Things have been on the crazy side here.  So much so I haven't meditated in 3 days!  The self care I need the most is the one I end up skipping.  I will get back into it tomorrow though.  I started a new strength program and it's throwing me all off!  Prior to that it's been the dogs and now classes are starting which I am total stoked about!  LOL - Does anyone say that still?!  Dating myself here.  So I thought I would play catch up since snowmagendon last week!  YIKES!  I think we got somewhere between 10 and 14 inches but after so many who keeps counting?!

Friday I figured I would show what I put in my protein shake every morning.  I do alternate between Equip Prime Protein and BioChem Whey Isolate.  I haven't noticed any difference with how I feel consuming either.  I am currently standing behind the research that since it's an isolate and eliminates 99% of the lactase I am good.  Of course I just thought of, what that 1% is doing.  What will I do when I am at the bottom?  I will probably stick to the Equip.  The flavor is fabulous and the thickness is perfect!  It tastes like a brownie shake,  Super good here!  It will be even better when it gets warm again.

Super thick and creamy with the added avocado!

At work I made my own Cortado, cause sometimes you just want to or the barista is busy.

One of my work lunches.  So glad I got this metal bento box.  It's super deep so I can really pack it full of all the tasty yum I can.  I love mixing food, doesn't matter what it is!  This was the last of my chicken sausage, some avocado, roasted cauliflower and bacon.

Friday night we have dinner at home and Saturday is our night out.  From my Real Plans list was Citrus Ginger Marinated Salmon with simple braised root veggies.  I believe the salmon was Autoimmune Wellness and the root veggies were from Steph at Stupid Easy Paleo, here is the recipe.  I have to say that D has been loving all her recipes!  Me too!

Saturday morning I know I was up early and did the use, which was feed everyone and go get coffee for us and a donut for the dogs and Nostrand.  Felix has no clue and I hope he doesn't catch on.  Currently I am trying to get him off Fancy Feast Broths and on RadCat raw food.  Not going too bad either.

After the gym I came home to have lunch.  D says I am too skinny still so I said I would come home and eat pancakes and pb.  I did too!  I had 3 leftover coconut protein pancakes and added this fab nut butter Performance Nut Butter.  I may have had some blueberry preserves on that too.

Saturday night we headed to the mall for a white button down shirt for D for work and went to J Alexanders for dinner.  I ended up with the NY strip since it was soaked in soy! I paired it with their broccoli and D got an extra side of coleslaw which is so tasty!  I think the strip was 20 ounces.  I ate most of it there and then finished it at home before going to bed.  We did eat at 4:30.  Funny thing is that Jason Seib said not too long ago.  "No one got fat eating steak and broccoli!"  Hilarious and I tried!  Confession, I've been eating too much sugar again!  Nothing crazy but we stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate and I got a cashew bear claw.  It was worth it!

Sunday night dinner.  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Baked Jerk Chicken from Juli with cinnamon plantains.  You can find it here with coconut cinnamon rice.  I paired mine with left over spaghetti squash and added more jerk sauce on it.  Tasted just like being back in Jamaica!

Monday morning's random cuteness.  He likes the sink and he also loves my new blanket from my bestie!  Hop over to Instagram to see what he was up to with it!  Monday was my usual.  Had a shake for breakfast and headed to the gym for my new routine from Stupid Easy Paleo - Steph Gadreau.  The program is called Made Strong.  In and out of the gym in under an hour!  Only 3 main lifting moves with a few optional functional movements.  I still felt like I was missing something.  There is! It's decided I need to up my weights to make it feel like I'm getting the worth out of it.  The shorter time frame is perfect right now since class started today.  It's 3 days of lifting too, which is what I am currently doing.  After the gym I got a huge latte macchiato from Starbuck's and headed to the pet store and Whole Foods for groceries.  I got home and had lunch which didn't look photogenic.  I had the rest of my leftover cabbage with a mix of jerk chicken and mayo.  Super tasty but ugly! LOL.

