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After a week of my kitchen looking like this, my favorite meals have been chicken salad & asparagus, pecan crusted chicken & fancy pear salad and egg cupcakes. Here is how I made them:

Chicken Salad:

Rub olive oil on chicken breasts and sprinkle with sea salt & cracked pepper. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Chop in food processor and then add safflower mayonnaise, celery, tarragon & season all season salt. Mix all together. Really good!

Asparagus:

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, cracked pepper & garlic powder. Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Delicious & so pretty!

Egg Cupcakes:

Whisk 12 eggs in a medium bowl. In a food processor, combine 2 sliced zucchini, 1 yellow pepper, 1 red pepper, 8 slices bacon, 1 bunch of green onion. You don't want it to smooth - its nice to have a little crunch. Add to eggs & stir. Put 4 cups spinach in food processor and then add to eggs. Grease muffin pan with coconut oil and then add 1/4 cup egg mixture for each cupcake. Bake for 28 minutes at 350 degrees. I ate these every day this week and looked forward to it each morning.

(Should have taken a picture of the pecan chicken & fancy pear salad. So pretty!)

Pecan Chicken:

In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup spicy brown mustard and 2 tablespoons raw organic honey. Chop 1 cup pecans and put in a separate bowl. To 4 boneless chicken breasts, cover in honey mustard and then cover in pecans. Place chicken in a greased with coconut oil glass baking dish and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Fancy Pear Salad:

Toss mixed salad greens, 1 diced pear, and 1/2 of a thinly sliced red onion together. Add 1/3 cup crumbled pecans and black pepper to taste. Drizzle with olive oil & balsamic vinegar. Delish!

Day 6 & 7 (the weekend)

Let me be honest. Most weekends in my past have been CHEAT DAYS! And I mean, I CHEATED with food! Not so much publicly, but secretly I would make my trip to the grocery store a way to live it up before Monday came around. Candy, candy, candy! Whatever diet I was doing at the time, those items made it into my grocery bag. Secretly. (That sounds like I stole something. I didn't steal but I surely didn't go home and share my stash with Whit & Lee. No way!)

I can honestly say that this weekend I did not cheat. It felt really good and I felt so much better knowing that I was still putting good for you stuff in my mouth even though it was the weekend. Yay!

This is what I ate:

Breakfast: egg cupcake (Saturday), chicken salad (Sunday)

Lunch: chicken salad & broccoli (Saturday & Sunday)

Snack: I can' remember!!

Dinner: Mexican - fajita shrimp salad (Saturday), a really good vegetable sandwich without the bread (Sunday night)

Day 4 & 5

I missed writing yesterday so I'll just combine the two days. I am feeling pretty good. Hopefully I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I found some coconut milk coffee creamer that is French Vanilla and it does the trick! I just recently started drinking coffee and don't think that I am totally addicted. What I like is that it tastes like a little treat to me. Especially since my sweet mother in law gave me some pumpkin spice coffee. Yum! Fall!

Yesterday I did hot yoga. I am loving the yoga. Makes me feel so good. Today I took a break from any activity (Except I rode with Lee several times across & down our driveway on his scooter and then had to go backwards to get back up the hill. My legs were burning. I think that counts!) but tomorrow I am heading to the mountain early. The weather is awesome right now and I'm excited about a chilly start to a long walk. I am glad that things are going well and that I am feeling more peppy than the first couple of days.

5 days down, 25 more to go!

Here is what I have eaten the past 2 days:

Breakfast: 2 egg cupcakes & coffee (both days)

Lunch: chicken salad, asparagus & apple slices (both days)

Snack: 1 egg cupcake & coffee (both days)

Dinner: pecan crusted chicken & fancy pear salad - yum! (Thursday)

chicken salad (Friday)

*I also slice up a banana, put the slices on a plate in the freezer. Every now and then I will grab a frozen banana slice. It is really good. Like the coffee, it tastes like a little treat. Can you tell I like treats? Don't think diet coke was really my problem!*

Day 3

I felt much better today than I did yesterday. I was just so tired yesterday. I did have 2 cups of coffee (one in the morning & one at night) with my favorite creamer - Sugar Free French Vanilla. That is definitely not paleo, but I just had to have it. I used up my last little bit so I think tomorrow I will try to go through the day without any. I haven't had a diet coke and haven't missed it. I never drank any carbonated drinks until Whit & I started dating. I would always ask for a sip of his if I was thirsty and the next thing I knew...I was drinking 1 a day, sometimes 2. I was never overweight before I started dating Whit. Hmmm...Could it be the diet coke?!?! (doubt it!)

My friend Marci and I walked 5 & a 1/2 miles again this morning. I'm so glad she is my new walking partner because I think I would have only done 1/2 of it without her. All in all today was a great day!

Here is what I ate:

Breakfast: 3 egg cupcakes & a handful of blueberries

Lunch: chicken salad, asparagus & apple slices

Snack: 2 egg cupcakes (love those things)

Dinner: easy steak skewers & savory cauliflower fried rice

Day 2

Is halfway over. I am ready for it to be so that I don't give in and eat a treat. A bad treat. I am tired today. Normally I would eat something to pep me up and make me feel better, only to feel gross after 15 minutes. But not today.

I went to a yoga class this morning for the first time since college. It felt so good. I love yoga and how aware of your body you are while stretching. I became very aware that I am stiff and that yoga is much harder to do when your boobs are even bigger than normal because of extra weight! Nice.

So, Day 2 of Paleo and this is what I'm eating:

Breakfast: 3 egg cupcakes (I think you're only supposed to eat 2 but they are little and I was hungry) & a handful of blueberries

Lunch: chicken salad, asparagus & apple slices

Snack: turkey slices & 1/2 an avocado

Dinner: leftover chicken & slaw from last night

I hope I don't sound too negative. Here, this picture of Lee will make you laugh!

and this of Brant will make you smile!

Day 1

Today is my first day of the Paleo lifestyle! I am a little nervous because I have started & stopped so many diets. My sweet baby Brant is 8 months old now and I have pretty much been on a "diet" since he was 7 weeks old. Look! This is the result of that:

I just went for a walk (5 & 1/2 miles!) and took this picture. I weigh 188 pounds. It hurt my fingers to type that number. You may not be able to tell but my pants are pulled up OVER my belly button to try to hold in my tummy. That is enough to make me sad! But, I am tired of complaining and feeling sad & uncomfortable with the way I look & feel. Today is a new day and I am really excited to start Paleo. Lets see how it changes my life!

I found a book called Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso. Just like the title suggests, she breaks down the Paleo lifestyle into an everyday way of thinking & eating. A lot of what I will eat are her ideas. This is what I will eat today:

Breakfast: 2 egg cupcakes & blueberries

Lunch: chicken salad & roasted asparagus

Snack: turkey slices & 1/2 an avacado

Dinner: spice rub slow cooked chicken & kids love cabbage slaw