Today on the podcast, I’m chatting with my close friend Lexi Davidson from Lexi’s Clean Kitchen! This 4’11” powerhouse is blogging, writing cookbooks, and saving the world one hustle at a time. I love her and she inspires me to be a better businesswoman and entrepreneur! I hope she inspires you to do what you love and follow your passion!
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Episode 25 Transcription!
There are not many people in this world that don’t love and appreciate and want to make out with chocolate. Chocolate is the best. And everybody thinks so. And if you don’t; I don’t want to be friends with you. Chocolate is my main man. It’s always been there for me, and always will be. And luckily, I’ve found a chocolate brand that I can feel good about eating, because their chocolate is made from real food; and that’s exactly what it is, it’s food. It’s not candy. Eating Evolved is one of my favorite chocolates. It’s a Fair Trade Certified, and Rain Forest Alliance Certified chocolate. It’s gluten free, dairy free, soy free, organic, and paleo, and it’s sweetened with only coconut sugar.
They make one of my favorite chocolate treats, which is their coconut butter cup. I just had one of their awesome ones the other day; a strawberry coconut butter cup; so good! But they have all kinds of different flavors, but it’s so satisfying. It gives you chocolate, it gives you fat from the coconut butter, and you’re satisfied right away; it’s awesome.
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This is Juli Bauer from PaleOMG and you are listening to PaleOMG Uncensored.
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Topics:
1. A word about The Bachelor [7:08]
2. Lexi of Lexi’s Clean Kitchen [10:09]
3. A typical week on the blog [15:47]
4. Writing the cookbook, Lexi’s Clean Kitchen [17:26]
5. An average day for Lexi [20:03]
6. Biggest challenge being a blogger [21:58]
7. Favorite bloggers for inspiration [24:54]
8. Lexi’s Golden, Jax [28:54]
9. Biggest pet peeve [33:43]
10. Social media meanies [35:10]
11. Marriage hacks [40:24]
12. Coffee or tea [45:24]
13. Something Lexi’s super into [48:17]
14. Favorite paleo products [49:21]
15. Favorite beauty products [52:27]
16. Lexi’s biggest vice [54:06]
17. Favorite places to eat in Boston [54:36]
18. Keto and macros [56:32]
19. Balancing food choices [1:01:01]
20. Favorite knives [1:05:07]
21. Favorite quick breakfast [1:06:00]
22. Food photography tips [1:07:36]
23. Recipes on the blog you should definitely try [1:12:20]
Juli Bauer: Hey guys; welcome to PaleOMG Uncensored. My name is Juli Bauer; hopefully you know that, because it’s the 25th episode. But today is a very special day, because I have a special guest on. Her name is Lexi. Lexi, what’s your new last name?
Lexi Davidson: Davidson.
Juli Bauer: Davidson; oh yeah. Lexi Kornblum Davidson. There’s like 40; that’s a lot.
Lexi Davidson: It’s ridiculous.
Juli Bauer: So, today we have Lexi on. Lexi is one of my close friends. She is a fellow blogger. She is a cookbook author with the same publisher I went through; she’s a recipe creator. She’s pretty much just a female entrepreneur, even though I kind of hate that word because it sounds very pompous and dickish, but that’s what she is.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs}
Juli Bauer: She is an entrepreneur and she’s a bad ass. And she’s the nicest human. I met her last year at PaleoFx, a paleo conference, and it’s just full of bloggers and companies. And we stayed in the same house together with other bloggers, and I got to know her there. she’s just all about being badass, and hustling, and making a living for herself. It’s awesome. I fell in love with her. So welcome, Lexi, from www.LexisCleanKitchen.com.
Lexi Davidson: Thank you. Thanks for having me; I’m super excited to be here.
Juli Bauer: me too. And thank you so much for coming on today, because I know you’re leaving for Jamaica tomorrow, or Thursday? When are you leaving?
Lexi Davidson: Thursday, and I cannot wait.
Juli Bauer: How long are you going for?
Lexi Davidson: 6 days.
Juli Bauer: Damn. And where in Jamaica?
Lexi Davidson: Montego Bay.
Juli Bauer: Nice!
Lexi Davidson: You got married around there?
Juli Bauer: Yeah, I got married in Montego Bay.
Lexi Davidson: it’s the best.
Juli Bauer: That’s so awesome. Why are you going to Jamaica?
Lexi Davidson: You know what; it was just time for a vacation.
Juli Bauer: F*ck. Yes! That is awesome.
Lexi Davidson: Totally.
Juli Bauer: Where did you go on your honeymoon? Since you just recently got married?
Lexi Davidson: We went to Napa and Yosemite, and then we planned to go to Europe in the summer, but we’ll see how that goes.
Juli Bauer: That’s awesome.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: I feel like once you go on your honeymoon and you get back, you’re like; I need to book another trip.
Lexi Davidson: Yep. Like, stat.
Juli Bauer: And then you book it. Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: That’s so fun! Jamaica’s going to be awesome. I loved Jamaica. The only complaint I had, even though our food was pretty good almost the whole time, is just they’re on Jamaica time, and literally it would take like 2 hours to get a meal.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: So I hope it is not that way for you.
Lexi Davidson: But you know what; they’re like, “It’s irie! It’s all irie!” And you’re like, “Ok, it’s irie.” {laughs}
Juli Bauer: Yeah, and then you just keep drinking.
Lexi Davidson: Yep, exactly.
1. A word about The Bachelor [7:08]
Juli Bauer: {laughs} Ok, so before we get started into all your lovely stuff about Lexi; my main question here is do you watch The Bachelor?
Lexi Davidson: I don’t.
Juli Bauer: F*cking, f*cking, f*ck. {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: I know. I knew you were going to be really upset with me about that one.
Juli Bauer: You know what; it’s like, maybe I should follow with how my friends do and not watch The Bachelor, because it seems like none of my friends watch it, and that’s kind of a sign of what kind of person I am.
Lexi Davidson: No, I have plenty of other guilty pleasures. I’ve just been binge watching the old 90210; like, old series, so.
Juli Bauer: Ok, ok, ok.
Lexi Davidson: I’m bad.
Juli Bauer: That’s bad. Have you ever watched any of The Bachelor seasons?
Lexi Davidson: No, zero.
Juli Bauer: Ok, well since we can’t do a recap together, and this happened when I had Vanessa on the podcast, as well, and you know Vanessa.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah; love Vanessa.
Juli Bauer: She doesn’t watch it; and then she was like, oh you have to watch the new show, This is Us. I was like; you can’t.
Lexi Davidson: Oh, I heard that’s good.
Juli Bauer: Yeah, I’m like, you can’t say that after I said I watch The Bachelor.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs}
Juli Bauer: Obviously, I’m not the type of person to watch This is Us, when it’s crying every single episode. But, ok, so just a quick question about The Bachelor. So, this girl, she’s in the last two and she has her overnight date; you know, they have their overnight dates where they obviously hook up.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: And she says on national television, that she’s never had an orgasm and that’s she’s only slept with one person.
Lexi Davidson: {laughing}
Juli Bauer: If you were a contestant on The Bachelor, would you announce this to the world?
Lexi Davidson: One; definitely not. But two, is she being for real? How old is she?
Juli Bauer: She’s being for real. I bet she’s like; I don’t know, she must be in her mid-20s.
Lexi Davidson: Why would she say that?
Juli Bauer: Right?! Why would she say that? Knowing her parents are watching this show!
Lexi Davidson: Oh my god.
Juli Bauer: And then the beginning of the episode yesterday, they have her, and she’s like, “Nick is very good at his job.” And then she’s running around town high-fiving people, acting like she’s in the best mood because she had an orgasm. How awkward is that?
Lexi Davidson: {laughing} Oh my god, everyone watching must have been like, “What is happening right now?”
Juli Bauer: Right? I feel like everybody tuned out. they’re like; I can’t f*cking watch this show anymore.
Lexi Davidson: They can’t deal with it.
Juli Bauer: I’m losing brain cells.
Lexi Davidson: Wait, is she the one that you like, or no?
Juli Bauer: Um, I don’t really like either. But you know, I do like her because she’s funny, and she just says the truth. But there are sometimes; like orgasms, you can keep to yourself and your partner, you don’t have to announce it.
Lexi Davidson: Never.
Juli Bauer: But she’s really cute. But I don’t have a favorite, because I just want this show to end.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs}
Juli Bauer: {laughs} But I don’t know what I’m going to do with my Monday nights. Ok, so I’m glad to clear that up to see what kind of person you are. Are you a person who announces that, or not. Luckily, you aren’t.
Lexi Davidson: Just going to keep that to myself.
