Paleo Challenge Review...What's Next?!

The time has come y'all! This past week was the final week of the 6 week Paleo challenge.  Can I just tell you that I really just want a Lost Dog gluten free pizza right now! HA! But for real, I do. See the thing is I really enjoyed the whole Paleo approach and I still do. It's just, I do want to LIVE life and have some gluten free pizza once in a while with CHEESE. And you know what it's okay. As long as I maintain feeling well and performing well, I will enjoy what I want while maintaining a Paleo approach. Treats have their time and place  ;)

Below are some thoughts I have in various topics:

Mentally:

* Overall, I had about the same mental aspects as I previously did. I may have got a little bit crazier than I am considering it has been super crazy at work BUT I think I was able to handle situations better than I may have before (more patience perhaps??). I tried some deep breathing during some stressful situations as well and it really does calm you down!

* Also, I felt mentally in control with this way of eating and did not feel deprived for treats too often! SCORE! I also don't think I have been as "moody".  My fiance is probably happy about that one ;)

Physically:

* As I mentioned in the beginning of the challenge I had my case of stomach issues in the past and those issues have literally ALL disappeared through this challenge. It is so crazy to me, but I love it! Let's hope I am able to stay symptom free! (Update: I did eat some pizza (gluten free) with cheese then ice cream and I did NOT feel well. I suppose dairy is a big culprit of mine..and SUGAR! Get it together, Kayla...)

*I have felt strong during my workouts over the past few weeks.  Even days when I may have been a bit tired I was able to have some PR's! Woohoo!

*Honestly, I don't weigh myself like ever. I go by the clothes fit or body fat percent to find progress. My body fat percent has gone down 2 percent in a few months butttt I gained about 5+ish pounds?  Hmmm it's crazy how that happens...LIFT BIG! I attribute this to CrossFit (woohoo) and diet!

Time Management/Budget: 
*Eating Paleo does require some planning and preparation.  However, if you put a little time into preparing beforehand it really does not require too much time for cooking meals. I would make a large batch of food on Sundays or mid-week and that way I could use that for lunches & dinners through the week. I would normally make breakfast everyday which did not take more than 5-10 minutes total.

* Many people complain about the cost of eating Paleo.  Yes, it can be pricey but there are some ways you can save yourself money.  Superior quality food is worth it but can find bulk meats for at least $2-3 less a pound.  I look for sales on those meats in some of the organic markets, which I was able to find on many occasions.  Lastly, I know this time of year it may be difficult but farmers markets are a super way to keep the cost down while purchasing fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc.

Overall, I am happy with the challenge and learned a lot about myself during the adventure.  I found many new recipes that I will continue to enjoy.  I realized that I am able to feel great without taking TUMS or running to the bathroom on an everyday basis.  Lastly, I know that if I continue to feed myself real, nutrient dense foods I can continue to improve my health everyday :) Woohoo!

For those of you who are considering trying out a Paleo challenge or just trying it out for 6 weeks. I really do encourage you to give it a try. I do get many people telling me they don't like red meat or don't like many veggies. Well that does not mean you can't try it out. It may take a few small steps in the beginning but it is do-able and in the end it may be very beneficial for you individually!

I appreciate y'all staying with me through this and I plan to continue blogging new recipes and fitness ideas! Keep on keepin' on! Much love!

-KillaK

Random Paleo Nom-ing Recipes

Well hello! Stopping in this week to give you a few recipes I've been cooking up lately.  Try some if you want, but no hard feelings if you don't. I won't know anyways...

I called the post RANDOM because it is random, and I am random so it's only appropriate! Speaking of random I just want to stop and say that my job makes me laugh so much.  Sometimes I have to stop and think like did that really just happen?! Oh geez, some days are crazier than others but I wouldn't trade it for anything else!  Working in the fitness industry just makes my day :) 

Here is what you have coming... Bangin' Banana Bread, Cocoa Avocado Pudding, & Paleo Basil Pesto. Told you it was random...

Bangin' Banana Bread {Paleo}

2 medium ripe bananas, peeled

3 Tb. honey (or up to 1/4-1/3 c. if you like sweeter)

1/4 c. coconut oil, melted

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. almond flour

1/3 c. coconut flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

Preparation:  Preheat oven for 350 degrees and prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper.  Combine all liquid ingredients into a food processor and blend until combined. Scrape the sides and pour in the dry ingredients.  Pulse until combined (do not over mix!!!). Pour the batter into the prepared load pan and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes.  **Time for baking may differ but it should be ready between 40-50 minutes** Let cool & ENJOY!

I like to eat my bread topped with almond or sunbutter and a sprinkle of coconut! YUMMM

Cocoa Avocado Pudding {Individual Serving}

1/2 avocado, mashed

2 Tb. raw cocoa

1 tsp. honey

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:  Combine all the ingredients and stir until thoroughly mixed.  Enjoy by itself or try on top of a sweet potato for a snack!

