my body has done some pretty crazy stuff since i started paleo. well, kinda. i started on august 1 mostly. on july 29, something happened to my eye and next wednesday i'm going to have a sty drained from my eye. i was told it was due to a very clogged oil gland in my eye. never had anything like that before. 

during this, i found out that i have a bacterial infection. instead of doing the antibiotics, i've been downing the garlic and cooking everything with garlic. i have no clue if it has helped, but i'd be in the same boat had i taken the antibiotics. 

weather here has been pretty crazy. on tuesday it was 110. on thursday, the high was 70 for a minute. today the high was 90. and due to this, my throat hurts and i think i'm running a low grade fever (which i just let run its' course). but i haven't wanted much to eat. 

which all leads me to my point here. 

even though i don't feel well and my brain kinda said for me to eat some toast with butter, but my body said no way! i ate the topping off of the pizza tonight because i was too lazy to make any meatza or such. but i still don't want toast. or pizza crust. or anything else. which i think is a pretty big feat! yesterday i ended up eating an entire avocado with tomato and ham for lunch. it was so good and made me feel good too. today, i made some mushrooms, garlic, spinach sauteed in coconut oil and then scrambled in two eggs (we raise our own eggs). it was so yummy. 

but i still want something comfort-y. something to make me feel better. i got online and happened across this blog  at the primal parent talking about paleo eating and shared custody. that is my life. it helped me feel better, so even though i don't have the food yet, i just had to talk about this post. my husband and i have 4 kids, his and hers. and diet and food is horrible at the other houses. so even though my house isn't paleo perfect or anywhere close, i know that at least my kids (all of them) have a good diet while they are here. 

and i'm still looking for something good to eat. 

chocolate is always good, right? dark yummy chocolate!

maybe with some of the coconut butter that i just made. oh so easy! i'm going to do it again and take pics, but here is where i learned. so easy!!!

bacon. bacon. bacon.

it's what's for dinner.

today i had leftover frittata with spinach and portabella mushrooms, watermelon (a lot of it), a couple pieces of cheese and bacon. mmm, bacon. check out what primal toad has to say about bacon. 

while i didn't pair it with anything tonight (not feeling like cooking or anything else) it was still yummy, i still have the yummy bacon flavor in my mouth and i'm not craving sweets. 

7 quick takes

~1~

i was an entrepreneur when i was younger. my 6 year old, little k, is selling plastic bags parachutes in front of our house for only 25cents. 

~2~

i am saving all of my pennies and nickles to get to italy in two years. i even take any money from the laundry as my "payment" and may or may not have gotten $1 the other day from my kids' laundry. 

~3~

i'm digging the paleo style right now, and my dedication. i made a grip load of "regular" chocolate chip cookies and i didn't even try one, or a half of one.

instead, i made my yummier version. 

~4~

i have way too many projects in my head and not enough time or energy to do them. one is a project unique to me (i didn't even find it anywhere!!!) i am trying to make a hall tree/shoe and backpack storage behind our door, where there isn't much space. every time i sit on my couch, i look at it and plan in my head how i can do it. and it will get done one day. hopefully soon. and before winter, so there is someplace to actually hang coats. almost like a central command station.

~5~

speaking of projects, my kitchen, where the cabinets are trying to come down from the walls, is a project that i fear and dread, but plan and look forward to all the time. i'm so scared that one day, i'm going to come home and my kitchen will have fallen. it is so odd, but the cabinets are pulling away from the ceiling AND from each other in the corner. i'm still saving the money for that. which is hard, since, as of yesterday, we are a single income home. eek.

~6~

even though i've been paleo for over a month (or mostly paleo) and have been walking 5 times a week for the past 3 weeks, i'm still a sleepy little girl, and l.o.v.e. to nap!

~7~

no matter how crazy my family life is. i love it. and i'm planning for family pictures. i've realized that trying to get them yearly isn't always feasible. so i'm planning and thinking and planning. and from all of this, i've realized that i plan a whole lot!

linked at conversion diary

when stress hits

and you don't have much time

or patience

and you eat *pretty* healthy

and haven't really wanted to eat healthy much today

finish off your day with some yummy chocolate chip cookies

~recipe below~

and coconut milk

and ncis

in a quiet house all to yourself (for the time being)

what do you do???

