Toxic

Paleo and CrossFit proponents emphasize rest as a primary component of the Paleo/CrossFit lifestyle.  When I look back on my pull-upriffic year, I find that there is another key component of a healthy, pullable lifestyle:

NO TOXIC FRIENDSHIPS.

Yep. I said it. I said it 'cuz I can FINALLY do a pull-up! (Please visit my FB page for a video of the milestone moment if you haven't seen it.  Embarrassing and jubilant all rolled into one.)

Here's my unscientific guide to culling the toxic-waste friendships from your life if you're on a pull-up-esque journey.


Step One:  Kick 'Em to the Curb.
I would not have reached this pull-up milestone if I didn't consciously eliminate toxic friendships from my everyday contact just as my Bootcamp journey began last fall.  In fact, I recall an uncomfortable conversation with one toxic friend last September, wherein I explained why "this just wasn't working out." I told this friend that I was really trying to make some dramatic changes in my life, including my new 5 a.m. workout schedule.  I no longer had time for our daily, self-defeating gossip sessions.  This toxic friend had some cutting, defeating, snarky replies, but I just let 'em ride.  In fact, when I saw this friend during my Paleo challenge in January, and I explained to her why I wasn't eating what everyone else was eating during a banquet, she said in a cutting tone, "Good luck with that."


Step Two:  Recognize the Toxicity When It Leaks Back In.
Sadly, I've had some of that toxicity leak back into my life this week, and I caught myself stress-eating after I interacted and engaged with toxic folks.  (Luckily, I only had jerky and nuts within my reach.)  I physically felt the shaky spike of stress and cortisol during these interactions.


I'm grateful that I now recognize toxic friendships for what they are, and I'm especially grateful for the supportive, tighter-knit group of friendships that I've fostered during the pull-up journey.


Step Three: Celebrate the Good Life -- the Good, Good Life
Once you've culled the toxicity, which isn't easy, celebrate the new friends you've met (will meet) along your healthier journey, and appreciate the friends and family who were there all along.


So, there you have it.  JPQ's new component of the Paleo, CrossFit lifestyle.


Sleep Well
Eat Well
Exercise Smart
Send Toxic Friends Packing


I'll use the acronym "SEES."


Next up?
Kipping pull-ups.


Coach Hoyer has me practicing on a box.
  

The Motivation Behind the Goal

Summer Vacation

Pop Quiz

Question:  You and your significant other take a four-day vacation to NYC during your birthday weekend. Do you


A. Relax, enjoy, and imbibe without guilt.  Heck. Have a slice of cake or two.
B. Enjoy and imbibe while mindful of your fitness and nutrition goals.
C. Take in the sights and wonder what workouts you are missing at your gym. Fret that you might be falling behind.  "Is this trip setting you back fitness-wise?"
D. Find a Crossfit gym in NYC.  All sight seeing and strictly Paleo meals will have to fit in the parameters of your workout schedule.


If you're like me, bless your heart, because we answered B and C, and it's the inclination towards C that bothers me.  If you answered D, don't worry because I'm here for you as well.  I seriously considered finding a NYC-area Crossfit gym out of curiosity more than anything.

I did a little self-talk while on vacation and decided that for me the pull-up goal is pushing me toward a fitness milestone, which helps me achieve my ultimate mission in life.

 I WANT TO LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST SAVORING EACH DAY AS I TRAVEL, TEACH, AND WORK TO BE A VIBRANT, ENGAGED MOM and WIFE.

I can't do all of this nifty stuff if I'm not healthy.

I was exactly where I wanted to be in NYC, and in some ways, it was my pull-up goal that got me there.  I was energetically traipsing through the City, through Central Park to The Guggenheim to Lincoln Center along the winding streets of Little Italy, SoHo, Greenwich Village, and Tribeca.  Heck. I even stopped at an Egyptian street festival and somewhat timidly danced in a throng of festival goers.


I do have another vacation on the horizon, and I will go answer B all the way.  I will enjoy and imbibe while mindful of my fitness and nutrition goals, and I will swim, do yoga, paddle my canoe, and hike with my family in the beautiful Boundary Waters Canoe Area because THAT is why I workout and eat right all those other days during the year.


Plus, I know that I've got inspirational, loving, hard-ass coaches at BCF will hold my feet to the fire when I get back to it in August.


Ain't no one gonna let me get away without doing a pull up by 12.31.11.


xoxoxo,
jpq

Shhh... Don't Tell Coach.