 

Paleo Basil Pesto

2 cups, fresh & washed basil

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 Tb. almond butter

Salt & pepper to taste

Dash of onion & garlic powder (optional)

1/4-1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:  Combine the basil and garlic cloves in food processor and blend until chopped very fine.  Add in the almond butter and seasonings.  While it is processing pour in the olive oil until consistency is reached.  You want a smooth consistency :) YUMMMMM.

I used the pesto to mix with my spaghetti squash, top my eggs, or burgers! I don't have a picture because I ate it all...oops. 
Here is a picture you might like instead. Random yet again, but beautiful...

Paleo Challenge: Week 4 & 5

Good morning people! Where have I been?  There is a thing called work and being busy that gets in the way of blogging.  I mean maybe if I got paid to blog that would be a different thing buttttt that is not happening...

I have combined the past two weeks in the post.  There may be a few differences than the past 3 weeks. Such as I may have had an alcoholic drink (WHAT?!) or some paleo banana bread! AH! But you know what...I don't care.  Seriously, I had a time in my life where I looked at certain foods in a negative way and how many calories were in that meal or how many grams of fat I had consumed. It was just so exhausting...I am SO over that time in my life.  Life is too short people!

With that being said.  It's not like I totally went off the challenge and demolished an entire cake.  I kept with drinks that contained limited additives or sugars and didn't get sh** faced and kept with "paleofied" banana bread with limited added sugars. Therefore, screw you Paleo police if you have a problem with that ;)

Breakfast:

-Eggs + spinach + salsa

-Omelette ( bacon & bacon, turkey & spinach)

-Hardboiled eggs + coconut butter balls

-Burger + spinach + paleo garlic muffin

*All breakfast had coffee (duh)

Lunch:

-Applegate chicken sausages + sweet potato fries

-Spaghetti squash + bison burger + marinara sauce

-Burger + spinach

-Baked chicken + avocado + broccoli

-Omelette + sweet potato fries

Dinner:

-Burger + spaghetti squash + marinara sauce

-Chipotle!!!!! (salad, carnitas, guac, pico, fajita veggies)

-Chicken thighs + asparagus + carrot fries

-Wegmans salad bar (spinach, hard boiled eggs, chicken, broccoli, cauliflower)

Snacks: 

-Celery + almond butter

-Coconut butter balls

-Banana bread (paleo)

-Dates

-Banana 

-Carrots + cashew butter

Workouts:

 -CrossFit (3x during the week)

-45 min. treadmill run/walk

-Spin class (45 min.)

-Strength circuit

Breakfast:
-Eggs + bacon + broccoli
-Eggs + banana bread (w/ almond butter)   
-Shredded chicken + banana bread (again ;)
-Paleo pancake + chicken sausage 

Lunch:
-Meatballs + spaghetti squash + celery/carrots
-Bison burgers + guacamole + celery
-Shredded chicken + butternut squash
-Tuna Salad ( lettuce, ahi tuna, mandarin oranges, cabbage, radish, orange vinegarette)
-Chicken Salad (lettuce, grilled chicken, hardboiled eggs, cucumbers, broccoli, brussel sprouts) 

Dinner:
-Burger + guacamole + broccoli
-Omelette + asparagus
-Chipotle (carnitas salad, same as week before)
-Shredded chicken + butternut squash
-Chicken sausage + broccoli + sweet potato

Snacks:
-Celery/carrots + almond butter
-Coconut butter balls
-Applegate turkey
-Sweet potato 
-Avocado cocoa pudding
-Banana bread 
-Bloody Mary (!!!), Dark & Stormy (gingerbeer in this was fabulous)

Workouts: 
-CrossFit (4 days)
-Spin class (45 min.)
-Yoga (2 days)
-Strength circuit  
 

Overall, I am still happy with my progress.  My stomach is still doing great!  I have also noticed through this challenge what foods make me feel better than others (certain veggies). Some of them I try to stay away from considering their effects on my body. For example, peppers make me burp a lot. Not saying these foods are "bad" for me just that digestively they are not the best for my body.  It's interesting! 

Well I will be back next week for my overall thoughts of the 6 week challenge! Have a good one!

 Keep training hard!

Week 3: Paleo Travel...+Cheat Day

It is Monday (Tuesday...oops) and I am just sitting down to write my thoughts from the past week. This is because...Yes, I sometimes do have a life. I flew to Nashville for a wonderful wedding where I got to see many of my bestest friends. It was so much fun! Honestly, I thank God that I found such wonderful girls whom will always be a part of my life. I miss them already. Anywho, enough of the sappy stuff. Here is what went down this week...

