Days 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 Days 20 - 28 of the Paleo Challenge

Being on vacation and sticking to strict paleo was not easy.  I really, really tried to prepare but I kept finding myself in tough situations.  We drove for about 10 hours (including stops) to Nashville with the kids and decided to stop every couple of hours..including a lunchtime picnic that was paleo friendly....but I didn't count on it to be raining.  We needed to find somewhere that allowed the kids to run around and get tired enough to nap for a couple hours.  We ended up at Chuck E Cheese.  Jason and the kids had pizza and I had some raw nuts....I wasn't even hungry and I know that Chuck E Cheese isn't so good but it still made me grumpy to have to go without.

We ended up driving about 4 hours before we stopped again and by then I was STARVING.  I packed a cooler with some baked chicken to eat.  Now those that know me understand my love/hate relationship with chicken.  I love that it is inexpensive and you can cook it in so many ways but I just cannot eat it very often.  I am not a huge fan.  I took it out of the cooler and decided I could eat it because I was hungry and it was healthy and blah blah blah...I took a big bite and it was FROZEN!  Ugh!  It makes my stomach turn to even think about it...so I had some more nuts and didn't eat much of anything that day...I haven't been able to stomach chicken since.

I did my best to stay Paleo for the rest of my vacation but I ended up feeling hungry a lot which I know is not good.  Probably the best meal of the vacation was at a Mexican restaurant named Sol.  My fabulous husband and wonderful mother in law graciously volunteered to watch the kids so I could spend time with my good friend and Nashville native Kim.  When we got to the restaurant, I explained my eating issues...we got guacamole as an appetizer and I was kinda bummed because I couldn't eat the chips.  My waitress surprised me by bringing lettuce leaves and thinly sliced jicama!  The jicama was great and crunchy and perfect.  I will most certainly add it to my list of paleo treats!

Hard to Resist!

My brother in laws wedding (as I am sure all weddings) was difficult.  They had some delicious looking food - I am a big fan of the Hors d'œuvres..especially those with puff pastry.  And the cake was beautiful and looked delicious.  If someone told me it was gluten free, I would have gone for it.

I also had no time to exercise....it was just too hard to find a way to feel good about leaving Jason and the kids behind while I went to the gym...I didn't just sit around like I usually do at work - we went to the park, we ran up and down hills, we played at the zoo...I know it doesn't make up for my lack of exercise but I am trying my best to not beat myself up over it....ugh...Sleeping in one room with Jason and the kids did not leave me restful...I just could not do it.

Feeling Sick...my own fault

And on the ride home, I indulged in a few fries...I figured they don't have gluten so they won't make me sick.  I was tired.  I had enough of saying no and avoiding food.  And what happened?  They didn't even taste good and they made me sick...super sick.  Enough that we ended up getting home late because I had to keep stopping....At one of the stops I decided to take a photo of me to have so I can remember how bad it feels when I don't eat good stuff.  It is NOT worth it....I let my guard down for a second and had to suffer the consequences.

Tea < Diet Coke :(

Diet coke was the hardest thing for me to avoid.  I felt myself craving it when I was tired and feeling a little overwhelmed with everything.  Seriously...I was craving it like an addict.  I am so thankful I had some bottled unsweetened tea I could drink in the car.....

So overall, I feel like I had an AMAZING time with my family and am so thankful to be able to take vacations with them a couple times a year....but the food part sucked.  I am still struggling with equating vacations and eating.  I had thoughts of jealousy about what other people were eating...I burst into tears once when I was talking to Jason about how hard it is.....and I know I had moments of complete grumpiness that Jason and the kids had to deal with because I was frustrated and sick of all of these restrictions.

What I am thankful for, however, is Geaux Crossfit.  If we were not doing this 30 Day Paleo Challenge, I would have eaten alot worse...I would have felt sick most of the time....and I would not have been able to play with my children and enjoy our time together as much as I did.  It will feel good to get back to it tomorrow morning and exercise!  Only TWO more days till weigh-in!



This MUST count as exercise!!