My July Whole25 Results!

Let's get right down to business!

But seriously, how does my body change this much in 25 days?!  I also feel like my posture improved quite a bit lol.

Day 1   Weight = 154.2

Day 25 Weight = 145.2

Weight Loss     = 9 lbs

Other thoughts about what a Whole30 does for me:

• My skin definitely looks better when I'm doing a Whole30.  I noticed the few times I cheated, I would wake up with a small blemish the next day.
• I love not feeling sleepy (food coma) or crazy full/bloated (food baby) after meals.
• I honestly didn't mind giving up booze.  I loved waking up down the shore, knowing I wouldn't be hungover.
• The Whole30 helped motivate me to get to the gym!  Since I was making my health a priority, it was easier to commit to CrossFit.  I'm guessing the extra energy my diet was giving me helped too.  I got to the gym 3x per week for the entire month, which was definitely a first for me since I started last March!

Well another Whole30 (Whole25) has wrapped up for me and I think the pictures speak for themselves.  You can really see how much my diet affects my stomach.  A carb and sugar indulgent Fourth of July weekend left me completely bloated for those before pictures.  I mean I wasn't eating very healthy before then, but knowing I was going to start my diet, I totally pigged out and ate stuff that I wouldn't have normally (like sandwiches made with white bread, 3 days in a row).  Perhaps that's the downside of the Whole30 for me, transitioning in and out of it brings out a bit of disordered eating.  If I told you I really made an effort over the past week with only a few slips, it would be a big lie.  

Perhaps part of my problem is that I did not fully follow the rules.  I cheated and justified it in my head.  I didn't feel bad eating cheese because the salad I was eating was a better choice than a cheesesteak.  I ate a freaking cupcake, epic fail.  Obviously that didn't help anything, but the large amounts of fruit I consumed probably didn't help me break my sugar habit either.

I know I'm not going to eat a perfectly healthy diet all the time, I believe in the 80/20 principle.  However that is not a Whole30!

The only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days: no cheats, slips, or “special occasions.” This isn’t us playing the tough guy. This is a fact, born of education and experience. You need such a small amount of any of these inflammatory foods to break the healing cycle—one bite of pizza, one splash of milk in your coffee, one lick of the spoon mixing the batter within the 30 day period and you’ve broken the “reset” button, requiring you to start over again on Day 1.

Don’t even consider the possibility of a “slip.” Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of doughnuts, there is no “slip.” You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It is always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit to the program 100% for the full 30 days. Don’t give yourself an excuse to fail before you’ve even started.

So maybe I should stop calling what I'm doing a Whole30.  Maybe I should just say I'm doing however many days of strict Paleo.  I don't know.  But I do know that my Whole30 posts have reached a few of my friends and a ton of curious people across the internet.  I truly love helping other people learn how to fuel their bodies :)

Looking for more Whole30 Results?

• My Whole21 - Results! 
• My April Whole30 Results!
• Guest Post: Sarah's Whole30 Results! 
• Guest Post: Heather's Whole30 Results! 
• Even More Whole30 Results 
• Guest Post: Julia's Whole30 Recap!

Don't forget to like Busy, Bold, Blessed on Facebook!

My July Whole25: Days 22-25

I meant to post this on Friday and then totally forgot...

Day 22 - Monday 7/28/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee and slice of the egg casserole
• Lunch: Leftover Lemon Ginger Chicken from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook with Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice and a tasty peach
• Dinner: Onions, peppers, mushrooms, and spinach sauteed in a pan with some shaved beef, some tomato paste, a splash of ACV, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
• Workout: 6 pm CrossFit - The strength portion was a back squat of 3 reps EMOM (every min on the min) for 8 minutes at 80% of your max.  I lifted 115 lbs.  The WOD was a killer:
• 15 Hang Squat Cleans, 9 Box Jumps (20")
• 12 HSC, 12 Box Jumps
• 9 HSC, 15 Box Jumps
• 12 min cap

I used 65 lbs for my squat cleans, finished in 7:41, and was wrecked.  This was definitely a sprint and I tried to keep my breaks to a minimum.  Holy moly the 6 pm class was crowded!  I guess I'm officially a fan of my 6 am classes.

• Sleep: 7.25 hours
• Thoughts: My simple dinner didn't come out great (too much tomato paste) and I'm really starting to get sick of cooking.

Day 23 - Tuesday 7/29/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee and the last slice of the egg casserole
• Snack: An apple pie Lara Bar and a small green apple
• Lunch: Leftover Lamb Meatballs with Paleo Tzatziki Sauce with a side salad of spinach, a blend of shredded carrots, cabbage, and celery, grape tomatoes, and sliced almonds with EVOO, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and Italian spices
• Dinner: Chicken Spinach & Prosciutto Bundles (that I may or may not have made with non compliant bacon because I didn't have enough prosciutto...)
• Snack: Pineapple, mango, coconut milk, and spinach smoothie
• Workout: 6 am CrossFit - AMRAP in 15 minutes:
• 400 m Run
• 21 KB Swing
• 12 Pull Ups

I completed 2 full rounds + the run + all 21 KB swings + 3 pull ups.  This was my first WOD with unassisted pull ups!  I have been working on pull ups for a while now and I got my first real one a few months ago, but I really can't string them together and putting them in a workout seemed impossible.  Doing them with resistance bands just isn't the same though, since CrossFit pull ups involve kipping (aka swinging your legs and popping your hips for momentum), and the resistance band definitely gets in the way.  I can't say they were the best pull ups in the world, but I was excited about them!

• Sleep: 7 hours
• Thoughts: Can't believe I went to the gym last night and this morning.  I feel like I was pretty hungry throughout the day and I guess that probably had something to do with it.