Juli Bauer: Good job! You know, who knows what this podcast could turn into.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs}
2. Lexi of Lexi’s Clean Kitchen [10:09]
Juli Bauer: Ok, so. You and I; we’re going to kind of talk about you. So you and I have pretty similar jobs, which is really cool, because I feel like; I don’t know if Boston is different, but I don’t have really any friends in Colorado who do the same job. Maybe there are a couple of fashion bloggers I know; but you have a food blog where you share paleo and gluten free recipes. You’ve created your first cookbook; that came out this past year. And you’re out hustling. So I just kind of want you to give people the rundown of how Lexi’s Clean Kitchen came to be; what you did beforehand; what you’ve enjoyed about doing it; what’s been hard. Just kind of the rundown about Lexi.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, definitely. And no, there’s not too many food bloggers in this area, and that’s why I love it. I feel like we get to talk about business, and things we’re doing, or things we’re not doing, and kind of feed off of each other, which has been so nice.
Juli Bauer: Totally.
Lexi Davidson: Ok, so Lexi’s Clean Kitchen and me. So I was an elementary art teacher for 3 years, and then in 2013 my stomach issues and whatever ailments I had going on, which I’ll get to; got to the point where I really needed to make a change in my diet. Like I was bloated all the time, I couldn’t go to the bathroom; not to be gross, but just being real. It got to a point where I didn’t want to go out; I didn’t want to do my daily activities, and I was like, I need to change something.
So I decided to cut out things I know could cause inflammation in the body. So I cut out gluten and dairy at first; and pretty instantly I noticed a difference in how I was feeling. Not 100% or anything like that, but I decided to keep going with it and cut out a few more things, and kind of do an elimination diet but kind of my own thing, and kind of see where I could go with it. And during that time, as I started to feel better, I was cooking, and I was like; I still want to be able to eat pizza crust, and muffins, and all the stuff that I love to eat. So I started cooking this way, and developing recipes; and Mike was like, “Oh.” These are Mike’s now, my husband, he was like, “Oh, these are good.” And I was like, you know what, I’m going to start an Instagram account, and I’m just going to share recipes on there. crappy iPhone pictures, just post the recipe and maybe it will help a few people.
So it was like Alexis916 or something; it wasn’t a business or anything. It was just a hobby, I was still teaching. So I started the Instagram account, and week after week, and month after month for a few months, hundreds of people would be following me and it turned into thousands; and people kept asking if there was a place where they could find all of my recipes. And there wasn’t, there was no website. So I took it a little more seriously in June 2013, and I started www.LexisCleanKitchen.com, and since then I’ve left my full-time teaching job, I’ve healed a lot of my stomach issues and ailments through food, and then further sought functional medicine doctors, and different practitioners to help me along that journey. But really healed my stomach and issues through food, so I really do so much believe in the power of food.
So then, Lexi’s Clean Kitchen grew into leaving my job to do it full time, and write my cookbook, and just blog, and work with brands that I love, and all that good stuff.
Juli Bauer: So how did you know when you just started; you were having these stomach aches, these digestive issues; how did you know; “OK, I should cut out these inflammatory foods.” How did you even know that? Did you read something? Did you see an article? How did you know that dairy and grains can be inflammatory foods?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. Honestly, and that’s a really good question, I think I just did some research; like, why am I bloated all the time. Just like anyone would do; just like a Google. It must have come up, some article like Dr. Axe or someone, who was like, this could cause inflammation, this could cause bloating, and yadda, yadda, yadda. So I was like; you know what, I don’t want to go to my regular practitioners, I want to just kind of do it on my own, because I know what he’s going to tell me. He’s going to tell me, you have IBS, and you’re fine. Or whatever.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So I was like; you know what, let me try this on my own. And I must have just read it online. Like gluten, grains, dairy. So I started with the gluten and dairy, and then I continued with grains, soy, refined sugar, eggs for a little bit but then I brought them back in. just kind of figured it out. I always tell people; they’re like, “oh my gosh, my doctor told me to cut out this, this, this, this, and this; and I’m freaking out! What am I going to do?” And it’s like, there are so many resources now, which is so amazing, and also I like to think of it as; it doesn’t have to be forever. Once you start healing your body, and you get your gut and stomach to a point, you could bring stuff back in and maybe you’ll be ok with that. Because once your gut is messed up, anything is going to bother it. Or that’s how it was for me.
Juli Bauer: Yeah; absolutely. Is there any foods that you stay away from completely, or foods that you; well I guess that’s kind of a two-part question. Are there any foods that you added back into your diet that you had taken out that you still eat regularly; and is there any foods that you have to stay away from completely?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. I don’t; I eat dairy a little now. I’ll eat some cheese, and I cook with butter. So I do a little bit of dairy, more than I did. When I was healing my stomach, I was super strict with it. So now I do a little dairy; and once in a great while, if I’m feeling crazy, I’ll, when someone orders pizza, I’m like; oh let me just try it. And I feel like crap, so I really try to avoid gluten all the time.
3. A typical week on the blog [15:47]
Juli Bauer: Yeah, for sure. I’m the same way. So, what does your normal week look like on your blog? Do you share certain recipes certain days? Do you share other things other than recipes? What’s Lexi’s Clean Kitchen look like nowadays?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah; so Sundays we do a weekly meal plan now, which is really fun and people are loving that. So it has a printable shopping list that you can download or drag onto your phone or desktop and print it out, it has a checklist and everything you need for the week on your shopping list, so that’s really fun. So that’s on Sundays. And then I post either two or three times other than that. Right now we’re doing a meatless Monday series. So I’m trying to do a series once a season, just something different. Me and you did the CSA in the summer, which was so fun, we’ll have to do that again.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: Or do something like that. So right now we’re doing a meatless Monday, which is kind of fun, because you know what; there are people who want; I even want to incorporate more plant-based foods in my diet, and it’s hard to find stuff that doesn’t have legumes or grains in it. So we’re developing some, so that’s kind of fun.
Juli Bauer: That’s awesome.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, other; yeah, but then I also do, I’ll do an outside the kitchen, like things I’m loving lately. I’ll do wedding recaps; which I’m actually finally finishing this week, which is pretty bad. So just I’ll do travel stuff; but mostly it’s recipes and meal plans and stuff like that. But also guides to helping you in your own kitchen and things like that.
4. Writing the cookbook, Lexi’s Clean Kitchen [17:26]
Juli Bauer: That’s awesome. And, so you wrote your cookbook last year; I mean, it came out last year. Why did you decide to write a cookbook?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, good question. So I think it got to my point on my journey in helping people that I was like; you know what, this would be a really cool opportunity to maybe reach a different audience, people going into bookstores, or just have something that you can flip through, sit on your counter, get it messy, really cook through. Because I personally love cooking through cookbooks.
So I just think I was ready for something different, or a different project, and it came about at the perfect time, when I was leaving my teaching job. And it kind of really worked out, but it was also just; I was just super excited to start a new project that would be tangible, that you could hold in your hands.
Juli Bauer: And, what do you think looking back; because obviously, we know in this community of people who have written cookbooks, it’s a pretty exhausting job, even though it’s super cool and the process is awesome. It’s just you don’t get to do all the things that you want to, like blogging and keeping up with social media. So what was the hardest part; was it recipe development, was it getting the photos done; what was the hardest part of putting together a cookbook?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, you know what, I think because I left my teaching job and started blogging full time, and started the book right away, I never developed a routine. I never was like; ok, you know, you think working from home is so awesome, which I’m grateful and I love it; but it’s not as easy as it seems when you could sit in your pajamas all day and kind of feel like crap when you do that.
So I never developed a routine where I was like; ok, I’m going to wake up, I’m going to go to the gym, I’m going to come home, shower, start my day, take a little break here, whatever. I would just wake up, work, work, work, work all day, all night, and just kind of sit around. After months and months of doing that I really felt not great; I had no balance, I was just working all the time, I wasn’t taking breaks, I wasn’t taking care of myself, doing any self-care type of stuff. So that was really challenging for me, in terms of having a work-life balance.
But then also definitely doing everything. I was like; ok, I’m going to work on the book for 4 days, and then work on the blog for 2 days that way I can have everything working at the same time, but life happens, and that doesn’t always work how you want it to work. So, definitely posting on the blog and social wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be. But mostly it was the work-life balance.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: But I think that was also because I stopped teaching; I was blogging full time, and I was writing the book all at the same starting point.
5. An average day for Lexi [20:03]
Juli Bauer: And I get this question a ton on my blog, and whenever I do podcast or people; I think a lot of people are working more from home, their business is letting them work from home, and I think they have a hard time when they’ve been to an office every day. So do you feel like you have that routine down of working from home at this point, or do you have to do certain things like go to a coffee shop, or set a schedule. How does your day kind of; I have that question, and how does an average day look for you?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, so in January, I hired Sabrina, who was with me last year part time. Oh my god, dog hair on me.
Juli Bauer: {laughing}
Lexi Davidson: Like, ew. So I hired her full time. So Sabrina is with me, and we’re here every day. She’s in the kitchen now, finishing up some recipes right now. So that’s been really amazing for me to have more structure in my day. So I want to say, yes I have it down; but not all the time. I mean, I’m human.
So in an ideal world, I wake up, I meditate for 10 minutes, which hasn’t happened in the past week, so I guess I don’t have it together.
