GUEST BLOG POST: P is for Paleo

Everyone, meet Ashley. A wife, homeowner, dog owner and volunteer – Ashley always finds a way to keep active in her busy lifestyle. One of the biggest things I admire about Ashley is her dedication to everything she does. When Ashley says she’s going to do something, she keeps her word. Her will power and commitment  is something I wish I could one day possess, especially in regards to eating habits. Ash, you look amazing and all of your hard work is paying off. I’m so proud of you!  




What is Paleo? 
“Paleo” is short for Paleolithic, but the name is actually less important than the power of the overall approach. Whatever name you choose, the “Paleo” way of eating is simple: Mimic our ancestors, who suffered from fewer chronic diseases than modern populations. This doesn’t mean that you’ll recreate a caveman’s food landscape, of course. Our food supply and our environment are different from our ancestors, so we must adapt as new information comes to light.
The Simple Breakdown is :

Why Paleo?! 
To be honest, I was heading to Jamaica in March and wanted a quick & easy way to shed a couple pounds before the premature bikini season started. I reached out via Facebook to see if anyone knew anything about  ‘Paleo’ and if they could give me any tips. I got some great information from one of my old softball friends who had been living the‘Paleo’ lifestyle for quite some time. She gave me great websites/tips that I will share below (Thanks Laura!) . I presented this 30 day Paleo challenge to my hubs - the 100% Italian man that he is ,was clearly skeptical but he so nicely obliged!

The first week was pretty much torture.. it was my body’s way of detoxing. I had no idea that my body was so heavily dependent on sugars and processed foods. I missed Pizza.. and beer..but after the initial detox feelings wore off.. I felt absolutely amazing. My mind was clearer, I was sleeping better and I had more energy for workouts. The first week came to a close and I had lost 5 pounds… in ONE WEEK! Hell Yeah! In that week, my personal self-absorbed goals had been met but I figured ya know what I committed to a month I might as well see it through.

I would truly recommend this method for everyone – give yourself 30 days to follow the ‘Paleo’ life style and see how your body feels. It will truly shock how much of a transformation you can go through. Of course there were some ‘cheat’ meals, more like some ‘cheat alcohol’ for me, but I always stuck with the gluten free rule. I even tried gluten free pizza… don’t do it to yourself! After those 30 days were through, I had lost 10 pounds and my hubs lost almost 20! We decided that we were going to make ‘Paleo’ our lifestyle not just a fad diet. It is an easy lifestyle to follow; sure sometimes you can’t resist a soft pretzel or cheesesteak, but my body always reminds me after I eat something that isn’t ‘Paleo’ why I don’t on a regular basis anymore.

My biggest tip is: figure out what works best for you. If you can tolerate creamer in your coffee, lucky you, go for it! ‘Paleo’ is about finding your bodies balance and listening to how you feel after you eat something.  Below I have listed some of my favorite recipes, blogs and personal tips.

Breakfast  
I love baking in general and I love a good baked good for breakfast. Zach (my hubs) eats eggs with a side of breakfast meat every morning. I’d rather sleep then cook breakfast every morning so I usually grab a baked good for the road. Sometimes I will pair it with a couple slices of bacon – I mean bacon is considered Caveman Candy!
• Banana Bread ( http://paleomg.com/banana-bread-3-ways/)
• Bacon Sweet Potato Hash (http://cleaneatingwithadirtymind.com/2013/04/26/paleo-bacon-sweet-potato-hash-is-where-its-at/)
• Banana Vanilla Bean Pancakes with Mixed Berry Compote – These are incredible & taste just like ‘real’ pancakes (http://paleomg.com/banana-vanilla-bean-pancakes-with-mixed-berry-compote/)

Lunch
When Zach isn’t super hungry at dinner – we usually have leftovers which get us through lunch! We both also frequently eat salad, WOMP, I know how boring! BUT if you go crazy on veggie or protein toppings – they can be quite yummy. When you begin ‘Paleo’, I suggest you stick with olive oil & balsamic as your dressing… I won’t lie to you though I cheat with a creamy salad dressing sometimes!
• Chicken Sausage
• Burgers minus the bun can be easily heated up and quite satisfying for lunch – especially if you add some Caveman Candy (bacon).
• Balsamic Pulled Pork * Sub Honey for Brown Sugar. This is great to make on a Sunday and have throughout the week. (http://www.heathersfrenchpress.com/2013/01/slow-cooker-balsamic-pork-tenderloin.html)

Dinner 
I have tried WAY too many ‘Paleo’ dinner recipes to post – but blogs & Pinterest are your friend! You can also look into making some of your favorite non- Paleo dishes into Paleo by making easy substitutions!
• Blackberry Glazed Pork Chop ( PaleOMG Cookbook ) with Roasted Cauliflower
• Asian Glazed Salmon (http://www.againstallgrain.com/2013/04/21/asian-glazed-salmon-with-roasted-broccolini-and-asparagus/)
• Taco Tuesdays – Make your own seasoning – Get Creative! –Substitute the shells for lettuce wraps. Skip the sour cream and use guacamole!