Day 24 - Wednesday 7/30/14

• Breakfast: Coffee and pineapple, mango, coconut milk, and spinach smoothie
• Snack: A small green apple
  
• Lunch: Lunch out in the city with some coworkers after a meeting, coffee and a skillet with hot italian sausage, bacon, long hots, broccoli rabe, potatoes, and some sharp provolone.
• Dinner: Coffee and a banana bread Lara Bar, by the time I got home from cheerleading it was 9:30, I had a headache, and I just went to bed.  I honestly wasn't really hungry all night, but I felt like crap by the time I went to bed, so it could've been lack of food, too much coffee, or a combo of both.
• Workout: Worked out with the cheer girls that I coach.
• Sleep: 7 hours
  
• Thoughts: I have a coffee problem!  I've just been chugging it down all day lately and I need to pull back.

Day 25 - Thursday 7/31/14

• Breakfast: Coffee, 2 hard boiled eggs, and an orange
• Lunch: Chicken Spinach & Prosciutto Bundles
• Snack: A bowl of pineapple
• Snack: A small green apple, a Mystic Mango Kombucha, and some strawberries
  
• Dinner: 3 pieces of grilled chicken (at 9:30 pm)
• Workout: 6 am CrossFit - This one was a doozy:
• 1000 m Row
• 9 Shoulders to Overhead
• 80 Double Unders (since my dubs suck, I did as many attempts as I could in 3 minutes, I got to 42 with 1-2 singles in between each one)
• 7 Lunges with Bar in Front Rack (7 each leg)
• 60 Sit Ups
• 5 Thrusters (squat bar and then press overhead)
• 400 m Run
• 3 Overhead Squats
• 20 Bar Over Burpees
• 1 Bear Complex (power clean bar, front squat, press overhead, put on back, back squat, press overhead, throw bar down in victory :D)

When I looked this one up on the website the night before, I was like are you kidding me?!  It just seemed like a lot.  And nobody likes burpees at the end of the workout, especially when you have to jump over your barbell.  I racked up 65 lbs and finished in 19:00!  I felt like I really killed it on those burpees that I was especially dreading.  My coach was on my case during them and it really helped!  I think that's one of the biggest reasons I like CrossFit, it brings me back to me team sport days, when I would push myself to impress my coach.  I will definitely go further and faster when someone (other than myself) is holding me accountable.

• Sleep: 7 hours
• Thoughts: Today really lacked veggies.  With cheerleading starting up, I'm really going to have to do a Sunday cook ahead, utilize my crockpot, and lean on Dave a bit to make sure we're eating healthy.

Thank God it's over!  This weekend was a busy one and I definitely owe you some results!  Sorry to keep you waiting.

How do you eat healthy when you're crazy busy?

July Whole 25: Week 4 Meal Plan

Honestly I'm losing steam.  I'm super sick of planning my meals and cooking.  I opted for a lot of simple meals this week and a lot of the recipes were picked because I had most of the ingredients in my fridge already.  I'm so ready to eat the bacon that has been taunting me in my fridge!

Although I've really been enjoying my weekly breakfast selection, I really don't feel like making anything.  I may hard boil some eggs tomorrow night while I'm cooking dinner, but if not I have fruit and Lara Bars.

Monday

• Lunch: Leftover Lemon Ginger Chicken from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook with Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice
• Dinner: Onions, peppers, mushrooms, and spinach sauteed in a pan with some shaved beef, some tomato paste, a splash of ACV, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder

Tuesday

• Lunch: Leftover Lamb Meatballs with Paleo Tzatziki Sauce and a side salad
• Dinner: Chicken Spinach & Prosciutto Bundles with some roasted broccoli and cauliflower

Wednesday

• Lunch: Leftover Chicken Spinach & Prosciutto Bundles with some roasted broccoli and cauliflower
• Dinner: An Asian salad similar to the one from last week but with some shrimp and mango!

Thursday

• Lunch: Whatever leftovers we need to get rid of!
• Dinner: Grilled chicken (marinated in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, chipotle spice blend) with grilled veggies and possibly some guacamole

And then I'm DONE!  I'm planning on eating some more leftovers for lunch on Friday since I know I'll be indulging this weekend.  I need to really start thinking about my approach for post Whole30.  I have no intentions of staying 100% compliant, but I know I need to do better than I was doing before or I'll just end up right where I started.

Do you try to follow a certain style of eating on a regular basis?  How do you keep yourself in check?

My July Whole25: Days 16 - 21

Day 16 - Tuesday 7/22/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee and a slice of my egg casserole
• Lunch: I went out with a coworker after a field meeting, they really didn't have much in the way of compliant choices, so I went with a chicken caesar with no croutons.  I'm sure the dressing was a cheat and obviously the sprinkle of cheese!  It wasn't a cheesesteak!
• Snack: A peach
• Dinner: Lemon Ginger Chicken from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook with Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice, super yummy!
• Workout: CrossFit at 6 am! The WOD was:
• 50-40-30-20-10 Double Unders
• 25-20-15-10-5 Snatches
• Alternating between (22 min cap)

I finished in 17:05 and used 35 lbs for the snatch.  I also walked Puddin' and did some pull ups on my neighbors homemade pull up bar!

• Sleep: 6.5 hours
• Thoughts: More temptations at work, a free ice cream social that I successfully avoided.  I was SUPER exhausted by the end of the day.

Day 17 - Wednesday 7/23/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee and a slice of my egg casserole + a little bit of sweet potato
• Lunch: I went out to celebrate a coworker who is getting married over the weekend.  I had a salad with grilled chicken, bacon, cheddar, spicy pecans, red peppers, tomatoes, red onions, with garlic ranch.  I ordered it without croutons and I gave away the roll that came with it.  I could should have ordered it without the cheese and just topped with oil & vinegar instead of the dressing it came with.
• Dinner: Leftover Lemon Ginger Chicken in an Asian inspired salad with cabbage, carrots, celery, snap peas, jalapeno, scallions, sesame seeds, mandarin oranges, and sliced almonds, dressed in some marinade I put aside when I made the chicken.  This was awesome!
• Workout: CrossFit at 6 am - Strength portion: Front squat, 2 reps EMOM for 10 minutes at 80% of max.  I did 95 lbs, which was light for my 140 lbs front squat, but these were so tough!  The WOD was a 10 minute AMRAP:
• As many wallballs as possible
• Every time you took a break you had to do 10 toes to bar

I completed 67 reps.  I guess I could've pushed myself through more wallballs, but my legs were cooked from those front squats and I know I got a good workout.  I also took Puddin' for a walk, but as always, it was a slow one.

