December Recap: Washington Christmas and Workouts

Whoa, where in the world did December go? How is it already January 7th??

Wild.

December holidays went by in a blur this year due to the fact that Dave and I just spent almost 2 weeks in his hometown in Washington. It was my first time in his childhood home with his parents and sisters and best friends from high school - it was like a Bachelor hometown date!! It was a blast and it went by way too fast.

{Dave wanted to take the Oregon Coast the whole way up - it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!}

Working out was the hardest part. I have a Spartan Race coming up at the end of the month, and I didn't want to lose the momentum I had been gaining from my workouts... so we tried our very best, but the most we could fit in during the busy holidays and family time and sight seeing and driving... we were only able to fit in about 4 runs - which, granted, were about 3 to 5 miles each. It was a beautiful change of scenery running the Washington trails by Dave's parents' house. So lush and green, and muddy! Phoebe really enjoyed the trails too. Sweet dog. She was such a good girl, she was off leash almost the whole time!!

As good as that is, it just didn't seem like enough. And when we got back to our gym on Saturday in California, you better believe it was hard to get back into weight training! I could hardly believe how much strength I lost, especially in my arms, in those 12 days. I have to remember this for any future vacations, because not lifting during that trip is something I'm paying for dearly in the gym now - haha.

Christmas was nice and relaxing and casual. And Olive took refuge under the tree from all of the unwrapping aftermath. What a cutie.

Love her to pieces, this one. This photo makes me giggle because it looks like she ate the presents!

After the Christmas festivities were over and we had some time to ourselves, Dave took me to Seattle to show me the city. I got to ride on my very first ferry, which is an insane concept to me, but so cool!

Seriously I could do a whole post on our day in Seattle... in fact I just might do that.

It was an amazing trip that I'll never forget. The best part, is we get to go back every year!!!

Holiday hurdles...

I've started tracking my food again, via the my Fitness Pal app. I'm not gonna lie, my biggest fear of this holiday season is falling off the wagon. I know I won't completely, but I really don't want to lose sight of my goals. I want to continue to eat as paleo as possible, and with so many of my favorite old holiday treats showing up on store shelves its becoming harder and harder to resist. I've stayed the same weight for abou 3 months now, no weight gain, but no loss either. I am thrilled that I have managed to maintain my total loss of 27 lbs for 3 months, but my goal has not yet been reached. I'd like to lose more weight and gain more muscle, and that's a difficult battle - even without the holidays.

So I've started tracking my food again. One thing I have noticed is my metabolism. I can eat a lot more calories now and maintain my weight - as long as they are healthy nutritious calories, of course. I still avoid gluten and grains, and have a renewed love affair with cauliflower rice, but chocolate has been creeping its way back in to my daily diet, and I really need to cut back.

I am also looking into different workout routines. It's been a little difficult staying motivated now that the time has changed and its getting colder. Sleeping and snuggling under a blanket sound so much more inviting that lifting at the gym, but I haven't completely stopped. I've been focusing more on Cardio because it's easier for me to go on auto-pilot, you know... mentally check out and just get it over with. But I need to get back on the weight lifting wagon. Its good for me.

So it looks like that 6 lbs in 6 weeks challenge didn't really work out so well, but I'm not too discouraged. I didn't gain 6 lbs. In fact, my jeans are starting to feel a little bit loose, despite the lack of weight loss - but I hope that isn't from my lack of lifting. :-/

Looks like I've got a date with some dumbbells tomorrow.

Thanksgiving weekend, workouts and a Frenchie

This weekend went by in a blur and I realized it had been way too long since my last post. My main goal this past weekend was to not focus the weekend too much around food, rather, focus the weekend on working out and getting things done.

On Thanksgiving Day, Dave and I got up early to run the Arroyo Verde hiking trail just a few miles away from our house. These photos were taken after the 4 mile run with our little fur-child, Phoebe. Below the trails is this beautiful little park. After our runs I always just want to lay down on a blanket in this park and take a long nap. 

We ate with my family later that afternoon at my Grandparents. Thanksgiving isn't the tradition it used to be because my grandparents aren't very mobile anymore, so we visit them in their retirement community, and it is usually over no later than 2:00 - which is always a little bit of a letdown. You know, since nothing is open on Thanksgiving, so there isn't much else for us to do. But we did enjoy a bottle of wine and some Lord Of The Rings.... I had never seen it, and Dave was appalled, so we watch it. Haha.

Friday morning (Black Friday) I decided to forgo the shopping experience and went to a 7:00 am boxing class at the (new) gym. Damn I love that class. It kicks your butt. Definitely worth getting up and going to. I need to remember that. 

 Olive was just being extra cute this weekend so I thought I'd post some photos of her squishy mug on here. In this photo she was very serious about me getting out of bed to feed her. Googly eyes and all. Girl loves her food. Hmmmmm I wonder where she got that from?

Later on Friday we decided to put up our Christmas decorations. Mostly the tree and the outdoor lights. I do love my little tree - covered in pinks and blues and starbucks cups and owls... It's my favorite night light. I wish I could keep it up for longer than a month.

 Olive and Phoebe were very curious about what the heck we were hanging on the house.

Saturday my parents held a non-formal Thanksgiving feast at their house. It was delicious, but again, I took no photos of the food. I guess I was really serious about not focusing too much on food that weekend. We did, however, get another workout in before the last feast of the weekend. My brother Shane invited us on a little hike up the trail behind my parents' house in Ojai. It was only a couple of miles but it definitely helped with all the food we had eaten over the weekend. It was also very special because I hadn't gone on this trail since I was in junior high, so there were lots of memories on this trail. Sometime soon Dave and I have agreed to do the FULL day hike to the top of the Topa Topa mountain (the top of the mountain in the photo below - I've heard its a cray hike but totally worth it)

And then Sunday was just another day of getting groceries and things in order for the week ahead. That concludes our crazy Thanksgiving weekend! I truly enjoyed the time off and all of the time we spent on exercise and getting outdoors. It was a great weekend.

Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Every year my office throws a Thanksgiving Potluck. And every year it is filled with delicious, yet unhealthy options. So this year I had an idea, I will bring a healthy pumpkin pie option to the party! Because honestly, who doesn't love a guilt-free dessert?? I found this recipe here, and I must tell you it is one that is going in the recipe box for good. I even had a health-skeptic friend come over and try it. (she doesn't really understand my obsession with the whole "paleo" thing.... like a lot of my friends. They'll get converted eventually - haha)

Anyways she tried it and literally the words that came out of her mouth were, "If you hadn't told me this was healthy, I wouldn't have known the difference. This is REALLY good!!"

Success.

I am so excited to make this for the Thanksgiving potluck, and so excited to share this recipe with everyone that is looking for healthy alternatives to Thanksgiving desserts.

Crust:

2 cups Almond Flour
1 egg
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tablespoon coconut oil (I melted mine so that it blended easier with a spatula)

Combine ingredients with a spatula (I didn't have a food processor, so I did it by hand. Its not difficult at all) Press crust into pie pan with your hands until the crust is even all around. Do not bake until filling has been poured in.

Pie Filling:

1 15 oz can of Organic Pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk (use the canned full-fat stuff!!)
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Combine Pumpkin and eggs in a bowl with a spatula or whisk. Whisk in coconut milk, honey, and spices. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350˚ for 45 minutes. Allow to cool and then refrigerate for about 2 hours to set.