Travel + Paleo is do-able. However, you need to plan ahead! Actually, I have a funny story from the airport...Literally the only thing I could seem to get Paleo at the airport was a burger. So of course I ordered and said NO bun & NO cheese and when he finished my burger he said "Your PALEO burger is ready!!" I just had to laugh...guess this whole thing is catching on! 

Really though you need to plan some things.  I brought snacks (bananas, almond butter, beef jerky) with me for the airport and breakfast at the hotel because I was not sure what they had. However, they provided bananas, eggs, hardboiled eggs, and some other fruit that I was able to eat. I DID take my cheat day on Saturday (hello, it's a wedding...give me some drinks!) This was great! I did not go overboard basically had alcohol and some cake. It was AWESOME! However, it felt good to get back on track the next day.

Week 3: Eats & Workouts

Breakfasts

-Eggs + bacon + broccoli

-Pizza Spaghetti Squash Pie + banana (haha yup)

-Omelet w/ spinach & bacon

-Hardboiled eggs + banana w/ almond butter

*All breakfast with coffee

Lunch

-Mustard Glazed Pork Loin + kale chips +paleo garlic muffin

-Grilled Tuna w/ spinach, avocado, & cauliflower (salad)

-Pizza Spaghetti Squash Pie + broccoli & carrots

-Chipotle bowl (carnitas, lettuce, pico, fajita veggies, guacamole)

 -Grilled chicken bites w/ mustard

Dinner

-Grilled Tuna + kale chips & green salad

-Mustard Pork Loin + sweet potato fries & broccoli

-Grassfed hamburger w/ guacamole, lettuce & tomato + broccoli

-Ham, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies 

Snacks

-hard boiled eggs

-almond or cashew butter balls

-banana w/ almond butter

-paleo dessert muffin

-carrots  & cucumbers

-DRINKS! (CHEAT DAY!!!!)

-chocolate cake & cookie (CHEAT DAY!!!!) 

Workouts

-40 minute run + CrossFit (Press strength + WOD)

-35 minute run + CrossFit (OHS strength + AMRAP WOD)

-Yoga/Stretch 

-CrossFit (Double unders, KB work)

-Tabata circuit

-4 mile run + 15 minute strength circuit

Well that's it folks! I hope your 4th week goes smoothly...we are almost there! Leaving you with a picture you can't help but smile...we all have rough days but we got to keep on swimming :)

 

 

Snack Attack {Part 2}

Good afternoon kind friends! Today is a SNOW DAY! Woohoo! Currently, I am sitting here with Reggie (my crazy cat) drinking a cup of joe. Just the usual.  I wanted to put together two more recipes for y'all to try out whenever you need a healthy afternoon pick me up...or have a hangry moment.  That is probably one of my favorite words. So true and so funny. Anwaysssss...

Today I have a few other favorites of mine:  Kale Chips and Homemade Almond Butter!

Kale Chips
-1 large bag of kale, washed & dried
-2 Tb. coconut oil, melted
-2 garlic cloves, chopped really small!
-1 tsp. onion powder
-1/2 tsp. ancho chili powder or reg. chili powder, whatever
-2 Tb. almond flour
-salt & pepper

Directions:  Preheat oven for 350 degrees. Combine the coconut oil, garlic, onion powder, chili powder, salt & pepper, and almond flour in a small dish.  Place the washed and dried kale into a large bowl and add the mixture ensuring all kale is coated.  Place the kale on a large foiled baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  After it is done baking turn the oven off and let it sit in the oven for another 20-30 minutes (this helps dry it out more, I get so antsy though, ugh).  

Okay, so it really is best to eat the kale chips at once because they do not stay as crispy when you store them away. However, I've had decent luck with placing a few paper towels in with the kale chips and sealing them in an airtight container. YUMMMM!

Homemade Almond Butter  
-2 or 2 1/2 c. roasted unsalted almonds
-Ninja/Vitamix/Food processor
-That is it!

Directions:  Place the almonds into a food processor, ninja, vitamix...you get the point.

I place my Ninja on about a 4 or 5 and flip the start switch.  Let it go for about 3 minutes.

This is when the oils start to come out and goes from a powder to a crumbly mixture. Stir the sides and let it go again.

Keep processing until there are no more pieces and a smooth consistency is visible. From here you place it in an airtight container and you can decide if you put it in the refrigerator or keep it out. Also, eat on anything. I mean it. An-y-thing. Well okay so I usually put it on: carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, celery, pancakes, a spoon, etc. Eat it up!

Well stay warm folks! Let me know if you try any of these and your thoughts!

Week 2: Paleo Challenge {In the Swing of Things}

How's is going? Week 2 is sort of like "okay I know what I need to do, so it's sticking to it" type of week. After Week 1 and figuring out a schedule of planning my cooking/snacks this week it was more of just ensuring I stuck to the planning. I know sometimes it is time consuming to prepare all  your meals by scratch but I personally love cooking so this thing is fun for me!  However, the recipes I make do NOT take a lot of time. 

