Paleo Pecan Butter

My parents front yard has like 14 pecan trees in it and this past fall was a great year for pecans.  Great harvest come about every 7 years and last year was one of them.  Last summer tree limbs were breaking everyday because of the weight of pecans.

This is what my parents garage looks like... (You could call my mom the "Nut Lady")

The baskets underneath are also full of pecans

I've seen blog posts about how easy it is to make your own almond butter so I wondered if it would apply to pecans.  Pecans are expensive in the store so maybe thats why there isn't a lot of pecan butter recipes.  When you have an abundance of pecans for free what to do with them??? Make pecan butter!

I recently bought a food processor and it has made my life so much easier! I use to hand shred everything and the first time I used the shredding tool on my food processor I was in heaven!! ITS AMAZING!! So I couldn't wait to use my new tool to make the nut butter!



Ingredients:
2 Cups of raw pecans
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

1) Toast pecans in a pan until they are fragrant about 4-5min over med/high heat.

2) Toss into food processor with cinnamon and sea salt and blend on high. I stopped every few minutes to scrape the sides.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  Took me about 10 minutes.

3. Whala! You have Pecan Butter. Just scoop out the pecan butter into a container and enjoy.

I ate spoonfuls all week.  I also stored it in the fridge, not sure if you need to but thats what I did.

From Weightwatchers to Paleo...

I'm not trying to bad mouth Weight Watchers here. It's a great program but not a great one for me anymore.  I decided in March to depart from WW after almost 7 years.  Sorry this is a long post...I just have to explain other stuff to get to where I am now.

WeightWatchers Journey

I started WW when I was 17 and about to be a senior in high school.  I was eating better but really just a lot less.  Honestly when I think about to how I lost the 20lbs I really don't remember exactly but I remember I still ate some McDonald's and cookie dough.  I also picked up some really bad habits.

My mom use to get on to me about what I ate for breakfast which was 2 slices of toast with I Cannot Believe its not Butter spray and Splenda mixed with Cinnamon because it was like 1 or 2 points. WHAT IS THAT?!  WW taught me to think in points rather than nutrition.  I was thinking hey I can get by with having a 2 point breakfast at most which really set me up for the rest of the day.

Another thing I use to do was when I knew I was going to be drinking heavily I would not eat dinner.  One reason I did that was because I was replacing my calories with alcohol. 2) I got drunk faster which then I didn't have to drink as much.  This was back when in my head every calorie was the same so I was thinking about calorie vs calorie out rather than nutrition and nutrients my body needs.

I also related the point system to my bank account. Tracking your food is like budgeting. I would budget my food and tried not to eat the extra weekly points.  I would also feel really stressed and guilty when I went into dinner with 4points left for the day.  I felt like that was all I could eat rather than eating something and tracking it accordingly.  Points ruled my life.

I use to think that WW was the only thing that helped me to lose weight. Yes I did lose weight but with almost having to starve myself which is not enjoyable.  I love food and I love sweets.

When I was running the 5ks and 10ks and working with a trainer I put some weight on the scale (which was 137lbs).  My clothes never looked too tights and I felt good but I wasn't under my goal weight of 130lbs. I was also diligently tracking what I ate and I still wasn't loosing weight.

Then I stopped running because I got too busy with teaching.  Started gaining weight. Went back to WW. I learned fast that if I'm not tracking or going to the meetings it is hard to maintain that lifestyle.

Did this a few more times over the year before now that I have completely departed and I feel good! I put my foot down...sort of.

I realized that WW brought on a lot of anxiety in my life.  I would feel anxious if I went out to eat and didn't know exactly how many points something was. For example, a basic enchilada could range from 8 points+ to 22 points+.  That would stress me out not being able to determine which one I was eating. I'm a rule follower and I like to be right. I don't like to guess....it stresses me out.

Also at the meetings, it would bug me how they promoted foods that were so highly processed and even their own foods were highly processed to make them low in points.  I was buying bread based on it's point value and the brand I was buying would like 2 or more weeks without molding. I thought it was weird but it was only 2 points+.  Then I bought some bread for my husband in the bakery on a Monday and by Friday it was full of mold spores (gross I know) This got me to thinking that something wasn't right with the low point value bread.

