Meh...136.5

My weight is still on the higher side today. Not happy. Did my drinking Friday and Saturday night really screw me up that bad??? Or am I taking in too much fat/almond products? So mad and bummed at myself. Boy, I sure am impatient. I'm trying to keep a food journal, so I know exactly what I'm eating and how much protein, fat, and vegetables I'm consuming. Then I can evaluate from there. I have been eating quite a few almonds and almond flour products I guess...need to focus on more vegetables. I feel like I'm definitely getting a good share of protein.

On a side note, why does eating healthy have to be so expensive??? I went to Publix the other day and bought maybe 10-15 small things and spend almost $100.00. Every products I picked up that was natural or organic was so much more...especially the real maple syrup! It was like $8.00! I'm trying to buy better things for my daughter to eat as well...I don't feel right trying to clean up my eating while feeding my daughter crap. So, I decided to try some organic things she would actually eat...organic "Spaghetti-O" type noodles, organic yogurt, etc. After picking up a few things for her and the few things I needed for myself, I had spent a fortune! Imagine if I had filled the cart!

Damn alcohol.

Well, I think I did totally great food-wise this past weekend, then went and sabotaged myself by having way too much to drink on Saturday night. Enough to give me a effing mild hangover and miss my Sunday morning workout. UGH. So mad at myself. But I need to just get back on this wagon. On a plus side, I cooked up a bunch of Paleo foods for the week and I did get up at 5:25 to work out this morning...so at least I didn't totally and completely screw myself over.

I made these Paleo snickerdoodles, which I was very excited about. I needed to have something sweet to turn to when I get the urge. They are a little on the oily side though. Next batch will have less coconut oil. But, even though they fall apart, they taste great...good enough that even my picky ten-year old likes them!

Coconut Milk Creamer

Okay, so one of my Paleo mistakes was that I thought non-dairy powdered creamer was a good replacement for my go-to  Land O' Lakes Fat-Free half and half. It has no dairy, so it must be okay, right? (Derp.) Then I actually read the ingredients label and it turns out the non-dairy powdered stuff is mostly sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. Doh!!

So I Googled 'Paleo creamer' and came across a forum where  someone mentioned So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer. Oooh. Headed to Whole Foods at lunch and grabbed the orignal flavor and vanilla. It's not bad! The vanilla is sweeter, so it doesn't require as much of my (Non-Paleo) Splenda. It's very low-cal, low-fat, and an all-around winner. Thank God for dairy substitutes!

Happy Friday

I hope this carb-flu subsides soon ( I heard that's what it is called) because I am TIRED. I woke up early and worked out before work, but I feel it was half-ass. I am enjoying my ALMOST-Paleo pumpkin protein smoothie. It is unsweetened almond milk, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 2 Splendas, cinnamon, about a cup of pure pumpkin and ice. Not Paleo because of the protein powder and Splenda, but oh wells. I enjoy it anyway. It is REALLY filling me up, and it has about 250 calories.

I am up about half a pound!! How did that happen?? I know, I know...it's half a pound, the scale fluctuates, etc etc. But still. I feel it would be a little more motivating to see it go down, you know?

So it is Friday, and normally I would drink a good amount of wine tonight...so it will be a challenge. I really don't want to flush all of this down the drain. I promise to be on my best behavior. I will get back here on how well I do.

Wait...me, going Paleo??

Welcome to my blog! I'm going to just jump right into this because I'm pretty sure I'm probably the only one who is going to read this, right? Even if I'm not, who likes someone who goes on and on, right?

Blogging has never been my thing, but I'm going to give it a shot. Countless times I get these great ideas in my head of what I want to write, and then as soon as I go to type...the lights go out. I have a permanent case of writer's block. I wish I could just mentally transfer my thoughts to paper. But I'm going to give it a go anyway.

Anywho, I'm starting on a new journey...a lifestyle change that I really hope will benefit me. I thought blogging would be a great way to record my progress, learnings, mistakes....in the hopes that I will be able to look back and see how far I've come. *fingers crossed*

Quick history: I've pretty much been watching my weight/dieting/calorie counting and the like for my whole adult life. While I'm not obese, or close to it, I've always been a little overweight and definitely not what anyone would call "fit."

