January Whole30(+5): Kicking Things Off + My Meal Plan for Days 1-5

You know how it goes.  Hate to be a stereotype, but the Christmas cookies are gone and my pants don't fit, so here we go!

I was already planning on doing something in January when my Whole30 support group started chattering away on facebook.  Then my coach announced a nutrition challenge at the gym, so I was locked in!  I was only planning on doing 25 days, but the gym challenge is 5 weeks, so I'm doing my first Whole35.  Ew lol.

What is the Whole30? 

• Yes: Eat real food.

Eat meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed.

• No: Avoid for 30 days.

More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.

• Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial
• Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking.
• Do not eat grains.
• Do not eat legumes.
• Do not eat dairy
• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites.
• Do not try to re-create baked goods,  junk foods, or treats* with “approved” ingredients. 

• One last and final rule: You are not allowed to step on the scale or take any body measurements for the duration of the program.

Today is Day 1 and I'm feeling excited!  My menu for the week is full of tried and true favorites, some simple and quick, mixed with others that require a little more effort.  Healthy eating does not have to be boring!

• Paleo Pad Thai - This one is pretty simple, but has a bit of prep work.  I typically use almond butter instead of sunflower and this time I added bell peppers, water chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, and shrimp!
• The Easiest and Most Delicious Crockpot Beef Ever - This recipe is so easy and simple.  I sub coconut aminos for the Worcestershire sauce and always add baby carrots.
• Bora Bora Fireballs - I haven't made this recipe in a while, but I know it's awesome.  Pork, pineapple, and coconut... these are a few of my favorite things!
• Krista's Quick and Easy Crab and Veggie Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms - This one is packed with veggies and comes together super quick if you have a food processor.  And you can really throw in whatever protein you want.
• German Bratwurst (from Wegmans) with Sauerkraut and Potatoes Sauteed in Ghee - Because sometimes all you want to do is throw some stuff in a pan.

In addition to staying compliant with my diet, I've made a few other goals:

• Gym 4x per week
• Floss every night
• 75 oz of water per day
• 10 minutes of stretching per day
• No coffee
• No frivolous spending (no personal shopping, only groceries & necessary house expenses)

It's time to get my life together and I couldn't be more ready for this change!

Are you doing anything in the new year to turn over a new leaf?

Oh Ever Neglected Blog, How You Ebb and Flow

Sometimes I basically forget that this thing exists, but then old posts pop up on my Facebook memories and I remember how much I love looking back.  I still have a few Italy posts to do... yikes lol.  I feel like I should probably condense them, but there's just so many photos.  I can't even think about all the Hawaii pics yet!

I cannot believe 2017 is just around the corner.  I'm honestly pretty done with 2016, the last few months have been rough.  October was filled with family grief when we lost both my dad's brother Dennis and his mother Valerie within a month's time.  Still can't believe they are both gone.

Then at the beginning of November, Dave came down on his ankle wrong playing football with some of my coworkers which resulted in him fracturing his fibula head and tearing multiple ligaments in his leg including the one that holds your tibia and fibula together.  He had surgery a week later to insert some screws to hold his bones in place.  He's officially allowed to start putting weight on it tomorrow and should be able to lose his crutches completely very soon (Merry Christmas to him... and me!), but he will have a second surgery in 6 weeks to remove the screws and he'll still be in a boot for another 3 months.  So far he's healing well, but it's a slow process and it has been quite an adjustment.

And if all that wasn't enough, November 8th was a nightmare that keeps getting scarier every day.  Enough said.

I'm really looking forward to that fresh start feel of a new year.  But things haven't been all bad!

I've been making it to the gym pretty consistently and the past week has been awesome.  On Friday we retested a benchmark workout called Fran (21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups).  When we did it last October I was coming back from PT and some serious carb loading in Italy.  I felt weak and nervous and did it in 8:16 with only 45# on the bar.  This year I was excited, because I knew no matter what I was PRing since I was doing it Rx with 65#.  I felt strong during the workout and the thrusters went really well.  I did most of my pull ups 2 at a time.  I finished in 7:29 and was on top of the world!

Yes, that's my "top of the world" face.  And no, that's not my boob.

