I've got the warm and fuzzies




 

It's that time of year where Christmas carols get stuck in your head, the thoughts of presents under the tree, a cup of hot cocoa or a big glass of red wine, a crackling fire, a big warm fluffy sweater and toasty slippers enter my mind and I get a case of the "warm and fuzzies".  However this year, It's been 65 degrees if not warmer lately, and getting into this zone has been tough...and I've been missing that wonderful feeling!  Granted it's the last day of November but I want the warm and fuzzies, dammit!  I've been hunting down my warm and fuzzies the past several days.  I put up our Christmas tree over the weekend, and hung the stockings on the fireplace mantle...but still I've been in disbelief that it is already Christmas time?  Where is the cold weather?  Where is the snow?  Is it really the weather that gives me the warm and fuzzies?  Good thing I don't live in Florida... 

  

 Well today...I did some Christmas shopping online.  I also picked up a magazine filled with cookie recipes that I cannot wait to dive into with some friends to make a shmorgishborg of Christmas goodness.  That's right...that's all it took, I've got the warm fuzzies people!!  Shopping and cookies!  What is giving you the warm and fuzzies this year? 







Happythanksgivingmerrychristmas!

It's been about 3 weeks already since all the commercials have been coming out for Christmas advertisements....and yet, we haven't even enjoyed the one day where we can recollect what we're thankful for this year.  


Not sure where this photo came from, but I love it, and if the artist wishes me to take it down, I will.  It was just so fitting! 

 It saddens me how we all 'buy" into the crazy madness of Black Friday to get the most amazing deals on electronics and toys.  I haven't had a Black Friday off in over 5 years, and even if I did, and attempted to shop on that day, I'd probably end up beating someone up from the crazy chaos that crowds draw in.  Or waiting for people to come out of the store to run them over with Sugarbutt.  I hate crowds.  I hate crowds where stores lure people in for a great deal to only have the possibility to be let down for them being sold out, or even worse, getting punched in the face for wearing a perm-a-grin smile on your face for getting the last one.  No, that has never happened to me, but I've heard stories! 

Anyway, I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving and enjoy the day with people that you love and remember to be thankful for all that you have. 

For those who are bracing themselves for a Black Friday shopping extravaganza's...good luck, God's speed and a Happythanksgivingmerrychristmas to you!

I've found my MOJO!!

Well I've find my motivation that is!  Ha ha!  I found it this morning on my way to work when I was getting into my car and my pants were hugging my thighs so tight!  UGH!  Heading to the gym right after to work today!  Going to try last weeks WOD from http://www.crossfit.com/. 


Thursday 111020


Ten rounds, each for time of:

100 meter Sprint

Rest 90 seconds



Here's to shrinking those thighs!  WOO HOOO!!!  Who's with me?

Hibernation and Eating

I've had a rough time lately keeping in tune with Paleo eating.  Well to be honest, I haven't really followed a strict Paleo diet since probably my Whole 30 Challenge, however Eddie and I created our very own version of Paleo, but we keep using the word "Paleo" because, well...we just haven't come up with our own name for it.  Hmmmm, well let's call it the Chreddie diet.  I will thank my friend Kristin later for that...So the Chreddie diet is basically staying away from all carbs & cheeses, eating lots of veggies, eggs, and meats and staying away from artificial ingredients as much as possible.  I don't know what it is lately?  My internal bear is packing it in for the winter perhaps??  This bear looks how I feel.  Embarrassed! Not to mention ashamed for not even getting my butt to the gym.  I've lost my motivation recently to even go to the gym.  Where o where has my motivation gone?  Anyone else having these issues and do you have some solution I could start focusing on?

