Paleo Chocolate Brownies! YUM!

So E asked me to bake some desserts for her United Way Fundraiser at work this week.  I got SO excited because it just so happened that my brother Bobby and sister in law Anna gave me a custom made Paleo Dessert Cookbook for my birthday! Tonight, I decided for the United Way Fundraiser that I would bake Paleo Brownies from the cookbook. Here's what I did:




Brownie Batter:

4 cups almond  meal [flour]
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup Agave Nectar [I used the LIGHT for this]

Chocolate Sauce:
1/3 cup light agave
3 tablespoons cocoa powder []

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat the nectar and mix it in the almond meal. Press into a brownie pan or cookie sheet. Bake 17-20 minutes. 

For the sauce, heat the nectar and mix in cocoa powder until it is well blended.  Drizzle over brownies.


** For my own twist, I sprinkled shredded coconut over them!

Bacon Apple Crock Pot Chicken

This was so good! I hardly got a picture. I loved being able to cook it in the morning and have it ready to eat that night. I'm so tired at the end of the day that cooking isn't my FAV thing to do but crock pot cooking is glorious!

First you have to make a BBQ sauce!

What you need:

1 T coconut oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

1 t paprika

1 t chipotle seasoning

1 t ground cumin

1 t salt

1 1/4 cup chicken broth 

Juice of 1.5 limes

1 t pure maple syrup (optional)

6 oz can of tomato paste

How to make:

1. In a sauce pan, heat the coconut oil on medium heat

2. Add garlic and shallots, and saute until soft and translucent

3. Add mustard and spices (continue to saute)

4. Add chicken broth, lime juice, maple syrup and tomato paste

5. Whisk until smooth

6. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover for 45 mins.

Next time to make the CHHIIIKKKCKKEENNN!

What you need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast

2 apples- peeled, cored and grated

Homemade BBQ sauce

8 pieces of bacon

How to make:

1. Wrap each piece of chicken in 2 pieces of bacon and place in bottom of  crock pot

2. Mix grated apple and barbecue sauce and pour over chicken 

3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours!

It's presentation isn't beautiful but this was half-way though the meal when I remembered I forgot to take a picture. SO FREAKIN GOOD!!!!!

The crock pot recipe is from Wellness Mama and the BBQ sauce recipe is from Make It Paleo!!!

ENJOY!

Chelle xoxo

Paleo Pancakes!

My FAV meal of the day is by far the first (and most important) meal of the day. I love breakfast!!! But,  most of time the breakfast I like includes a lot of gluten yumminess  junk. NO BUENO! Praise the breakfast gods that there are people like Sarah Fragoso that are ultra BA and come up with alternatives that are nice to my belly :)
So, once again, I'm stealing her recipe. [Klepto's Anonymous meets on a night that's very inconvenient for me... I'm trying to deal with the issue on my own]

I slightly alter her recipe below (you know like how you do in college so you don't get gigged for plagiarism)

2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
3 eggs
1 cup coconut milk
2 T coconut oil
((1 apple grated))--- what I DONT do!
1 cup fresh or frozen organic blueberries
3 T cinnamon

Mix all THAT together and cook on a SUPA-hot griddle for about 4 mins a side! Serve with more blueberries and cinnamon on top.

Mixchaaaahhh

Progress.... 

 

I like to make bacon and eggs too. I don't find the pancakes very filling.

I took what I didn't eat to Yelle and work! She LOVED!!!

This recipe makes A LOT of pancakes so sometimes I half it. But, if you do make it all, freeze the left overs!!! They are a great grab and go meal in the morning!!!

ENJOY!!!

Chelle xoxo

H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N!

Halloween is just around the corner! Over at my cave, my fabulous neanderthal A has started decorating my yard! Yes, that is a half buried body wearing my old Nike's and my old jeans (THAT ARE TOO BIG FOR ME NOW FYI!!!!) and yes, it has successfully scared ME, probably more than anyone, after a late night or beginning an early morning before the sun is up.

Have children? Concerned about a paleo halloween? Check out my other hero (besides Chelle) Sarah Fragoso (author of Everyday Paleo) and her thoughts on "SURVIVING HALLOWEEN" if you're interested.


http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/10/11/halloween/

Tuna Stuffed Baby Bells!

Hey all! Yelle here! This might be my favorite random creation I've come up with ever.  It's super simple and DELICIOUS.  It's also great if you miss that "crunch" from a cracker like I often do. The baby bells are SO sweet and crunchy, and they are often on sale at Publix!

