Mistakes Going Paleo

Common mistakes going paleo, this is what I am about to share with you. Common mistakes that not only I, but surely, other people have made before when following the paleo diet.

Now before I go any further, I need to inform you that when I refer to the term 'paleo' I mean whole - real - food. I do not consider eating carrots or certain legumes a major break in the paleo diet as long as they're consumed in moderation and in season, just like our ancestors would have consumed them.

# 1 Biggest mistake I've made: OVER CONSUMPTION!

Never in my life have I ever over eaten food the way I have when turning paleo/grain free. It's as if suddenly my portion size perspective turned off. I thought 'it's natural, it's okay to eat more.' The fact that something is natural can make it okay to consume a lot of it sometimes, but I don't think this should be done on a regular basis or without any thought.

# 2 Mistake:

Calorie counting. Now to this day, I am not a fan of calorie counting. And - I strongly believe when you eat real food you don't need to count calories, even if you're trying to lose weight. HOWEVER, if you're switching from a SAD diet, or any other diet, to paleo diet, and it is your first time, I would recommend an INITIAL calorie count to start off. But going forward, you should have a rough estimate on the quantity of food you should be consuming for your body type and goals, using your eyes and by learning your body signals. I did NOT calorie count at all and because I thought my food was natural, real, etc. However, I think I started to over eat because I didn't have a guide on what was enough and I believe I would've benefited if I would have guided myself, just like on any other diet.

# 3 Mistake:

Baking!!! Healthy paleo baking should only be done on OCCASION! This is very important to note as there are many dangerous paleo deserts available on the internet that don't help those trying to lose fat! Honey, maple syrup, or any other 'healthy/natural' sweetener is usually used in excess. This also causes you to eat more calories quicker while consuming less nutrition. I have been very guilty of going a tad over board on paleo baking. But hey, if you have too, don't be too hard on yourself. Just remind yourself, it has to be once in a while and OF COURSE it is better than traditional desert making - so yes you are making a positive change in the kitchen!

#4 Mistake:

Over consuming fruit! When I first started on the paleo diet, I over consumed fruit a lot! I thought I was going on to the paleo diet to reduce the digestive stress placed on my body from a diet high in grains, but I ended up stressing out my digestive system by eating too much fruit on the paleo diet. Just because fruit is a natural and healthy sugar, that doesn't mean that your body won't react from it or even worse, make you gain weight! Reduce your fruit in take on the paleo diet to 1-2 MAX! Some days 0-1 fruit is even adequate. You don't need to have fruit everyday. Do not confuse fruits with vegetables. I think a lot of people make this mistake.

My delivery from Organic & Green Perth WA

I was so happy to come home from work today because I knew my food delivery from www.organicngreen.com.au would have arrived. I am proud to show off my order because I think it's important to buy nutrient dense foods, such as organic meats, fruit and vegetables. They are incomparable to what's available at your typical IGA, Woolies, or Coles. Of course some of the popular chains can carry some organic produce, but most of them don't, which is why ordering online is very handy. Especially when you live in the Northern Suburbs of Perth.

Here's what I ordered from the meat department:

• Organic Beef liver
• Organic Lamb steaks
• Organic Lamb roast
• Organic Bacon (not labeled as organic, but free range and nitrate free)
• Organic Whole Chicken

Here's what I ordered from the fruit & vegetable department:

• Organic Pears
• Organic Red & Green Capsicum
• Organic Kale
• Organic Broccoli
• Organic Cabbage
• Organic Purple Carrots

Organic vegetables are much higher in nutrients than commercially grown vegetables. When you eat organic vegetables, you have feel extra healthy, because you are getting extra nutrients. The soil that organic vegetables come from is much more richer and whole, which produces a fuller and richer product. Think of organic vegetables as a deluxe extra fudge creamy chocolate truffle and commercially grown vegetables as a simple plain chocolate. Does that help you understand the quality difference? I hope so ;)


Have you purchased any food from www.organicngreen.com.au before? Did you enjoy your shopping experience and delivery? What about the food, was it fresh? I've only had good experiences with them, which is why I would recommend them if you live in the Perth area.

Hope this post inspires you to eat more organic food!

Have a lovely day!

CB xo

Intermittent Fasting Week 2 - Beginning the week!

I've started my second week of intermittent fasting. Sunday/Monday was the first day. Monday was really a great day, didn't eat for 17 hours and I could have potentially waited a little bit longer, but I was in the grocery store and decided to snack on my food before getting to check out counter. Oops. That was at about /close to 1:00pm and had my last nibble at around 8/8:30pm.

