Feeling Good

I am 28 years old, and never before in my life have I ever wanted to wear a pair of short tight shorts to the gym. Sure, I've tried them on in store dressing rooms over the years, but after seeing my reflection in the mirror, I never thought of venturing outside that door.

Finally, my thoughts have changed.

Please excuse my dirty bathroom mirror.
Hello Windex, that is gross!

I just ordered these from Reebok the other day. 

I wasn't sure if I'd keep them or not, but since Reebok offers free shipping and free returns, I figured Why not? So I got some. And these kind of validated for me how much my body has changed. It showed me how I am finally doing it right. I am pretty proud of how far I've come since August. I'm not trying to brag or anything; I am trying to show that it's freaking nuts how much can change occur in less than 6 months. It's been hard work, but it's also been fun!

It is never too late (nor too early) to change your eating and exercising habits. I thought I was healthy before. Now I feel it and see it every day, and it makes me smile that I am helping my body become the best machine it can be.

Also, check out the tag that was attached to the shorts. I know Reebok makes CrossFit apparel, but seeing that this "Fitness in 100 words" goes out to everyone who orders these shorts is pretty cool. Plus, read it: It's true!

Quick meal: Egg muffins

I have to admit that I love oatmeal. And I also must admit that oatmeal isn't the best choice according to the paleo gods. A couple of weekends ago, I decided to make some egg muffins so that I could enjoy them immediately and also save them for a quick microwaveable breakfast (or lunch).

One egg muffin, read for eating

I used this recipe from River North Paleo Girl as a starting point, and it provided a pretty good framework.

My adapted recipe (and keep in mind, you can put anything you want in there):

Ingredients

- Half a package of bacon
- 1 small onion, diced

- 1 Tbsp tomato paste

- 1 - 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, strained

- 8 eggs

- 1/4 package frozen spinach 

- 2 pre-cooked chicken sausage (I used Italian ones from Trader Joe's)

- Salt

- Oregano

- Basil

- Cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

- Cook bacon, remove, and drain some of the fat. Add the onions and sauté. Add tomato paste, cook and stir into the onions. 

- Add tomatoes, spinach, and chicken sausage. Cook down for 5 minutes or so.

- Cut up bacon into bite-size pieces.

- In a separate bowl, crack and beat eggs until fluffy.

- Add oregano, basil, salt and pepper to the eggs.

- Grease muffin tin cups.

- Add bacon pieces to the tomato mixture and stir.

- Spoon the tomato mixture equally into the twelve muffin cups.

Tomato mixture and egg waiting to be poured

- Pour egg mixture into muffin cups. Mine filled almost to the brim, so be careful not to pour too fast.

- Bake for 25-30 minutes.

10 minute meal: Tuna and broccoli

Want to know my new favorite dinner on the cheap?

EVOO roasted Ahi tuna steak and garlic broccoli. It's healthy and paleo and also super inexpensive.

Ingredients:
Ahi tuna steaks (frozen 2-pack from Trader Joe's = roughly $5.00 depending on weight)
Organic broccoli florets (frozen package from Trader Joe's = $2.49)
EVOO
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Optional: Red pepper flakes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Place defrosted tuna steaks in a glass baking pan. Fill baking pan with EVOO until it goes halfway up the tuna steak. Scatter half a package of frozen broccoli over everything.  Shake some salt and grind some pepper, and then shake garlic powder (I use a lot) over everything.

Cook in oven about 5 minutes, then turn over steaks and cook for about another 5 minutes. (Alter cooking time depending on how rare you want your tuna.)

Makes (at least) 2 servings. Sometimes those tuna steaks are huge.

My favorite paleo meal (so far)

I want to share the best two paleo recipes I have for dinner and dessert:

Zucchini Pasta with Turkey Marinara

Sweet Potato Brownies

Back in September or so, my brother's gf K and I had a date night together. We made these items for dinner and dessert, and they were oh so delicious. We prepped everything at once, so while we ate, the brownies baked.

I highly recommend trying this "pasta" dish, especially! It works well with ground beef, too.

Paleo Challenge Photos

Below, you will find my pictures before the Paleo Challenge followed by my after pictures (taken 9 weeks later). The quality isn't quite the same because my bf took them with my iPhone as opposed to our official CrossFit 919 photographer in the first set, but I think you can get the idea.

I did not weigh myself before or after the challenge because I am trying to get stronger, so I hope to gain muscle and lose fat. However, I did take measurements. While I have noticed toning in my arms, they stayed exactly the same, as did my chest and waist.  However, my hips lost 1 inch (the booty, I guarantee it) and EACH thigh lost 2 inches. Woah! That is the kind of improvement I am talking about.

