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Hey guys! I guest posted on my Paleo diet success story over at my friend Tamara's blog today. I'd love if you'd go check it out.

  Wow, I can't believe I'm through my Whole30 already! Once I got into a groove with it, it seemed to just zip by. My main goals for this Whole 30 were to: Feel as good as I could during this pregnancy. My energy levels were very low. Maximize my nutrition for this pregnancy. I feel like I accomplished both of these. My energy levels definitely went up after the first week of Whole30 and my nutrition was amazing . I'd already been eating Paleo, but I'd fallen into a terrible food rut this pregnancy. I was eating the same things over and over. Variety is huge in getting great nutrition whether eating Paleo, eating for a healthy pregnancy, or just healthy eating in general! I was not getting much variety. I used this Whole30 as a way to focus on getting variety back into my diet. My kitchen overflowed with different kinds of berries, kale, red kale, swiss chard, red chard, collard greens, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, spaghetti squash,...

Long time no update! Wow, this pregnancy is flying by. You might want to grab a cup of coffee, I have a LOT to update on! Well, let's see, since my last update at 16 weeks...  I've been doing Whole30 and my nutrition is amazing on that. I have been tracking to ensure I'm getting all my nutrition right because I have stopped taking a prenatal. Every one I try gives me gas. TMI, I know. I think it's because many of the whole food ones contain brown rice, etc. Luckily with Whole30 all of my daily values are at or well above where they need to be.  My workouts have gotten better. I'm being much more consistent and this week have even been able to up the intensity a bit. I've also added in yoga more. It just feels fabulous right now. My energy levels are better and overall I feel pretty good. At 21 weeks I had an ultrasound... but baby wouldn't cooperate. So, we still don't know the gender. I've been reluctant to do much shopping because it...

Seventh Generation's new BioBased Certified products. For the past year and a half (since going Paleo) I've been diligent about cleaning up the foods my family consumes. Out went the junk food and in came the healthy, clean, whole foods. Something has been nagging at me though: while I've managed to clean up the foods and drinks we consume I have not taken on the task of cleaning up what we put on the outside of our bodies! I've started to  reconsider what's inside  the products my family routinely applies to their skin. When cleaning the junk out of our lives it was easy to forget the things we were applying directly to our skin. Lately I've been reading more about the junk they add to many common personal care products. Why would I want to keep applying these harsh chemicals to myself and my kids?!  I've swapped the harsh chemical and additive laden products that normally populated our bathroom for Seventh Generation's BioBased products. I...

Post pregnancy belly wrapping is not a new concept. In fact, it's something that women from cultures all over the world have been doing for centuries. Modern versions of post pregnancy wraps are quite advanced, but the concept is the same: postnatal wrapping is intended to help new moms recover and heal. What is post-pregnancy belly wrapping? Postpartum Belly wrapping (also called postnatal binding) is the practice of using gentle compression to aid in recovery after giving birth. Why wrap? In the first six weeks following birth, whether a woman delivers vaginally or by cesarean, the body goes through a significant recovery and healing process. Belly wraps have been used for centuries by women all over world to aid in this healing process. Belly wrapping can help: shrink and re-position  their uterus after birth  reduce bloating in the abdominal area caused by water retention provide additional support to the abdominal area and core muscles to help improve po...

  Week 2 of my Whole30 went very well. I feel great! No more headaches, no real cravings to speak of... Well, I did crave sauerkraut one day, but I think that was more pregnancy related and not really Whole30 related. My meals were very similar to my Week 1 meals: Breakfast was generally a veggie omelet or scramble with some fruit. Lunch was either a huge green salad (with protein, like chicken, on top of course), egg salad, leftovers, or tuna salad . Dinner was some incarnation of meat and veggies. Paleo Spaghetti is one of my standbys and favorites. I tried the Riced Cauliflower recipe from The Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook this week. It's. Amazing. This week I was curious how my nutrition was on Whole30. Being pregnant, that was my number one reason for doing this Whole30. I tracked my food in an app a couple of days and was excited to see that my nutrition is AMAZING. It's what I'd expected, but still reassuring to see.  M...

I can't believe February is gone already! But, I'm glad that it's time again for my favorite twitter chat. March's  #PaleoChat will be this Wednesday, March, 6th at 9 PM Eastern Time. This month I'm so excited to have my first ever guest co-host: Dee from Primal Beauty Queen !  Chat questions will be coming from Dee, so be sure you follow her on twitter: @ThePBQ . Our topic this month will the The Whole30. Ever done a Whole30? Many? Doing one now? Wanting to do a Whole30? Join us!  Two lucky chat participants will win their own copies of It Starts With Food! (Giveaways are open to US Residents only). A huge thank you to Victory Belt for supplying the books for this month's giveaways! I will be announcing giveaway winners during the chat, so be sure you follow me on twitter as well: @KerriOlkjer . I hope to see you there!

Hey guys! I'm excited to be featured over at Another Mother Runner today. I'd love if you'd go check it out. I'm chatting about running, weight loss, and overcoming my negative bent.

Week one of doing The Whole30 pregnant surprised me. I went into this thinking it would be a piece of cake (not real cake of course). As I was already eating Paleo I expected no withdrawal symptoms, no bumps at all really. I expected to clean up my diet a little and go on my merry little way. Uh, wake up call. My diet had definitely strayed farther than I realized! If for no other reason than shining a light on that this Whole30 is worth it. My eats for the week looked something like this: Whole30 Breakfasts Coffee with my Paleo creamer recipe . Kept before noon of course. Most mornings were eggs from my chickens with veggies, fruit, and some good fats. This was my I'm-too-lazy-to-cook morning. I was glad I'd boiled 2 dozen eggs on Sunday. Whole30 Lunches My Paleo tuna salad with baby spinach and a pink lady apple. Yum. Love this easy lunch. Paleo egg salad with baby spinach and a mandarin. This recipe will be up soon. So good. Whole30 Di...

Why do I make my own mayo? Well, have you read the back of a mayo bottle? They're often made with soybean or canola oils and lots of other things I'm not crazy about. I've been playing around with my original Paleo Mayo recipe and really like this new version.  I still prefer my original recipe for  chicken salad  and similar dishes, but this new recipe  goes very well with some other recipes I've been working on. Especially egg salad, devilled eggs, Paleo veggie dip, and various Paleo salad dressings. (All of those recipes will be coming soon!)  Paleo Mayo Ingredients 1 pasteurized egg 1 tsp mustard 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (I prefer Bragg Raw Apple Cider Vinegar ) 1/2 tsp sea salt 1 cup Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil ( NOT extra virgin olive oil, just light tasting. Cannot stress this enough. Extra virgin just will not taste right! ) OR walnut oil also works nicely Directions Blend the egg in your blender. About a minute. Add the apple c...