Whole30 - Day 24

If you read my previous post, then you know I wrote it this morning. It took a little longer than anticipated, so I rushed to make breakfast and get to work.

Today was rather uneventful. I took a break to run on the treadmill during lunchtime. I wanted to get in some speedwork. I didn't up the pace as much as I should have, but it was a good variation from the norm. I ran a half-mile warm-up, 8x200m (ranging from 7.7-8.2mph) with equal jogging in between (7.0 mph) and then ended up finishing strong to 3.1 miles. Finished the 5k in 24:59. I decided to continue, so I increased the incline to 2.0 and ran at 6.1-6.4mph until I hit 3.5 miles. I finished up with 100 squats and 50 sit-ups (will finish the rest after I post this).

I had to stop by the grocery store on the way home to pick up some food for dinner. This afternoon, I decided I wanted to make some Paleo pancakes w/ strawberry puree, veggies, meat and eggs. I'll probably make some quick Paleo chili tomorrow, so I bought some ingredients for that. I wrote the basic recipe and will finish it up tomorrow, so I can share it with you.

Breakfast: Bowl of blackberries. Green bell pepper, sliced beef hot dog, tomato and two scrambled eggs. Pure Wrap on the side.

Lunch: A bowl of Zesty Beef Stew from Mmm...Coffee (we bought extra soup last night), plantain chips, two diced kiwis and a banana. A little after lunch, I ate some dried mango and a Pecan Pie Larabar. I ate my soup and fruit too quickly to get a picture. After eating, I realized I forgot to take a picture. Oops!

Dinner: As I mentioned above, I wanted Paleo pancakes. Really, I just wanted breakfast for dinner. It sounded good this afternoon. I made these banana pancakes since I had ripe bananas. I pureed some strawberries in my Magic Bullet. I had assorted bell peppers, so I diced those along with an onion. I cooked them in a little olive oil. After they cooked down, I added a package of sliced mushrooms. In another pan, I cooked up some beef hot dogs and then fried the eggs in coconut oil. The pancakes were decent. I think they would have been better with more almond flour and one less egg. Overall, it was a tasty meal and satisfied my breakfast desires.

We're watching "Ocean's Thirteen" on TV. I'll probably get to bed at a reasonable time. I'm feeling a little irritable and tired tonight. If I'm not a happy/positive person, the best place for me to be is lying in my bed. I've already decided on a couple meals for the week, so I'll have to pick a few more. I plan on making a chicken minestrone soup (recreate the soup we ate at Mmm...Coffee). I also would like to make Paleo tacos and some type of burgers (on mixed greens or spinach). I think a chicken pot pie casserole would be a tasty treat. It's supposed to get chilly on Monday and Tuesday, so that would be a perfect dish.

Question of the day: Do you plan out your meals? Do you have a unique way of displaying the menu? Chalk board? I would love to display my menu in a creative way, but our kitchen doesn't really lend itself to putting a board on the wall (don't have any open walls). Also, our refrigerator isn't magnetic (it's stainless steel), so anything magnetic is out.

Whole30 - Day 16

I am over the hump. It's the second half of the Whole30 challenge. Amazing how fast time flies! I don't feel deprived at all. There have been a couple of times where I felt super hungry, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've been thoroughly enjoying the foods I'm eating. I'm doing my best to make different dinners for the entire 30 days. Variety is the spice of life. It keeps one engaged too. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get a great night's sleep last night. When the 5:30am alarm went off, I was still feeling a bit tired. Luckily, I was able to sleep until 6am. I did my 100 squats, 100 sit-ups and 25 push-ups while watching the local news. I made a quick breakfast before getting dressed and heading out the door. 

Work ended up being extremely busy. Meetings, phone calls, projects. As I look back on the day, I feel it was quite productive. I accomplished a major task before I left for the day. I just have to compile some data into one spreadsheet and then I check that off the list. It feels great to check things off the to-do list. Even with work being so busy, I took a much-needed break to run outside. I thought it was going to be 50 degrees today, but it ended up hitting about 40 degrees by lunch time. 40 is still warm enough for running in shorts and a t-shirt, especially here in Colorado where the sun shines so strongly. That sun felt so amazing. I ran for 31 minutes and then went into the fitness room to cool down. I ended up running at 8.6 mph for a minute and then jogged at a 3% incline at 6 mph for 4 minutes and then walked for a couple minutes as a true cool down. Of course, I stretched a bit before going back to work. Stretching is so important. I don't do it enough, but I'm doing at least the bare minimum after my workouts. I am also incorporating weekly yoga into my routine. That means tomorrow is a yoga day! Yay! 

Breakfast: The rest of the Banana Nut Porridge with blueberries and a bowl of sliced strawberries. 

Snack: Before running, I ate half a Cashew Cookie Larabar.

Lunch: Leftover salmon and garlic-lemon broccoli. 

PM Snack: Banana, the rest of my banana muffin that I nibbled on yesterday and the second half of the Larabar. I was hungry after running. 

Dinner: Cauliflower "rice". Grass-fed ground beef with a diced onion and orange bell pepper. Roasted Brussels sprouts. Cashew "alfredo" sauce. Mix it all together on your plate. Delish! Lots of flavors and textures in this meal. I drank about a third of a bottle of Strawberry Kombucha.

I'm going to end on an observation over the past couple days: The news world has been awfully strange lately. Have you heard about the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax? It's bizarre. Now today, Lance Armstrong is being brutally honest with Oprah in an interview about doping. This is really odd. What are your thoughts on Te'o and Lance? Do you think we'll be seeing Manti Te'o interviewing with Oprah next week?