So today’s tip is to get yourself a foam roller & tennis or lacrosse ball to keep with you at home or at the office to roll out when you have a few extra minutes. Today I popped down to the gym right after lunch and spent about 15 minutes just rolling around. It has done wonders for my afternoon productivity. Listen to your body…..it always tells you what you need.

Here is today’s dose of inspiration via @Pinterest. Sometimes it’s hard to get yourself to the gym. Just keep telling yourself that each time you go makes a BIG difference. When in doubt…

Pinterest needs no introduction, no tutorials, and there is no new lingo to learn. Let’s face it, the reason why so many people flee from Twitter is because we use words that are completely irrational in normal everyday conversation – tweet, hashtag, 140 characters. It’s basically like learning a foreign language. But Pinterest is so damn user-friendly, once you’re on it, you’re stuck. It’s like Fight Club, just instead of brawny men with no shirts on, you’ve got DIY crafts and party planning ideas to keep you gluing stuff together until 4 in the morning.

Just today a new thought occurred to me as to why people love Pinterest with such a passion. It’s like being in a huge, freaking flea market and finding the perfect stuff you’ve always been looking for. It excites the antiquer in all of us to rummage through 1,000s of photos to find something you really like. Well, for me today, I stumbled upon some images that made me laugh to my core. The source of this laughter is of course rooted into one of the funniest inside jokes I’ve ever been privy to. For those of you on the “outside” (as we must refer to you in situations like this), I will retell the story for you through pictures.

Once upon a time…..

On a lovely, dark evening nestled in the mountainside of a little village in Guatemala, lived a group of American yogis. They were euphoric with the amount of yoga practice since traveling to this small village and were delighting in the local flavors of the region (ah hem….margaritas that is). Around the dinner table, one such individual emerged as an entertainer for the group and began imitating a T-Rex throughout the evening. She would try to pick up her glass or open a package with her tiny little arms. The group roared with laughter at her simple tasks! They could not believe how funny T-Rex’s could be! So from henceforth, she was know to all those there as “T-Rex” and would imitate what a T-Rex would do in any situation with which they were presented.

Here is a picture of T-rex in downward facing dog:

Here is a picture of T-rex texting her friends:

As you can see, T-Rex can do many of the things we all do. However, they aren’t without their own set of struggles.

If you’re not familiar with the struggles of the T-rex species, let this be an awareness for you all. The great Pinterest has provided us with some more information on these lovely creatures and the struggles they face in their daily lives.

T-rex working out

T-rex singing songs with the other kids

T-rex falling in love

So as you can see, there are so many things one can love and learn through Pinterest. Hope you’ve enjoyed my little story for today.

Happy Pinning!

Randomly a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Gwen’s blog again. I noticed then that things had been changing for her. She had written a book and was now sharing “letters” with those who wanted to read her writing. I felt inspired. Here was someone who was using social media in such a profound way. I realized then how much her writing had meant to me over the years. How much I related to her as a yogi, her introspective thinking and continual search of balance in life. It takes effort to turn off the news feed even more so than it does to turn it on.

I decided then to write her a short note, thanking her for putting the time in she did to share her experience with the web. I wrote because I wanted to and not because I expected to receive anything in return. I know what it’s like to be busy and have an inbox constantly exploding with messages. However, to my surprise not too long after, I received a very kind and in “Gwen Bell fashion” reply to my message. In that note, she asked if it was cool for her to post an excerpt of my original message on her website for new-comers to the site.  I grinned from ear to ear while reading. You can see that post here on GwenBell.com.

Seeing my name on someone else’s digital life work showed me just how powerful social web connections really can be.  We all are connected. Really connected. It’s one of the most exciting things to watch those connections take shape and even more so to see what unfolds from there.