Transition to Paleo

When we started crossfit we started to continue our workout regime after the wedding. Before the wedding we were both "working out" a lot and I was definitely restricting on what I ate.  Most days it was ground bison or shredded chicken breast with spinach, sweet potato, or brown rice.  I was trying to keep the bloat down before the wedding and wanted to look great like all brides want.  We knew after the wedding it was going to be the holidays and we were going to indulge.  We had been trying to watch what we ate for about 15 months.

After the holidays and we were finally moved out of a 700 sqft apartment into our own house and I had all my cooking tools out of storage I was able to start cooking for us again.  I started cooking from the blog skinnytaste.com  She had lots of delicious recipes that were WW friendly and my husband loved them! I also was cooking a few recipes from paleomg.com since we heard about the paleo diet through crossfit.  Paleo recipes were high in points though which caused a little anxiety.  The recipes were full of fat from bacon and sausage and this just went against WW.  Also there was not portion or how many calories, fiber, fat, or proteins were in the meals which I didn't understand.

Our coach then shared a story about a girl who weight lifted and I her story was sound awfully familiar to what I had gone through and was currently going through.  I was on that exact journey but only  about half way through.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

So I decided to do a little researching myself which started with googling weightwatchers and paleo one day.

What is paleo? This blog has great visuals and explanation about what the paleo diet is. fitbomb.com

I slowly did more and more research and found that when I ate paleo I felt much better.  We gradually went paleo and I can't give you a start date.  Then I realized I wasn't having the stomach pains that I was use to getting after lunch or at night. What?!

Paleo Grocery cart

I'm still so new with paleo and what it means so by no means am I an expert.  I'm learning though and as I learn more and more I realize that how I use to eat was completely WRONG and I'm doing a 180 or (maybe a 360) with my thinking.  I found the paleo community and I'm overwhelmed by how big it and how many recipes are available online.  I use ziplist.com to help organize all the recipes I find online. (I'll go into ziplist on a later date because it is awesome!)  Right now I'm also reading

Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle to get a better understanding of what paleo is and to make sure I'm doing it right.  Balanced Bites is her blog. 

We were taught fats were bad and really they are good for us. We were taught whole grains are good for us but really they are bad for us.  This is blowing my mind!

I love bread...I judged a restaurant on how good they were by their bread.  Now I've given up gluten and feel amazing.  So now I should say I loveD bread and now I know it just make my stomach hurt :(

For breakfast I now eat eggs, bacon, and a vegetable and I'm not starving in two hours.  I eat the right portions now and don't feel deprived because its full of fat and protein and REAL food.

I'm not drinking as much coffee as I use to either. I drink now still because I love coffee.

I'm trying to get rid of my scale. I'm down to weighing myself only once a week rather than everyday.  I was a girl who brought a scale with me on vacation to make sure I didn't gain weight. (OBSESSIVE OVER HERE) Maybe Trey just needs to throw it away for me ;) I try to judge on how my clothes and body feels rather than a number which my husband has been telling me for YEARS!

Here are two pictures of recipes I've cooked from paleomg.com  Trey thinks I'm an amazing cook thanks to her but I can't take credit it.  All the recipes I've tried of hers are so full of flavor and easy. Some look intimidating because of the amount of ingredients but it usually is just spices. (I think I'm intimidated easily)

Pumpkin Apple Spice Waffles THEY ARE AMAAAAAAAAZING!!

Roasted Grape Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon

Why I love CrossFit

Before I started I was very skeptical of CrossFit.  From an outsiders point of view, it looked like an unorganized mess of people doing crazy heavy weights. (This is what inferred from pictures I'd seen on Facebook)  I was definitely one of those people who bad mouthed CrossFit and talked about your just going to get hurt doing that crazy stuff.

What did I know...I'm a person who gets hurts stepping in a hole, running into a fence, playing flag football, etc.  Silly to say that your going to get hurt doing crossfit or because of crossfit when you get hurt walking down the stairs. (I might be a klutz)  I guess it was just one of my ways to argue against something I didn't know.

