Before & After

2011 & Now

On the left is what I used to look like, in nursing school. The right side, is what I look like now, as a nurse. I've been doing pilates for about three months now, twice a week and cardio on a 3rd day; usually a spin class. More recently though I changed my lifestyle to Paleo. I cut out all forms of sugar and processed foods, I don't eat gluten, wheat, legumes or dairy. That's my forever lifestyle change. I will never go back to... the photo on the left. YUCK!

Not only do I look better, but I feel better. I have more energy, I don't get that bloaty feeling, I sleep less, drink less coffee. I'm freaking amazing. Yes, I'm tooting my own horn!!

I can't believe what a huge difference just a couple of little changes in my life has made. I can't wait to see more changes in the months to come.

YAY ME!

Once You Go Paleo...

You can't go back! At least for me. Perhaps this is an issue that's been a long standing thing for me, and I never noticed because my body has been so polluted, but now that it's "cleansed" and been able to rid itself of all the toxins; I've been on Paleo for about a month now. My body cannot tolerate Gluten! I was glutened this weekend and I've been paying for it for the past three days.

We decided to go out for sushi, without rice. Sashimi and hand rolls special ordered without rice, but what I failed to remember is that there is gluten in soy sauce. Usually I'd bring my coconut aminos along with me, but I wasn't thinking. I also thought it would be ok to treat myself to some gelato- I mean a little here and there isn't gonna kill me, right? WRONG!

So, I've been nauseas, with cranky bowels all weekend. It's been miserable. I don't really know if it's the soy- the gluten in the soy- or the dairy from the gelato. You know, I'm not willing to figure it out one by one. I'm just going to stick to my Paleo model from now on. Lesson learned.

No wheat, no soy, no dairy, no sugar, no gluten, nothing GMO, no grains... just pure whole foods- an ancestrally acceptable diet. Grass fed meats, organic veggies, some nuts, and a little bit of fruit is absolutely delicious and it doesn't make me sick.

Funny story: My husband ate french fries over the weekend, and he paid for it too. Once you go Paleo you don't go back. :)

I'm not upset, I'm glad that my body won't accept and digest any more of the crap. My body is a well oiled and almost fine tuned machine that I'd like to take exceptional care of. Thank GOD I found Paleo when I was still young.

Paleo Benedict

This morning I tried a new creation, Eggs Benedict, paleo style. It was delicious! You just have to try it.

What you'll need: 3 eggs, a lemon, sea salt, pepper, 1 avocado, Ghee, a large sausage breakfast patty (I used a grass fed, nitrate free, sugar free organic brand)

1. Cook the patty up and set it onto a plate.
2. Next poach your egg, and slice up the avocado and assemble the tower: sausage on bottom, then avocado and poached egg on top.
3. The hollandaise sauce:
You will need 2 yolks, whisk them up in a bowl with the juice from half a lemon, salt and pepper. Do this for 3- 4 minutes. Meanwhile, melt up 3 tablespoons of ghee in a small sauce pan. Be careful not to burn, just melt. Slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, mix the ghee into the yolk, and be careful not to curdle it. Once it's all in, return it to the pan and whisk for up to 30 seconds. The pan should be warm but not on any flame, you don't want to curdle the egg.
4. Top your creation with the sauce, and enjoy.
Note: if you can't find ghee you may substitute with butter.

Guest Blogger Opportunity

Hello bloggy readers, I am looking to do a guest blogger series in the month of July called "Career Minded Military Wives". What I would like to do is feature some military wives who have successful careers despite all the moving and challenges that the military offers to us. I am hoping that the series will be encouraging and inspirational to my readers. If you are interested, please reply in the comments section and I will get back to you. Please make sure you are not a no-reply poster though, so that I may get back to you. You can also leave an email address. I will not be publishing the comments here so that I may keep all the posters a secret until July so feel free to respond with anything you like.

Guest Blogger

Today, I am a guest blogger over at A Boy, A Girl, and The Marine Corps. Check it out, and let me know what you think. :)

My Beef with the Corps

Yeah, so I've because a bitter salty old Marine Wife in my time with the Corps on the dependent side. I used to be more excited about being with a Marine- as we all are at first. As time goes on, the shiny wears off and reality sets in. The late nights, the long separations, the bull crap at your hubbys work that somehow always affects you... it's nonsense.

Part of my problem is that, I work, in the civilian world, and I'm always thinking... "They would NEVER do that at my job!"

For starters, my husband is running a shooting range right now. He's the guy in charge there, so a lot of things fall on him to take care of. The phone rings all.the.time. Weekends, evenings, middle of the night; this guy didn't show up for duty, that guy got arrested, this one was in a fight. It's like it never stops.

