My February (& March) Whole30: Days 21 - 27

In the homestretch now!  Thursday is my last day, I can't believe it.

Day 21 - Tuesday 3/1/16

• Breakfast: Chai tea with a clementine
• Lunch: Leftover Grandma Barbara's Stuffed Mushrooms from Practical Paleo
• Dinner: Leftover pan fried chicken with an almond meal crust (similar to this) dipped in a quick homemade ranch (similar to this) with zucchini noodles tossed in a pesto sauce and cucumber tomato salad
• Sleep: 7.5 hours
• Workout: 2.25 mi dog walk/run + CrossFit Barbell Club
• 1000m row when I got there just for fun
• Participated in the after party with the class before:
• 4 Minute Tabata (20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest)
• Even: Handstand Hold
• Odd: Russian Twists
• Barbell Club - Jerks:
• 6x1 hold dip for 3 seconds, then come back to neutral position and do a push press, I worked up to 95
• 7x1 split jerk, then step only front foot in, rerack, and do another jerk back into full split position, I believe I only got up to 85
• 7x2 heavy split jerks, I made it up to 115.  I hadn't done heavy jerks in a while and I'm not super comfortable in the split position, but they felt great.
• Thoughts: I wasn't super hungry for bfast in the morning so I skipped it, but then I was starving in the late afternoon after eating plenty for lunch!  It sort of felt like skipping it threw me off all day.  I definitely felt the lack of caffeine from no coffee after lunch, but I pushed through and felt more energized once I left work and got outside with Carmela and Butler.

Day 22 - Wednesday 3/2/16

• Breakfast: Green tea with some apple chicken sausage and sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms, and spinach
• Lunch: Leftover pan fried chicken with an almond meal crust (similar to this) dipped in a quick homemade ranch (similar to this) with zucchini noodles tossed in a pesto sauce
• Dinner: Slow Cooker Korean Beef (recipe called for short ribs, but I used a chuck roast that I already had in the freezer) that I served with Cauliflower Fried Rice and some kimchi in a Korean "Burrito" Bowl
• Sleep: 7 hours
• Workout: I'm sore, rest day.
• Thoughts: I slept like the dead last night and didn't have too much trouble getting out of bed bright and early to prep the beef for the crockpot.  I had made the sauce ahead of time, but I broiled the meat at 6 am!  It turned out great, dinner was delicious.  Day 2 of no coffee and I was definitely feeling an afternoon slump.  I also had a slight headache when I went to bed.

Day 23 - Thursday 3/3/16

• Breakfast: Chai tea with some apple chicken sausage and sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms, and spinach
• Lunch: Leftover Slow Cooker Korean Beef with Cauliflower Fried Rice and some kimchi in a Korean "Burrito" Bowl and some super sweet raspberries 
• Dinner: Leftover pan fried chicken with an almond meal crust (similar to this) with guacamole
• Sleep: 7.5 hours
• Workout: Nope
  
• Thoughts: Thought I'd wake up and feel better, but I still had a slight headache :/  It lasted all day but was only a dull pain and never got worse.  I tried to avoid taking any meds for it since it was so minor and I wanted to see if it would pass...

Day 24 - Friday 3/4/16

• Breakfast: Lemon ginger tea and 2 clementines
• Lunch: Leftover Slow Cooker Korean Beef with Cauliflower Fried Rice and some kimchi in a Korean "Burrito" Bowl and raspberries
• Snack: Green juice from Trader Joe's (like the bitter kind that is loaded with greens and barely any fruit)
• Dinner: Left work a little early and picked up the handful of ingredients I needed to make this Leftover Roast Chicken Soup with Roasted Vegetables
• Sleep: 7 hours
• Workout: Dying on the couch
• Thoughts: I woke up in the middle of the night with a raging headache and a sore throat.  WHAT THE HECK?!  I couldn't fall back asleep for over an hour :(  I took some ibuprofen in the middle of the night and thankfully woke up without a headache.  I went to work but was feeling pretty crappy all day.  I didn't have much of an appetite so I only ate half my lunch.  I knew once I stopped moving, I was going to crash, so I forced myself to stop at Trader Joe's and make soup when I got home.  As soon as I was done, I didn't leave the couch until I went to bed.