Hours later of doing things around the house D got home as I was starting dinner.  Earlier I made Nom Nom Paleo's All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce.  So instead of the exact recipe for beef and broccoli I added her sauce and it didn't disappoint.  Plus I have enough for other things later on in the week if I choose.  I added cauliflower rice to mine and D had white rice and green beans that I steamed.  Very filling and really good.  The cut of beef could have been better but I used what I had.  The broccoli had the perfect crispness to it and absorbed the delicious sauce.  There was a little extra to drizzle over the rices so made it perfect!

I'm hoping with class will come some epic meal creations and some treats that are AIP spot on!  What to create first is the question!

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The day before the snow storm! Better known as Thursday.

It's Thursday and I didn't post anything because things have been a bit crazy around here.  Certainly nothing wrong with crazy but somethings take a back seat when that happens!  Yesterday I was everywhere!  I had to pick up things for work and go in a make up a bakery tray for an order and make sure that was all pretty.  Well as pretty as I could make it with what I have available.  It certainly isn't like when I worked at Plum and had multiple departments in which to pull from.  

I still think it looks pretty good.  I so wish I had flowers to use.

Before I headed out to work I had a protein shake and tried Ancient Nutrition bone broth protein in Vanilla.  I'm a chocolate girl but the vanilla was a good change of pace.  My shake was still thick and creamy.  I chose not to take a picture since it was green from the avocado!  I also grabbed this Paleo Ranch cinnamon raisin bar because after my running around I was going to the gym and figured I would probably end up being a little hungry and it's better to have something with you than nothing at all!  I ate half and it tasted just like an oatmeal cookie.  I was so happy with that since I have been missing the taste of oatmeal.  I would love if I could eat gluten free oats but it ends up throwing me off.  I haven't had them in over a year, so who knows maybe I will grab a pack of D's and try it one day.

Have you seen something this cool?!  At work we have a machine that does Coffee Ripples and you download the app on your phone and we can print it on a latte!  This happens to be my Cortado with a nice surprise on it.  Not all pictures will come out perfect but for a dollar, why not?!

This was yesterday's lunch.  Yes I went to Whole Foods after I was finished at the gym and Target.  Speaking of the gym I just wrote out my new 3 day a week lifting plan.  I will start it Saturday.  My gym days are Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.  On Tuesday, Friday and Sunday I do 30 minutes of yoga and Thursday I do some light cardio.  Being I go to the gym alone it's hard to show some of the things I'm doing but I will try my best the next few times I go!

Yesterday I was finishing putting my office together and working at my computer and this little one had to take possession of my arm, after he was getting into all the things on my desk!

Last night's dinner!  Another PaleOMG recipe from Real Plans.  This was Buffalo Chicken Mini Meatloaf and you can get that recipe here with turnip fries and sautéed brussels (the last of my brussels I cooked, still some left though).  Slightly spicy and I wish I would have chopped my onions just a bit smaller.  It had fabulous taste and I put it in the broiler for a couple minutes to get the top all toasty.

Random cat action last night or lack there of!  I think Nostrand is becoming more acceptable of him.

Ah this morning I had a coffee with collagen and a little cream (coconut).  It's cold here and I really wanted a warm cup of coffee so I heated up the cold brew I made a few days ago.  I had a protein shake and did a few things around the house before getting cleaned up and heading out on an errand.  I cleaned up my dresser and a bit in my closet.  I took the donations into Royal Oak to the Salvation Army.  There were 2 bags full and it was nice to free up some space.  After I stopped at Starbuck's for a macchiato and then over to Premier Pet Supply to buy Stryker's food.  We have him and Jack on Farmina which is an Italian brand.  It's a fabulous food.  You can check out the ingredients here.

