Drumroll please........

...........in this corner, wearing black trunks and a grey sports bra, weighing in at 130.744 pounds and with 27.0% body fat, we have Kristin "KO" O---, (hopefully) Lockdown Champion of the World CrossFit North Atlanta!

Please excuse my messy room.  But, do you have tickets to the gun show?

So, in six weeks, I learned to eat how we were made to eat and the following things happened:

• I lost 6.805 total pounds.
• I gained 1.328 pounds of muscle, so I lost 8.133 pounds of fat.
• I went from 31.6% body fat to 27.0% body fat.
• I have increased energy.
• My performance in the gym has vastly improved.
• I never feel sick to my stomach or bloated (seriously, even when I'm PMSing, I don't feel bloated).
• I look better.
• 85% cacao chocolate and unsweetened coconut flakes taste sweet to me.
• I've lost an inch from my waist, hips and chest.
• I was starting to develop cellulite on the front of my legs, which are quite muscular (even pre lockdown) and I now have almost no cellulite anywhere.
• I have no desire whatsoever to go back to a Standard American Diet.
• (bloodwork results pending...)

Mind you, all of this with doing CrossFit for only 45 minutes per session, three days per week.  Otherwise, I walked a lot, ran a few times, and did things like yard work, house work, etc.  That's it.  Proof positive that fitness is at least 80% nutrition.

They took before and after pictures, which are apparently going to be e-mailed to us, and as embarrassing as my before pictures may be, I will post them.  Don't let the government and medical professionals fool you into thinking a low-fat, high grain/sugar diet is healthy.  I am proof that "high fat" and no grain/sugar will give you incredible results, and you can still eat delicious food, just lose the grains and sugar.  Shoot, even Cooking Light is catching on and has a ton of grain-free recipes this month and an article about how the main culprit in our nation's health crisis is probably (their words) sugar!  I remove the probably part.  Once you get the sugar out of your diet and get through the withdrawals (sugar activates the same receptors in your brain as heroin... dead serious), you just have a new definition of what is dessert, if you eat it at all... fruit with unsweetened coconut, a small piece of 85% cacao chocolate, a small serving of Turtle Mountain dairy and gluten free icecream (all hail the Paleo gods on this one).  Just do it!

ETA:  I won the lockdown for the ladies!  Results here.  Pictures and BodPod don't lie.  I have reverse body dismorphic disorder... I didn't realize I looked that bad!  Hahahahaha.

Stream of Consciousness

• Working is overrated.  (Paychecks are not.)
• I'm ready to get the paleo blog going but I can't make up my mind as to what I want to do... do I want to just host it in blogger or wordpress for now and buy my own hostname?  If I start to make any money, I could migrate it to another host (if you host through blogger/wordpress, you don't own your site or its content, apparently).  Or, should I just shell out the $ to host it somewhere?  Who out there has a website?  Help me please.
• Do you know anyone that does wordpress blog design/layout?  I want a "faux website" which is really a blog with links at the top of the page to different things, such as "About Me", "Contact Me", etc.  I'm really leaning toward wordpress, because I've heard it's more dynamic than blogger.  But, I still love me some blogger.
• We are going skiing SOON!  Yay!!!  I am sooooo excited to ski, but especially to see my family in Utah!
• Today is the LAST DAY OF THE LOCKDOWN!  Woohoo!  I kicked the lockdown's butt.  I have my BodPod tomorrow, so you can be sure I'll be back with the results.  The winners probably won't be announced until early next week.
• I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I think I'm getting closer.  I met with a guy that works for a medical device company while I was in Jacksonville, and the more I learn about the industry and the more I talk to folks, I think I want to make the switch and I'm getting good feedback as far as me being a good fit in the industry.  
• I also have a lead for a good job in my current field.  My interest is piqued, so we shall see.
• Oh, I have a ULI event tomorrow evening that is being hosted at a Mexican restaurant, and although I am definitely keeping up with the paleo lifestyle, I am going to DEVOUR some chips and guac.  And some wine.  Which means, I should probably have Matt come pick me up since I haven't had more than 1.5 glasses of wine (total) in six weeks.  And, I will probably be hungover Thursday.  Good thing I don't work.
• I need to go check on my paleo venison chili.  Another recipe for the paleo blog, once I figure out how the heck I want to host it!  xo

