Last week, I picked up a new book to read, The Paleo Diet For Athletes.

I really enjoyed reading It Starts With Food since it seriously changed the way I look at what I put in my mouth, but I wanted to learn more about how this style of eating is good for runners or endurance athletes. After all, we all think runners can live on carbs alone right? You know, the ones that only eat bagels and bananas. That used to be me!

I’ll admit that my first impression on the Paleo diet (before I read this book) was that it was for crossfit junkies. I didn’t think hard core runners or cyclist could thrive on this diet, simply because of the lack of bagels and peanut butter.

The Paleo Diet for Athletes is well written, well researched, and provides detailed information on what the Paleo diet is and how its good for athletes. It outlines outlines five periods of the day in relation to the training schedule of the athlete and explains the nutritional goals of each stage.

• Stage 1: Eating Before Exercise
• Stage 2: Eating During Exercise
• Stage 3: Eating 30 Minutes Post Exercise
• Stage 4: Short-Term Post Exercise
• Stage 5: Long-Term Post Exercise

Here are just a few things that I took away from the book:

• Simple carbs are the best for fast recovery (I was surprised by this recommendation)
• A diet high in animal protein, like the Paleo diet, has plenty of Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) for building and repairing muscle
• Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of antioxidants, which promote optimal immune system functioning, reducing the likelihood of illness
• Glycogen stores can be filled using fruits and vegetables in the post-exercise window

It really was a great read. I finished it in less than a week!

If you’re an athlete who is on the fence about the Paleo diet, I definitely recommend that you pick this up.

I still have a lot more experimentation to do to see what works best for my body. I don’t labeling myself as “Paleo.” I just eat what works best for me. After reading this book, I know I’m on the right track!

Woo! It’s finally Friday!

This week was actually pretty low key for me, but I’m always happy when the weekend rolls around. A little rest and relaxation is always appreciated.

I’m still messing around with my new sleep app. I think my energy levels on a certain day are dependent on my quality of sleep from the previous night. I feel great today. I have plenty of energy and I feel ready to take on the world.

Sleep cycles from 5/16-5/17

On the other hand, I felt tired and run down yesterday. I went to bed at my normal time, but the quality of sleep just wasn’t there.

Sleep cycles from 5/15-5/16

I still want to play around with it a little bit more, but I think I’m on to something here.

As most of you know, I eat mostly Paleo. I’d say my diet is in the 90/10 range. There are a few things that I just don’t see the need to give up. Plus, I don’t think I can.

I still eat small amounts of high quality dairy, like organic Greek yogurt and raw cheese. I still eat hummus and peanut butter is my favorite food. I’m not perfect, but I feel fine eating these foods.

I’ve noticed that I feel the best when I eliminate grains, added sugars, and those funky ingredients you find in “health” foods (like carrageenan). I still consume honey and maple syrup, but on a limited basis.

I made some waffles this morning and they were just screaming for a little sweetness. Recipe coming sometime next week!

I do my best to enjoy the food that I eat, but to have it nourish my body at the same time. I feel my best eating mostly Paleo, so I will roll with it until it doesn’t work anymore. I also try not to over think things. If I’m out at dinner and I want something with grains, I’ll go for it. Life is all about balance and I do the best that I can each and every day to make sure I’m happy and healthy at the same time.

Well that was a ramble. I meant to write about how living more of a Paleo lifestyle is about more than just what I eat, but I’ll save that for another post.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

1. I think school is out for the summer because I made it to work in 25 minutes this morning. That’s unheard of for me!

Actually, I only have another month of my long commute though. My new apartment in downtown Dallas will be about 5 minutes from work. Score!

2. I’m kind of a nerd. I was excited to go to sleep last night for the sole purpose of using my new sleep app.

It’s pretty neat! I want to play around with it the next few nights to see if I notice any patterns to help me sleep better.

3. I love love love Paleo pancakes!

I’ve eaten them for breakfast every day this week and they just don’t get old.

Dare I say I might like them better than normal pancakes…

4. I’m still drinking my daily Kombucha. This brand is especially delicious.

5. Story of my life (currently).

Back to work!

Trust me, I realize that I’ve been neglecting the blog. I love to post as much as I can, but sometimes it just has to get put on the backburner.

Life has been very busy and complicated, especially at work, but it’s starting to slow down a little bit. I’m trying to get back to the relaxed lifestyle that I know and love. Busy is good, but too busy is not so good.

I won’t go into too many details about what’s been going on lately, but I will tell you that this past week has been glorious. It’s allowed me to take more time for myself and do the things I want to do. Sometimes you just have to look out for yourself.

Let’s hope that I can start posting a little bit more

I have some exciting things coming up in the next few months. My lease is FINALLY up next month and I’ll be moving to downtown Dallas. It should have been up this month, but that’s a story for another time.

