Whole 30 Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of the Whole30. I attempted one of these a few months ago and didn't make it past day 2 before giving into the temptation of a glass of wine. I'm a bit more motivated now and am really and truly interested to see what my body can accomplish with 30 days of no dairy, alcohol, or sugar. I cut the grains out a long time ago so that is a non issue.

Day 1 consisted of black coffee. Salad eggs for breakfast. Carnitas and avocado for lunch. A peach and two slices of Applegate farms turkey as a snack. And one giant ribeye with mushrooms and sweet potato for dinner.

 

 

Good luck to any and everyone participating in a month of uber clean eating!

Eating Out Primal

or at least moderately healthy....

The kids and I took a little roadtrip at the beginning of July. We left our beautiful Arkansas, headed West through Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, then North into Colorado. Our final destination was Durango.

The underlying theme on this trip was education. Learning about the places we were and about the culture and history of the people we met. We tried to fit in as many amazing things as we could. We visited places, such as Cadillac Ranch (the one touristy place you must stop), Echo Amphitheater in New Mexico, Georgia O'Keefe's house in Abique, Mese Verde in Colorado. Once we made it to Durango, we spent time at the local river and on more than one occasion I made them walk the 14 block roundtrip downtown to see the locals and do some shopping. I also included them in all my visits to the local natural grocers. It still cracks me up to see how excited my kids get when they go in a grocery store and know they can have almost anything in there. They are so used to not being able to eat over half of the products carried in a traditional store. So visiting natural grocers on vacation is a true treat for them.

I was in for a surprise myself when we stopped in a tiny little gas station/feed store/café/grocer in Abique, New Mexico. We were in the middle of nowhere, had just stopped at some ruins to do some exploring and were hot and thirsty. I went in hoping to find something cold to drink besides water. As much as we love water, we were just really in the mood for something else. I wasn't expecting much from the looks of this place but inside I was pleasantly surprised. They had an amazing amount of fresh produce. Lots and lots of all natural snacks and then I came upon the holy grail. Or what my kids would consider the holy grail. Virgil's Root Beer. I grabbed them each one and then grabbed a bottle of this for myself. Holy heck it was yummy!

I certainly didn't fail to notice that feeding my family in line with our lifestyle was much easier the farther West we drove. Colorado was especially accommodating. There were more options to choose from, healthy fare was the norm.

Here are some of our eats from the trip.

4 hours on the road at this point. Jason's Deli did not disappoint.

 

El Salvadoran Pupusas. I basically just told the waitress to give me anything without
wheat in it. I wasn't being picky about corn on this trip. This dish was amazing.
The beet, carrot, and cabbage slaw was served cold and complemented
it so well. The kids had the most amazing gluten free buttermilk waffles.
We even went back on our last day in Santa Fe and ate breakfast here again. The Tune Up Café
is now on our permanent list of best restaurants.

I couldn't help but squeal with delight when saw this in our hotel. They had a very nice
restaurant called Red Sage that we ate dinner at one evening. It of course had an amazing wine selection.

Dinner at Red Sage in our hotel. This was an amazing glass of a Rhone that I can't remember
the vineyard name. This is also a perfect picture of how traveling alone with three kids can get
sometimes. She wasn't screaming, just making sure I understood she was serious about our conversation.

Duck fat fries. I nearly died.

I ordered the filet, rare. It came with no veggies. So of course I ate the duck fat fries.

Both the boys had buffalo sliders. They were topped with a spicy chile sauce and I was surprised
the little dudes still liked them. My kids are primal about 80% of the time. But this was
vacation, and I let them live it up.

We were in desperate need of a bathroom stop and on a whim I stopped
in here. It was one of the coolest natural grocers I have ever been in. If you
are ever in Pagosa Springs, CO give it a try. They had a exceptional deli area with a ton
of prepared foods ready to go. We stocked the cooler and the smoked salmon I got was
out of this world!

I picked this up at the little market above. I won't even try and stock these in our
store for fear I will eat the entire case myself.

On the day we visited Mesa Verde, we packed our lunch and after our hike
to see the ruins we stopped at an overlook for a picnic.

This was part of our spread. Turkey, cheese, gluten free pretzels. Simple.

There is a fabulous restaurant in Durango, CO called Ken & Sue's. They have a nice gluten
free selection, farm to table food, and your to go bag is an actual reusable shopping bag. This was an
appetizer of mussels in a coconut lime sauce. I wanted to lick the plate when it was gone.

 

 

Stuffed chicken over greens and mashed potatoes. Also at Ken & Sue's.