Pantry clean sweep

At our Paleo-Challenge introductory meeting in January we were told to go home and clean out the pantry.  Pitch it all. My family would have freaked.


Throughout the past six months we have persevered through the challenge and beyond, but the stocked pantry remained filled with typical family food stuff.


Six months later, she's finally clean.

The gunk is gone.

The Quick Family Singers aren't thrilled, but it's not the shock it would have been in January.


Pull-Up Update for the Week Ending 6.24.11:


It's not been pretty, friends.

• During one workout that included pull ups, I needed the assistance of a fat green band and sweet Kelley Colby pushing me up to get my chin above the bar.
• During a push-press workout I hit myself in the nose with a bar.

Summary of this post in nine words or less?

Ego is in check, and the pantry is clean.

Gonna Dent My Nails

If pictures are worth 1,000 words, Maura Coleman's amazing video is worth 1,000,000,000,000 words.  Please watch this video for a taste of KC Bootcamp.  I'm at the end of the video trying to string together coherent sentences that express my love and admiration for Coach Rut's program.  There aren't words except to say that what Rut has created has changed my life and my family's eating habits and fitness.  Pretty incredible.


A few weeks ago I worked up the courage to tell Coach Rut that I was ready to test and try to move up to the advanced class.


One of his comments: "You might dent your nails."


I didn't want to tell him it is "chip."  "You might chip your nails."


The denting or chipping was neither here nor there.  I needed to work up the courage to actually take the test, and I needed to wait until I was on summer break to take the test.

--Fast forward to Tuesday, June 14, 2011.-- 

Adelle Christine, entrepreneur extraordinaire of the Paleo Palace Restaurant (menu pictured below), has been struggling to find courage to go to swim team each morning, so I asked her, "Do you want to watch Mom do something she's been really nervous about?"


You bet your sweet bippy my eight-year-old shadow was up for sitting and watching ol' mom take her fitness evaluation with Coach Rut.  Adelle finished her kids bootcamp class, we ran some errands, and then she sat and watched while I tested at 5:45 p.m. She provided water and a smile, and I passed.

--Rewind to yesterday morning, Wednesday, June 15, 2011.--

I walked into Bootcamp, signed in for the 6 a.m. Advanced Class with the sweet, smart, encouraging Lindsey Hoyer, only to find out that the name of the workout for the day was FIGHT GONE BAD.

Seriously?!?!

I almost left.  I did offer to sit and watch. You know.  Just get a feel for what FGB entailed.  Adelle would have been crushed.

Thanks to the eagle-eye, motivational coaching I have had during the past year from Kelley Colby, Sharon Prothe, and Dan Ammon, I was ready to muster the courage to do the FGB as prescribed, and I got through 219 reps.  (This is the beauty of Rut's program!)

To top it off, I didn't dent one fingernail.

Peace, love, pull-up,

jpq

You'll Still JUST Be a Teacher -- Who Can Do a Pull-Up!

A tired, muddy, or should I say, "Earthy?" Paleo mama

I love the following people.

• People who ask me when I'm going to blog again.
• People who ask me how my pull-up goal is going.
• People who respect and value teachers.

The list of reasons why I haven't blogged in more than a month isn't that long.

It's just that I'm a mom, and

I'm a TEACHER.

Recently, I was pondering my career and considering what it would be like to teach at different schools in the area.  During my deliberations, a friend sharply reminded me that no matter where I teach, "I'll still JUST be a teacher."


I hope that you're not a "He/she is JUST a teacher"-type person.  If you are, please let me assure you that  the teachers in your community put their personal time and goals - like learning to do a pull-up - on the back burner to commit hours and hours to lesson planning, grading, and professional development.
_________________________________________________________________
With that said, my blogging hiatus during the frantic end-of-the-school-year hasn't indicated that I've gotten off track!

• I've stayed Paleo, and
• I've stayed loyal to my workout schedule.
• I wear pants that are two sizes smaller than pants I wore in January.

Next steps for the pull-up project?
I plan to try and graduate to the advanced bootcamp class this summer.  The athletes who workout on "the other side of the gym" in the advanced class look like they can all do about a billion pull ups in about a billion different pull-up styles.


* I have to take a test before I can "cross over."  Wish me luck that I don't look like a complete fool during the test while doing my double unders, which by the way, I can finally do a (very awkward) double under.  HOLLA!


