OH HELLO!
I have not fallen off the face of the planet (Thank you for your concern). Life just went a little crazy over the past month, so the blog took a backseat for a bit. But I’m BACK, and boy has life changed since my birthday cake deliciousness.
I left my job and became unemployed.
Well, sort of. The school year ended, but I had to leave a week early. I cried. Hard. It was kind of pathetic. But it was my first year at a school, and there were many ups and downs, but when I think about where I was a year ago and where I am now, it makes me so so so happy that I’m doing something that I love (even though I get paid crap). Anyway, for the summer as well as the next school year, I will be employed as a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory. I’m trying not to hyperventilate about it. I also found out where I will be placed for my internship next year, and I’m SO incredibly stoked because the school is located 5 minutes away. HOLLA short and amazing commute that will not involve the T in any way shape or form. I’ll be biking it, thankyouverymuch. Anyway, the last 3 weeks I’ve been freaking out about money and jobs and trying my damnest to play Zelda Ocarina Of Time (my husband kind of forced me to do it). So yeah, I’m glad to be going back to work. I hope I’ll have some stories to share…
I took a black belt test.
One of the reasons why I needed to leave school a week early is because I got to travel up to Canada to take my black belt test. I was 1 of about 24 other brown belts testing for black belt. I wasn’t nervous THE ENTIRE WEEK, except for about 30 minutes before the test. Then I did my first form and all was well. Want to check out a video? How bout one with me waving two pointy black things (sai) a la Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Sadly its only my back, but you get the picture: Matsu Higa No Sai
I went Paleo.
So I’ve been doing Crossfit at Crossfit Fenway for almost 8 months, and it has seriously changed my life. Before Crossfit, I had never heard of the term Paleo. I’m not going to go and explain about what is Paleo and what isn’t Paleo, but if you want to read more, you should check out this article and this one.
I was really hesitant to try it at first, I REALLY liked grains, pasta, and bread. And pizza. And of course I liked sweets. OR CHEESE. The thought of not being about to have that really freaked me out. But I was talked down by friends that had gone Paleo and by some of my coaches as well. So I took the plunge.
And it was freaking fantastic.
Don’t get me wrong, the first week SUCKED. I had a huge migraine that lasted for 5 days straight. I was irritable, emotional and snappy (my poor husband). But after a week or so I felt fine. I was even able to stay Paleo while in Canada, which was quite the feat.
After the 30 days of Strict Paleo (no grains, dairy, legumes, beans, sugar pretty much), I felt fantastic. I felt energized, and I felt like I could kick serious ass. Some of my Crossfit workouts SUCKED (I was warned ahead of time), but others were simply amazing. I started doing things that I had never done before in Crossfit. I climbed my first rope (TWICE). Got over my fear of handstands (still working on the push up part…) and overall I just feel STRONGER.
Not to mention the fact that I’ve lost 12lbs or so plus around 7″ from different parts of my body. My coaches noticed a difference especially when I came back from Canada. I have always struggled with weight, and it felt good that people were noticing.
The greatest part of all this is that after the month of being Paleo, I found that I didn’t actually miss eating pasta and sugar and bread and all of that crap. In fact, the first time I went non-Paleo and had a huge plate of Thai noodles, my stomach hurt for like 3 days. So I went back to eating bacon instead.
I don’t want this to sound like a PSA, but Paleo changed my perspective on food and eating. I don’t find myself wanting to eat 24/7 (I was a SERIOUS snacker), and I don’t crave sweets like I used to. In fact, if I do get a craving for something sweet, I actually crave fruit instead of cake. If you know me at all, this is amazing.
But while I think Paleo is something that I’m going to stick with for a long long time, I’m not going to say goodbye to all that other stuff. I’ve actually started to eat dairy again, although not in the vast amount of quantities like I used to (Grilled cheese for dinner anyone?) I can count on my hand how many times I’ve cheated while on Paleo this last month and a half, I’m not going to feel guilty anymore because I’m splurging (like the DELICIOUS donuts I’m going to be eating this weekend). But I know that I will not feel tempted by all that crap anymore.
And that feels pretty awesome.
So I’m hoping that I will be able to share some amazing Paleo recipes with you guys soon (Dinner tonight was AMAZING). But don’t worry, all the other delicious stuff I’ve been posting about before won’t go away. And if you are still reading right now, then you are pretty awesome.