We also ate at our standard places like Panera and I couldn't turn down a Starbucks iced coffee on the road. Overall I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to stay as primal as possible. Renting a house with a kitchen helped a lot. We got very sick of eating out after the first 3 days. That first dinner we cooked in the rental house was comfort food for all of us.

Eating clean on the road is totally possible and can even be easy if you know what to look for.

Day 5 Eats

I posted some pictures on the Before & After page for those of you interested in that sort of thing. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impatient to get some after pictures up there but we all know these things take time! Day by day, choice by choice, bite by bite.

And I do like my bites!

One of my very favorite breakfasts is a chorizo egg scramble with avocado on the side. Chorizo makes my heart sing!

The best flavor of Larabar hands down had to suffice for lunch today. We installed new space age cash registers at our store and I was pulling my hair out trying to use them. I was glad I didn't give into the stress and pig out on junk which is what the old me would have done.

 

 

I ran home for a hot minute and pan fried some onion, peppers, and shoulder steak. Topped it off with sour cream and guac and lime juice. Avocados two times today?!?!?!

 

 

And then I fell face first into a bar of chocolate.

 



I really shouldn't have done that.

Eats Day 2 & Some Nature Thrown In For Good Measure

 

Living in Arkansas we tend to take it for granted the natural beauty that surrounds us. But not the Primal Hippie family! We ventured down to our local river, the Cossatot, yesterday. In the native Indian language in our area Cossatot means "Skullcrusher". Its a quite popular place with kayakers when the water is up.

It never fails, every time we head to a favorite swimming spot we end up picking up trash. Pack it in pack it out people! It wasn't just the Gatorade bottle. It was three snack wrappers, bottle caps, and cigarettes I stuffed in there.

No one needs to be messing with the beauty of a place like this.


And on to the days eats!

Breakfast! Leftover steak from the night before. One egg fried in coconut oil. Really wanted another egg but the hens were not obliging this morning.

Lunch was a bit of a repeat from yesterday. Primal cereal. Yummy!

No picture of dinner. We had guests and I got so wound up in entertaining that I forgot to snap a picture of dinner. It was grilled ribeye steak, leftover kuri squash, bacon jalapeno poppers, and a bit of mashed potatoes.

No workout yesterday. I busted out a few mock pull-up's because I've got that goal remember? And the hike down to the river was nice, so I got some moving done. Just move right?

Day 1 Eats

Today started off rainy. My very favorite kind of day. I spent the better part of an hour drinking coffee and blogging on the back porch.

In just a short time I had to prepare breakfast. This morning it was bacon with over easy fried eggs. Try putting your eggs on top of fresh baby greens. So so so good! A little trick I learned while on vacation.

 

 

Lunch was two of these leftover chicken legs. See the begging Primal Aussie?

With a little bit of primal cereal. Just some nuts topped with fresh sliced bananas, coconut flakes, and half and half.

 

 

Dinner was round steak with roasted kuri squash. Simple, easy, filling.

 

(Not shown the super yummy dark chocolate I consumed this afternoon, still battling the sugar monster round these parts!)

Workout for the day was 30 minutes of Polly Yoga. I needed it after the strenuousness of yesterdays at home crossfit workout. Stretching is oh so good!

Setting Up For Success

(or more accurately titled...What To Do If You Live In the Boonies.)

First and foremost. Nature should be your playground. You can hop, skip, and jump all you like. You can hike long distances and sprint short ones. You can landscape your yard and get a hell of a workout.

But what about those days when you have all of 20 minutes in between kid stuff and house stuff and life stuff?

Then you gotta just bust out a quick and fast and effective routine.

I have grand plans of turning a portion of our outdoor shop with the 12ft ceilings into a mini-crossfit box. We are slowly acquiring equipment and working on cleaning and reorganizing. So far the things we have are giving us a pretty good workout.

You gotta jump jump!

This is something I am admittedly not good at! I need to get faster. I need to go longer. I need to not tangle my feet in the cord!


Pot called the kettlebell what?

Weights in any form are a must. We have the standard plate weights and a bench (but those are waiting for the proper gym configuration) and now we have these kettlebells in 10lb and 20lb.



Pull-ups aren't just for toddlers!

This right here is a personal goal. I have never in my life been able to do a pull up. I am also terrible at push ups. Evidently all my strength is in my lower body. It's that rear end that powers me up hills when I'm running.



Dreaded Dreadmill.....

This is not necessary. But it is really good for when you can't leave the house to get in a run or a long walk.

Only a few items remain on the wish list. Boxes for jumping. Rope for climbing. We have the mats for a cushy landing!