If nothing else, I hope my proximity to these studs on the other side of the gym will rub off, and their super-athlete strength will magically be transferred into my triceps, biceps, and whatever other muscles I need to get my chin over the bar.


Let's do it.
jpq

Putting Myself Out Here



This entry does fit with my blog. Notice that
the Star reporter stated that I was in
"writing boot camp."  BOOT CAMP is a recurring
theme in my get-out-of-my-comfort-zone life!



I know that many (read: none) of you come to this blog to read about politics or education, but it's time to put myself out here with my political and educational beliefs for an organization that taught me to put myself out here as a writer, as a teacher, and as a get-out-of-my-comfort-zoner.

Dateline Summer 2005:

The Greater Kansas City Writing Project at the Writer's Place in Kansas City

I was a new teacher: intimidated and tired.

Though I came from the corporate world with a background in journalism and public relations, I wasn't doing what I knew that I should be doing with my students -- writing alongside my students and making sure that my students were authentically writing, writing, and writing.

I was scared to let down my guard in front of my students and colleagues.

It was time to get out of my comfort zone.

With great trepidation, I applied, interviewed, and was accepted as a member of the 2005 GKCWP Summer Institute.

In a safe, comfortable environment, I  relaxed, let down my guard, wrote, shared, and was healed.

I became okay with going out-of-my-comfort-zone as a writer.  I became comfortable writing ALONGSIDE my students and climbing into the trenches as a writing teacher.

2005-2011

During the past six years as a GKCWP teacher consultant, I have proselytized the good news of being a partner in students' writing via teacher inservices, writing retreats, and conferences. 

Just as I thought the good news was being heard, and I've seen a resurgence in good writing practices take place in many schools, I learn that

The National Writing Project has now been cut by 60%.

SIXTY PERCENT!!!

My people.

My educational heroes, Donalyn Miller, Kelly Gallagher, they are NWPers.  These are the voices that keep me and thousands of other English teachers inspired.  Along with NWP initiatives, these phenomenal teachers and writers push us out of our comfort zones.  Without their voices funnelled to us through the NWP, we start to fizzle.

I fear that these cuts to the NWP will silence up-and-coming language arts voices, and push English teachers, saddled with the weight of standardized reading and writing tests, back into their shells -- defensive zones of standardized monotony.

I hope that we pull up and out of this cut-educational-funding trend that gets deeper and deeper.

Maybe if those of you who come to this blog to read about Paleo and fitness are inspired to learn more about educational funding cuts, such as the 60% cut to the NWP, and how these cuts impact you and your children, decide to stand up against cuts to education funding, we can all make a difference.

If you'd like to contact your legislator about NWP cuts, please leave me a comment, and I'll send you in the right direction.

jpq

P.S. Check back tomorrow for an update on my 1/2 marathon AND a Coach Rut tip for ordering Paleo-style Chipotle.

It's been eight weeks.

March 7 Supper is in the Crockpot -- Roast, Garlic, Red Wine, a Bit of EVOO, Onion,
Crushed Peppercorns, & Bay Leaves

It's been eight weeks since I've:

• Eaten a cookie, cupcake, or piece of bread.
• Tasted the cold, creamy sweetness of ice cream.
• Sipped a latte, a martini, a vodka tonic, or even a beloved Izze.
• Noshed on a bagel, kernel of rice, a plate of pasta, or a warm cheesy slice of pizza.
• Crunched a Cheeto, pretzel M&M, or a boxful of Triscuits with hummus while cooking dinner.

But, please, please don't feel sorry for me!


Because it's been eight weeks since I've:

• Felt the shaky mood swings, anxiety, and energy crashes that were brought on by former food choices.
• Battled blemishes on my forehead.
• Squeezed into my too-small jeans and pants.
• Cramped and become panicked to find a bathroom while running any distance more than 3+ miles.  (Sorry if that's TMI people, but it's true.)
• Used food for a reward -- not fuel.

And, I'm pretty darn proud.


jpq


P.S.  To the A++++Wow!!! employee at Whole Foods:  Thanks for remembering me and asking, "How is Paleo going?" each time you see me.

Two-A-Days

Photos taken during an afternoon Rock the Parkway midweek training run.

To train for the Rock the Parkway half marathon in April, my shadow and I are partnering for twice-a-week, Tuesday and Thursday, afternoon runs in addition to our 5-times-per-week bootcamp classes.


I wore my Christmas-gift-from-Bill-and-the-kids-Vibrams on a run today.  Loved 'em!