• Sleep: 6.5 hours
• Thoughts: Yay for easy dinners that remix other meals!

Day 18 - Thursday 7/24/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee and a slice of my egg casserole + a little bit of sweet potato
• Lunch: Leftover Lemon Ginger Chicken from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook with Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice.  Another free lunch at work that I skipped and brought my own. 
• Snack: Some cherries
• Dinner: Steak fajitas, yum!  I sauteed some onions and peppers in ghee with a chipotle spice blend, Dave grilled the steak, and I whipped up some homemade guac with an avocado, some onion and tomato, a little minced jalapeno, some lime juice, salt, and cilantro.  We topped everything with a few chunks of tomato and a bit of salsa.  So simple and so yummy.
• Workout: Walk with Puddin'
• Sleep: 7.5 hours
• Thoughts: I prepped the Lamb Meatballs with Paleo Tzatziki Sauce for the dinner tomorrow night, so I can just relax and enjoy while I'm there, but the time I was done with that and our dinner I was feeling super burnt out in the kitchen.  I'm thinking some super quick and easy recipes will be making an appearance in next week's meal plan!

Day 19 - Friday 7/25/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee and a slice of my egg casserole + a little bit of sweet potato
• Lunch: Leftover Lemon Ginger Chicken from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook with Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice
• Snack: More coffee!
• Dinner: Greek Night!  Lamb Meatballs with Paleo Tzatziki Sauce, some baba ganoush, souvlaki (pork, chicken, and veggie kabobs - compliant except for a splash of soy sauce), and some Greek salad (hold the feta, womp).  I also tried a small slice of moussaka because my coworker went through quite a process to create this new to me dish and YOLO.
• Snack: Kombucha
• Workout: 6 am CF 80 lbs power clean
• Sleep: 5.5 hours (woof!), they have been doing construction on a water main the road near my house for what feels like forever.  Usually it's not that big of a deal, but when they were jack hammering the pavement at 11:30 pm last night, I was super pissed!  "Oh it's so cool out, let's open the windows and turn off the AC."  Fail.
• Thoughts:  My tummy felt kinda bloated when we left the dinner, I know there was flour and some other non compliant items in the moussaka.  Or maybe it was the soy sauce that got me.  Either way, I could've been more strict at this event.

Day 20 - Saturday 7/26/14

• Brunch: Some leftover steak and cumin carrots
• Snack: More coffee!
• Grazing all day: I was pretty loose at the Christmas in July pool party we attended.  I ate some meatballs, buffalo chicken, pulled pork, and wings that I'm sure were not compliant due to marinades and sauces.  I made a Pinterest inspired veggie tray (shaped like a Christmas Tree... totally thought I took a picture of this, but couldn't find it) and served it with some guac to guarantee I'd have some veggies, but I also picked some out of the pasta salad (that probably had some non compliant dressing on them).  I ate some watermelon and had a Trilogy flavored kombucha.
• Workout: Nada
• Sleep: 7 hours
• Thoughts: The Whole30 is so easy when I'm cooking, but when I'm at parties and restaurants I just can't justify being "that person."  I don't have an autoimmune disease, I don't have horrible acne, I'm not morbidly obsese, I don't have Celiac's... am I doing a proper Whole30?  No.  Am I changing my eating habits for the better?  Yes.

 Day 21 - Sunday 7/27/14

• Breakfast: Coffee
• Lunch: Apparently bridal showers are my downfall... I ate some salad, grilled veggies, a super cheesy eggplant rollatini, some chicken parm, some chicken francese... oh and a cupcake with extra frosting!  And a tiny bite of crumb cake, that wasn't worth it, so I didn't eat the rest.  Coffee.
• Dinner: Chipotle bowl with carnitas, mild & green salsa, lettuce, and guacamole
• Workout: Spent 5.5 hours in the car today, ain't nobody got time fo dat
• Sleep: 6.75 hours
• Thoughts: Mehhh, what can I say?  The cheesy food was definitely a cheat, but a cupcake?!  My sister and my mom started indulging in their cupcakes and could not stop raving about the amazing icing.  Michelle even said it was the best icing she ever tasted.  I decided it was worth it.  No joke, the icing tasted like butter.  It was DELICIOUS.

Again... I am not the poster child for a perfect Whole30, but I'm just trying to keep it real on the blog!  Tomorrow is a new day.  Time to get back on track and finish strong.

What do you do when you fall off the wagon?

My July Whole25: Days 12 - 15

Day 12 - Friday 7/18/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee, a small green apple, and 2 small Coconut Chicken Fingers
• Lunch: The last of the Crock Pot Beef Stew
• Dinner: 2 burgers with tomato, onion, pickles, and red hot in lettuce wraps
• Snack: Gingerade Kombucha
• Workout: 6 am CrossFit - Strength portion:  Deadlift, 2 reps EMOM (every min on the min) for 10 minutes at 70% of max.  I did 145 lbs.  The WOD was a 10 minute AMRAP:
• Odd minutes: anchored sit ups (squeeze feet around kettlebell, wrists have to touch kettlebell at top)
• Even minutes: kettlebell swings, I used the 36 lbs kettlebell

This workout wasn't too bad as far as CrossFit goes.  I'm really loving getting my workouts finished first thing in the morning!

• Sleep: 6.5 hours
  
• Thoughts: I skipped my mother-in-law's potato salad, which I love, because although white potatoes are now compliant (as of yesterday!), I knew it contained a bit of sugar and non compliant mayo.  I happily drank my kombucha while my friends took shots of tequila.  Booze is not a struggle for me.

