Wedding Season Is Here!

It is officially wedding season and we are on our way to Des Moines for our first one of the year. It's a bit of a drive but hopefully it will be worth it. I suppose I should be taking notes as our wedding is right around the corner! Only 2 months away!!!

I always think of the movie Wedding Crashers when weddings happen because it is soooo funny and something you can keep quoting year after year. "Football and crabcakes, that's what Maryland does!" Just awesome.

We kicked the weekend off right last night by heading downtown for some drinks and appetizers. We ended up getting a cheese plate (we are in Wisconsin people!) and a beer flight with 8 different types to try from 'The Old Fashioned'. 6 out of 8 beers were good with the New Glarus Moon Man being my favorite. Nice flight holder huh? Go Wisco!

Looking forward to being back Sunday already.

A little behind, but still some Excellent Dinners!

My blogging has been a little lax lately but I'm determined to start doing a better job of getting relevant and timely posts up for my loyal readers:) Things have been a bit busy over the last couple weeks; bachelor party, roof leaking and helping PLAN A WEDDING! I understand that the planning is mostly being done by my lovely fiance, but even helping seems to take a lot of time. Also, trying to eat healthy and preparing meals on a daily basis can add to the time crunch. After getting home from work, preparing and eating dinner, doing dishes and other house chores, it is usually bedtime. As I've mentioned before, getting adequate sleep is a must!


So, I'm sort of cheating on this post but i'm including a few of my recent meals that we have consumed even though it is a bit late.



First up was my chicken with parmesan cheese, tomato, fresh basil (my faux Caprese salad meal) and avocado dish. With some green peppers on the side and a Pale Ale to finish. I actually put together a Caprese salad a few days prior and I had leftovers, still tasted great!
















Second; grilled cod marinated in evoo, lemon juice, cracked pepper and dill. Grilled yellow squash with some evoo and cracked pepper and green peppers. It is FINALLY time for grilling in Wisconsin and I plan on taking full advantage for the rest of the Summer!

Lastly is my meal for tonight, a BIG salad. It consisted of baby romaine, organic spinach, four strips of bacon, a handful of walnuts, some green peppers and drizzled with evoo. Absolutely perfect for a day where we had a grill out at work and I didn't get my usual fill of salad greens.

Dinner: Primal Plus A Green Monster

Another week has begun and I wanted to start it out on the right foot with a solid workout and healthy eating. I got a great 30 minute workout in at lunch that consisted of a bench press, multiple pushup forms and a variety of back exercises. It's always nice to feel sore heading back for the afternoon...it means I did something right! Tomorrow is my legs and sprints day, always a killer.

For dinner I had a 1/2lb of grass fed beef, 1 avocado, roasted broccoli and a Green Monster to wash it down. The beef was previously browned with some cumin, the avocado was sliced and tossed in lime juice and the broccoli was roasted in the oven with some evoo and cracked pepper. Everything was excellent and exactly what I was looking for on a Monday night. The big surprise was the green monster drink that was made for me by my fiance. I was a little skeptical at first, but it turned out FANTASTIC! The mix is below;

Green Monster

-2 cups spinach

-1 banana

-1 cup Almond Milk

-2 tbsp ground flax

-ice cubes

Apparently there are a lot of options with this drink, but this mix ended up tasting pretty great as we split the total amount into two glasses. Try it out, it is good!

Sugar is the Enemy

Sugar is something I have been trying to stay away from as much as possible, save for what I get naturally from my fruit intake. Knowing that sugar promotes fat storage among other negative effects, it is hard to believe so many people continue to eat the junk and processed foods that seem to contain one form or another. As always, MDA has done a great job of looking into this matter and breaking down the various forms of sugar and which ones we should absolutely keep out of our bodies. Check out the link and and think about sugar and the role it plays in your life.

Do you drop a cube in your morning coffee?

Do you spoon a couple tablespoons onto your cereal (other quick breakfast options)?

Do you still have a sugar dish?

If you answered 'yes' to any of the questions above you should think twice about if it is necessary and try giving it up for two weeks to see if you really need it or not.

Even though sugar has been scientifically proven to cause a variety of cancers, it still brings a laugh to think the ad above was actually used to entice people AND make them think it would help their cravings at mealtime!

Primal Fruits - Which are the best options?

A quick link from MDA on the best fruit options for paleo eating.

There are different areas to look for when deciding to have fruit, but going for the highly antioxidant rich fruits are usually your best choice. You'll read that there are other things to consider for getting the most nutritional value out of your fruits, but it all comes down to the individual. I seem to go with bananas most often (because of the convenience factor), but that obviously needs to change. Blueberries and cherries here I come!

Keeping fruit to a minimum is important because of the high sugar content found in many options, however, a good piece of fruit can really hit the spot sometimes.

Elevator Pitch...Paleo Style

In the business world it is important to have your own elevator pitch in case you have a short amount of time to highlight your key attributes, experience and goals to somebody. It is basically a quick synopsis of you and your talents in case you run into a situation where you need to show yourself off to a person that you are attempting to impress. The goal is to have it short enough so that you can say it in the time you would be riding in an elevator with another individual (hence the name).

I came across a post on another blog (Whole 9) that was talking exactly about this in terms of the Paleo way of eating and I thought it was important and worth putting on here because it was so good. I could really use something like this when discussing the Paleo way with people new to the idea or who are just curious about why I eat like I do. Below is the exact 'pitch' they have which can obviously be tweaked, but I think it does an excellant job of explaining the finer points without going into too much detail, which generally loses a listener anyway. Enjoy.


I eat “real” food – fresh, natural food like meat, vegetables and fruit. I choose foods that are nutrient dense, with lots of naturally-occurring vitamins and minerals, over foods that have more calories but less nutrition. And food quality is important – I’m careful about where my meat comes from, and buy produce locally and organically as often as possible.

It’s not a low calorie “diet” – I eat as much as I need to maintain strength, energy and a healthy weight. In fact, my diet is probably much higher in fat than you’d imagine. Fat isn’t the enemy – it’s a great energy source when it comes from high quality foods like avocado, coconut and nuts. And I’m not trying to do a “low carb” thing, but since I’m eating vegetables and fruits instead of bread, cereal and pasta, it just happens to work out that way.

Eating like this is good for maintaining a healthy metabolism, and reducing inflammation within the body. It’s been doing great things for my energy levels, body composition and performance in the gym. It also helps to minimize my risk for a whole host of lifestyle diseases and conditions, like diabetes, heart attack and stroke.