Sisters

When I was growing up, my sister and I shared alot.  We shared the basics like a room, the same parents, and an older brother who liked to put his GI Joe's in our Barbie house, and pin us down and make ourselves slap ourselves while saying "why are you hitting yourself?" until we were laughing so hard that we might have peed our pants.  Katy and I loved the same movies, the same games, the same friends and we even tried to share the same clothes which usually ended up in arguements!  Sometimes it was a battle to find our own individuality because what she did, I wanted to do, because,  well...she was my big sister.  I think that's maybe why my Mom started to dress us in certain colors to help with that individuality crisis.  Katy wore red, and I wore blue.  Like, here....in this picture below:

I still remember a pair of blue sneakers with flowers on them that were mine.  Man I wish I had a picture of those.  But I remember Katy had the same pair but in RED, of course. 

Even though we don't live close anymore, our shared memories always bring us back together to keep us close.  We can still giggle over the phone about songs we used to sing, silly things we did such as our own version of what we thought Happy hour meant - Our "Happy Hour" consisted of sitting after dinner in front of a mirror and making faces at each other til the other one laughed!  We used to ride our bikes up to the porch stairs and pretend we were going to the drive in bank with our baby dolls safely in tow in our bike baskets.  We had great imaginations! 

Something I'd like to share is the surprise my sister gave me at my wedding.  She had Jarrod from Metro DC DJ's, play a song we grew up singing to and watching every year around the holidays from the movie "White Christmas".  The Sisters' song.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can watch it here  White Christmas's - Sisters' Act. 

Not only did we re-enact the whole skit at my wedding, we sang along with it too.  We put on a show, and it was so much fun!!

Thanks Katy, for another special memory for us to giggle about! Thanks for always being there for me.

Choices

Have you ever hit a fork in the road and said, "Where am I going?"  Life has just been passing by so quickly this year that I have to stop, really, physically STOP: to take a moment to look around me and say...where do I want to go, am I going in the right direction?  This year has been extremely eventful, not only for me, but for my close circle of friends.  I got engaged...and then quickly married, three of my friends are having babies, two have bought new homes, my childhood home is under contract to be sold...and the list could go on....to crazy places that I'll just leave in the past.

We make our choices then our choices make us and I'm pretty confident the fork prongs I've chosen that brought me to where I am today have brought me happiness.  That's what it's about anyway, right?  Happiness? Of course I'll continuing striving for Utopia, but for now, I'll keep my head where my feet are. 

Life is made of choices, remove your shoes or scrub the floor.

We're engaged!!! Oh yeah, and the wedding is this September

Sugarbutt

That's right, we're engaged! Eddie popped the question while setting off Sugarbutt's alarm in my work parking lot. Oh, and in case you didn't know, that's Sugarbutt over there to the right. 



Long story short, it was awesome, he asked, I asked if he was kidding, and then I said, "Yes!"  It was very magical and a story that I will love hearing Eddie tell over and over again, as I love hearing him tell any story, his story telling abilities always make me laugh. 

So our engagement happened to fall on our 5 year anniversary of our first date.  May 20th.  Fast forward to July 7th... NEWSFLASH!! Eddie win's a wedding giveaway!!!  You can read all about it by clicking on that link.  Needless to say, we accepted the prize and have had a little less than two months to plan our entire wedding.  I think that's as good excuse as any as to why I've been MIA on writing on this blog of mine.

In honor of the day, and reason for the season, our colors for the wedding are red, blue, and... Ivory.  Ahem...I didn't want white, I wanted an ivory dress.  I love vintage styles, so white just doesn't say "VINTAGE".  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Surprisingly, all the planning has gone sooooo smoothly.  So incredibly smooth that it makes me nervous.  Wedding planning doesn't go this smoothly, does it?  Or maybe our luck this year is so incredible that it's just going to be the best wedding ever!!?  Eddie has said a number of times he never wins anything, and his mother told me that his luck changed once he put that ring on my finger!  I have to say that compliment will be in my heart forever!   :) 

So our wedding will fall on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  I know what you're thinking..."you're really going to get married on September 11th?"  Yes, why yes we are.  And we are going to do it proudly and take that day back to remember something good and find a reason to celebrate.  It's about time our grief can be turned into something joyeous on that day.  If we continue to grieve, I believe the terrorists win.  In honor of the troops that have been fighting for the past 10 years, we will be having all our guests write a thank you note to a Wounded Warrior and able to contribute a monetary donation if they so choose to the Wounded Warrior Project. 

