Whole30 - Day 26

Happy Monday morning! 

I am sitting here at home, still under the weather. I'm afraid my throat is still sore, but I don't feel the soreness as much because 1) I have gotten used to it and/or 2) My throat is coated with a layer of mucus. Yes, I know, too much information. I feel like my chest is heavy, yet I don't feel stuffiness when I take deep breaths. I'm not sure what the deal is. I've done a sinus rinse two days in a row now. Yes, I took the plunge. I was hesitant, even though my allergy doctor gave me one to test out. Looks like I'll need to go to the drug store to buy more of the saline packets. I did the saline rinse last night before bed. Bad idea! I was lying in bed and could barely breathe because of the drainage. It was going down my throat and into my nostrils. That's fun. I lied there for over an hour trying to sleep. Thank goodness for giant handkerchiefs to get you through the night. I'm certain it's my sinuses at this point. My head and ears are definitely feeling clogged. I really hope this improves today. 

So, it seems like when a woman is sick, she still does chores/cooks. I had food prep that needed to get done, so I spent time in the kitchen in the morning. I accomplished a lot, but it definitely didn't help the cause. I probably tired myself out even more. I cleaned and chopped veggies, made a breakfast casserole for the week and cooked a whole chicken in the Crock Pot. The chicken was so easy. I sliced one onion for the bottom. Next time, I will include carrots and celery too. I put the whole chicken on the onions and seasoned it with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried onions. It cooked for 5 hours on high. The chicken just fell off the bones when I took it out. I saved the bones and cooking liquid to make chicken broth for the chicken minestrone soup (last night's dinner). Yum! 

Midday, I took a break to run with my husband. I read online that running can sometimes be a positive thing. I actually ended up running really slowly and only did 3.6 miles (my husband did 10.8!). I had very little energy in my body. I was happy to finish one neighborhood loop. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time before my half marathon, so I feel like I'm up against a wall. It looks like my weekend long runs will be longer than scheduled, just to get myself ready in time. I've run nine (maybe more) stand-alone half marathons and two half marathons as part of Ironman 70.3 races. My body will remember when race day comes, but I would prefer to be conditioned properly. 

Wow, I'm exhausted just reading that. By spending a few extra minutes on the weekend to prep for the week, it saves a huge amount of time when getting home from work and trying to get dinner on the table at a reasonable time. 

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with sliced beef hot dogs, zucchini, mushrooms and red bell peppers with diced avocado on top and a Pure Wrap on the side. I love making little breakfast tacos out of the Pure Wraps. I sipped on some Cranberry Kombucha throughout the morning. I was hoping the probiotics would help me. 

Lunch: I'm so happy for leftovers. We had beef stew from a few days ago. I did cook up some cauliflower (very small pieces) in a bit of coconut oil. I got distracted, so it didn't get stirred enough and burned a bit. It still tasted fine, but that's the black specks you see in the beef stew. We also ate our leftover Paleo "Corn" Bread. 

Dinner: I put together some chicken minestrone soup. It was inspired by Mmm...Coffee's minestrone soup that we ate on Thursday. I've made vegetarian minestrone (with beans) in my Pre-Paleo days and loved it. After the inspiration from Jami at Mmm...Coffee, I knew it couldn't be hard to put together a Paleo version. Recipe will be posted later (post-Whole30). While the soup was cooking, I made another batch of Paleo crackers. We ate a bit of freshly-cut pineapple on the side (they were on sale for $1 each last week!). The pineapple was quite sweet and a perfect ending to the meal. 

I'm hoping to get back on track and post today's meals before going to bed tonight. Hope you're all having a good start to your week. 

Question: Can you believe it's almost February?! Where did the time go? 

Whole30 - Day 18

It's another Saturday morning! I love going to bed Friday night knowing I don't have to wake up to an alarm. I awoke just before 8am and felt well-rested. I started thinking about breakfast. I'm at a loss for breakfast meals other than eggs w/ veggies and/or leftover meat. I really need some variety (this goes for post-Whole30 as well).

I did some searching for Whole30 banana pancakes (because I have an entire bunch of ripe bananas). I know, I know. Pancakes should not be made on Whole30. Dallas and Melissa of Whole30 even wrote up an article about not "paleo-fying" junk foods with approved ingredients. Well, I'm here to tell Dallas and Melissa that lifestyles aren't an end-all-be-all for everyone. I'm going on another rant about the Whole30 community. Everything I used in my breakfast today is considered Whole30. I am sick of eggs for breakfast everyday. When I have time to make other foods, I want to make them. I have gotten a grasp over my sugar addiction already. I'm almost to the 21-day mark which is the timeline to make or break a habit. 

