Paleo Fried Rice

Fridays are the beginning of my weekend so I usually spend them running errands, cleaning the house, and other things… It’s my day of the week to get things done. Today was no different – I went to supervision at 8, then when we finished, I went to the bank, and then gave my husband a ride to work. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and then I came home and paid all the bills and got in my workout…  have to admit, I half-assed it today because I was EXTREMELY sore from yesterday. I’m not trying to make excuses here, I’m just being honest. I was seriously hurting so I took it easy on myself. Please don’t tell Jillian Michaels. I do not need that woman showing up at my house and beating my ass (especially when she’s already beating my ass 6 days a week).

Anyway, after the workout, I was feeling a little worn out and nauseous so I laid down… and promptly took a 3.5 hour nap. Oops ;/ I generally try to look at these kind of things as “my body really needed the sleep” and move forward but today I was disappointed because there were a lot of things on my “to do” list.

I tried to get some stuff done but then I was just frustrated, annoyed, and I had a headache. I decided it was time for dinner and I was craving Chinese food. Fortunately, I had all the stuff I needed to make Paleo (cauliflower) fried rice so I decided to go for it. And I was NOT disappointed! It was AMAZING and I generally don’t care for cauliflower. It was amazing and pretty easy to make.

I took inspiration from Nom Nom Paleo and Paleo Pot so I can’t take all the credit on the recipe but here are my ingredients and modifications:

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head of cauliflower
• 1 pound shrimp
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups (I just used 2 big handfuls) broccoli slaw
• 1 bunch of green onions
• 1 small yellow onion, diced.
• 2 to 4 tbsp of coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp of Red Boat fish sauce
• 1 tbsp of Sriracha (optional – especially considering Sriracha is not 100% Paleo)
• 2 to 4 tbsp of water
• 3 eggs

Directions:

1. Use a food processor to break down the cauliflower into “rice.” I used my Ninja and it worked just fine. You can also use a cheese grater if you don’t have a food processor or Ninja.
2. Get a large pot or dutch oven and put over medium heat.
3. Add your coconut oil and allow it to warm up.
4. Add your onions, garlic, and green onions. Cook until the onions start to become transparent, then add your cauliflower and broccoli slaw.
5. Add your coconut aminos, fish sauce, and ginger.
6. Make sure everything is well mixed to get everything cooked evenly – let it cook for a few minutes.
7. Add 2 to 4 tbsp of water to the pot and stir well again. Lower heat to medium low and cook for up to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower and other veggies are soft.
8. Add shrimp and cook until pink.
9. Add Sriracha (if desired) and stir well.
10. Turn your heat up to high and let excess liquid cook off.
11. Then crack your eggs into the pot and quickly stir to scramble the egg into the “rice.”
12. Stir until the eggs are well worked in (and cooked!)
13. Serve hot!

You can garnish with extra green onions, raw veggies, or a swirl of Sriracha (if you like it hot!) I added a bit more coconut aminos to mine after it was in the bowl. The bottom line is this stuff ROCKED! I ate a whole bowl full and would have eaten another if I hadn’t been full. Delicious!

Jillian Michaels Body Revolution Week 1

Today was day 6 of my first week of Jillian Michaels Body Revolution. I know this is a bit of a change up – I’m a TurboFire addict and that’s usually my go to workout, however I got JMBR as a gift so I thought I’d check it out.

JMBR is broken down into three phases with each phase lasting 4 weeks. During each week, you will do two strength workouts twice each, and a cardio workout twice as well. This is rotated over a 6 day period so you have enough time for your muscles to recover before you are working them again. So this week, I did strength workout 1 on Monday, strength workout 2 on Tuesday, cardio on Wednesday, and then repeated the cycle again. Sundays are your rest day to allow for recovery. Week 2 will be the same schedule as this week and then on week 3, I will switch to strength workouts 3 and 4 and use the same cardio workout. Pretty simple, and it’s even packaged by phase so you don’t have to worry about shuffling through a pile of DVDs.

As far as results are concerned, it’s only been a week and I haven’t really seen any direct results (no change on the scale this week and I haven’t increased my lift or anything) but the workouts kick my butt! I love that they are only 30 minutes so it’s easy to get them in before I get ready for work. I am assuming that things will get MUCH harder as the program goes on which makes me a bit nervous. Things aren’t crazy now, but I was super sore after my first two days (and semi-sore today!)

I also have to say that I like Jillian much more in this DVD series (well, at least the first week) than I did in some of the others. I understand she’s supposed to be “America’s Toughest Trainer” but I find some of her comments off-putting and frustrating. On these DVDs she gives a little bit of tough love but seems more supportive and has some ::gasp:: nice things to say! I appreciate that a lot and I hope that trend continues;.

