The Kettle Belle Diaries

I'm headed to New Orleans tomorrow for some fun with out of town friends and I have a big birthday at the end of the week so posting this a little early as I am unsure of what the final day will hold here in 'Whole30' land.  I can tell you that husband has a Meche's King Cake on standby per request of our California guests that will be arriving tomorrow. They don't have that kind of sugary goodness over on the Left Coast; God Bless Them.

I do however have some news to report it what I have noticed with my body thus far.

While on this 30 day challenge, I knew ahead of time of a few events/celebrations that I would encounter. I will go ahead and admit this much: I knew I would not be strict on these days. Some might say 'But Kari, how do you expect others to hold strong when you didn't'. I'm being honest and I am human. I already know what foods set me off from a past 30 day challenge last summer, so maybe I had that in the back of my mind. But also, my goal for this Whole30 go round was to get away from a daily 'cheat meal' that had become part of my life over the holiday season as I knew it was messing me up internally and training wise. So, I've hit some PRs and am noticing new muscle being built that wasn't there back on January 1. Anyway, I digress. This post is about something very special: My Stella's 2nd birthday!

Anytime we go to a kid birthday party I like to eat ahead because odds are the food is geared at small ones: hamburgers, hotdogs, nuggets, crackers/cookies, juice boxes, etc. Or the adult food is a lot like this: creamy dips, fancy crackers, finger sandwiches, maybe fruit/veggie tray and hummus with pita. I tried to go in the opposite direction without driving myself crazy making everything from scratch. Still drove myself crazy, yo!

I opted for the following menu:

Hawaiian Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Sweet Potato Apple Hash
Veggies with Creamy Italian Dressing Dip
Deviled Eggs
Applegate Farms Cocktail Sausages in Homemade Paleo BBQ Sauce (for the kids)
Guacamole and Salsa
(and for the non-Paleo folks/kids:)
Chips for the salsa and guacamole
Annie's Cheddar Bunnies and Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Bunnies

Of course we had birthday cake, but also some fruit cups with my whipped coconut cream I have posted about before.

Everything was a hit and totally delicious. When planning a party, your biggest lifesaver is prepping the day ahead. The night before I got my pork going,  boiled and peeled eggs, made Paleo mayonnaise which I then morphed into deviled egg filling and the veggie dip. I also had veggies ready to go on their platter covered with plastic wrap and my hash ingredients diced. My mom made the salsa for me and did the guacamole that morning because no one likes brown avocados!

Deviled egg bandits got to the table before I could snap a picture!

The day of all I had to do was fill the eggs, add dip to veg tray, shred pork, heat sausages and cook hash. Not that bad at all. Except I did have to make whipped cream because I put that off. Shame on me, cause I looked like a busy mess when my guests arrived! Sorry friends; hope y'all enjoyed the spread!

Miss Stella had a wonderful party and a great birthday brunch the following day at our favorite local breakfast place, The French Press. I had poached eggs with hollandaise, sliced avocado and bacon. Hubby had the breakfast sandwich in a wrap instead of croissant and Stella had bacon and scrambled eggs. Happy Birthday to my sweet little angel who has been a blessing in our lives. We love you!

Waiting patiently for some birthday bacon.

Life gets busy. And when 'busy' strikes, blogging takes the back burner! Husband doesn't like when blogging cuts into sleep time! So, since my last post, here's what has been going on in my neck of the woods:

I was lucky to get to take a little weekender to Austin, TX to cheer on some fellow box members competing in 'The Fittest Games' at CrossFit Central. Talk about inspiring! It was so great to watch some total bad ass athletes pour out their heart and strength over two days. Really proud of our box team and owner (who competed as a Pro!) for giving their all! There were also lots of people from our area representing and it was great to come together and support all the South Louisiana competitors we have seen in the local competition circuit.

Team WoD Final

Mens Pro Final

With travel comes several things including stepping outside of a usual dietary routine while staying at a hotel. We stayed at a hotel with a daily hot breakfast. I steered clear of the pastries and oatmeal and settled on the 'eggs' and 'bacon/sausage' and fruit. I am 99% sure the eggs had some kind of dairy in them and the meat was a little sketchy, but it was the best option available. And man can not live on jerky alone. This is the 'lesser of two evils' situation a Paleo eater is bound to encounter. You do what you have to do and move on to the next meal planning to 'do better'.

The great thing about getting food at a CrossFit competition is that usually the host site has some kind of healthy meal option. A Paleo food truck was on site serving up lunch/breakfast on both days. While a little steep at $12 a plate, the food was tasty and I even recreated a dish once back home from traveling. My version costs less than $5 to make, for the record.

Scrambled eggs, Chicken and Apple Sausage Patties, Kale and Peppers and Onions. Delish!

We also ate dinner out. One night I had an awesome (bunless) lamb burger at 24 Diner with some awesome bacon braised collard greens and mashed sweet potatoes. The other night I had a steak with Brussels sprouts, bacon and sweet potato gnocchi. Again, these meals might not have been completely up to 'Whole 30' par, but I chose the best options available that were also pleasing to me. Either way, they were pretty dang close to Paleo. The cocktail I had, not so much (gasp!) but it was a decision I made. Something about a drink in my hand that makes me dance better... Go ahead, cast the stones. Hey, I'm human! Other than the 2 drinks that night, I pretty much stuck to my nutritional guns since I planned ahead with snacks and what not. But I did NOT end up face down in a slice of 2 am pizza!

So, in a nutshell here is a recap of my weekend:

I hope all of you out there are succeeding on the plans of clean eating you set out on a short while ago. Doesn't it seem like forever though?! The other day on a run I caught a whiff of something baked/fried/sweet goodness cooking up somewhere. I just enjoyed the smell and carried on. Maybe it was the rain in my face telling me: "Look how dedicated you are. You are running in a monsoon. You don't need that King Cake." Whatever it was, I didn't race to my local bakery after!

Don't get frustrated if you don't feel like you have lost any weight or feel any different physically. It's coming! This is not about 'get thin quick' remember; it's about long term results. Because you are tired of yo yo'ing on the health-o-meter. If you aren't already involved in some kind of regular exercise routine/program, consider something (as long as it's medically ok for you to do so!) to go with these nutritional changes you are making. I, myself am an addicted avid CrossFitter. I love it. If you live in the Lafayette area and don't know what it is and are curious, check this out. If this is not quite your thing, there are plenty of other ways as adults you can get fit without ever stepping foot into a gym! Dedicate an hour of time a day to doing something active. Grab a loved one and get walking if that's what it takes and get your heart rate up! Follow with some push ups, sit ups, squats and you've got a start! After all, we can all step away from the DVR or computer for an hour. I heard it compared on the 'Biggest Looser' like this:

"If a doctor told you you had cancer, and you needed chemo once a day for an hour, would you do it?"

Deep stuff.

Switching gears people! It's well known that I love fashion. I love to wear it, shop for it, and oogle over what I can't afford! Since it's the new year and we've been talking about wellness, gym fashion seems only appropriate.

These pants are just the right height at the waist if you need some smoothing like I do. And they are reversible. Added bonus is that even if you order them online, you can bring them into any Lulu store for free hemming! I just hate a scrunched ankle on my pants.

Too cute 'Hello Kitty' socks! Can you tell I love pink??

Pair them with your cutest running shorts and you are brightened up for spring just around the corner. Have a little fun with your feet!

Day one....Big freakin' deal! That's what I was telling myself at least ;)