reap what you sow

I receive hundreds of emails a day, most of which are retail stores trying to get me to buy everything, but I also get several emails from blogs I like, which are a lot cheaper anyway.

Today I got one with a link to this post and it is just one of the many posts I've read about people experiencing incredible changes from just changing the way they eat. Not just the "I lost 100 pounds" variety, either, but real, life-altering things.

This woman tells the story of how changing her family to a Paleo way of living saved them. You can read it here.

Really. Read it now. It's inspiring and amazing how changing her son's food changed his life.

I hope I'm not annoying everyone with all the Paleo talk (I probably am), but don't knock it until you try it.

That's all I've got today. Kyle and I are heading to West Virginia tonight for Easter/Casey's birthday weekend. I hope everyone has a nice weekend and gets something fun in their baskets! :)

love.
krq.

getting caught up

I haven't been writing much lately, and I hate myself for it. It's just that there's really not much else going on except a lot of wedding planning and concentrating on eating healthy and working out a lot for said wedding.

Kyle and I sent out little invitations to people we want to be in the bridal party and participate in the wedding. 

They looked like this. 

stole this photo from Becca's instagram

stole this photo from my sister's instagram

They were tiny little matchboxes with a bag of David's Tea in the flavor "glitter & gold," which has little gold, shimmering sugar balls in it. Perfect for the wedding! The little cards fit right into the boxes. All Kyle's idea of course. We sent jelly beans in the matchboxes for the little kids we want in the wedding, because what kid drinks tea?! I think everyone is excited, which makes me even more excited. And nervous. Eek!

Kyle and I also found our venue, which is a huge relief, and also makes me more excited. Everything is slowly but surely falling into place. The next thing will be all the crafts we're planning to do for decorations and such. Any volunteers???

And as for the crazy lady fitness lately, I'm still going strong, and I'm sorry if no one cares about hearing about my food/workout shenanigans. Like I said, there's not much else going on! Unless you want to know a running list of sad movies Kyle's been making me watch lately. 

Anyway…

Yeah, looking real sweaty up there. It's about day 33 for the TurboFire Challenge, and I am feeling better all the time. I had a rest day yesterday, and I mean I REALLY rested. Like, I slept until 11:22, which almost never happens anymore. Oops. It felt nice, so I must have needed it, and then today's workout went really well. I felt energetic! What?! I was jumping when I was supposed to, and not just doing the modified versions. I started TurboFire over a year ago, and even after I had done it religiously for months, I was still not able to really jump, but for whatever reason, I can now. It's very possible I'll be crazy sore tomorrow, but oh well. I did get sort of discouraged when I had to send in my Day 30 progress photos, because I didn't really see THAT much of a difference, but 6 pounds is nothing to shake your head at, and when Kyle told me I looked thinner, that made me feel pretty good. Even though he chose to tell me that as I was shoveling mounds of sweet potato into my mouth. Whatevs. 

Even if I wasn't getting married, I'd still be working this hard. I'm going to the beach for god's sake! The holidays really messed me up, and I was eager to start up again, and that plus trying to eat as Paleo as possible has definitely helped me get back on track.

I'm planning to incorporate running into my week again soon. I actually had planned to do that this week, but then a March blizzard showed up and I just don't know if I can get up at 6:30 and run in the snow. I can only do so much. Really though, I'm just trying to keep up with one of my besties Jennifer Wood, because that girl runs every single effing day. I know because the Map My Run app tells me so! Go, pretty lady, go!

One last thing, Justin Timberlake is BACK and I've never been happier.

I hope everyone is staying warm during this not-so-springlike week. Like really, what is up with the snow, Mother Nature? I'll probably wear leggings and boots on Easter. Cool.

love.

krq.

paleo-my-darlin'

So apparently, this Paleo thing really works, and I thought I'd tell you all about what I'm experiencing so far.

I've lost 4 pounds since starting it, which doesn't sound like much, but the scale literally hadn't budged an ounce since Christmas, no matter what I ate or how much I exercised. So that's something! Just to be totally clear, I haven't gone 100% Paleo. I eat hummus sometimes, and we've been drinking beer with dinner for the past week, because, well, it's in the fridge, and I still use coffee creamer, because I just can't give that up. I'd say about 90% of what we've been eating is Paleo approved, and all but a few things have been delicious and things I would love to eat again. There have been a couple of way-too-spicy recipes I've made that Kyle would rather not revisit, but those can be saved with a few changes.