Tuesday night I had another great night at the gym.  We retested our unbroken wall ball max.  Last year I had a goal of doing 20 and I made it to 30, but admitted that I could've probably done more.  This year my goal was 40 and I ended up doing 43!  I was really proud of myself.  Then we built to a heavy double back squat and I did 200#!  That's only 5 lbs under the max I hit at the CF Total, so my coach told me my max is probably even higher.  The WOD was an 8 minute AMRAP of 10 double unders, 3 chest to bar pull ups, 20 dubs, 6 C2B, 30, 9... and so on.  I crushed the chest to bar pull ups and my dubs were great too!  I got through the round of 50 dubs and finished 8 of the pull ups for 188 reps total.  Thinking back to the CF Open in February & March, I know I've grown so much.  I got my first C2B ever during 16.1 and now they aren't even a question.  And I did 16.2 twice (twice ugh!), just trying to get through the 50 double unders, tripping up every 2 or 3 reps and now I can fly through them.  I love seeing measurable progress and I left the gym feeling so amazing!

And last but not least, the gym has been running a 32 calorie challenge on the assault bike.  It sounded horrible from everyone that tried it and I'm still not really sure how I was convinced, but tonight I stopped by just to complete the challenge and my coach couldn't have been more excited.

Coach Erin trying to get everyone on the assault bike.

I had never even sat on the thing before, but as soon as I warmed up on it a little I knew it was going to burn my thighs.  I had zero expectations, I literally just wanted to finish.  I started strong, but soon enough the fatigue was taking over.  I was about half way when I seriously thought about quitting.  I think I might have if Wes wasn't standing next to me repeating "you got this" over and over and over.  I had 10 calories left and it seemed like my legs weren't really working anymore.  I felt like I was going slow as molasses.  But one by one, the calories ticked away.  At 1:55 I felt the sweet relief of flopping off the bike onto the floor.  And then I felt the worst pain that CrossFit has ever delivered.  My quads felt like they were stuck in a horrible cramp.  I tried different positions, but nothing gave me any relief.  I was rolling around, writhing in pain wondering if my legs would feel normal again.  Finally, about 10 minutes later I peeled myself off the floor.  And guess what... turns out I beat all the other girls, including my coach (who is a beast)!  I still can't believe it!

Well Christmas is only days away.  I'm looking forward to homemade pierogies, lots of family time, and a music filled Christmas Eve service.  I hope you enjoy every moment and have a lovely holiday!

Merry Christmas <3

The CrossFit Total & Halloween

Well this post is a little over a whole week late, but I had the workouts all typed up and obviously I need to share our Halloween costumes, so let's just pretend that I posted this a week ago ;)

M - Rest day

T - 0.6 mi walk + CrossFit

• Weightlifting: Shoulder Press (5 at 40%, 5 at 50%, 5 at 60%) - I did 35#, 45#, and 50#.  It's a deload week since we're doing the CrossFit Total on Friday.  These lifts felt good, but I had a little wrist pain on my heaviest set.
• Metcon: For Time
• 100 Double Unders
• 50 Deadlifts (185/125)
• 25 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
• (15 Min Cap)

I killed it on the dubs!  It took me just over 2 minutes to complete 100 (with stopping to tie my stupid shoe in the middle) and they felt great.  I was feeling worried about the volume of deadlifts, so I went with 105# and they were fine.  The chest to bar pull ups were grueling to rep out one at a time, but soon enough, at 10:02, I was done.

• After Party: Tabata (4 minutes, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest)
• Odds: Handstand Hold
• Evens: Hollow Body Rock

W - CrossFit (6 am!)

• Weightlifting: Snatch (EMOM 9: 3 reps) - I lifted 65 lbs and tried to focus on my form.
• Metcon: On minute 10 begin... 8 Rounds For Time:
• 4 Burpees
• 6 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
• 8 Wall Balls (20/14)

Knowing the Total is coming up and I had been at the gym 12 hours beforehand, I opted to keep the workout light with the 26# kettlebell and a 10# medicine ball.  The kettlebell swings were crazy light and I used that as my rest period.  I remember when I didn't think I could swing the 35# and now it feels normal!  Throwing the med ball was a lot easier without those extra 4 lbs, but the squats still got me going.  I finished in 9:55!

T - Rest day

F - 0.6 mi walk + CrossFit

• Weightlifting: The CrossFit Total
• Back Squat (1 Rep Max)
• Shoulder Press (1 Rep Max)
• Deadlift (1 Rep Max)

My only goal for the Total was to hit a 200 lbs back squat!  I hadn't done a lot of pressing through the cycle and I avoid heavy deadlifts most of the time, but I've been doing plenty of squatting and last time I tried 200 I got stuck in the bottom.  For the Total you get 3 official attempts at each lift.  The first attempt is supposed to be something you can hit for 3 reps.  My squats felt great warming up and I opened with 191# (all my weights are odd because the women's bar is 33 lbs, so I added two 1 lb plates to get to an interval of 5... but then realized halfway through the Total that the clips I use are 0.5 lbs each).  Next I went for 201# and it felt great.  I finished with 206# and it was pretty hard, but I got it!