 

Always happy to be down the shore!

Day 13 - Saturday 7/19/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee, scrambled eggs, and sausage
• Snack: Pineapple, watermelon, coconut milk, and mint smoothie
• Lunch: Salad with spring mix, peppers, onions, fresh parsley, cucumber, tomato, buffalo chicken lunch meat, and a homemade vinaigrette my friend Leah made (compliant except for a touch of honey) 
• Snack: A couple of chunks of watermelon and some french roast vanilla almond coffee 
• Dinner: Clams, shrimp, crab claws, butter (not compliant!), some haddock, tilapia and flounder in a cajun marinade, with half of a baked sweet potato, and some grilled asparagus
• Snack: 2 cups of coffee
• Snack: A few bites of my Paleo layer dessert (bananas, shredded coconut, pineapple, coconut cream, strawberries) before I decided I didn't really care for it.  It should've been so good, but it just wasn't.  Perhaps a real case of "sex with your pants on" - it only left me wanting the real thing!
• Workout: 3.6 mile walk/run in 55 minutes, leisurely walk around the block with Puddin', and a beach walk.  This just in, I am not in shape when it comes to running.  Oh how the mighty have fallen!
• Sleep: 7 hours
  
• Thoughts: My tummy hurt for a little bit mid afternoon, I'm speculating that it was some random additive in the Jimmy Dean sausage that did not agree with me.  I definitely cheated with a bunch of butter, I wish that I had ordered some ghee from amazon beforehand!  Dave's uncle just could not believe I wasn't going to have a drink (not even one!) while we were out, but it really wasn't a big deal to me.  It actually saved me quite a bit of money.  And a hangover.

 

Day 14 - Sunday 7/20/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee, 2 Apple Streusel Egg Muffins, and a smoothie that I made out of my disappointing dessert + some more strawberries, which came out surprisingly good.
• Lunch: Two lunchmeat roll ups with ham, Lebanon bologna, lettuce, tomato, and red onion, with some baby carrots and watermelon
• Snack: Watermelon and a few cocktail shrimp, and then later the second half of that smoothie
• Dinner: Chipotle burrito bowl - carnitas, pico de gallo, green salsa, lettuce, and guacamole.  Chipotle is my favorite and although my bowl was yummy, I'm not sure I'll ever not order my cheese and sour cream (and sometimes white rice... and sometimes a real burrito, not a bowl) when I'm not on a Whole30.  Long live giant burritos!
• Workout: Rest day!
• Sleep: 7.5 hours
• Thoughts: Avoiding the french toast everyone else had for breakfast wasn't hard since it's not my favorite and my muffins were a good fake out.  I'm sure the lunchmeat I consumed this weekend wasn't compliant, but I skipped my beloved chicken salad, so again - calling this a win!

 

 Day 15 - Monday 7/21/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee, an Apple Streusel Egg Muffin, and a smoothie
• Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti Squash Bolognese from Practical Paleo with asparagus and some strawberries
• Snack: Macadamia nuts
• Dinner: Salmon, Cumin-Roasted Carrots from Well Fed, and a side salad of spring mix, spinach, red bell pepper, and some cucumber and yellow cherry tomatoes from Dave's dad's garden with balsamic vinaigrette
• Workout: Mondays are rough enough.
• Sleep: 7 hours
• Thoughts: It really makes me smile when I'm at the grocery store and my cart is entirely filled with veggies and fruit except for a few packages of meat and some eggs.  I purchased basil and cilantro plants... let's see if I can keep these ones alive ;)  Any tips?  Seriously, I have a black thumb.

When we came home from the beach, I had a package on my front step.  I ordered myself some ghee (aka clarified butter - nom), another copy of It Starts With Food since my copy is happily out on loan, and my first spiralizer (which intimidates the crap out of me - but zoodles will be in my future)!  I love that I can order whatever Paleo resources I need.

Do you order any food or special cooking tools off the internet?

July Whole25: Week 3 Meal Plan

I'm a meal planning machine :)

Breakfast this week is an egg casserole I whipped together tonight!  I cooked some onions, peppers, and mushrooms in a skillet with some ghee.  When they were sufficiently cooked, I added 2 chopped apple chicken sausages to brown them a bit.  Then I combined all that with 11 eggs (already used one for something else) and some salt and pepper in a ghee greased pan and cooked it for 25 minutes (or until it didn't giggle) uncovered in the oven at 400 degrees.

Monday

• Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti Squash Bolognese from Practical Paleo with asparagus from the weekend
• Dinner: Salmon (topped with EVOO, salt, pepper, and old bay), Cumin-Roasted Carrots from Well Fed and a side salad of spring mix, spinach, red bell pepper, and some cucumber and yellow cherry tomatoes from Dave's dad's garden with balsamic vinaigrette

Tuesday

• Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti Squash Bolognese from Practical Paleo with asparagus
• Dinner: Lemon Ginger Chicken from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook with Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice

Wednesday

• Lunch: I'm headed out with my coworkers, I plan on ordering a salad
• Dinner: I plan on repurposing some of my Lemon Ginger Chicken in an Asian inspired salad with cabbage, carrots, celery, snap peas, jalapeno, scallions, sesame seeds, mandarin oranges, and sliced almonds, dressed in some marinade I intend on putting aside when I make the chicken

Thursday

• Lunch: Leftover Lemon Ginger Chicken from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook with Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice
• Dinner: Steak fajitas with homemade guacamole

Friday

• Lunch: Leftover steak fajitas
• Dinner: I'm headed to a themed dinner over at a coworkers - Greek night!  I'm making some Lamb Meatballs with Paleo Tzatziki Sauce and I know there will be a Greek salad (and my coworker said he'd even keep the feta on the side :D)

Saturday

• Brunch: Whatever leftovers we have or some eggs!
• Dinner: We're going to a party.  I know there will be some pulled pork and buffalo chicken, I'm thinking I'm going to bring a Paleo veggie side.  Not sure what yet.  Any ideas???

Sunday

• Lunch: I'm headed out to eat again!  I'm not sure what will be served, but I'm sure I'll be picking some sandwiches apart and making it work!
• Dinner: I can't even think about this yet.

Do you like to plan your meals?  Do you enjoy leftovers for lunch?

 

My July Whole25: Days 8 - 11

I'm really feeling like I'm in the groove now.  I cooked too much food this week and actually had to stick some of that pork in the freezer!  I definitely got more sleep (still could do better) and continued to make working out a priority.

Day 8 - Monday 7/14/14

• Breakfast: Blueberry Muffin Lara Bar
• Lunch: Leftover Crock Pot Beef Stew with a side salad of spring mix, spinach, strawberries, cucumber, avocado, almond slivers, and some balsamic
• Snack: Half of an Apple Streusel Egg Muffin from Practical Paleo right after they came out of the oven! I tried to make Paleo muffins once before and they came out tasting pretty blah.  These were pretty tasty!  The apples made them plenty sweet.  Dave even liked them.
• Dinner: Asian Orange Pan-Seared Scallops from Practical Paleo with Caramelized Brussel Sprouts & Onions from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook. The scallops came out great!  I had never cooked scallops before, but they were so easy and super delicious.  They were certainly a treat for a Monday.
• Workout: Nope
• Sleep: 7.5 hours, would've been less if I didn't keep snoozing the alarm, really didn't want to get up
• Thoughts:  I went grocery shopping for the week after work.  I didn't spend nearly as much money this week since we had a lot leftover from last week.  Still wasn't exactly cheap with those scallops and my new kombucha habit, but having a base back home certainly helped.

Day 9 - Tuesday 7/15/14

• Breakfast: Coffee, a super sweet peach, and an Apple Streusel Egg Muffin
• Lunch: Leftover Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast with leftover Caramelized Brussel Sprouts & Onions from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook and some blueberries
• Dinner: Coconut Chicken Fingers with Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries and lots of red hot
• Workout: 6 am CrossFit - The WOD today was 18 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of:
• 15 toes to bar (hang from bar, swing toes up to bar)
• 12 pendlay row (bent over row - I did 65 lbs)
• 9 bar over burpees (face the bar, drop to the ground, get up, jump over bar).

I completed 4 rounds + 30 reps.  I think I'm finally getting a hang of the kip (swinging motion in between for momentum) for the toes to bar, so that's exciting.  I wasn't anywhere close to doing the Rx weight of 95 lbs for the rows and they were still the hardest part of the workout for me.

• Sleep: 6.25 hours
  
• Thoughts: Had a pity party for myself at lunch when all my coworkers went out for half priced brick oven pizzas.  Life goes on.

Day 10 - Wednesday 7/16/14

• Breakfast: Coffee and an Apple Streusel Egg Muffin
• Lunch: Leftover Crock Pot Beef Stew with leftover Caramelized Brussel Sprouts & Onions from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook and some blueberries
• Snack: Carrot Cake Lara Bar (flavor I had never tried before, very tasty!)
• Dinner: Leftover Coconut Chicken Fingers with some red hot.  My workout was at 8:15 pm and I wasn't hungry beforehand (probably because of my snack) nor did I want to eat a big meal right before working out.  By the time I got home, I honestly wasn't that hungry and it was 9:30 at night, so I ate 2 chicken fingers and went to bed.

• Workout: My first Barre3 class!

What is Barre3?  As dancers know, the ballet barre is a wonderful prop designed to support the body in both static and dynamic movement leading to long, lean muscles. Barre3 evolves the dancer’s workout by combining the grace of the ballet barre with the wisdom of yoga and the strength of Pilates. Barre3 classes are set to an upbeat soundtrack and follow a vigorous pace moving through a sequence of postures designed to shape and lift the entire body.

My friend Jes found a free class (for new instructor training) and asked me if I wanted to join her.  I few of my favorite bloggers have been in love with Barre classes and since it was free, I was definitely in.  The workout was a lot of basic movements (push ups, lunges, squats, crunches, etc) which you then held midway and pulsed.  The movements were very small, but they definitely had my muscles burning.  During the lunges my legs were shaking uncontrollably!

I feel like I got a good workout, but CrossFit is definitely my passion right now.  It makes my muscles burn and takes care of cardio at the same time (which Barre did not).  The movements in CF are designed to work multiple muscle groups at once, instead of focusing on one specific area at a time.  The classes are always different and there are so many different movements to master (I'm just going to guess that Barre is fairly repetitive, but that's just an assumption).  I also know that lifting heavy is applicable in situations other than the gym, like when I have to drag a bunch of crap across the beach this weekend.  I have some furniture that ain't gonna move itself!

• Sleep: 7.25 hours
• Thoughts: Not much to say, see above.

Day 11 - Thursday 7/17/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee, an Apple Streusel Egg Muffin, a small green apple
• Snack: Macadamia nuts from a coworker (that came all the way from Hawaii) - these were tasty and the perfect portion!
• Lunch: Leftover Coconut Chicken Fingers with Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries and red hot, brought my own lunch to a work meeting with free pizza - go me!  Drank another cup of coffee after lunch.
• Dinner:  Spaghetti Squash Bolognese from Practical Paleo
• Workout: 6 am CrossFit - The WOD today was:
• 30 GI Janes (burpee pull ups)
• 400 m run
• 15 shoulder to overhead (I did 65 lbs)
• 800 m run
• 15 shoulder to overhead
• 400 m run
• 30 GI Janes
• For time (25 minute time cap)!

I believe I finished in 20:49.  This WOD wasn't too terrible.  My runs were pretty slow since I used them as the recovery time and my hamstrings got pretty tight mid run from the Barre3 class the night before.  The burpee pull ups were exhausting in the beginning, so I knew they were going to be awful the second time around.  But overall not too bad.

