Happy Sunday

Yesterday was such a great day. I had a lot of great quality time with my husband. Which is something has been sorely lacking. We enjoyed a walk together, watched a movie, spent some time doing laundry and overall just enjoying each other's company. And we are going to get some more of that today. Yay!

I do have lots to do today though, menu planning for next month and preparing for Jordan's homeschooling for this week.

I do want to take a short moment just to share what I spoke of yesterday. This is something that won't really start in effect until I can weight myself again next month. I think it will be both encouraging and will hold me to a level of accountability.

It's relatively simple;  whenever I weight myself I move beads from one side to the other, depending on what the scale says. I'm looking forward to moving some beads next week. I have yet to decide on the frequency with which I will weight myself, whether it be on a weekly or monthly basis. Or perhaps bi-monthly. I will update you on my decision. I don't want to go back to obsessively weighing myself multiple times per day.

Final Stretch

I am officially in the final stretch of my whole30, a week from today will be my final day. I
 know I haven't been on here this past week. I have been somewhat busy, but I promise I have stayed true to course as far as the whole30 went. Unfortunately I did not do my DDP. I will be doing it again, though, starting Monday. I am not wanting to make excuses, I really could have probably fit it in. I just felt rather overwhelmed and oddly tired.

There have been several trips to Midland/Odessa within the past week. And let me tell you, that takes a lot out of you. It by far has been my biggest struggle here while staying primal. Having to drive at least an hour to get to a decent grocery store can be quite tough! Especially if you forget one or two ingredients that you needed for dinner. To add to that challenge is the fact that Noah and I are currently vehicleless, which means we can only go up when my mother's van is available. This means no early morning trips, I have to wait until afternoon.

It is just one of the many things I miss about Fort Collins.

I am excited about a new cookbook I got.  Make it Paleo, by Bill Staley and Hayley Mason was such a great purchase. I got it at Barnes and Noble online for just under $20.00. Several recipes in every category: Breakfasts, Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Sauces and Dressings, Side Dishes, and Treats and Cheats. They are easy to follow, gorgeous pictures, and they actually rate the difficulty of each. I have yet to make a recipe that I haven't enjoyed. In addition to these wonderful recipes, they give their story and explain how and why they came to Paleo. There is a Foreword by Mark Sisson, if you don't know who he is you really should click on the link. Also there is an introduction that was written by Dr. Murray Susser, Hayley's Grandfather. I found each of these interesting and they really do add to the book as a whole. Continuing on, both the Paleo and Primal diet is explained clearly and concisely. It's easy to understand and helps to make this cookbook more accessible to those who are not (yet) Primal (or Paleo). The book gives greater detail and just what\ you should be buying. It actually has several charts that I found to be quite useful, dealing in meats, veggies and herbs. It even had a list of kitchen essentials that make primal much easier. I really did find this book to be a good investment. They do also have it in e-reader format if that is your thing.

There is something else that I am starting, but this is already so long, so I will post about it tomorrow.

:)

Rumor has it

Apparently I have abs! No one would have ever guessed, or at least I would have never guessed. I've certainly never seen proof. Not that I am exactly seeing proof at this point, but oh boy let me tell you. I feel the proof right now.

Today was the first time I did the fat burner exercise in my DDP Yoga workout, and it definitely lives up to its name. I was sweating, my heart rate was up, but it was fun, and it was doable. And I absolutely love and appreciate that it is a no impact workout.

See, Zumba is a blast. I enjoy it, it's fun. I get winded faster than I'd like and my joints get a little grumpy later on in the day. (Though often enough that later on is not as later as I'd like.) I'm not giving up Zumba, but DDP is giving me the workout - with more resistance training so it has more of a muscle building effect, but is helping to heal my body. While I might have some muscle soreness after, it doesn't actually cause me real pain. As you can imagine, it is a whole lot easier to go back to.

I'm on Day 12 of my Whole30. I cannot believe I am almost half way through. I'm staying strong, making smart choices, and also have better noticed triggers I have that contribute to overeating. I apparently like to munch when I'm bored. That's no good so it's got to stop.