I think the shoulder press was everyone's least favorite.  As my coach says, it's not a sexy lift.  It gets heavy really quickly and you either have it, or you don't.  My previous PR was  85# (which honestly might have been only 83, I don't remember), so I was hoping to beat that, but I really didn't have high expectations.  I did 81# as a warm up and it felt pretty hard, so I did it again as my first attempt.  Next I did 86# and honestly wasn't sure I was going to hit it.  I got it up for a sad 1# PR.  I tried 91# but got stuck halfway and it wasn't happening.  Maybe I'll try for 88 next time lol.

I had zero expectations for my deadlift.  My only goal was not to hurt myself and feel like a cripple all weekend.  I figured I'd warm up slowly and see how I felt and stop as soon as it felt risky.  I was pretty excited when I easily picked up 211#, since my last recorded PR was 205# (which was years ago).  My first recorded attempt was at 221# and it felt challenging but really good.  I put 10 more lbs on the bar for my second attempt, but as soon as I started lifting it, I decided it wasn't a good idea and I immediately dropped it.  I think I could've lifted it and I don't even think I necessarily felt pain, it just didn't feel right, so I said no thank you!  I pulled 5 lbs off the bar and did 226# for my final attempt.  I was SO excited to be able to pull some heavy deadlifts without hurting myself.  My back felt completely fine the next day!  I had scheduled a precautionary trip to the chiropractor Saturday morning just in case I was in a bad place, but instead I got an "icing on the cake" adjustment and my body felt great!

My total lifted weight was 518#, heck yes.

S - Rest day

S - Lots of dancing and walking at a Halloween party, my phone counted over 9,000 steps between midnight and when I went to bed!

The weekend was awesome.  Friday night started with CF and then Dave and I went to grab a bite at our favorite local bar, McKenzies.  Apparently we haven't been there in a while (and we were going pretty regularly last football season) because the bartenders asked us where we've been lol.  I got a delicious roasted beet salad for dinner.

Saturday we got up and headed to my parents' house for the day.  I cooked a turkey with my mom, Dave helped his dad install a new oil tank, and we watched the Penn State game, go Lions!

Saturday night was our big Halloween party!  I've always been pretty into putting Halloween costumes together and Dave is usually just happy he doesn't have to come up with anything.  He's been pretty tolerant of all the ridiculous things I've come up with and the make up that has gone along with them.

So this year I was really excited when I figured out what we were going to be and he was on board!

We're Sharknado if you don't get it lol.  A lot of people (my mom!) kept asking me why I was forcing Dave to wear such a ridiculous costume, but it turned out that Left Shark was the hit of the party on Saturday!  A little before 11 pm, we arrived at the Battleship NJ for an epic party called PEX.  Michelle and Alex have been trying to get us to attend a PEX event for a while, but it never worked out and I'm so glad we finally went and convinced our friend Kraemer to come too.  There were fire spinners, multiple dance floors with awesome DJs, aerial performers, a brass band with a drum line, and you could explore the inside of the battleship too.  The weather was seriously perfect and we had a blast.  We met tons of people with amazing costumes, broke into random songs with strangers, danced our asses off, and could not stop laughing at Dave's hilarious moves in the huge costume.

Since the event ran till 4 am, we all got about 2 hours of sleep (or less) and Sunday was rough.  We hung around Alex and Michelle's place in the city most of the day watching football and eating cheesesteaks until we finally collected ourselves, rode the train to Lansdale and picked up the dogs from my parents'.  By the time we actually got home, it was 9 pm and our power was out, so I just headed straight to bed.

Monday was Halloween Round 3!  Shayna and Kyle had organized a Halloween scavenger hunt through Phoenixville and served some yummy food at their place beforehand.  I probably didn't need to do any more drinking on Monday night after I was still feeling pretty awful, but YOLO.  I was pretty proud of my crafting... and the fact that my costume actually survived 3 different parties.

The scavenger hunt was a riot.  Phoenixville was pretty beat, but we brought the party ourselves.  Our team won the hunt and Dave and I won best costume!  Another awesome Halloween in the books :)

Did you do anything fun for Halloween?