Basically, I took tuna and made it the way I like it, (with LOTS of boiled eggs, a few spoons of  mayo and a dash of honey mustard, maybe some celery, cilantro or green pepper).


THEN

I smooshed the tuna in the peppers and VOILA!

PB&J Burgers

Okay, so they aren't really PB&J Burgers because cavemen don't eat peanuts (there bad news bears). But, they are AB&J burgers because almond butter is OKAY. Also, if you think this sounds really gross, your right; it does SOUND really gross but it tastes really delish! I had approval. Here is what I did.

The Burgers

1.5 T Paprika
1 T Sea Salt
1 T Cinnamon
1/2 T Garlic Powder
1/2 T Onion Powder
2 teaspoons Black pepper
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Mix with 1lb ground beef. Slap it on the George.


Once the burgers are cooked, Throw some almond butter on there and some jam (just fruit jam NO sugar/fillers) . SOOO GOOD!

If you think it's too nutty, ditch the almond butter 

ENJOY...G2G BYE!!!!



Chelle xoxo

Back from the WEST!

Hi all! Yelle here, I've been gone out West for a week [New Mexico and Arizona] but I'm back now! I thought since Chelle was showing  before and after pictures, I would too.  I haven't quite gotten brave enough to show my ORIGINAL before picture [Chelle took it on May 25th], but I'll show one of my "in progress" pictures from last week.  I have lost 30 pounds and for the first time since I think I was 9, I am in the "average" and not "overweight" BMI range. WOOT for me and WOOT for my cave twin, Chelle, who has brought me this far. <3 LOVE to her and LOVE to all of you! More to come.. Now I'm off to dinner with my NEANDERTHAL, A, because he is rushing me out the door!

Progress continued...

Hey friends,
I promised a better picture. So, here it is. Be nice. It took a lot of will power to post a no-makeup picture up here without retouching my imperfections. I also realize that after pictures don't mean much without before pictures but, too bad. I can't. I have to draw the line somewhere.

I look totally different without makeup, right??? SCARY! But, I am super happy with the results of going 100% crap free. 

Low down

Face: Progress after 3 weeks of the OCM. My skin is MUCH clearer with a much better texture. It's well balanced; never too dry or too oily. However, there are still some other things I want to address with it and I will talk about that more later.

Hair: This is my hair after 3 weeks without using traditional shampoo. All I did was let it air dry after the shower ((I had to pull my bangs back like a 4 year old because I'm trying to grow them out and they are a really super weird length)). My hair isn't fabulous yet but I must say it looks much better than this if i brush it (totally forgot to do that). The waves gets much softer and shinier and my roots have more lift!

What now?

I have every intention of keeping up with this routine in its entirety. I love it. I love being able to pronounce everything I put on my body and having positive results is a huge plus. I CANNOT use chemicals on my face. Every acne medication and cleanse I've ever used (seriously everything: proactive, clear and clear, prescriptions etc...) ends up worsening the issue. As far as my hair goes, I'm super happy as well. I know it doesn't look like a hair commercial YET but, my hair used to suck. It was wavy when I was younger, got super curly in middle school and then, after much abuse, was just damaged and was pretty much straight/frizzy (not so cute). Now it carries a consistent wave and I'm very excited to see how it will look in weeks to come. 

Back to my skin.

If you read my last post, you know that I mentioned starting WAP me Pretty. I read about this through cavegirleats. So far, I have addressed the issues with my skin topically through the OCM. WAP me pretty will help me deal with my skin internally. It's based on using known complexion beautifiers in their natural state (sulfur, antibiotics, and vitamin A) as opposed to using them in chemically altered commercial formulas. I will be taking a cod liver supplement, brewers yeast, and sauerkrap sauerkraut. YUM!!!

Last week I started with the brewers yeast and sauerkraut. Today, I got my cod liver oil in the mail (YAY!) and took my first serving about 2 hours ago. Brewers yeast is GROSS!!! OMG! But I started putting it in my smoothie in the morning (find my recipe in the archives) and that helps a TON. Sauerkraut is actually really growing on me and I totally don't mind a serving everyday with lunch. 

As far as the cod liver oil is concerned, it's DELICIOUS!!! I even documented my first dose!!! (My face is yellow because I'm wearing that turmeric mask on my face... I'm not in liver failure. 

YUMMM YUUMMM cod liver oil 

That's definitely going on my shake in the morning!!! HOLLY nasty! 

As my mama always said, "SUFFER for beauty, baby girl!"

Chelle xoxo

3 weeks progress!!!

Well hello there :) It's been a little while since I've seen your lovely face! I'm back on track now though. Ready to blog my life away. Today I'm going to let you in on all the hairy details of my progress going crud free. The good, the great, the not-so-awesome, the "your hair looks great ...from the front... did you forget to check the back of your head this morning?" Yeah, THAT happened.

Notice the title of this blog ^^^ up there (where it says "progress"). I have not made my full transition yet!!! I have this very passionate personality that prohibits me from doing anything half ass, but it always comes back to bite me. Like, I probably shouldn't have done everything thing at once... It would have helped a lot to think this through, but then I wouldn't be me. I have one speed. GO!

I've had to pump the breaks a little bit in order to smooth my journey to crud free.  Now, let's talk hair!!!

HAIR

1st horrible idea I had: I should stop shampooing my hair right after I get it colored... Like the day after... when my hair is seriously damaged and dry from a bunch of chemicals. That sounds like a great time to start washing my hair with baking soda. I heard my hair say "WTF chelle!!! REALLY??"

 (sn: not going to be dying my hair anymore... it's not very cave girl).

After the first baking soda wash I was SOLD. My hair was awesome and had a ton of volume! So, with that, I hit my easy button and thought about conquering the world or something. I mean, seriously... what a bunch of hippie cry babies talking about their hard transition to no poo.

and then... BAM!

My hair freaked out. It was seriously scared and confused and apparently Aks (yea, aks) Gary doesn't DO hair emergencies. My scalp was oily and my ends were sooo dry. My hair felt like HAY! I stroked it lovingly while whispering sweet nothings to it and, in time it calmed down. I still had to wear it in a pony tail though which bothered me a lot. This week I broke down and washed it (I know... it's shameful). I had no choice! We had a burn at fire academy and my hair smelled like a campfire. I used this shampoo I found at the health food store and the ingredients list is essentially no poo. It contains saponified (soapy) shea butter and virgin coconut oil AND its fair trade. It was amazing. My hair looks normal and smells like lavender. I figure I will continue to wash my hair with BS and once a week with the sheapoo (you see what I did there) to ease the transition.

Favorite side effect: Natural, beachy waves! I might just be trying to convince myself that my not-curly-but-not-straight hair is pretty but i did get a "I like your hair that way" and I was all "YES! I did this really coool thing to it. It's called nothing and then I let it air dry.

What I bought....

FACE

2nd horrible idea I had: I should change my skin care regimen on my super sensitive and revolting skin right after I go off BC and my hormones are fixin' to make a war zone out of my face.

UGGHHH! Such a bad idea! If you've read the blog you know that I switched to the Oil Cleansing Method as recommended by cavegirleats. I LOVE IT BTW! I've had problem skin my whole life and nothing (I mean NOTHING) has ever helped it. After the first week of using the OCM, my face was pretty much clear and glowy and dewy and yumm. Again, SOLD! Until the next week (this past week), when my skin said (in an obnoxious tone) "JK JK! HAHAH you thought you were almost pretty for a moment". I had a horrible breakout! My first instinct was to cut my head off. Then, after some thought, I decided to keep being nice to my skin and eventually it would come around. Which it TOTALLY has. To help the healing, I put this homemade mask (recipe later... keep reading) on my face morning and night. My skin actually healed super fast. I'm thinking it was a combination of that, red leaf tea and coconut oil that saved the day.

RANDOM

Those were my big stories. As far as body care, coconut oil makes you feel like a baby and makes people want to touch you (which could be awesome or horrible depending on who we are talking about). I use it for everything. I shave with it. I use it as a lip gloss. I ADORE IT. I hold it close to my chest as I sleep. We're BFF's! F with my coconut oil, I'll F with your life... all I'm saying...

WARNING!

If your all weirded out because I don't use smell good stuff. DON'T BE! It's awesome! And ironically I get told I smell good a lot which means I have super sexy pheromones that were covered up by all those chemicals. So, if you decide to go crud-free don't blame me when you life turns into one of the Axe commercials in reverse. I carry a stick to beat em' off with. It's a hard life i live.

I kid... one guy likes the way i smell. and I don't beat him.

face mask recipe:

olive oil, turmeric, splash of lemon juice.
Turmeric is a natural antiseptic and it makes your skin glow! I HEART IT. Leave it on for 10 mins.

PROGRESS

This is not a fair progess picture. I did my hair and I'm obviously wearing makeup. I was going out to dinner with that guy who thinks I smell good. I was NOT feeling particularly photogenic today. I'll keep you posted on a more legit progress photo in the near future.

So, that's all I got for you. My brains starting to hurt.

To come:

I started WAP me pretty (also recommended by cavegirleats... my cyber girl crush). I don't feel like explaining it to you. Look it up on her web page. I'll let you know how its goes in my next progress report.

Chelle xoxo

Salmon Salad!!!

So, today I thought I blog about a delicious dish I made yesterday. As you can see by the title, it's salmon salad (like tuna salad only 1000x BETTER). On Tuesday, at Whole Paycheck Whole Foods, I found this canned Wild Alaskan Salmon. It looks like this...

Yummmmmmmy

Here is my recipe:

1 can of Wild Alaskan Salmon

1 small red apple

1 small green apple

3 stalks of celery

1/4 Cup sliced onion

1 handful of raisins

1/4 t Cayenne pepper

4-5 T of mayonnaise

dash of lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

I pretty much just used everything I had at my house but HOLY geez balls was it GOOOOOD. 

This is what it looked like...

nom nom nom

I ate a TON of it and it was Cave Mama approved as well. Give it a try if you love salmon. If you don't, sorry... (you must not be human). 

a wee bit greener...

Chelle here!

Just as a disclaimer, for the next week, Yelle is going to be out of town (jealous) and I will be in total crunch mode trying to finish up at fire academy. I am going to try to post every day but I can pretty much guarantee that the posts will be short and sweet and quite possibly pointless :) Like today's for instance:

I have this overwhelming urge to tell you about how my house just got a little greener. WAIT FOR IT!!!!!....

WAIT FOR IT.......

We starting composting! 

YAY! But, For what? I have know idea. We live in a condo and have NO backyard! I guess I will have to keep you updated with just what we will do with all of our greenness. 

This is what we did!

We ordered a kitchen top composter online. It looks like this...

on the left... duh

and we fill it like this...

Yummmmm

AND THEN... (when it's full) we empty it in this...

We got this BIGGER composter in the garden center at Lowes for $39! 

Here, it looks like I lied and that maybe we do have a backyard but it's all an illusion. Seriously, we have like 5 square feet of grass.

ANNNDDDDD... that's ALL I got for you today. But, I am having calamari steaks tonight and I CANNOT wait to tell you if I throw up  they're great. Also, check the facebook page for the dinner I made LAST night. SOOO EEFFFIINNNG good!  

Time to hit the gym before academy. LATER LOVAS!!!

Partner PARK WOD!

Chelle here!
Today, Cave Mama and I were able to sync our days off (YAY! for mother-daughter bonding). Every bit of my inspiration to be fabulous comes from my mama (yes... i call her mama...hate if you wanna) She has been super active and healthy all her life, she has a smokin' hot bod and she cooks like a pro (ALL paleo I might add). So obvi I think she's super RAD!

This is us.

Aren't we darling?? (thank God I remembered to shave my armpits!)

We decided to go to the park for a fun partner workout. And all we used was are hot bods and this ball.

Mama with her ball...

This was the workout: 

1 mile run with the medicine ball (we periodically passed it back and forth when are arms felt like they were going to fall off)

20 partner sit ups with the ball (we faced each other and passed it back and forth; 20 each...so, 40)

20 slam ball/squats (I completed 20 slam balls while mama squatted ... then we switched)

*repeat the sit up, slam ball, squat sequence 3 times

1 mile run WITHOUT the medicine ball

DONE!

Medicine ball run (figuring out how to hold it is the best part).

Sit ups (imagine me facing her... we forgot to bring a photog)

Slam ball!!!

Squats!!!

Today is off to a great start. I get to check a couple things of my fav list including: eggs, bacon, coconut milk, coconut oil, fruit, fish oil, sun, grass, sweat, vibrams, clean air, RED LEAF TEA (which I'm currently drinking).


AND my day has only just begun!


Happy, healthy.... and now hungry. LATER LOVES. 

Chelle: A day in the Life

Yesterday was gloomy. I woke up achy. The weather was YUK! The TV was hogged. I had NO FOOD in the house. The house was a mess. Yelle was ignoring me really busy. I was completely unmotivated and 100% pathetic.

All that = one grumpy cave girl alone in her sad, dark cave.

Finally, after pitying myself MOST of the day, I reluctantly forced myself into my spandex shorts and finger shoes and made my way to the park for a run-as-fast-as-you-can-until-you-cant, lunge, pushup punishment x2. I instantly felt better, every person I passed at the park was happy. I must have exchanged a dozen smiles. I sweat a ton and got some much need 02 to my poor deprived brain cells. Suddenly, motivated and still high off a shot of vitamin D and endorphins, I cleaned my car (that I'm certain had things living in it) and did a load of dishes, went to the grocery AND  forced Yelle to hang out with me. We went to beach to watch the sunset. :)

Good story, huh?

The only goal I have in writing this blog is that at some point someone is inspired. Life ain’t easy. It’s tough and busy and full of “WTH just happened RIGHT NOW”! But, it’s also YOUR life and YOUR responsibility to not settle for anything less than FAB. My bestest friend (you may know her… her name's like mine only LOUDER). Constantly reminds me to embrace everything that I love about myself and try everyday to be little better than the last. Figure out what makes you happy. What defines you?? Here is my list. This is what I will forever choose to surround myself with.

Things I refuse to live without.

Food I Love.

• Bacon
• Apples
• Almond butter
• Coconut milk
• Blueberry almond pancakes
• Berries
• STEAK
• Brussel sprouts 
• Coconut oil
• Olive oil
• SPICES!
• DARK chocolate!!!!
• "Tommy Tips" from The Garden

Good-for-me extras

• Fish oil
• Vitamen C
• LOVE
• Rest
• Bubble baths

Reasons to move

• Kettle bells
• Olympic weightlifting
• Vibrams
• Sun
• SWEAT!
• Grass
• Clean air

My silly traits I'm learning to Love

• Passion
• Sometimes funny
• Broad shoulders
• Pleaser
• Lover 
• Pointy noise
• Fighter
• Small boobs (lol)
• Underdog
• Inconsistent handwriting
• Strong willed
• In-your-face-if-I-don't-like-you
• Extremely gullible

Other things I choose to define my life

• Yelle
• Sunsets
• Sisters
• Live music
• DOGS
• True Love
• Faith
• Brotherhood
• Fire Fighting
• Palm trees
• Good hair days
• Laughter
• Silent listeners 
• Singing
• Dancing/dance music 
• Tiny Bikinis
• Swimming
• Cleaning
• Lounge clothes
• Chick flicks
• Hot men
• Cuddling 
• Small kisses
• Big hearts

What do you want to surround yourself with. Share with me your favorite things. I don't care if its greasy fried chicken and beer (there's always a time and place for that). I want to know what inspires you. What helps you keep moving forward regardless of the rain cloud that chases you on a dreary day. 

The 411

Ok hi, yelle here. I know I’ve been scarce lately and poor chelle has been carrying this blog so I figured I’d chime in.  I’ve had a lot of people asking “what the heck is paleo and why do you do it?”. When I explained it, they would be like “how come” and “why don’t you eat that?”.. mostly inquisitive but some more judgmental than not.. and my personal favorite “.. but doesn’t your body need _______?”. To them, I pose “why does my body need that?” that’s where the conversation starts to end.  A lot of this I’ve had to research lately, because frankly, I went paleo as a 30 day challenge by Chelle, and my reasoning for (mostly) maintaining the lifestyle is because I FEEL BETTER. I've lost 30 pounds in 4 months that I've kept off in a healthy way and I've more than tripled my athletic performance. 

This is going to be rather brief, because I don’t want to bore anyone to tears with too much of the logistics of the lifestyle. It’s probably easier to list what we DO eat for our nutrients, than what we don’t eat. The Paleolithic Solution (paleo for short) consists of this:

EAT THIS YALL: “eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar”

-Meat (LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of meat)

-Eggs (yum yum yum. Eat these.)

-Veggies (Eat as many in quantity as you want! For the most part, I’d say if nature made it, it’s fine.. but there are some veggies that paleo frowns on that I will briefly list later, so if you refuse to give them up, try limiting them.)

-Fruits (If you’re trying to lose weight, or training for an upcoming athletic event, strictly limit these.)

-Nuts (a peanut is NOT a nut.  Try to limit these as well for the same as above, because nuts are super duper fatty, which is VERY good for you, but in VERY small doses. The amount should fit in the palm of your hand)

-Seeds/Herbs/Spices (knock yourselves out, yall)

DON’T EAT THIS YALL: “Modern diets are ILL suited for our genetic composition. Evolution has not kept pace with advances in agriculture and food processing resulting in a plague of health problems for modern man...”

(If you must, think of them as TREATS to keep you on track. The majority of your meal wouldn’t consist of a cupcake, it shouldn’t consist of any of these. Sorry Olive Garden fans):

-GRAINS [wheat, barley, rice] *NOTE: This is tough for a LOT of people to swallow. Bakers, don’t fret! You can use almond meal/flour and coconut flour in place for your baking needs. Muffins, breads, etc. can be made with almond and coconut replacements.

-DAIRY [cow milk is good FOR COWS.]  NOTE* I’m an ice cream FREAK. It is the only dairy I treat myself to [occassionally]. SO DELICIOUS makes Coconut Milk Ice Cream. I have this in my freezer.  I thought I’d DIE after 25 years of cheese at every meal, but you know what, I DIDN’T. My tastebuds and tummy thank me for it.

-WHITE POTATOES (think about cutting out basically all starches). *NOTE: Depending on who you talk to, sweet potatoes fall in this category. I don’t know any paleo’s personally who don’t eat sweet potatoes. Post workout, they maximize the refueling of your body, and they are high in fiber. I fully endorse sweet potatoes.

-LEGUMES [beans and peanuts] *NOTE: As you saw, I’m still a green bean girl.. It’s the only bean I currently eat. To give you an idea of why, half of a green bean’s carbohydrate content is fiber where as a something like a kidney or black bean has a LOT more starch.  When compared, a cup of green beans contain only about 34 calories while black beans contain roughly 227. I’m absolutely NOT a calorie counter but some people prefer numbers, which I understand. PLUS, Robb Wolf says they’re ok, so they’re ok.

-SUGARS [like what they LOADED in the oreo cheesecake I had yesterday. I know I know, you’re so disappointed in me..]  *NOTE: Bakers and sweet teeth alike, use: stevia, syrup, honey or another natural alternative.  GOOD NEWS: CHOCOLATE IS OKAY AS A TREAT! It is recommended that it be cocoa powder or at least 70% cocoa.

It seems daunting, right?  It’s NOT.  It’s pretty simple too, even if it’s a long list. You want to eat things that you have to do as little as possible to prepare. Commit to it, try it for 30 days, if you feel better and look better, (which you WILL) then stick to it. Eat all the time, so you aren’t starving yourself, and that box of doughnuts the office manager brings in won’t be nearly as tempting.  If it sucks, tell us. We can take it.  If it’s just too much all at once, try cutting one group at a time, so you don’t feel deprived. Most importantly, as Chelle said, CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK. It’s not ever about falling off the horse, it’s about getting back on.  I fall off the horse [hellllo, cheesecake], I put my butt right back in the saddle. Make healthy choices regularly so that you don’t beat yourself up when you make less than healthy choices occassionally. There’s no test to take to prove you’ve done it, you don’t have to publicly display your affection for our stolen brilliance (although we’d sure love that). You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. My work guys give me a hard time if I grab sushi for lunch, “YOU CAN’T EAT THAT!”… Actually, I’m an adult, I can do whatever I want. Don’t beat yourself up. Think of it as a lifestyle change and not a diet.

Sorry for yelling so much and for being bossy, and so much for being “short”.  I am just really enthusiastic about it, because it works.  If you’re concerned with not getting enough nutrients [calcium, fiber, potassium, blah blah blah] research it yourself (those links up there ^) or ask us questions. WE LOVE TO TALK. ESPECIALLY ABOUT THIS. IF YOU DIDN’T NOTICE.

And finally, we don’t “knock” any dietary plans. Every BODY is different, and we understand that.  We do, however, think our dietary plan is SUPERIOR. And furthermore, it is because we said so. :P

SNACK-o-holic

Hey there! Chelle here... again!
I hope some of ya'll tried the workout yesterday. I heard through the grapevine (aka YELLE...the only person I talk to) that a couple of you did and I'm totally stoked about it! I hope you sweat your little cave butts off! I wanted to take the opportunity today to give you a couple of tips in order to keep you on track; whatever your goal may be. Just because I'm writing this blog doesn't mean that I've eaten this way forever or that the transition I made was super easy but, I have made it successfully and I can help you do the same.

Rule #1 EAT- don't deprive yourself. If you're hungry, eat something. Just make a healthy choice!
Rule #2 RELAX- cut yourself some slack. Try to make a conscious effort to make healthy choices but, if you slip up, brush it off and keep going.
Rule #3 REMEMBER- You are in control. You are beautiful. YOU can do whatever you want.

