Back from Chicago... didn't know I would meet Bob Harper!!!

Well, I am back from a fabulous weekend in Chicago!  The weather was perfect for shopping on Michigan Avenue in December.  We had some great dinners, great conversations, and even got to visit St. Peter's church for mass.  Here is a picture of the Wrigley Building... Beautiful!

We shopped all day Saturday, I was very excited to find a Coast Burger that served grass fed burgers!  We need one in Wisconsin. We went to mass, followed by an Italian dinner.  Are you all scratching your heads right now?  Italian?  Yes, I said Italian!  This trip was a birthday present from the best husband in the world, back in September.  The Italian dinner was my night off to celebrate  which was a little odd but nonetheless fun. The food was good but my body really does not handle pasta and heavy sauces like it used to.  I felt even better about my decision to eliminate these things from my diet after that dinner.

 We returned to the room, threw on our jammies and planned to watch a movie.  As I waited for the other ladies to get ready, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw that THE Bob Harper was headed to a restaurant 1 mile away.  If you know me, you know that I adore this man.  I have been watching the Biggest Loser for a couple of years now and he seems to be one of the most caring people on the show.  He has some tough competition this year from Dolvett, great guy too!  I have started watching the BL this season with a different perspective. I find myself analyzing and critiquing how they tell the contestants to eat.   I would think that they would be exploring all dietary theories, all the time, to stay ahead of the game.    All you hear on the show is that it is about calories in and calories out (that was Jillian's big thing). Have I mentioned that I don't think about calories in or out anymore? They are eating low fat or no fat foods. They are eating egg whites versus the whole egg. They eat whole wheat everything.  It has been a downer watching this season because of the knowledge I am gaining about Paleo living.  Advertising money will unfortunately never allow them to change.


So, Operation Stalker started!!  (He's the one that put it on FB and Twitter!)  We went to the restaurant and I immediately spotted him.  We ordered a drink and sat down and waited and waited and waited.... waited a little bit more until it was time!  All that ran through my head was what I was going to say to him.  Without much thought I knew it would be to get him to say he loved bacon too!  Seriously, what could be better right?  We stood outside waiting for him to exit and let me tell you I was nervous!  We got our picture taken and he headed for his cab.  As he was walking away, I asked him "Can I get you to say one thing?"  He looked at me funny, who wouldn't.. and I said "Will you say I heart bacon?"  Yep, I went there.  He hesitantly said, "I heart bacon".  That's when I proceeded to tell him that I am living the Paleo Lifestyle.  He responded with "I can't really say this publicly, but we (he and his girlfriend?) are all about Paleo".  Wooo Hoooo, I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  Here is this public figure whose whole focus is health and nutrition admitting that he is all for the Lifestyle I have chosen to live.  On the flip side, it is sad that he is not able to share this information with the public.  Certainly not a way I would want to live my life.  Deep down I am hoping that once contracts are up, he can ditch the stupid oatmeal commercials, nutritionally (yes it is a word) coach the BL contestants in a way that makes more sense, and become an idol in my eyes once again.  There is a gentlemen that I follow and get a lot of information from and his name is Sean Croxton.  He uses the phrase "The Dark Side" in a lot of his work and has even titled his book "The Dark Side of Fat Loss".  With those words, I invite you Bob... to the Dark Side! 

Overall, it was a great weekend.  Bill did amazing with the kids.  I received a picture of every Paleo meal that they ate.  He even made some Paleo chocolate chip cookies!  It really is awesome having a fully supportive husband in all of this.  What makes it easier for him, is seeing how great the kids have been.  Charlie ate dinner last night without fuss for the like the first time ever!  The only time he didn't argue with me was if I was serving pizza.  I made a roast, and I sat in awe as he ate every little bit of it.  Another success down in the Sturm History books.

 

Thanks for listening... did you try to Paleoize any of your meals this weekend?  If so, what were they?  Let us know!

Remember to hit "Join this Site" to be a part of this process... interesting stuff coming up next week... we are going on vacation.  Paleo all you can eat buffets?... doubt it!