 

My only concern with the program right now is that I think I may get bored with doing the same cardio DVD for a whole month so I might rotate in another Jillian DVD or perhaps one of my TurboFire workouts. Either way, I’ll be back to let you know how it goes!

Finding Your Soul Mate Workout

I’ve been absent again, I know and I hate it. But I’m still sick and only seem to be getting worse. I’m pretty sure it has to do with my work environment – we’ve still got dampness and a nasty, musty mold smell (even if we can’t see mold I’m almost sure it is). I feel terrible and I’m going back to the doctor on Friday to see what he can help me with.

Anyway, I haven’t been very active so there’s not too much to say but I did want to at least post about workouts since that was my intention FOREVER ago.

I will admit, I don’t like working out. I really never have. The only times in my young life I can remember looking forward to exercise is when I was in gymnastics and when I was on swim team. I loved tumbling and swimming and being with my friends but even then, I wasn’t all that excited about the workouts. Don’t get me wrong, I do love to swim but I like to do it for fun, not necessarily for working out.

As I got older and started the usual dieting and exercising cycle, I tried a little bit of everything…

And I hated just about everything.

Running wasn’t for me – it aggravated my asthma and I looked like a moron (I know how you look isn’t the important thing but I seriously run like a lame emu – I look ridiculous). I didn’t like step, I wasn’t coordinated enough to do most of the dance classes, and weigh lifting was intimidating. The elliptical machine was boring as hell… Swimming was the thing that I came back to time and time again but I didn’t have a consistent place to swim so that was problematic.

I took a free cardio kickboxing class once at a local gym and had a good time but the class was $85 a month – quite steep for a student making a little more than minimum wage.  I picked up some various DVDs and started doing those but I didn’t love them, I just made myself do them.

Then one day on the WeightWatchers forum, I saw a post about TurboFire. I had no idea what it was but the ladies were raving about it and so I googled it and watched the promo. I was intimidated as all get out, however I was also intrigued. It seemed fast paced and it incorporated kickboxing-type moves with dancing stuff… I had to try it. I ordered it almost immediately.

When it arrived, I immediately opened it and started watching the first workout. Yes, just watching – I didn’t want to start right away, I wanted to learn some of the choreography first . I was impressed. I worked out for the first time the next day and I’ve never looked back.

I love TurboFire for so many reasons. It’s fast paced, most of the workouts are shorter than an hour, I like the punching and kicking as well as the fun dancing parts, and Chalene Johnson is an amazing instructor. I know not everyone likes her and that’s cool but to me, she’s so positive and inspiring. When she’s yelling “you’re not tired!” at me through my TV, I believe her!!

Anyway, the point of this post is not that you should love TurboFire. The point is that everyone has a workout they love best – their soul mate workout. Take the time to explore and find out what that is for you! I heard someone say once that the perfect workout is THE ONE YOU WILL DO! And that is so true! If you hate something, you’re less likely to do it – find your soul mate workout and working out will never be the same again! If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking! Something new and fantastic just might come along and sweep you off your feet!

Next time on “Here We Go, Paleo!” – TBA

When Working Out Isn’t Working Out

When I originally picked this as my next blogging prompt, I intended to talk about how not every workout is for everyone and how I found my “soul mate” workout. Instead, I’m going to talk about self-care and when working out has to take a backseat to other things in life.

I have been ridiculously sick for the past week or so with a nasty upper respiratory infection. This came about as a combination of things – exposure to a contaminated office building (my office had roof and water damage during the hurricane and so now we have mold, etc.) and stress. These two things combined were like a pressure cooker in my chest and now I have a lovely hacking cough combined with a sinus infection and icky drainage… It really sucks.

For the first few days, I tried to push myself to workout anyway but that had disastrous results. Not pretty, not pretty at all. I had to face the facts – with my respiratory system on the fritz, I couldn’t keep up with everything I needed to do especially not working out. It just put too much strain on my poor lungs and I ended up coughing to the point of vomiting. Like I said, not pretty.

So, reluctantly, I decided to take a break until my peak flows return to normal and I can walk without wheezing and coughing. I know there are so many health gurus out there that will tell you to get in your workout no matter what but sometimes you just have to say no.

The most important message you can take away from this is “listen to your body.” If you are working out and feeling light headed, nauseated, etc. it might be time to stop. You know yourself and your body signals best. If things don’t feel right, take a break. I know it sucks because you want to stay on schedule but trust me, it’s better to take the break than push yourself too hard and need a longer recovery period.

All that being said, I hope I will be back to normal no later than the end of this week or I may just go crazy!

Next time on “Here We Go, Paleo!” – Finding Your Soul Mate Workout