I'm SICK of it. The whole "dieting" thing. I've tried many fad diets, pills (yes, those crazy Hydroxycut pills back in the day) Low-carb, low-fat, Atkins, Weight Watchers, calorie counting, etc. A couple years ago I came across a great website, www.myfitnesspal.com. It's a free tool that allows you to keep track of your calories. For a lot of the awesome members on there, that's all they needed - to keep track of calories, not go above the magic number and BAM...weight loss. It did not 100% work for me (I'm sure partially because of my inconsistency....and wine.) But I realized that I can't "diet"...or it will not work long-term. I have to change my lifestyle and habits, as a lot of those members stressed time and again on the message boards. If you eat a certain way temporarily, then go back to eating "normal", you'll just gain weight back. And who wants to be on a "diet" their whole life??

I was never good at calorie-counting; unless you know the *exact* portion amount and are willing to count and weigh everything, there is a lot of room for failure. It was a lot of guess-timating, especially when it came to restaurants that didn't have nutritional information handy, and I just got lazy with it. Plus, I was sick of logging on to the computer or on to the phone app every time I ate something. I'm guessing it had to be bad calorie estimating on my part or I just couldn't find my *magic number*,  because a lot of people use that website with great success. I was just not seeing the results I wanted.

So there I was again, disappointed, feeling like I'm doomed..no matter what I eat or how much I work out.

Fast forward: a neighbor of mine recently started the Paleo lifestyle, and she's never looked or felt better. She would talk about it, and I swear it's like it gave her a high. She looked awesome and said she has more energy now, at 50, than ever before.  I had heard of Paleo vaguely, but I had no idea what it truly meant. I forget exactly what it was that finally got my attention, but I started doing research; what "Paleo" truly meant, what the benefits were, the effects of gluten, dairy, sugar and processed foods on our bodies.

At first it sounded way too hard and I didn't even entertain the thought. It sounded eerily similar to Atkins, which was an epic fail for me back in the late 90's. No bread? No dairy?? No way, too restrictive.  Now granted, at the time I attempted Atkins I was only maybe 20 years old and had no clue how to cook, so I lived on eggs and bun-less burgers. Sure, I lost weight but It got to the point where I just could not continue and the thought of eating an egg or burger made me want to puke.

But I did some research. And researched some more. And then some more. The results sounded great; weight loss, mental clarity, more energy. My neighbor was always posting these awesome-looking recipes and  food photos on Facebook. It sure didn't look horrible. And I'm no longer a kid; I'm in my mid-thirties with a husband and daughter, and I love to cook. So the idea of cooking something completely different is no longer a scary concept.

Plus, I've discovered coconut milk, almond milk, almond flour...did we even have these things back in the 90's?? I have no idea, but being dairy-gluten-sugar free is really not as crazy and scary as it seems with all the alternatives I've found. I just bought Coconut Aminos for the first time today...when I first saw that in a recipe, I was like "What the hell is that??" (fermented coconut nectar) I'm learning all sorts of new things. Now, I'm not going to list exactly what the Paleo "Yes" and "No" foods, are, it's very easy to look up. Plus, it would just lead to more rambling.

Point is, it doesn't take a genius to realize that no grain, dairy and sugar will result in weight loss. And who wouldn't want to feel better and actually be healthier to boot??

So, today is my fourth day in. Of course I've made some mistakes.. (Oops, tofu is not Paleo) and have a lot to learn. But I'm willing to give this my best. Although I say "Almost" Paleo because there are some things I don't intend on giving up...at least not yet. I still enjoy the following, but am trying to limit:

• Coke Zero
• Protein powder for shakes
• Bacon - on the fence with some "Paleos", because it is processed
• Chicken sausage - same reason as above
• Splenda
• Wine

And I'm sure I'll come across other things from time to time. So far this is truly a journey, I'm learning new things every day. And my weight is down! We'll see where it takes me.