So what about you? What connections in your life via the social web or IRL have impacted you? (I think these are my favorite stories to read. Inspiration…. right from the source. )

Crazy thing is, my life certainly hasn’t gotten any less hectic in the last year, but I’m able to find the time to cook more. I think my “usual paleo eats” have a lot to do with this. I have refined my favorite paleo foods and found ways to make them even simpler. And it’s your lucky day because I will share them all with you! (Note: It is likely that you will not share the EXACT SAME tastes as me, so please modify as you see fit.)

Mornings

My morning staples are usually coffee and either  a smoothie or leftovers. The key to a good smoothie is a good blender. My favorite is the Ninja, partly because of the name, partly because it’s a blending badass.

Here are my favorite smoothie ingredients:

A combination of fresh and frozen berries (strawberries & blueberries are my favs)

Unsweetened So Delicious coconut milk (from the cold section at the grocery store)

Fresh ground almond butter (just almonds, no oil or salt)

I’ve tried coconut milk from a can and find it disgusting in a smoothie. I have tried every type of berry possible, but the sweeter berries usually work out the best. There are a lot of almond butters out there that have all kinds of crazy oils added to them. Therefore, I just stick to the freshly ground stuff from Earthfare. I think it tastes the best too.

Lunchtime

With so many varieties, you can’t really go wrong with a salad. Leave off the cheese (unless you get some raw milk cheese) and throw on some oil & vinegar or lemon and you’re set!

Here is a list of my favorite salads when going out:

Panera – Greek salad with grilled chicken or Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad

Bravo – New Balsamico Chicken Cobb Salad – leave off the cheese & pasta strips

Gourmet Market – Greek salad with grilled chicken or Market Salad with grilled chicken, their tuna salad is also pretty rockin’.

Lenny’s – Grilled Chicken Philly Salad w/ everything but no cheese

Dinner Specialties

Dinner is where I will mix it up a bit. I always cook with organic grass-fed or pasture raised meats. Most often I choose a grass-fed helping of ground sirloin or pasture raised chicken. Spices are what make these meals great. I most often use chili powder, fresh garlic, sea salt, ground pepper, red pepper flakes, dill, oregano, tumeric, cumin, or cinnamon. You can’t really go wrong with dashing your food with spices. I try to keep cooking simple by always having good veggies on hand like spinach, brussel sprouts, broccoli, celery, or asparagus. I’ve finally learned it’s more important to use REALLY good ingredients than spending 1-2 hours on a really fancy dish. You wear yourself out trying to cook like that all the time.

Caveman Cookies

A friend of mine passed along the Caveman Cookies website to me, so of course I had to buy some. I went ahead and got all three flavors to test them out.

My favorite is the Original. It tastes similar to an oatmeal raisin cookie, just not nearly as sweet. This is actually a plus as your taste buds become more sensitive when you cut out sugar on the paleo diet. The Tropical were also delicious with a sweet coconut flavor. The Alpine are definitely named well as a winter treat with their hazelnutiness.

Beyond the cookies tasting great, the online purchase experience was top notch. I replied to the order confirmation email I received when I realized that it didn’t give me the discount they were advertising on their Facebook page, and someone emailed me back almost immediately to say they had changed the total for my order. Very nice people making some delicious cookies.

Larabars

I posted on my Facebook wall that I had discovered Larabars and that they were “Flippin awesome…..and paleo friendly,” only to be quickly warned by one of the lovable CrossFit Ktown coaches to be careful with these. You really do have to look at which ones you get. The Apple Pie and Blueberry Muffin seem to be two of the lowest in sugar content which is from a natural source, but you definitely want to eat in moderation. These bars are all natural made from fruit and nuts. I picked up the Apple Pie kind at a local Target and was pleasantly surprised by how good and filling they are.

There are so many things that I’ve learned in just a little over a month on the paleo challenge. The last two weeks have been great for me. People are starting to notice that I look leaner – many of whom know that I’ve been doing the challenge, so they know it has a lot to do with the way that I’m eating. That makes me more excited than anything. I know that when I’ve seen people who look lean or healthy, I wonder what their secret is. Are they just naturally that way? Do they work out for hours on end every day? Do they ever eat junk food? I can honestly say that the results I’ve had come from no secret formula – just strict paleo eating and regular exercise. It can be that simple.