I found a great polish market. It smelled so good. And yummy. And tempting. I love culture, travel and food. So out went primal for a meal to feel as if I were travelling through Poland, like I did so many years ago. My tummy is heavy, so full, I'm drowsy, but oh the experience!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

my challenge started before this month. i knew i had to do something and in july, i decided i would begin something in august. i saw that you were doing a challenge, and i hadn't really followed wellness mama too much; however, i did really like your homemade recipes for toothpaste, deodorant, etc.

 i decided to do your wellness challenge.

 i had no clue what it would entail. i had never heard of paleo or primal before a month ago. i've always lacked protein. and i love bread, pasta and all those other grainy foods. but i decided to go for it, see what it would be like to give up the grains and sugar. 

typically, my attention span is short, 

so a month is usually too long. i decided to see what i could do and just go from there. 

some of my major 'health' problems have been a major lack of energy, being tired, not feeling rested in the mornings, stress, and wanting to tone up/lose some weight. my family history is rich with bad health and i have always said that i did not want to have such problems, so i have focused on my health for a while. 

i started off the month with carb flu. it passed pretty quickly, but i did feel the effects of it for sure. but on the first sunday of the month, i fasted for 24 hours, from saturday night until dinner on sunday. and for the first time in my life (i'm a regular faster), it was easy, i wasn't starving and

 i didn't scarf down food as fast as i could get it. 

i made crepes and chocolate decadent dip for my family. i realized how family and kid friendly a lot of the food was. i also realized how many carbs are in a banana, and putting two of them in a smoothie is probably too much. i watched fathead over the course of a week, as i cooked paleo. 

i researched more paleo and found tons of recipes. i bought my first coconut flour. and my second. but i'm only half way through my first pound. after all that i baked, the cookies, brownies, crepes, pancakes, fruit dip, pizza crust, cheddar biscuits and who knows what else. 

i made mayonnaise and realized that there is a major learning curve. i haven't given up and i'm going to try it again. slowly this time. which is hard since i'm so impatient. 

i made meatza. again and again. and have requests for it again. so i learned that 

our family's tradition of pizza friday night can continue, 

and i can participate. 

for the first time in my life, i bought 10 lbs of ground beef at one time. i'm more or less, meat retarded. i barely know how to cook it and typically have a lot of problems. but i'm learning and didn't screw up anything this month. i made the grain-free one pan spaghetti. and got to eat the leftovers, which was the best part. 

i refrained from bread all month long! and i felt the difference. it felt good. and i never, not once, craved sugar. i did want chocolate or i had the munchies, but no sugar cravings. 

i had already cleaned out most of the chemicals in my house, but i did a few more, made my own non-poo, have some vinegar infusing in the sun and my own "organic sea mist" for my hair, which i love. i use lavender in some water for the "smell good stuff" to help my kids go to sleep. 

i typically get enough sleep, and am in bed by 10 or 10:30 at the latest, on almost every night. 

i made the yummy probiotic lemonade. i am getting another scoby for kombucha from a friend, but i have my roobios tea to make with it. and i can't wait. i made whey for the first time. how cool was that! 

my stress hasn't gone down. but i guess that is because of my job. 

i have had energy problems still, but for the most part they are better. 

i know when i need to eat some fat and protein though and can listen to my body.

i know i don't have any major problems, such as gluten or dairy intolerance or any other allergies. 

i still wake up and could take a nap within an hour or two. i know its a problem. i like sleep. 

i lost some weight, but also stopped checking after the mini challenge. but it's still in my mind.

one other odd thing, that i'm going to have checked again though, is that my blood pressure was very high for me towards the end of the month. higher that it ever has been. i'm going to see if it was a fluke or what. 

i have made some good friends. i really like writing and checking in the forum. i started posting more on my blog... you still need to get a button so we can put them on our blogs to link to you.... and i have talked to so many people about how i feel. people i work with know that i'm the health guru/nut/freak/genius and i have been able to share my knowledge with others around me. 

this wellness challenge has turned from being something i thought would be fun to try, to a whole new way of living. it is my wellness challenge so i can be in control of my body and life. 

school has started. 

i'm behind at work. 

crazy stuff going on with my family and a motorcycle that is giving us just enough grief to top everything off. 

but it seems like i am still eating healthy. 

my energy can definitely be better. but it is more than it was a month ago. I will admit  i am lacking a lot of voglia/want to do some of the more mundane parts of my life. i love the walks I go on with my princess and the talks with my big one. through it all, i have been grain free and sugar free all month. i have learned how to have some healthy and yummy foods. 

stress will come and go, but my body will be with me forever and i need to love it and give it more attention than all those other external problems.

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi