I don’t often feel like I’m getting older, but this weekend…I feel old. My body feels old. After eating heavy Thanksgiving food, then doing over 270 wall balls in one day, then going out for a girls night out, having a couple cocktails and dancing in heels all night long, then starting Monday off with air dyne sprints…I feel really freaking old. I woke up this Tuesday morning and just laid on the couch for 40 minutes, staring out the windows because my body felt too exhausted to function yet. I mean, the clouds are pink outside so it’s pretty wonderful to look at, but still. This body needs a relaxing dip in a hot tub…OH WAIT WE GET OUR HOT TUB THIS WEEKEND!!!! Squeeeeeeelllll!
Feeling like I’m old AF was totally worth it though. My knees may be broken from dancing in heels all night long, but it was the best night out in Colorado that I’ve had in quite some time! I have no idea how I danced in heels all the time in college. I’m not much of a bar girl anymore, I just feel like I can drink cocktails and talk to friends in the comfort of my own home instead of at an annoying bar. But when my friend invited me to a 90’s dance party at a bar that has really tasty cocktails, I couldn’t say no. And it.was.awesome!! If you lived through the 90’s, you probably remember a lot of the music, but I bet you forgot about a lot of it, too. This dance party had every artist from Britney Spears to Alanis Morissette to TLC to boy bands, people who only sing in vowels, and music that you thought was totally punk like Crazy Town. It was so freaking awesome to sing every word from every song. And all I did was jump for 3 hours straight. I won’t be able to do that again for another few months while my knees heal. Cute.
Funny that I’m saying I feel too old because I just talked about feeling too young on my podcast this week. I said that I still feel too young to raise another human and that I’m still questioning even having children. It seemed to be quite the controversial topic because all sorts of people left comments both on the blog and on my social media. It was really interesting to see how many people felt the same way OR had children and still understood why I felt that way. It was just so cool to hear other people’s experiences and the thought process they’ve gone through with having children or not. So thank you to all you awesome people who left a comment on the topic!
But I need your help this coming week with my podcast! I’m doing another random reader questions episode and I’d love to hear from you and any random questions you have! So far I have questions that range from paleo household staples, breast augmentation, microblading, CrossFit, Jackson, and how to stay motivated! So a huge range and I’d love to add more questions to the list! So feel free to leave them below and I’ll add them to the list!
PS – this casserole is stupid easy. And totally delicious. Make it now!!!
BBQ Chicken Casserole
- Yield: 4-5 1x
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 21⁄2 pounds)
- 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (about 4–5 cups)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 red onion (1/8 minced, 1/8 thinly sliced)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bottle Tessemae’s BBQ Sauce
- 3 large eggs, whisked
- 2 fresno peppers, sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced banana peppers OR pickled jalapeños
- chopped cilantro, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the skin gives when you press your finger to it. Remove the squash from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish. Use a fork to remove the spaghetti squash threads then place them in a bowl. Add the chicken, garlic cloves, 1/8 minced onion, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper and bbq sauce to a bowl and mix well. Then add eggs and mix until combine. Pour mixture into greased dish and smooth our with a spoon.
- Top casserole with 1/8 thinly sliced onion, sliced fresno peppers and banana peppers or pickled jalapeños.
- Place in oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the center is cooked through and edges have begun to brown.
- Let set for 10 minutes before slicing. Garnish with cilantro.
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This recipe looks totally bomb! My hubby is obsessed with all things BBQ so this is hitting the meal plan!
Listened to your podcast on little human’s last night and girl, I totally get you. As I sit here 34 weeks pregnant. 🙂 I had a lot of the same feelings about it which is why I am 30 years old and just now starting to have kids. I really don’t think there is a reason to rush into it. I wish I could tell you all those cons went out the window and that’s how I knew I was ready, but it didn’t happen that way. Instead…the pros just started to outweigh the cons and the cons slowly became less scary. They never went away…they still haven’t gone away, but I am beyond excited to be a Mom and I freaking love little kids and am excited to embrace the next phase of life for my husband and I. You’ll know if and when the time is right. In the meantime, you do you!
As far as a topic I would love to hear you cover…it’s sort of a follow up from earlier podcasts on macros vs. paleo vs. etc. Prior to pregnancy I was a macro counter and it was effective, but it’s not really a lifestyle I want to live day in and day out. Nor do I think it’s personally healthy for me to adhere to long term. I have a lot of appreciation for Paleo in the sense that it emphasizes whole/unprocessed foods. That said, I don’t have a problem with legumes or small amounts of gluten/grains/occasional bread. My question is, do you think someone can still have results if they are eating those items? I don’t do dairy (lactose intollerant), but what in your opinion is the ‘secret’ that makes Paleo so effective? Is it the lower carb/higher fat? I have also found that if I go too low carb I feel like shiz and makes me constantly hungry so finding that balance can be tricky.
Question for the podcast– maybe this will be covered by paleo household, but do you use any particular cleaning products? Do you try to avoid certain chemicals or fragrances or anything?
Thanks for expanding your venues–I enjoy your podcast!