The Happiest Place on Earth

I headed down to Jacksonville last week to spend some QT with the family, and we all spent Saturday at the Magic Kingdom!  Being President's Day weekend, it was fairly crowded, but we had a great time.  The lines weren't too bad (Fast Pass helped us out a lot in this department), and other than not really having enough time to browse around the shops and whatnot, it was a successful trip.  James, my five year old nephew, went on all the Mountains!  He was awesome.  He was apparently a little scared on Space Mountain, and I can't blame him being that it was his first roller coaster and it is so dark in there (no tears or anything, but he said it was scary when he got off... the picture was apparently hilarious).  He absolutely loved Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain.  Other favorites were Buzz Lightyear, the Teacups and Mickey's Philharmagic.  Little Brody Bear even went on some rides including Buzz, the Astro Orbiter, the Teacups, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.  We were up at 5am to get down there, and both boys were amazing all day.  James entertained himself in the lines by playing with  my Canon SLR... yes, I am the world's nicest aunt.  He wore the strap around his neck, so that made me feel better.  :)  He took a few good photos... the budding photographer that he is!  Now, I'm just itching to go back on a less crowded day!!

Photography by James

Photography by James

Astro Orbiter

Teacups!

Tigger kissing Mickey

I want to eat him.

Cutest nephews ever.

Aunt Brandi sporting Brody's light up ears

Mickey!

Proust Tag

AEOT did this on her blog, and I have never participated in one before, so I thought it would be fun to look back on in a few years and see if my answers have changed.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
How do you answer this question?  Things that make me perfectly happy include sharing an amazing meal and conversation with my husband, traveling to new places together, a really good bottle of wine, my family and friends, etc.  But, my perfect happiness would be just to be completely content in my life, whatever that means.


What is your greatest fear?
Losing my family, but especially my husband.

Which figures do you most identify with?
I'm confused by this question... lol.  As in, I'm not exactly sure what the question is asking, but if it's body type, I'm a curvy gal and am pretty happy with my figure right now but would kill to be long and lean (and to be able to eat whatever I wanted and still be healthy and look good... alas, that is not me).

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Talking about myself or being a know-it-all.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
I cannot stand people that are inconsiderate.  Is it that hard to think about others?

What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty and the ability to make me laugh.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Shut the front door", "seriously", "like"


What is your favorite journey?
marriage

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
In today's society, openness.  Some of us have become a little too open.  I'm known for being an open book, but I'm referring more to poor decisions about what young kids post on the internet.

What is your favorite occupation?
TBD...

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Hmmmm... probably that I still breakout.  Or, as I said above, if I could eat anything I want and not have it affect my health or appearance, that would be primo.  ;)  I love paleo, but I still love things I have given up!  :)

What is your greatest regret?
Times I have hurt others (they weigh on me and I still remember them)

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My Matt.

When and where were you happiest?
times spent together as a family before my dad died (Huey Lewis concert, watching my dad play in his bands, Disney trip, NC cabin); being with my friends in college (Key West Summer '02 or SB'03 anyone?); traveling and/or experiencing new things with Matt

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'd be a morning person and wake up at 6am every day full of energy!

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Staying on the straight and narrow and being goal oriented throughout my life; finding time to serve others even when I'm busy

What is your most treasured possession?
My pictures.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Another one I am not sure how to answer... watching my loved ones be hurt, tortured, etc.  Do it to me, but don't do it to someone I love.

Where would you like to live?
Sonoma County

What is your most marked characteristic?
Personality - I talk... a lot.  I don't think I'm as bad as I used to be, but my friends can attest to my ability to talk, especially when I was in a new situation.  It's my crutch.  Appearance - my forefivehead.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Food.  I cringe at spending $200 on a pair of shoes or even a purse and am a super frugal clothes shopper, but I will drop some money on food be it good quality meats, wines, etc. or a good meal out.  We don't even blink to spend $100 on dinner for the two of us.  Granted, we don't do it much (especially now), but I'd say it used to be an at least twice per month occurrence.

What are the qualities you most like in a man?
Loyal, outgoing, compassionate, adventurous, handy around the house ;)

Who are your favorite writers?
Ernest Hemingway, Harper Lee, John Steinbeck, Emily Giffin

How would you like to die?
Very old, in my sleep, no fuss, after I've gotten to experience the most out of life

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Forrest Gump and Atticus Finch

Who are your heroes in real life?
Gram, Memere, my mom... three incredibly strong women!

What is your motto?
I have a few...
No one needs a smile so much as he who has none to give.  (my senior quote in the yearbook)
What does not kill you only makes you stronger/God will not give you more than you can handle.
Live life to its fullest, because you never know which day will be your last.