Sweets & Treats 
• Paleo Nut Butter Cups  (http://cleaneatingwithadirtymind.com/2013/04/08/i-cant-believe-its-nut-butter-part-i-attack-of-the-cups/ )
• Paleo Cookie Dough Bars – These are beyond amazing!! Make a double batch and your own almond flour! (http://makingtheworldcuter.com/2012/10/paleo-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough/)
• Hard Boiled Eggs are great on the go snacks!
• I have made homemade trail mix by buying raw nuts (NO Peanuts) seasoning them with olive oil, rosemary, salt, then roasting them in the oven until they brown! Super Easy & Super Yum!
• Veggies & Fruit are all fair game and really easy to have with you throughout the day in case you get hungry or have a craving.

Favorite Tips & Blogs
• Olive Oil Myth - Olive oil isn't very heat stable (the fats break down very easily at low temperatures and can become rancid and cause inflammation in the body)...so I just use olive oil as a salad dressing. I never heat olive oil since it breaks down at such a low temperature. I use either coconut oil, butter, or bacon fat when I am cooking with heat.
• Robb Wolf – He is the ‘Paleo God’ – Check out his book for everything you could ever need to know about Paleo. He has a great website as well (http://robbwolf.com/)
• Practical Paleo – She has a great website/ recipes (www.balancedbites.com)
• Every Day Paleo – Great recipes (www.everydaypaleo.com)
• FAVORITE Blog – PaleOMG – She is absolutely hilarious.. she has a potty mouth and comes up with amazing recipes. I just downloaded her first book on my iPad. Everything has been beyond delicious from her! (www.paleomg.com)
• You don’t have to be Paleo 100% of time every day of your life – you will go crazy – If you cut out the big things like sugar, gluten, legumes and grains, you will see and feel instant results!

GUEST BLOG POST -- May Challenge: M is for Marriage

I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason, and Donavan entering my life is proof of that. Donavan and I became friends in middle school and since then have shared countless laughs, cries and memories. From family vacations to a crazy senior week, Donavan has always been one of my rocks. With her living in Virginia and myself in Pa., staying in touch of course is difficult with us both having our own busy lives. But when it comes to Donavan, when we speak, we pick right back up as if time never passed. The smile on her face every time she sees me (followed by a huge hug) makes my heart melt to know I am blessed with such a beautiful, caring and generous best friend. Luckily for me, I am now honored to have another new friend, her husband Kyle, who is a great addition to the "crew." Don and Ky -- wishing you both a lifetime of happiness. I cant wait to experience what you both have!! Xo OH P.S. -- Donavan is a blogger herself. Check out her blog which all started from Kyle training for a marathon and what now has become a constant part of Donavan's life. 


As of today, I've been married for exactly 23 months. That's 700 days, or 16,800 hours ... I'll stop there but it's a TON of minutes (I obviously did the math). I realize that doesn't make me an expert on the subject, especially when I think of my parents and in-laws who have been married 35 years, but I've learned more about marriage in the last 700 days than I ever thought I would.

Let me start by saying I have an AMAZING husband. Many of you don't know me, but I'm not the easiest person to live with. I'm strong-willed, talkative, cranky when I'm hungry, stubborn, loyal to a fault, opinionated and I snore when I'm congested (which is often). My husband is some of those things too, but he's also patient, kind, considerate, thoughtful, analytical and damn sexy. I am pretty sure he got the short end of this stick and I am so lucky that he fell in love with me.

But, that doesn't mean that my 16,800 hours have all been sunshine and butterflies. Granted, most days have been really good. Kyle and I rarely have big arguments and have been fortunate to not face a tremendous amount of adversity in our relationship. However, we're two 20-somethings who are trying to learn how to make a life together while trying not to forget to pay our mortgage, overcook our dinner or want to kill each other. There are many days that marriage is HARD, but luckily for us, there are more days where marriage is fun, exciting and a little challenging (we're both competitive, so that's a good thing).

