My original plan was to have Part Two of my Relay Recap up today, but you guys — the night legs of the race were a DARK TIME, uh, literally and figuratively. And this morning I woke up in such a bright and shiny mood I just couldn’t justify putting that post up. I know, I’m weird. I like my blog posts to actually reflect my moods, so sometimes that means last minute changes to the editorial calendar, but what can I tell you?

Anyway, I don’t know if it is that I finally got some sleep this weekend, but I think I’m finally getting my mojo back…and boy has it been a long time coming! I think there are a few reasons for this:

New Season

I know spring sprung a long time ago, but around here it is really starting to feel like summer. Well, not really — summer around here generally feels like you being smothered by a blanket of molten lava — but right now the sunshine is out, and the heat actually feels pleasant instead of suffocating. This weekend we grilled and ate on the patio at every opportunity and it was just so comfortable. I am loving it.

New Routines

This is Garrett’s third week at his new job and he is starting to settle into his new routine. I am mostly settled into my routines too after a few months of my new gig (the most notable that are still in flux: this blog and my email inbox. YIKES!), but with all of Garrett’s changes, plus anticipating The Relay, we had yet to figure out workout stuff, meal stuff, sleep stuff — you know, THE IMPORTANT STUFF THAT MAKES YOU FEEL HUMAN. I think we are finally getting there!

This week we are trying out a new workout schedule and I think it is going to be life changing! It’s kinf of a perfect mix of optimal productivity/efficiency and rest. I so hope it works out! I am completely ready to be back in the gym regularly, lifting some heavy things and sweating my tail off (but not in a race scenario that will last more than 24 hours…NO THANK YOU.) This past weekend I did a 90 minute workout completely devoted to snatching and all I can say is that I loved it. Like really loved it! It has been a long time since I’ve been sweating like crazy and just really loving it. I think it’s quite possible the reason that I tied my own personal snatch PR. I haven’t been able to lift that much weight over my head in almost a year and a half and on Saturday morning I did it. And it felt like I was reaching back to my more confident self from a year ago and it felt really good.

I know it probably makes me super boring, but I love routines — so I am so, so happy to see some new ones forming!

New Protocols

I am changing some things up, nutritionally. I don’t mean I’m deviating from Paleo (no way, no how) but I have just been trying some new things. I’m about a month in to a new supplement protocol specifically for stress and gut healing and I am LOVING IT. I have long resisted supplementation of any kind because I just hate the idea of popping a pill to fix something that is really a lifestyle issue. But I guess I’m changing my outlook on that a little. I still don’t believe in popping a pill to change a lifestyle issue, but I’m starting to see supplementation as a way to support myself THROUGH some of these lifestyle changes and that makes more sense in my head.

Also, I’m trying to listen to my body a little bit more. What does that mean? Well, while I am in NO WAY a Paleo Perfectionist, I can definitely get caught up in doing things “the right way.” I think there is a whole subset of us (particularly, I would imagine, those who have struggled with weight loss) that want defined rules and want to follow them exactly, and spend a lot of energy trying to do DO IT RIGHT. This is probably an entire post in itself, but for now I will just say that my eating has gotten away from being this nourishing and pleasurable thing and has become almost academic. And I don’t love that. Mostly because I become very unmotivated when my eating is academic, which usually just sends me diving head first into a giant vat of sugar.

The best I’ve ever felt while doing Paleo was when I was sticking to the framework but focusing on what tasted good and what felt right — not when I was trying to eat the perfectly calibrated portions or the most optimal foods, always! Sometiems I can just send myself spinning by talking myself out of a delicious smoothie because I’ve heard one too many times “Liquid Food Is Terrible For People Losing Weight” or “Protein Powder is The Devil Incarnate” — you know what I’m saying? The ironic thing is, I had this realization as I started looking more into my own personal MICROnutrient needs – and man, you can’t get anymore tedious and nitpicky than when you are looking at micronutrients, but something about that has given me this ability to exhale and kind of recalibrate my attitude towards food.

Hmmm…maybe I will post about this completely separately. I feel like I’m rambling right now.

****

So, this isn’t to say that everything is just coming up roses — I still have some serious goals, things I’d like to accomplish and things that I could be doing better — but for the first time in WEEKS, maybe even months I feel like everything is going to be alright. And I’m so damn happy to be back here.

Share

What I am NOT doing:

*Planning Meals at all — every night is a wild free for all or a negotiation between Garrett and I about who should cook or whether should we go out to dinner. Again.
*Having ANY desire to cook
*CrossFitting with any regularity (I MISS YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU ARCfit!)
*Responding to blog comments in a timely manner
*Making time to blog about all of the awesome stuff I have been reading lately
*Freaking out about everything anymore. So this is progress.

What I AM doing:

*Chugging away at the day job, and doing pretty well
*Getting outside for at least 30 minutes every day in the sunshine
*Sleeping 8+ hours per night
*Eating mostly paleo (plus corn chips! Oh, corn chips, I WISH I KNEW HOW TO QUIT YOU. Except, no I don’t because OMG YOU ARE SO DELICIOUS. Yes, yes I do want to quit you.)
*Diligently working on a gut healing protocol that involves some supplementation
*Diligently working on a cortisol lowering protocol that involves some supplementation
*Making time to read both fiction and non-fiction
*Drinking DECAF coffee at work! (Don’t worry, still drinking caffeinated at home)
*Feeling like I’m starting to figure things out

***************

I guess what I’m saying is we’re getting there. Life has been crazy for a bit, but it is definitely on the upswing. I am making progress, slowly but surely in some areas and very rapidly in other areas. It’s all a delicate balance and HEY! on Monday it is about to be turned upside down again. I mentioned a couple Friday’s ago that Garrett + I are going to be shaking up our routines shortly, and part of that is because Garrett basically got his dream job. WHICH IS AWESOME! And has been a loooooooooooooooong time coming! But also, it means instead of working part time and being done with work everyday around noon, he will be back to the 9-5 grind starting on Monday. This means both of us are going to be packing breakfast and lunch, and I am feeling a little bit panicked about that because HELLO, PLEASE READ ABOVE ON MY LIST OF WHAT I AM NOT DOING RIGHT NOW. KITCHEN TASKS ARE NON EXISTANT!