Food is Love

I love food.  I think most of you know this about me.  Like really love, will eat almost anything and try pretty much anything once, love.  So, it goes without saying that it is also how I express love.  And, I wasn't going to let a little thing like paleo get in the way of a kick butt Valentine's Day dinner (if you notice, I haven't let it do so at all over the past five weeks).  But, this wasn't just a normal Monday night dinner (not at $23/lb for fresh, large sea scallops).  And, oh my... it was good.  I probably moaned (TMI? told you I love food) every single time I cut into one of those big, juicy scallops and put the succulent, soft, buttery bite in my mouth.  I looooooove a good scallop.  And, my friends, these were divine.  But, the recipe is being saved for debut on the new blog (hopefully to be unveiled in the next week or two), so I will instead leave you with photos.

 Oh, and who could forget dessert?  Just a paleo version of key lime pie, found here.  It was a little too tart for our tastes (likely a result of using regular limes... key limes are sweeter), so I sprinkled a little bit of palm sugar on the top and it was perfect.  If you eat dairy, I think it would be amazing with some fresh whipped heavy cream.  Yummmmmm.  I even went crazy and had a glass of wine with dinner.  Watch out.  P.S.  Is it bad if I felt a little dizzy from one glass of wine?  I think so.  My tolerance has left the building.

Lockdown Update

As you may have caught in my previous post, I am working on starting a paleo blog/website.  I guess you could say I'm smoking the crack (I'm even going all out with hosting and my own domain name so I make sure I own the content and not blogger or wordpress).  So, I thought it was time for another update, since it's been awhile.

Today is day 30 of the lockdown!  Wow, I just realized that.  A lot of people encourage just a 30 day trial of this lifestyle, but being that CFNA is "cock diesel" (don't ask, because I don't know), we go all out for a six week lockdown.  So, for those math challenged, 12 days to go.  Or for me, a lifetime to go.  You guys, this truly is not that hard and the results are so worth it.  I've lost an INCH... ONE INCH... from my waist in four weeks, and it's not like I am obese and the weight falls off really easily.  I think I'm also down 4 lbs, but we'll leave those measurements to the BodPod in a couple weeks, as I've hopefully gained some muscle too.  Don't get me wrong, one of the things that motivated me to do the lockdown was that I was not happy with the excess fat amassing itself around my mid-section and thighs, so I definitely had some lbs to lose.  BUT ONE INCH AND FOUR POUNDS IN FOUR WEEKS.  And, I EAT.  A LOT.  Eggs, grass fed beef, organic free range chicken, fish, olives, coconuts, avocados (yum), nuts and lots of fruits and veggies.  I even found PALEO ICECREAM... y'all, icecream that isn't so bad for you... and it tastes good (it's made w/ coconut milk and agave nectar)!  I looooooove icecream, and I've already planned to purchase an icecream maker so I can make paleo versions of icecream and sorbet, but I can buy it at Publix when I'm lazy.  Cue the choir... "Hallelujah!"

I seriously encourage you to at least read about paleo and primal eating and learn what grains (especially gluten... if you do nothing else, eliminate gluten from your diet), sugar (same as grains), dairy and legumes do to your hormones and gut.  You will be shocked at some of the science that's out there and the fact that our own government subsidizes corn production, making things like high fructose corn syrup (don't buy those commercials... nothing about that crap is good for you, and they're exactly right... it's like sugar... which guess what, is NOT GOOD FOR YOU) cheap so that junk food and all the things that make us sick and diseased are cheap, then they subsidize the drug industry to treat those diseases (cancer, diabetes, inflammatory diseases such as lupus, artherosclerosis, etc) when all we need to do is change our relationship with certain foods.  Also, watch Food Inc.

So, the new venture for me will be a mix of recipes, things I learn about paleo along the way, tips for eating out and adhering to a paleo/primal lifestyle, my random musings and of course, my continued journey and results with my new found obsession.  Once it's up and running, you'll be the first to know!  Except a glass of wine, I don't even think I'll take much of a cheat on my first day after the lockdown.  I do have an event to attend which will have a guacamole bar, so I will most definitely be partaking in that (guac is paleo (assuming no dairy) but corn chips... not so much).  I've pretty much gotten to the point that most things aren't even worth cheating for, not to mention I know I'll probably feel like crap after eating them.

So Much To Do, So Little Time

That's a funny comment coming from someone who it would seem has nothing but time on her hands.  I don't have a job to report to every day, but I do have a laundry list of things to accomplish while I'm funemployed.  The list looks something like this.