There are 3 big lessons that I've learned about marriage in the almost 2 years that I've been fortunate to call myself a wife.

1) Communication is key. I'm pretty sure this is the one piece of marital advice I've heard the most, but it is SO true. Even when you think you're so close that you can read each others' minds, you can't. I can't tell you how many tiffs Kyle and I have gotten in simply because we left out a detail or didn't confirm something with the other person. It's incredibly important to say what you are thinking and how you're feeling.

2) Take time for your relationship. This is hard, especially when you have a wide circle of social friends. But, if they are true friends, they will understand if you miss a girls' night out or a happy hour to spend time with your partner. I've have FOMO (fear of missing out) in a bad way on many occasions, but the joy I get from a quiet night with my husband is worth it. Life is so busy that it's easy to forget that you married someone because you love to spend time with them. Do it more often.

3) Do things you might not want to do when the other person wants to do them. That was wordy, but what I'm trying to say is that, when your wife wants to go to a concert but you would rather watch a movie, sometimes you need to go to the concert. The times that Kyle's thoughtfulness (arguably my favorite of his many wonderful characteristics) impresses me the most are when he does something that he knows I really want to do, even though it's not something he wants to do. It's important to make your partner feel like his or her needs and wants are important as yours, and it's usually pretty easy to take a few hours of time to do something for the other person.

I'd love to hear some of your marriage lessons, so please leave them in the comments. I can't wait to continue to learn along the way as I celebrate many more days, months and hours with my husband.

May Challenge: L is for Loser

You missed the game winning shot. You got rejected by your crush. You came in second place. You're wearing odd clothing. The list goes on and on, and for many of these you're either called a loser or feel like a loser.

Which do you think is worse -- being called a loser? Or believing that you are a loser?

To me it's feeling like a loser. For five years I was in a really dark place. I was a nobody.. worthless.. helpless.. no good. To many who knew me, you may have not even noticed because I continued to put on my happy go-lucky face and crack my jokes to make people smile. But deep within me I was in the most miserable state possible -- I viewed myself as the biggest loser possible.


How it all started...

My entire life I was known as a soccer player. It's what I was, what I did, how I became who I was. A characteristic I am proud of saying I have is my leadership qualities, something I learned and mastered throughout my playing career -- stepping up to the plate to lead a group of 21 girls each and every game, motivating them each day, being their biggest cheerleader, but biggest critic when we needed a wake up call.

I traveled across the world playing soccer -- from Canada to Italy, to playing in tournaments in over 20 states across the country.  I made my way up the ranks in competitive levels from peewee, travel, select, premier league, the state team, the regional team and making the national team pool when I was 15. I was a high school standout getting recruited by a Division 1 college with scholarship. I was on top of the world.

High School Hero to College Zero...

The phrase "high school hero to college zero" could not be more perfect for my life on many levels: 1. although I was not necessarily a hero, I was a high school stud when it came to athletics. 2. I quickly became a zero in college 3. I happened to actually wear number 0 in college...ironic huh?

I wasn't expecting college soccer to be easy -- I knew I wasn't going to walk in there and kick everyone's ass. These girls were faster...bigger...stronger...I was a punk ass freshman just trying to be liked yet alone playing time. I'm a true believer that everything happens for a reason and I happened to get lucky my freshman year. Our starting keeper who was a senior got hurt during warm up towards the beginning of the season. With the most scared shitless look on his face my coach told me "Pic, grab your gloves, you're starting." After weeks and weeks of preseason and practice it was finally my chance. I've always been a game player, not a practice player -- being on the field in the action is my element, I'm always up for rising to the occasion and that's exactly what I did that game. We got the win against American. Two games later I was still starting and before we played the Gators at the University of Florida in Gainesville my coach said to me during warm up, "The spot is yours to keep if you want it." Of course I did -- and I continued to throughout the whole season,

appearing in 16 games and starting 15;  finishing with a goals against average of 0.55, allowing just eight goals. Ranked 13th in Division I in goals against average and was second in the MAAC in goals against average and shutouts per game, posting seven shutouts. (To this day I still question why my coach - who clearly had no confidence in me for some reason even though I thought I proved I could do the job - didnt nominate me for the All Rookie Team that year. I would love to know what I could have done better....)

