Training Day

I have the 2013 Chicago Shamrock Shuffle race coming up in less than 2 weeks.  It is an 8K (5 miles) and  more of a fun run, rather than a race, with about 36,000 entrants this year.  I look forward to the Shammy Shuffle every year because it gets me active and in shape before Spring hits Chicago.  This year, I kind of procrastinated on the training aspect. I did my first training run last Friday.  The initial run was 2 miles at a 9:30 pace.  The run was pretty easy… much easier than years past  Before mustering up the motivation to run, I weighed in at 182.2lbs.  I feel old saying this, but I haven’t weighed 182 in 20 years.  Freaking 20 years!  I have observed that running is much easier when you aren’t lugging around a couple gallons of fat weight.  On Sunday, I cranked through 3 miles without a ton of effort and sped up to an 8:30 pace for the last mile.  I felt great physically and psychologically at the end of the run.  Observation #2 is eating the right food gives you a lot more energy and makes recovery easier on your body.  My heart rate was 155-158 at effort, so I could have pushed it a little harder.  I went from dreading the run to being excited about it.  Woohoo!

Anyone else running the Shuffle this year?

Rump Shaker Salad

I received a great Paleo salad from reader and Paleo enthusiast, Richard P.  I’m always looking for ways to spice up a plain old salad and this looks pretty good. I can’t wait to try it out.  Thanks Richard!

Ingredients:

Left over rump roast

Tomato, avocado, green onions, radishes, hard boiled egg, carrots, cucumber, cauliflower and walnuts

Made the rump roast the day before in the crock pot for Saturday night dinner and use the leftovers in salads during the week – you can do different types of salads with the meat, like a Kansas City steak salad etc.

Triple Delicious Coconut Shrimp

We took a little weekend trip to Madison, WI to visit with family.  Being in the land o beer, cheese and bratwurst poses some dilemmas for the Paleo inclined that happen to love beer, cheese and bratwurst.  My will power held out, for the most part.  I enjoyed a couple local beers with my brother over a steak dinner at Alchemy.  Otherwise, I really stuck to Paleo eating the whole trip.  For the record, the beer was absolutely delicious and is something I really miss.  So, on occasion, I’ll partake in a good beer or two. But, it has to be really good beer and I won’t make a habit of it.

When we got back home, there was no food in the house.  That is another Paleo dilemma, since most prepared foods just don’t make the Paleo cut.  For some reason we had coconut shrimp on the brain and came up with a pretty quick and delicious recipe.

1 lb of peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp (Whole foods has fresh and frozen, don’t even bother with the small ones)

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 cups coconut flour

1 cup shredded organic coconut

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 eggs

Rinse shrimp in cold water and pat with paper towel to dry them a bit. Set up three bowls 1) coconut flour mixed with sea salt, 2) whisked egg, 3) shredded coconut

Start heating a large pan on the stove with the coconut oil.  While that is heating, you can start prepping the shrimp for the pan.  Coat the shrimp in the coconut flour, then dip into the egg, then coat with the shredded coconut.  Lay the coated shrimp into the pan and flip every 2 min until both sides are golden.  Set the cooked shrimp on a paper towel lined plate to drain the excess oil, lightly salt and enjoy.

A lb of shrimp was more than enough for two people and seemed very gluttonous at the time, but it was delicious.

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Lanksta

Big day, today.  I actually did a double take when I looked at the scale and wondered how I gained 9 lbs overnight.  I shook my head in disgust, stepped off the scale and stepped back on.  Oh crap!  I just hit my goal weight!  I hadn’t seen the 185 number in so many years, it just didn’t register in my brain as being accurate. Woohoo! Getting back to my lanky ways.  I think the workouts this week really helped push me to the goal weight.  So, I’m down 15lbs from when I started Paleo.  I feel great and am going to keep chugging away.  Stay tuned!

Goin’ Back to Cauli

As the Paleo lifestyle continues, my weight is now 186.2 (so, so close to my target at 185), my blood pressure in the low 120/80 range and pulse in the low 60’s.  Compared to last year, these are some impressive numbers.  This is the first diet that I haven’t felt compelled to have a cheat day.  I think it’s because there are so many recipes out there and different ways to prepare food that it has kept my interest level high and taste buds happy.  Here is a good Stuffed Pepper recipe that came to me through my girlfriend, through Pinterest, through her friend Jodie, as posted by Mrs. Paleo.  The key is the cauliflower and ricing it in the food processor.  I didn’t even know you could do that and it is super easy.  The end product is very rice-like and perfect for the stuffing.  My only modification was doing a meat mixture of 1 lb of grass fed ground beef and 1/4 lb of mild Italian sausage.  Then we actually halved all the ingredients to only make enough for 4 stuffed peppers.  Oh yeah, and we left out the mushrooms.

http://mrspaleo.blogspot.com/2012/05/stuffed-peppers.html

Shot by the NutriBullet

Our old 50’s style Oster blender looks cool, but it really sucks at doing anything functional… especially making smoothies. We did a lot of research and went back and forth between the Vitamix, NutriBullet and the Ninja. I really, really wanted to get the Vitamix. One of the guys from my office raves about his Vitamix almost every time I see him. It is sooooo expensive, though. Reviews are good and Costco has one for $375. Still, it’s hard to justify that price. The Ninja has very mixed reviews. Get it… mixed reviews… blender. Ugh. Anyway, The price is good at $99 but it has a pretty large footprint on the countertop. I expect to leave this appliance sitting out, so the less space it takes up, the better. Ok, on to the NutriBullet. Also mixed reviews, but mostly positive. We have a friend that has owned the Magic Bullet for about a year and still really likes it. The NutriBullet is more robust that the Magic Bullet and should hold up well to Paleo food challenges. It’s easy to clean up, makes a good smoothie and is priced right. You can use the 20% coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond to snag a NutriBullet for $80. It took a few tries to get the hang of making a truly smooth smoothie, but I’ve got the process down now. Some fresh greens (kale or spinach), a handful of frozen organic berries, some fresh fruit, a squirt of clover honey, maybe some almonds and fill to the line coconut milk or almond milk. It’s great for a quick breakfast or afternoon snack. I do really like how easy it is to use and clean the NB. I think it was $80 well spent.