My second argument of not wanting to go was that they were doing crazy stuff. (Crazy stuff? thats what you call it) In reality, they are doing movements that everyone does. The big bumper plates for the olympic lifts looked so intimidating. All I knew was what I had learned from the globo gym.  The largest weights were 45lbs and 10lbs were pretty small. I didn't know that the 10lbs bumper plates and the 45lb plates were the same diameter. Thats a big difference when I thought they were lifting...lets see (45lb bar + 45lb plate + another 45lb plate= 135lbs) See why I was intimidated.

This is what I've learned and why I have fallen in love(obsessed/addicted) with CrossFit:

1. It's a happy medium between personal training (expensive and not getting results but love the accountability ) and working out on my own (not getting results).  CrossFit there is a coach to help you, push you, and make sure your doing the lifts correctly and the workouts are programed for you.

Source: Pinterest

2. Goal setting! I'm so goal oriented and always have been.  I love setting goals and getting there.  Even if they are a small goal.  With cross fit my goals at first were just to get to the gym 2x a week. Now my goals are I'm going to lift 10lbs heavier than last time or whatever.  My long term goal is to do an unassisted pull up and then kipping pull ups.  The girls who do pull ups without the colored bands look so cool!

3. This kind of goes along with the goals but I know how hard to push myself with the WODs (Workout of the Day).  If it is a AMRAP (As Many Rounds/Reps As Possible) I'm going to push myself so hard to do as much as I can.  If it is Rounds for time, I push hard again but I know the end game.  They are two different mental games. I'm having a hard time explaining it right now but I love them both for different reasons.

Source: Pinterest

4. You can't get cocky.  As soon as you get okay or good at something the next WOD knocks you down and reminds you that you are not the fittest in the world.  It doesn't get easier, you just get better and more efficient at the movements.  You learn your strength and weaknesses and it always seems that the workouts will have both in them.

5. The community. I have met so many nice people at our box (gym).  They are living results of where you can be in 6 months or a year from now.  Its the only program that I know of that the trainers and athletes are living examples.  It would always make me wonder when I would see trainers that were not in as good of shape as you would expect them to be.  This community is far bigger then one gym, it is the world and that is so cool! Just google, pinterest, or instagram crossfit girls, or crossfit and the proof is in the pudding (not sure if I used the saying right, oh well)

6. Overcoming fears.  In the first 2 months of workouts I did not want to see what was being posted because after I would find out I would be so afraid until it was over.  A lot of the fear was fear of the unknown. There were many movements that I did not know and it scared me and took me outside of my comfort zone.  (which became so addicting) Now I want to know what the workout is just so I can plan what I'm going to wear. For example, if were doing a workout with burpees I were a tank that will stay on my body while doing burpees or if we are doing squats I have a bra that I like to wear that adds a little padding on my back. The WODs doing scare me anymore  I just look at them as something I have to complete.  Now I was a nervous about the Open WODs because of the weight but it was the same fear of the unknown I was battling.

7. I have seen results! Um What!! When I started I was back squatting 85lbs. As of February my 3RM was 135lb! What!  Setting PRs (Personal Record) are so much fun because I always seem to surprise myself.  Mentally I have not caught up to where I am physically. Each week of the Open I surprised myself with how strong I am.  When I was doing personal training I have no idea what weights I was lifting or if I was really progressing. Now I know and I push myself since I know where I'm at and that I want to progress.

Meet the Family

This is my wonderful husband, Trey. It's so much fun to call him "husband". I feel so much older and people treat you different when you say your married. (It could be all in my head)

He has always motivated to keep fit. He might think he doesn't but every since we started dating he has always gone to the gym. When we first started dating I remember I would not be able to get a hold of him and I would ask what he had been doing and he was at the gym for 2 hours. My goodness! I never understood why it took him so long until I went with him because when I went I was able to get my "cardio" done in 30 minutes.

We've never worked out great together because I get frustrated with his lack of communication in the gym and he would get frustrated that I was trying to flirt with him. I was just trying to have fun. Now with CrossFit we have fun and no one is frustrated and we both motivate each other.

