Paleo Fun

My last meal before starting Paleo...

Two weeks ago, I began the Paleo Diet. I have heard a lot about this diet/lifestyle through different discussions on twitter, but really understood the concept after talking to some trainers at my crossfit gym. The idea is to, "base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar. That's about as simple as we can get."

Taken directly from my friend Paula's blog post on Paleo:
"Paleo basically encompasses eating “like a caveman”, focusing on healthy proteins, fruits, vegetables and nuts. Notably, you cannot eat grains, dairy or legumes on paleo. As a former distance runner, this was a difficult concept to wrap my mind around. I grew up in a sport that encourages grains like pasta, bagels with peanut butter and granola bars. Not to mention the fact that I happen to love grains and dairy. I especially am a fan of yogurt, and greek yogurt with honey has been my standard breakfast for the past year or so. " -----I couldn't have said it better myself.


I have no intention to completely change my diet for the rest of my life. I have always lived on bread, pasta, pizza, etc. This was more just a challenge to see how my body would feel if I eliminated all the processed crap. My biggest worry for starting this strict diet would be the impact it would have on my running. I'm deep in my marathon training at this point, with my long run currently at 16 miles, and I need to be sure I'm fueling my body properly, for both workouts and recovery. After reading the book "Paleo for Athletes," I had a better grasp on how to fuel my body properly for the hard workouts. I don't need to eliminate every single carb from my diet. I'm getting plenty of carbs through fruits and veggies. As I eliminate the processed carbs from my diet, my body is changing to use fat as energy, rather than sugars.

I have cheated here and there, which I believe is ok. It's natural. But for the most part, I've stuck to the diet. I love fruits and veggies, so it hasn't been hard at all. I'll make up a big batch of food, and eat it all week long. Liz and I went to Sam's Club this weekend and got a bunch of fruits, veggies, chicken and fish and I was chopping, baking and mixing for a good 3 hours on Sunday night. Totally worth the effort!

Salmon, Tilapia and Chicken. YUM

My body is feeling great. I don't get the highs and lows that I used to get when I was eating a lot of grains. I am still using blocks, gels and waffles for my long runs, but refueling with proteins, fruits and veggies after. Surprisingly, I feel better than when I would use pasta to fuel and another carb to recover.


Am I using this diet to lose weight: No.
Would I be mad if I did: No.
Will I eat like this forever: No.
Do I like how I feel now: YES.
Do I think there is legitimacy behind the diet: Most definitely.

What are your thoughts on the Paleo diet/lifestyle?

My first month in Orlando (better late than never... right?)

My new "home" in Orlando

Have you ever had a time in your life where everything was working out better than you expected… and life almost seemed, well… Perfect? That’s happening to me right now and I couldn’t be happier!

I’ll start with my departure brunch. It was a perfect morning and afternoon, and I’m so glad that all my close friends were able to make it. I was especially happy to see my running/twitter friends there, and I know that I will be missed by everyone (I miss you too!!). The bottomless mimosas turned into a little bit of a shit show as the afternoon approached, but just know, that they get SOMEONE every week.

Dave and I hit the road from there, in the over-packed Civic, with our sights set on New Orleans, in one straight shot.

This would mean that we were going to be on the road for about 24 hours straight. Since I enjoyed some libations at brunch, Dave drove the first stretch. I ended up driving through the middle of the night, and Dave drove us into NOLA. We had a fun night at the W (thanks to my sister) and enjoyed Bourbon St. The next morning we headed out later than we wanted, thanks to a time change confusion with our cell phones and some delicious beignets, but we had an easy drive to Orlando.

Dave singing to me on the drive down...

We met my new roommate, Liz, and her boyfriend Paul. After checking out our new amazing apartment, we decided to enjoy a glass of wine together at the corner wine bar, just downstairs from our apartment. Talk about dangerous… a wine bar within a block of my house? Not just that, but probably 10 super cute and trendy restaurants, Starbucks, FroYo, Pizza, AND a grocery store? I’m in love with this city and my neighborhood already.

As the week went on, Liz (more about her to come) and I hung out with the other people in our group. Among food, drinks and dancing we have all decided that:

1. We have a lot of fun people in our group.

2. Liz and I live in pretty much the best part of Orlando

3. It rocks having guy friends that aren’t hitting on you because they have to work with you for the next year and a half (and longer)

4. We need to find a friend with a boat. (Still working on that)

After a trip to Ikea and a few trips to Target, my room was finally complete and feels homey. I also have a huge bathroom attached to my room, and an enormous walk in closet attached to that. Ahh, bliss. This closet is seriously amazing as it holds all my clothes, and all my shoes, and the rest of the crap that I decided to tote down with me.

