Category: Uncategorized Page 11 of 17
I realize this post is long overdue, but Christmas this year was really lovely so I’ve decided to still talk about it. Until February that is. Once February hits, I will forget Christmas until at least next November. Promise.
Our holiday festivities started in November with N’s work murder-mystery-casino-night themed party. His company is pretty small so it was just 30 people plus their spouses/dates, but it was really fun. I haven’t done a Murder Mystery in years. I didn’t really know what to expect, but they did a great job with it and it forced more interaction than normal. Once the murder was solved, they set up the tables for the casino and we gambled the rest of the night away!
N’s Christmas Party |
For my Christmas Party we decided to get a room at the hotel with H and Z. Last year, they’d had a really hard time finding a cab afterwards, so we decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. The theme of our party was Hollywood Glam/the Oscars.
We started the night getting ready in the hotel room. One of my favourite things about going out was always getting ready together, listening to 80s music, and having drinks. It’s still one of my favourite parts of the night, but now that we all live on our own, we tend to just meet up at the bar. It was fun to have do it again a little bit. I’m pretty sure N & Z thought it was totally awesome too.
I even busted out the fake eyelashes! |
H & I having a few pre-party drinks |
Love this sparkly dress! |
Another couple joined us for a drink before we all headed down to the party together and the shenanigans began. It was the most ridiculous Christmas Party I’ve ever been to (not that I’ve been to many), but also the most fun. N and Z ended the night on the dance floor, their ties on their heads. It was hilarious.
We had a professional photographer, so I didn’t have to worry about taking pictures. (Although, I did capture a few ridiculous moments after the photographer had left. Precious.) We started off the night looking pretty classy. It’s so fun to see everyone dressed up!
Work BFF |
This lovely lady is pretty awesome too! |
Chatting |
Things got pretty ridiculous after dinner and there are some hilarious photos. These are just a couple of my favourites.
We’re all having way too much fun! |
I want to buy whatever Z is selling. |
And these boys. Oh there are no words for these two… |
Making Olive Tapenade |
I’ve been hearing about the Palaeolithic Diet for a while now. When you do CrossFit, it’s only a matter of time until a Paleo Challenge comes up so I’d been reading and thinking quite a bit about it for a while.
I’ve never believed in diets. I don’t believe they work. I’ve always thought eating well and exercise were the only way to go. While I still believe this, what eating well means to me has changed significantly this year.
Cooking my first whole chicken |
This summer, a friend recommended the book Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo. I was looking for a new cookbook with some good recipes and Diane’s book seemed great so I ordered it online. N and I had been making an effort to eat better and I’d already been introducing some paleo recipes to our meal plan. (Yes, we’re big nerds and do a weekly meal plan. It helps with budgeting.) Diane’s book is great. The recipes are beautiful and she does a great job of explaining a lot of the science behind paleo. Between her book and Mark’s Daily Apple, a lot of what I was reading was starting to make sense. I still wasn’t sold on the idea though. I’ll be the first to tell you, I love bread and cheese. Part of why I loved living in France so much was the food. I love everything about good food. The more I read though, the more I wanted to try 30 days of paleo. I just wasn’t sure if I could convince Nathan to give up his cereal in the morning. By the same token, he thought I’d never give up cheese.
One of our easy go-to recipes: Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps |
Two weeks into November, my friend told me her and her boyfriend were doing a 30 day paleo challenge. This was just the motivation I needed to propose it to N. He agreed and we ate through what we could of our grains and legumes before Nov 15. It wasn’t the best time to be doing a paleo challenge (we had Christmas and Birthday Parties and were training for a half marathon) but I figured there would always be a reason why now wasn’t the time. So we decided to cut grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils from our diet as much as possible. We knew that most weekends would probably involve a “cheat” meal of some sort, but during the week we stuck to paleo as much as possible.
One of N’s favourite foods is pizza, so I kick started our month with a paleo pizza. It turned out pretty well for a pizza without grains or cheese and it was definitely a fun experiment. We made a cauliflower crust and then topped it with some delicious tomato sauce, meat, mushrooms and asparagus. N still says it’s not really a pizza, but he enjoyed it anyway.
Paleo Pizza |
We finished our paleo challenge Dec 15, just in time for my Christmas Party. I really enjoyed our month of paleo and it has definitely changed the way I think about the food I put in my mouth. We’ve since added back in a few things, namely dairy, but are mostly still excluding everything else. I found after the month was over, I didn’t want to go back to eating grains.
Feeling awesome! |
I would never say I’m gluten intolerant or that I’ll never eat gluten (we still love to go out for dinner!), but I’m definitely more aware of the effect both have on my body. A lot of people are horrified that we eat bacon every morning and cook with bacon fat and butter, but I honestly feel great eating this way. One of the biggest changes I noticed was the sluggish feeling I used to get after my lunchtime sandwich was gone.
I didn’t go into this thinking I was going to lose a ton of weight. I don’t really weigh myself that often anymore anyways, but I did take note of my weight at the beginning and then again at the end. I lost about 10 pounds, which was a wonderful side effect. I’m mostly just happy to feel like I look better. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments which also makes me feel amazing.
I really have nothing but great things to say about the experience. I know it’s not for everyone and I know a lot of paleo enthusiasts can get kind of preachy, so my goal is to stay far away from that. At the end of the day, I think everyone should do what makes them feel good.
Chinese Five Spice Lettuce Wraps |
Spaghetti Squash Bolognese |
First delicious attempt at lamb chops with olive tapenade |
Butternut Squash Sage Soup |
Shrimp and Pesto Zucchini Fettuccine |
Lemon Artichoke Chicken |
Typical Breakfast: Rutabaga Egg Nests with Avocado and Bacon |
Apparently the flu this year is much worse than it normally is. I don’t think I’ve had the flu for real (fever, nausea, inability to keep anything down) for about three years. I was in France and couldn’t move far from the bathroom and couch for three days. Luckily, I had four days off a week and it fell on those days.
I’ve been popping probiotics since yesterday and drinking lots of tea and water. At least we have a pretty tea pot and a delicious tea selection. Thanks David’s Tea! I’m already feeling so much better. No more chills, fever, or nausea. Hopefully that means I’m in the clear. Just half a day of laying in bed with a fever and nausea was enough for me, thanks!
Happy Weekending!
One of my goals this year is to get faster at shorter distances, namely 5 km and 10 km. I’ve only run 5 km for training so I’ve never really pushed myself. Speed work is so important though, so I’m making an effort to be faster.
I went for a 5 km run at lunch today. I wasn’t expecting it to be very fast, but it felt good. I didn’t really pay attention to my watch until I hit 2 km in 10:05. I never run 2 km in less than eleven minutes. And it felt good, really good. I did a bit of a double take, I was so surprised. So I decided to consciously try and keep it up for the rest of my run. At 3 km, I was right at fifteen minutes. Holding that 5:00/km, I kept an eye on my watch and by 4 km, I was breathing hard. I came in under twenty minutes. All I had to do was hold on for one more kilometre and I’d reach a goal I hadn’t expected to attain until much later this year. I mean, it’s January 7. I only set these goals a week ago! I just tried to keep my feet moving quickly and stopped my watch at 5 km: 24:46. My first time running 5 km in under 25 minutes. Walking back to the office, I was pretty much grinning from ear to ear.
And doing a little happy dance.
I am a competitive person. Seriously competitive.
Back in July, I was doing a Burpee challenge with my CrossFit box: 50 burpees a day, every day. It was brutal, but by the end of the month I was so good at burpees. I wish I could have gone back to being that good at burpees this morning.
One of my coworkers and I did our 50 burpees at the office pretty often and one of our other coworkers, Emad, said that he could do 200 burpees. We obviously did not believe him. Who does 200 burpees? (Not me. Challenge not accepted.)
So yesterday, Emad decided he was going to talk about burpees again…and somehow challenged me to 50 burpees. I’m not one to say no to stuff like this. I mean, it’s not like I love burpees or something. I just hate losing. So, challenge accepted.
I walked in this morning, threw off my jacket, sweater, sorels, and hat, and said, “Let’s do this. 50 burpees.”
This is how it went down: Emad vs Alanna
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas….
Actually! Finally! It’s less than a week until Christmas and I’m actually finally feeling in the spirit. People are handing out cards and chocolate, left, right, and center. We’re having a Christmas Pizza Party. My coworker is wearing a Christmas Sweater (UGLY Christmas Sweater). It’s freezing outside. I had my first eggnog last night (we were doing a month of paleo, so eggnog wasn’t so paleo friendly). I’ll be finishing up my shopping, wrapping my gifts, and making cards tonight. Hurrah!
Some Christmas ornaments we made a couple weeks ago! |
In celebration of this, here’s some Christmassy music to enjoy at work.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
A