After eating pretty strictly all last week, I planned for us to have a treat meal at our favorite BBQ place that serves BBQ NACHOS. Yes. So exciting, right?! Well, I thought it was at first. We ate and it was delicious until about halfway through, but then I started feeling like total crap. It felt like there was a brick in my stomach. Real cute, I know. 

So I ate great all week, felt good all week, only to reward myself with a delicious meal of misery. Makes total sense.

I don't know that the nachos will be our treat meal next time. 

I've also noticed just how hard it can be to eat this way without some serious planning. On Friday, we were running low on food, so I just packed Kyle the last of the leftovers for his lunch and I planned to just get something at the store on my break from work. I went to Fresh Market, which you would think would be filled with options. Nope. Not really. I got some soup and some blood oranges. The soup was fine, but not what I really wanted, and it didn't fill me up like some of the previous lunches I'd been having. It just didn't really cut it. 

I've often fallen victim to trying new things based on what others say, only to be disappointed in the end…like that really expensive face cream I bought that everyone was raving about and said it would brighten my skin overnight. But with this, I have yet to be disappointed, and my skin is looking better all the time, and not because of the face cream because I accidentally left it in West Virginia. Usually when I wake up, my skin is red and sort of looking like someone has slapped me, but today I woke up to this. 

Whaa? Yes, I look sort of sleepy (damn you, daylight savings), but my skin isn't red. Or splotchy. Or uneven. I totally think it has to do with what I've been eating (and not eating). And just to be clear, I was not eating candy or McDonald's or potato chips before starting Paleo. I was just eating what I thought was healthy and easy. Frozen Healthy Choice meals, granola, low-fat cheese and whole wheat crackers. These things don't sound that bad, but apparently, something about them wasn't working well with my body, and now that they're gone, I feel better and my skin is evening out. I don't think that's a coincidence, and if something can make that happen for me, I will love it with my whole heart. 

Also I feel like I should say this…these things might totally work for some of you, but they stopped working for me. 

When my dad first started getting interested in Paleo, and he and I were talking to our family about it, I said "Don't eat bread, dairy, beans or processed foods," and my sister said "Well, what do we eat, then?!" 

Good question. 

Here are a few recipes I've made so far that were delicious. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This was the recipe that almost killed Kyle because it was so spicy. Take note of the amount of heat you like if you decide to follow this recipe.

Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash

Zucchini Pizza Bites

BBQ Turkey Burger with Sweet Potato Fries

These also were pretty spicy because of the cayenne pepper. Again, take note.

Sweet Potato Chai Muffins

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

I'm planning on making a Paleo-ized version of my mom's meatloaf this week, too. 

So there are some ideas. The links to those recipes are from the three main blogs I've been reading and getting ideas from. Here they are again, just in case.

PaleOMG

NomNomPaleo

Multiply Delicious

I'm entering into my fourth week of Paleo, and I'm weirdly excited. Here's to more adventurous cooking and better health.

love.

krq.

turbo+paleo

paleo pizza

So, my sister and I have signed up for a TurboFire 90 Day Challenge. You can win prizes, but I thought that would be a good way to motivate myself to work out like a crazy person before going to the beach and getting married. Plus if I am going to spend $100 on the new bathing suit I want from Anthropologie, I sure as hell want to look good in it. You know what doesn't make you look good? Standing in weird positions wearing tight clothes for the "before" pictures you have to send in for the contest. That shiz makes you wanna cry.

Anyway...

I feel like I'm finally back on track. I didn't totally disregard what I was eating and stop working out, but I definitely wasn't doing as much as before, and I was back to talking myself into believing that two(hundred) bowls of Frosted Flakes wouldn't kill me. Bad. News. Bears.

In the last few weeks, I've eased myself back into a routine, then Taylor and I decided to sign up for the contest, and I started reading about Paleo eating. All of these things happened in a relatively short span of time. I mentioned Paleo to my dad a few weeks ago, and he seemed super interested, which was a surprise to me, because normally he's all "Where are the Little Debbies?" But he had me print out some things for him about what to eat/what not to eat, and then a week or so later, he was reading a book all about Paleo. Whaa??