Something I have noticed, physically, is that my skin on my face, while dry, is looking a lot more luminous and clear. More healthy. The dryness is more that I'm in the desert area of Texas, have a bit of allergy crud going on and haven't been the best at using my moisturizer. Shame on me, I know.

Can't think of much else for now, so I'm off to go enjoy a movie and a cup of herbal tea.

Case of the Mondays

I didn't want to get up this morning. I really didn't want to get up this morning. I don't know that I have a legitimate reason as to why I did not want to get up. I slept for 8 1/2 hours. Then I was sleepy all morning. I finally made myself do the DDP Yoga, hoping that it would wake me up.

SUCCESS!!! Plus it just felt good. I finally decided to do the DDP Monday-Friday (as opposed to Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat) This way my weekend is a little more free. Not that DDP takes all day, but if I were to go out of town for the day I don't have to worry about skipping for a day. I look forward to seeing the more tangible differences that this makes in my life. 

Yesterday was definitely a productive day. I got my make up organized, and out on a desk/shelf thing in my room. It delights me, and I love to look at it. It's nice to not have in 4 caboodles and spread out everywhere. Next month I'm going to be getting the Alex Drawer unit from Ikea (yay!) and that will help furthermore. I'll have to post pictures once I get the rest of my room cleaned up.

There have been two big hurdles that I have been working to overcome since going Primal and doing this Whole30. One problem is that my parents and little brother are not completely Primal. My step-dad isn't even close to completely Primal. I'm trying to get Jordan there though. The other problem is that I have to travel about an hour to get to a decent grocery store. I've stayed true to the plan though, I think I'm doing very well actually. 

I'm going to be taking pictures of myself at the beginning of every month so I can see the changes in myself. I think that will be an encouragement. Because changes are happing, and I'm going to do this. :)

Going Strong

   I am hoping that the hardest days of this month are past me, but I need to stay strong regardless. Granted, Valentine's Day is next week, but I will be fine without the chocolates. 

  It has been a good Saturday, my husband and I made a delicious whole30 approved brunch and we are having grilled chicken for dinner. :-) Small perk of the February 80 degree weather here in Texas - we can grill in comfort.

  I am loving the DDP Yoga, I think it is going to do a whole lot of good for me and I look forward to seeing my flexibility increase, my muscles tone up and the fat to start falling off. I believe, due to the dynamic resistance aspect, that there is less chance of plateauing with this workout. As your strength consistently increases, so does the resistance. Awesome.

 Sometimes it is a little too easy though, to not believe in myself. It's important that I don't do that. I can succeed, I can do this. 

Week 2, Day 1.

I had so much better sleep last night! It was just lovely, except for that last dream I had. In it I cheated. I had a chocolate frosty, possibly some candy also or other sweet item. 

I was devastated, and so disappointed in myself. In the dream I got sick and was throwing up. To make matters works then Noah decided that he should cheat also; he wanted a chocolate frosty. Not only had I sabotaged myself, but also my husband.

I was rather relieved to wake up and learn it was a dream. 

So I am on day 7, (with no actual cheating) or day 1 of week 2. 

I also do DDP Yoga today. The schedule has me doing it 3 days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I think I'd like to add 2 additional days: Tuesday and Saturday, or Tuesday and Thursday. This will start next week.

I AM doing this. :)

Week 1

I have now been on my whole 30 for a week. Without cheating. I'm pretty proud of myself. The hardest part, surprisingly, hasn't been not eating the things I'm not supposed, but instead it has been not weighing or measuring myself constantly (at all). I know that this process isn't just about losing weight, but it is an important aspect to me and I hope that I am not disappointed at the end.

Today has had it's own challenges. I woke up at 1:30 in the morning and wasn't able to go back to sleep. I was planning to get up early, but this wasn't quite what I had in mind. Hopefully, though, I will sleep well tonight.

I think that is about all I have for updates tonight, today was an off-day on DDP, but tomorrow is time for ENERGY! again. I'm excited. :)

I have to keep remembering that the biggest thing that will push me to succeed or fail is what I believe of myself.

