 years together. Man, I love him.

Today I love: Getting on a plane with my love and jetting off to Sandals in St. Lucia. No cell phones, no laptops. Just sunscreen and swimsuits and poolside cabanas. See you all in a week! 

30 Day Paleo Challenge - Day 29

While on Pinterest last night, I subconsciously bypassed the Gooey Salted Caramel Brownie Cake recipe in favor of the Dairy-Free, Grain-Free, Naturally Sweetened Strawberry Tartlet.

I went straight for the strawberries without even realizing what I was doing.

I’ve never passed up cake. Or caramel. Or anything with brownie in the title. But for some reason, it just sounded too…gooey to me. Too sweet. Too overindulgent.

I’ve become addicted to fruit, and throwing strawberries into a tart? I think this is another recipe to add to the Yes, Please Try Me Now list.

Now I want strawberries, and our fridge is empty.

We stopped by Target yesterday to get some last-minute vacation things and to pick out a few snacks for the plane.

What actually ended up happening is Matt dragging me out of the store because I just stood in the aisle of food staring at everything, unable to make up my mind.

It was like sensory overload for a five-year-old.

So many things were going through my head: Do I want the Cinnamon Toast Crunch because my challenge will be over? No. It looks gross. Do I want my favoritefavoritefavorite salt & vinegar chips because my challenge will be over? No. Gag. Nothing looked good despite the fact I felt like it was ok to loosen up a bit. And let me tell you, I never pass on dry cereal. Before this challenge, dry cereal was one of my favorite snacks. And chips. And cookies. And everything else.

So after waiting on me to make up my mind for roughly 16 hours, Matt had enough. He rolled his eyes, grabbed my arm and said, "You're never going to make up your mind. Let's just go."

And I was happy for it. My stress level disappeared. And now I'm packing baggies of almonds and dried cranberries from the stash I already have in the cabinets at home.

Maybe some dark chocolate to go with it? Cocoa beans are paleo.... 

On a completely different subject, you know how I mentioned yesterday that we have a new developer building on the rest of the lots in our subdivision? We met with his designer yesterday because our house desperately needs repainted, and we wanted to see what colors they had picked out for the new houses.

They have a stormy, oceany blue I think we're going to go with. So. So. Pretty!! The white would be the trim and shutter color, and the dark blue would be the front door. 

The designer was really nice, and she remembered us from our HOA meeting last week. We ended up talking for awhile, and I sent her a little thank-you email for taking the time to show us the paint samples.

I got this reply a few hours later:

Thanks Addie, so nice of you to say that. I'm going to find the quietest old people to buy a home next to you! LOL!

Matt may have told her that if I could move into a retirement village where the minimum age is 65 and everyone goes to bed at 9pm, I would jump at the chance. He also mentioned that I’m a hospice nurse and love the older people.

I think he even told her my favorite color and when I got my first kiss. Sheesh. Share much?

But sadly, it’s true. I’m 32 going on 82.

Oh, sweet peace and quiet, I love you so much.

And if anyone’s counting, I’ve packed and repacked four times. I thought my big suitcase would be too big, therefore giving me room to bring home souvenirs. Now I’m just hoping I can fit all my shoes in. Cramming my toothbrush in there is a major struggle at this point.

Again, sigh.

So now we’re getting ready to leave for Miami. Dog Sitter Cindy has touched base and is ready to come take care of the kiddos. I downloaded four more books to my Kindle to replace the three I’ve already read. Toes are freshly painted a wicked shade of pink. 

Mine, not Matt’s. He’s weird about that stuff.

I’m honestly not sure what my meals will look like today since the fridge is cleaned out. Bacon for breakfast but no eggs, since we finished those off yesterday. Coffee. Possibly a tuna packet with the rest of my baby tomatoes. Maybe a drive-through salad with grilled chicken and no cheese. I've fallen in love with oil and vinegar dressing, and the thought of ranch makes my tummy hurt.

I know!! I'm turning into a freak.

Speaking of, I did do 100 squats, sit-ups and jumping jacks in the kitchen while I was waiting for my bacon to cook this morning. I think I scared the dogs. 

I just know that tomorrow is Day 30, and I want to make the best choices possible as I finish up this challenge.

Tomorrow’s plan is to wake up, do a little workout, take my final measurements and post my last post - and then I’m going to be completely offline and away from my phone for seven days of awesomeness.

And you get a break from me flooding your inbox/facebook/twitter with these incessant posts!!

Today I love: My puppy airplane squishy pillow. My mommy got him for me, and he's adorable and comfortable. 

Maybe I'm 32 going on 12...