Our Children (Animals)

This is my dachshund Jack. I bought him from a breeder in 2007.  He is the sweetest dog I've ever known. He is dog and gets in to trouble when he's bored. But I love him.  Now Trey and Jack just don't feel the same way about each other.

Miss Lilly was found by Trey's friend. He found her on the side of the highway and she was about 4lbs and covered with fleas.  When I first saw her I knew I had to have her. She has a personality I can't describe.  She also only seems to like Trey and I, and she screams (meows loudly) at other people.  She loves boxes, bags, and baskets. Anytime we buy new shoes she jumps right in.

Sophie Bear is our newest addition. We adopted her from BARC in Houston right after Valentines Day.  We both wanted a dog but were trying to wait. I couldn't wait so I started telling all our friends we were going to get a dog which then forced Trey to agree. :) The next weekend we adopted Sophie Bear.  She is really sweet and loves to play with Jack and Lilly.  She also loves waking up a 6:30am which I don't think is to much fun. In the morning after she has done her business if I'm not up she comes and makes sure that Mom is awake.

About Me

I've started this blog to document my progress with Paleo and CrossFit. It's also a way for me to talk about CrossFit without annoying my family or husband.  He says it is the first things I talk to him about in the morning and the last thing I say to him at night.  :)

My health journey started when I was a senior in high school after I quit playing softball for the high school and competitively. I had a few injuries and I decided that I rather have a life then spend all my time playing softball. My diet was horrible and I ate mostly hamburgers and fries.  I was use to practicing late and just picking up fast food on the go.  I had a yearly physical and the pediatrician recommended that I have my blood work done since I was slightly overweight, at the time I was 145 lbs at 5'4.  Well the results came back that I had very high cholesterol and triglycerides and they were recommending that I see a nutritionists.  My mom said "I'm not taking you to a nutritionist I know what your problem is and it is all the hamburgers." This is when I started my journey with Weight Watchers. I was only 17 and had to have a Dr.'s note to start.  I started WW the summer before senior year.  By the end of the year I was a goal and I was down to about 125 lbs. I felt like a whole new person since I had always been a thicker girl.  I wouldn't say fat, just thicker.  I've never had fat around the stomach area, I carry it all in the legs, hips, and butt.

Me with my my brother at prom

Going off to college was kind of scary after just dropping 20lbs. I feared gaining the freshmen 15 so I was going to do whatever I had to do not to gain the weight that which led to me to developing some pretty bad habits.  I loved being my skinnier self but I still saw myself a thicker girl in the mirror. I wish I could go back and just shake myself so I could of seen how I really looked.  I survived my freshmen year on SmartOnes. I can tell you that I haven't eaten one since then. I also was the girl who wouldn't eat when I knew we were going to party and then get wasted. To me if I threw it up at the end of the night I mentally felt better since I knew I didn't consume those calories. Unhealthy I know and now this behavior has a name called drunkorexia. I changed my ways since I couldn't handle it.

This was at my skinniest and I was still was insecure about being a swimsuit. WHAT WAS I THINKING!

Fast forward to turning 21 and I finally gained the 15lbs. I was able to keep it off for 4 years but once I turned 21 it slowly crept on. My clothes were getting tighter, well really I couldnt get my butt into my pants which is a real problem.  I cant even try to squeeze it just doesn't work.  I went back to weight watchers since I knew it had helped me loose it and made sense to me.  Slowly it came back off and I lost the final lbs during my last semester of college which was student teaching.  Then I knew I wanted to be apart of this masters program at my university but it didn't start till the fall and I graduated in December of 2009.  So I just kind of lived, did a little of substituting but not alot. I found a trainer and started working out 2x a week with her and she would kick my butt. I tried to start running but I hated it.  I've hated running since I was a little girl. Well then my trainer had to move back to houston and I got a new trainer and she taught me how to run. With her help and coaching I did my first 5k and then I went on to run a 10k. I was loving running at the time.  Then I started the masters program and it took over my life.

After I finished my 10k in the Texas Hill Country in June. 