I’ve been thinking more and more about lifestyle maintenance and balance. I do believe that the most important thing in daily living is a life that is balanced – meaning there isn’t just one thing in life that is your entire life. I think American culture teaches us to often be laser-focused on a goal and work only to achieve that goal in as little time as possible. Not that there’s anything wrong with having goals and working toward them. However, working just to achieve a goal and not taking in everything that happens along the way including changing direction somewhere, could mean missing out on something great.

Along with CrossFit and the many outdoor activities I enjoy, I have been practicing yoga since I was 12 years old. Only when I reached my 20s did I actually receive in-depth personal instruction, but the years of practice before then helped me to understand some of the central values of yoga practice. I know a lot of people hear the word “yoga” and instantly think of granola people in hemp sandals and use words like “man” and “dude” a lot. I am sometimes mistaken as a “tree hugger” because of my yoga-practicing-outdoor-loving ways. But that’s okay, because I love so many things about yoga. Yoga teaches you to be present, to release yourself from judgment especially self-judgment, to face challenges bravely because they are essential to life, to always strive for balance, and to not take yourself too seriously (definitely good to smile during yoga practice).

The balance I feel in my life at the moment comes from many things – but especially through the things I’ve learned from yoga, CrossFit, and a paleo lifestyle. I feel so very blessed and full and look forward to many more things later in life that may come my way.

For the most part, I’m not missing many of the old foods I used to eat, except for all of the delicious cold summer treats like ice cream. But I think I have to give more credit to the community I’m part of than my own will power. Not only has social media & the blogosphere helped keep me motivated, but the community at CrossFit Ktown is unlike any other. Every time I step into the gym, I’m greeted with happy, smiling faces and encouraging words. I workout with coaches who not only teach this lifestyle, but live it themselves. I’m taking advice on how to eat better paleo meals from someone (rather, a group) who is eating that way too.  It doesn’t feel weird inside the walls of CFKT like it does sometimes when I get that lovely “you’re crazy” look quickly followed by, “What?? You don’t eat any bread?”

I think I’ve heard the phrases, “Oh, I could never do that,” or “There’s no way I could give up bread, cheese, or sugar,” about 100 times. Then today I hopped on over to Mark’s Daily Apple blog. The post is about “The Blame Game” and how easily we opt ourselves out of changing because it’d be too hard. The post starts with an insightful quote,

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.”

Albert Ellis, psychologist

I found this post particularly inspiring today because I’ve used every excuse in the book to talk my way out of making a real change at different points in my life.  I’m sure I’ve missed out on many really good things because the cost of changing was too high. But I realize now that when you’ve got a community of people behind you who care about you, it makes a world of difference. It doesn’t seem so difficult anymore.

That doesn’t mean I don’t still miss other foods. Some in particular for me are corn tortilla chips and summer treats like ice cream. These are neither one terrible things to eat (there are always worse things), so having a “treat” every once in a while is an option. More than anything though is that you don’t want to “treat” yourself every day. Some people are okay with having one thing here and there, and others have to go cold turkey or it’s an avalanche. On any other diet, I feel like I was in the avalanche boat, but with paleo, it’s a lot easier to have one of something and be done. I wanted ice cream so bad this past Sunday. It was hot outside, and I had just gotten done playing 9 holes of golf. Okay let’s just get it all out in the open – I chased my ball around for 9 holes.  So we decided to break for a treat and get some ice cream. After about 1/3 of the scoop I got, I was done. It was so sweet, I literally got tired of eating it. I’m pretty sure I have NEVER left a bowl of ice cream uneaten in my life.

All I could think about was “is this the very BEST thing I could be eating right now?” I think that’s the way I have to look at food now. Sure, it’s easy to find things that aren’t terrible to eat, but what about the absolute best things you could eat? How much better would you feel after eating those best things? It’s interesting how your palette starts to change. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy my food, but I enjoy it for more than just the taste.