This morning (Tuesday) was very stressful. I went into work early and I was so fast paced, I think I burnt myself out too much. Luckily I had one of those chocolate goji berry muffins I made the other night and snacked on that (it had been 2 hours since I awoke, and all that work felt like a work out, so I suppose it was well deserved LOL). The muffin was very high in protein, low in calories, and low in fat, so it probably didn't affect my fast too much. However, since I was just going through an overwhelming and emotional time at work (we were getting audited - only happens once per year), and it was about 12 hours since my last meal, I just decided to feast after the audit was over, and chill out. It's Tuesday afternoon now, and I am tired from the morning, my tummy is full, and I feel like taking the afternoon off. I think I will have a work out later in the evening because I would be happy to do it after my mind and body has had a chance to re-cooperate. I know now, that for the rest of the day and the rest of the week, I will be able to be super hardcore with my intermittent fasting and I will have a few solid training days in a row now.

Why do I care so much and why do I want to be hardcore this week? Simple. My partner is due to arrive back home (he was away visiting family for 3 months) in about 3 weeks time. Additionally, it will be our 3rd year anniversary, and his birthday. WOW! So I think that's more than a reason to want to feel and be my optimal best!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you're training and eating well.

CB xo

Sugar Free/Grain Free Protein Chocolate Goji Berry Muffins

The ultimate guilt free chocolate fix with a protein kick! Here's what you need & how to do it:

• 1 cup of whey protein powder (pastured fed/organic preferred - non flavored)
• 2 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp of stevia powder
• 1 tsp of salt

(mix these ingredients in a bowl together)

• 1/2 cup of water
• 3 egg whites
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp of coconut milk (optional - if you don't have it, you can replace it with water or if the mix is liquidy enough, you can leave it out)

After batter is made, add in 1/2 cup of goji berries and/or 1/2 cup of raspberries. I have made a batch with raspberries and goji together, as well as one with goji alone, and both of them turned out great. Depending on how much fruit you would like to add to your batch depends on your decision to mixing both berries into the muffins.

Bake at 150 degrees for 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven).

Enjoy! Feel free to let me know how your batch turns out!

CB xo

Chocolate Craving FIX & SOLUTION! Healthy, guilt free, & sugar free!

This is what I do when I am at home and I have a chocolate craving and I need a fix that will cure me and rid  naughty cravings away. I also love this because it is 100% healthy, guilt free, rich in antioxidants, and a relaxing experience. Watch my video to find out what it is! Enjoy!

Intermittent Fasting Self Challenge

A while back a friend told me I should try intermittent fasting because I can occasionally eat so much, it can be too much. Surely, all the food I eat is healthy, but during that time in my life I felt like I was over-doing it. When she told me to eat everything I can in an 8 hour window and then fast for the remainder of the time, I thought that was crazy. I don't wan to stuff my face, I'll get so sick. She said that was the point and that I would learn to not over eat.

A year or so past and I have found myself looking for more information on what my friend had told me. I am finally starting to consider trying this fast. I have been meeting a lot of people who have been doing intermittent fasting, and they are loving it. Not only can hearing people's personal experiences be a motivator, doing research on the internal health benefits is the ultimate HUGE motivator! Especially for someone like me who loves improving optimal health.

I have started my first week of intermittent fasting and it is going great. I must say, it is very tough breaking my normal morning routine (tea and breakfast). I no longer have to wake up early to cook in the morning, which leaves me feeling a little confused on what I am supposed to do with all this extra time. Also, I don't have to pack as much food to bring to work. Due to my nature of work though, I still have to bring some food occasionally, as some days I don't go home at the exact time I want to break my fast, but it changes ever so often.

My weeks progress so far:

Day 1: Fasted 16 hours, went for morning glycogen walk (45 minutes), ate within an 8 hour window, no weights.
Day 2: Fasted 16/17 hours, went for morning glycogen walk (30 minutes), ate within an 8 hour window, did weight session.
Day 3: Fasted 16 hours, didn't go for a morning glycogen walk, ate within an 8 hour window, did weight session.
Day 4: Fasted 16/hours, didn't go for a morning glycogen walk, ate within an 11 hour window, did weight session.
Day 5: Fasted for 14 hours... eish, (baked the night before and ended up sampling my baked goods *sigh* side affect of baking!), didn't go for a morning glycogen walk, ate within 11 hour window, didn't do weights.
Day 6: Fasted for 12 hours, did core training instead of a morning walk, pretty horrible diet for the rest of day. I was feeling bloated from an avocado, combined with my pms, which resulted in me overdosing on chocolate. Emotions, ugh!
Day 7: Fasted for 16 hours, did my first weight session during fast (was great!), ate very well!

