Day 3 - 30 Day Paleo Challenge

Well, we've finished Day 3 of our 30 Day Paleo Challenge.  It wasn't a perfect day...I confess that I caved and had a Diet Coke from my local Target food court.  I further confess that it was sooo good and I really should feel guilty, but I don't.  Not enough sleep, too much stress, and a killer headache weakened my resolve.  Other than that it was a terrific day for me.   I stayed Paleo in my eating, even resisting the temptation I'll tell you about below, and I hit the gym for my workout which went well.  Got a knew PR on my Front Squat, even with my messed up wrist.  I really can't complain.

For the kids?  The day wasn't so terrific, but we knew this day was coming and, as I explained to them before we started this journey, eating this way would be a lifestyle, not a life sentence.   They would need to allow for detours along the way and not beat themselves up over them.  Buttercup was tasked with bringing cookies to her youth group tonight and,while her cold/flu thing is too bad for her to to, she still wanted to make the cookies and get them to the other kids.  Part of her planning was pretty wise...she knew if she baked them, she want to try them.  So, she allowed for that.  She was willing to take the points hit and, as she told me, the cookies were fabulous.  If you're interested in a fabulous recipe for amazing chocolate chip cookies, you need to make Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Cookies.  You won't be disappointed.  According to the kids, they're as good as I remember them!

I tried something newish today.  Tonight we had our first-ever grass-fed beef steaks for dinner.  They were amazing.  Seriously amazing. Valiant barbecued it for us and did a fabulous job.  Even Buttercup, the girl who always says "no, thank you" to steak, was disappointed we didn't have more.  (And that was after I gave her a third of mine!)   The steak was accompanied by yellow squash and zucchini sauteed in ghee and seasoned with a little no-salt seasoning mix.  I finished off my plate with sauteed mushrooms and spinach, but the kids weren't interested in trying that.

Doesn't this all look good?  My mushrooms and spinach.

The sauteed squash.

And the plated meal. 

Look at the steam wafting off the squash!

 As you can see, we're not a bit deprived.

Oh, I saw a terrific interview with Bob Harper of the Biggest Loser discussing his conversion to the CrossFit way of life and how anyone of any fitness level and join in on the fun. 

Day 3 is put to bed...only 27 more to go!

30 Day Shred Challenge - Day 3

It is Day 3 of our 30 Day Shred Challenge!!!

Woo Hoo! We're done! We're already done with Day 3!

Today we have to be at the dentist's office at 10:00 AM and we have a 45 minute drive to get there, so we've got to be ready to leave right after 9:00 AM. That means we had to be finished with the 30 Day Shred by 8:00 AM!!!!! Oh, did I mention it is Museum Day? We won't be home again until 5:00 p.m.

How was it? It was easier than it was yesterday! (Especially given that I got started at 7:10 a.m. to do it!) Oh, my quads still hurt and my wings still didn't like the push-ups, but the quads hurt less and the wings didn't complain quite as much. I'd say that is progress.

Since were still committed to 45 minutes of exercise a day, I'll be coming home and doing 25 minutes on the LifeCycle or the "dreadmill" after dinner. As for now? We've finished Day 3 of our 30 Day Shred Challenge. We so rock!

Don't forget to ask yourself, "What have you done today to make yourself feel proud?"Have a great day!

Melissa? Today is Wednesday and you finally get a day off, so fill us in with what you've been doing! Karen? Where are you? Katie? Have you been bicycling? Generations? Did you get your Wii Fit out? Let us know...

P.S. For any Biggest Loser watchers out there - spoiler below - stop reading if you haven't watched it yet!



Can you believe they kept Liz another week? She is mean. Oh my gosh! Didn't Rebecca look amazing in the follow-up? I was so proud of her. I cried with her when she was running that half-marathon. What a triumph! Did you stay up to see her on Leno? And what is this about her dating Daniel? Isn't he only 20? Doesn't he have a boatload of issues? She's 25...he's too young for her, even if they have this shared experience. What do you think?

Wednesday wanderings...

I have a little bit to say, none of it important, so feel free to skim to anything you might find interesting. (This is definitely the "random musings" part of the blog!)

How is it that our share of a filling for a 13-year old is going to end up being $135...that's our share?! With insurance?! What did they use to fill his tooth? Crazy.

I cried when I saw Whitney Houston sing on Oprah. (I NEVER watch the Oprah show these days--she's really annoying. Superman actually had to hook up the cable for me because I wanted to watch these episodes and Biggest Loser was starting up again.) Anyway, so many amazing talents fall to the wayside with drugs and alcohol, when I heard Whitney had left her husband and was cleaning up, I was really rooting for her. Whitney Houston had an amazing voice...truly amazing. Then her personal life careened out of control. I can't even imagine what life is like when your every mistake is splashed across the tabloids, can you? I don't know if she'll stay clean and sober (I'm not sure I even believed her when she said she wasn't using drugs), but I am rooting for her. What can I say? I'm a sap.



This song feels like her old stuff. I don't know if I like it, but it is upbeat and she sounds good. The kids said they liked the beat.



Look at what we got yesterday evening! How did I get lucky enough to have neighbors who share such bounty? Aren't those tiny yellow tomatoes so cool? I'm just so excited.

Finally, the Biggest Loser Season 8 started last night. One of the contestants was a woman who lost her entire family two and a half years ago: her husband, her 5 year old daughter and her 2 and 1/2 week old son were all killed in a car accident. How do you go on from that? As she put it, every role in her life disappeared that day. Humbling.

Best lines from the Biggest Loser last night? Jillian to a young man: "Let go of the treadmill! Haven't you ever watched the show?!" and, again, Jillian to a 40-year old man: "There is no crying in tractor tires!"

Random, I know...have a good evening.

The Shriek of Dismay Heard Round the World...

Ack! I'm just so upset that Helen, that selfish woman who sent her daughter home so she could stay on the Campus longer, won the Biggest Loser! The only thing that would have been worse would have been Ron winning! Ugh!

But Tara looked terrific and I was very impressed with Mike...he did a great job...now I must go eat something sweet to drown my sorrows.

(Okay, I'm done now...)

Catching up...

Just now getting to posting today, so it really will be random...

Valiant and I watched the inauguration today while we worked out. (The back of my legs, my butt, and the backs of my arms really hurt! I guess that is a good thing, right?) Did you watch it? As I explained to my children, the speeches, the parades, and the balls aren't what matters, what matters is that like him or not, we support the smooth transition of power in this country. It is calm, even if we disagree...that is something amazing when you actually stop to think about.

Ran some errands and went to Joann's while Buttercup was in gymnastics. I finally got some fabric to finish this simple Valentine's project from Little Birdie Secrets....I'm really excited to get started on it.

I had this amazing Pasta Fagioli crock pot recipe from Recipezaar cooking all day.

It will be accompanied by this amazing breadmaker Italian bread (you use the dough cycle and then just shape the loaves yourself) from All Recipes.

Dessert tonight will be these fantastic Snickerdoodle Muffins from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.

If I had tasted the batter, I would absolutely confirm they are so good. Then, if, by any stretch of the imagination, I had eaten the top of a muffin fresh from the oven, I would cheerfully confirm that they are scrumptious. (Not that I would ever do those things!)

This is what my wall looks like these days. That cat seems to have moved on to the birds. Superman isn't certain we still have the paint for this room, so we might have to paint the entire room.

That's about it...oh, and Biggest Loser is on tonight...I LOVE Biggest Loser.