I started living The Paleo Lifestyle for Athletes in June 2012 while training for Ironman Canada. We would eat non-optimal foods after our long weekend workouts (anything over 3 hours - typically after 60+ mile bike rides and 20-mile runs) within the time window of the duration of our workout. For example, if we worked out for 5 hours, then we would have 5 hours immediately following our workout to replenish our glycogen stores (with non-optimal foods, if we wished). Anyways, that transitioned into an 80-90% Paleo Lifestyle after our Ironman in August. We would eat a partially non-Paleo meal once or, occasionally, twice per week. Those non-Paleo meals would be meals eaten outside of the home (either restaurants or social events). Since I've been following Paleo for quite a bit of time, I have no interest returning to the Standard American Diet (SAD). I know how grains, dairy, legumes and processed foods make me feel. I also know how awesome I feel when I eat meats, fruits and veggies. I can handle some nuts and seeds, more if they are soaked to reduce the phytic acid, tannins and enzyme inhibitors. If I don't soak them, I tend to have gut irritation. 

With all the above being said, doing a Whole30 challenge was a mere step from my Paleo lifestyle. The only thing I was cutting out was the baked goods, laden with honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar. I've also had to scrutinize food labels for any type of sugar. I believe that strictness in preparation (even for 30 days) can create negative thoughts towards something. If this type of lifestyle is going to be sustainable beyond the 30 days, I have to have some flexibility in foods and the way they are prepared. Coconut flour pancakes are not going to make me run out to IHOP to get regular pancakes. That's because I have given up the grains and dairy. I have no interest in the non-Paleo versions of "junk foods". I would rather eat the Paleo versions because they taste so much better to me. My Paleo pizza and lasagna recipes are 100 times better than their SAD counterparts. Paleo pancakes are the same for me. Just because I ate Paleo pancakes for breakfast today doesn't make me crave anything else. I won't condone making pancakes to everyone doing a Whole30 because some of you may have more emotional and/or physical obstacles to overcome. Some of you may have cut out caffeine, grains, dairy, legumes, processed foods and soy products, etc (all at once) to do a Whole30. That comes with a lot more baggage, in my opinion. Cutting out caffeine alone can cause headaches and comfort food cravings. For some people, there is a fine line to follow. Any stray from that line could be a slippery slope. You have to use your discretion based on what you know about yourself. What I eat on my Whole30 may not work for you.

Moving on. I suggested going on a hike today because the weather was gorgeous. 60 degrees and blue skies. We started our hike from Golden and ended close to the top of Lookout Mountain. It took us 59 minutes to hike to the little parking lot near the top. To get up to the Nature Center, we probably would have hiked an additional 20-25 minutes. It was a solid hike. We both noticed that we're not in Ironman shape like we were the last time we hiked that trail. It was definitely a great workout. There were a lot of others taking advantage of the mild weather. Mountain bikers, runners and other hikers on the trail. On the road leading up to Lookout Mountain had a lot of road cyclists and skateboarders. Yes, we saw many skateboarders go flying down the road in excess of 20 mph. Absolutely nuts.

Breakfast: Coconut flour banana pancakes with warm almond butter and strawberry puree (simply blended strawberries in my Magic Bullet. 

Lunch; We ate our snacks/lunch at our turnaround near the top of Lookout Mountain. We each ate a banana, roasted cashews, a Larabar and a handful of Flax Snax. 

Dinner: As I was making dinner, I ate half a banana muffin. For dinner, I made some amazing chicken burgers w/ baked yam (aka sweet potato) fries. Here's how I made the chicken burgers: 1.3 pounds of ground chicken breast mixed with one egg, 1 1/2 T. Dijon mustard, 3 minced garlic cloves, ~1 t. dried sage, ~1 t. dried rosemary, 1/4 cup almond meal and salt & pepper (to taste). I made three patties (though you could easily make four), dipped them in additional almond meal and cooked them in a bit of olive & grapeseed oils. I was trying to imitate a breaded chicken sandwich (sort of). I sauteed a sliced onion and diced portobello mushrooms in another pan. To assemble: put a couple handfuls of baby spinach on the plate; top with a burger, onions, mushrooms, sliced tomato and a few slices of avocado. Add a dollop of Lemonaise to the very top. Best way to eat is to mix it all together. The warm burger will wilt some of the spinach. This meal was amazing! It was definitely hard to capture all the layers with my iPhone camera. Trust me when I say you should make this. 