The next year was a stressful one, I had moved to a new place, my boyfriend was working in Houston and I was in Round Rock, I was in graduate school, 1st year of teaching, and teaching 4th grade (I hate writing..weird that I writing a blog I know).  I gained about 10 lbs during this year. Everytime I was stressed I would eat some chocolate which was plentiful in a school.  I felt like I was just surviving that year. I tried to go back to WW but I would give up quickly because I was just not ready to put in the dedication.

Spring Break during my first year of teaching

The next year I moved back to Katy after the crazy Texas budget cuts. I had no job waiting so my summer was just do whatever. I finished up graduate school and didn't know what I was going to do then on July 1 my best friend asked me to marry him! I was so excited. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a planner. I plan my family vacations and I plan vacations that I never go just for fun.  It was my turn to plan a wedding and I just couldn't wait to get started. I'm a little obsessive with things also or so I've been told so when I get into something I really get into it.

We decided that we would get married in the Bahamas October 20, 2012.  It would make planning a little easier and who doesn't want to go to somewhere beautiful to get married.  I also didn't want a huge a wedding and having a destination wedding would keep the numbers down. (We still had about 70 people come to the wedding). By the end of July we had a wedding planner to help, even though I love planning I think everyone should have a wedding planner.  There was so much that she did and knew because she is apart of the industry, she also had knowledge that I didn't on what works and what doesn't.  The budgets cuts of education were not as bad as they thought they were going to be so they opened up positions at school and I got hired 2 weeks before school started.  I was going to be teaching 2nd grade and was super pumped. Teaching a testing grade was extremely stressful and 2nd grade is what I taught during student teaching.

Well it was another stressful year of teaching. It wasn't easier than the first and there are many reasons for that which I'm not going to go into. So by the end of the year I decided to leave the teaching jail career. I haven't been happier!

Over the year, my fiancé and I got a trainer at our local gym. I was hoping to loose the weight that I had gained during the first year of teaching.  I just seemed to gain more which is from my diet and the stress I was going through. All during this time my fiancé wanted us to try CrossFit. My aunt had been doing CrossFit for a few years and my cousin was doing it but to me it looked cultish.  I knew people from high school who were doing it and I think I was just really scared.  Barbells have always scared me and  seeing pictures of girls working out with what I though was tons of weight (the bumper plates) I was intimidated. So we just continued with our personal trainer 2 times a week and I would do the stair master the other days.  At the time I thought we were working out. Yes I was doing cardio and yes I was weight training sort of.  I told my fiancé that after the wedding I would try CrossFit but didn't want to try right before the wedding with the fear of getting injured.  ( I was scared to ride a bike before the wedding scared I would fall off and scrap my whole face it would be horrible...silly thought now)

Welcome Party...he likes to photo bomb his own photos

October 20, 2012- Happiest day of my life. The day I married my best friend and became Mrs. Curtis.

We had a real active honeymoon in St. Lucia. We went jungle biking, scuba diving, we took a hike, and then we climbed a mountain.  Also our resort was on a side of the hill and the walk to the beach was a lot of steps. I thought I was in good shape doing the stair master but I thought I was going to die on that mountain.

Walking down to beach. The road is steep so they added steps in the middle

Scuba Diving

Hiking

We made it to the top

We climb the mountain to the right. Known as Gros Piton

1/4 of the way up Gros Piton. They hard part is the 2nd half. It's a 2 mile hike up and 2 miles down.

Half way there. We look like were about to die and we hadn't even started the hard part. 

This was the easy part.

We made it to the top. I didn't go far from that rock. My quads were so tired I was afraid I would fall. 

This dog hiked the entire way up. 

My silly husband chasing the crabs. Look how pretty the water is. 

Jungle biking

The week we got back from our honeymoon my now husband contacted our local box and by Thursday I went in and did the one-on-one session. My husband went the next day and about died. We signed up for the on-ramp and I liked the on-ramp because I felt like I was eased into it and not just thrown into workouts.  The next week would be our first week doing the WODs with everyone. We went 2x the first week and I was extremely sore. I was hooked but it was hard with the holidays and parties to get into the box.

After the holiday, is when I say I really started. By the end of January, I was going to the box at least 3-4x a week. This is where the addiction started!

There is so many new things in my life now and I'm loving it.