Hi Juli! I’ve been listening to your podcast and loving it! You mentioned in the past you had some obessesiveness around food/control issues. I think that a lot of women can relate to this. Especially in the healthy eating/paleo community. How did you get over this and come to a balance in your life? I don’t want food and my goals to overtake my life.
Thanks!
Xoxo
Maggie:)
Juli, Did you get breast augmentation? And being as healthy as you are, did you recover quicker than most? I’m thinking about getting it done and would be interested to hear about the experience from a fellow Crossfitter! Working out is a huge release for me so being out for several weeks would be stressful but I think it might be worth it in the end. The more details the better if you did get it done because your boobs look really really good. Also, have you ever turned a cheat meal into a cheat weekin the last six years of eating Paleo? — Where you have pizza one night and then chinese the next and then out for cocktails and pretty soon it’s like ohh my god, send help. Sometimes I can be going good for a few months and then suddenly fall off and it’s tricky to get back on. Just wondering if you’ve ever experienced that and if so, what you do to shift back to the light side. Excited to hear! xoxoxo
Ditto, everything you just said.
Seriously.
I’l think Juli got her BA done prior to doing xfit, but I’m sure she’ll have some great input. I got mine done one year ago after being an avid xfitter. I don’t know Juli”s deets but mine was a lift and implants so probably a little more intensive recovery wise. I couldn’t do anything for three weeks, not even a light body weight workout and then it took six months for me to be able to do pull-ups again (I think the lift part of my surgery made this worse). I avoid ring-dips still cause of the tightness. Anyway, hopefully this helps!
Thanks Katie!!! It does help!
Hey Juli,
Love your podcast, blog and snapchat (You’ve been quiet lately) ha-ha!! I don’t eat strict Paleo but very clean and Paleo ish. I bake with and use coconut flour a lot (lower in carbs) since im a macro counter. So My question is…. It would be nice if maybe you could explain the difference in using the different paleo flours. There are soooo many almond, coconut, arrowroot, tapioca. It can be a bit overwhelming sometimes to know which to use when, for when I don’t follow a recipe! just an idea 🙂
thanks,
Karly
Hi Julie! Love your blog and podcast! I listen every Monday morning on my commute to work! I was wondering if next week’s podcast, or a blog post or whatever, you could talk about a meal plan! I always try to write down some delicious meals you eat that are posted to instagram but if it was all in one place that would be awesome! I know we all have different bodies so one size doesn’t fit all but a generic “what I ate all week” would be cool to see! Thanks so much for all your recipes! I made your cinnamon pancakes for thanksgiving guests last week! 😀 Total hit!
You should do a podcast/post on pantry staples. I don’t know how often, when I was knew to Paleo/Primal, I would have every intent to make something, open the cookbook and *BAM* didn’t have the “weird” ingredient. Of course, now I don’t think that ground flax or coconut flour or cashew milk is weird. But to the newbie a lot of ingredients are strange. Also, the newbie will not understand what can be substituted if one ingredient is not on hand (and WHY it can or can not be substituted).
Even as a very experienced baker of all things flour starting to bake paleo was a huge learning experience. Because I understand HOW and WHY flour and other traditional baking ingredients worked. But with Paleo even the most experienced baker home-cook will be starting over. And I honestly think the reason most people won’t go Paleo is because the process of cooking and starting all over is too daunting.
Just my two cents………
I agree with this post!! 🙂
Oh my gosh, such good questions. Many are the same I have so I will save from repeating. You may have a part 1 and part 2 for this podcast. I am also a runner (only half because frankly I am almost 50 and my body just can’t do 26.2), I am not a cross fitter but incorporate weight training, I love how it helps with running. Any comments about incorporating both would be helpful. I know you don’t dig running but you did run for a bit so you might have good tips on a balance.
Thanks for all the great stuff-you do so much. In addition to GGWOD, have Cassy on the podcast, oh my gosh she was the cutest on the latest episode of GGWOD. I just ordered the fedandfit book too, can’t wait to see your home workouts in there.
Hi Juli, I was wondering about how you focus on getting and keeping your mind right? I seem to do great for a while, then I totally have a binge session. Then I feel awful. Not only in my body, but in my head. Then the self sabotage starts. I keep saying this time is the time and I will do good again and then the cycle starts again.
Hi Juli,
I have a question for you that I have been thinking about for a while, actually since you started the posts about scaling back on competing in CF. I am by no means near what you looked like during your competing days but I totally get what you talk about. I too feel puffy, swollen, think I look like a Russian shot pusher (emphasis on think). Your posts made me re-think my goals in CF and maybe it is just not that important to add more weight and increase the PR’s all the time. I have started becoming more conscious about what my goals are and if it really is important to click that RX box in Wodify or get a new PR every time we try for a heavy single.
Anyway, now to my question: How do you stay strong and how do you maintain a certain one rep max if you keep the same weight during wods? Can you keep on doing a percentage of your one rep max for work outs and your one rep max stays the same? Does the body work that way? Not sure my questions makes sense. I guess what I am wondering is if I stop trying to reach a higher and higher one rep max and just stay put, will I eventually get weaker? Or keeping my one rep max and just doing work outs at 70% 80% or whatever the percentage is as prescribed will keep me at the same level strength wise.
Thanks for a great blog and pod!