Paleo reflections: My brother was the first to tell me that eating 100% paleo is not a sustainable diet. It's just ridiculously hard (and somewhat unnecessary). I have found, though, that eating paleo 80% of the time is a great goal. That means I'll eat cheese and yogurt again (of the highest quality, that's important!), but I still won't buy pasta and breads.  Those things I will enjoy when I go out to eat. I have noticed that when I do eat carbs and sugar now, they make me feel unbelievably tired in the morning. Super interesting.

In the following weeks, I will post some of my favorite paleo (or paleo-esque) recipes. I will also continue to track my CrossFit progress. I plan on measuring myself every 9 weeks since that's how I started, and we'll see how it goes.

CrossFit PRs I hit in these 9 weeks:
170# dead lift
103# back squat

Paleo Challenge: Day 3

I am now a proud member of CrossFit 919. It has quickly become my favorite activity and being there means it's my favorite time of the day!

One reason why I (finally) chose to drink the CrossFit Kool-Aid (figuratively, because that's so not paleo... and neither is Gatorade) is because I want to be stronger.  I am at athlete at heart, having played either softball or soccer since my preschool years.  However, after college, I stopped playing team sports and became a runner.  I loved (and still love) running.  However, I missed the conditioning aspect of working out as a group... the stuff that really makes you push your body instead of just allowing yourself to slowly jog a 10 minute-per-mile pace, never making yourself work too hard outside from your comfort zone.

Well, it was time to push myself a little harder.  I didn't just stop with joining Xfit. I also decided to sign up for the Paleo Challenge.  It's a 9-week eating commitment with Benchmark WODs to be completed at Xfit. About 20 of us signed up as a team so we can encourage each other to eat "clean."

Anyways, I could go on about Xfit and the Challenge, but for the rest of this post, I just want to share my first attempt at making bison flank steak. I have never cooked a steak in my life (as I stopped eating steak in middle school), but the Whole Foods man told me to cook it on very low heat for an hour or so. And I did. It was a little overcooked for my taste (pun intended), but not bad for a first try. I had this with sautéed spinach, onion, garlic, and mushrooms.

Also, Sunday night before the challenge, bf and I were celebrating his younger brother's 18th birthday. We brought treats from Whole Foods for the occasion, so these were some of my last non-paleo foods for a while.  I'm not craving any sweets yet, but I'm not sure how long that will last... this weekend, I may try out my first paleo baking experiment.

Morning gospel

This morning, I awoke to find my talented cousin, Glenn, had posted a fabulous video of himself singing a Mavis Staples cover.  While I'm not sure whether he did this on purpose, he is wearing what reminded me of Joseph's technicolor dream coat.

Jacob blesses his son, Joseph, with the Coat of Many Colors
Source: Wikipedia

(I have now decided to look up more about the story of Joseph because I don't remember it as well as I'd like.  Thanks, Glenn, for the inspiration!)

I love Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat because my church put on this production when I was in fifth grade.  Because we were both in the choir, my brother and I participated.  Occasionally, those songs will still randomly pop up in my head.

So now this song put a smile of my face this morning, and I hope it makes you smile, too.  All voices are Glenn, and he mixes the music as well.  Such a talent he has, and I am blessed to have watched him grow up, as we are about 6 years apart.

Please enjoy!

Also, please keep Glenn in your thoughts and prayers, as he is studying abroad this semester in Cuba.

Veterans and basketball

Happy Veterans Day! I think I've mentioned Honor Flight Network on my blog before, but here is the link again if anyone is interested in checking out this non-profit that sends veterans (with a preference to WWII vets first) for free to Washington, D.C., to see the war memorials.

Thank you Granddad, Grandpa, and Papa Grant for serving!


I am so excited that the Tar Heels were chosen to play the Carrier Classic game tonight in San Diego. What an honor. I know the team will represent UNC well tonight. I am so ready for some college basketball!

GO HEELS!

Oscar Wilde Thursday

It's been a while... say, several months. But... I'm just going to move forward like it's another typical Oscar Wilde Thursday.

“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”

That is pretty much what law school is like.

Yeahhh, that's where I've been, by the way. I am a 1L now, and I love love love it. However, I can sometimes recite the Statue of Frauds before I completely understand it. (That's a bad example... I totally get SOF.)

I have been doing a lot of textbook reading since August and a lot of case briefing and outlining. But... I MISS WRITING! And my LRA (Legal Reasoning and Analysis) class is soooo not cutting it.

