Today...

I wore cute boots...

I walked 2.5 miles because that's how far away my car was parked! (at Green lake...forgot to bring it home last night after picking Matt up at work!) I took beautiful tree photos. TODAY I AM OBSESSED WITH ORANGE LEAVES!

(I carried my latte cup in my camera bag while I took pictures. It fits perfectly!)
All the trees at the park were having a prettiest tree contest and SERIOUSLY...this tree won! I only wish my photography skills were good enough to capture all the colors perfectly.

I ran 9.35 miles.
I was supposed to run 10 miles. I also walked one block during my run. Somehow this lack of carbs isn't really helping me run better or faster! I need to re-think the diet on the days that I do a long run.

I am going through photos from the week and loving the crazy/terrible photos from the Star Trek party last night...
I grocery shopped for lots of healthy food for the week! After today, I will have completed 2 weeks of this new way of eating!

Matt is at a CE class all day long so I am entertaining myself. I hope we get to do something FUN tonight!

Its Day 13...

...I have completely forgotten to take food photos! I have no photos this week (except for some pretty fall leaves photos).

Overall I am doing great on this new way of eating! I purchased the book "Primal Blueprint 21 day challenge." I guess it takes a full 21 days before you are more of a fat-burner than a sugar-burner. Maybe it even takes that long to lose weight? We will see. Last night I told Matt that this 30 days may just go on forever. After all, its a lifestyle, not a diet!

Don't worry everyone. I am not a crazy person. I will be eating pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!

One suggestion in the Primal Blueprint book, is to take lots and lots of walks! Basically keep moving and don't sit around! This week that has been a goal of mine, and I took a walk at Green lake on Wednesday afternoon and again with Matty last night after dinner. Its been very relaxing.

This year we have had a gorgeous fall in Seattle. I have been LOVING all the pretty trees and changing colors. I took many cell photos at the Lake on Wednesday. Love having my phone with me as a quick camera.

A little cheating...

I guess you could say that Day 7 and 8 involved a little cheating! Not a lot, but just a little.

On Saturday I was very good! I avoided donuts! No pastries for me. By early afternoon I was completely sick to my stomach and feeling light headed. Matt decided it would be a good idea to feed me some greek yogurt and honey:
I only ate a few bites, but I felt SO MUCH BETTER! I guess in this case cheating was worth it, because I stayed on my diet (pretty much) the rest of the day and had a lot more energy.

On Sunday I was tempted by pizza TWICE, made myself some Paleo biscuits (that were disappointing), carved a pumpkin, made some roasted pumpkin seeds (healthy!) and only managed to cheat a LITTLE! At our pumpkin carving party I ended up eating the topping of a slice of pizza. Cheese! Fatty meats! Not very smart.

Here is Matty making us a lovely fresh fish for lunch:
And here is my pumpkin...since I am sure you are all wanting to see it...
Now that it is MONDAY, I am newly inspired and ready to have a wonderful Day 9 without any cheating!

Paleo Days 5-6

(So from now on I will refer to this diet as "Primal Blueprint" because that's really what it is. The Paleo diet is much more strict and doesn't allow any fat. It also is much more strict about dairy. Because I have been eating fatty foods such as butter, avocado and bacon, its really more "Primal Blueprint" style.)

Both Photos from this week feature my favorite pan. This nonstick pan was given to me for my wedding and it almost completely has lost its "nonstick." But I still love it! I use it lots and lots.

Thursday...Day 5
Made another souffle! I didn't burn my hand this time. :)
Friday...Day 6
Made green beans for the home meeting.
I was lucky tonight at the home meeting because there were lots of healthy food options! I ate these green beans, cauliflower, chicken wrapped in bacon and some salad with pears. I ate concord grapes for dinner! (Those were almost too sweet!)

Today was my long run day. I decided that its okay for me to stray a tiny bit when I have to run for over an hour! On my nine mile race I decided to have a little energy gel...my favorite, the blackberry one! And then I had a little protein shake afterwards. That's not too terrible right?

But besides this, my diet has really been pretty perfect the last 6 days!

24 more days to go!

Paleo Day 2-4

This diet is an interesting ride. Its so different than anything I've ever done! I have done so much more cooking than I usually do. I have loved having the freedom to eat whenever I am hungry and have felt so wonderful not having to count calories. (I still write everything down)

Monday: I bought a huge veggie tray at Sam's Club. I used some of the veggies for the stew I made on Monday night and then put a lot of them in my little containers to bring to lunch. The small containers are re-used from veggie trays from TJ's. I am so proud of my innovative idea to reuse these containers! :)
Tuesday: I had a little mishap with my fruit souffle that I made for breakfast. I grabbed a very very hot handle and burned my hand! This was so miserable, as I still had to go to work, wash my hands a ton, put gloves on, and clean people's teeth. It was pretty excruciating, but the ibuprofen helped!