After eating and cleaning up the kitchen, I cracked open a new flavor of Kombucha. Gingerberry. Love at first sip. 

I'm finally relaxing in the recliner before going to bed soon. I have a 7-mile run tomorrow (late morning/midday to allow the temps to warm up). I will probably do some food prep as well (cleaning/chopping veggies). 

What are your plans for your Sunday? 

Whole30 - Day 15

I'm at the halfway point. Today's post is going to be short and sweet. I did my squats, sit-ups and push-ups this morning. At lunchtime, I had a great workout consisting of two circuits of 10 minutes on the spin bike and 5 minutes of fast running on the treadmill. My running pace was strong. I ran my first round at 8.1 mph and my second round at 8.2 mph. I was definitely sweating by the end. It feels wonderful to sweat. It clears out the pores.

Here's what I ate today.

Breakfast: I ate a scoop of meat/veggie sauce from the other day. I also diced a zucchini and half a portobello mushroom and sauteed it in a bit of olive oil. I threw in some spinach to wilt. Then I fried two eggs to put on top. I ate a Pure Coconut Wrap on the side.

Lunch: Leftover meatballs w/ spaghetti squash and a little cashew "alfredo" sauce on top. Roasted zucchini and yellow squash.

PM Snack: Banana and a couple bites of a banana muffin (the rest is still in the baggie - waiting for tomorrow, I suppose).
Dinner: Baked wild-caught salmon seasoned with sea salt, pepper and a little fresh-squeezed lemon juice, lemon-garlic broccoli and some leftover portobello mushroom casserole. I drank half a bottle of Strawberry Kombucha.

As I mentioned, today is short and sweet. I'm going to bed so I can get another good night's sleep. I finally felt rested this morning, so let's make tonight two in a row!

Good night!

Whole30 - Day 8

I woke up to the 5:30am alarm (which is mostly for my husband) and still felt pretty tired. I feel like I haven't been sleeping well all week. I already made the decision last night that I would work out during my lunch hour, so I decided to sleep in an extra hour. That extra hour felt pretty wonderful. I'm a slow mover in the mornings. If I didn't have to work outside the home, I would probably wake up naturally around 7am everyday. That would be lovely. When do you wake up during the week? Weekends? 

Work was another crazy day. I tell you, it's never a dull day in payroll. I'm looking forward to a few weeks from now when year end has calmed down a bit. I did get the opportunity to run outside this afternoon. It felt amazing! I was still a little slower than normal, but felt fairly strong. There were moments when I thought my heart rate was going to spike, but I was able to keep it stable. I ran for 37 minutes on an out-and-back route into the State Park. It's a beautiful area. The prairie dogs were out in full force. There were a few Mallard ducks floating around the thawed water (creek/ponds). Since it was such a gorgeous January day for Colorado standards, there were numerous walkers, runners and cyclists out and about. Believe it or not, there was a mom walking a stroller and dog coming upon me as I took this photo. 

Breakfast: I tossed together 1/4 of a sweet potato (diced), 1 diced zucchini and the leftover half of the apple Dijon burger (crumbled) in a frying pan with a little olive oil. I cooked it for about 10 minutes (the sweet potato was still a bit undercooked, but I was running low on time). I threw in a couple eggs at the end and scrambled them up. 

Lunch: Leftover roasted cabbage, rutabaga hash browns and pulled pork. I anticipated that I'd be hungry after running, so I brought some blackberries to snack on. I neglected to take any photos of lunch, since it looks almost identical to last night's dinner (minus the egg). 

Dinner: Creamy cauliflower soup w/ gremolata and sugar-free bacon ends. I adapted a non-Paleo recipe from a magazine (not sure which one - I just have the torn out page). I'll post the recipe for the soup this weekend. The gremolata tasted a bit like crushed Ritz crackers. Yum! I made a simple salad with mixed greens, tomato and avocado with a basic lemon juice/olive oil/sea salt/pepper dressing. So good. I also drank a few sips of the Passionberry Bliss Kombucha I opened last night. 

