On the Road...

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good Halloween and have fully recovered from it! Here's one of the many awesome pictures taken from the CFC Halloween Party!

Today is the day that I embark on my roadtrip to the Carolinas and I am sooo excited (but I will miss you guys!). For one week I'll be traveling with my friends through North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee! My friends have never been to the South so I'm excited to show them a world of rednecks and mullets.....haha just kidding, but not at the same time....

Anyway, so as I was preparing and packing up for the long 12 hour drive, the first thing that came to mind was how I was going to keep eating Paleo on the road? Snacks are a must on long car trips, so I immediately started brainstorming some good Paleo snacks....so far I have prepared some hard boiled eggs, bought fresh fruit, beef jerky, almonds, turkey meat, and I baked some Paleo apple muffins (check the recipe out on www.everydaypaleo.com). That's pretty good for snacks right? So snacks I think I've got under control, but what about actual meals? I'll be driving all morning and through lunch time with minimal breaks which means I will need to find a quick place to eat and my friends will probably want to just get fast food....so what do I do? I guess I will be put to the test today and see...hopefully wherever I go will have atleast one good Paleo friendly option for me....What would you do to stay on top of your Paleo diet when on the road?

Happy Halloweener!

Tis the season for some treats!...paleo treats, uh?....they are definitely hard to come by at times.

Considering I grew up with a Polish mother, a house never free from baked goods, and now, my older sister is a phenomenal baker (non-bias opinion), I have a terrible sweet-tooth. Yet, ever since I started the Paleo diet, treats/baked goods have been viewed as cheats. Recently, though, I have branched out and started looking for paleo options to satisfy my sweet-tooth (probably one of the reasons I still eat a lot of fruit). First, I started with almond butter and bananas. Delectable and easy, what is not to like? When it was hot in the summer, I also tried frozen mango slices. Those were OK, but they actually lose some of their sweetness upon freezing. Next, my girlfriend made me frozen banana popsicles that had been coated with almond butter and sprinkled with coconut shavings. Finally, and my favorite thus far, paleo pumpkin bread (recipe from crossfitchicago.com, but if you are going to attempt to make it and like cinnamon, add more than suggested). It is not overpowering with regards to pumpkin flavor and has the consistency of pumpkin pie more so than bread. All-in-all, delicious.

So, with the holiday upon us, what is you favorite paleo dessert/treat? Please share, I'm dying (pun!) to try them.

p.s. Guess who in the pic...he should never change his costume, ever.

Friday... finally!

So I was thinking last night, while making my 3rd batch of some crazy ground turkey mixture, what are some of my "staple foods?" Naturally I realized it was turkey. Turkey in many forms. I've always enjoyed the way it tastes and it tends to be one of the leaner meats available. Recently I've been making a lot of ground turkey and mixing in different things for variety. Yesterday it was roasted red peppers, green peppers, garlic, olive oil, and some seasoning. I could eat this daily! It was super easy to make and saves for a couple days, which is another reason I'm a huge fan. So, what are some of your staple foods?

Log from yesterday

THIRSTY THURSDAY!!!! LOL!

So the title of today's post makes me sound a bit like a lush, but oh' well.....I really am thirsty.

lol. So the question that I have for my fellow Paleo-ers is what the hell can we drink other than water and tea or coffee without crap in it? I realize it is very important to get our daily intake of H2O, but I need a little excitement in my beverage. I heard Derek talking about soaking strawberries in water and coming up with some yummy goodness, but does anyone else have any other ideas? We focus really hard on food recipes and keeping it interesting, so let's be well rounded and keep our beverages interesting as well:)

Also, (I know I am all over the place) what about alcohol? I have been getting mixed advice on this. Are certain alcohols okay to consume in the occasional shot or is it really nothing at all? Can we drink Coconut and Almond milk? Any smoothie recipes not involving milk or yogurt? I need answers people! lol.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday! 2 more days until epic foolishness at the Halloween party! Stay strong my friends until then:)

Wordless Wednesday

And... it's Tuesday

Hi my fellow West Loopers!