I'm going to win.

DDP Yoga

Alrighty, so I didn't post yesterday like I'd intended, but here I am today.  I am pretty excited because my new DDP Yoga disks came in on Monday. I started the schedule the same day, (Noah, and Jordan have both joined in) and even though yesterday was technically my off day I did it again to familiarize myself better with the moves. 

I am feeling just a bit sore today. So I worked out again...twice. I was supposed to actually, the schedule says so.

Despite said soreness (stairs are evil) I am so happy and excited about this program. I can feel muscles working that I have never worked before. I can work at my level, and as that level increases so does my workout. 

And I'm still rockin on with my whole30.

A special shout out to my wonderful cousins Jessica and Aaron who are welcoming a new sweet bundle of joy into the world today. 

Was off again, staying on again.

Yes, yes. I have been terrible. 

I had a very big wake-up call as to how challenging things can get when you actually get a job, especially when your schedule conflicts with your husband's schedule. I fell off the Primal Bandwagon for a while. It's quite sad actually. The entire time, I missed being on it. 

No I am back on for good. Woohoo. I actually came across this thing called the whole30. It's Paleo - a very strict form of Paleo. 



Today is my Day 4. I am doing great. I haven't cheated once, which sometimes is not as easy as I'd like. Cravings started yesterday, and of course it was Superbowl Sunday and my father had made a ton of very non-Primal/Paleo/Healthy foods of doom. 

I stayed strong though. Another challenging part for me is that I cannot weight myself throughout the entire process. As I was somewhat obsessive and weighing myself ever single day, sometimes more than once a day. 

I am going to check in each day throughout this month, it may not be anything huge, but at least I will stay on track. If you want to check out the whole thirty I will include a link for you. 



♥ Crystal 

Early Week Update

So it has been such a great start to my week. I have walked, fairly early, the past two mornings. Yesterday I walked 4 miles and today I walked 4.35 miles. Then today I played Zumba. It feels so great.

I have now worked out every day for over a week. This is the first time that has ever happened, and I don't plan to change it.

Primal has made such a huge impact on my life, in so many different areas. I really used to struggle with my asthma. Doing things as simple as going up the stairs, sometimes even just going to bed would trigger horrible wheezing or a full blown attack. Well I don't have seem to have these problems anymore.

If you haven't heard, there is a horrible wildfire here near Fort Collins, it has wreaked havoc on the slim amount of oxygen we get up here and so I anticipated having major breathing problems during my walks. So I was more than pleasantly surprised when I had no breathing problems. None, zip, zero.

Today is a fasting day, so naturally it was a good day to look at recipes, and go do some grocery shopping, and whatnot. I apparently have some masochistic tendencies. Not really though. It actually was not too bad today, the key is to stay hydrated and to stay busy. It is much harder if you just sit there thinking about food.

Anyways, I think that is it for now. I will leave you with a video of my precious nephew.

My New Nephew

So at 7:53 pm last night my sweet little nephew Todd was born. He weighs 7lb 11oz and is 20.5 inches long.  

Aww so precious!






Isn't he just adorable?

It was a really long labor almost 32 hours I think But mom and baby are healthy.

He looks so warm and snuggly

Daddy and Baby. 

Why won't you leave me alone and let me sleep?

So precious. I love him.

What else is new, so far I have lost 3.9 pounds this week.  I found myself unable to sleep yesterday so I was up by 1am. I went for a nice walk of just over 3 miles at 5am and saw the sunrise. Beautiful really. 

I love Colorado!

Only need to lose .6 pounds today and that shouldn't be too hard since I'm fasting.  Woohoo!

Primal Philly Cheesesteak

This has been a great week. My nephew is going to be born either tonight or early tomorrow. I'm so excited for this. I have a nephew and niece that I gained when I married my husband but this is my first from my side of the family.
And I've been so active this week. Where as I was previously maybe doing 4 or so miles a week walking This week I have gone over 10. YAY! And I've been playing Zumba like nobody's business. I might actually have to take a small break this weekend to let my hips re-cooperate.