Juli Bauer: {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: I meditate for 10 minutes, I do some light stretching or movement. I have my coffee with collagen or whatever I’m doing; I actually haven’t been drinking coffee lately; have my warm water with lemon, tea, whatever it is. Kind of do a few things for myself before I sit down and get the day going for work and start on my emails. So that’s an ideal situation where I have a few things in my morning routine that I kind of check off my list before I start the day. And you know, some days it happens, and some days it’s not as great and awesome. But definitely making an effort, and now that Sabrina’s with me, start every day at the same time, so that’s been really great.
6. Biggest challenge being a blogger [21:58]
Juli Bauer: Sweet. And when; so this business. I’m trying to form this question. So this business, I think a lot of people are like; “Oh, that would be so cool.” And a lot of people are like; “I could never do that,” because there’s a lot of unknowns with our business, and where our next paycheck is going to come from.
Lexi Davidson: Mm-hmm.
Juli Bauer: And you kind of have to hustle for yourself. So, what has been your biggest challenge with becoming a blogger full time. Has it been with not that steady paycheck coming in; the unknown, or working for something you kind of hope you’re going to get paid for. What has been the hardest part of creating your own business and kind of becoming an entrepreneur?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, you know in the beginning it was not having a paycheck every 2 weeks definitely sucks. You’re like; oh, ok. You have to kind of really plan ahead months and months. Because you’re like; “Ok, I have to pay my taxes, or my mortgage or bills to pay, and I don’t have the same money coming in every two weeks.” So for the first year and a half, that was; or I guess year, that was definitely an adjustment where we’re like, “Ah!” you know, one month you make a good amount of money and the next month is less, and it kind of just fluctuates. So that was definitely hard to watch.
But I mean, yeah that was probably the biggest thing. And now it’s just kind of figuring out my flow and staying organized. You know, I know you’re not a spreadsheet girl, but I’m like a crazy OCD spreadsheet person, so I have every month of advertising, and all my sponsored posts, and all that kind of in one big spreadsheet that I can go back, and I check off if it’s invoiced or whatnot. So I kind of try to keep myself on track and organized the best I can, so that way I make sure I’m getting paid or I make sure things are coming in when they should be; or I know if they’re not. Because sometimes, you know, it’s a lot to deal with.
Juli Bauer: It totally is.
Lexi Davidson: You’re doing the blogging, the writing, the photography, the invoicing; it’s like, whoo.
Juli Bauer: Yes. I had to hire a bookkeeper to keep that stuff organized, because it was too overwhelming. Because I’m not a spreadsheet girl; so I need someone; I hired someone to do all the spreadsheets for me to keep that stuff organized. But that’s stuff you never think of as a normal job; you don’t have to hire a bookkeeper, because it’s like, this is what you get paid, and that’s it.
Lexi Davidson: Right; totally. And you know, there are all those different elements to it, but that’s a good thing that you just brought up; outsourcing. And I feel like that’s so important, and many people try to wear all the hats, and if there’s something you’re not good at, outsource it. If it’s something you hate, give it to someone who you could bring on your team and help you, and take the weight off your shoulders.
7. Favorite bloggers for inspiration [24:54]
Juli Bauer: For sure, outsourcing is huge. That is such an important; I mean, with any business. So, I had the question, just because we obviously are in the little blogger area. Do you have any favorite bloggers that you follow yourself, or you always kind of look to them for inspiration, or photography; or you just, they give good energy so you like following them. Do you have any favorite bloggers?
Lexi Davidson: Oh yeah, oh my gosh, so many. I feel like it’s so hard to pick a few, because it’s a community. And I always say to people; bloggers, we’re all co-workers, we just, run our own business and we don’t work together. But you know, we all communicate, and we talk which is so nice.
With that said, there are definitely bloggers that inspire me in different ways; like Cassy from Fed and Fit, her energy, she is so bubbly and inspiring in that way, and like Davida from the Healthy Maven; her authenticity and realness inspires me. And then photography; oh there are so many. Minimalist Baker, I love her photos. Who else; I love Pinch of Yum’s photography; I love Sherry with Food and Love’s photography. You know, and then there’s some that inspire me; they’re just super unique recipes. I’m really into Mediterranean recipes right now. I’m just obsessed. So, Persiana is a cookbook by a blogger, her name is Sabrina; I’ll have to look up her last name. But I feel like so many bloggers inspire me in different ways; but those are a few. And I always say you, when I’m not on your podcast.
Juli Bauer: Aww, you’re the best!
Lexi Davidson: I do.
Juli Bauer: I saw you on; because one of the bloggers I love to follow, because I think her photography is f*cking outrageous, is Half Baked Harvest.
Lexi Davidson: Oh, yes.
Juli Bauer: And I saw that she was reviewing your cookbook, which is so freaking cool.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, Tieghan is super sweet. And you’re right; her photos are unbelievable.
Juli Bauer: Unbelievable! And she’s coming out with a cookbook soon, isn’t she?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Juli Bauer: Oh my gosh. If you guys don’t know who Half Baked Harvest is, I’m sure you’ve seen her recipes because they’re all over Pinterest. But she just comes up with the most unique, beautiful recipes.
Lexi Davidson: And decadent; you’re like, oh my goodness, if I don’t eat that right now {laughs}.
Juli Bauer: And it’s like; does she have; do her parents have a barn that she sets up her studio in? What?
Lexi Davidson: So, don’t 100% quote me on this, but I believe her family’s house; she built her own house on the property in a barn. And it’s like; I think you can see it on her website, all the tours and pictures of it. And it’s so freaking cool. It’s beautiful, and rustic, and.
Juli Bauer: It’s crazy!
Lexi Davidson: Blogger heaven.
Juli Bauer: It’s like a full kitchen; like, full, full on studio. So professional!
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, full on. Yeah, it’s so cool.
Juli Bauer: Do you have an office that you take your food photos in, or an area? What do you do for your food photos?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah; I have an office where I have a laptop and then my big desktop where I edit the photos and the videos on. So I have an office with a desk, but honestly I like the light better on my kitchen table, in that part of my kitchen area. So I have all my food boards, and then I set them up there. But I do have an office space, I just don’t use it for where I set up my food.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: What about you; what’s your set up like?
Juli Bauer: Well, I used to set up; we have a huge window in our living room and I used to set the photos up next to that, and I really love that lighting honestly the most. But it was just such a pain in the ass to move all the boards, and get all the photo stuff set up and take it from my office; so I just finally set up an office next to the window. So I have my desk, and computer, and then I do a bunch of my clothes, whatever I need to set up for fashion photos in that room. And then have all my dishes and all the food photography stuff. But yeah, it’s just next to a window there.
Lexi Davidson: Yep. All you need is a good window.
8. Lexi’s Golden, Jax [28:54]
Juli Bauer: That’s all you need! It’s just the best. Ok, so I have some kind of random questions for you, and then we have some questions from readers. And I just like random, random stuff. So I’m sitting next to my dog, Jackson.
Lexi Davidson: Me too! I’m sitting next to my Jax!
Juli Bauer: So is Jax a Golden?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, he’s a Golden.
Juli Bauer: Because he’s so much better looking than any other Golden.
Lexi Davidson: You know what; and I’m not just saying it because he’s my dog; but he is the cutest Golden ever.
Juli Bauer: He like has a puppy face.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah; so Mike, my husband grew up with a Golden; and I always use this to explain. His Golden could fit 3 tennis balls in his mouth, and Jax can only fit one; so he has like a really small snout, which makes it like; so his face is just so tiny. So even though he’s like 80 pounds, it makes him look like a puppy, like forever.
Juli Bauer: Oh my gosh; he’s so dang cute. And you guys; you always post videos of going on walks together, and he gets so crazy dirty, he’s just freaking adorable. How much does he weigh?
Lexi Davidson: I guess, he’s probably around 75-80 now.
Juli Bauer: And, do you have any impulse to get another dog?
Lexi Davidson: Ugh, like every day.
Juli Bauer: Right?! Everyday!
Lexi Davidson: Except our house; you don’t want another dog?
Juli Bauer: No, I feel that every day; I want another dog.
Lexi Davidson: Oh, you do feel that every day. Yeah, I’m like; first of all, our house isn’t super, super big, so I don’t know if I could deal with another Golden in this house. And he’s so sheddy; but I’m like; aww, he needs a brother, but I don’t want a kid yet. So, a puppy brother.
Juli Bauer: I know, and that’s how I feel. Even being home 90% of the time; even when I leave, I’m like, he must be so lonely. Like he needs a brother that 10% of the time.
Lexi Davidson: Well because we’re home all the time.
Juli Bauer: I know, they’re so used to it.
Lexi Davidson: I know, it’s actually so sad when you leave.
Juli Bauer: So sad! Jackson gives me the saddest look. But having two dogs shedding; and our house isn’t super big, either, and it’s like; I forget what it’s called. Not Modern Midcentury, but like low ceilings type of place. I just don’t think I could do that.
Lexi Davidson: I know. And then also, if you travel; I feel like both of us travel a good amount. It’s easy to find someone to watch one dog; but asking someone to watch two dogs is not as easy.