Day 25 - Saturday 3/5/16

• Brunch: 2 mandarins and a bowl of Leftover Roast Chicken Soup with Roasted Vegetables
• Snacks: Green smoothie from Trader Joe's (different from yesterdays juice and tasted beyond sweet), a coconut cream pie Larabar and a banana
• Dinner: Ordered takeout from Outback, I got prime rib and a mix of carrots, broccoli, and zucchini.  After walking around the Flower Show all day and driving home from Philly, the last thing I wanted to do was fix dinner.  Thankfully I remembered that there's an Outback right around the corner from our house and their online ordering made it so easy for me to customize my order to be compliant.  I'm glad to have this option.

• Sleep: 12 hours!  I needed it.
• Workout: Tons of walking around the Flower Show, my legs were so exhausted
• Thoughts: I was feeling much better than the day before, but I was really struggling by the end of the Flower Show.  I'm glad I brought some snacks with me!

Day 26 - Sunday 3/6/16

• Breakfast: The side salad I got with my Outback meal that I dressed up with some extra veggies and prosciutto
• Lunch: I was at my friend Heather's baby shower and ate some raw veggies, fruit, some pickles, and I took 2 wraps and unrolled them and just ate the ham, turkey, lettuce, and tomato inside.  I also had a chai tea as well as a cinnamon vanilla tea while I was there.  In the past shower events have been my downfall, so I'm glad I was able to stay strong around the desserts.
• Dinner: A big Mexican feast at Shayna's with a bunch of friends!  Shayna is doing the Whole30 as well, so she provided a great spread of compliant foods (with some non compliant options for our other friends).  She had pulled pork, chicken, and ground beef to make lettuce wraps with salsa, guac, tomato, and onion.  I also enjoyed some plantain chips with guac.  And for dessert I ate some mango and strawberry salsa and drank a ginger kombucha.  I was super happy I didn't have to cook and it was great to catch up with friends.
• Sleep: 9 hours
• Workout: 0.8 mi walk with the dogs + CrossFit

20 minutes... right.  I'm pretty sure only one person at my gym made it to round 3.  Only a handful made it to round 2, mostly coaches.  My goal was to get to the squat cleans... to get at least one.  And I couldn't do it.  The toes to bars took me 2 minutes and then I seriously struggled through my double unders.  I was so disappointed since I've been doing so well with them, but I just could not seem to get into a rhythm.  I couldn't do more than two or three at a time and the more I messed up, the more frustrated I got, the worse I did.  I ended up with 71 reps... I missed finishing the 50 dubs by 4 reps... 4!  Ugh.  I definitely wasn't feeling 100%.  Really, I said I was only there to get a score so I didn't end up with a big fat zero for the Open... but I knew I didn't do my best and I was really unhappy with my performance.

• Thoughts: Even though I wasn't feeling amazing, I'm glad I was able to recover from my cold so quickly and I didn't have to miss all the fun activities I had planned for the weekend.  I should've actually taken some pics today.

Day 27 - Monday 3/7/16

• Breakfast: Green tea with some apple chicken sausage and sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms, and spinach
• Lunch: Leftover Roast Chicken Soup with Roasted Vegetables and some blackberries
• Dinner: Burgers with lettuce, tomato, pickles, guac, bacon, and sweet potato fries with homemade ranch
• Sleep: 7 hours, wished it was more
• Workout: 1.7 mi with the dogs + CrossFit (16.2 take 2)
  
  I knew I could do better than my performance on Sunday and since the WOD was so short and not crazy taxing like 16.1, I decided to redo it first thing Monday morning.  I crushed the toes to bar and finished them in 1:23 beating my time from Sunday by 40 seconds.  Unfortunately I still couldn't settle into any kind of rhythm with my dubs.  I tried and tried to just take a deep breath and reset myself, but they felt off the entire time.  I actually did worse than Sunday with 67 reps and I was super upset with myself.  Great way to start a Monday....
  

• Thoughts: I'm officially one week coffee free!  I'm still getting over this cold so I can't say I feel amazing, but I don't feel like I need it. 

I owe you guys a serious photo dump from the Flower Show.  Everything was so beautiful and I took a ton of pics.  Today was kind of rough, but I'm looking forward to a week of warm temps, getting completely over this cold, and a strong finish to this Whole30!

How was your week?  Did you check out the Flower Show?  Did you cook anything delicious?