So I have been planning on posting this one for a little while now. This is a favorite in my house, Noah loves it and has no problem with having it multiple days in a row. It's easy to make, and it is really fast. I don't think it typically takes more than 25 or so minutes. I've dubbed it Phili Cheesesteak, it is breadfree but if you have a primal bread you wanna stick it on that is fine. And if you aren't following a Primal/Paleo lifestyle you are welcome to put it on whatever you like.

Primal Philly Cheesesteak

Ingredients:
1lb thin steak
2 large yellow onions
2 small-medium vidalia onions
Emeril's Original Essence (click here for recipe)
4 Bell Peppers of any color, I prefer a variety
2 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Thinly Sliced Provolone Cheese (I have also tried pepperjack and that was also yummy)

Feeds about 4.

Slice your bell peppers (after removing tops and seeds) into long medium-thin slices. Also slice onions similarly.  Heat Olive Oil in a large skillet over medium heat then add onions and peppers.

Season liberally with the Emeril's. FYI, this stuff is awesome and I use it in so many dishes.
While the onions and peppers are cooking (make sure to keep an eye on them and stir occasionally) cut up the meat into strips that are thin and medium length. Season the meat with the Emeril's.  

After the onions start to become slightly translucent (not all the way cooked) Add the sliced steak and stir it in well. Continue to cook until meat is cooked through. Turn off heat.
You will accumulate a good amount of liquid in the pan. Go ahead and strain that now. I find that there is too much food in the pan for it all to fit in a strainer so I put the strainer over a bowl so that any fallen food can be easily retrieved and doesn't have to be cleaned off. After you have strained the food return it to the pan.

Top with a single layer of the thinly sliced Provalone cheese. (I typically need about 7 slices) Give the cheese a few moments to melt.

Enjoy!

Primal Stuffed Peppers

Today has been a great day. I managed to walk over 2.5 miles this morning and had a killer Zumba session this afternoon. I <3 Zumba. It is awesome. If you haven't tried it, you really should.
I also made these Stuffed Peppers. Just my own little recipe but I will share.

Just a note, I used all organic ingredients.

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef (also good with ground turkey or chicken)

6 Bell Peppers of any color variety

1 small bag of baby carrots chopped

2 bunches of celery chopped

6 cloves of garlic minced

1 large yellow onion chopped

2 medium vidalia onions chopped

2 14.5 oz cans of diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1 15 oz can of tomato sauce

1 6oz can of tomato paste

1 tsp Herbes De Provence

salt and pepper to taste

1TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for 60 seconds making sure to not burn the garlic. Add the chopped onions (both the yellow and vidalia) and the ground beef. Cook until the beef is cooked through, breaking the hamburger into small pieces. Once the hamburger is cooked through add the chopped celery and chopped carrots, continue to cook for about 3 minutes. Then add the cans of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir it well. Season with the herbes de provence, salt, and pepper. Heat mixture until bubbling, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the mixture is cooking, cut the tops off of the bell peppers and clean the insides out making sure to remove all of the seeds. I recommend turning the peppers upside down for a few minutes to drain any water from the inside. 

In a 9x12 baking dish, place the peppers with the top (open side) up. Fill peppers with the tomato/meat/veggie mixture. You should have a good amount left. Spread that remainder in the pan itself around the peppers. Top with shredded cheddar cheese if you like. 

Bake for 50 minutes.

National Trails Day - Summer Goals

   So Saturday was National Trails Day. I decided that I wanted to volunteer. My husband also decided to get in on the action. We did trail work up at Bobcat Ridge which is just west of Fort Collins. It's quite lovely, and it certainly gives one a good workout. Depending on which way you are going, the trail is either mostly uphill, or mostly downhill. 