Eddie and I are really looking forward to our big day...19 days to go. 



 



'Falling Down' Kinda Morning

Have you ever seen the movie "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas?  Well if you haven't, you should see it.  (Here...a link to it: Falling Down.)  If you have seen it, I feel as though my morning has been one of 'those' kinda mornings where my mind has determined that enoughs enough.  In the past several weeks, I cannot tell you how many road rage incidents I have come across with people and their stupid road games of slowing down in front of you just to piss you off, or turn on their left blinker only to turn right, or someone on their cell phone at a stop sign decides that the stop sign is a perfectly place to stop and chat while other cars behind them are trying to go somewhere when there is clearly not another car in any other direction to proceed away from the intersection.  All true stories by the way....    Then when you're trying to enter a store some kid is blocking the door and I say to him, "Hey there, are you going in, or coming out?" where then the mother barks at ya while sitting on a nearby bench, "Oh, he's just going to stand in your way." and then proceeds to do nothing or say nothing to her child to get him the hell out of my way.  Then every restaurant, grocery store, or any store I've been in, there is always a handful of people that look like they just rolled out of bed, sweatpants, wifebeaters, and some form of a poof rats nest on top of their head that looks like it hasn't been brushed in days.  Seriously??  What is wrong with people today?  Common courtesy, public appearance and accountability have completely gone down the drain.  Is this only in America?  Is it because people don't spank their children enough?  Or am I just getting old?

Regardless, it disgusts me.  It makes my nose crinch and as of this morning...I'm fed up with it.

Whiskey and Honey?? Together!?

Where's Chris Farley when you need a good Bee Photo?

I was working a lil late last night, and found myself lucky to be at the right place at the right time with a bottle of a new whiskey under my arm that I have been dying to try.  Now for those of you who don't know me, I work for a wine and spirits distributing company.  So leaving with a bottle of something is a common occurrence when you help out the right people.  I've even left work with an imported Italian bottle of olive oil.  My job has perks, peeps! ha ha

Anyway... so this whiskey debuted sometime in April to my knowledge.  And I've seen co-workers running around the office in beekeeper's masks asking girls around the office to be a part of their bumble bee entourages to promote this delicious new beverage.  Jack Daniels' Tennessee Honey Whiskey.  YUMMY!  Whiskey and Honey!??  How can you go wrong!  It's practically a hot toddy ready to drink! 

For your convenience I've posted some recipes founded by Phil Blyth in his article about the product.  And I quote, "The first, a Hot Toddy, which is a great recommendation, the Jack Daniel’s Tennessee honey adds to the flavor.

1 oz Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Whiskey

1 Tbsp honey

1/4 lemon

1 cup hot water

1 tea bag

The second recommendation, a Sidecar replacing the brandy. Think of this option as a whiskey margarita with a slight honey taste, excellent for summer.

For this taste follow this recipe:

1 1/2 oz Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Whiskey

3/4 oz Cointreau

1/4 oz lemon juice

The last option, great for a summer cooler is Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Whiskey with Sprite or Seven-Up, lemon or lime wedge. This will be Whiskey drink of choice for summer!"

So my friends, I don't plan on wearing a bumblebee costume to help promote, but I betchya if ya come over to visit, I'll pour ya a glass for you to taste youself!  Cheers!



ROCK LOBSTER!!

I can't get the B-52's, Rock Lobster song out of my head every time I think about the Lobsterfest Eddie and I have started planning for Memorial Day Weekend.  Since I am such an organized, planning-freak, you can imagine that this song goes through my head about 24 times a day.  I've debated on decor, for a traditional Memorial Day theme of red, white and blue or a beach theme.  Somehow, I imagine I'm going to incorporate both because, I love the beach and am ready for summer, not to mention the Dollar Store had some great beach-themed knick knacks, and, well, Memorial Day has given so much more meaning to me since dating Eddie for the past 5 years and living among a group of friends whose been involved in defending and providing security for our nation, that I will probably plaster lil American flags wherever I can to show how proud I am to know them and the sacrifices they make.

