Just. Breathe.

Over the last month, I've reread most of my blog postings (I'm hilarious, btw), especially for 2012. That's when I was most successful at weight loss and exercised most consistently. I was reading to try to figure out what I did right, and of course, when it started not working for me. I've debated the pros and cons of Weight Watchers, Paleo, counting calories, workouts, etc.  It's been a while in the making, but tomorrow it begins -- Whole 30. For real. There will be one day off -- our anniversary is in a couple of weeks -- but otherwise, I'm in this until February 25th (31 days, to make up for the day off).  There's a bit of prep involved, even when I know what I'm doing, so I've spent the week trying to figure out menus, plan what's most important for me to do this successfully, and just get my head in the right place.  This weekend has been pretty busy... I don't care what anyone says. Meal planning is not  easy. I feel like I ...

In the last two weeks, I've had quite a few conversations with friends about this Paleo thing we're doing and it occurred to me I could save myself (and them) a lot of time if I'd just condense it all into one place. This is that place. This is also a really long post, so feel free to skip to the stuff you're interested in. When you've been doing something for 6 months, there's a lot of information as well as practical experience to draw on. I've already posted on why we're doing this, and there are awesome sites out there with a huge amount of detail on what to eat, why to eat, blah blah... so that's not what I'm doing here. But I think I'm pretty mainstream when it comes to what I was accustomed to eating, and what I'm willing to put into my mouth. Liver doesn't make the cut. Tongue? No, thank you. I'm really not going to go into veal or lamb -- not because it isn't good, but because it's not been a part of my diet...

How fun is this? Bug found one of these on Pinterest and hounded me until we made one. I have such a newfound respect for those people who create entire months' worth of menus at once -- I feel completely accomplished if I get one week done! This is actually what we're doing this week. I've gotten chicken and beef out of the freezer in time to thaw without the microwave! Win! The cards are mostly color-coded -- red for beef, blue for fish...pretty much like those flexible cutting boards sold in a pack. The orange circle means I need to do some prework -- in the case of Monday's menu item, it was actually the side dish that needed to start early. Gray circle means grill -- R Dub is involved, requires preheating the grill. The little boxes hold blank cards, and the ones with other items to choose. For this week, R Dub picked through for his preferences, Bug added her input, then I made the decision -- total democracy. I do so much better when I have a plan -- w...

Just a sampling of what I've had to eat this week: Slow Cooker Pork Loin, with roasted vegetables Grilled steak with mashed cauliflower (tastes like mashed potatoes!) Steak salad -- leftover steak on top of a salad Spaghetti! [Spaghetti squash with homemade meat sauce] The spaghetti was the coolest thing! I love my pasta, and going Paleo means no more for me. I've seen spaghetti squash in the store, but it just looked like an overgrown regular squash. Then I found out what happens when you bake it: And with the sauce: Here's the link to the directions for making the squash. I made my usual from-scratch pasta sauce, and added the meat without guilt! I just might be able to survive without pasta after all!

Hooray, all the Christmas decorations are put up! Well, partial hooray -- they're all in boxes waiting to go to the attic. Oh, and the nativity still has to get put in its box, but other than that, I'm done! Completely ridiculous move today - went out for a walk without paying the least bit of attention to the weather and almost froze. Why didn't I turn back around? I'll warm up once I get going. Seriously, I said that in my head. And kept walking. Passed a guy in shorts - see his lips move (earbuds in) and yep, he says, "It's cold," as I pass him. Apparently I wasn't the only one surprised. I made it 30 minutes and headed home...quickly. So I'm behind by 15 minutes. I did make it to the grocery store. Why do I ever think I can start eating better without going there first? I'm obviously delusional. Anyway, $200 later, I have what I need for a bit. I hope. A few of the interesting purchases: quinoa - I've eaten it before, but can't ...