whole30 challenge, day 24 -- 20 Sit Ups!!!!!

so, six more days to go on the whole30 challenge.  it has been an interesting month.  i will say that i am feeling good.  no heartburn, my energy level has gotten better, and today i did 20 sit ups!!! by myself! for not being able to do any at the beginning of the month, that is a huge accomplishment.  i am proud of myself!  i still don't like getting up at 5 am to exercise, i miss chocolate, and i am looking forward to the end of the challenge so our food repertoire can increase a bit.  i do not plan on going back to drinking hot cocoa every day -- i will save it for saturdays, and maybe one other time during the week.  i will not be eating wheat very often -- there are lots of recipes out there for baking that use alternatives like coconut flour and almond meal.  i had started using quinoa flour in my baking as well, but it looks like i need to do further research on that.  some paleo sources say quinoa is not as good for you as the industry would have you believe.  i don't know.  i will do some more reading and will let you know what i find.  and BACON!! it will be our weekend treat once again!!

my eating today was good.  i came in at just under 1600 calories -- 1589 to be exact.  my hunger was kept at bay, and i am thankful for that. for breakfast i had one egg scrambled with an egg white, a large chicken sausage, some leftover veggies and an orange.  it was a lot, so i spread it out over approximately 30 minutes.  for lunch i had a large chicken breast seasoned with cumin, cilantro, chili powder, garlic and basil.  i sliced it into strips and dipped the strips into some homemade guacamole.  yummy!!!  i also had a whole cucumber, some grape tomatoes and about a cup of cantaloupe chunks.  dinner was a baked chicken thigh, some kale sauteed with onions, and an apple.  my total protein intake was 31% of my calories (119 grams), fat came in at 43% (76.2 grams) and carbs totaled 26% (113.7 grams) of my calories for the day.  i also ate 26.3 grams of fiber.  i seem to feel best when my protein intake is more than my carb intake.  that should not be a surprise, but for someone who has lived on mostly carbs for her entire life, the concept is life altering.  i was also happy that my fat intake was less than 50% and that i got my quota of fiber for the day.

for exercise today, i worked on my arms. i did several reps of bicep curls and side arm lifts, both while holding 5 lb weights. next month i am going to try 10 lb weights (i think . . .). i then used a 15 lb weight, held it in both hands, laid down on my back and did a sort of modified bench press (at least that is what i was trying to do!).  i sat up and still using the 15 lb weight, i did a kind of pull down behind my head (again, i can only work with what i have!! lol!)  i also did 10 one armed push ups on each arm (while laying on my side. i haven't tried regular push ups yet.), some arm circles and leg lifts, and for the grand finale, i did 2 sets of 10 sit ups, for a total of 20. my husband and i took our walk in the evening after work, but before dinner.

i ordered some of the books i had originally checked out from the library.  when i get them i will start posting recipes.  i plan on continuing this blog, and will post on some topics relating to memories and scrapbooking as well as on our journey on the paleo path. 

as 5 am comes very early, i will sign off now.  i thank you for reading. 

scrapbooking my memories

i love scrapbooking. i have been doing it for about 10 years now, and have developed my own style. it suits me. it is ok that you can look at my pages and say, yup, cindy did that page. there is no right or wrong way to scrapbook, apart from using archival supplies. the point is that i am preserving memories.

this weekend a friend came over and we scrapbooked together, in between talking and eating. what a blessed few hours that was for me.

i also finally put most of my finished loose pages into actual scrapbooks. that was such a relief. i have been putting that off for a long time because i usually don't to my actual scrapbooking at home. it was so gratifying to put the pages in order, in books with protectors. i also made a list of pages i need to do to have that feeling of completion i want to have. i need to do a lot! that is ok though. it is not what needs to be done that matters. what matters is that my life and my family is important to me, and one way i show that is by documenting our memories. i think it is more important to me right now than it is to my family that i do this, but my hope is that someday they will get it. that they will understand my motivation. that they will appreciate the time and effort it took to put these books together. that maybe someday the will look at their books and remember the fun but also read between the lines the words LOVE, MOM.

i preserved my memories today.