Top left: Breakfast. Bottom: Soup w/ gremolata & bacon. Top right: Simple salad.

Hope you are all having a fabulous week! Congrats! We made it halfway through the workweek. Now, it's time for some much-needed sleep. Good night all and make tomorrow even better! 

Whole30 - Day 5

Day 5. 1/6th of the way through. Things are going pretty well. Weekends are typically the tougher days because I'm home all day with the temptation to snack. I normally bake on the weekends too, but not during Whole30.

I woke up around 8am and snuggled with our kitty, Mango. He loves attention and I thought some 1:1 time with him would be good.

I made some breakfast a bit later (details below). Watched "Clueless" on TV allowing my food to settle before going out for a run. Who else remembers watching "Clueless" during their teen years (or younger)? I was 11 years old when the movie came out. It's a classic, that's for sure. I did some research on the ages of the main cast. I'm always curious, because actors/actresses are almost always older than the characters they portray. Paul Rudd (Josh) was 26. Alicia Silverstone (Cher) was 19. Brittany Murphy (Tai) was 18. Stacey Dash (Dionne) was 28. Anyways, after the movie ended, I changed into my running clothes for my long(ish) run. I ran 6.3 miles around the neighborhood. My legs are still adjusting to the 100 squats per day so it was a slow run. 59 minutes compared to my usual 55 minutes for that route. I was just happy I was able to run the entire distance, considering it was my longest run since Ironman last August. I must commit to more running over the next 8 weeks. I have a half marathon to run in March.

After running, I watched the Colts playoff game. I'm a bit disappointed in their performance today. They definitely exceeded my expectations this season. They'll be a force to reckon with next year. Now I'm cheering on the Broncos the rest of the way.

Breakfast: I like to use up leftovers within a few days. Otherwise, it seems I throw out food on a regular basis. I sauteed onions, mushrooms and bell peppers with the last leftover turkey burger. Then I mixed in 5 eggs (for the two of us). I put a sliced tomato and diced avocado on top. We ate it with a Pure Wrap.
Lunch: Leftover steak tips w/ mushroom gravy atop cauliflower "rice" and broccoli.
Dinner: Yam & Carrot Cakes with sugar-free sausage from U.S. Wellness Meats, Crispy Prosciutto, 1 egg and roasted zucchini & yellow squash.
Snacks: Post-run, I drank a Cranberry Kombucha. I snacked on some Pizza Flax Snax and Sunflower Flax Snax this afternoon.

Top left: Go Colts! Top Right: Dinner. Bottom left: Breakfast. Bottom right: post-run beverage. 

The weekend is over. Going to bed soon. Sunday nights are important to get a good night's sleep to start the work week. Otherwise, it's tough to catch up. It's another busy week for me. Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Make the most of each day this week. Live in the present moment.

Whole30 - Day 4

It's the weekend! Saturdays mean lazy mornings. I stayed up way past my usual bedtime last night, so my body wanted to sleep until 9am. That's late for me. I guess if your body needs the sleep, you let it sleep.

I started off the day by figuring out our menu for the week. I looked through my Pinterest boards for some recipes/ideas. I did some other pinning of foods to make post-Whole30. I just know I will be limiting the intake of Paleo goodies after this is all over. My mindset is already shifting after 4 days. I realize I don't need those foods. I'm satisfied without the sweets.

At 9:30, I figured I better get a start on breakfast. We had some bell peppers and diced onions in the fridge, along with leftover turkey burgers from last night. So I got to work putting something together. Pictures and description in the menu below.

After cleaning up from breakfast, we both did our daily squats (and my sit-ups and push-ups). I'm challenging myself to 100 squats, 100 sit-ups and 25 push-ups everyday this year. It takes 21 days to create or break a habit. I'm focused and driven right now, so I have no doubt about it. My husband is doing 275 squats per day. That's crazy! My legs are pretty sore with just doing 100 per day. We relaxed for a while. I finished writing my grocery list. Since we were running low on food, I suggested we go to Whole Foods for lunch and run a few errands. The salad bar is a great option. So is rotisserie chicken. After lunch and errands, I dropped my husband off at home before going to my regular grocery store (Sprouts). By the time I got home and put all the groceries away, it was time to make dinner. I'm finally sitting down while watching "Hot Tub Time Machine" on Comedy Central. Hilarious!