   My group was in charge of filling in the first section of the trail. As it saw the most action, it also had the most erosion, and because of that there were dips and crevasses that were not exactly ideal. So we would shovel soil into wheel barrels, (Which, by the way, we had to haul up hill to the trail to begin with) Then that barrel would be wheeled a ways uphill, and dumped out. Others would then rake the soil to cover the dips and crevasses. Then someone with a little watering tool would dampen the soil, and then another individual would use a tamper to flatten and even it out. One wheel barrel full of soil allowed perhaps a 3-4 foot stretch of trail if that.  

    It was really a lot of work, and was quite exhausting. It was hot and stayed very sunny until the point when we finished. Then we got some lovely clouds with rain and thunderstorms. All that being said, it was so rewarding. On a physical level: my body got such a great workout! But also it was great to give back to the community, to the land. It's nice to be a part of keeping Colorado beautiful, and helping to make lasting nature trails that are safer for many more to enjoy. I know I will be volunteering again next year and I look forward to it!

   On the weight loss front, I have set myself a goal for the summer. It is not an easy goal, and it is something that I will have to work hard towards. But aren't goals you have to work for much more rewarding than the ones that are so easy to achieve?

   My big goal is to lose 75 pounds by the end of September. That equates to about 4.5 pounds per week. That is no small feat, and I know that. To help me achieve my goal I am fasting every other day this summer. On those days I will only drink water. This is perfectly healthy, so no one needs to worry there. On the days that I am not fasting I need to make sure I am eating purely primal, and I need to keep my carbs very low. I need to make sure that I am eating high in protein and healthy fats. 

  I am aiming to drink at least 100 oz of water a day. I have these 32oz glass mason jars. I am to drink about 3 1/2-4 a day. I have also been drinking a bit of tea lately, chai. It's my weakness. I don't think that it is bad to have on occasion (if made at home) I make up the tea and simply add homemade coconut creamer (made from coconut milk, a dash of stevia and a little bit of vanilla extract) and raw honey. That being said, there are still carbs and calories from that that can be spared so I am going to limit myself to one cup of tea week. As I have had one yesterday and today I am definitely done for this week. (I made the rule after today's tea so I didn't actually break my rule) I also need to avoid fruits. They are healthy yes, but fruits are high in carbs and if wanting to lose weight it is best to limit those as possible. Maybe once a month a piece of fruit would be reasonable. Then once I reach my ideal healthy weight I can start incorporating a bit more carbs to allow myself to maintain that weight.  

  And of course I realize that diet is only half the battle. I need to make sure that I stay moving. So to help myself with this my husband and I will be walking 2.5 miles a day together in the evenings or in the mornings. Each day. I also need to keep up with my kinect playing. That has been great! And I need to start some strength training exercises. Every day counts and I have to remember that when I'd rather just do nothing during the day.

 

  I can hit my goal. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be the most relaxing summer. But it will be worth it.

I'm planning on taking pictures each week. Of both myself and my husband. they will show the progress we are making...I don't know yet if I will post them each week or at the end, but regardless they will get posted.

It's Friday

It's Friday. And even though I work from home that tends to be an exciting thing. (I am looking for an additional job though, to give me a bit of extra income to put into my business) Tomorrow I am doing a volunteer Trail Cleanup project with REI. That will be good, and I'm looking forward to it. It will be nice to get some good outdoor time, my husband is also helping so that will be nice also. Beyond that, it will be fantastic to do something that benefits nature and the community. I like the idea of helping to keep Colorado beautiful.

This has been a good week so far, we started the alternate day fasting. It has gone pretty well for the most part. My husband ended up needing lunch one of the days because he wasn't doing so well and was really shaky. And I had the genius idea of doing grocery shopping on a fasting day yesterday and so I ended up having a small primal snack. All in all though  I have lost just over 3 pounds so far this week since Monday. I look forward to seeing what these three more days bring. The husband has lost two pounds thus far. He is much smaller than me anyways, he wants to lose about 30-35 more pounds

I have no doubt he will reach his goal by the end of summer. I'm proud of him. So proud of him. He has been really supportive of me in this lifestyle change and has made the change willingly. He has been willing to adapt to foods he otherwise didn't care for. Overall he is just a pretty awesome husband. 

