Locking it down into week 3

Today marks the start of week three of the lockdown.  So far, so good.  Save a few tiny (and I do mean tiny) sips of Matt's beer or wine, no cheats.  I feel good, albeit tired.  I feel like my diet is good, so I'm not sure if the sleepiness is just my body adjusting to the lack of sugar or what.  It's actually worse on days I don't work out, oddly enough (today being one of them).  I tore my hand up but good doing Monday's WOD (CrossFit acronym: Workout of the Day), which included a lot of pullups, so I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow's workout consisting of a lot of olympic lifting.  Note to self: wear gloves and not care when people make fun of me... I'll just show them the nice, raw rip right in the middle of my left hand.

Nothing major to report except that living this lifestyle really isn't that hard IF you plan ahead and don't mind cooking.  I'm learning about all kinds of things like coconut flour and almond meal and other ways to make foods that would normally contain grains.  I have not had any "desserts" yet, so that is something I will be doing more research on as far as finding paleo friendly desserts.  I did see one the other day that involved heating blueberries sprinkled with cinnamon, then topping with cold coconut milk (the thick part of the milk... don't shake the can).  Sounds soooo good.  And, I have everything I need to make it, so one of these days, I'll get on that.

Also, one thing that I've really taken away by being on a "restricted" diet is that the beer or wine or cookie or (insert your own vice here) may be tempting and hard to resist, but once you replace it with something good for you or just get over it, you don't care.  If I were to eat a cookie, I wouldn't care five minutes after eating it... the satisfaction would be over and then I might be mad at myself.  Like I said before, I will certainly cheat after the six weeks is up, but I hope I will do so in moderation.  Having a non-paleo dessert once a week isn't going to hurt me, but constantly barraging my body with things it doesn't need will.  Matt and I went out to eat last Thursday night and hit up our local Yoforia after dinner.  Sure, I would have loved to partake, but I didn't even sweat it... I knew it wasn't going to do anything for me after I was done eating it, so I just didn't.

Last night, I made chicken tortilla soup, minus the tortilla, so I thought I'd share the recipe (courtesy of Momma Kath).

Chicken Tortilla Soup
3-4 chicken breast halves, sprinkled liberally w/ cumin and chili powder
EVOO
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 c (a hand full) fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can Rotel (this is Matt's addition to the recipe)
6 small flour or corn tortillas, cut into 1" pieces
6-8 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp chili powder
1-1/2 tbsp cumin
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt to taste
garnish with avocado (sour cream and shredded cheese are also good, but I'm not eating those right now)


In a soup pot, saute chicken in a little bit of EVOO over medium-medium high heat long enough to sear both sides.  Reduce heat to low and cover until chicken is cooked through, flipping it about half way through.  When done, remove chicken to cool and increase heat back to medium-medium high.  Add enough EVOO so that you have enoguh liquid to saute onion.  Add onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cilantro and saute for another few minutes.  Add tomatoes with their juice and bring to a boil.  Add chicken broth, chili powder, and cumin and bring to a boil.  Add chicken (which you should shred or dice), bay leaves, cayenne pepper and salt to taste.  Reduce heat to low and cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.  (If you wanted the non-paleo version, add the tortillas.)  Garnish with avocado (and cheese or sour cream, if you wish).  Enjoy!