Got Up On It

Oh snap!


I got my size 10 foot into the pull-up holster contraption on Saturday, and I practiced three sets of five pull-ups before my workout.


Yes it was awkward, and I'm a little sore along the sides of my torso.  (Name that muscle group for $10.)


No I did not fall.


I still have a long way to go.


Don't know if you can see the long black strap hanging down.  It means I had lots of help from the contraption to get my body weight pulled up and my chin above the bar.


Peace, love, pull-up practice with lots of patience,
jpq

Dream Come True

In the weight room, I'm attempting to craftily take a photo
with my Iphone and a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.

It was 7:42 a.m. on a snowy Friday morning when the call came.  I had just started class, and the telephone screen read "PRIN SECRETARY."


"This is Jennifer," I chirped into the phone.


Hands shaking, heart racing, I set down the receiver.  I had just been asked to substitute teach for the head football coach/weights teacher that afternoon.

IT WAS MY PUBLISHER'S CLEARINGHOUSE MOMENT!!!

I shrieked and jumped for joy.  "Yes!" I declared with a Jersey Shore fist pump for emphasis.


Wide-eyed, jaws agape, my class had no idea what phone call could've made their freshman English teacher practically faint in front of their very eyes.  "I'm going to be the weights teacher this afternoon," I squealed, doubling over with disbelief.


I was completely flustered, and I asked the children where I would find the weight room 5th hour.


"You're going to coach weights, and you don't even know where the weight room is?" one wise guy smirked.


"Why no I don't, but I'm about to find out," I stated indignantly.
__________________________________________________________________ 


Sure enough.


I found the weight room and cranked the tunes to 103.3 JAMZ.  It was on.


Anyone student who thought he or she was going to slack in 5th or 7th hour weights class on a snowy Friday afternoon had another thing coming.  This part-time English teacher was ready to roll.


With long strides I made my way through the maze of weight machines and motivated and cajoled pockets of reluctant athletes.  


"Grab a rope," I would say as I offered kids jump ropes so that they could try double unders.  Most of those teens were natural double underers, and I grinned, congratulated them, and gave them a thumbs up while confiding that I would give just about anything to be able to do a double under.


As for the real turkeys who were stubbornly refusing to do anything?  I saved the burpees for those yahoos.


"C'mon," I told the kids who resisted my prompts to get moving.  "We're doing burpees," I told them, and down we went.  Five burpees for the most stubborn in the class.


At 2:20 p.m., ten minutes before class was finished, a group of cheerleaders and I found ourselves doing lunges in a line through an aisle of weight machines, and we finished with check situps on the mats.
__________________________________________________________________


Being a gym teacher for an afternoon not only MET my expectations, it EXCEEDED my expectations.


It was downright fun.


Reluctant learners who gave me fits in English class, were star students in my weights class.


__________________________________________________________________
In my sub report for the regular teacher I wrote:


"The kids were awesome.  Anytime you need a pm sub, I'd be happy to help out.  I loved it."


Jennifer Q.

The Week in Review -- Using "Text Speak" and Emoticons

While working on her arm hang at Kids' Bootcamp, Adelle Christine is modeling
the many emotions I have felt about my pull-up resolution this week.

Picture #1: :) Smiley Face Well hello, camera.  Are you taking a picture of me?  Did I mention that I WON the Paleo Challenge?  Would you like to see some of my cute new Lululemon workout apparel?


Picture #2: BTW, it's actually time to do this thang.  Coach Rut nudged me toward the pull-up bar this week because apparently I need to actually start working on a pull up.  Rut showed me how to use a pull-up assist thingy-ma-bopper that hangs from the pull-up bar.  Somehow I'm supposed to get my awkward, uncoordinated 5' 10" frame and size 10 foot into this contraption and actually begin working on a pull-up.  I'm preparing to relive my elementary school/junior high p.e. days as the not-so-agile girl amidst the lithe and lean athletes on the other side of the gym.  "Whatevs," I think.  I resolve myself to hang.


Picture #3: WTF Best miserable scrunched up nose picture evah.  Whose idea was it that I should learn to do a pull up?  Damn it.  I have a blog.  People are going to know if I back out.  Accountability sucks.  I hate all athletes who are super-fit and make everything look easy. It hurts. It hurts.  It hurts.  I missed three workouts this week because I felt fluish, and I got behind at work.  I might cry.  Great.  We're doing a million double-unders for our WOD today?  That'll be freaking AWESOME considering that I can't do double unders either.  I hate this.  What's that?  I have some chocolatey looking substance on the back of my super-cute Wonder Under Lulu crops.  Of course I do.  I should back out.  I will never be able to do a pull up.  Totally dumb idea, Jennifer.  I'm miserable.  This bites.  (I dreamt about Reese's Peanut Buttercups last night.)


