Homesick In Minneapolis

Minneapolis_Skyline_by_SREphoto[photo]

We’re in Minneapolis for some work-related stuff, and I’m homesick. I am one hundred percent ready to go home. But it’s not all bad…

The Good Stuff

Well Fed 2
Well Fed 2: More Paleo Recipes For People Who Love To Eat
is on the presses at Bang Printing right now! Yesterday, Dave and I did the press check – which means the pressmen showed us sample pages so we could approve the color balance – and we saw a giant stack of the first 5000 pages of Well Fed 2. It was very exciting – and also a little nerve wracking!

Best-Quality People
Last night, we got to hang out with the fabulous and inspiring Jen Sinkler, her equally badass husband (New husband! They just got married on Saturday.) Dave Dellanave, and Mark Schneider, my new trainer who has turned out to be an invaluable source of information, encouragement, wise thinking, and laughs. He’s a treasure. I’m heading into The Movement Minneapolis this afternoon to workout with Mark before I get on the plane back to Austin. Can’t wait to visit the gym and train with Mark in person!

Whole Foods
We’re on Day 14 of our Whole30+elimination diet, and Whole Foods pretty much kept us going on this trip. Because we can’t have vinegar (except cider), paprika, cayenne, or eggs – in addition to all the things ruled out by the Whole30 – we really can’t eat in restaurants. The salad bar and burger grill at Whole Foods totally saved us, but also…

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The Stuff I’m Totally Over

Eating Out Of A Cooler Bag
We’ve eaten Whole Foods grilled burgers (with salt and pepper) and salad (with cider vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil) about six times in the last three and a half days. Sometimes we ate them at the table in the Whole Foods, and sometimes we brought them back to our hotel – or stuck them in the cooler bag to reheat in a microwave later (sexy!). That’s been supplemented by raw cashews, cucumbers, carrots, grapes, and protein like roast turkey and roast beef from the Whole Foods deli counter. As I type this, I realize it doesn’t sound that bad, but I have to tell you, friends, I’m. over. it. The hotel has a microwave and a fridge, so we had the “treat” of a nuked sweet potato last night. That’s how desperate we are for something that tastes like home. I’m working on a whole blog post on our experience so you can use it as a guide next time you’re in a nutrition pinch on the road. Eating this way has definitely fed our bodies, but has not nourished us in other ways; it’s an interesting experience to feel physically satiated but emotionally unsatisfied, and it’s made me realize just how fortunate we are to eat as well as we do most of the time.

Supplements. Oh, Supplements!
We are taking a shit-ton of supplements – and they need to be taken at certain times of day, with food and without. Some taste terrible; others are just capsules. The routine starts the moment I wake up and need to take my thyroid hormones and continues to breakfast (within an hour of waking up, please), mid-morning (with no food), lunch, dinner, and bedtime – with a mid-afternoon “remember to take the other half of your thyroid medication” reminder. Over. it.

The Morning Pages
Dave and I are taking a 12-week course of The Artist’s Way with my favorite Kundalini teacher Robin. Part of The Artist’s Way is writing Morning Pages: three stream-of-consciousness journal pages every day. I violently dislike doing it – which probably means it’s very good for me. But so far, it’s a task that makes me wrinkle my nose and suck it up.

Finally: I Miss Smudge.

smudge

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Comments

  • kelli says:

    Try Brasa for some fabulous meat !!!

    • Mel says:

      We ate there last time. Loved it!

    • Mel says:

      So… we called Brasa, but all of their meats included some form of pepper (cayenne, paprika) that we can’t eat on our elimination diet. I almost started crying on the phone when the super nice woman read me the ingredients lists.

      It is, however, an AWESOME place if you’re just doing a regular Whole30. Very clean food and it’s delicious!

  • Lydia says:

    Every time I see a post here I’m reminded of how much I love your new ‘do and it makes me all wiggly and happy. Also, neckties are effing awesome.

  • Lydia says:

    Holy Crap.

    +FOLLOW

  • Anne Allen says:

    Smudge is adorable! I have a hard time leaving my furry babies. I made that zucchini soup this weekend from the WF class and my boyfriend went nuts. I see alot of zucchini soup in my future!

  • michelle says:

    So crazy excited for the new cookbook. Your first one is the only one I had when I began my paleo journey. It is still my favorite go to cookbook and I cherish all the food stained pages.

    I have traveled while doing just the whole 30 and damn that was a challenge.

