Whole30 - Day 20

Day 20. This challenge/lifestyle will continue after the 30 days. I may not follow it every single day, but I will definitely follow it regularly and consistently (not sure the frequency yet, but will determine that shortly after the 30 days). I will write an evaluation and determine what the best course of action is moving forward.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Many of you had the day off. My previous employer honored 9 holidays, including MLK Jr. Day. My current employer only honors 7 (no MLK Jr. Day or President's Day). Luckily though, my husband and I both slept until 6:30am. It felt wonderful to get extra sleep. My husband had a delayed start to his day, so no 5:30 alarm! I did make us breakfast before we both left for work.

It's another payroll week, so it was a busy day. I took a walking break midday to soak up some Vitamin D. The warmth of the sun felt amazing. I love warmth. I love the sun. Where could I live that's warm and sunny all year? During my walk, I stumbled upon this video: What If Money Was No Object? It was inspiring. It lit a little fire under me. What would you do with you life if money didn't matter? I would prepare Paleo meals for others, do cooking shows (which we're making a reality this year) and be a personal trainer. I want to help others be healthy and fit.

I downloaded the InstaCollage app on my iPhone. Love it. It also happened to be free. I highly recommend it.

Breakfast: Omelette with mushrooms, green bell peppers, Super Natural Turkey Hot Dogs and a smear of cashew "alfredo" sauce to hold it all together. Bowl of grapefruit.

Lunch: Mixed greens w/ leftover tuna salad and Paleo crackers. New employee onboarding had extra guacamole after their lunch, so I added some Chipotle guacamole to my tuna salad. Yum! 

Dinner: Mustard-marinated Pork Chops, roasted zucchini & yellow squash and apples w/ almond butter. The pork chops tasted amazing. I marinated them for 24 hours. The Dijon mustard and garlic really shined through. That marinade would also pair well with chicken. 

Today was a good food day. I actually thought I looked a bit thinner in the mirror tonight, even though my pants don't feel much looser. This challenge isn't about getting thin though. It's about resetting my taste buds and breaking my sugar addiction. I have broken my sugar addiction, which is pretty incredible. I used to think my day wasn't complete until I had a dessert. Growing up, we always had homemade goodies in the house. My mom was such an amazing cook and baker. She baked pies (with homemade crusts), cookies and cakes. At Christmas time, she would make chocolate candies - chocolate-dipped pretzels, chocolate-dipped peanut butter Ritz Crackers, chocolate-dipped nuts, pralines. OMG! It was sugar overload from Thanksgiving to Christmas every year. 

Tonight is "The Biggest Loser" night on TV. It's rather fitting that I'm talking about breaking my sugar addiction as I watch this show. It's actually pretty amazing the strides these contestants make and how quickly they do. They're changing by the day... getting stronger emotionally, physically and mentally. It's a little like a Whole30 challenge for those of us who don't need to lose weight, but need a little boost. I'm strengthening myself each day.

I still have to do my squats, sit-ups and push-ups. Then I'm off to sleep. Waking up early to ride bike on the trainer and do some Crossfit exercises.

Whole30 - Day 14

If I could sum up today in one word, it would be: heavy. Why? My eyes have been itchy and heavy all day long. I was on a webinar all morning and could barely keep my eyes open. All I wanted to do was put pressure on my eyeballs and keep them closed. That's how I feel about today.

I did my squats, sit-ups and push-ups while watching the rest of last night's "Biggest Loser" episode. I'm shocked at how poorly Dolvett's team fared on the scale. A two pound loss is still a loss, but you'll be voted off that show faster than you can say 'chocolate'. I put together crockpot meatballs before eating a quick breakfast and heading out the door.

I didn't work out today. I packed my workout bag with intentions to originally workout during lunchtime. On my way to work, I thought it would be better if I ran my errands during lunch and go to the gym after work. So, I went to Target and Vitamin Cottage. Target... what can I say about you? I had a list: Purex, Ziploc Snack Bags, Ice Cube Trays, Avocados. I walked out with the first three items (no avocados) + two packages of socks. If they had had a better stock of socks, I may have bought more. I even found myself looking at the slippers and boots. Then I looked at Valentine's Day gifts. Seriously?

At Vitamin Cottage, I found avocados on sale for $.75 each! Then I grabbed more unsweetened banana chips, Kombucha (I will brew my own... maybe that'll be next month's project) and Larabars. At this point, I felt extremely hungry. I made lunch immediately upon getting back to work.

Breakfast: I didn't eat a lot. Just some Banana Nut Porridge with unsweetened shredded coconut, blueberries and blackberries.

