Asking Why

I have bursts of inspiration; I can feel fit and healthy and on the right track one day and then the next day, I can feel 30lbs heavier and completely out of control! I have been getting this a lot recently. I need structure to function!
We are coming up to the end of term and I definitely need a change of scenery. Once you get out of a certain routine, a way of eating, or just let something slip, I find that it all can go to pieces, and a big change is needed to get back on track. My diet for the past couple of weeks has been very hit and miss. I have had perfect Paleo days, and then I have found myself gorging on Maoam's and chugging Diet Coke. Why do I do this? It isn't even that I like the taste of these things all that much. In fact, I have now found that fizzy drinks completely mess up my insides. This may get a bit personal but after drinking a can of diet coke, I have to run to the toilet. Anything with aspartame or stevia or any other brand of artificial sweetener is not welcomed in my body!
I have been trying to answer the question of 'Why?' these past few days. Reasons I have come up with:

• Stress- I am very close to finishing my degree so I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. Dissertation, revision, exams, money, jobs, careers, visas, moving house....
• Convenience- the crappiest excuse. I hate hate hate doing something because it is the most convenient. It becomes even worse when I hear myself justifying the chocolate because I am conveniently feeling stress. This is NOT good.
• Boredom- I love Paleo food. Love it. But there are times when I can't even look at a spinach leaf without wanting to barf. For some reason, I just get massive aversion to a certain food group! This leads me to feel annoyed with my situation, or angry that a friend can gorge on pizza and I can't. It is funny though that when I do feel this, I never act upon it when it comes to my meals. I haven't eaten any bread, pasta, or any other grain/legume/bean food concoction. No, when this happens, I snack and snack and snack on 'Paleo-ish' foods. For example, today my lunch consisted of 50g of Vegetable Crisps, a handful of blueberries, and no less than 10(!) chocolate dipped dates!! Why did I need 10? 2 would have been plenty. None of these foods, except the fruit, are really paleo. They are the more paleo options than say regular crisps, or an actual chocolate bar, yes, but it is definitely cheating.

Last night I made a Paleo dinner for me and my best friend. She has had to listen to me rattle on about Paleo this, Whole30 that for a couple of years now. I have tried to convert her; numerous articles infiltrate our facebook messages, Whole30 books end up on her desk. She appreciates where I am coming from, but she says she loves grains too much! Doing this dinner wasn't an attempt to have her cross over to the meat-and-veg lovers side; she loves all food, it was more a way for me to share what I eat with friends.
I made Juli's, from PaleOMG, pork tacos, and Michelle's, from Nom Nom Paleo, Chocolate pots de creme. YUMMY.
They went down a treat! Definitely will be making those again!
Finding new recipes does get you a bit more focused and renews your faith in the lifestyle. Hopefully when I go home for 5 weeks on Saturday, I will be more focused and more positive.
Lifting heavy weights also helps...I'll try and write a bit about my workout ways soon.
 

My New Saviour....the Crock-Pot!

I am now back at University, in my student house, with my friends, stressing about this final push before graduation. Unfortunately for me:

Work + Studying + Stress = I WANT TO STUFF MY FACE WITH CHOCOLATE

You can see why I said I was only around 80% Paleo compliant!
Though I haven't caved! Day 12 of Whole30 and still going strong. I thought that the move back to university might upset the balance. Temptation everywhere, plus the stress, and random hours in lectures will have me reaching for an easier option. So far, so good.
I have found it almost easier than before. For ages now I have been eating Paleo and counting calories. This adds so much more stress to my day! Having exact rules on the Whole30 means that it isn't a question of shuffling things around so you can have an extra something and fit it into your calorie count; it is either yes or no. This is exactly what I need!

One bad thing about being in a student house is that things go wrong. For example, our oven broke for the third time in 3 months on Monday, while I was roasting vegetables. Deep breathing was called upon here. But never fear because I got a crock-pot for Christmas! Now I am a crock-pot virgin. I have never cooked a meal in one. But here was my chance.
I took inspiration from Erika over at the Everyday Paleo site. She has some great recipes over there and this one immediately jumped out at me.
Creamy? I love cream. Chicken? I love chicken. Soup? Erm hello, it's winter! Click on the link and it will take you straight to the recipe I used:)

Putting my ingredients into the crock-pot was odd. It was just a mass of raw things and for hours it looked like nothing was happening. Had I done it wrong?

 9 hours later, this is what materialised....

I know it doesn't look the most appetising of things to eat but it was hearty, and warm, and creamy! Next time I will add some more seasoning as it was a little bland, but for a first attempt, not too shabby.

Another thing I am loving on the Whole30 is toasted coconut. So delicious. I could eat my weight in these. I think I need to cut back a little on this though. I am finding myself grabbing handfuls throughout the day when you aren't supposed to be snacking. It isn't even because I am hungry, i'm not. But they are just so crunchy! This is what I like most about them. That satisfying crunch that you only really get from crisps or crackers; toasted coconut replicates this. I'm such a child...all about the texture.