-do taxes
-establish LLC for contract/consulting work
-file property tax appeal
-paint upstairs bedroom
-create paleo blog (coming soon to a world wide interwebs near you... recipes, info, etc.)
-find dresser for master bedroom (2nd hand or IKEA hack)
-refinish/paint dresser for master bedroom
-sew pillows for master bed
-find bedding/make bedding for upstairs
-sell furniture (my awesome friend Lauren is buying our old bedroom furniture!)
-make curtains/shades for upstairs bedroom and "skylights"
-sell clothes and purses on eBay
-meet with medical device reps to discuss industry and make connections

Obviously, some of this could carry into future employment, but at the rate I'm going, that's not going to be any time soon.  I haven't even fully updated my resume or started to get it out there, but I'm just not quite ready to go there yet.  Ideally, I would be able to get enough contract and consulting work that I won't need a "9 to 5" for a few months, if ever again (I guess that would be the true ideal).  Plus, there's really not much out there for someone of my qualifications at the moment, so there's not a huge hurry to beat anyone to market.  I have a lot of connections in the Atlanta commercial real estate industry, so in the next couple of weeks, I will start leveraging those connections to set up meetings to get myself, and my consulting gig, out there.  At this point, I just really don't want to settle for a job where I ultimately will not be happy.

In the meantime, I've already met with one friend in the medical device sales industry and am trying to set up a meeting with a friend of one of my mom's coworkers for next week, while I'm in Jacksonville.  I haven't mentioned that mixed in with this list (which includes more than the above), I'll also be "home" for several days, and then we're going skiing in Park City too.  That doesn't seem to leave too much time for job searching.  ha!

I've also kept busy and continue to keep busy with lunch meetings with friends and folks in the industry, keeping up with the house, etc.  I have to say, if we could make it work financially, I'd never go back to work!  haha.  I might change my tune in a few weeks if/when I get bored.  But, so far, unemployment has been nice.  Below are some photos of one of my accomplishments of last week.

I don't have any before pictures of this room, but it was previously the same color seen in our master bedroom (and the rest of the house), which was a putrid yellowish-peachy color and the blinds were some fake wooden blinds that were also yellowish in color.  Once I got it all painted (Behr's Oyster in eggshell and  a fresh coat of Glidden's White on White in semi-gloss on the doors and door/window trim, which were inexplicably filthy, even after a good wipe down), Matt said it looked like a smoker's room because of the blinds, and promptly made a trip to Home Depot for some bamboo blinds.  Gotta love a guy who knows what he wants.  This is our old master bedroom furniture, which Lauren is taking off our hands.  It's too big for this room, as is, without the armoire and tall dresser that are in our room and the other bedroom.  Even though the furniture is too big for the room, it already looks so much bigger, cleaner and lighter with the updated paint.  I want to use orange in this room, so I'm on the hunt for bedding or fabric to make my own.  Also thinking about taking on an IKEA hack to make an upholstered headboard, but we shall see.

Like I said, so much to do, so little time...

Funemployment

I was laid off on Monday, which was not entirely unexpected and not exactly dreaded, either.  A lot of people have been saying how sorry they are, but I don't think anyone should feel sorry for me, because I sure don't!  I loved the people I worked with and my company was a good company, but I was not happy in the work I was doing.  I didn't feel any sense of fulfillment or accomplishment.  I've come to realize in my short, illustrious six year career that I need a job in which I feel like I am doing something, whether that's creating something or making a difference in someone's life.

So, I'm taking my extended paid vacation (okay, it's not really that long, but I'll take it) to figure out what I want to do when I grow up with my life.  I have a long list of things to do while I'm not working, besides the obvious of finding a new job, so I will definitely keep busy.  I'm also planning to create an LLC that will allow me to do contract work and consulting in commercial real estate, and also do some pageant coaching, which is something I've thought about for a long time.  I've done coaching before but never officially as a business.  So, if you know of anyone who needs a pageant coach, holler!  I have a lot of good insight and resources and have worked with girls in MAO and USA with great results.  I can coach everything from image to presentation to interview to fitness/nutrition.

I'm also seriously considering a career change and have been for some time.  I wanted to be a doctor for most of my life.  Toward the end of high school, I began to talk to doctors and every single one of them said not to do it if there was anything else I could see myself doing.  Instead of choosing something else in the medical field, I just went completely away from it.  I still have a passion for it, but would want to do something where I'd have patient interaction but combines my business background.  So, I'm thinking about medical device sales too and am trying to set up some meetings with people I know in that field.

We shall see... the possibilities are endless!