I'm really looking forward to this event.  It's what the kick off to summer should be all about.  Good food, good friends, good weather, tasty beverages and if bad weather, the tasty beverages make up for that... American games, like beer-pong, bocce ball, horseshoes, and nothing better to end the evening with a bonfire to sing kumbaya around.  Whose bringing the guitar??  I'll start warming up my vocals!!

"Babies Shmabies, I want tits!"

Today's bring your kid to work day.  I remember back when I was a kid going to work with my Dad.  It was more of getting out of school that I enjoyed than actually going to work, however it was always fun to spend the day with my Dad on the road.  He was a salesmen.  But now a days, at least at my office, bring your kid to work day has turned into romper room at the office.  I'm sure it's a great adventure for kids to come to a spirit and wine distributor for the day.  Ya know, show them how to mix cocktails, crunch numbers and take them on a tour to show them where thousands of bottles of alcohol is stored.  Now before any of my co-workers choose to stop reading this, I think it's awesome for the kids, I really do.  But I cannot help to wonder what are they really getting out of it?  I believe my company goes above and beyond making it a worth while trip for the kids to be able to get something educational out of the day...like how to mix mommy and daddy's cocktails when they get home from work.  HA HA, totally kidding, sort of!  ;)

On another note..Bring your kid to work day always brings up the comment somewhere in the day, "Christine, where are your little ones???"  HA!  I have to admit for a long time I've had a phobia of having children.  Mostly because of the medical debacle, but also because of my selfishness that I have yet to give up to another human being.  I'm not saying it will never happen, and it has crossed my mind more recently since there has been an epidemic of pregnancies in my circle of friends, but frankly, I'm just not ready.  Not to mention, I'm not even married yet.  I still want to have a savings account, I still want to spend without having to think...this should go into mini-me's college fund!!    When I was in NC, my friend was telling me about her and her husband's special account to save for a baby, however she stated she'd rather have a boob job first!  She ranted "Babies shmabies, I want tits!"  Perfectly put, my dear friend. 

So with that said...Babies shmabies, I want tits too!!!    At least for now anyway.  :)

Pedicures and Tornadoes

This past weekend 2 of my besties and I decided to take a weekend trip to good ole North Carolina for a fun filled girls weekend.  Our adventures on the agenda consisted of delicious food, wine, shopping, desserts, spa day, coffee, dancing and pedicures.  The typical girly things to do, right!??  Well add this trio with my 2 besties from NC and Kristin's friend Amy ... it was all that and more.  Because frankly...that's how we roll.

We arrived late Thursday evening in NC at the new North Hills Renaissance Hotel.  Which turned out to have bad service, funky crust on our pillows, and the previous guest that shared our room must have been Bozo the clown with all the lil 'tiny' red hairs we found surrounding the porcelain god.  GROSS!  The next morning we quickly found a new place of residence for the weekend and each saved $100 for the weekend by switching...because that's the kind of bargain shoppers we are.



Our Friday spa day was amazing.  We went to the North Raleigh Skin Sense Spa.  We each had different treatments done and got to brag about how amazing we felt after them the rest of the day.  Now I could totally bore you with every intricate detail of the next 24 hours....but I will spare you for the good parts, like Kristin and Kim bush diving after Gail purchased numerous shots for all of us to take while she remained sober and could point and laugh at us during our silly dance moves.  Meanwhile Amy's perfumed hands, were helping Gail out with her nausea from a nearby dancers flatuence.  We all could point and laugh at Jon and Kristin's face when they decided to go running down the hallway in their undies in the hotel later that night, only to meet up with a secuirty guard at the end of the hallway.  HA HA...I never saw naked legs run so fast!