    I would miss smudge too, what a cutie.

  • Tanya says:

    So sorry you’re homesick. I would have invited you over for dinner. Last night was green curry and cauliflower rice. Safe travels home!

  • Hannah says:

    Oh! I miss Minneapolis so much! My family lived there for several years. I love the WFs there too but check out the co-ops. The Wedge near downtown is a favorite of mine.

    • Mel says:

      We went to The Wedge today after my workout — The Movement Minneapolis is right across the street! The prepared foods deli in the back had roast chicken with basil, garlic, and olive oil, so we got a break from Whole Foods burgers. YAY!

  • Linda Sand says:

    If you haven’t left yet, try to fit in a trip to The Wedge co-op on Lyndale Avenue just south of Franklin. You won’t be sorry except for how little you’ll be able to bring back home with you.

  • Kel says:

    I can’t believe you and I were THIS close and I didn’t see you! Maybe on a book signing tour some day :).

  • DJDeeJay says:

    I read The Artist’s Way a few years back and also did the morning pages. It’s surprising how hard it is to write 3 pages without stopping, and also how long it takes. (20-30 minutes for 3 pages? Why?) But I’m interested to hear more about your process and relationship with that book as make your way through it.

    Good luck with the diet! It definitely sounds frustrating so I give you mad props for sticking with it. That takes a LOT of self-discipline.

    • Mel says:

      I NEVER write this much by hand — my right wrist is sore from writing three pages every day for a week. LAME!

      I got about 2/3 of the way through the book back in 2008, then abandoned it. I’m curious to see how this experience differs. Incorporating yoga and meditation is pretty cool.

      I think it’s not so much discipline getting me through this diet as it is sheer stubbornness. I just REFUSE to falter.

  • jennie says:

    We did the autoimmune paleo diet in hopes of helping my 3 year old son. It totally changed his behavior! Even people who only saw us in the waiting room at the speech therapist noticed the drastic improvement. However, we had to take it one step farther with the GAPS diet to see the health results we were hoping for. I hope that you will have marked improvement and thank you sooooooo much for your cookbooks!!!

  • Linnea says:

    I wish I knew you were in town and the butcher and I would have had you both over for dinner. Bang Printing is just down the road from where I grew up and I worked for them for awhile. Such a small world.
    I think a book signing is required in Minneapolis.

  • Diana says:

    Ahhhhhhh you were in Minneapolis! Next time you miss Smudge, I have 3 furbabies you could come get a fix with 🙂 I was also going to suggest the Wedge – I used to live on the other side of their alley, and my crossfit has a location 2 blocks form there and Brasa is just across the street at the other location! You are in my hood, girl 😉 Would totally love to see you at a book signing!

  • You mean deep fried oreo and cheese curds isn’t Whole30 compliant??! I do *love* Minneapolis though, food or no food, it’s one of my favorite cities – and beautiful at this time of year.

    Speaking of not eating in Minnesota, when I went to camp in Minnesota in middle school – French camp, yes, nerd – I was so put off by the water tasting like quarters because of the high mineral content, that I drank nothing but milk for two weeks and got very sick. The food, for camp food however, was delicious – they cooked different meals from all the French speaking areas of the world, and was, in my recollection, formidable.

    • Mel says:

      We really, really like Minneapolis a lot. And the last time we visited, we did some really good eating, even though we were being Whole30 compliant. Brasa was awesome.

      CHESSE CURDS! When I did my book tour for Rollergirl: Totally True Tales From The Track in 2007, before I found paleo and CrossFit, I got cheese curds at a Culver’s drive thru. By the next freeway exit, they were gone, so we stopped at the NEXT exit, and went through THAT Culver’s drive thru for another order.

      Those were the days.

  • Tom Matchinsky says:

    Mark is pretty awesome, isn’t he? He’s helped me with lots of things including my lame-ass un-mobile joints many times and is just an all-around gem.

    Sorry you couldn’t do Brasa. It’s pretty much the sh*t. I could seriously eat there every day. If you’re ever back in the Oct – May range, go to the St. Paul location and have the Brussels sprouts. They are absolutely amazing. And then please figure out how they make them and include them in WF3!

  • Diannah says:

    Shoot! Had I known you were in the cities I would have cooked you a meal and brought it to you! Least I could have done after all the joy WF has brought us!

  • Diannah Robertson says:

    you’re on! 🙂

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