Orlando is treating me better than I would have ever expected. The city is amazing, the people here, for the most part, are amazing. I have to initiate the smile to break theirs…

My roommate: Liz. She is absolutely amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything better. If you would have asked me to write out exactly what I wanted in the ideal roommate, she surpasses every one of those qualities. She is from Michigan, went to Michigan State, and studied Engineering (She’s super smart). She also grew up playing soccer, and leading a very healthy life. So she’s super fit and eats healthy and understands my crazy food and training etc. She is also very sociable and we have a great time going out together. She’s low key, so she can deal with my running late and messiness. Our lives are so busy that we live in each other’s messiness. And who else would get up at 5:30 with me every morning to run? She is also going to teach me how to golf, a vital skill for business down in Florida.

Liz and me on the first day of work :)

Job: For those of you who don’t know, I got a job with Siemens Energy in the Sales and Marketing development program. It’s a 14 month rotational program with three- 4 month rotations. We will get to work in 4 different parts of the energy industry, and work in 3 or 4 different cities. We will have the opportunity to network with a lot of people in different offices, and get to travel around. It’s an amazing program. My first rotation is based out of Orlando, and I’m doing sales and marketing with the Latin America Region (RLA.) My current tasks and projects haven’t really been defined yet, but there is definitely a lot to do. Everyone speaks Spanish, and the majority of the meetings are in Spanish. I was a little rusty on the first day, but I can now understand ~95% of what they are saying… just don’t ask me to respond. I’ve found that I’m a little more timid with speaking Spanish than I should be. ****Note to self: work on speaking Spanish…. **** There is opportunity for international travel, so I’m really hoping I get to go with the group! Woo hoo! Venezuela/Argentina/Colombia/Mexico… doesn’t matter to me!

The SMDP group of 2011. WOOT!

The SMDP group: There are 10 of us in the Sales and Marketing Development program. 3 of which are junior military officers, so they’re a few years older, but they have definitely seen and learned things that we can’t even imagine. The rest of us have graduated recently. I’m definitely the oldest non JMO, everyone else either graduated in December or in May. Liz and I are the only two girls. Some people would hate it, but we love it! The guys are great and they are more like our brothers than anything. We have formed a little clique and we go everywhere together, whether its out to dinner, or grabbing a glass of wine on the weekdays or whatever. We all get along well and they are a great group of people to both stay friends with and work with for the next few years.

Orlando: The city itself is amazing. Our apartment is right on Lake Eola, which is literally 3 blocks away from downtown. The area has the same feeling as the highlands or Wash park (Denver) but it right next to downtown. It’s an area full of young professionals, and a few homeless people. The Casey Anthony trial took place 4 blocks away from my house (don’t even get me started with her….) There’s a Farmer’s Market every Sunday in the park on the lake. We enjoy going every weekend to buy fresh produce, art, and I purchased my first orchid. I’m amazed I’ve kept it alive so far.

Farmers market next to our house

The path next to the lake.... and our apartment is on the corner here... 2nd to the top :)

The bar and club scene in Orlando is bigger and better than I imagined. I don’t really know how it compares to Denver because I didn’t really go out much in Denver. We (the clique of SMDPs, including Liz) go out pretty much every single weekend, and some weeknights. I haven’t partied like this since I was in college! It gets kinda crazy sometimes. There’s clubs and bars everywhere, and we just go out and have a good time. The guys in our group are very entertaining to watch as they try to pick up the girl of the night. In general, we move through downtown in our little pack of 5 or 6. We usually end up at the lodge, 80s dance music and fun people. Who doesn’t love 80s dance music? Liz and I usually have at least one person sleeping on our couch/floor every weekend…that’s the price we pay for living downtown!!

Running: I am keeping up with my marathon training while I’m here. I’m doing the Rock’N’Roll Chicago half marathon in August, and the Chicago (full) marathon in October, so I have to keep running! Liz gets up at 5:30 and runs with me most days before work. I also have been doing my long runs with My twitter friend Maddy (@maddyhubba) on Saturday mornings. It’s so nice to have someone to do my long runs with! We usually meet at 6am on Saturdays, which means I have to leave my house at 5:30… and wake up at 4:45 or 5 to eat… Needless to say, Liz and the other guys in the group don’t like that fact that I don’t go out late on Friday nights. We say that Maddy is cock-blocking my social life. Haha. I substitute going out late with happy hour, so I’m still out and social.

Note: before you start thinking that I’m partying all the time… it’s not all the time, but a couple nights a week. However, it’s not going out and getting drunk. I’m too old for that and my body can’t handle it (and I’m training!!!) Liz and I are known to order ‘soda splash of cran’ (without the vodka) so it looks like we’re drinking…. But we know better. It’s just fun to be out with everyone and be social.

I am starting crossfit at a local ‘box.’ I went through my foundations classes, learning how to do all the Olympic lifts, and will start with my WODs (workout of the day) today! I also found a great yoga studio in town that is similar to the studio I went to at home.

All in all, I LOVE it here. I love the people, my friends, my apartment, the city, my job. Everything. I’m super busy, but loving life. I’m down here through mid-October, if anyone wants to come and visit!!

Finally, I want to congratulate one of my best friends Lynne in her engagement last week!! She and Alex have been together for a long time and he finally popped the question! I’m so happy for you both!!! I’m excited for all the wedding planning! Congrats Lynne!!! I LOVE YOU and miss you!