Well Saturday was by far the most adventurous.  We had an amazaing lunch at the Seaboard Cafe near Logan's Trading Post.  We even got our picture taken like celebrities and they posted it on their website.

So during our lunch, the wind got very strong.  The Seaboard Cafe is attached to a greenhouse.  So with strong winds and the plexi-glass used for the greenhouse...it wasn't exactly the safest place to be since tornado's were on a watch for the day.  So we figured, the next best thing to do with thunderstorms, rain and a tornado watch would be to treat our piggies to much needed pedicures.  The pedicures were going great until the view from our pedestals, I mean our pedicure chairs, were facing the giant huge glass windowed face of the store.  We saw garbage can lids flying by, twigs, leaves...nothing big really until we started checking the weather on our smartphones where in fact our tornado watch was now, a WARNING.

The message clearly indicated to take action to save your life and find a place in the center of a secure structure away from windows.  HELLO big WINDOWS!!  OMG, as lightening twisted throughout the sky and the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard, we all raced into the back room of the salon with some fellow patrons of the salon while the Korean women continued manicures in front of the BIG WINDOWS!  They looked at us and laughed as we ran into the back room of their store and procedued to barricade ourselves in.  Then the lights flickered and then, the power went out.  Everyone was scared shitless at this point...I listented patiently for the sound of a freight train and I heard nothing but the wind and the comments of us possibly dying today and how Kristin was determined to tornado dive to hopefully see a flying cow.

When the lights came back on...I removed myself from the little back room while Gail and Kris remained a little while longer lingering in the doorway waiting for some sort of reassurance that there wasn't a tornado coming to take us away.  Needless to say, we were safe, but felt complete sympathy for many others in the area who were not so lucky.

So that my friends may top my list of girls weekend adventures.  When else are you going  get to pamper yourself, drink, dance, bush dive, & tornado dive....while getting pedicures?

It Hurts So Good

Hello folks!  It's been a bit since my last post and I honestly really don't have an excuse.  But I can think of a few that might get me out of trouble.  For instance, I had a hard time walking both up and down stairs.  I blame my new kicks. 

But my new kicks are apparently the next best thing to being barefoot.  With crossfit, we learn alot about mobility, balance and strength, and the key areas with the Merrell Barefoot is balance and strength.  Check them out for yourself here:  Merrell Blog  They are very similar to the Vibram FiveFingers that I find very much entertainment to look at, but not yet eager to wear. You can check them out here:  Vibram FiveFingers  See why I am not so eager to wear them?

Anyway...a regular sneaker gives your foot and legs comfort & support.  Whereas the Merrell Barefoot in my opinion, allows you to use your own ability and actual balance or lack thereof, and strength, or lack thereof.  To my surprise...I lack in both.

Thank you Joaquin, for that vote.  In my crazy head, I have compared my new kicks to that of what Roman Gladiators wore.  Practically nothin', almost barefoot, but yet they were the fittest and strongest "soles" around!  ;)

So just let me tell you, the first workout I did in my new kicks, just happened to include things like running, squatting and lunges.  As soon as I took off running in my Barefoots, it seriously reminded me of when I was a kid and went barefoot all summer long to the point where my soles were black and green from pavement and grass stain.  They gave me a light weight, tippy-toe kinda run.  Almost a ballet run if you will and I was super SLOW.  Go ahead and try running barefoot, you'll see what I'm talking about.  Long story short, for the next two days, I could barely walk down stairs without doing the toddler side step, one foot per stair - maneuver.  My calves were so tight, I couldn't believe it.  As much laughing and pointing I received from people at work especially, I could proudly say, it hurts soooo good!  John Mellencamp knows what I'm talkin about!  ;)

Can I have a side of fries with that?