Juli Bauer: No, not as easy at all. And then having two dogs running at your feet when you’re trying to plate food and take photos of it? That sounds overwhelming.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs} Yeah, that’s literally the biggest challenge.
Juli Bauer: I don’t know how people have children and keep track of their child while they’re trying to get work done at home.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs} Seriously.
Juli Bauer: So, do you have any favorite toys or any favorite treats anything like that that you like to get for Jax?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. So I really like the Stella and Chewy’s. They make this raw; it’s not like raw. It’s like, raw dehydrated, so it’s not like disgusting and wet. And it’s like a food add-in that I put in his dry food, and it just adds more omegas and all these vitamins and stuff, but just from plant, like vegetables and plant based stuff. And animal stuff; I don’t even. I really butchered that.
Juli Bauer: {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: {laughs} But Stella and Chewy’s the raw mixer add-ins or whatever; they’re really good. And honestly, this is going to sound crazy, but out of all the treats that I bought for him, like Whole Foods, wherever; super fancy. At our Petco, they have a snack or treat station, and there are so many gluten-free, grain free, limited ingredient stuff; because he has a sensitive stomach, just like me. So he loves; they have little pretzel things, and teddy graham looking things. And they don’t have weird add-ins, so we get that a lot.
Juli Bauer: Well that’s adorable. He is so freaking cute. If you guys haven’t seen her dog, you have to see him, he’s so cute. You should post more pictures of him.
Lexi Davidson: I know.
Juli Bauer: Because I’m obsessed with him.
Lexi Davidson: I’m going to go and post one on Instagram when we get off.
Juli Bauer: Right, you forget. And then you stop taking pictures of them as their older. You take like 400 pictures when they’re a puppy, and then it’s less photos. But you can’t do that! They’re still the cutest dogs ever. Both of our dogs.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, oh my god. I love them. They need to meet.
Juli Bauer: They’re so; I mean, Jax and Jackson. Is his full name Jackson or is it Jax?
Lexi Davidson: No, just Jax.
Juli Bauer: Ok.
Lexi Davidson: From Sons of Anarchy.
Juli Bauer: I love that! So, people call Jackson Jax sometimes, and I’m like, that’s not his f*cking name. I didn’t give him a nickname.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, he’s not going to respond to you.
Juli Bauer: No! {laughs} And people think they can call him that nickname. I’m like, you’ve never even talked to my dog, don’t call him a nickname, you weirdo.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. Once in a while, Mike will be like “Jackson!” I’m like, what are you; that’s literally not his name.
Juli Bauer: That’s not his name. {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: {laughs}
9. Biggest pet peeve [33:43]
Juli Bauer: Ok. So, this is a two-part question. What is your biggest pet peeve; so just in any life. And then what’s your biggest pet peeve on the blog, with blogging; social media aspect.
Lexi Davidson: Ok, I know that one. Ok, my biggest pet peeve is being late; or when people are late. Because I’m like; I just am always early everywhere so I hate when people are like, 30 minutes late for something.
Juli Bauer: It’s the worst. You’re like; you’re an adult, how are you late; other than traffic, because traffic sucks in the city.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, of course there’s like, real reasons that would make someone late, but some people are just late all the time, and I’m like, “Nu-huh.”
Juli Bauer: It’s the worst. Plan earlier; I hate those people. {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: {laughs} And blog pet peeve is when I get comments and people don’t realize that I’m a human behind my blog; and they just write the nastiest things. Or they’re like, “I made this, and it was terrible; I didn’t have almond flour or eggs so I used this and this, and it was horrible.”
Juli Bauer: {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: It’s like, ok one you made the wrong recipe. You didn’t make my recipe. And two; you can word it nicely. And then you know what happens? I respond, obviously nicely because I’m not an a-hole. And then they’re like; “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think you would respond.” But then they put me in a bad mood all day.
10. Social media meanies [35:10]
Juli Bauer: All day! And you know what; ok that actually leads into one of my questions. So, with social media I find that it kind of creeps into my personal life. Like, if I worked really hard on a recipe, and it’s not doing well on social media, or I get negative comments about it; it just really gets to me. Or, if I just have someone who hates on me for being a human being in general, it just completely changes my attitude and how I feel about that week. How do you feel with separating social media likes and comments from your own personal life?
Lexi Davidson: I know, and that’s hard. I really try just to not let it get to me, or not think about it. But obviously, more than that, I’m like; “Ok, this one isn’t performing well. So what is it about it and what can I do differently for the future?” So instead of channeling it, like I’m so upset; I’m like, alright what can I do better? Or what can I change moving forward. Like, you know, my recipes do well, or will like them, or is it too difficult? Is that why people aren’t; I try to really look at it and I’m like; ok, maybe that was too challenging for people, or maybe that was too, whatever. So I just try to spin it; and I’m like, ok, what can I do, and change, and just think forward instead of dwelling on that one comment or post.
Juli Bauer: And how do you get around the trolls; do you get any crazy mean comments on anything that aren’t even related to recipes; it’s just that they want to make you feel like sh*t?
Lexi Davidson: I feel like you get a lot more crazies than I do, just seeing your Snaps and stuff, that I crack up over. Your Snapchat is literally the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.
Juli Bauer: {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: But I get; like a few weeks ago, I got, “Himalayan pink salt? How f*cking pretentious can you be?” And it’s like…
Juli Bauer: Are you f*cking serious? Pretentious?
Lexi Davidson: {laughs} Yeah.
Juli Bauer: That’s the best kind of sea salt!
Lexi Davidson: I know!
Juli Bauer: It tastes the best.
Lexi Davidson: I guess it was too fancy for them. But yeah, I get those. But you know what, some of them you just have to be like; you just have to laugh off. Although, I did an article with BuzzFeed a few months ago, and it was like, “What I eat in a day.” And the comments; and BuzzFeed commenters are just the worst, if you look through their Facebook.
Juli Bauer: No, I haven’t.
Lexi Davidson: Ugh; well. It will make you feel better about your commenters.
Juli Bauer: Ok.
Lexi Davidson: If you have trolls. But the comments were awful. It was like; and you know, I was showing people a real day in the life, I wasn’t being all bullshit and being like, “I cooked this lavish meal, like breakfast, lunch, dinner.” I was like, ok I had breakfast lunch, and then we had sushi for dinner. Let’s be real about not every day is a glamorous day. And people were like; people hated on that, they were like, “You must be anorexic.” I’m like, you don’t even know how tall I am.
Juli Bauer: For real!
Lexi Davidson: If your readers don’t know, I’m the shortest human.
Juli Bauer: Lexi is literally the smallest human being. How tall are you?
Lexi Davidson: 4’11”.
Juli Bauer: Four. Eleven, you guys. 4’11”.
Lexi Davidson: Yep.
Juli Bauer: She’s so small, and she’s really tiny. It’s not like you’re built like a gymnast type small.
Lexi Davidson: Right. I’m just petite. I’m just…
Juli Bauer: You’re a very petite human being.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. So when someone’s like, “You didn’t eat enough!” It’s like, how do you know?
Juli Bauer: {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: You don’t know how much I weigh, you don’t know how tall I am. So those kind of comments; but that article, some of those comments really got to me. They were really mean; and I was like, I can’t read them anymore.
Juli Bauer: I’ll share what I ate in a day on my blog every couple of weeks, and almost always I get comments like that. And it totally stems from people’s own insecurities about how much their eating.
Lexi Davidson: 100%. Right.
Juli Bauer: And this girl the other day; she even commented on my Instagram; she was like, “God, now I feel bad about my size breakfast.” I was like, you can’t feel bad because we don’t have the same bodies, we don’t have the same lifestyle, we don’t have the same needs. It’s like comparing apples to oranges; it’s really pointless.
Lexi Davidson: It’s crazy, right.
Juli Bauer: But people love seeing those posts.
Lexi Davidson: I know, it’s crazy. You can’t win. I mean, you work out a lot harder than I do most of the time, so you probably need more carbs, or more this. Why would I say; “oh my god, you’re eating too many carbs” When I have no idea what you do during the day.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: It’s like, crazy.
Juli Bauer: And it would be total insecurity if you and I went out to dinner, and I’m eating more of the French fries, and I work out more. I have higher intensity; I wouldn’t be like, “oh my god.” It would be insecurity, I wouldn’t be like, “Eww, Lexi doesn’t eat enough.” It would be like, “Oh I’m eating too much,” And that’s just my own insecurity.
Lexi Davidson: Totally. But you know I would crush that fry basket with you {laughs}.
Juli Bauer: F*ck. Yes. And we’re going to do that in Austin soon, at PaleoFx. Get our truffle fries with the egg on top.
Lexi Davidson: And we also need the kimchi fries, those were so good.
Juli Bauer: Oh my god. And we need to exercise more next time we’re there. because all we did was eat and sat around; this time we’re going to go walk and go paddle boarding.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah!
Juli Bauer: Just be actual human beings instead of just French fries. We were literally French fries.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs} So good.
11. Marriage hacks [40:24]
Juli Bauer: So when did you get married?
Lexi Davidson: August. August 20th.
Juli Bauer: And how long have you been with your husband, before you guys got married?
