Have you ever thought about how wasteful water fountains are? I have.
Fried ice cream doesn’t make sense in my mind. So I made up my own version. Because I can. And I can rant about random stuff. Like this crap below. I’m warning you, I’m on a soap box right now.
I want to talk to you about something. Just because I like to talk about feelings. Because I have a lot of them. It’s just something that has been looming on mind for a couple of months now. I think it’s absolutely crazy how much things can change in a year’s time. How much relationships can change. How much a mind can change. And how much a body can change. This time last year, I was training incredibly hard to try to make it to the CrossFit Games. Well, even though I did not make it that far, I placed 8th in Regionals in the Southwest, and did so by gaining almost 20lbs to be able to stand a fighting chance. Not that I meant to, but I somehow did. With lots of training and lots of workouts.
But after Regionals ended and I injured myself a couple times, I had to take a step back. I stopped doing the prescribed weights in workouts, I started resting more than I had in the past two years, and I started looking into more goals I had. More things I wanted to accomplish. More things I wanted to do. These injuries made me take a step back and look at my life. It made me stop and think about what JULI wanted instead of what other people wanted.
And when I took that step back, I noticed that I hadn’t been happy for a while. I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. And for me, that is very important. I started competing because it made me happy. And made me confident. I never cared if I did poorly, I never worried about not finishing a workout. I just tried my hardest and tried to smile through it. But when disappointment began to appear on others faces, I knew it was absolutely time for me to take a step back. I never want my performance in the gym to disappoint someone. That is not why I work out. I work out to better myself. To improve myself physically and mentally. Not to upset someone because I didn’t do all my wall balls unbroken. Or because I didn’t set a PR.
This has been a hard thing for me to come to terms with. I haven’t wanted to admit it, but I don’t want to compete right now. I don’t want to train to the point that I’m spending hours in the gyms, aching constantly, and gaining 15-20lbs to be able to keep up with the amazing CrossFit ladies in my Region. That’s not what I want nor is it what my body wants. And since I’ve stopped training to my max every day, I feel better. Even though I’ve lost a ton of strength and endurance, I’m happier. I feel better in my own skin and I’m finally not crying on a regular basis because I was unhappy with how I looked. Yeah, I cried because of that. No fun. I’m an emotional mess without that crap on my mind.
But I want to make one thing clear. I LOVE CrossFit. CrossFit is one of the biggest things in my life. It’s absolutely changed my life. I have a CrossFit tattoo on my ribcage for gosh sakes. It’s really changed me and how I look at things. I set goals differently because of CrossFit. I see food differently because of CrossFit. I view health differently because of CrossFit. If I didn’t know CrossFit, I wouldn’t know me.
But this year, in 2013, I’m doing what will make me happy. And that means eating fried ice cream. My version, of course.
Banana Fried Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the ice cream
- 2 (14 ounce) cans of coconut milk
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
For the toppings
- 2 bananas, peeled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons coconut butter
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- sprinkle of maple sugar or coconut sugar
Instructions
- Place 2 cans of coconut milk in a medium saucepan along with the honey, cinnamon, almond butter, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Add saucepan to medium heat and mix well until well combined.
- Once mixture is well combined and smooth, put in freezer until completely cooled.
- When the mixture is cooled, add to your ice cream maker and turn on.
- When your ice cream has almost completely thickened, place a small skilletover medium heat and add your coconut butter and bananas.
- Then add the cinnamon, coconut sugar, and a pinch of salt to the pan.
- Mix around in pan and cook until bananas are caramelized and soft.
- Top bananas on ice cream and sprinkle with a bit more coconut sugar.
- Eat. Emotionally eat.
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I want to give you a big ass hug! You are an incredible inspiration to all! P.s. I want to see this tattoo
The posts about the fountains are LoL. I have an ice cream question though! Think this will remain scoopable out of the freezer? Theoretically, I mean. If it were to last that long….
No, you’ll have to defrost it in the microwave a little first for it to scoop well
Juli, this is one of my favorite posts! I think this is SO important. Crossfit is definitely something that can become a serious addiction. People become so obsessed with rx’ing, training for hours every day, etc. It is an easy trap to fall into. To me, crossfit is you vs. you. I’m in there to kick my own ass, not someone else’s. It drives me insane to hear “oh, you should have rx’d that”, “what was your weight/score/time, etc.”. I do crossfit because I love it. It has changed my life in more ways than I ever could have imagined. However, you should never pressure yourself into gratifying someone else’s expectations. I am just really proud of you for doing what is right for you and what makes you happy! You are beautiful, strong, hilarious, such an inspiration…and should never have to cry over your body! Keep it up girl-you are amazing 🙂
Thanks for this post, Juli. It brought tears to my eyes. It has been a rough year for me and Crossfit has always been my escape–a way to clear my mind. On our way to spend Christmas with family, we were hit head-on by some idiot not paying attention to a curve in the road. Long story short, I have a broken femur and broken ulna. I miss my Crossfit peeps and melting into a puddle of my own sweat after a good workout.
Thanks for inspiring me and letting me know that I am not alone in my pursuit of happiness. I am not competitor material, but I really want to compete anyway. Coming in last would at least mean I tried.
Amen…I’m getting there slowly. Your post helped. Thanks!
I went to a competition last Saturday, and being one of the smallest girls there (after I WON a paleo challenge at my gym by losing 25 pounds and improving tremendously in my workouts) I was pretty disappointed with my performance. I realized I would have to gain weight to actually compete with girls in my region, as well. But after fighting with myself the past two days and reading this, I couldn’t agree with you more!!! Thank you!!!! Thank you for the words, and the amazing food!
Hell to the yes!!! I, too, came for the fried bananas with ice cream and stayed for the actualization of a lovely human being. I learned in a corporate training that emotion is built upon the actual result being something different than the expectations. When the expectations are very high, emotions run very high. Unfortunately, most of us weren’t built to be able to withstand long periods of time drinking the high expectation Kool-Aid (heloooooo cortisol). How awesome for you that you’re self aware enough to give yourself a break and enjoy the life YOU want to live. Keep on kickin’ ass, Juli!
Thank you for posting this! I decided to take a break from marathoning this spring because I was soooo over HOURS of running. It had stopped being fun. So I started doing yoga and I love it.
But it’s been almost 3 months since my last marathon, and I’m feeling bad because I know my running performance has declined (even though doing yoga makes me happy!). Such a weird balance. Sorry, this is totally rambling…mostly thanks for posting this so I don’t feel like a nutjob. 😉
Love the recipe and I can’t wait to try it.
I’m finding I feel so much better when I stick to paleo eating. Thank you.
Look I don’t even know you and I freaking love you! Your website and recipes have brought me and my family lots of joy and healthy, tasty meals. If I were you, I’d be damn proud of myself. What woman wants to gain 15-20 pounds anyways?!
Ps. I’ll be making this ice cream tonight