On the subject of EATING. This is usually where I see people struggle the most. They are hungry and have a hard time finding something that's healthy OR they think that starving themselves will help them lose weight (WRONG). I struggled with this in the beginning but it's all about finding out what works for you, your body and your schedule. If you can get by with 3 substantial meals a day than that's all you need. But, if you're anything like me, you're hungry every hour on the hour ALL FREAKIN DAY LONG. So, I made myself a schedule so I'm always :)

It looks like this:

8:00- breakfast
10:00- snack
12:00- snack
2:00- lunch
5:00- snack
7:00 dinner

I'm also extremely active so there is a good chance you won't need THIS much food. But I did find it quite helpful to eat a balanced snack (one protein, one carb, one fat... by carb i mean fruit or veggie and by fat i mean good fat). This kept me the most satisfied.

Examples of meals/snack
Breakfast- 3 eggs (protein) with salsa (carbs) cooked in coconut oil (fat) and probably some fruit and bacon because I'm a growing girl :)
Snack #1- All natural Jerky (protein), carrots (carbs), nuts and seeds (fat)
Snack #2- All natural turkey lunch meat (protein), strawberries and blueberries (carbs), avocado (fat)
Lunch- Left overs from the night before... so I don't have to prepare it and I <3 left overs!!!!
Snack- Protein shake (the one I posted below)
Dinner- Something delicious from Everyday Paleo cook book or something like the meal YELLE posted below!

EVEN MORE SNACK IDEAS!!!

My fav!

I always keep a bunch of hard boiled eggs around

Sounds so childish but I totally do this with almond butter!

Apples and cashew butter. OMG... I DIE!

Hope this helps all my hungry little hunter/gather LOVES! I have a ton more ideas so hit me with your questions, comments and concerns. Tell me I'm CRAZY!!! Let's get the conversation going!!!

Workout like a CAVE GIRL!

As you know, Yelle and I are primal gals. We like to eat, and live paleo (occasionally we can act like pretty convincing neanderthals too but, that just adds to our charm...we think). However, you can't get a rockin' body like a cave chick by simply eating better. So, why not workout like one too. It might come as a shock to you that healthy cave people back in the day DIDN'T: buy a cute outfit, drive their hummer to an air conditioned, designated workout place and run in place on a moving path... WIERD! Not to knock any of you die hard Lifestyles member (because there is more than one way to exercise) but, the bottom line is you will get used to it, stop improving and most importantly YOU DON'T NEED IT.

For you skeptics out there, I am not just making this stuff up. I am certified as a CrossFit Level 1 instructor (which may or may not mean a sack of nuts to you) and, this is what I believe :)

For anyone who might not have any idea about CrossFit training, I suggest you give it a little research. Then, search for a crossfit gym in your area (CrossFit St Pete!! WHOOP WHOOP).

For all of you interested in just giving it a try at home I have a sample workout for ya!!!

The WOD (workout of the day) is:
5 Pushups
5 Situps
5 Sqauts
AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 15 mins

Sounds easy enough???... holla at me when your done!

***This will be a good baseline workout to give you a chance to get your whole body moving, understand your fitness level and establish some goals. Don't be discouraged if this is difficult. Modify everything to your skill level. See Modifications below.

THE PUSHUP

This is a standard pushup. If you can, try to touch your chest to the ground every time. This will ensure that you work your whole muscle and create long, lean (sexy), functional muscle

Modified on your knees

Modified against a wall

THE SITUP

Make sure you perform a FULL situp. It works your whole core. Crunches are worthless.

Too easy?? Find something to place under the small of your back and let your knees fall to the outside. Perform a full situp

THE SQUAT

Squat down just below knee level, maintain your core stability and push your knees out

Don't have a medicine ball? Find something else about the same height and use it as a guide. You want to have a guide to ensure you are getting your full depth on your squat to work the full length of the muscle. Make sure that your knees track over your toes. If you do this correctly, there should be no knee pain. 

This workout is designed to be done as fast as you can for 15 mins. One round is considered 5 pushups, 5 situps and 5 squats. Repeat this cycle over and over until you reach 15 mins. It is helpful to set a timer. This gives you a goal and motivates you to not give up too early. You are capable of more than you think. Record your rounds and document them. 

 That way, when you do it again, you have a goal to beat and you can track your improvement.

