I know me.....

How many can say that they actually truly know themselves? Hopefully most of us but the truth is sometimes it is scary to really look deep down inside and see what makes me, me. But I can say that I do know me and sometimes I don't like me. Ohhhh, that sounds really bad, doesn't it??? Well it's true. There are things that I don't like when I look at myself (not talking about the outside here) and the good news is that once I identify those things...guess what!! I can change them! 

Change is so hard though. How do you makes changes? How do you stick to it when it gets hard? How do you make these changes last? Well I wish I had an easy answer but I don't. So many times I have changed things and it has lasted for a little while but I go right back to my comfort zone.

So what am I trying to change now? Well I am trying to change the way I do meal time and eating in general. I would like to not eat out so much, not eat so many foods of convenience. GASP! Oh the horror! I know! It sounds terrible now that I have put it out here....How am I going to do this? How in the world am I going to improve?

Well I have been wanting to get Juli Bauer's Paleo Cookbook since it came out. I made a few trips to Barnes and Noble but it was sold out, until this past weekend! So I picked up her first one and her newest one.  I set up my reading spot in the living room so that I would settle in and dig in. I have never actually read a cookbook and decided that if Paleo was something I was going to try then I need to actually know about it, actually know what it is to cook and eat Paleo.

Now hear me out. I usually hate bandwagon fads....I boycott movies and book series because everyone else is loving them.  I don't like to wear certain trends because everyone else is.... I refuse to watch the Walking Dead because everyone and their dog is watching and I've actually heard it's terrible but people have what we call FOMO. Fear of missing out....so they watch, because everyone else is. And some might say I am a bandwagon Seahawks fan but that is absolutely not true. Could not be farther from the truth....Anyway...Paleo. I also avoided CrossFit because it was all the rage. I don't want to do something because everyone else it. But when I found myself doing the CrossFit workouts at home by myself and liking them I realized that I wasn't actually wanting to do it because it's so super cool. I wanted to do it because it makes sense. It's functional. It's fitness. It's what I need. And I am so glad I started doing it.

So when I started reading up on Paleo I realized that this was a variation of a style of eating I have tried before; whole foods, all made by me, nothing processed or unnatural. And the biggest thing: NO SUGAR.  A few things have stuck with me from this, I no longer eat pasta (except for very rarely, I mean once a month maybe??), no more milk (still eat some cheese), and bread only very occasionally as well....I did this a couple of years ago and it worked well, but a few things were different. For instance I ate beans and lentils, a Paleo no-no.  So as I began to read more I realized the start up and beginning would  be the hardest, of course, just like with anything else. But if I can just get going it might just stick. So I found the cookbooks and sat in my chair and read the entire first cookbook. I filled my Amazon cart with the utensils I would need...and dreamed of hitting the Order Now button (oh hello beautiful light blue Kitchen Aid mixer...). But I decided that I would slowly reward myself with these tools as I go, if i stick to it.



Yesterday I went out and bought the ingredients for four meals and three sides. I actually spent LESS than I normally do on my weekly Sunday shopping trip, and I went to the local specialty store, the one with all the cool gluten free, fare trade, non GMO, Organic stuff....Last night after I put LB to bed I cooked up dinner for tonight. It was amazing! I learned how to get the seeds out of a pomegranate!  So I had lunch for today and when I get home tonight I'll just have to warm up my salmon with pineapple, pomegranate seeds salsa, and eat it up before I head to CrossFit then swim.

Evenings are so jam-packed. Between my gym time and LB's homework and school/extra curricular activities there is little time for healthy eating/cooking. So preparation is key to making evening meal time easy and convenient. After all a quick trip out to eat is much easier than starving, cooking, or fighting the nighttime gremlins. But not anymore! The plan is to prepare in advance, have my lunch and dinners ready and try my hardest to make this change stick.