Dev on Running

I wasn’t super-hungry for lunch, but this fit the bill:

– Leftover paleo blueberry muffin (thanks, Vicki, for the amazing recipe!)
– Roasted veggies: one zucchini, two carrots, half a head of broccoli

For the muffins — Vicki’s recipe:

– 3 cups almond meal/flour
– 1/3 cups flax seed meal 
– ½ cup honey
– 1.5 tsp baking soda
– ¼ tsp sea salt
– 2 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
– 3 large eggs
– A bunch of blueberries (Aaron and I went nuts and didn’t measure)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients. Combine the wet ingredients. Combine dry and wet together. Pour into greased muffin pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until tops are browned and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool and enjoy! Store in a sealed container in the fridge. For whatever reason, these tasted much better after chilling for a few hours.

For the roasted veggies — not a new thing by any means, but it does make veggies about 100 times more delicious:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop whatever veggies you have on hand. Toss them with olive oil on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper and/or any spices you desire (I used sea salt and dried thyme). Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until veggies are fork-tender and are browned on the bottoms (which I think makes them extra delish).

I like to drain the veggies on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil before I eat them, but that’s between you and God.

Enjoy!

This morning’s breakfast:

– Two scrambled eggs with rosemary
– Half of a zucchini, chopped and sauteed in coconut oil
– One leftover bacon-wrapped date stuffed with Italian sausage
– One-fourth of an avocado

Those bacon-wrapped dates with sausage are super filling, which is good because you’re not supposed to eat too many at a time. They’re meant to be treats, since dates are naturally sugary and bacon is… well, bacon. But, yum, they are so delicious!

The rest of the photos are a throwback to this weekend, including a few more snaps from Saturday’s Second Ascent Ballard Criterium. I love watching those guys flyyyy by on their bikes! It made me want to rescue my Bianchi from my dad’s garage and… stare at it lovingly until my ankle is healed enough to ride. (The sideways twisting motion of unclipping from my clipless pedals makes me nervous that I’ll injure it again.)

Yesterday, Aaron and I saw Snow White and the Huntsman (very good!!), then headed to his parents’ house for dinner. Momma Pass, aka Greta, always puts together amazing meals for us, and she loves paleo cooking!

Greta really outdid herself with apple and bacon rosemary pork burgers, avocado (for me), sweet potato fries (for the boys) and a huge salad with chopped pears, nuts, dried cherries and more. For dessert? Cocoa date balls that tasted like brownies!

Thanks so much, Greta! Everything was so good, and I was stuffed. : )

The Audi team is sick. Nice car. Nice gear. Nice guys, too. We had a great time cheering for them on Saturday night.

Fun fact: The elite men’s bikes are worth $11,000. EACH!

Another fun fact: Aaron knew that just by looking at them. Craziness.

aaronpass:

A couple shots of the Audi Cycling Team from the Second Ascent Ballard Criterium Mens Category ½ Road Race. I brain farted and forgot my camera so I had to make do with my iPhone.

Really entertaining to watch the elite guys race.

Paleo, Day 3 — cell phone pictures because I’m lazy.

Breakfast: Asparagus, avocado and two chicken-apple sausages, but I could only finish about 1.2 of them — I was full.

Lunch: Leftover pecan-crusted chicken with mustards for dipping, huge salad with romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, dried cranberries, avocado and a bit of olive oil for dressing.

Snack: The leftover sausage from breakfast, a few dates (not pictured).

I know I said I wouldn’t post about everything I ate, but someone messaged me to say that seeing what I’ve been eating so far encouraged her to try eating paleo as well! So I might post about it a little more.

***

Again, I woke up today without an alarm at 6:50! I could have gotten up, but went back to sleep till 8:15 instead… just because.

As I made breakfast, I realized how much I’m enjoying this paleo thing for the following reasons:

* For every meal, I’m chopping, sauteeing, baking, roasting, etc. I’m cooking! I’m not usually big on cooking, but I’m loving it.

* I’m thinking about what I eat. Take my breakfast, for example — I purposefully put sausage, asparagus and avocado on my plate so that I’d start my day with a protein, a vegetable and a healthy source of fat. It left me satisfied and feeling full till 12:30!

* I’m letting myself get hungry before my next meal. Not starving hungry, but just that little feeling your stomach gets when it’s all like, “Hey, I’m ready to eat soon!” Before, I would eat just because it was “time to eat,” whether I was actually hungry or not. I think waiting until I’m legitimately hungry is helping me view food as fuel rather than something just to eat out of habit.

* I’m not counting calories, restricting portions or lamenting over all the foods I can’t eat. What I really like about eating paleo is that it’s a lifestyle, not a crash diet. I’m eating real food that’s good for me, and I’m allowed to eat as much of it as I want (within reason — obviously not a pound of bacon at a time). So far I’m content with the food I can eat and I haven’t missed bread, pasta, etc. at all. I’m sure there will come a time… and I’ll let you know.

And, pssst… I snuck in an unofficial weigh-in this morning just to see if anything has changed — I won’t post an official weigh-in until Wednesday — but just FYI, I’m down a 5K… as in 3.1 pounds. Wooo! I won’t celebrate too much until Wednesday, though, when I’ll see if that loss sticks.

Now, off to Aaron’s place for dinner!