I feel like my husband manages a romper room full of kindergarteners! This past weekend, he had to pick up a Marine from the gate because the Military Police were holding him until someone in his chain of command came to sign him out. He was being held because the results of a random search of his vehicle did not go in his favor. My husband not only had to come get him, but his car as well. They were not going to release it to the Marine. I had to drive my husband over forty five minutes to get this guy on a remote part of the base- then go to the command and wait there for my husband to show up with said guy's vehicle so we could go back home. Totally ruined my Sunday.

WHY!?!? WHY MARINE CORPS WHY!?!?!???

If this was the real world, dude would be held and left to his own devices to figure out a way home. No one would call his boss, especially not the PD. It's STUPID!

STUPID STUPID STUPID.

12 years down- 8 to go. Not like I'm counting down or anything. :)

Paleo Friendly Eats (San Diego/ Riverside Counties)

Ok bloggy friends. I am looking for a list of restaurants in the San Diego,or Riverside County areas of California that have a Paleo friendly menu, or a place that is willing to easily make special orders. While, I do enjoy eating paleo at home; from time to time it would be nice to enjoy a nice meal out without ruining my lifestyle change.

Please list in my comments any names and locations of Paleo/Primal friendly restaurants that you know of. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

The Dogs are Back!

I'm so excited to have my pack back together. We still have some work to do, but the hard part is over. Our wonderful trainer did all the dirty work that we could not do or didn't know how to do. Bringing my dogs to a dog psychology center was a total experience for our entire family. My husband and I were involved in the process, we spent many hours on the ranch with the dogs on most weekends learning how to handle them and how to continue with the trainer's method here at home. They are not completely fixed of all issues, but they are at a place where my husband and I can individualize the training process to meet our needs here at home.

My little bully, Bella, she's about 6 months old. A puppy. She still does puppy things. It's like having a baby. You wouldn't expect a baby to act like an adult after going to a day care, right? So I don't expect my puppy to act like a mature dog either, even after having gone to training camp for a couple of weeks. She's obedient, she respects me, and she's ready to learn. What more could I have asked for with a puppy? Now that I have the tools to raise her right, and teach her the right manners, we're going to be ok. By the time she's an adult, I'm sure she'll be a very well behaved Bully.

Bubba, the frenchie... well, he's stubborn. He's not perfect, but now he listens, and he respects both my husband and I. He doesn't dare do anything he isn't supposed to, and if he does, when he gets caught, he lowers his head in respect to acknowledge that he shouldn't have done it. That's leaps and bounds better than he was before. He is still a tad agressive, but that's his breed. French bulldogs are just turds. I don't think I will ever be able to trust him alone with my other two dogs, but I am ok with that. We are still working with him here at home as well. He will get better, he just needs some attention. He's in a new environment at home, different than at the psychology center, so certain things he will need to learn do not fly here at home either. He'll get there.

Now, Major? Oh! He's my super star! He's so trust worthy and obedient that I don't even need to crate him. He's my guard dog, my well trained mutt! I love him so much. If there was such a thing as a rehabilitation honor student, that would be him. He helped rehabilitate MANY MANY dogs while he was away. He's such a wonderful dog. I couldn't be more pleased with the way he turned out. Like the others, he is still testing us to see what we will let him get away with, but that's just the nature of dogs. He's a brilliant dog, with a wonderful personality and completely perfect. With some structure and a little extra TLC he will be top dog here at home in no time.

I'm so happy that I decided to do the dog rehabilitation, and although my work here at home is not complete, I received three dogs that are not at all like the crazy wild animals that I dropped off when I decided to take care of our problems here at home. I could not imagine getting rid of my animals, and now I don't have to. I owe the world to our wonderful trainer. I just could not thank him enough for what he's done with the dogs.

Perfection!

Hiatus

I think I need to take a step back from blogging. I don't like what my blog has become. It's too negative lately. I'm just not happy with the way my new career is going for me. I hear so many people who really love their work and it upsets me. I want to love my work, and, I do in a way. I love being a nurse, I love taking care of people. In fact, it's my patients that really get me through the day. I'm constantly telling myself that I'm here for my patients, not the hospital... but, it's just still difficult to get through my day. The only days I am truly happy are my days off when I am distracted, my days off when I'm with my husband...

So, I've told myself, that until I can say something positive on the interwebs again, I cannot blog. Hopefully, this will be a short lived hiatus, and I will find my happiness again soon.

I just need to stop being so negative.