• Sleep: 7 hours
  
• Thoughts: My skin is looking great!  My tummy is definitely more slim.  I'm excited to be in a bikini this weekend :)

After looking back, this week definitely lacked some greens, so I'm going to try and make that a priority for the next few days!  Things are going really well.  I was really proud of myself for avoiding pizza twice this week, especially when it was free and everyone was eating it around me.  I know this weekend will include some cheats here and there, but I'm just going to do my best!  I made a Paleo version (SWYPO!) of the epic dessert Dave's mom is making, so at least I know I'll be able to avoid that.  As far as non compliant marinades or sneaky added sugar, it is what it is.

Anyway, I hope you have a fabulous weekend!  Happy Friday :)


I need some inspiration - what's your favorite salad combo?

My July Whole25: Days 4 - 7

Week 1 is done and I'm feeling good!

Day 4 - Thursday 7/10/14

• Breakfast: Roasted broccoli and a cup of coffee
• Lunch: Roasted sweet potatoes, onions, peppers, and carrots with a large chunk of Southwestern Frittata covered in red hot
• Snack: Cup of ginger peach green tea
• Dinner: I never ended up making the giant 10 lbs Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast that I put in my meal plan so I didn't really have anything planned for this meal.  I hit the grocery store and grabbed some onions, peppers, mushrooms, cabbage, and spinach from the salad bar, a ripe avocado, and a pack of compliant chicken sausage.  I sauteed the veggies in a little olive oil, mashed the avocado up with a little bit of onion and some salt (simple but delicious homemade guac!) and the sausage was delicious hot off the grill.  Boom!

• Workout: CrossFit at 6 am!  The skill portion of the workout was working on double unders (jumping rope when the rope passes under you twice during one jump).  Fun times.  I seriously struggle at dubs!  I can do them with singles in between, but to not waste all my energy and speed up my WODs, I need to start connecting them.  Trying this involved whipping myself repeatedly in the upper thigh every time I failed.  I definitely earned my "tiger stripes."  The WOD was a 15 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of 40 dubs, 20 hand release push ups, and 10 deadlifts (95 lbs for the ladies).  After a few double under fails, my thighs just couldn't take it any more, so I switched to singles (80 instead of 40).  I was kind of upset, because I was trying to Rx (even though I knew I wouldn't have gotten many rounds done with my ghetto dubs), but my thigh were in pain!  I completed 4 rounds + 46.  The push ups crushed me.

 (source)

• Sleep: 6.25 hours (really need to fix this next week!)
• Thoughts:  Other than barking at my dad over something stupid, I wasn't too full of hatred.  I expected to be more grouchy ("kill ALL the things" according to the timeline) throughout the day, but I actually found myself driving home from my meeting, watching an epic thunderstorm in the distance, listening to my favorite radio station, and just thinking life is good :)

Day 5 - Friday 7/11/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coffee, roasted SP, carrots, onions, and peppers, and a delicious peach
• Lunch: Roasted broccoli with my last piece of Southwestern Frittata covered in red hot (would you believe I'm still not sick of it?)
• Snack: Gingerberry Kombucha
• Dinner: Blue Ribbon Country Captain Chicken from Well Fed, it was delicious but took me forever to make

• Workout: CrossFit at 6 am, 3rd time this week!  After warming up, class started with some mobility work and made me feel like I'm not flexible at all!  My quads, hips, and butt could all use some serious stretching.  The WOD was 4 rounds for time of 20 wallballs (throw a 14 lbs medicine ball 9' in the air, catch it and do a squat), 10 power cleans (65 lbs) - ladies weights & height - and 3 burpees every minute on the minute!  I finished in 13:46 (might have been faster, but I thought I was done after my 4th round of wallballs, so I was laying on the floor for a bit until my coach came over, whoops)!  I wasn't sure if I should Rx this workout, but I'm glad one of the girls at the gym encouraged me.  The cleans were the part I wouldn't have Rx'd and they were fine.  The wallballs were absolutely terrible.  CrossFit is such a love/hate thing.  Not even halfway through the workout, I wished that medicine balls didn't even exist.  I was winded and thinking WHY do I still have 40 more wallballs left?!  But then when you finish, you feel so strong, you know your body got an epic workout, and you feel so accomplished.  I know I killed it this week and damn it feels good!
• Thoughts: I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day, my legs were aching, and I was ready for the week to be over.

Day 6 - Saturday 7/12/14

• Breakfast: Cup of coconut coffee and a glass of Naked Green Machine juice, I wasn't really hungry and I was busy all morning.
• Snack: A few bites of prosciutto while I was wrapping the asparagus and an iced coffee
• Lunner: At the grad party - baby carrots, cocktail shrimp, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, some ham and turkey deli meat, 2 meatballs (probably a cheat), watermelon, strawberries, and tons of pineapple
• Dinner: Crock Pot Beef Stew which was super easy and tasty
• Workout: 30 minute leisurely hike with Puddin' and a few sprints in the backyard afterwards
• Sleep: 9.25 hours, I meant to get up after 8, but sleep was just too good!
• Thoughts: Avoiding all the delicious dips, tomato pie, and pasta salad at the party was quite challenging, but my plate was full of tasty eats and I couldn't be that sad about stuffing my face with shrimp.  A woman at the party told me she enjoyed watching me eat because of how I take pleasure in each bite and take my time savoring the food.  If you'd ask my husband and family, I'm not really known for taking my time through a meal, so maybe the Whole30 is helping with that too.

Day 7 - Sunday 7/13/14

• Breakfast: Cup of iced coconut coffee
• Brunch: Leftover Blue Ribbon Country Captain Chicken from Well Fed with a smashed up avocado with salt (ghetto guac)
• Lunner: Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast with a side salad of spring mix, spinach, strawberries, cucumber, avocado, almond slivers, and some balsamic
• Snack: Triology Kombucha and then later Dave was eating ice cream, so I had my first "sex with your pants on" (SWYPO) treat and made some banana soft serve
• Workout: A few hours of carrying boxes, cleaning some serious junk out, and lifting heavy trash bags
• Sleep: 7 hours
• Thoughts: Not much to report.  I was feeling pretty exhausted midday which does follow the timeline but I was also working pretty hard.