Lexi Davidson: 5 years; it’s almost 6, so yeah, 5 years.
Juli Bauer: Oh wow. Ok, so a long time. So; and how long have you lived with him?
Lexi Davidson: 4 years.
Juli Bauer: Ok, so most you’ve lived with him; you know him; you’ve been crushing this relationship game. So what is your biggest annoyance with your husband?
Lexi Davidson: When he shaves his face hair, and leaves the hair everywhere.
Juli Bauer: Yeah, and it goes everywhere, all over the sink and countertop.
Lexi Davidson: And doesn’t clean it up. Well he says he cleaned it up, and he didn’t. I’m like, you’re so disgusting.
Juli Bauer: For sure. My husband is in that stage right now, as well.
Lexi Davidson: And also, because I’m home and I cook every day, he’s on this kick of, “Oh, that’s a Lexi’s Clean Kitchen bowl; I don’t need to put that in the dishwasher.” It’s like, dude. You see a plate sitting in the sink, put it in the freaking dishwasher.
Juli Bauer: {laughs} The worst. The worst.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: Yeah, you’re like; this food will be eaten by one of us at some point, so it all comes back around. Just do the f*cking dishes.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. Like, help out.
Juli Bauer: Help out! {laughs} So do you have; I had this, I was on one of my friend’s podcast on Girls Gone WOD, a while back. But I had just been married for a month. And she was like, “Do you have any marriage hacks?” And I was like, I don’t really know, I mean, I’ve been married for a month, so I don’t have any marriage hacks. But they’ll talk about, if they’re feeling annoyed; every time they get home from work, they have an hour, no talking. Something along those lines.
Lexi Davidson: That’s so funny?
Juli Bauer: Are there any marriage hacks you guys have so far? Even though you haven’t been married a total long time; but you guys have been together for a long time, so it’s pretty much like you have.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, honestly, and I feel like this is going to sound cliché, but not harping on every little thing. Like, pick and choosing. I’m not going to yell at him about the hair every single time, I’ll do it, like, once a week.
Juli Bauer: {laughs} Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: Like; you know what, instead of yelling him about it, or nagging him about it; I’ll point it out, and he’ll laugh and realize he’s being an idiot, you know what I mean?
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: By leaving it there.
Juli Bauer: Instead of letting it build up to and getting passive aggressive about it.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. Honestly, we’re both easy for the most part; we don’t have built up stuff like that. But really just stepping back when I’m pissed, and being like; ok. It’s not that big of a deal. Let me explain it to him in a way that will actually get through to him rather than being an annoying, nagging wife.
Juli Bauer: For sure.
Lexi Davidson: So that’s something I try to think about. But you know what; everyone says, “So, is it so different being married?” I’m like, it’s the exact same.
Juli Bauer: It’s the exact same!
Lexi Davidson: I have a new last name that I forget to use, and rings that I never wear because I’m cooking all day.
Juli Bauer: Mm-hmm.
Lexi Davidson: But it’s the same.
Juli Bauer: That’s totally how I feel.
Lexi Davidson: And it’s fine.
Juli Bauer: I take my rings off all the time with cooking, with working off; and then I take them off when I go to bed because my hands swell when I sleep.
Lexi Davidson: Same, same.
Juli Bauer: So it feels uncomfortable, so I never wear my ring.
Lexi Davidson: And then I run out to do; oh my god, this is kind of crazy. So we were at a restaurant recently. We were at a restaurant a few months ago, and I said to Mike, because I wasn’t wearing my rings, by accident. I just forgot them. And he was wearing his. I’m like, “You know what? Someone looking over might think I’m the other woman because you’re wearing a wedding ring and I’m not.” And he’s like, “No, no one would care enough to look.” And then, we were at a restaurant a few weeks ago, and we were sitting at a bar, it’s like, me and him are at the edge, and then there’s two girls sitting at the corner right next to us. And this girl looks at our hands, and I guess I wasn’t wearing mine; or I was and he wasn’t, and looks at Mike, and gives him the dirtiest look ever. And I was like, oh my god! {laughing} It was so funny.
Juli Bauer: See, people do notice weird sh*t! I feel like people don’t notice that stuff, because I don’t notice anything, but people are creeps. I mean, people are looking.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah!
Juli Bauer: I mean, if you’re single, you’re like; ok, I’m going to see if this guy has a ring on or not.
Lexi Davidson: Exactly.
Juli Bauer: Because, why would I pursue. But people notice that sh*t.
Lexi Davidson: I know, but isn’t that crazy? He was like, “Oh my god, that girl just gave me the craziest look ever, and looked at our hands.” I was like, “Oh my god, I told you!” So funny.
Juli Bauer: Yes! See, I remember once I forgot my ring and I did like a fashion photo, and somebody asked me why I didn’t have my ring on. I was like, what the f*ck?
Lexi Davidson: That is hysterical.
Juli Bauer: How did you even notice that?
Lexi Davidson: That’s like with the celebrities. They’re like, “Jennifer Aniston is divorced; or spotted without her ring!” It’s like, she probably just was cooking and forgot.
Juli Bauer: Exactly! Like a normal human being. And the photo wasn’t even zoomed in on my hand, it was a normal, full body photo. I’m like, how did a person notice that?
Lexi Davidson: That is hysterical.
Juli Bauer: I just never notice that. That is so weird. But, whatever if you’re single you notice that sh*t, I guess.
Lexi Davidson: True.
12. Coffee or tea [45:24]
Juli Bauer: Ok, so you said; this was a question I had written down but you kind of said it before. So are you a coffee or a tea person?
Lexi Davidson: So, coffee; but I recently have been feeling like my adrenals have been a little off. I’ve been wired at night, and tired when I wake up, and I’m getting enough sleep. So I was like; eh. I read online if you feel like you have adrenal stuff, or you do, just cut out coffee for a little bit. So I haven’t had coffee in two weeks. And I feel totally fine. So lately I’ve been doing tea; but normally I’m like, coffee all the way.
Juli Bauer: Yeah. So do you think that it’s good that you’ve cut out coffee? Do you feel like you’ll add it back in? What are you thinking about it?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, I haven’t talked about this yet because I’m still exploring it a little, but I’ve been doing a little keto situation, where I’m experimenting, so I feel like I have a ton of energy from that. So, I feel like if I wanted a cup of coffee; I feel like coffee for me is more social. I love the smell; I love the social aspect. I love meeting a friend for coffee, and just enjoying it. We have a really good coffee maker at home, so I just love; not the art of it.
Juli Bauer: The process.
Lexi Davidson: But like the process of it.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So, if I wanted a cup of coffee, if it smelled really good; if Mike was making a cup, I’d be like; oh, ok I’ll have one.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: But I don’t feel like I need it anymore, which is kind of nice.
Juli Bauer: Totally. I feel like mine is all about routine. I wake up in the morning, I make a cup of coffee, and then I sit on the couch and finish my blog for the day, and today we were out of coffee, and I felt like I couldn’t get started. And it wasn’t even the caffeine; it’s just the routine.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: And so, then I went and got coffee after I finished my blog post, I just went to Starbucks and got something just so I could get Jackson a puppiccino. {laughs}
Lexi Davidson: Oh my god, is that just whipped cream?
Juli Bauer: Just whipped cream.
Lexi Davidson: Oh my god, I need to get that.
Juli Bauer: I put it on Instagram story, he’s just so cute, and he knows what puppiccino means now, and gets all excited.
Lexi Davidson: {Laughs} So are all, the off-limit words in the house. Like, we can’t say go or he runs to the door.
Juli Bauer: Aww! Poor little guy.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs}
Juli Bauer: But I feel like coffee; I feel like a lot of different foods become routine, and to know that you can have a fine life without them is a good thing to know. So cutting out those things; when maybe you feel addicted to it, or maybe it’s causing some issues. Knowing that you can go life without those certain things I think is important.
Lexi Davidson: Right. Like, I’m sure I’ll be drinking coffee, for however amount of time.
Juli Bauer: Austin.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, for sure.
Juli Bauer: When we’re at Picnik.
Lexi Davidson: Oh that is; the marshmallow one? Oh my god, whatever it’s called.
Juli Bauer: So good. So good.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, so I don’t feel like I need it, but I don’t have anything against it. And I enjoy it.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
13. Something Lexi’s super into [48:17]
Juli Bauer: So, what’s something that you’re super into right now? It could be like food related; it could be a product, it could be, maybe you’re super interested into listening to podcasts or a certain podcast. Is there anything that you find yourself doing daily or having daily or looking at, whatever.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, I’ve been collagen in my coffee or tea or anything I’m drinking; I’ve been doing that for years now, and I feel like that’s something I’m really into in terms of a product. My mom thinks it reversed her osteoporosis because she no longer has it and it’s the only think she changed in her diet. So it’s kind of cool.
Juli Bauer: Weird!
Lexi Davidson: I know.
Juli Bauer: That’s awesome.
Lexi Davidson: So, yeah. So that, I’m really into in terms of a product. I’m really into Spotify, because now we jam out to Spotify all day. That’s not really a good thing, but I really like it.