So I'm back.

Things I hope to write about: 

• Law school (duhhh, that's my life now)

Days BEFORE law school even started

• My crazy puppy who I adore

RILEY!

• Football (I'm the only girl in my fantasy football league - talk about pressure - GEAUX SAINTS!!)
• Books I am pumped to read over break
• Carolina basketball and how my boyfriend and I are a house divided on college basketball (yes, he is a Dook fan)

The only photo I have of him wearing a Duke hat

• Delicious food I finally can enjoy over my break, including new Durham & Raleigh restaurants
• Running... how I miss thee... 

Asheville Citizen-Times half marathon: Sept. 17, 2011

• Anything else!

Best Sunday deal

You should go to Whole Foods on Sunday and pick up a rotisserie chicken for $5.99. (I went for the herbed crust, but there are other flavors.) 


Then, go to the deli section and pick up a container of potato salad (retails at $8.99). But you're going to get those potatoes for free because then you find the WF periodical on one of the many racks around the store and tear out a coupon for the free side you get when you purchase a chicken.


To complete your meal, pick up a container of organic greens and salad dressing. I've personally had the ranch and balsamic vinaigrette flavors, and both are great. I think these will run you about $5.99 (I buy the big thing of greens) and $3.29, respectively.

Take it all home and enjoy immediately. Continue to pick on your chicken, potatoes and salad as long as it lasts you in the week! Best meal (with leftovers) for less than $20.

My first quiche

I'd been thinking of making a quiche for a while. I had a full carton of eggs that hadn't been opened, so I wanted to get rid of a lot of eggs at once. I'm not really a big egg person. Sometimes I do crave them for breakfast (or dinner), but it's rare. Quiche seems to be the exception for me. 

My mom makes a delicious quiche, which is maybe why I put off trying to cook my own for so long. Hers is based on Linda McCartney's recipe in World of Vegetarian Cooking (an amazing cookbook you should own whether you're vegetarian or not). I hope Sir Paul McCartney still eats things mentioned in it. :)

I'm not exactly sure what my mom does with her recipe, but here's what I did to make this delicious dinner (that will turn into lunch and dinner tomorrow, too):

Ingredients:
1 cooked pie crust (I used a frozen one I bought at Trader Joe's)
½ onion, chopped
Handful of frozen mixed peppers (or any veggie you want)
4 extra-large free range eggs
1½ cups shredded cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella, gruyere and cheddar from TJ's)
Sea salt and black pepper
2/3 cup almond milk


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Sauté onion and veggies.
Whisk eggs and fold in onion, veggies and cheese. 
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the milk. Pour it all into your pie shell and bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Peace, love and Mel

Melissa and Ryan are getting married TOMORROW!! I cannot wait. I freaking love this girl and am so happy for them!

A night out in Shanghai, China (2007)

But... what I have been waiting for is to share her wedding invitations on the blog because they are the most gorgeous things to have ever graced my mailbox.

Note the peace signs in both photos and the wedding invitation.

If you want to read more about the designer and how these invitations Mel & Ryan picked are eco-friendly (yay!), check out the Mink Letterpress blog.

Food served in a star plate makes it taste that much better

Last Friday, my dinner at Five Star was served in an actual ceramic star plate. 


The last time I ate there, my food was merely served in a black bowl. Psh.


This was way cooler. Maybe five stars cooler -- Oh yeah, I went there, haha. I was also not the only one in the restaurant taking photos of these plates. There were iPhones and flashes galore, so I wonder if it's a pretty new thing for them? Regardless, it was a good decision on whoever's part.

Pictured: Chicken lo mein. It's so yummy, but it's even better if you ask for a side of hot sauce. And even better than that if you eat your leftovers with even more hot sauce and you wash it down with a ginger flavored Izze. (More about this delicious natural sparkling juice in another post.)

Why "Zits" is a great comic

Copyright 2011 ZITS Partnership. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.

Note the last aka top hat. UNC is always on top.

Artsplosure!

Saturday was Artsplosure again in downtown Raleigh. I love seeing artists from North Carolina (and other areas in the South) with their booths set up all around Moore Square.

When I walked through the center of Moore Square, I saw a collection of painted trash cans. I immediately recognized the one that was done by artist Keith Norval. I have been a fan of his for probably as long as I have lived in Raleigh and first saw his work in Artspace. His characters are fun animals with bright colors, which is right up my alley.