I wish I could say that I’m moving to a house or condo, but no dice. I spent two months looking and didn’t find anything that I could justify purchasing. It looks like I’ll be renting for another year, but I don’t mind too much. Who even knows where I’ll even be at this time next year? I found a really place downtown though. I’m excited!

Now that we’ve covered that, here’s a little glimpse at what I’ve been eating lately…

Paleo pancakes for breakfast numero uno

There was no way I could wait until 11 AM to eat brunch!

Mother’s day brunch for breakfast numero dos

We went to Smoke for Mother’s Day brunch and it was delicious! I ended up getting an omelet with cheddar, pulled pork, collard greens, and roasted tomatoes.

Pan seared Chiliean Sea Bass for dinner

I splurged on this yesterday and it was worth every penny! Sea Bass is hands down my favorite fish.

Omelet and sweet potato hash browns

Tacos for Cinco De Mayo

Green juice from Whole Foods

I need to stop buying these every day. Quite the expensive habit…

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Over the past few weeks, my eating has been very off track. I recently finished a Whole30 in March, but I didn’t stick with it.

I felt GREAT after finishing the program. It really changed the way that I look at food. Unfortunately, I’ve sort of done a 180 since then. Way too many grains and too much dairy. I can tell that my stomach doesn’t like it one bit.

I’ve also had problems sleeping lately. When I was doing the Whole30 program, I slept like a rock every night. I didn’t even have problems getting up at 4:45 AM for a workout.

I really want to get back to this style of eating. I’m not planning on going completely Paleo for the rest of my life, but maybe somewhere around 90/10. I truly do feel my best when grains and dairy are limited.

I can’t commit to a full 30 days right now. I have a trip planned for the end of April and my birthday is next month. Mom is making me a carrot cake!

However, June 1 marks Whole30 round 2. Let me know if anyone wants to join!

I started off this morning with a recipe that I’ve always wanted to try!

Scrambled eggs, leftover baked sweet potato, and Paleo pancakes with pecan butter

Paleo Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 Egg
• 1 Banana
• 1 TBSP Almond Flour

Directions

1. Mash banana in a bowl. Add egg and almond flour. Mix well.
2. Coat a cast iron pan with coconut oil. On medium-low heat, cook for a few minutes per side.
3. These cook quickly, but they are quite delicate. Flip carefully!

I know what I’m having tomorrow

I really wish that I could commit to an entire 30 days. Until I can, I’m just going to do the best I can while still enjoying life and not stressing about it!

I love putting a little bit of extra time into making breakfast on Sunday mornings. It’s really the only free morning that I have all week! Monday through Friday, I’m usually scarfing down a bowl of cereal or oatmeal in five minutes before I head off to work. On Sunday’s though, I like to wake up, spend some time on the couch watching TV and drinking coffee, then making breakfast when I get hungry. To me, that’s pure bliss.

I’ve been loving these local, farm fresh eggs that I’ve been buying. They are super pricey, but totally worth it.

If you’ve never tried a truly pasture-raised egg, you’ve never had a real egg. Trust me. They have a bright orange yolk and the flavor is phenomenal. It just tastes so fresh!

An omelet is a great weekend breakfast. It’s filling, pretty simple to make, and the flavor combinations are endless.

Today was spinach and cheese! It is St. Patty’s day after all…

Spinach and Cheese Omelet

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 clove garlic , minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 eggs
• 1 TBS butter
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese

Directions

1. In a medium nonstick skillet heat the butter over low heat. Add the garlic and cook until it starts to sizzle, about 1 minute. Add the spinach and cook for another minute.
2. Meanwhile whisk the eggs together. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the egg mixture to the pan.
4. Using a rubber spatula, pull the set eggs at the edges of the pan toward the center, allowing the unset eggs to run from the center to the sides. Continue to cook until desired doneness. Some people like their eggs cooked more or less than others. I like mine pretty soft!
5. Fold into an omelet.

What’s your favorite kind of omelet?

My Saturday’s always start like this:

I’ll admit that it really sucks to get up so early on a weekend, but you do what you gotta do right? There is a really great group of guys that practice from 7-9 AM every Saturday. I’ve been going every weekend for the past year or so and I can really tell that I’m improving. Everyone is really nice and we always have a great time!

My Saturday “tradition” is to go to Einstein Bros Bagels on the way home.

During the Whole30 Challenge, I would get cranky while driving past the bagel place on the way home. I think I shed a tear the first week.

Today’s bagel was excellent!

I normally get a blueberry bagel with egg and cheese, but they were out I ended up getting a sourdough bagel and it might be a new favorite!