I was reminded this morning of something that never ceases to amaze me about being a woman.  That my friends... is cravings.  Cravings come at very inconvenient times for us gals.  They can make us seem irrational, crazy, disgusting and make us feel like a million bucks all at the same time when we indulge in those cravings or they can turn on us after we indulge and make us feel completely fat and gross.  Interestingly enough there is no single explanation as to WHY we get these cravings.  Some say it's the variation of serotonin and endorphins in our brains or our hormones fluctuating.  But whatever the reason is, I'm happy we have cravings.  I'm even happier when I get to indulge in my cravings.  Today folks, I'm craving one of these guys....

 With a side of these....





 
Now you all know that I'm trying to stick to the Paleo diet which eliminates all of the above except for maybe the beef and lettuce in that picture.  So that is a huge disappointment to my irrational, greasy cravings right now.  But is that thought process helping?  Nope...It's not exactly the same satisfaction to work it out mentally, than to just indulge in the messiness and deliciousness of a Big Mac and French Fries.  I don't care what ya say...Sometimes you just have to listen to your body and give it what it wants.

D'OH!!

Well folks, I have to tell you something very important.  The Whole30 Challenge is not for people with weaknesses for cheesecake.  So on that note, I feel better telling you that I have failed the challenge.  On Day 6 of the Whole30, I was tempted with the possibility of having a Cheesecake Factory slice of cheesecake and my will power caved.  I'm a failure.  There I said it.  NOW, let me tell you how GUILTY I feel about it.....

Honestly, I dont' feel guilty.  Eddie and I discussed on the way to the cheesecake factory, and he said that although the Whole30 is probably and incredible cleansing diet for your system, what happens when you go off of it, are you  not allowed to "cheat" ever again?  And seriously, how likely is it that I will never have another piece of cheesecake again?  Exactly 0%.  It's my favorite!!

I don't know how anyone could resist this....

So on that note, let me tell you some of the things I've learned in the past 6 days about my experience with the Whole30 Challenge...

1)  Eating things that come straight from the earth, natural and unprocessed makes you feel like a million bucks.  I never felt bloated, or that horrible after eating, "I ate waaaaay too much" feeling.

2)  I believe if I stuck with it longer, I would see results in definition that I'm seeking to reach with my body much faster.  In just one week, my jeans fit better, and I already see some definition in my abs.

3)  I have an emotional attachment to food.  It's true, especially on the weekends.  Friday nights are usually movie night with Eddie, and I wanted to have popcorn, because that's what society does for movies!  It goes hand in hand - movie and popcorn, but instead I settled for a bowl of bananas, raspberries and walnuts.  I was cranky.  

4)  I have probably cooked every single meal that I have consumed this week.  It's alot of work to eat healthy!  However, I have probably cooked some of the most beautiful dishes this week like this...

Roasted Steak & Raspberry Salad

and this...

Paleo Pancakes

and this too...

Grilled Chicken Fajita Salad

So, I cannot say that the Whole30 was a waste of time for me, because I believe a majority of the time, I will try to stick to a similar diet as often as possible.  Paleo is next in line which Eddie has been practicing all week.

In the meantime, while I come down from my high of sugar shock this morning from my delicious slice of cheesecake last evening, I have to say that I feel like I have a hangover.  I woke up with headache.  Or maybe it was from the tall Sam Adams I drank with my cheesecake?  WHAT?  I cheated!  I already admitted it....don't judge me.  :)  

Falling off the Wagon

Today is day 3 of my WHOLE30 Challenge. My partner in crime has already fallen off the wagon. So I'm on my own. I am a little scared now, because cooking for two on this diet was much more fun than just cooking for myself.  I'd rather see someone else's reaction other than my own of how good, or bland this food may be.  Anyhow, day 1 was relatively easy. It was like any day 1 of any diet. I was all motivated and gun-ho to get this thing started, and I felt great. We had Crossfit that night, and I really didn’t have much of an appetite post workout, so I forced myself to have a lil dessert before bed.

Ha ha, nothing sinful, but it was refreshing and good.