I think what sold him were all the stories of how people turned their health around by giving up processed foods. That and the fact that it gives you a long list of meat my dad can eat. It's not just salads and tiny portions, it's stuff he already likes and will enjoy just as much without the bread or cheese. 

Eating this way makes sense to me. I'm not going to say that I'm never going to eat bread or dairy again, because I know that I will, but if I don't buy it, I won't eat it. Kyle and I don't buy a lot of bread, anyway, but we do buy processed stuff and dairy. Just cutting out the processed stuff for the last few weeks has made me feel so much better. Like it's weird how much better I feel. It might take my dad a little longer to feel it, because like he said "I've been eating like this for 54 years. I think my body is going to do some weird stuff," but I think he will be surprised at how good he feels by not eating so many things from a package. 

My mom has been a little hesitant about "the changes that are gonna happen around here," (my dad's words) but I think she's looking at it from a financial perspective at this point. "Coconut oil is NINE DOLLARS!" she told me. Yes, mom. I know. But Crisco can fix squeaky door handles, just like Minny says in The Help. I also think she's worried that my dad is going to change his tune whenever he REALLY wants a sleeve of Oreos, but I told her that he'll get over it. Eventually.

I think she's also worried about having to re-learn everything she's known her whole like about cooking. But really, all that has to change is the ingredients. Plus, my mom grew up in a generation that believed cigarettes and diet pop made you skinny. Which may be true, but they don't make you healthy, and that's the difference. As I (and my parents) get older, I worry about them more, and this is one way they can help themselves. I told my dad I don't care if he loses one pound from changing the way he eats, but I just want to know that they are eating good things that are actual foods instead of packaged products with things they can't pronounce. 

Anyway, she's coming around. She told me she bought the coconut oil and fresh deli meat, not from a package. I don't think my family is going to be able to stop bread and dairy forever, either, but I think if they could just get rid of the cereals called "Marshmallow Mateys" and not buy so many frozen, pre-cooked things and learn to read labels, then I think they will feel a lot better. I'm definitely not blaming them. It's just how we have learned to live. Thanks to the wonderful Sara Queen, I read an article in the New York Times Magazine about how processed foods are designed to be addictive, and that just added to my list of reasons why I should give that crap up. The information is there, we just have to take it into account and really think about what we're eating.

So, that's what's up on 106 Rose Drive. I'm sorry this has been a little rambl-y.

Let me know what (if any) Paleo recipes you like! Here's to the next 84 days of Turbo! ouch.

love.

krq.

west virginia cowboy: part four

Today is one of my favorite holidays, because it encourages you to really appreciate the people in your life who love you. When things are crazy and you're so busy you barely have time to think, it's easy to forget to tell your people you love them. So, this year is a little different than previous Valentine's Days I've had. Kyle and I are busy with life things, neither of us have each other's gifts prepared, and I've traveled a lot during the last few days for something that isn't fun at all.

By now, you know about Corey, but I haven't spent enough time talking about the people he left behind. His sister, his mother, and his daddy.

Corey was a cowboy because his dad taught him to be. Kelsey is a good-hearted, smart, strong woman, because her daddy taught her to be. And Tina is a wonderful mother because Jeff was there beside her to be her babies' father.

On Sunday morning, Jeff died of a broken heart. I really believe that. Kelsey wrote on Corey's Facebook wall that she guessed it was only fair that he get a parent in heaven and she get one on earth, but I know that doesn't make losing her daddy and her brother any easier.

I'm not sure why bad (read "really freaking awful") things happen to good (read "amazing, strong, loving") people. I don't know what "plan" could possibly be in play with this, but I do know that Tina and Kelsey Queen are two of the strongest women I've ever met.

I know this isn't my typical V-day post, but my point is that today is about the people you love, and these two women are missing the two people they love the most. 

While I'm so heartbroken for my family and friends, I am also incredibly thankful for the people in my life who love me. It's weird being so sad and so grateful at the same time. 

So, please go hug the people you love. Hug them really freaking tight. If you can't hug them, call them. Don't use Valentine's Day as an excuse, either. Hug them all the time. Hold onto the moments with them for as long as you can. I promise, you won't regret it.  

love.

krq.