Whole30 - Day 30!

Yes! The final day is coming to a close! OMG!

Amazing. I made it 30 days without eating sugar. No desserts. While, I did make some banana muffins (without any sugars), I wouldn't consider them dessert. We actually didn't even eat all of them before they went bad.

I will write up an evaluation post tomorrow, including where things will go from here. At the moment, I'm not really sure. Over the next 24 hours, I'll think about my lifestyle moving forward. As part of the summary post, I will include my updated weight and measurements.

Today, I felt about 70%, which is getting better. I was only about 40% on Tuesday, so I've made huge improvements. I was still pretty darn exhausted this morning. I had every intention of waking up with the 5:30 alarm to ride bike on the trainer. That idea went to the wayside when I realized my body and head craved more sleep. I plan on waking up early tomorrow though. I really need to get back into the workout routine. I'd like to run, but that would involve going to the gym, since it's too dark first thing in the morning to run outside. If I run, I have to bring clothes, shower stuff and breakfast to eat at work. Or I could get to work early and workout during lunchtime. Decisions, decisions.

Breakfast: Egg casserole with tomato and avocado (no avocado in the picture because it wasn't very pretty) and the rest of the banana-blueberry pancakes (I cooked all the batter yesterday so the pancakes were already made). I drank the rest of my lemon water from yesterday (heated up).

Lunch: Leftover chicken pot pie from last night's dinner.

Dinner: Mixed green salad with baked salmon, roasted red bell peppers, carrots, celery, tomatoes, avocado, cucumber and roasted cashews. Dressing = lemon juice, Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper. Simple and delicious. I drank another mug of warm lemon water. I took a picture of my cute kitty mug, because the lemon water was already gone.

Thursday nights are our favorite night of television. Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Person of Interest, The Office. We have to DVR some of them (usually Person of Interest and The Office). Laughing is fun. I love watching funny shows. It helps take my mind off of everything else. I've had some things on my mind lately and just trying to work through them. I do believe 2013 is going to be an awesome year though. There are lots of cool things to look forward to. I've got to find a healthy balance in life. I'll work on that. I need to be as efficient as possible with my time as well. It'll help me get to where I'd like to be.

Without explaining everything, the above probably doesn't make much sense. In time, it'll make sense. TGIF! See you tomorrow for a Whole30 recap.

Whole30 - Day 29

I'm getting excited! Tomorrow is the 30th and final day. I cannot believe how fast this month has gone by. This last week has been the toughest part of the month since I've been sick. I really need to feel better ASAP. I am feeling better. I am healthy. I'd like to get back to my running and regular routine. I'm a Type-A personality and have a difficult time slowing down. Even when I'm sick, I probably do more than I should. That's just who I am. I like to be productive. I measure productivity in the kitchen by what I make and by checking things off my to-do lists (whether it's work or personal).

I was a little slow moving this morning due to the congestion. I took more medicine (including antibiotic). I opened up the work laptop for a couple hours just to keep on top of things. I have a few reports to run, but will need some assistance from our vendor to get them created. That phone call is on my to-do list tomorrow, along with some User Acceptance Testing in an upgraded system. Hopefully that'll take less than 2 hours, since I have quite a bit to accomplish between tomorrow and Friday. That's what happens when you get sick. It's a part of life. I may have to work a little on Friday night or the weekend to completely catch up. We shall see how productive the next two days are.

Breakfast: Egg casserole with some leftover banana-blueberry pancakes. The main ingredients were bananas, almond flour, coconut flour and eggs. I threw some blueberries into the batter, since there isn't any sugar/sweetener otherwise. I can't say these are the best pancakes in the world, but they tasted good. The blueberries were a good addition.

Lunch: Leftover chicken minestrone soup with crackers. I still need to write up the recipe for the soup.

Dinner: Chicken pot pie with an almond flour crust. I made my own filling with carrots, celery, parsnips, onions, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach and shredded chicken with a cashew-chicken broth sauce. I used this crust recipe and loosely used this sauce, but added my own seasonings to it and used less chicken broth. I need to write up the recipe this weekend. It was fantastic! The crust fell apart a bit when I was transferring it from the counter onto the pot pie mixture, but it still tasted delicious. It would work better in small pieces to top single ramekins.

We are finishing our evening with some frozen bananas blended in the Vitamix. I topped our banana "ice cream" with sliced strawberries and raw cacao nibs. They add a nice crunch. I love my Vitamix.

We're watching the Purdue vs. Indiana basketball game, since Purdue is my alma mater. My beloved Boilermakers aren't looking so hot tonight against the Hoosiers. I still love 'em.

Well, I'm going to relax for a bit longer and then hit the hay early. I'm feeling about 70% tonight, so back to work tomorrow. Here's to hoping I feel 80% or above when I wake up tomorrow.

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.