Here is Matt enjoying the souffle. (Its the best photo I got...I was in a lot of pain while I took this shot!)
Wednesday: Here is a cell phone photo that I took at work of my lunch salad. (Yes, there is feta in there! I already had some and I'm not being wasteful!) I found that eating avocado today really helped me stay full. I have been pretty constantly hungry on this diet.

A Shimelle sketch

I have actually been scrapbooking quite a bit lately, which I am happy about! I went about a month or more without scrapbooking (In August-Septemberish) and now I am totally back in the game. I love how relaxing it is!

I made a page for Shimelle's sketch of the week:
http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1261/scrapbooking-sketch-of-the-week/

It does not photograph well, but I love the way the page came out. I used glimmer mist to paint with, a technique that I learned from watching some of her videos. I am always about using some of that glimmer mist in any way I can!
And here was the sketch. I liked it a lot and may use it again!

Paleo Day One!

I made it! I only made a few mistakes.

I ate a peanut butter lara bar in the morning (avoiding yummy poundcake!) only realizing after finishing it that peanuts are legumes and NOT ALOUD! Oops!

I got made fun of a lot yesterday. These next 29 days will be very interesting.

PHOTOS:

Yummy afternoon snack, thanks to Josh:
My amazing dinner, thanks to Ellen:

Being Healthy

Today I had a stunning idea.

Why not combine the things I am good at and the things I am terrible at?
I am great at scrapbooking.
I am terrible at dieting.

I think I will combine the two!

I have already decided that starting on Sunday I am beginning 30 days of the Paleo diet! I think it might be a fun idea to take a picture each day and write a little about my successes (and hopefully not failures) each day and then maybe put it in a little book. The format is yet undecided. (Don't worry, not all mundane details will end up on this blog!)

Today is Negative One Day. (Yesterday was Negative Two)
Matt and I decided to do a "soft start." That's because I am certainly not throwing away delicious foods from my fridge. So I will eat them up now and just not buy anymore!

The Paleo Diet is mostly about eating meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit and nuts. I will try to be as strict as possible for 30 days and after that I am sure I will re-incorporate healthy foods such as greek yogurt, dark chocolate, quinoa and maybe even some black beans and brown rice. I will have to introduce these slowly, of course. The white flower and sugar can stay out forever! (Except for Thanksgiving of course!....see why the 30 days starts now?)

Because I am training for the half marathon I will possibly still allow a sport gel during a long run. I figure that I pretty much burn it off during the run and it can't do too much damage, right?

So wish me luck!

Here's my first pictures:

Day Negative Two: Discovering recipesDay Negative One: Made a delicious breakfast

My favorite things!

Its been awhile since I posted about this! I guess I just have a few things that I have recently loved this fall.

1. Saturday Farmer's Market.

Last weekend Hannah and I walked to the University Farmer's Market. Its about a 40 minute walk from her house and there was a perfect Seattle mist. I bought some yummy fruit, amazing flowers and a delicious scone. Now I can't wait to go back to another Farmer's Market! I only wish it was a little more affordable.

2. Tall Pumpkin Spice Latte with half the syrup.

Not to big...but keep the fat! I can't imagine drinking this yummy fall beverage with the full amount of sugar. It is SO SWEET with the 1.5 pumps of pumpkin Spice.

3. Amy Tangerine Chevron Paper
I love love love this paper! I have used it on 3 pages so far and I still have more left! The only problem is, I love it on both sides!

4. Fred Meyer.

Yes, this is silly. But I love this place! I've been shopping here for more than a month and still my FAVORITE products are always on sale and affordable! They have yogurt, almond milk, bulk foods, lara bars, and TONS more! I totally love this store.

5. Nancy's Honey Yogurt.

This is related to #4...I get 2 of these for $5 at Fred Meyer. Its 170 for one cup and completely delicious! I eat it every morning with raw oatmeal and slivered almonds. This week I am going to work on adding some fruit. (My trainer says eat things with bright colors!)

Shopping Inspiration

Yesterday while shopping at U. Village, I could not help but snap a few cell phone photos of some inspirational store displays.
Aren't they pretty? I love the idea of taping lots and lots of photos on the wall with pretty colored tape. I could totally recreate this!

Its the last day!

Tomorrow is the last day of Matt's work at his current job!

He doesn't have to wake up super early anymore.

He doesn't have to stay at work late anymore.

He doesn't have to commute to Everett anymore.

This means I get to see him many, many more hours every week! I wonder what this will be like?

I am excited. :)