Good luck!!! Go get yo SWEAT ON!!!

Food, Glorious Food

Yelle here, and OMG if you know me, you know that part of the problem I've had my whole life with my struggle with weight is that I am OBSESSED with food (combined with my laziness and love for drinking in the past, it's no wonder I 'struggled'.  P.S. I've lost 25 pounds since June and kept it off thanks to my new life and my rad cave twin who is my motivation). Anyway, it's not one of those healthy obsessions either, it's a full fledged serial killer type obsession complete with photos hanging on my wall like a stalker.

However, this has helped my transition to clean eating, because I've found totally YUM and non-boring alternatives to the ho-hum meat and veggie dinner.  For example:

This is a closeup of last night's dinner that I cooked for my seester.  I have to take a moment to give her MAD props, because although she hasn't taken the paleo challenge, she HAS altered her diet tremendously in support of my lifestyle change, and thus she basically IS paleo.  She doesn't fill our home with tempting foods and she's basically cut ALL of the foods that I've cut. Thanks E for being the raddest in all of the land.   

The menu last night was: apple baked pork tenderloin, smashed cauliflower, sauteed green beans and spicy sweet potato fries.  I eyeball pretty much everything, so my measurements (unless directly from a recipe) pretty much consist of things like: "a glob" "couple spoonfuls" "pinch" "smidgen" and "sprinkling".

First up: Sauteed Green Beans

I had frozen these fresh green beans because they were on sale, so I bought a couple bags and didn't use them all right away.  I don't recommend freezing them normally though, because they get a little too waterlogged for my taste, and there is NOTHING better than sauteed fresh green beans. I like to cook these on a 3 or 4 for a LONG time (about an hour) turning up the heat to a 6 every now and then to brown them a tad because I like them cooked way down, they lock in the flavor that way.  

I like to use coconut spread to coat the pan, I buy this at Nature's Finest which is now called something else, but you can get it at any organic food store by the butter. It looks like this:

I sprinkle garlic salt on them throughout the entire time so that they are packed with flavor.  About a half hour in, I chopped some red onion that I had left over and poured a little bit of sunflower oil in to kind of give them a caramelized flavor and put the lid on. 

The pork tenderloin I totally cheated with because it was on sale and it was already marinated in the apple juice reduction, so I can't tell you a ton about it, but it did have onion powder, bourbon flavoring and some other jazz.  That I just dumped into the casserole on 425 for about 25 minutes, flipping it halfway through. I also threw some red onions in there for good measure. It looked like this when I sliced it (like buttaa):

The cauliflower was publix brand frozen cauliflower. I boiled it until I could stick a fork through it. Then I drained it in a collander and poured it into a bowl.  I dumped in "a few shakes" of dried parsley flakes, a little black pepper, some garlic powder and a dash of salt.  Then I took a fork and hand mashed them to about the consistency of mashed potatoes. Because they retain so much water, you don't need to add any liquid to them, they are PERFECT just the way that they are. 

The sweet potato fries are Alexia Spicy Sweet Potato Fries that you can find in the frozen food section of any local grocery store. They look like this in the bag:

 I dumped them onto a cookie sheet with a "dash" of sunflower oil and I also put a "smidge" of ground cinnamon and a "sprinkle" of cajun seasoning for good measure. I add to everything because then I feel like it's way more home made than just dumping it on the pan, plus I'm obsessed with flavor.  I tossed them around and threw them in the oven. Not a literal throw (much to the dismay of my little doggie Lincoln who was patiently awaiting one to drop), because they'd have made a MESS of my kitchen. The went into the 425 but only for about 12 minutes, and I took them out around 6 and forked them around. I usually do them on 350 for about 20 minutes, but the oven was already at 425 for the pork. Just make sure if you multitask that you don't forget, like I do ALL the time.  They looked like this: 

Final product looked like THIS [note: because of the dinner making/talk my face off to my sister after being gone all weekend, we didn't take the fall decorations down from the attic, so there are no rad fall placemats on the table YET.. this will change asap.]: 

A special thanks to my sister for not complaining about all the dishes I used so I could take pretty pictures, as she was on dish duty. :) Thanks Seester.

It was YUM to the TUM.  Hope this helps yall on your journey to cleaner living.  You don't have to go totally crazy all at once, you can try incorporating these kinds of meals into your life and slowly phase out the less than good-for-you things.. and remember, every BODY is different, do what works for YOU. Cheers to your happiness and your healthiness. 

-yelle