Do you like to cook in a crockpot?  Have you ever tried kombucha?  How was your weekend?

July Whole25: Week 2 Meal Plan

Today wraps up Week 1!  The eats were tasty and I already feel like my stomach has deflated a bit.  I definitely haven't gotten enough sleep and I'm looking to fix that this week.  My workouts went well and I'm hoping to continue that into this week too.  I'm utilizing some cookbook recipes for Week 2 to spice things up since I actually have some time to cook!

In last week's meal plan, I said I usually don't eat much for breakfast but I was working out in the am and I was pretty hungry so I ate some fruit, leftover veggies and Southwestern Frittata.  This week I'll be whipping up a batch of Apple Streusel Egg Muffins from Practical Paleo!

I didn't exactly follow my meal plan for last week since I never make the Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast.  I was so burnt out on cooking from my 3 hour stint on Monday (yes, I was too lazy to even throw something in the crockpot), so I skipped it.  I ended up making the Crock Pot Beef Stew yesterday to eat after the grad party because I figured we might feel like we skipped a meal since we ate in the late afternoon and I'm making the Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast today (so that's why it's featured again in this week's meal plan).

Monday

• Lunch: Leftover Crock Pot Beef Stew and (unsweetened) apple sauce 
• Dinner: Asian Orange Pan-Seared Scallops from Practical Paleo with Caramelized Brussel Sprouts & Onions from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook

Tuesday

• Lunch: Leftover Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast with leftover Caramelized Brussel Sprouts & Onions from The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook
• Dinner: Coconut Chicken Fingers with Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries and a side salad (and I plan on making some Roasted Cauliflower while I have the oven on, to have later in the week)

Wednesday

• Lunch: Leftover Crock Pot Beef Stew and some Roasted Cauliflower
• Dinner: Spaghetti Squash Bolognese from Practical Paleo

Thursday

• Lunch: Leftover Coconut Chicken Fingers with Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries and a side salad
• Dinner: Chicken sausage sauteed with onions and peppers and (unsweetened) apple sauce

Friday

• Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti Squash Bolognese from Practical Paleo
• Dinner: Leftover Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast with leftover Roasted Cauliflower

Saturday

• Lunch: Deli meat roll ups (ham/turkey with lettuce and tomato rolled up inside) or a salad topped with the meat
• Dinner: Seafood feast (down the shore!)

Sunday

• Lunch: Deli meat roll ups or a salad topped with the meat
• Dinner: ?????

We'll be down the shore this weekend, so I'm not really sure how things will go.  I will be balancing the Whole30 principles with trying not to offend my mother in law.  She knows I'm doing some kind of special diet thing, but loves to plan our eats for the entire weekend and doesn't seem very interested in learning anything about Paleo.  So I'm going to do a combo of eating my own foods and eating whatever she makes that is Paleo but maybe not Whole30 compliant.  If I succeed at avoiding my favorite dessert (her banana split cake aka whipped cream, bananas, pineapple, chocolate chips, and more), then I will deserve an award.

Does your family eat the same as you?  If not, are they supportive?

 

My July Whole25: Days 1 - 3

Good afternoon!  Today is day 4, which means I'm in the "kill ALL the things!" portion of the Whole30 timeline lol.  I don't really feel like that... but maybe later ;)  Things have been going well so far.  A few "cheats" with random things that I wasn't in control of, but otherwise I'm chugging along!

Day 1 - Monday 7/7/14

• Breakfast: Coffee and then leftover grilled chicken (marinated in olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, chipotle spices) with onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and squash.  Definitely could've eaten this for my lunch (instead of going out), but I was hungry and I already had my lunch plan set in my head.
• Lunch: Out at a Thai restaurant - lemongrass chicken soup (spilled an entire bowl on myself before getting a second to actually eat, oh Monday!), garden salad with house vinaigrette, and green curry with chicken.  I'm guessing the meal wasn't 100% compliant, but I made good choices, skipped the fried dumplings and rice, and I felt ok about it.
• Snack: Garlic stuffed olives from Wegmans (so good and so addictive!)
• Dinner: Spanish Chicken & (Cauliflower) Rice which came out ok, I think I'd make it again and play with the spices, or maybe I just didn't put enough spices in it?
• Snack: Handful of blueberries while I was washing and packing them for the next day
• Workout: Does grocery shopping and cooking count?
• Sleep: 8 hours because I snoozed my alarm so many times I turned off... whoops.
• Thoughts: Honestly, I feel like a whale.  I am so bloated from the weekend that my stomach feels like it can't fit within my skin.  The day went pretty smoothly but I started to really go downhill in the evening.  I went to the grocery store, headed up to my in-laws (we're dealing with a plumbing issue, ugh!), and cooked for 3 hours.  I was barely halfway done when my head started to hurt and I just felt so damn exhausted.  Not sure if this was the carb flu, I was just overdone, or a combo of both!

