Whole30 & Paleo in the Big Easy isn't EASY!

Oh my goodness...New Orleans is not a place for a person that is in the midst of a Performance Nutrition Experience...LOL or working to embrace a new lifestyle, in my case Paleo. For over 40 days I have changed the way I eat, I have been trying new recipes and I have watched my body respond. It has been overall a GREAT thing. So this past Thursday I headed to New Orleans with a realistic understanding that 80/20 (80 % good for you and no more than 20% not good) would be the focus. I mean honestly, I had heard that the food in NOLA (New Orleans, LA-yes I am a geek and love to sound like I know what I am talking about by using abbreviated terms that locals use, LOL) was let's just say HEAVY but I was not at all prepared for what I encountered.

Arrived on Thursday and actually ordered and ate relatively well. Salad, etc and no Hurricanes ordered either. Same for Friday nite even while attending the Commercial Reception and celebrating receiving #5 office and my business partner, Jim receiving #5 producer in the nation....again, I made good choices and no cocktails. Heck, I was even able to visit Crossfit NOLA with a few other Crossfitters from C21 and had a GREAT workout that morning! AND WHILE THERE I DID MY FIRST PULL UP!! All good so far....then Saturday hit! And although it was't a true hurricane that came thru the city, it felt like one came thru my world! UGH!

After a long day at the convention center in sessions, working the C21 Commercial opportunity station, talking and networking with dozens of professionals and realizing that I had 2 of the ugliest blisters on my feet because I wear heels, I was DONE!! On the recommendation of several people we headed to a favorite spot for locals called Jacqi-mos for dinner with a group...after a 2 hour wait, yep 2 HOURS the hurricane of food gluttony began...alligator cheesecake w gravy appetizer, carpetbagger steak with collard greens and sweet potato mash was consumed. It was OK but honestly not great. The first wave of the hurricane didn't sustain too much damage but the next morning was brunch at Brennan's hosted by the President of our company...this is where the winds really picked up! I lacked discipline, I lacked self control but dang...IT WAS AMAZING! The best darn Bloody Mary I have EVER had! Seriously it was YUMMY! And then came the 3 course brunch-Appetizer: Fresh Strawberries w Double Cream, Eggs Ellen (Grilled filet of salmon topped with poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce) and then breakfast dessert, yes I said BREAKFAST DESSERT....Chocolate Pecan Pie!

No more ugly details are necessary just imagine the rest of the meals were New Orleans classics and ended with this...

Thankfully I can say that I only had one bite of the fries and somehow common sense came back and I determined it wasn't worth it. But the spicy hot dog sure was TASTY! AND I need to let say that my body revolted with every one of these foods and let me know with headaches, stomach cramps and bloating that it didn't like what I was doing to it!

So all things considered, I met New Orleans somewhat prepared but the harsh reality is that when you are in the "eye of the storm" you are going to get struck and the best thing you can do is hang on and then clean up the aftermath! Which I am doing now...back home, back to Sprouts, back to my kitchen, back to my favorite recipes on PaleOMG.com and back to the support system that I have at Canyon Crossfit with all of you! Thanks for "listening"...