Day 3: Getting into it

Back to work: as expected, the sleep took a hit. Couldn't quite get in the 7-8hrs I am aiming for. (6hrs 45 approx).

A note on Sleep:

It seems sleep (getting enough of) is an issue in my life.  Not that I've noticed it before, really.

The Challenge target is of course at least 8 hrs restful sleep per night.

Well I *never* get that during the week.  I'd say I normally (pre-Challenge) average is about 6hrs.  Then try to "make up for it" at the weekend.  But that often means I waste a lot of the morning (if not all) on a Saturday/Sunday (and even more if I go out on a night).

I would like to get more sleep (who wouldn't??) but it just doesn't seem realistic for me..
I get home from work at around 7pm (leaving at regular time, not working late); then prepare, cook and eat tea (every day).
I of course like to have some time to chill out (and actually see/talk to/spend time with James) before bed..

I get up at 6.30am to get ready, eat, take the dog out briefly, then leave to get to Halifax for work at 9am.

To get a reasonably amount of sleep I am trying to get to/in bed by 11, latest.

But this means, particularly since James often works late, I've hardly seen him so far this week.  :(
HMMMMMMMM

This is clearly something to work on.

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On a different note, I have been finding it satisfyingly easy to incorporate more water into my daily routine.

I get up, and before anything else, have a couple of cups of water from the bathroom.
The *only* benefit of the current weather is the deliciously ice cold water straight from the tap. YUM. (wakes me up too!)

Breakfast

Having read a few people's blogs/Food Logs, I decided to try something different today.  (I'd thought about this in advance last night)

I made a gorgeous berry smoothie, blended up as follows:

• 1 mug frozen raspberries
• 1 30g sachet Kinetica whey (strawberry)
• 200ml coconut milk
• dash of water (to thin it out)
• crushed mixed nuts to top (LOVE the texture)

What can I say? - This was great.   [that is why I er started before I took a picture!]

Tasted GOOOOOD
Filled me UUUUUP
(also looked pretty too!!)   :)

I am however a little concerned about the whey.  Not in principle, and nothing to do with my crazy veggie views. No, from a purely paleo perspective.

I kind of assumed Kinetica would be ok (as it came recommended).. so I bought the sample pack of sachets direct from the website a few weeks ago to try.  I tried the vanilla one when they arrived and ummmm not great, because I only mixed it with water (taste was good though).

Anyway, reading the ingredients today when making the smoothie, I noticed it has sucralose sweetner...?! And soya lecithin! And "carboxymethylcellulose"?!

Now I know what the sucralose is, of course (sugar. = not allowed??)
And the soya lecithin (an emulsifier. = legume derivative = not encouraged??)

But wtf is carboxymethylcellulose?? (I know what cellulose is)   According to wiki (standard!):

CMC is used in food science as a viscosity modifier or thickener, and to stablilize emulsions...  
It is also a constituent of many non-food products, such as K-Y Jelly, toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, water-based paints, detergents, textile sizing and various paper products.

Ummmmm...?!!

The above just kind of encourages my view that to me whey is a highly processed product, and the end food stuff we buy and consume is fairly artifical..?  I've not used protein powder before, so this is all new.  I guess I was always put off by its "body building" association.  I'm going to look into it more.

Lunch

I took a load of stuff to work to have a big ol salad:

• (organic!) lettuce + rocket from my mum's garden
• tomatoes, mangetout, spinach
• roasted cashews nuts
• lemon juice and olive oil dressing, with seasoning

I had intended to have this with some avocado, but Tesco lied as they were NOT "ready to eat"..   Not a full success (need protein!), but tasted good.

Love these little dressing pots.

NB I'm not marking everything down in these posts (boring??), only the main meals.  If you want to make notes on my snacks etc (?!) have a look at my full Food Log, the link's in the sidebar :)

I had wanted to go to Crossfit today.  But after feeling pretty awful yesterday, and then (stupidly perhaps, I'm not sure), reading the experiences of other people who'd had the procedure online re exercise/recovery got a bit freaked out and decided best not..

Tea

Another day another self-imposed kitchen challenge.  I am actually loving this aspect of the Challenge, since I love to cook, and love to try new things anyway.  BUT with these dishes I'm trying I'm never sure what they will turn out like (whereas other dishes, using ingredients in more "conventional" ways/ingredients I am more used to, I can usually tell what I'm aiming for!)..

So.. Cauliflower "Risotto"!

• cauliflower rice (this seems to be a pretty standard paleo thing, but I fried it in coconut oil with onion and garlic instead of microwaving/steaming, as I didn't want it soft)
• onion, garlic, broccoli, green beans, paleo stock, coconut cream, sundried tomatoes, lemon zest, lemon juice, seasoning

with

• 2 fried eggs

Now I was sceptical about this before I made it.  I tried to make cauli rice before and it was gross (smelt awful and I couldn't really bring myself to eat much), but that was the microwave method.  THIS was actually very tasty. ..What's that...? - Another paleo culinary success..? :D

Only other thing to note today is that I don't know how to open a coconut. DOH. I tried.  I even watched a video on Youtube, and read a blog (seriously).  But I couldn't get the damn thing to open, so settled for a handful of strawberries and some dried coconut flakes.  Yummy, but not quite as yummy as moist fresh coconut..