Juli Bauer: No, it can be whatever you want it to be. It is your thing.
Lexi Davidson: Collagen, Spotify playlist, and; let’s go with that.
14. Favorite paleo products [49:21]
Juli Bauer: Ok. Do you have any favorite paleo products that are out on the market right now that you find yourself eating regularly or just really love?
Lexi Davidson: Oh yeah, I feel like there are so many.
Juli Bauer: I just tried, this past week I made nachos with the Siete foods tortillas, because I love tortillas.
Lexi Davidson: Oh, yes. Their tortillas are amazing.
Juli Bauer: They’re so addicting!
Lexi Davidson: We eat them breakfast tacos on the regular.
Juli Bauer: They’re so addicting!
Lexi Davidson: But you know what, I don’t buy the chips, because I will just eat the whole bag. I just have the tortillas, and we have tacos all the time.
Juli Bauer: Yeah, I’ve been buying the chips and eating a bag a day. It’s a problem at this point.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. The nacho, or the lime.
Juli Bauer: I like the lime the best.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: I just love lime. I think lime and cilantro should go on every single food ever.
Lexi Davidson: Everything forever.
Juli Bauer: And I just tried, because I made nachos this past weekend, and I tried this brand called the Honest Stand; I think it’s called the Honest Stand.
Lexi Davidson: Oh, I don’t even know that.
Juli Bauer: It’s like a cheese sauce, and it’s made with cashews and potatoes, and they have a blue cheese, a nacho cheese. They have different cheese flavors.
Lexi Davidson: Wow; is it weird?
Juli Bauer: It’s so good. It’s so good.
Lexi Davidson: Ooh, I need that.
Juli Bauer: I try not to overdo it because I have a little allergy to cashews and almonds, but I just sprinkled, just kind of layered some on nachos and didn’t have any stomach issues. So good!
Lexi Davidson: That sounds like heaven.
Juli Bauer: I don’t know if they have it over on the east coast, but you should definitely look at that and try it, because I used it in a recipe it was good enough for that.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, I’m pumped to try that.
Juli Bauer: So good.
Lexi Davidson: Also; I like the Jackson’s Honest Chips; obviously, who doesn’t like those?
Juli Bauer: So bomb.
Lexi Davidson: What else? I like the; what does Steve’s Paleo have that I really like? Oh, I like his dried fruit.
Juli Bauer: Yes! Oh, the blueberries and strawberries?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, those are great because they have apple juice, I think, instead of sugar, which is obviously much better. A better option.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So I really like that for granola or baking or whatever, snacking.
Juli Bauer: Do you like to make; since you have some gluten-free grains, do you like to make granola with regular; like paleo granola with nuts, or do you like it with oats better? What kind do you make for yourself, personally?
Lexi Davidson: I have both in the book, and I love them both. I tend to make the one with the gluten free oats, because I can deal with it a little, and I just make huge batches of it, and give a jar to my mom; my mother-in-law. They just all love it, so I just tend to make that one more. But, Mike likes the one without the oats.
Juli Bauer: Jackson, ok. Calm down. Sorry; we have construction outside of our house, so he is barking at every single sound.
Lexi Davidson: Oh my god, yeah. They just tore down the house next to us.
Juli Bauer: Ugh!
Lexi Davidson: And they’re putting up condos, so Jax has been going bananas. But they stopped for lunch, so that’s why he’s not barking.
15. Favorite beauty products [52:27]
Juli Bauer: Ok, good. I’m hoping they’re stopping for lunch soon, too. OK, I have two more questions and then I want to get to a couple of the reader questions, because I asked people on Instagram to see if they had any questions for you. So, ok. Do you have any beauty products you’re into right now?
Lexi Davidson: Yes I do. I love the; well it’s not really beauty, but I love the Primally Pure deodorant.
Juli Bauer: Love. Obsessed.
Lexi Davidson: And I know you’ve talked about that. It’s like, so; I like that it goes on so easy. Because some of them don’t go on easy, and you have to like scrub it in, and it’s not cute.
Juli Bauer: That, and it’s not irritating.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, right.
Juli Bauer: I’ve tried many other ones that are super irritating, and that one’s not at all.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. So I really like that, but that’s more skin care. And it might sound like everyone’s talking about it, but honestly, I’ve always struggled with my skin, and since I’ve started using the Beautycounter products; along with my diet, obviously, it’s been the biggest game changer. I use the balancing oil, which I’m obsessed with. That’s one thing; I order it and stock up so I don’t run out of it; and the charcoal mask. And those two products, I really notice a difference in my skin with that.
Juli Bauer: That’s awesome.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: Do you sell any Beautycounter products? Have you tried selling it?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, I do. I don’t do it too intensely or anything.
Juli Bauer: Big time; yeah.
Lexi Davidson: But I talk about it, and when I talk about it link to it. So I do, I have a beauty page on my blog.
Juli Bauer: Sweet.
Lexi Davidson: But it’s not like a main focus.
Juli Bauer: Well that’s cool, because then if anybody hears this podcast they can go to www.LexisCleanKitchen.com and then find those products that you’re talking about.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, you’ll see; honestly, I can’t say enough good things, I love them so much.
16. Lexi’s biggest vice [54:06]
Juli Bauer: And, my last question; what is your biggest vice? What’s something you can’t say no to? And it could be an activity, it could be food. Whenever I think vice, I think food instantly, but it can really be whatever.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. I can’t say no to nachos or French fries.
17. Favorite places to eat in Boston [54:36]
Juli Bauer: So good. So good! Do you; and that actually kind of leads into my next question, a reader asked this. Let me just pull it up real fast to make sure I ask the right thing. Because she was asking about restaurants in Boston.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: So, then if anybody; yeah if anybody is listening in Boston. So she said, “Can you ask what are her favorite must eat places in Boston?”
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: And I don’t know if you have a blog post about that; but I’m sure there’s French fries on that list somewhere.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs} I don’t get the French fries regularly, but if a restaurant has the duck fat truffle fries.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: Or, I don’t know, something crazy like that, I can’t not order that.
Juli Bauer: Yeah, not just normal fries.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, yeah, normal fries I don’t eat. They have to be special. Yeah, so I actually don’t have a blog post on that, but I definitely should do one. So right outside the city in Waltham, there’s a restaurant called Tempo, and they have; the whole menu is available gluten free if it’s not gluten free, and the food is so good. Everything from Ahi tuna, to fish, meat, everything. It’s great; their drinks are reasonably priced. They even have gluten free Philly cheesesteak spring rolls.
Juli Bauer: Ugh!!
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, they use rice paper and they; obviously they fry it. But it’s even crunchier than the normal gluten free ones. So those are epic; a must order there, in my opinion. But yeah, the whole menu is available gluten free if it’s not already gluten free, even the dessert. So it’s really cool.
Juli Bauer: Awesome.
Lexi Davidson: So I love it there. if you want a nice dinner in Boston, Mistral which is like a French place, one of my favorite restaurants I think in this city. That’s really good; I mean, at least seafood, like Island Creek Oyster bar, you have to get the shrimp cocktail or oysters there. Those are a few of my favorites, for sure.
Juli Bauer: Love it. You should totally do a blog post about that!
Lexi Davidson: I know, I don’t know why I haven’t.
Juli Bauer: People love that. Because Boston is such a popular city, anyways, so people are traveling there all the time.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, I need to do that. It’s on my list.
18. Keto and macros [56:32]
Juli Bauer: Ok, let’s see. So we have a couple of different questions, and you mentioned keto so I think this is a good question. This woman said, portion control. “I can eat my heart out and never get full. How do you manage portions? And do you have a broad macro daily goals; like body weight in grams of protein, or capped fat and carbs?” That’s her question. So what do you think about macros, and what about keto? Because I know keto is all the craze right now, and I literally know nothing about keto other than seeing a man eat butter at a paleo event I was at, because he was keto. There were sweet potatoes, and he was like, no I’ll eat my sticks of butter I brought.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs}
Juli Bauer: So that’s all I know. So, macros and keto, what do you think about these two things?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. So, macros I don’t do. I can’t even think; first of all, I hate math and I hate numbers like that. I think I would make myself so crazy if I was like; “I have to measure out every ounce of food I’m eating, and I can only have this amount of carbs, and this amount of protein.” I would make myself so freaking crazy. It’s not for me. But with that said, and I personally don’t count my calories; and I always say this, because are like; oh, so you eat whatever you want. And that’s not necessarily true. I know there are 70 calories in an egg, so I know if I have 3 eggs and half an avocado, I can kind of figure out what that looks like, you know? So I don’t count calories, and I’m not overly conscious about it. I do eat a higher fat diet with coconut milk, and avocados and good oil and all that stuff. So I know I’m probably eating more calories, but I don’t stress macros.