Once I got home I started on lunch.  You guessed it!  Another one from PaleOMG.  This is her Bacon, Chicken and braised cabbage.  I used purple cabbage since I already had the bag opened.  This had such good flavor!  The cabbage was soft and there was a slight amount of juice left at the bottom of the bowl.  It was a good amount of cabbage and I was a little bloated but nothing like I have been.  A few hours later I was instantly hungry!  I had the other half of my cinnamon raisin bar left from yesterday so I ate that since dinner wouldn't be for a couple hours.

I also had some cold brew.  I had my meditation session and was really tired after it.  I know I'm relaxed when I'm practically falling over during trying to keep awake, which I do, but still!

Tonight is breakfast for dinner and so excited to try coconut flour pancakes.  I'm curious if I will have the insulin spike I had with cassava flour.  If I do, well that just leaves Tiger Nut Flour to try.  I may not be able to have any for a while and if that's the case I am ok with it.  Nothing is forever!  I am trying Perfect Paleo Protein Pancakes with Coconut Flour and Cinnamon from Kat Gavlick over on Organic Authority and you can get that recipe here if you would like to try it!  Not AIP since it has egg, but I can have them a few times a week and I know you remember that!  I try to keep all my offending foods in one day so I don't have any gut issues.  That said I do have 2 break outs, so I know I need to scale some things back.  Like brussels, broccoli, nuts and sugar.  I am jumping back into the Whole30/Sugar Detox again with my bestie!

I find coconut flour a little on the dry side and I don't use syrup but I do love my peanut butter on them!  I could have add banana and blueberry preserves to them!  Oh well, I did save the other half for later this week (Saturday maybe?!) and could easily do it then.

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Monday Recap! n=1 Experiment

Another Monday and I am so happy that I have them off!  Though I must say that I will be happy to work whenever once I am finished with NTP training!  To be able to make your own schedule is the best thing for this Type A/Rebel (4 tendencies).

I'm not sure what times D's alarm went off but I laid in bed for a while longer.  Jack likes to start cleaning so the slopping of the tongue was driving me a bit crazy so I got up.  All the animals were happy I did since they wanted to eat.  Nostrand is really the only one that will drive me nuts about it.  It snowed a bunch from yesterday and I knew I would need to shovel some today but I was leaving it until later today to do it.

After I fed everyone, I fed myself and put D's lunch together.  I made my usual shake but used decaf coffee instead of the water for a mocha instead.  It was really good of course!  Tomorrow I will post everything I currently use in my shake.  I say currently because the protein powder will be changing! After D left I headed out to Whole Foods to pick up groceries for the week.  I picked up chips for D and some peppermint chocolates.  The rest of the groceries were produce, ground chicken, a whole chicken, sriracha brussels (I know!  But it's tomorrows lunch), some frozen peas, some coconut peanut butter.  I picked up some pasta sauce.  The Rao's I wanted was out so I found another that had no garlic.  There was one that Diane Sanfillipo recommends but at $8.99 I just couldn't do it.  Maybe another day!

My last stop before I left for home was the coffee bar for a cortado.  It's not as good as Birmingham Roast but tasty.  Yes I did get decaf too.

Coconut milk Cortado!

I came home and quickly put the groceries away so I could head to the gym.  Here is what I did.

treadmill warm up for 20 minutes 4.2 mph @ 12% to 15%

Single leg presses 4 sets 90#, 110#, 130#, 150#

Double leg press 4 sets 210#, 230#, 250#, 270#

Single leg ext 4 sets 40# with air squats

Double leg ext 4 set 70# with wide leg squats in between

4 sets

DB chest press 35#

Abs

35# globet squats

Abs

3 sets

Chest flys 20#

Abs

15# thrusters Abs

3 sets

 27.5# single arm shoulder press

30# straight arm pulled downs

85# calf presses

I went to Trader Joe's after since Whole Foods didn't have a spaghetti squash and I picked up some tomatoes for work. When I got home I was ready for lunch!

