The Journey Begins

And so it begins...... The journey to the bottom of your denim pile.  Don't deny it.  You have one.  Your jeans sit piled on top of your dresser, on a shelf in the closet, on the floor, or if you're fancy and organized, you have them labeled in a bin from "fat jeans" to "soon" to your oh. so. hopeful... "SKINNY JEANS" (NO.... not the new "stylish" skinny jeans that currently make you look like an apple). The jeans you may have worn in High School, or maybe before you were pregnant, or even just before you gained all that "happy fat" while dating and/or married. (Yes, I use A LOT of quotations)

My skinny jeans are four sizes smaller than what I am currently wearing.  You bet - I gained weight when I started dating my husband, then a few more pounds when I got married, but what really threw me over the edge was two children.  I would love to blame it on them, but I am fully aware that this weight gain is all my fault.  I stand at 5'2" tall and weigh in today at 166.8/lbs.  Yep, that's pretty large, but I am on my way to the bottom of that pile and will hopefully work my way into those super cute Express Jeans in the next year.  I do need to be realistic with these goals.  I have a long history of eating disorders, but this time, I have done my research and I am sticking to a Paleo/Primal way of life.  

I am not going to lie.  I am very new at this Primal/Paleo thing.  I started a month and a half ago (March 2012) and  for the first few weeks I was out of my mind trying to find things I was "allowed" to eat.  I had to make EVERYTHING!  My boss- the chef- laughed at me and said, "you mean you're cooking?".  Yes, yes you are cooking.   I spent 90% of my day in the kitchen preparing and cleaning up after breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is not a diet for those of the meek and mild in the kitchen, BUT it is sooooo worth the effort once you get the hang of it.  I understand that most U.S. Citizens are lazy, busy, tired, stressed, I do - I get it, but this way of life will help with all of that.  When your body starts working properly, let me tell you, it's AMAZING what you can accomplish.  And the results are pretty immediate if you start strict.

I started this Paleo/Primal way of life with the Whole30 challenge.  A friend (Tracy) introduced it to me after I got done complaining that I was killing myself at the gym six days a week (two with a trainer) and I gained a pound!  I didn't exactly make it through the whole 30 days, but I did make it through a solid 14 and will try it again in the next few months (this time I plan to conquer the Whole 30 days!).  My husband decided to try the diet with me and loved that we could eat tons of quality meat with veggies and fruits.  He lost 16 lbs in the first month on this diet.  I lost 11 lbs and I can't wait to keep losing more.

So, I hope we've inspired you enough to join us in our journey.  Oh, don't worry.... We won't stop blogging once we've shimmied our way to the bottom of that pile.  This journey doesn't end until we decide it will end, or mother nature decides... ya know.....  

Keep it "Fresh"

~Lauren