That's pretty much the basics. All these things used in the right ways can whip you into shape. That is...as long as you are eating right. We all know correct nutrition is the absolute foundation for a healthy life.

And speaking of...dinner last night was delicious. I made Practical Paleo's Smoky Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs paired with a simple green salad and sweet potato.

 

 

I am so happy there are leftovers!

Howdy

I'm ready to begin...

For the fourteenth time. Or so it feels like.

A bit of backstory, yes?

My weight loss and subsequent gain has been on a rollercoaster for eons. Most recently and by recently I mean about three and half years ago I lost nearly 50lbs. My third and final baby had turned one and I was finally fed up with carrying around 180lbs on my 5 foot 4 inch frame. I embraced a very strict diet and ran five days a week. I started out with three miles and worked my way up to ten miles. I competed in races. I only ate junk or drank alcohol on my cheat day. I had a pretty fast 5K time under my belt. I whittled my weight down to almost 125lbs. Then I hurt my knee. Repetitive running injury for the win! I went to the local gym for rehab and got into lifting a bit. I gained definition but also gained weight.

And then I got burned out.

I never completely stopped running but I let go of that oh so very strict diet and began to drink a lot more. The weight crept back. My clothes were tighter. Over the past two years I have put on 20lbs. And you know what? I am really and truly angry about it. I'm ready for a change. And I have a plan.

Here goes.

Paleo and primal style eating came into my radar over a year ago and I slowly shifted my diet that way. I expected to lose that weight I had gained back with little to no effort. It didn't happen. Why you may ask? I asked myself the same thing. The answer is simple really. I never let go of the sugar and the alcohol and the occasional cheat day. My husband began primal eating last Christmas and has lost 15lbs and gained definition although he doesn't work out at all. So the first part of my plan is to embrace primal and paleo full on. No cheating. No more beer. Minimal dairy. Cut out the sugar. Even the good ones for a while to try and break through the plateau.

Part two entails my exercise. I am going to decrease my long distance running. I can't give it up entirely because I do believe it has major psychological benefits and I there is nothing I love more than an early morning run watching the sun come up over the beautiful mountains where we live. A crossfit type of at home workout is going to be added in the mix. I will detail that in a later post. Yoga is a must. It makes me happy and healthy and keeps me limber and loose. Hiking as a family is also a must. While that doesn't happen everyday its a great way to be together and get some Grok type exercise going on.

Part three is sleep. Sleep! Man that might be the most important thing. When I was so addicted to running that I got up at 5am to run 9 miles, I would be in bed by 9pm. Every single night! In the last few years I have been going to be about midnight or later. Rewiring my sleep system is a must.

So why Primal Hippie?

Primal because I honestly subscribe the most to the eating habits of Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple. I have read him for a long time and truly believe that a bit of full fat dairy, some dark chocolate, or a few glasses of red wine won't hurt you. I love the act of moving a lot during the day, doing some sprinting, and some heavy lifting. He also details the importance of sleep and wraps all his philosophies up in a character called Grok.

Hippie because about four years ago we discovered our son has food allergies. I wrote about this in detail on my other blog. Long story short he is allergic to artificial flavorings and colors and certain chemical preservatives. This caused us to completely overhaul our diet to foods free of these additives, and organics specifically when we can. We still hadn't cut out grains but did eat very healthy for people who still ate bread and pasta. This caused us to look at other areas of our life and begin to work on them as well. Recycling, reusable bags, natural body care products, composting, gardening, keeping chickens, etc. etc. etc. I use hippie in a very loose way. It doesn't mean what it used too. In our area when you call someone a hippie it just means they try to live a very natural peaceful life.

And a bit about that area. Our family lives in a very very tiny rural Arkansas town. We own a grocery store and are very lucky in that. We have access to the food we want and need to feed ourselves the way we are meant too. But there is no crossfit box in town. No yoga studio down the street. We can't pop in a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods after work. We have to work hard for our primal food and life. But in some ways its easier. There aren't many temptations keeping you out after dark. We live close to beautiful mountains and rivers and can hike and run outside whenever we want. It makes the hippie lifestyle a bit easier.

So as I said, I'm ready to begin.

This was my weight a week ago. Then we went on a week long vacation and I am proud to say I didn't gain a pound. I weighed myself this morning and the scale hadn't budged. I plan on posting some before pictures this week. I'm scared but they are needed.

Please join me on this journey. Support is needed and much appreciated. I'll share my plans, my workouts, my food. I love to cook and share what I'm eating. Follow me on Instagram. I'm @primalhippie. Tell me your stories. Where you are and what you're doing to be a better healthier person.