Noodle bowl!  I bought shrimp from Whole Foods this morning and whipped this up quick!  I used Trader Joe's spill zucchini noodles with chopped onion, mushrooms, green onion and carrot.  I added some coconut aminos and lunch was ready.  Only issue it wasn't as filling as I had hoped.  It tasted great though and would happily make it again.  

While I was eating my bestie said I had a package delivered!  SO I jumped up and checked my front door and there it was!  She got me a blanket since I said I was always cold at night!  She is just the best bestie anyone could ever want!  I wish we lived close!  She is all the way in Austin.  I was lucky enough to go see her a couple times and I talk to her daily, well messenger!  Lunch wasn't filling so I had a protein bar and then later some Siete Lime tortilla chips.  A few other errands and chores around the house and I was ready for dinner.

D has wanted a "meat" free option at least one timer per week so we do veggie burgers.  He has a fried egg on his.  I do on mine as well and some bacon.  Tonight I also had some sautéed peppers and onions on top of butter lettuce with tomatoes on the side.  I cooked up some white sweet potato fries as well.

It was Felix time after dinner and putting a message on Harder to Kill Club with Steph Gadreau about my Saturday experiment and how it was a fail.  She pointed out that certain carbs ie. cassava flour can cause insulin spikes!  This makes total sense since after I ate some Siete chips I was hungrier and felt a bit jittery.  DUH!  Sometimes you just need someone else to point out what is right in from t of you.

n=1 experiments are good and wonder what the next will be.

Sunday Workday

Sunday Workday and I didn't have to walk this morning.  I still got up at my usual time for my yoga practice and my protein shake.  This morning wasn't cold but I had a few things to take into work and I told D I would make him a coffee when we got there.  It's only a 2 minute drive or a 20 minute walk.  I made myself a matcha latte with coconut milk but only had a sip.  It wasn't what I wanted, so I opted for a macchiato.  We got snow on Saturday and was getting more today.  Pretty much I didn't want to have to deal with walking.  I got things done that I needed to but work was slow with it snowing on and off and also it's Super Bowl Sunday, so people had that to get ready for.

Around 10:30(ish) it was about time for lunch

I had the remaining piece of my Bacon Chorizo (no chipotle) meatloaf.  Even cold it was so good!  I had the rest of my roasted broccoli and some greens on the side with sea salt and cracked pepper.

 Isn't this the cutest?!  This is what I got to come home to.  On my way home I did stop at Pet People to pick up some toys for Felix.  He really loves to be out with us yet he hides a lot in the office closet.

Jack was on his bed just chewing away on his bone.

Felix finally made it on the mantle.  He has been looking at it for days!

I made PaleOMG's Cilantro Chicken Nuggets - but that's not what these are!  For D's I followed her recipe and it looks just like her pictures.  You can get the recipe here, you won't be disappointed!  I made these with chorizo instead for me.  The recipe was the same though.  I made the dipping sauce for him and I had the ranch (Tessamae's) from my spinach salad.  This was seriously good!  I can't wait to make it again.  I know I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't on my Real Plans menu.  I mean maybe but now that D has given it the "yeah it good" I will be making it again.  He very rarely says that!  Thanks Juli (PaleOMG)! 

Well it's Super Bowl time and it's the only time I watch football!  Until Monday!  Enjoy!

Trying Carbs in the Morning (Pre-Workout)

I have an issue with carbs and when is the best time to consume them.  So I thought I would experiment this morning, n=1.  I have been wanting a "pb&j" this week so I decided to make one this morning.  I was debating between having it before or after my gym time.  I opted for before.  I was up early and decided after doing a few things around the house and going to get coffee from Dunkin' and a donut for the pups that I would come home and make it.  I was pretty hungry and thinking that it wasn't going to cut it but I was going to try it anyway.