Picture #4: :l Determined Face  FINE.  I will do this.  I don't want to break Paleo because Heaven knows that I do not want to go through carb withdrawal again.  It's time to buck up, stay true to my resolution, and go forward.  I've come this far.


Peace out, pull-up peeps.


Stay tuned for more frequent posts.


Gotta get back on track.

You Gotta Have Faith

BCF Paleo Challenge Winner!
It looks like I'm getting a big head with the tiara, scepter, and all, but I'm not.  My son's helping me keep it real as he said, "You look better Mom, but you still have a lot of butt fat."  He had extra brussel sprouts with his cave kid supper that night.

How did I get here?

I took a five mile run with the Rock the Parkway Groupies this morning to prep for the upcoming RTP 1/2 marathon.  Alone with my thoughts, I asked myself, "How did I get here?"  I came up with one answer, which I know makes people -- especially my husband -- squirm in their seats, but I decided the answer is unequivocally:  FAITH.

I had faithfully decided to go nowhere.

And, I was perfectly okay with that.  During the onslaught of snow days in 2010, I went on a major cleaning spree peacefully deciding that I was bored with running, comfortable with my body size and fitness level, and I couldn't think of any fitness challenge that would inspire me.  There were no more "big events" left for me or in me, so I packed up my too-small-clothes, and sent them off to thrift stores.

During a cold, dreary Sunday that same winter I sat on the hard wooden pews of St. Francis Xavier and Father Matt inspired me.  He was going to cycle across the U.S.  A priest, a real live priest, was on a mission to cycle across the U.S.; of course, I had to be a part of that Cycling for Change action, so I signed up to ride with the team from Jeff City, Mo. to St. Louis Mo. that July on a wing and a PRAYER. I wasn't going to overexert myself, but I did need to train.

I love my faithful friend.

It was now June, I hadn't been on my bicycle at all, and a most favorite faithful friend of mine was getting ready for major surgery at the end of the summer.  My friend and I spent a glistening June day at the creek with our kids, and she told me she was determined to stick to her bootcamp class during the summer, so she'd be ready for her surgery.  I felt lame-o. Here's my strong, hero-of-a-friend getting ready for hardcore surgery and going to bootcamp; I decided to look into this bootcamp craze so that I could actually make it through my upcoming bicycle journey.  My friend had inspired and informed me as I was not hip to the bootcamp scene.

I have faith that the right people are put into the right place in my life at the right time.

I used a Google search as soon as I got home from my creek playdate and found that there is a bootcamp/CrossFit certified gym, just a hop, skip, and jump from my house. I went to my first bootcamp class and about keeled over.  I thought the "dynamic" warm up was THE workout.  We do lunges to warm up, people!!!  My exhaustion was obviously evident as some kind gentleman assured me that all of the workouts "aren't always this hard."  He said that I just happened to be visiting on a particularly tough day.

I went ahead and signed up for bootcamp classes three times a week for three months -- carefully calculating that I wanted to end this bootcamp gig after three months since there was no way I'd be able to attend bootcamp classes during the school year.

After my bike ride, I met a fellow teacher at a 7 a.m. bootcamp class who told me that he goes to the 5 a.m. class each morning before school during the school year.  What?!  I didn't have an excuse not to attend bootcamp during the school year.  Real-life teachers can fit bootcamp, crack-of-dawn teaching, and their families into their lives?  There goes that excuse.

After my three month membership was up, and I saw that I could make it to bootcamp at 5 a.m. and school by 7:20 a.m., I re-upped my membership for three more months, but I realized that many of my 5 a.m. classmates went to class five days a week, and I eventually decided that I should, too.  In November, I switched my bootcamp membership to "unlimited" to get the full benefit of the five-day-a-week program.

This December, Coach Rut encouraged us to set goals and be accountable for achieving those goals.  Again, I resisted.  "Nope.  No goals here," I thought.  "I am goooooood, thanks."  But, a louder, persistent urge, an inner-faith, drew my eye to the athletes on the other side of the bootcamp gym.  "What if...? I thought.  "What if I could do just one pull up like those guys?"