I have been playing Kinect a lot more lately. Which I find to be quite wonderful. It pleases me immensely. On adventures, before, I couldn't do much without getting winded. And one go at the obstacle course and I was out for the count. But the other day I think I did the obstacle courses about 5 or 6 times, in addition to the other time I played. 

I'm wanting to get a bike. *sigh* I have one picked out that I want. He loves biking and I want to enjoy it too. I used to as a kid, but then went a really long time without a bike after my younger brother destroyed mine.

It's REI's brand Novara. It has fantastic reviews and is $449. We were so close to getting it this week but weren't quite able to. :-( Which honestly bummed me out quite a bit because I had my hopes up really high.

Anywho, I think that is it for now. I'll be posting a recipe tomorrow for the one primal dinner that I have created on my own. :-) 

Update of randomness

I doubt I have mentioned this before but I have a jewelry company. It's called Realm of Glitter. I had been slacking quite a bit since I left my job in December but recently got on the ball and started taking decent pictures and posting them on etsy. Here are a few examples:

Okay...so maybe that was more than a few. Sorry. :-/  I have a difficult time choosing.

Anyways...so these are some of the pictures of my jewelry that I have now posted on my etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/realmofglitter

And as soon as I get more money I can make new jewelry to take pictures of. 

On the weight loss front, things are going well though obviously not as fast as I'd like. Though probably more fast that I have any right to expect. I have lost about 30 lbs so far, and a total of 9 inches. (not just from my waist)

That feels good, it feels like progress. And the numbers aren't lying, even though I'm not seeing the results in myself. The primal living is going well. Though there was a brief period of cheating I have definitely gotten back on track. I have all of June and part of July's meals planned.

We are actually fasting every other day through June and possibly longer. It isn't as hard as I thought, though it has its moments. Like when I opened the refrigerator today and saw some delicious, bright red and very ripe strawberries. But I stayed strong, and I am determined. I can have a strawberry or two tomorrow if I want. 

I discovered that one of my weak points is that if I am facing temptation, sometimes I think that one little decision doesn't matter. So I'll have that Pepsi, or whatever it is. And then that makes it easier to cheat next time. So a new phrase that I'm telling myself is: Every decision makes a difference.

Because it does. 

Now have gone primal

Okay, So I know that I'm terrible and that I haven't been posting. Part of that is  because I kinda lost the website. (Stupid, I know) But a bigger part is more that I have just sort of forgot.

So, but update. I have now gone primal. What does this mean? Well, it's a complete lifestyle change. And for the first time I am actually sticking to it. Which feels great. It has now been over a week since I have had any pop, and I have been strict on this diet change. No more grains, no more legumes, no more sugar, no more processed food. 

It sounds intense, but honestly it's not bad, and I FEEL so much better. I cannot express that enough, even as I am going through the "carb flu" where I'm craving all those carbs, and I have some lovely other side effects (diarrhea, nausea, headache) my body just feels better that it did. Which sounds bizarre, I know. But I was always so completely tired and exhausted before, and never wanted to do anything. Except maybe sleep. I struggled getting up in the morning but typically managed between 9 and 10. Since a few days before making the change I have been up ever day before 8. I have had more energy, I've been getting exercise.

Oh, and in the past 2 weeks I have lost 20 lbs. 

WOOT!

First Blog

 This is me. My name is Crystal, I'm a Christian,  I'm 27, a newlywed and as you can tell, overweight. They have another word for it, many really. I'm obese. I cannot remember a time in my life when I have not been overweight. It has always been a struggle, and it has always affected my self-worth.
 As with many people I have often tried losing weight in a variety of different ways. I have never been successful. I always lose motivation, my self-discipline is too limited, there are a number of reasons and excuses. The end result is the same, I'm still fat.
 What I have never really tried though is uncovering the reasons behind why I over eat and under exercise. I have also never tried asking God for help. So that is what I'm doing. A RADICAL makeover. And this will be my journal through this journey of discovery of God, and self, and ultimately healing.
 I'll share things here about myself and my life. But for now, this is my first entry.