I know that we have been posting our food diaries on the blog, but if anyone is looking for a way to get detailed info about food intake, I would recommend Livestrong.com. I have actually been using it on and off for years. You can setup your weight, select if you want to gain, maintain or lose weight and it will give you a total calorie intake for the day. Then once you track your food and/or workouts, you get a good idea of the calorie range you are in for that day. It also breaks down the carbs/fat/protein ratio. I find this very helpful now that I am trying to follow the Paleo diet more strictly. Here is a link to my food diary to you can see what the breakdown looks like: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/diary/who/clmivey/

You are Cordially Invited to....

the 1st WestLoop

PALEO POT LUCK PARTY!!!

When: Saturday, November 13th

Where: Kristine's Place!

Time: 5:30 - our stomachs are full

RSVP what you will be bringing so I can make sure we all don't make the same thing and so I can give you my address, etc.

Start experimenting with those yummy Paleo Dishes so you can show off your creative cooking skills at the Paleo Pot Luck!

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Questions? Please ask!

Sunday Funday!

I attended to a Halloween Party last night.  There were cheese dips, pies, cookies, bagel dogs, candy and more!  Although temptation was everywhere – I found ways to accommodate my Paleo commitment.  I helped myself to some shrimp cocktail (minus the sauce), guacamole sans the chips, raw veggies and fruit.  I did it!

Football Sunday is also a challenge for me.  I am generally found in front of the TV with football friendly food on hand.  Today:  PALEO CHILI!

Paleo-Chili

-----------

2 lbs ground buffalo

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves chopped garlic

2-4 Tbs fat

2 cups chopped tomatoes

4 Tbs chile powder

1 teaspoon dry oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

Add additional veggies per your liking: green pepper, red pepper, zucchini are yummy!

Brown ground buffalo with chopped onion and chopped garlic, in fat. Then add chopped tomatoes, chile powder, oregano, cumin, and salt. Add water, then simmer the mixture for at least two hours, until the meat is very tender and the tomatoes pretty much cook into the sauce. Four hours is not too much, but check to make sure it does not go dry.

BEAR DOWN!

Happy Friday

Let's get this party started! I'm still trying to get FitDay to act the way I want it to, so I may end up posting some stuff that just seems off once in a while. I can assure you, FitDay is not 100% accurate and I'm only using it to get an idea of what my overall intake is. Initially I was only using it to track carb intake, but since I'm a complete nerd and sit in front of a computer all day, I guess it should be easy enough to enter the rest. I figured I'd just post my log and comment on it... if another format is better let me know.

Here is my log from yesterday. It was a rest day, so my calorie intake was lower and my ratios were a little weird.



I suppose this is a pretty typical off-day for me, although the fat content is a little high because I got caught on the road and had to sustain myself on gas station mixed nuts. No good haha. This is also quite under maintenance for me. I should probably be getting in another 200 or so cals a day. I'm trying, but I'm so full all the time!

On days I workout, I tend to get in more carbs post-workout after I take in a 45gram+ protein protein shake. I avoid fat intake at this time and then eat a solid meal maybe an hour and a half later. This seems to work well and keep me settled till the next day.

The food looks pretty boring, I know, but yesterday was pretty busy for me so I didn't have much time to make/invent better stuff. I use plenty of seasonings when making things, usually salt-free, or I just don't use it. I've also been using the crock pot so much it's probably going to break. I need to get better at making things that will last 3 days instead of 5 though, as I tend to get bored of them around day 3.

One more thing I forgot to mention is water intake. I've been drinking probably around a gallon/gallon 1/2 a day. I've also been making a ton of green tea iced tea (caffeine free) that seems to keep me feeling pretty good. The only liquid I really miss having a lot of is beer! :)

Whelp, hopefully I didn't bore you too much! On with the posts!

"PAL" EO's!

The buddy system for our Paleo pre-challenge, Challenge! 

I figured it would be fun to mix things up as opposed to being in pairs.

It would work like this: your "PAL"EO who you hold accountable is different than the “PAL”EO who holds you accountable.  This way we are all really working together!

Camey

Kenyatta

John A

Kristine

Rae

Kelsey

Tough Guy – the Tough Guy role is responsible for holding their “PAL”EO accountable, ensuring that food logs are posted by 10am CST to the West Loop Paleo blog. (Also ensuring future accountabilities are fulfilled)

Tough Guy	CFCer
Camey	Rae
John A	Camey
Kelsey	John A
Kenyatta	Kelsey
Kristine	Kenyatta
Rae	Kristine

*Feel free to post today - but I think we should all commit to tomorrow as our Day 1!