Day 2 - Tuesday 7/8/14

• Breakfast: Ginger peach green tea, a big slice of the Southwestern Frittata topped with some red hot and some leftover asparagus.
• Lunch: Leftover Spanish Chicken & (Cauliflower) Rice and some blueberries
• Snack: Small cup of coffee, I was trying to avoid coffee today but I was feeling pretty blah and I knew that I wouldn't survive my 8:30 pm meeting and the 45 minute drive home afterwards.  I also had some strawberries and watermelon when I got to my mom's.
• Dinner: Burger with fried onions, lettuce, pickles, and red hot in a super messy lettuce wrap with a side salad topped with white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, some minced garlic, and a few random spices.  My mom made me a compliant dinner, woohoo!
• Workout: CrossFit at 6 am!  Our warm up involved pushing a large tire back and forth between a partner, I'd never done any tire work before and it was kinda fun!  Now I need to get myself out to a Strongman Sunday class.  The skill portion was made up of working on our box jumps.  The WOD was 4 rounds for time of a 400m run and 15 burpee box jumps with a 1 minute rest between each round.  I Rx'd the WOD (aka did it as prescribed instead of scaling it) and I finished in 19:29.  I was wiped!  I also did a few random push ups and planks in my mom's living room and took their pooch for a 10 minute stroll around the block.
• Sleep: 6 hours (not enough!)
• Thoughts:  I was waiting to feel like crap in the evening but it never happened, I'm thinking that late afternoon coffee was my savior.  We lost power around dinner time, so I was a little stressed out (when I arrived home from my meeting at 11:15 pm) thinking about all the food I had just purchased and spent time cooking that was in our in our unpowered fridge.  Thankfully our power came back on at 6 am, just minutes before I was about to load our entire refrigerator into a bunch of coolers, and all the food seemed to be fine. 

Day 3 - Wednesday 7/9/14

• Breakfast: Coffee and a smallish slice of the Southwestern Frittata
• Snack: Mint melange tea and some super sweet blueberries
• Lunch: Leftover Spanish Chicken & (Cauliflower) Rice and roasted broccoli
• Snack: Cup of homemade iced coconut coffee (my new fave blend from Wegmans) and a bunch of small pieces of prosciutto while I was wrapping the asparagus
• Dinner: 2 burgers with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and red hot with some prosciutto wrapped asparagus, which came out great!  Unfortunately the burgers were all being topped with some non compliant Worcestershire sauce (sugar, molasses) while they were on the grill and the chef (cough*my husband*cough) forgot to skip mine.  Oh well.
• Workout: Nada
• Sleep: 6 hours (still not enough!)
• Thought: I was nervous about going downhill in the evening while I was at the bbq so I decided that coffee would be a good idea around 5 pm... I felt slightly regretful around 11 pm when I was laying in bed feeling pretty wide awake, although it definitely motivated me to pack my bag for the gym the next morning!  I didn't enjoy my burgers as much today since I just kept thinking what they would've tasted like with some cheese and ketchup.  I should've brought an avocado with me or something to jazz them up (like the fried onions did the day before).  I was also feeling pretty sad when everyone was munching on chocolate chip cookies, but guess what... I survived!

 Last night the sky was putting on a little show for our bbq!

How's your week going?  Have you been making healthy choices?

 

July Whole25: Week 1 Meal Plan

Happy 4th of July everyone :)

(source)

My Whole25 starts on Monday, so I'll let you guess what I'm doing this weekend...

(source)

I can't say that stuffing my face with crap beforehand is a good choice, but I would be lying if I said I was eating healthy to prepare.  Well... some preparation is better than nothing, right?!  During my first Whole30, I didn't do any meal planning and I have no idea how I survived. 

I honestly don't usually feel very hungry in the morning, so breakfast throughout my Whole25 will be coffee, tea, some fruit, maybe some hard boiled eggs, leftovers, or Larabars (only some of which are compliant, so read those labels!)

Monday

• Lunch: I didn't have a chance to hit the grocery store before our weekend away and my coworkers are planning a lunch out at one of their favorite local restaurants, so unfortunately I'm starting my Whole25 with a meal that may not be 100% compliant (yeah, I know... fail!).  We're headed to a Thai restaurant, so I believe my meal will be compliant aside from possible non compliant oils/soy/sugar
• Dinner: After heading to the grocery store to seriously stock up, I'll be putting Dave to work grilling this Spanish Chicken & (Cauliflower) Rice dish in a foil pack, while I cook up a Southwestern Frittata and roast multiple pans of veggies to have for the rest of the week including: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, peppers

Tuesday

• Lunch: Leftover Spanish Chicken & (Cauliflower) Rice
• Dinner: I have a meeting so I'll be eating leftover Southwestern Frittata and roasted veggies, but I plan on cooking this Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast for Dave and leftovers for the week.  I love it because you can eat it as is or if you get bored, change it up with some Franks Red Hot or compliant bbq sauce, or even add some Mexican spices, onions and peppers and violà you have fajitas!

Wednesday

• Lunch: Leftover Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast and roasted veggies
• Dinner: I'll be attending a BBQ at a friends house, so I'll be eating whatever meat is served with a Paleo side I'm going to bring, I'm leaning towards prosciutto wrapped asparagus

Thursday

• Lunch: Leftover Southwestern Frittata and roasted veggies
• Dinner: Leftover Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast with a side salad

Friday

• Lunch: Whatever leftovers we have left!
• Dinner: Blue Ribbon Country Captain Chicken from Well Fed with roasted brussel sprouts

Saturday

• Brunch: Veggie egg scramble
• Lunner: We'll be at a graduation party, so I plan on eating whatever meat is served with a Paleo side I'm going to bring and honestly I think I'm going to bring the prosciutto wrapped asparagus to this party too because it will be so easy to just double the quantity from Wednesday

Sunday

• Brunch: Leftover Blue Ribbon Country Captain Chicken with brussel sprouts
• Dinner: We'll be having some family over to help with some housework so I think I'll be throwing this Crock Pot Beef Stew together to have something that will cook itself while we're working

As you can see, I plan on cooking a lot at once and then utilizing the leftovers for future meals.  I'm a huge fan of this method, Whole30 or not.  I learned it from my momma :)  I'm also trying to keep it pretty simple this week.  I really don't mind eating the same thing for a few days in a row and both Dave and I have lot going on, so we really won't have any time to cook Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.  I know we don't have plans for Friday, so I'm looking forward to staying home and cooking a more involved meal.  Get it in when you can!

If you're doing the Whole30, don't forget to record your before stats!  Weight yourself, bust out the tape measure, and take those dreaded before pictures.  All right, I'm headed out to enjoy some Independence Day cocktails.  Enjoy your weekend :)

Are you enjoying some treats over the holiday weekend?