Most people that I have met that started intermittent fasting they were all on a heavy caffein supply, some took BCA's, other pills, etc. If that works for them and they're happy with their personal outcomes, then good for them. However, in my personal opinion, I don't want to be a 'walking pharmacy' thank you very much! I figure if the human body was designed to fast efficiently, we don't need to overdose on caffein for optimal fat loss results. I also care about my adrenal glands and I don't want to stress my internal organs out. I believe small amounts of caffein (like a coffee/day or a few cups of light tea is fine) but supplementing with mass amounts shouldn't be something we depend on doing if we're going to do a fast properly. I feel as if it is cheating.

I had a black tea on Day 3 and a coffee on day 4. I feel that when doing the fast, having a little cozy drink can be very comforting at times, and this is a positive action. However, to go in excess, would not be positive. Also the more days completed caffein free, the better. My personal experience explaining why is that not only do you cause less stress on your cells, but you most importantly sleep better.

Skeletoes? How do they measure up to Vibrams? Is it bad that the exclude the pinky toe?

Those were the thoughts I had when I first discovered Skeletoes. But now I have owned 5 pairs of Skeletoes! So they must be good for such continuous purchasing behavior right?

Here's my story on why I enjoy wearing Skeletoes:

Planning Success

If you want to be successful and achieve results, you need to plan. Plan your meals, your training routine, your stretch sessions, your meditation, and anything else to do with yourself and goals, that will help you stay on track. Appointments with yourself are just as important as a meeting with a doctor or lawyer. 


That's it, that's all!

Mindful Eating

Three aspects to consider when eating:

• Where it comes from?
• Is it organic and ethical?
• Are we rushed or relaxed?

One of the most important parts of enjoying a meal, is to take a moment and appreciate the life that has been sacrificed to become an edible food source, to nourish our body. Whether you're about to munch on an apple, bowl of spinach, chicken legs, or sirloin steak, one of our friends (plant or animal) within our circle of life has been taken. We then process this nourishment and then share the remains and feed it  to our pet, our garden, or our birds.The only strong negative part to this mindful eating is that those of us in the Western society, don't dig a whole in the ground and pass our #2's to the soil. We are spoiled with toilet bowls that pipe into locations many of us have no idea where, and would rather not know.

Appreciating and being thankful for our food is important. If you want to take it one step further, ensure you are helping out our animal and environmental ethics buy choosing to eat organic, GMO, pasture fed, foods. Buy paying the extra dollar for the ethical foods, we are giving thanks to our plant and animal friends.

Ensuring you eat your meals in a calm manner signify mindful eating because you're savoring, enjoying, and also taking into the stress and work your digestive system needs to undergo in order to absorb and break down the food you're fueling your body. Eating slowly, relaxed, and not distracted, will make the digestion process easier for your organs, and you'll be less likely to over eat. 

Omega 3 Deficiency & Prevention!

Have you ever thought about why everyone is taking Omega 3 pills lately? Have you ever wondered why people weren't taking them before? Are you interested in not only improving your health but our environment as well?

Watch this video to hear my take on Omega 3 from two great sources which don't get enough credit, meat & eggs. In the video I express my opinion and how I THINK about incorporating Omega 3 in our daily life and how to prevent an Omega 3:Omega 6 imbalance in your body.

Got a question? Write a comment below! I'd love to hear any feedback you have as well.

Thanks healthy friends :)

GIRL POWER in the gym!

My most recent accomplishment!

This is my expression of girl power, it also makes me say:
"Being a woman isn't an excuse to be weak, it's every reason to be strong!"

I used to think achieving something like this was for men only or the selected few women that are naturally tiny and could build muscle easily. I never thought it would be ME pumping these pull up's! When I achieved my chin up goal last year and progressed towards pull ups, it's been an awesome to see how fast my strength has grown. Especially since I have taken sometime off with my pull up training, it's amazing how it all just comes together. So what's motivating me now? To achieve 15!

Thanks for watching and I hope this motivates you to pull up!

Ethical Protein Powder: WHY Choose Pasture Fed WP (Whey Protein)

Below is my personal preference and opinon regarding which protein powder is best and I explain the reasons why I purchase it and how it makes me happy and healthy.

Key points would be:

• Pesticide & herbicide FREE
• Pasture fed cow
• Comes from ONE location (many protein powders come from many different country's)
• No flavors, fillers, simply 100% protein 

Thanks for watching. If you buy a similar healthy pasture fed/organic protein powder, feel free to share your reasoning and experience too!