The rest of the day will consist of driving around with my realtor to look at condos!

I’ve decided to take the plunge and get out of the apartment lifestyle. I don’t think I’m quite ready for a full blown family house yet (too much maintenance), so a condo seems right for me. I can always rent it out later on if I decide to upgrade.

I’m very nervous/excited, even though I work in home loans and deal with this kind of stuff every day. It feels a lot different to actually be the buyer.

We have a list of about 12 places to check out today, so hopefully I can find something that I like. I have to be out of my apartment by May 31, so I need to figure out what I’m doing pretty quickly. I have another apartment on hold just in case something happens or I don’t find anything. My fingers are crossed though!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

30 days are in the bag!

First things first. If you haven’t read It Starts With Food, you should. This book changed my way of thinking about food.

For 30 days, I removed grains, sugar, sweeteners, alcohol, legumes, dairy, and seed oils. I only ate vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, meat, seafood, and seeds.

Why?

The main reason that I did this program was to see if it made me feel more energetic, help with digestions, and all that jazz.

I feel like my diet is pretty healthy, but there is always room for improvement right?

Challenges

We all know I love a challenge.

Honestly, the hardest part about the program was all the prep work involved! I felt like I was always in the kitchen. I spent more time preparing my meals than actually eating them.

Not having my favorite foods was hard at first, but it became easier over time. The cravings stopped around day 20. By then, I was just ready for it to be over so I could have a bowl of cereal. Not because I wanted it, but because it was EASY and FAST.

How do I feel?

I felt pretty good on day 30, but it was definitely a struggle to get there. Throughout the program, I had mood swings, low energy, and extreme tiredness. Everything seemed to randomly vanish in the third week. By then, I felt absolutely amazing. I was waking up well rested before my alarm clock the last two weeks. FYI, my alarm is set for 4:45 AM. I normally have to bribe myself to get up!

My energy was fairly consistent during the day. Of course I had a few slumps, but that’s life.

What’s next?

I sort of went all out on day 31.

Chicken Parmesan

Blueberry Pancakes

Grilled Turkey Sandwich

I don’t think it’s realistic for me to eat “Whole30” all of the time. In our culture, socializing is based on food. That’s not something that I want to miss out on.

I plan to eat a lot of Paleo based meals, but there are a few things I just can’t give up. Peanut butter, cheese, and bread. Oh how I love thee.

My goal going forward is to eat as unprocessed as possible, but I won’t let it get in the way of my life.

It really was a great program to do for 30 days. I’ll most definitely be doing it again in the future!

Meet the newest member of my family!

For the past couple of months, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a dog. I finally pulled the trigger today and adopted Maddie!

Since I live by myself, it will be nice to have a companion. Sometimes I get lonely, but a roommate is completely out of the question. I haven’t had one since my freshman year of college. It was a complete nightmare. I need some space ya know?

She’s been really really scared for the past couple of hours, but I hope she’ll get used to me fairly quickly.

Hopefully these will help…

You know she’ll be eating well!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

I’m still chugging along on the Whole30 challenge!

I should technically be on day 21, but I’m counting today as day 20. Last weekend, I had a meal that was the complete opposite of what is allowed on the Whole30. It was delicious and I don’t have one ounce of guilt about it.

That my friends is peanut butter stuffed French toast. It was only one meal (I was good the rest of the day), but I’m extending the challenge by a day to make up for it. I don’t think I have it in me to start over and do another 30 days.

Prior to the Whole30, my diet was pretty damn healthy, so I’m not treating this challenge as a “cleanse” like a lot of people do. I enjoy challenges and I’m curious to see if a different style of eating works better for me. You guys will have a full recap in 10 days!

Lately, I’ve been eating between 4-6 eggs per day.

I’ve been buying local, farm fresh eggs at the local farmers market. They are DELICIOUS. I don’t think I can go back to conventional grocery store eggs, even the organic ones.

Tonight for dinner, I made a frittata that should last me a few meals. One of the perks of living by myself is that I always have leftovers!

Ingredients

• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 TBSP minced garlic
• 4 ounces chopped bacon (I used US Wellness Meats)
• 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 bunch asparagus, chopped
• 1/2 grated sweet potato
• 1 handful fresh herbs, chopped
• 8 eggs
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. In a large pan, sauté the onions in oil (I used coconut) over medium heat until translucent.  Add the bacon, asparagus, green pepper, grated sweet potato, and garlic.  Cook until veggies are soft.
3. Add the chopped herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish or cast iron pan and spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan.
5. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs.
6. Pour over the veggie mixture in the baking dish.
7. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 18-20 minutes.
8. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes or so. The times may vary depending on your oven. Mine cooks fast!
9. Enjoy.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!