Spring Break Baby!

So the end of my winter quarter of school is nearly hear. I only have to go to class for my Analysing Plays class and I have my Geology 101 test and then I'm done and I'm so ready for this quarter to come to a close, not that it wasn't a good quarter. I just love when I have time to do who at I have been meaning to do and spring time where I live is so fabulous. Unfortunately, the 10 day forecast says it will be raining every day. So needless to say, I'm a little sad about that. However, that's just for finals week technically and I still have another week of break so I'm hopeful.
But since I essentially have two weeks of break, I want to make sure I'm using it to the best of the my ability so as tradition I will be making a to do list for the next two weeks.  Straight up I live to do lists. I write them throughout my day. That's just the kind of goal oriented person I am. So I'm going to be writing down what I plan to do this spring and surprise and suprise it's about the Whole30. 

Spring Break 2015

To Do List:

1.) Read It Starts With Food-

I've been meaning and wanting to do this 

more and more I do the Whole30 and right

Now would be the best time. There are so many 

things I want to understand more and I have heard 

so many people say it's a must so I'll do a blog post 

about it and what I thought and what I learned. 

2.) Reread Stanislavksi and The Actor and the Target. 

I read two of Stanislavski's books for acting class last year

and I feel like I didn't a super amount of information from it 

but I feel confident I'll get more out of it. And then we read 

The Actor and the Target and I loved it while reading it but I 

want to read it again because I'll be having the same teacher 

that assigned that book last year spring quarter so I think it will 

be super helpful for this quarter if I reread that book. 

3.)  Read Two More Acting Books-

I don't know which one I'll read but I have a few saved up that

I have been meaning to start reading. I love that spring break is the 

perfect time for this.

4.) Read a feminist book-

I definitely identify as a feminist and I have been meaing to read 

a few books on that subject matter. I'll definitely suggest some books if 

I really loved them and what I learned. 

5.) Reading the bible- 

If you've seem my other blog you know I am a christian. However, lately 

I've been having a hard time with it and I going to start reading the bible again.

Maybe get through a book I have read. You know, tiny leaps of faith.  

6.) Paleo Feast!- 

This time around one of my best friends is doing the Whole30 with me and

 it will be her birthday over break so we are going to have a birthday

 feast and maybe maybe go out for ... drinks. I don't know.

 I'll keep you posted and I'll tell you what we make 

and upload some pictures too. 

7.) A Crap of Hikes- 

The amount of hikes is my area is insane and during the winter,

it's hard to do all those hikes so I am taking this time to catch up

on my me and nature time. So I'll upload some pictures for you guys. 

8.) Resumes and finding a new job-

Really not fun but I'm setting up a rewards system for myself

and if I get a new job then that means $200 shopping spree. Or something. 

All these things might be subject to change, but I'll keep you updated. See you all in a few days. Happy Whole30!!

Rough Day

When you think you're doing so well, and something happens and you realize you've made a mistake and you've been making this mistake for a while, not letting that get you down is so hard. Well this week I have been drinking sparkling water with fruit flavor and fruit slices. Well I should have been looking more closely because some times I just look for sugar or soy or carrageenan so I just look for those ingredients and don't really read. Well of course the second ingredient is aspartame which of course is an articifial sweetener and is a no-no. On top of that, I normally get an almond milk latte and in my first Whole30 I asked is there almond milk sweetened and they said no. When looking at the milk container I recognized the milk container and I knew it had sugar and carrageenan and I was so disappointed. Plus, I eat too many Larabars so yeah... but I am trying to fix this and not fall back and not to feel discouraged. But I think it's important to remember, while the official Whole30 people will disagree,  perfection is not the goal, trying to be the best you can be is the point. Don't be mad at yourself if you make a mistake but be happy that you're trying with all you got. Don't be mad if you feel like your all isn't good enough. Just give your all regardless of the outcome because you know your strength. This is hard. Don't pretend it isn't. You are doing a hard thing. It's hard to deviate from the status quo of what is considered okay to put in your body particularly when unhealthy food is everywhere. But don't cheat yourself on an amazing experience. You deserve to learn to fight for what you what. I believe in you.

Day 5...

