June Cavegirl Report!

Hello Lovelies..as promised, I am back with a monthly update!

Paleo Life
I am still loving this lifestyle. I feel fabulous these days and I have learned a tremendous amount regarding food, autoimmune disease and body chemistry. Since finishing my Whole 30 (strict Paleo), I’ve experimented with adding a small amount of dairy (no issues) and tomatoes (EPIC FAIL). Ahh…my beloved tomatoes. I cut them out during my 30 day experiment because they fall into the nightshade produce group and have been known to cause inflammatory issues with some folks. Well, last week I made a big salad for dinner and ended up using a large tomato. The next day my feet and hands hurt. I knew the tomato was the culprit because it was the only eliminated food that I added back into the mix. Soooo…tomatoes and peppers will stay on the forbidden list for now. I love them, but not enough to be in pain. The pain subsided the following day (after lots of water, exercise and a dose of my anti-inflammatory med) and I haven’t had any pain since then.

As mentioned, this way of eating requires lots of time in the kitchen, so I’ve been embracing my inner domestic goddess. A few of the things I’ve made that were hits:

Beefy Mexi "Cauli" Rice
Spicy Honey Chicken
Caramel Pecan Bars [Note: Her recipe calls for 375 degrees….I did these at 350 to avoid overcooking. Umm…and medjool dates are amazing]
Honey Lime Tilapia [Note: Use almond flour to make this Paleo approved]
Burger & Fries – Whole 30 style (Ok, not a recipe, but it made a great substitute for traditional burger and fries!)
Paleo Cereal (for the days that I don’t want eggs and meat lol)
Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes w/ Maple Pecan Coconut Butter

I have a ton of recipes to try, so I’ll keep ya posted on the results!

Fitness Events
No, I haven’t given up on my quest to do 12 events in 2012! I’ve completed 7 so far…hooray! #8 is on deck…The Peach Pedal next month. Pray for me…it is already hot as crotch in Texas. We hit 106 yesterday and it’s still June. HYDRATE. Events 9-12 have been selected as well…now to stay healthy for all of them and HULK SMASH my only new years resolution. LOL

Weight Loss (The Good Stuff!)
As of today’s weigh in, I lost 9 lbs for the month of June…and that makes 27 lbs total since starting this Dino Diet. I am sooooooo pleased! Not that I need compliments to survive *ahem*, but 4 coworkers have noticed my loss and it is beautiful and strange to hear weight loss kudos again. I haven’t made any real progress on the scale in almost 5 years, so I am übermotivated! Disclaimer: I am doing this for me…but if other folks acknowledge my transformation into brickhouse babe, that is great. LOL

Soooo…there’s my health/fitness update. Everything else is going well. Work is chaos, but I have a vacation coming soon (CABO!), so I will go to my happy place and get through these last few weeks. The beau is also great…he has been on his own weight loss journey and I’m truly impressed. His diet has changed and we make it point to work out together twice per week. Marriage talk is getting more frequent these days…he’s informed me that he knows the when, where and how for THE PROPOSAL. I am not going to harass him for details. I’ll just wait for the happy occasion. We looked at rings in January, so he knows what I like…LOL and the "ring consultant" from the store has it all recorded should he forget. His Aunt apparently thought we’d already eloped…WHAT? My mama would kill me! 

Anyway, that’s it for now…hope all is well with you all. Leave me a note, send me an email, tell me what’s up!

-C