Day 2, I woke up with a splitting headache and starving! My first thought was, I want pancakes with lots of syrup, or eggos!! I felt lousy. I almost skipped breakfast altogether because I felt nauseous and I really didn’t want eggs again. But I forced myself to have two sunny side up eggs with a small glass of apple cider. My mission today was obvious, I needed to find more solutions on breakfast options. So I visited this site http://www.napclan.com/napclan/

Sarah, the blogger of this site is a super-mom, cross fitting, paleo dieting genius. Not only did she do the WHOLE30 Challenge, but she blogged about it, posted her recipes that she used and created. THANK YOU SARAH!! So I quickly found these great breakfast recipes like sweet potato hash, and apple muffins. That’s right folks, APPLE MUFFINS! Did I ever mention that one of my many nicknames growing up was “muffin” because I loved muffins so much!?? Well it’s true. I had to make these!! So last night, I ventured out to the Organic Market to find almond meal and coconut oil to test out the recipe.

I thought the muffins were delicious…going on two full days without any sugar, or added flavor in my food, these tasted great. Eddie tried them, and my friend Gail tried one, or two or three, both saying that there wasn’t much flavor to them. Gail threw a lil cream cheese on hers and told me to make them again in 30 days and try them with cream cheese.   :)   ha ha! But to me, these muffins were delicious, so delicious, that I ate 4 last night. I did feel guilty eating them but, there was nothing to feel guilty about. Even better!

Today I woke up feeling good. For  breakfast I ate some sweet potato hash, a poached egg with an apple muffin and some coffee. It’s going to be a good day!

Crossfit - and Whole30

So I've recently begun the Beginners Foundation course at Crossfit BWI http://www.crossfitbwi.com/.  As it reminds me of my youth in tumble class and gymnastics it also adds new, never heard of ideas, to me at least...and techniques I've never imagined possible me doing.  Jumping on and off giant tractor tires, olympic rings, pull - ups, full sit ups, kettle bells and lifting ginormous weights that I only pictured Arnold Schwarzenegger carrying around during his body building days.  So far, folks, I'm LOVING it.  That is until yesterday.  You see, I wasn't totally prepared for the whole package of this program.  There is a diet involved.  I've never been able to stick to a diet for more than 2 weeks, IF that.  The diet in the training course is called WHOLE30.  In my opinion, it's the beginnger's guide to the Paleo diet lifestyle.  A book link is here for you to read more about if you're interested. The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet

Anyway, since I'm such a terrible dieter, I've been complaining for the past 12 hours since hearing about it.  Our trainer, Ryan kept saying, "It's only for 30 DAYS!!!  We just want you to see the best results as possible"  So, along with my partner in crime, AKA, My Lover or ManFriend... ;)  we've decided to give it a try.... starting on Monday.  I chose Monday for a few reasons.  1, I just baked a cake Tuesday night and have more than half left to devour, 2, we have half a box of cereal, a half of loaf of bread and 3, I can grocery shop for this specificprogram over the weekend and prep for the upcoming misery, I mean meals.

So basically the Whole30 diet excludes everything...No dairy, no grains, no corn, NOTHING with Sugar in it, no processed food at all (there goes hummus and cold cuts), no BEANS...So pretty much we are allowed to eat meat that was grass fed, fish that was caught in the wild not farm raised, vegetables (excluding corn), and fruits.  Here, check it our for your self. http://whole9life.com/2010/10/whole-30-v3/  It's like we're becoming nomads, hunter's and gatherer's if you will.  Good thing Eddie has been working on his arsonal.

I've decided to blog about this for a number of reasons.  1, I need a place to vent, because I imagine I am going to be cranky.  2, not only is this suppose to be a tranformation of our body to lose weight and rid our bodies of toxins and chemicals that I cannot pronounce, but it's also suppose to be a mental realization of what food does for our body.  We're suppose to track our progress as we go along and note how we feel, what we crave etc.  So here is where I've decided to do this, for all of you to learn from my misery, and experience. After all, it's only 30 days.....oh yeah, and one more thing, they say it's easier to go off crack than processed food.  OY!