AM Snack: 3 pieces of dried mango
Lunch: Leftover cauliflower soup w/ gremolata, chicken sausage, avocado and crackers. I ate a couple pieces of cantaloupe to round out the meal. May not be very pretty, but it was sure tasty.

Dinner: Spaghetti Squash and Crockpot Meatballs drizzled with some cashew "alfredo" sauce with roasted zucchini and yellow squash on the side. I've made these meatballs quite a few times already. They're delicious and easy to put together. I even made them for my non-Paleo parents when they visited over Thanksgiving weekend. They enjoyed them too.

I'm relaxing for the rest of the evening. I'll try to go to sleep early tonight. I've had a tough time falling asleep lately, even though I feel tired. 8pm sounds awfully desirable. Even if I don't fall asleep, it feels good to lie in bed. May you all sleep well and have sweet dreams!

Questions for the Night: Do you ever remember your dreams? Did you ever have a recurring dream when you were younger? I frequently have both lucid (where you can control your actions in your dream) and vivid dreams. One of my recurring childhood dreams was going down into the basement at my childhood home to find the ceiling and walls coated with yellow jackets (wasps). I would freak out, run back upstairs to my bedroom, jump into bed and would wake up.

Whole30 - Day 13

Today has been somewhat of a "blah" kind of day. Blah and blur. Not sure why that is. Maybe because my meals weren't extraordinary. Oh... I know what it is. It's Day 13. Yeah, that's it.

I made the decision last night that I would run during my lunch hour today. That was a good plan, because I was able to sleep until 6:20am. I did my squats this morning while my breakfast was cooking. Work was another busy day. Friday afternoon, the internet/network went down from 2pm on. That meant I had a lot of emails and work in general to catch up on this morning. I took a break to run 5 miles on the treadmill, plus a 7-minute cool-down walk. It took 42:46, which is a bit slow for me. I'm usually between 40 and 41 minutes for that distance. It felt pretty awesome to sweat though. 

I was really disappointed when I realized I didn't pack any fruit with my lunch. I later realized I had organic dried mango slices. That was even better than the banana I was longing. Have you ever tried dried mango slices? If not, you really ought to give them a try. Well, if you like mangoes. I happen to love them. Mangoes are my all-time favorite fruit and possibly my favorite food. My ultimate dream is to have a mango tree in my yard. That means I will have to move to a warmer climate. I'd be ok with that. It would be much better than the 10-15 degree temps today. After work, I stopped by the allergy place to get another allergy shot. Build-up phase is twice per week. I wanted to make a stop at Target as well, but at that point it was already 5:30pm. I needed to get home to make dinner. Target trip will happen tomorrow.

Breakfast: 1/4 cup diced sweet potato, 1/2 diced portobello mushroom and 1/2 green bell pepper sauteed in a little coconut oil w/ two eggs scrambled in. I also had a scoop of leftover meat-veggie sauce from the weekend.

Lunch: Mixed greens with tomato, avocado and chicken w/ olive oil & lemon juice dressing (seasoned with sea salt and pepper).

Snack: Dried Mango Slices - 7-8 pieces, I think. Perfect afternoon pick-me-up. Oh yeah, I also ate one of the banana muffins I baked yesterday. So delicious.

Dinner: Roasted Red Pepper & Avocado Soup w/ Tomato-Basil Chicken Sausage. I'll be honest. I'm not a big fan of this soup. I think it had way too much paprika. There was just something about it. I think it could be a better soup without the paprika and use sweet potatoes or butternut squash. Maybe I don't like pureed roasted red peppers. We ate the soup with the homemade herb crackers I made yesterday. That wasn't quite enough so I also ate an apple. 

                         

That's pretty much Day 13 in a nutshell. My husband and I watched last night's episode of "The Mentalist." What a great show! I'm catching up a bit on tonight's "Biggest Loser." I get to fast forward through commercials and watch a bit more in my limited time. I get a kick out of the misinformation given out on "Biggest Loser." They teach them that low-fat is healthy. It's not. We need fats to function. It's all about eating the right fats - avocados, coconuts, olives. It's not about eating whole grains. It's about cutting out the grains. We were made a specific way and to eat certain foods. Why don't we all eat that way to optimally fuel ourselves? It's incredible. I can't believe I went almost 28 years of my life before adopting Paleo. Let's spread the word about Paleo! 

By the way, I'm thinking of coming up with a nickname for my husband. I know of one Paleo blogger who calls her husband "The Caveman". Any ideas on a name for mine? I don't want to copy "The Caveman" but it's pretty darn cute. 

I'm feeling exhausted at this point. Good night everyone!