I have 2 slices of Legit Bread Company bread with homemade macadamia nut butter and Trader Joe's Organic Reduced Sugar Blueberry Preserves.  While it was good I can say that I still feel hungry and a little light headed.  I know I can't possibly lift so I went to the kitchen for the rest of my steak from last night.  I was a wreck for most of the afternoon.  I went to the gym for my workout and it wasn't bad but it wasn't the best either.  After the gym I stopped at Trader Joe's for a couple things and then headed towards home to pick up some tailoring, vitamins and a macchiato.  I did make a protein shake for after which I downed on the way.  I was starting to feel better but wasn't completely there.

I got home, cleaned up and meditated for 30 minutes.  The 30 minutes does end up going by pretty quickly though today I didn't relax as much as I wanted.  I picked up a few things around the house and got my lunch together for work for tomorrow.  I ate some roasted broccoli.  I swear I was just super hungry.  Damn those morning carbs!

D was on his trainer in the basement and when he finished we decided to get an early dinner, like at 4pm!  Early bird special!

D wanted gluten free pizza and he likes the Domino's version.  He gets ham and green pepper.  Tonight he added on mushrooms which he "doesn't like" but wants more vegetables.  I went to 7Greens to get my beloved Blake Bowl.  I asked for roasted brussels but ended up getting broccoli!  What?!?  I know they are both green but not the same!  Good thing I love broccoli too.  I'm finally full!  I can't actually believe it.  It took all day and a bunch of meaningless calories and blood sugar crashes and spikes for everything to come back to normal!

Ah but before I go I should tell you about my workout today!

Treadmill warm up for 20 minutes speed 4.2 incline 12% to 15%

Smith Machine split lunge 3 sets 65#

Curtsy lunges 30# db 3 sets 8 reps

db curl & press 17.5# 3 sets 8 reps

lat raises 12.5# 3 sets 8 reps

squats 17.5# db 3 sets 10 reps

in between exercises ab work.  Frog crunches, lower ab leg raise and foot supported straight leg ab crunches

KB 30# single leg platform step ups 3 sets 8 reps

KB swings 20# 3 sets 10 reps

Airsquats 3 sets 10 reps

There it is my Saturday!  I'm looking forward to Super Bowl Sunday - bring on the commercials and half time show!

First Friday of February! What I ate today.

I now have 2 yoga partners!  It does make yoga even more enjoyable than it already is. 

I think big dawg was looking toward the stairs because someone was making noise!

Felix was sitting on the armoire after being spooked by something.  He is a little skittish!  His favorite place to hang out is the closet on top of the shoes in my office.  He's a little strange!  I was very happy that he actually ate all his food in one sitting this morning.  I had everything ready to go this morning, so no prepping needed!  I warmed up my coffee from yesterday (Be Well Cafe Vanilla Latte) and made my shake.  The temp had dropped again yesterday so D was going to drive me to work 😀 No being cold for me!

I got to work and then was asked to go run an errand!  Of course I don't drive to work so I borrowed a car from the front manager.  I was off looking for coffee filters!  Luckily a nearby Starbucks was kind enough to give me a stack!  So I headed back to work and had a bunch of things to get done.  Unfortunately I wasn't very busy cooking food but just prepping.  Around 10:30 I was ready for my lunch.

I mentioned I bought this metal bento box yesterday and it came in handy!  I had around 1/2 pound of sriracha brussels from Whole Foods, spaghetti squash, baby kale and a spinach chicken sausage from Brat Hans.  I grilled up the sausage on the flat top and let everything else come to room temp.  Only bad thing about eating at work, don't want to microwave it.

Can I get a macchiato!?!  I did make this myself, decaf of course. Then I was back at it.  I made almond butter bars a little later.  It's one of the best selling pastries in the case!  I make them a couple times a week!  If you're near Birmingham the come to Birmingham Roast to try one!

