Hey! I just wanted to check in, in case any one was wondering...
I've survived 23 days on the Paleo Challenge, and have 5 days left! I can't believe how easy it has been, or how quickly the time has passed.
I wanted to give report more observables, friendly encounters, motivation to stay strong, and plans for after the challenge ends (I don't want to just binge out on horrible things and erase all of my progress).
First, the good news:
New Observable: while sitting with my now loosely (versus previously skin tight) short cutoffs on and crossing my legs (either way now, since I have that range of motion in my left knee) I noticed I can no longer see cellulite in my legs. Now, I was rather thin/muscular to start, but when crossing my legs you could see it. It didn't really bother me, but I'm happy to say good riddance and wear teeny tiny shorts with more confidence, no matter how I'm sitting :)
Friendly encounters: I've gone out to the bar twice the past week. No drinking (unless you count water). These were quiet friendly meetings, but still, there's a lot of beer at those places. And I like beer, but I was strong, and stayed true. Its amazing the will power you have when you declare something to the world. Also, in the presence of the superbowl, we decided not to have a pretty paleo potluck. I mean, we were invited to a paleo super bowl party, but who really wants to sit inside on a beautiful day and watch football or madonna (two things I really don't care about) with out the drinking?
So, I played beached whale, sitting in the sun on the sand eating, then my hubs said we should have crab for dinner. After another hour-ish of absorbing sun rays, we went to the Santa Barbara fish market and got some rock crab, muscles & oysters for a seafood feast. YUM! We totes effed that feast up:
Motivation:
I have felt some temptation this month. One of the women at the gym stated my feelings perfectly, "Its not that I'm craving it, its just that I miss it!" So true. Pretty much all of my meals I think, "This would be better with cheese." I miss cheese. The last week has really been a shift in thinking. I would look at things and think, that looks so good I want to eat the sh*t out of it! But really, now the hardest part is walking past the free samples of locally made cheese and watching the husband eat his crab with butter. I think you know what will be added to my diet very shortly :)
Post Paleo Challenge Plans:
First of all, the challenge ends the night before my birthday. We've planned our 'weigh in' to be the next day's morning. So I'm off the challenge for my bday! Yay! We're going for sushi. I will have rice & soy that day. And probs some fried batter (tempura) and tofu (miso soup). I think this is a pretty healthy cheat. I plan to spend the next couple days (2/12-?) back on strict paleo. Then I'll add in dairy: butter & cheese. Not as overload as I normally did, and will keep my coffee black. After 2 weeks of this, I'll have a beer day Uh, yeah, I'm saving my drinking day for the beer garden at tough mudder. Other than alcohol, I plan to keep grains out of my diet, and avoid processed sugar-which won't be too bad, other than condiments. I do have 3 boxes of girl scout cookies coming, but may just hide them in the freezer or give them away. We'll see how I'm feeling.
Keep up the work! Post Paleo pictures to come soon!