So if you read my post on snacks the other day you may have seen some sugar in them!! You guys caught me...dang it. Yes, I had a little bit of sugar this week.  However, I did not include the fruits as I had been planning to. So some natural sugars were okay for me.  Those sweet potato fries were the best things ever...I didn't even need ketchup (sugar haven). 

So with further a due...meals and workouts for Week 2...

Week 2 Eats:

Breakfasts:

-eggs+spinach, avocado

-grass-fed burger + broccoli

-eggs+ bacon +broccoli/kale
-spinach + artichoke omlette + bacon

*all breakfast included coffee+coconut milk

Lunches:

-grass-fed burger + broccoli +olives

-salad (carrots, peppers, avocado) + chicken

-Chipotle salad bowl (carnitas, pico de gallo, grilled veggies, guacamole)

-chicken thighs +yellow squash + cauliflower soup
-bison burger + cauliflower soup 
-Applegate hotdog + sweet potato fries w/ almond butter

Dinners:
-Chicken thighs + squash + paleo muffin (egg, coconut oil, coconut flour, garlic powder, baking powder, pepper, salt)
-Grassfed burger + cauliflower soup w/ pesto
-Grilled salmon + veggies + salad (balsamic)
-Bison burger + broccoli & parsnips 
 -Chipotle salad ( carnitas, pico de gallo, guacamole, fajita veggies)
-PaleOMG Pizza Spaghetti Pie + salad 

Snacks:
-hard boiled eggs
-almond coconut balls
-paleo muffin (coconut flour, egg, vanilla, baking powder, coconut milk topped with almond butter/walnuts)
-sunbutter + carrots 
-sweet potato fries

Workouts:

-CrossFit: Press (3x5), 15 AMRAP : 15 Push Press, 15 KB Swings, 15 Abmat Situps)

-CrossFit: Tabata circuit, 20 AMRAP: 8 Strict Pull-ups, 8 Box Jumps, 12 KB Swings

-35 minutes cardio (holy incline)

-20 min. spin in class + REST

-CrossFit: Buddy WOD (60 DL, 60 Burpee Pull-ups/Box Jumps, 60 Cleans, 60 T2B, 2 Rope Climbs) + 3 mile run

-CrossFit Strength:  Deadlifts (5x3) @ 190, 3 ct. strict pull-ups, farmer carries...grip killers...

Snack Attack: Nut Butter Balls & Sweet Tater Fries!

Good afternoon lovely people!  I hope everyone is making it through the week in one piece. This week has been weird. It felt long and I felt completely out of it. Oh, and I cut myself really bad. Like it wouldn't stop bleeding for over an hour...but anyways. Yeah, it was an interesting week & I was busy doing various things that NEEDED to be done! So that was my rambling...onto the food!

Then again...

During this paleo challenge I have been having snacks during the day.  Always been a snack person and always will be, so that is that.  With that being said I have been coming up with some random things to make & take for snacks.  These two recipes are my FAVORITE snacks ever...

Nut Butter Balls {2 ways} & Sweet Tater Fries

Almond Coconut Butter Balls

1/2 c. almond flour

1/2 c. coconut flakes

1/2 c. coconut butter

1-2 Tb. honey

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Dash of salt

Directions: Combine all ingredients into a medium sized bowl.  Shape into tablespoon sized balls. Place onto a plate or small baking sheet, cover, and place into the refrigerator until hardened.  Eat or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator! These buggers are so freaking addicting...I warned you!

Carob Walnut Butter Balls

1  c. walnuts
1/4 c. coconut flakes
1/3 c. carob powder
1/3 c. coconut butter
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of salt

Directions: Place walnuts into a food processor (I used a Ninja) and process until an slight butter begins to form. You do not want a completely smooth butter for these! Place the walnut "not-butter" into a medium sized bowl.  Add in the carob powder, coconut flakes, coconut butter, cinnamon, and salt.  Mix until combine. The mixture will be a slight crumble.  From here form into tablespoon sized balls and place on a plate or small baking sheet.  Cover and place them into the refrigerator until fully hardened. From here eat them or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator!

Sweet Tater Fries {Individual Serving}
1 medium sized sweet potato
1/2 Tb. Coconut oil
Salt & pepper

Directions: Preheat oven for 425 degrees.  Cut the sweet potato into sticks (cut in half and then cut in half again, go from there...) place on a foiled baking sheet.  Melt coconut oil and pour onto sweet potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper, toss around until well coated.  You could also do this in a bowl if you think it's easier.  I'm just lazy and don't want to dirty another dish. Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes then flip over.  Bake for another 10 minutes or until they are browned and crispy! NOM!