Where being a loser sunk in...

It was my sophomore year when Amanda Piccirilli no longer was herself. Long story short after what I thought was a great first year under my belt, I took a swift kick to the face when my keeper coach told me I was not starting our first game of my sophomore season. Being that I'm not afraid to confront anyone I asked my coach why. His answer, "You...you just don't seem ready." That was the start of Amanda believing that she was a loser which tumbled and grew for the next two years. To this day I wish he could have LET me loose my spot -- if i wasn't playing to the best ability and she was playing better, ok, yes, great -- give it away. She deserves a chance just like I did my freshman year. But to just hand it over without even giving me a chance is bullshit. It's not hard to read people's faces and seeing when they don't believe in you -- that is worse than the lies that come out of people's mouths. And that is exactly what I got. My sophomore year I played in five games and my junior year played in a measly three games (starting only one of them.)

The loser within me was growing day by day and the pure embarrassment was humiliating. My roommates were on top of the world, starters for our stellar team, living up their college career with accolades  The tears my mom had to hear on the phone each and everyday were unbearable and I'm so thankful she was someone to cry to. (Thank you so much mom for listening to me every single day!! I love you.)  For those three years I was only given the chance to play in goal when we were up by at least three goals (ya know, a big enough cushion for when us benchers were "capable" of playing and if we fucked up the team could still come back), when there was about 10 minutes left in the game and they felt bad for us, or when we played Iona and St. Peter's which everyone viewed as 'yay, the whole team gets to play this game."

One of my favorite memories (forget what year) was when we were playing at University of Richmond and there was about 7 minutes left in the game and I got a "Hey Pic, go warm up. I'm going to put you in." My response was "You only have enough confidence to put me in with 7 minutes left? Fuck you." Lets just say, I didn't move and I didn't warm up -- I didn't need pitty playing time. My pride means more to me than stats.

The straw that broke the camels back was the day when the entire team was in the locker room post game after we gave a team a pretty good ass whopping and none of the subs went in that day. Brynn, a fellow captain asked our coach why we didn't go in and questioned his reasoning for not putting in the subs. She point plank asked him infront of the whole team, "So you're saying with that big of a lead these girls aren't good enough to play?" His response, "Yes that is correct, they're ineffective, each one of them." Well, thanks coach!!! Knife in chest, with a turn.

Day by day, blow by blow, I was gone. Mentally, physically, emotionally -- I wanted out, but the thought of leaving those 20 girls was unthinkable. They were my family and my life.

The one thing I was good at...

With each story there is two sides -- could I have trained harder in the off season and won my spot back? Yeah, possibly, but there is only so much you can do when your confidence is gone and you're beaten down to nothing. So the one thing I was good at no longer mattered anymore and it ultimately affected me mentally. I felt like a loser; that everything I worked towards my whole life was nothing anymore. I know I shouldn't have let myself get like this but I just kept thinking to myself "If the one thing I was good at is no longer there, then what do I have and what else could be good within me?!" I let my soccer career ruin me internally, no longer feeling attractive, worth anything or having much of a purpose. What made me me was gone -- what now?!

Five years later...

Five years later I am happy to say I did find myself again-- the happy-go-lucky person that I was is STILL there. She just happened to be beaten and crushed.  But every single day I am still working on myself and learning to love myself for the good in me. During those five years I had countless friends tell me who wonderful, pretty, smart and funny I was. I didn't believe them and said thanks when deep down I thought they were full of shit. But now, I know they were right. I am an intelligent woman who has a fabulous career and who has done much with her life over the last 26 years. This experience has made me into a strong woman, making me realize I can overcome any obstacle thrown my way. "Be happy. Be positive."

My advice for others...

1. I will truly make an effort for when I have children that they need to realize that soccer, baseball, theater, music, etc. can not make them who they are. They will most likely not become pro or famous...They need to find the pure greatness inside themselves so that if something like this were to happen to them they don't crumble. But if they do, I'll be there to pick up the pieces.
2. When people put you down, dont let them win. I could have quit soccer and transfered (which I almost did to Temple after getting accepted) but that would mean they won. They got the best of me and made my decisions for me. But no, I kept strong, was a captain for two years despite not playing hardly at all and later became a college coach for a season.
3. Treat others like you would like to be treated -- having the chance to coach that one season allowed me to connect with the current girls who were sub players and facing the same difficult situation I went through just a few years prior. Step back and stand in their shoes. They need your support just as much as you need them.