I mean, and listen, that’s obviously not for everyone. I know people who do for workout training reasons or whatnot, and I totally get it. It’s just definitely not for me. But in terms of portion control, since I’ve been eating a higher fat, keto experiment; so the thing with what I’m doing with keto, which I will talk about soon, I’m just kind of seeing how my body reacts for another week or two before I talk about it. But I’m not doing a crazy intense; I mean, I eat generally lower carb, because I have Candida overgrowth; that’s another story for another time. So I eat a little lower carb anyway, but what I’ve been doing is like these powdered ketones. So basically, it puts the ketones directly into your blood, so you can be in ketosis without having to eat a crazy, crazy diet. Like, super high fat, super low carb. Which is really cool. It’s becoming more popular, and I’m definitely going to talk about it, because I swear, it’s changed my adrenals, I think it’s helped my mood, and my energy, and my mental clarity, and just overall inflammation, and I feel awesome. So I’m definitely going to talk about that.
But with that stuff, I feel like since I’m eating a little more fat, and a little more balanced meals throughout my actual meals, I don’t feel the need to snack. And I’m not; I don’t need to eat the whole bowl of, whatever the dish I’m making is. I just don’t have as much of a crazy appetite for it, so I think that kind of goes to show that if you’re eating a balanced meal or diet for your body, maybe it’s higher fat, maybe it’s lower carb, maybe it’s higher carb. Your body won’t necessarily need to eat as much or need to snack.
Juli Bauer: Yeah, that’s what’s so hard, is people want some sort of one lay out; one size fits all and that’s really not how diet works, especially with paleo. With portion control, I’ve found that I overeat when it’s things I shouldn’t be overindulging in. so when it’s like a dessert or the Siete foods chips, making nachos. If I just make a steak or chicken breast, and I make a huge side of veggies and I eat all the veggies, then I feel way more satisfied and full, and I don’t feel like I need to overeat. So I think that’s really helped with my own portion control.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, and that’s so true. What I’m overeating is if we do order truffle fries at the restaurant. I’m not overeating my salad, you know what I mean?
Juli Bauer: Yeah, for sure.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
19. Balancing food choices [1:01:01]
Juli Bauer: Ok, cool. This next question, and we talked about this a lot; she asks, “Balancing food, since her book isn’t totally paleo. It seems like both of you eat rice, or other grains; some articles on paleo says oats and other grains can mess with your body, so I’m curious about your thoughts on that, and how to make those decisions?”
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, so I have a little white rice in my book, and I do have one granola recipe that does have gluten free oats. I really think you have to listen to your body. I know, I feel like I always say that, but it’s true. When I eat oats; if it starts to feel like I’m more inflamed, or I feel like I’m not feeling good, then I’m going to cut that out. it’s really about seeing how you feel. If I eat white rice and I digest it fine; or I eat white rice and I’m not going to the bathroom for a day, then obviously white rice is out.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: Or at least for the time being until I figure out why.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So, it’s simply about figuring out the foods that work for you and that don’t; and even if it’s not a digestion thing. Foods that just don’t; where you don’t feel good.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: Like if you’re eating a lot of sugar, and you feel like crap; or you need to nap every day at 3 o’clock, obviously it’s probably something you’re eating.
Juli Bauer: Yeah. And I think that people; it’s not; with oats I’ll have gluten free granola, and I’ll have rice; but I don’t have these things every single day for multiple meals. And I try to balance it out that maybe one day I needed that because I had a really hard workout, but I just try not to overdo it. Because just like anything, after you heal the gut, if you add back those foods, and you add them back too much, you’re going to irritate that gut again. So if you clean out your diet, and you’re able to add those things back in, remember that moderation is really important, and it’s very helpful to keeping up with that health gut is moderating those foods that you still want to eat sometimes and you know are beneficial in some ways.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, and that’s so true. So, like for example, yesterday; whenever I have company over, we have friends over for like football or whatever, I have one gluten free pasta company that I really like, and it’s just made from rice. So I always make a huge thing of gluten free pasta with chicken sausage, like broccoli or spinach and veggies, with garlic, oil, and a little parmesan. And salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and it’s so good. So I’m like; ok, I’m going to put it on my blog because I make it all the time when people come over.
So, that was what I ate for dinner yesterday, and snacked on throughout the day, and I woke up this morning, and I was like; eh. My stomach isn’t loving me right now, so obviously I’m not going to go eat those leftovers, even though they’re sitting there and they look good.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So you know, I know that I could eat it in moderation once in a while, but I’m not going to overdo it and eat it for 3 meals for the next number of days because that obviously isn’t going to work.
Juli Bauer: Totally. And I feel like I get that way with rice pasta, too. I’ll make pasta; Bryan and I went on this kick of making pasta on Friday nights, gluten free pasta. But then I felt myself overeating it, and I don’t overeat when I’m just having chicken and vegetables, or whatever meat and vegetables. So I’m like; ok, I need to not do Friday night gluten free pasta night for a while, because obviously I’m getting a little out of control with my eating, and I need to take a step back. So I think it’s important to know those cues. You’re like; ok, I don’t feel great; I’m over eating, I need to cut this out for a little bit, try it back another time.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, totally. And you know what; I don’t often think about portion size, but with something like rice or pasta, when you look on the box and see what a serving size is. Or like ice cream is a really good example of this; a serving size of ice cream is like a fourth of a cup.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: Like, no one is eating a fourth of a cup of ice cream.
Juli Bauer: Never.
Lexi Davidson: So let’s be real about it.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So, you could see how you could really take it to the farm with that type of stuff.
20. Favorite knives [1:05:07]
Juli Bauer: Totally. Ok, let’s see. What was the last couple of questions. Oh, this question was, “What are your favorite knives? Do you use ceramic knives, or any certain company? What are the knives you use?”
Lexi Davidson: I love the Shun knives. I’ve tried the Wusthof, I’ve tried all of them, and I think the Shun are the sharpest, they last the longest. I’m just obsessed with them.
Juli Bauer: Oh, I’ve never tried those. I don’t even know if I’ve heard of those.
Lexi Davidson: Oh my god. S-H-U-N. You need to try them. They have them at like Crate and Barrel; everywhere, Amazon. They’re the bomb.
Juli Bauer: Ok cool. Ok, I’m going to try that. Because I do, I just have Wusthof. I just bought those real quick when we moved into our house. And I feel like they get dull pretty quickly.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, I have a few of those, and it’s night and day.
Juli Bauer: Is it? Ok.
Lexi Davidson: Like the sharpness, yeah. For sure.
Juli Bauer: Ok, that’s good to know. I’ll have to try those.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
21. Favorite quick breakfast [1:06:00]
Juli Bauer: What is your kind of favorite go-to breakfast that’s quick?
Lexi Davidson: Well, right now, I really, with the Siete tortillas, I’ll make two scrambled eggs, a little smashed avocado, hot sauce, and a Siete tortilla; and it’s quicker than it sounds. And I love; if I’m thinking, realistically; like when I was teaching what I did, because I obviously work from home so I have a little more flexibility in my breakfast than many people do. But when I was teaching and I was running out the door, I would always make a big frittata, and just cut it up and bring it with me. Just eat it in the car of when I got to work.
Juli Bauer: Yeah. That’s what I do for my husband, since he’s out the door early.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, it’s so easy.
Juli Bauer: Just a frittata, cut it up into different squares so you can just put it in a to-go; like, Tupperware, and just pack it. And then you have like 4 days in a row, ready to go.
Lexi Davidson: And also, it’s like you could have sweet potato; you could have bacon, or sausage or whatever in it; so it makes it so easy to run out the door and have a full meal rather than having a side of sweet potatoes, two scrambled eggs; yada, yada, yada.
Juli Bauer: Agreed. I think the casseroles and frittatas are the way to go for breakfast, because then it’s a few days in a row ready to go.
Lexi Davidson: For sure. I also do like chia pudding, and you can make that the night before and throw it in the fridge. But I don’t find myself wanting that all the time.
Juli Bauer: Yeah. And I like chia pudding, but I like it more as a side dish. I need a little bit more substantial food, personally.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: I need a little bit more meat or protein in the morning.
Lexi Davidson: Totally. I hear you.
22. Food photography tips [1:07:36]
Juli Bauer: Ok. Last question from a reader; “Would love to know how you;” Sorry, this is not worded. “If you are doing your own photography on your blog, and how did you improve it. I’m a portrait photographer, but food photography is kicking my ass.”
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, it’s definitely its own beast. And if you; I laugh because I’m re-photographing basically the entire year of 2013 on my blog, and it’s actually painful to look at.
Juli Bauer: I can’t believe you’re doing that. I don’t want to go back and f*cking redo all those recipes.
Lexi Davidson: I know, but you know what; the recipes are great and I don’t share them because the photos are so ugly.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So I’m like; you know what, now if I re-photograph them, and then I share them; it’s like they’re reborn.
Juli Bauer: It looks like a new recipe, too.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: It’s a new recipe. And then it’s like I’m testing it again, which is always good. So I’m just loving it, and kind of having fun with it, because my photos were so crazy bad. So I do shoot my own food, and so natural light for me is critical. For food I don’t think you could try; well, you can but I don’t personally like how it looks when you use artificial lighting for food. I think it looks really fake. But having some backdrops are key; like some go-to backdrops. You can get some at Home Depot you could make; I mean, you could get really crafty, or you cannot and just buy some wooden planks at Home Depot and just figure it out; or some tile. But having those really helps set the stage for the photographs.