Breakfast: I sauteed some diced onions, green and yellow bell peppers and some spinach in a little bit of coconut oil. I threw a diced tomato on top. Heated up a turkey burger from last night for us to share. I fried one egg each. I also tried these Paleo English Muffins. They didn't turn out as expected. I only ate 1/2 of mine, because it just wasn't great. Maybe I should have used a narrower/smaller bowl so they would have been thicker. I gave it a shot.

Lunch: I decided to make a huge salad from the salad bar. Mixed greens and spinach as my base. Then I went a bit crazy with toppings. Peaches, mangoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded carrots, shredded beets, roasted chicken, hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Tessemae's just so happened to be sampling their dressings when we got to Whole Foods. I really liked the Cracked Pepper dressing, but have also heard good things about the Zesty Ranch. I topped my salad with some of the Zesty Ranch. These dressings are olive oil-based and would be easy to make at home.

Dinner: I made Paleo Steak Tips with Mushroom Gravy by The Preppy Paleo. This dish was flavorful. The meat was tender. I give this meal an A+. I made cauliflower "rice" and broccoli on the side. I did have to add a little arrowroot (mixed with cold water) to thicken the gravy. It just wasn't thickening on its own. After dinner, we had some blackberries and cantaloupe. Blackberries are so incredibly sweet. I'm realizing that fruit makes great treats.

I did snack a little today. I had a few Pizza and Sunflower Flax Snax. I also ate a handful of Lemon and Chocolate Super Cookies. Whole30-friendly (in moderation, of course). I took a few sips of my Strawberry Kombucha as well. 

Overall, I'm feeling good. I plan on running 5-6 miles tomorrow. Forecasted high is close to 50 degrees. Just have to finish before the Colts playoff game at 11am. 

One last thing, I'm making bone broth for the first time ever! It's simmering in my dutch oven and takes 20 hours! We'll have bone broth at 4pm tomorrow. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Whole30 - Day 3

Happy Friday everyone! At this point, hopefully you are done working for the day (or week) and enjoying the beginning of your weekend.

My day started at 5:30am. I went to the small gym by our house which has older treadmills. I've never liked those treadmills for some reason. This morning, I ran a 5k on one of those old, dreaded treadmills. I'm not sure if it was psychological or physical, but I had a really rough run this morning. I took a few walk and water breaks during the run. I average 25-26 minute 5ks and this one took 28:30 or so. I have been doing 100 squats a day for the past 4 days, so that could have impacted my performance today.

Breakfast: I made a hodgepodge in the frying pan with kale, leftover cauliflower rice, leftover salmon and the few spoonfuls of cashew cheese sauce that was left. Just trying to clean out the fridge.

Lunch: Zesty Beef Soup from Mmm...Coffee! with plantain chips and 2 pieces of cantaloupe

Dinner: Friday night's are usually a throw-together of whatever we have left in the fridge. Tonight, I made turkey burgers. I sauteed an 8 oz. package of sliced mushrooms and half an onion (diced) in a little bit of olive oil. Seasoned it with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper. I let them cool a bit. In a large bowl, I mixed together the cooled veggies, ~2 pounds ground turkey (pasture-raised), 1 egg, 1/4 cup almond meal, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, sea salt and pepper. I formed them into patties (4-6 patties). I cooked them in a frying pan (but could also be grilled). The burgers were topped with a sliced Roma tomato and 1/4 avocado. I wilted a few handfuls of spinach in another pan. I had some zucchini as well, so I diced and roasted it in a 425-degree oven. Here's what my plate looked like. Yum!

Dinner turned out delicious! Sometimes the best meals are those unplanned.

I did some research today and found out that Kombucha is Whole30-approved! Flavored or unflavored, as long as it's unsweetened. Strawberry Serenity Kombucha somehow made it into my shopping bag after work today. I drank half of the bottle tonight and will save the rest for sometime this weekend. Kombucha is one of those things that you either love or hate. There's no in-between. I happen to love it. Strawberry is my favorite flavor, but I also enjoy the Cosmic Cranberry, Passionberry Bliss, Guava Goddess, and Mystic Mango.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend ahead. I may watch a little football (Go Colts!), exercise and practice my cooking show script/wording.

Are you doing anything exciting this weekend? Whatever you are doing, make the most of it!