And, here I am.

I do have FAITH that all the pieces will continue to come together at the right pace and at the right time so that I can figure out this pull up and maybe a double under, too.

Faith and peace to you on this Vitamin D-filled Sunday in K.C., friends!

jpq

The Big Girl's Guide to Taking a Compliment

It makes sense that my body is a'changin' as I work toward this one pull up goal.

And, apparently people are taking notice; therefore, said people have been gracious enough to compliment me on my progress.

Here's where it gets awkward:

As a "big girl,"

compliments about my body make me uncomfortable.

Let me set the stage.

Kind Person:  "Hey, Jennifer.  You're looking really good.  How much weight have you lost?"

Me:  (Uncomfortable stammer.)  "Oh... I don't know."  (Proceed to shift focus off of me with self-depricating remark.)

Why is it that I'm more comfortable wallowing in the embarrassment of one of my coaches politely telling me that my underwear is showing (this has happened not once but twice since I started on this fitness journey) than accepting a kind compliment?  Curses, body image issues, which I'm sure started in childhood!  Curses, I say!

For a thoughtful piece about childhood body image and how to help your kiddos have a healthy body image, please click here.

I truly am working to revel in the fact that I've bought a couple -- or at least five -- new Lululemon workout wardrobe pieces to accentuate my improving physique and prevent underwear exposure.

Love these tank tops from Lululemon.  Ok, fine.  I've bought one in black and one in gray.

Now, if I could just get the hang of saying "thank you" when I receive a compliment, without blushing to my ears and proceeding to think about how much farther I have to go on this journey.

THANK YOU for reading,
jpq

Three Reasons I HEART Paleo

For me, Paleo hasn't been all snausages and rosebuds, but there are somethings about Paleo that have me feeling wholesome and giddy while I'm on this journey to lose body fat, gain muscle, and do one pull-up by 12.31.11.  Here they are.


#3: I love doin' right by my family.  I have a boy-child who is on the cusp of hitting the puberty.

Recent Paleo dinnertime conversations have been raucously entertaining as we hear about the boy-child's 5th grade discussions in growth and development class.  Is it wrong that I told my son to answer "vagina" to every question on his final growth and development exam? 
Apparently acne has been a topic of discussion in growth and development, and my pre-man-being has inquired into our family-gene pool's experience with acne.  I am sorry to tell him that we are a family of acne sufferers, and as our progeny, he needs to be extra careful with his diet and hygiene to avoid the dreaded zits.  Here's what's cool about Paleo.  It's an acne zapper.  My own issues with adult acne have significantly decreased during this Paleo challenge, which makes me happy that we're doin' right by the pre-pubescent and setting him up for good anti-acne eating habits.

#2:  The conveyor belt at the grocery store looks beautiful.  Watching the veggies, fruits, and meats ONLY -- NO BOXES, NOT A ONE -- slowly glide by on the conveyor belt has been a joy.  The graceful glide of peppers, garlic bulbs, grass-fed meats, and wild-caught fish is a sight to behold, and it feels so right.  No processed food.  The only plastic-y packaging that goes by is my on-sale Indigo Wild, and it's still all-natural.  I slather this awesomeness all-over to prevent agonizing-wintertime-itchiness.  Speaking of the grocery-store conveyor belt.  I am a self-professed hater of the grocery store.  Dragging my reluctant-self into the Price Chopper and Hen House is a chore, but Paleo eating has changed that, too.  It's quick and easy to circle the perimeter of the grocery store when one is eating Paleo.  You won't catch this Cave Mom endlessly backtracking through aisles of canned goods and boxed foods.  Plus, our neighborhood Price Choppers and Hen Houses have great rewards programs.  At Price Chopper I have racked up lots o' discount QuikTrip gas since going Paleo while basically cutting our restaurant expenditures to zero.

#1: Even a snow day can't defeat this Cave Mom.  The timing of this Paleo challenge has been a doozy, and it's taught me that I CAN DO THIS.  We are at a grand-total of FIVE snow days that have occurred since I started the Paleo challenge.  FIVE.  That's enough snow days to drive even Mother-of-the-Year-Candidate-calibur moms to emotional eating binges chased by gallons of cocktail consumption.  I've held strong to Paleo and planned ahead.  The snowy wintertiming of this Paleo challenge has taught me that Paleo is absolutely a doable lifestyle for the long-haul.

Peace, love, Paleo-pull-up,

jpq