I also use white cardboard just foam core pieces to bounce the light off of each other.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So if I have a darker area, I’ll throw a bounce board over there if I want it bright. So natural light; I used to shoot with a Canon Rebel, and what was my lens? Maybe a 50 macro? Macro is great for food photography. And now I shoot with the Canon 5D Mark III, with the 24-70 lens, and I have 100 mm, but honestly I haven’t used it since I got the 24-70/2.8. I love that lens. So I upgraded my situation, but you don’t necessarily have to upgrade your stuff. I mean, I do think a good lens is important to really have good food photography, but I definitely think, even just doing a Google search of ISO and figuring out what it’s going to be at to blur the background or not is always good little tools to have in your back pocket. But natural light, bounce board, good backdrop, and a macro lens for food.
Juli Bauer: And I think, looking at what I kind of do for my own food photos; because I do the same stuff. I have no idea with lens stuff; I just use automatic and point and click {laughs}. But I think looking at people’s photos for inspiration for why does this photo look so beautiful. So I’ll always look at Half Baked Harvest of how she put kind of certain pieces in certain areas; something in the background or how she laid out a napkin a certain way. So I think you can get a lot of inspiration from other people on Pinterest, and as you’re learning to set up photos, kind of, why did they put things in certain areas and why did it attract you to that photo, I think is really important to kind of see as you’re just getting the hang of it. And then it will become second nature and you won’t’ really even have to do that.
Lexi Davidson: Oh, definitely. I always look at inspo. I’m like; ok, I have no idea how I want to photograph that, let me Google something, or Google a keyword, and then I’m like; “Oh, I love that.” “Oh, I don’t love that; so let me try this.” And kind of play around.
Juli Bauer: Yeah.
Lexi Davidson: So yeah, definitely getting inspiration. I was going to say one more thing and now I’m trying to remember what I was going to say.
Juli Bauer: I’m looking at your photos right now; your website right now, and they’re just so beautiful.
Lexi Davidson: Oh yeah, now I remember. I also feel like styles evolve. I used to shoot with so many props, and now I’m going for more of a minimalist, kind of letting the food and textures speak for themselves.
Juli Bauer: Yeah. Love it! That’s awesome.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah.
Juli Bauer: It’s so fun; and I’m looking at your photos right now. So if you guys haven’t checked out Lexi, check out Lexi on www.lexiscleankitchen.com; you can find her on social media. Is all your social media Lexi’s Clean Kitchen?
Lexi Davidson: Yeah. Pinterest is Lexi’s Clean Kitch, and so is Twitter, because they can’t fit the “-en.” But if you just start tying Lexi’s Clean Kitchen, it will come up.
23. Recipes on the blog you should definitely try [1:12:20]
Juli Bauer: And do you have any recipes right now that you think people should absolutely go try. Any new ones.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, the ones I posted yesterday, the Mediterranean veggie fritters; we’ve literally made them over and over and over and over again; they are awesome. Amazing flavor; you could bake them or pan fry them. And I don’t like beets, and I’m obsessed with these.
Juli Bauer: They look really good. I just saw that on your social media.
Lexi Davidson: Those I love. What else? What else?
Juli Bauer: Do you have any fun cocktails, because I feel like people are always looking for cocktails.
Lexi Davidson: Yes I do! I love fun cocktails. The gin, which is the one I just posted, let me look really quick. The raspberry gin cocktail.
Juli Bauer: I just saw that photo! That looks so pretty.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, the citrus punch one is great for a crowd, and what is this one called? I don’t even know what it’s called. Oh, the cantaloupe ginger cocktail is so good for the summer.
Juli Bauer: Awesome. I’m so excited for summer and warm heat. And to make cocktails. Because I think cocktails are super fun to make. I don’t even like cocktails that much.
Lexi Davidson: Yeah, and you have to have a sip during the day, and it’s like; sorry.
Juli Bauer: Yeah, sorry I had to. And this chocolate mousse looks really good.
Lexi Davidson: That one is really good. We played with that a lot. We tried avocado mousse, which I’m not like; not the biggest fan.
Juli Bauer: No. I have that on my blog {laughs}.
Lexi Davidson: It’s like too creamy. No, but I love the idea of it, and I like it; but something about the texture to me is almost too creamy and avocado; does that make sense.
Juli Bauer: Yeah, because you’re like, oh I’m eating an avocado, and I’d rather be eating this on f*cking chips, not in a chocolate mousse.
Lexi Davidson: {laughs} Exactly. I mean, I still like it. So that one we make like a meringue with egg whites and incorporate the chocolate, it’s just like really airy.
Juli Bauer: It looks so good; I totally need to make that.
Lexi Davidson: Yes. Yes, yes.
Juli Bauer: Ok, so everybody go check out Lexi. You can find Lexi’s Clean Kitchen, her cookbook, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble; I mean, it’s all over the place just like any of those cookbooks, you can find them at small local bookstores as well, so you can always ask them. But if you just go to her website, www.lexiscleankitchen.com, it has her cookbook there so you can just grab it there, and then you can get all of her awesome recipes and the new photos that she’s shooting. So even more awesome recipes coming out.
Lexi Davidson: yeah.
Juli Bauer: So thank you so much for coming on, Lexi!
Lexi Davidson: Thank you for having me. This was so much fun.
Juli Bauer: You’re just the best.
Lexi Davidson: You are.
Juli Bauer: Thanks for being here. Guys, go check out her dog, because it’s the most adorable dog in the world. And love Lexi, she’s the best. Thanks Lexi!
Lexi Davidson: Thank you!
Juli Bauer: I hope to have you on again. We’ll have you on with Cassy and Vanessa, and we’ll all have just a girl party.
Lexi Davidson: Oh, let’s do it. I love it.
Juli Bauer: {laughs} Ok, sounds good. Thanks guys. don’t for get to rate, review, and subscribe to PaleOMG Uncensored, whatever my podcast name is. And leave a review; I like hearing from you, but only if it’s positive. Let’s spread positivity in this world guys.
Lexi Davidson: I love it.
Juli Bauer: Talk to you later. Bye!
Hey Juli!
I follow you on bloglovin and maybe you’ve addressed this, so sorry if I’m repeating what others have mentioned, but your latest blog post on there is your orange theory post from February.
Thanks!
not sure, i haven’t changed anything on my end. but you can always find all my blog posts here!
Ok thanks…i played around on bloglovin and attempted to contact them via the “report blog” option. I found out soon enough that I can’t add a comment or post a question if I press the “other” option. I’m sorry if you receive a notification that your blog is reported as inappropriate-i found the support and explained what’s going on in my feed-I let them know I unintentionally reported your blog too! So sorry!
Loved this episode! Lexi is so real and smart. Thanks, Juli!!!!
she really is!
Loving your podcast, Juli! You asked Lexi what her favorite knife is. I’m wondering what your favorite everyday pan is. One that is safe, relatively inexpensive and can be used several times a day. Do you have a fav?? Thanks!
my fav is a cast iron skillet. it’s not an overly expensive pan and i use it every single day with all kinds of different food.
Can’t wait to listen, Juli! I really look forward to your podcast every week – keep it going, girl!
This is totally unrelated to this podcast, but have you been to Seattle? Any great restaurant recs there if so? (I know of your love of portland restaurants). My hubby and I are planning a trip for June, and it will be planned around food, whale watching, and hiking… but mostly food. 🙂
Thanks!
you know, I haven’t really had a ton of great food in Seattle, sadly. the only two restaurants i’ve been to and liked enough to talk about within my blog posts are Local 360 and Hot Cakes
First of all, I feel like I found a long lost sister. I almost cried when I read the beginning of your cookbook because I too have a VERY real obsession with food that started in my early years. I love cooking, reading recipes, eating and talking about food. My vacations are actually just a progression of meals and food with MAYBE some culture… but mostly, it’s the food. So thanks for making me feel normal and that I can do this Paleo thing. I did a strict whole 30 for 45 days and am now trying to stick to it at least 80% of the time.
OK – on this podcast, y’all talked about some non-paleo foods that you sometimes have (rice, gluten free pasta) that make you not feel good. I know I feel great when I’m doing my 2/3rds veggie, 1/3 protein with fat plate, so i’m not arguing to banish that plan, but I had a bagel today and felt good. WTH. Not to hope for pain and being uncomfortable, but… Lord knows I don’t need to be eating bagels!! I took a bagel & pretzel making class last week expecting the kids would eat them all and they hadn’t so I thought I’d try one, just to see my mastery… Who am I kidding, I knew when I signed up for the class that I’d eat one. I’m not mad at myself about it (that’s my biggest take away from my whole 30), but I think it’s weird that I had no reaction.
if you don’t have celiac and when you’ve healed your gut, you’re less likely to have those issues when you do eat them. i am the same way and can get away with a few bites of gluten (i don’t go farther than that, don’t want to test the theory) but before my gut was healed, i couldn’t get away with it at all