Finally 3pm and time to walk home!  It was still a bit cold but not like it was in the morning, I was happy about that.  I always listen to a Podcast on my walks.  Today was listening to the latest from Jason Seib and Altshift.  I love it for the mindset.  You should check it out.  I got home to hungry animals.  I'm feeding Felix after everyone else so him and I can get alone time and he can be calm.  So I meditated for 30 minutes in my office with him.  He ate well and went to the litter box.  He's making progress but I wish Nostrand would stop stalking him.  The dogs could careless about him but she is just nasty.

Butcherbox to the rescue for dinner!

For my Real Plans dinner tonight I made a cinnamon sage rubbed ribeye.  I had pulled from the freezer this morning 2 ribeye's to thaw from my butcherbox.  I love this service and wondering if I should change it back to monthly instead of bi-monthly or just add on a few more items.  The cinnamon was very subtle in case you were wondering.  They paired a totally different side but I wasn't feeling sage dusted butternut squash and opted for my leftover roasted cauliflower.  I made D a pesto rice with peas.  Overall it was a good day.  I'm still loving the Real Plans meals and so nice to be able to customize everything including portion sizes.  Check it out here if you haven't yet!

Modified AIP Journey The Day After Whole30/Sugar Detox - (What I ate for the day)

Early morning!  February 1st!  D had to leave early so everyone was up around 5:30.  Felix came in the bedroom and purred and wanted attention.  He didn't care that Jack was there either.

The dogs were "hunting" because they know that Nostrand could throw up at anytime.  Felix wasn't thrilled because he wanted to eat and Jack thought the smell of cat food was the Nostrand projectile she is known for!  Gross I know but it's at least a once of week occurrence.

Felix decided to explore the kitchen this morning. 

Certainly hope he isn't going to make a habit of lying on the stove!  I had my morning shake and got an email that my milk order for work was ready, it was 7:30.  So I headed out to pick that up and deliver it to work.  I got the car unloaded at work and also got a macchiato YUM!  I headed to Be Well cafe, I had a coupon and got a vanilla latte.  This latte has coconut oil, and an herbal coffee blend, so not what you think at all.  You can check it out here.  I picked up bread next, wasn't planning on it but decided to anyway, which meant another stop back to work. I then went to Target because I wanted a side table for my office, which I found one.  I picked up a few random things and then headed to Whole Foods.  I only needed a couple things and actually stuck to it!  I did give in a buy some sriracha brussels for lunch tomorrow at work.  

Time to get home for 30 minutes of cardio, followed by a shower and lunch!  I was excited about lunch!  But then again I just get excited about food!

I took 12 HCL's before this meal!

The brussels, ya know!!  Score for taking 12 this time.  I had no issues!  I repeated yesterday's lunch from PaleOMG's My New Go-To Lunch but I stuck to the recipe this time!  One chicken sausage and a slice of bacon, 1 cup of brussels and 1 tbs of creamy ranch dressing.  Even better today with the bacon!

After lunch I headed to the Container Store I wanted to see what they had for my home office.  I ended up with a drawer organizer, a metal bento lunch box, and a new lunch bag for D.  D texted me which meant another trip back to Target!  I ended up getting what he needed and 2 bottled of Cupcake wine.

I put my side table together and finished just as the vet was coming over for Felix's exam.  He got a clean bill of health!  Then everyone ate their dinner.  Even Felix ate a full packet!  It's about time!  Then I realized that I hadn't done my 30 minutes of meditation.  So I sat down and had a very hard time mediating.  My mind was all over, but the 30 minutes did go by quickly and I was able to relax!

It was 6 pm and time to make dinner.  It's Thursday which means it's breakfast for dinner.  I thought about pancakes but changed my mind.  I did make D his pancakes though.  I had half an avocado, sautéed cabbage and kale which I topped with Trader Joe's Green Goddess dressing.  I pan fried 2 pieces of Pederson's bacon and 2 Vital Farm pasture raised eggs.  I also had a few bites of roasted cauliflower that was in the refrigerator as I cooked.  I really shouldn't "snack" as I cook but I do and it's typically veggies I'm eating so how bad can that really be?!  Who else snacks while they cook?