Keith Norval's can-vas

Anyways, I found out more about this movement in Wake County and it's called 86 it: Respect the can. Many artists (86, actually, I think) painted cans and they're going to be distributed around Raleigh. It's supposed to attract people (aka litterers) to the cans. I really hope they put one on Hargett Street by the bars near my building. You cannot imagine how many cigarette butts I see on the ground every day.

Respect the can.

After seeing Norval's work, we decided to walk to his studio in Artspace. Outside, is the (temporary - they paint over them every couple months) mural he painted. Enjoy!

Keith Norval's mural

Don't forget to hydrate

I have quite the collection of water bottles, and as you can see (since they're all in my drying rack), I do use them all!

This is just a friendly reminder to drink water all day long. I've luckily never had a problem with drinking water. I really do love it more than anything. 


I don't know anymore what the "recommended" amount of ounces/day is, but just drink a lot like this: Fill a bottle. Drink it dry. Repeat.


Yes, you will start to take more bathroom trips, but who cares? Getting up for a short walk is good for you too!

Oscar Wilde Thursday

"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it." -Oscar Wilde

I am a little overwhelmed by my magazine "to read" pile... I may have to attempt to make a dent in it this weekend so I can recycle them and start a new pile!

Adventures of Riley

I love being outside. I love eating outside and napping outside (in the sun by a pool) and reading outside. I loved it in middle school when teachers took class outside. One thing I'd never done, though, was spend the night outside in a tent. In the woods.


So last Sunday, we went camping! J grew up camping and had all the gear and knowledge, so all we had to do was pick a day and buy some food and go.


We chose a campsite in W.B. Umstead State Park. We had our pick because about a week in advance, no one else had booked a site! (There are 28, I think, and were probably about 6 other groups camping. We ended up switching sites because we saw a vacant one we liked better.)


Shopping for a trip (even just a one-nighter) is one of my favorite things. I love having all the things you "need" for a special activity. Mostly what we had to buy, as I said, was food. For two people (and a puppy) for one night, we probably went a little overboard, but it was so much fun picking out what we wanted. I wish I'd taken a photo, but we had a cooler of dry goods and a cooler for things to be refrigerated.


Anyways, we got to our site and set up shop. I took a photo of the before but forgot the after!





As soon as that was done, we got to cooking because we didn't want to lose sunlight. We brought ground bison meat to grill burgers, asparagus, green beans and red potatoes. (We forgot butter, so we ended up adding cheese to the potatoes and mashing them so they wouldn't just be plain!). We also forgot mustard, actually, but the bison was so fresh and delicious and smoky we didn't have anything with it other than white onion, garlic (mixed in the patty) and the bun. Yup, that's how good the Whole Foods ground bison is. Go get yourself a half a pound. S'more were obviously consumed after dinner.

Riley was such a good camper. She loved it all and spent a lot of time sleeping in the dirt and leaves chewing on a stick. Tent sleeping? No problem. We were lucky our "neighbors" let us have some thick padding pieces to sleep on because the blowup mattress didn't fit in the tent (I didn't think it would!) and the ground would have been hard otherwise.





The next day was sunny and not too hot. We made breakfast (yogurt parfaits) and took down camp. It was kind of crazy to spend hours putting up a camp and then taking it apart less than 24 hours later, but we wanted to get everything cleaned up and packed before our hike.


The trail we did was 2.75 miles and the trailhead was at the bottom of the campgrounds, so it was a no-brainer to pick that trail. It was a good one with a stream at the beginning where Riley played around.

Adventure dog!

Things we saw on the trail: Too many frogs to count, a black snake, two snappy dachshunds, one adorable yellow lab, someone's leftover Easter egg hunt (about 10 of them still filled with candy and homemade "coupons") that we left there in case they were doing it later... 

That's it! I was exhausted at the end of the day, but it was really fun and a great way for me to be introduced to camping. We have plans for a longer trip in the mountains, so now I won't feel as overwhelmed for that. Mission: Accomplished.

Happy Earth Day!

I'm pretty Earth-focused every day, but it's fun to have a day dedicated to loving and serving the Earth. I hope some people choose to continue doing the things they do once a year (coffee in a reusable mug, for example) as often as they can.


I just downloaded a cool app for my iPhone called Locavore. It's normally $2.99, and it tells you what's in season in your state and where you can buy local food and share recipes, but today it's FREE!

Here's also a fun video (made by the talented Russell) from Mother Nature Network to celebrate Earth Day.

Oscar Wilde Thursday

"I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do - the day after."  

-Oscar Wilde 

I felt like I was playing catch-up all day. Even with this post... I just made it (Thursday post) with an hour to spare.