So it's my fifth day on the Whole30 and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's been pretty damn easy. Usually the first day is the easiest and the next few days suck. However, for me, it has been the opposite. My first day didn't go to we'll but that was because I had work for 8 hours and I work at a coffee shop in my library and it's two weeks till finals so needless to say it was very busy and stressful. So to raise my dopamine levels (like the crack addict I am) I added pesto mayo to my BLT lettuce wrap and I had juice which isn't really okay on the Whole30. I also made clarified butter with vanilla beans and I was to tasted a little of the milk solids and yuck!! It tasted like poop. Figuratively speaking. Don't do what I did because not only our you not following the rules but it made me feel sick. My last cheat was the fact that I made a Zuppa Toscana soup paleo version which is a copy cat of a soup from Olive Garden and the sausage had less than 2% sugar in it. While all the other ones weren't really worth it, I am going to justify this choice but pointing out a few things. Firstly, I'm choosing between the lesser of two evils, doing the Whole30 with my own modifications versus  not doing the Whole30 because I can't do it perfectly. As a college student with a part time job at minimum wage, I don't have a lot of money On top of that, something I think is important to realize is that sugar itself is not the enemy. The carrageenan and MSG and sulfites and dairy and grain are far worse than sugar because sugar is in fruit and vegetables, all things that is okay to have on the Whole30 probably have equal if not more sugar. The greater question again like in the last post is "Am I eating this because I want sugar itself?" The answer is no. I am not eating this for a sugar fix, I'm eating this because if I didn't modify some rules for myself, I would not be able to financially support this endeavor.

Prepping your Whole30

When considering what your whole30 will look like it's important to be honest and strict. For example, I work at a coffee shop on my campus one day for eight hours and I receive a certain amount of money for a lunch break. On my first Whole30 I would get some bacon wrapped in lettuce and pesto mayo on that. I can say confidentially that the bacon most likely had sugar and the mayo had soybean oil. I am deciding on this Whole30 that I will be doing my bacon lettuce wrap but I will not be doing the mayo.  I feel that this diet is largely about not spoiling yourself food but allowing food to be your fuel for life. That being said I need to be honest that I need protein in my lunch between work for energy but I need to be honest and ask myself: do I really need mayo? The answer for me is no. The even bigger question is does this make food a unnecessary treat and does that keep in the spirit of the Whole30? For me, no. Now once you have been as honest with yourself as you can, make your own predetermined decisions as to when you can 'cheat' and don't let yourself cheat beyond that because you'll find it be easier and easier to cheat every time and you'll get halfway through the thirty days and you'll realize you didn't follow the rules half of the time and that sucks.

Now I'm not saying don't treat yourself. Treat yourself on this diet but don't cheat when you are breaking the rules.  Think about how will you treat myself but treat yourself with good things you love. For example everyday I wake up and have potatoes, brussel sprouts and two eggs on top and a coffee and some coconut milk and it's my favorite meal of the day. Make effort trying to find out what tastes good to you. Also after realizing that I needed a "treat" to keep some sanity, I started baking apples with some clarified butter and cinnamon. For a while, I put vanilla extract on but it contained sugar and alcohol so that's out. I will be trying to make some vanilla infushed clarified butter so I will be posting on that sometime in the next week.

Get Ready, Set... Go! Whole30!

Hello World!

This is my third blog and I  would love blogging if only I had the time and patience to write more. I feel blogging can be a great motivating force. Last year I started a well intentioned series on my blog of things I want to do before I allowed myself to start dating. While the spirit of self improvement was a positive thing, it was sillying of me to think of self improvement as a list that will one day end so my real and new life will begin. However, I think self improvement is such a valuable thing and in a world where so much is at the tips of our fingers why wouldn't you spend a few minutes trying to make your life better? But just my opinion. 

My newest obsession of self improvement is living a paleo lifestyle and particularly doing the Whole30. But make no mistakes, I have failed miserably on this diet before but I am a stubborn person and I will try and try till I succeed so therefore I will. Part of the reason why I will succeed eventually is because I have figured out so many things about my eating habits and why I eat the way I do.  I have learned that I eat so much to make myself happy. I have learned that I want people's approval for my endeavors. All these things are not only valuable for making a healthy life style change but for understanding yourself more and being more aware.

What is the Whole30 you ask? It's a strict paleo diet for thirty days with the intent to reset our cravings and reactions to food. It is a gateway to a paleo lifestyle and you will gain back all that weight if you go back to what you were eating before. It's not to just lose weight but to start a new lifestyle and while I was on it and doing okay, I felt amazing!! However going back I felt like crap. So, I'm going start this diet all over with intent of sticking with it and this blog is to show my improvements and realizations while doing it.

I will be starting on March 1st and my last day will the thirtieth of this month and I will be blogging a little every two days. So stay tuned!