Guess that’ll get remedied this weekend or we’ll starve.

So! Lots of exciting changes. It’s a change of pace for both of us, but luckily I’ve just about got my feet under me at work, so it is so great that it will be Garrett’s turn to be challenged professionally. And you guys, he is so. damn. excited and happy about it which is great to see! While I’m nervous about what life will look like with both of us working so much, and of course what it will look like re-negotiating all of the household stuff (that has been Garrett’s domain for 3 years now…I think we may need to enlist some PROFESSIONAL HELP…EEEP!) I am mostly excited because two full time incomes mean there is a lot more financial flexibility when it comes to planning weddings and having babies. And I’m pretty sure my whole family (and maybe the internet) will sigh with relief when we finally stop talking about that stuff and starting doing it, ya know?

Anyway, since we are on the cusp of this big transition, and since I have about 48 hours to get my kitchen mojo back — can you guys help me out? I need to pick your brains about the following:

*Your favorite portable (paleo, preferably) breakfasts
*Your favorite quick weeknight dinners

I just need a little inspiration. (Frankly I need a little THINSIPIRATION too! Especially if we are going to start talking weddings. But that is a whole other blog post. And I’ll get there, so whatever for now!) I know I have been the crappiest at replying to comments lately, but if you have any ideas, wisdom or links to share that are helping you get through juggling full time jobs and transitions and all of that — HOOK A SISTER UP!

Share

This is my brain. On drugs caffeine bullets:

• I am a terrible at delegating tasks and projects. TERRIBLE. And it’s not for lack of wanting to delegate, I just can’t seem to do it effectively. Even when I try, it is a big fat fail — or so I realized as I was still working at 8pm last night. I need a Delegation for Dummies book. Do they make those? I could ask Google, but you guys are smarter than Google. HOW DO YOU DO IT? No strategy is too small. Share, please!

• You know what I’ve been enjoying lately? The Skimm.  It’s fresh, funny and informative. Me Likey.

• I was catching up on the Balanced Bites Podcasts the other day (we talked about this already, I know) and I ended up “Buy with One Click”-ing my way to 2 new books by JJ Virgin after listening to the episode where she was a guest. It’s ironic because for a long time I had intentionally skipped that episode because she sells some gimmicky book called “The Virgin Diet” which is basically a Paleo protocol (which is ALREADY gimmicky sounding and I have low tolerances for gimmicky diet names and this was TWO MARKETING GIMMICKS IN ONE!)  BUT! I found her so irreverant and fun and her story was charming and so I bought 2 of her books (WHILE SITTING AT A STOPLIGHT!) I guess I am not immune to Marketing Gimmicks. HA! Anyway, her new book is basically about her dietary recommendations for people who seem to be immune to weight loss and I loved her absolute hatred for Jillian Michaels and the calories in/calories out mentality. (She had me at “Your body is NOT a bank account, Jillian, it’s a chemistry lab!”) (Sidebar: I still love this.) Anyway, it got me curious, so I bought it even though I’ve already eliminated all the foods she recommends.

• But! You know how Amazon is with their persuasive “Customers who bought this also bought…” suggestions. So while I was buying her new book it recommended her old book which is obnoxiously titled “Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy” (GAG) and OHMYGOD seriously? My personal kryptonite is people offering solutions to fixing my Bingo Arms. SO I BOUGHT THAT TOO! At another stoplight. So. 6 weeks from now I hope to be rocking some Angela Basset arms. Is that reference outdated? Probably. But seriously? Who has had more bad ass arms than her in the last decade? Hmmmm. Obviously I will report back on both! I am on an impulse buying roll. (Which includes this potentially awesome/awful shirt from LOFT. Will I hate it? Only time will tell.) This is what I do when I am stressed.

• How do I know I’m stressed? Because while impulse buying crap from the Gap I came across a maternity dress that was adorable and on sale and I thought “Ooooh, I should buy that for when I actually get pregnant. That seems like a smart idea.”

• THAT IS THE DUMBEST IDEA EVER. I didn’t buy it. But the fact that I even thought about it is an indicator that things are SORELY out of balance. Also an indicator of that? ALL THE CAPS LOCK.

• Garrett and I are going to Lake Tahoe with friends (and our dog!) (and our friends’ dog) this weekend and I plan to completely decompress so that I stop shopping at stoplights and thinking about buying maternity clothes when I’m not actually pregnant, trying to get pregnant or planning on getting pregnant in the season where I would actually wear said maternity clothes. I need this little getaway SO BAD.

• Don’t forget about the crazy good deal going on with The Primal Kit! (OH WAIT, HOW COULD YOU? It is up on every single freaking site that one could possible read about Paleo stuff. HA! ) In all seriousness though, if you are on the fence: GET IT. It is full of so much freaking good stuff and I would keep it real with you guys if it sucked. You won’t regret it like you might regret a turquoise peplum sweater from LOFT. The sale is only on until tomorrow!

• Lemons and limes that are going bad smell like nail polish remover. Says the girl sitting beside a bowl of citrus.

Any bullets you’d like to share? (Or delegations strategies! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE with the delegation help!)

xo

Share