Day 16

Day 16 was lovely.

The day was busy with wonderful things like…

Shopping for new running shoes (a fantastic Birthday present from my husband). As I get back in shape and become healthier due to a better diet, I am getting closer and closer to my goal of running again. But first things first, good running shoes! I LOVE my new shoes and I had so much fun shopping for them. It is amazing how quickly you and your feet remember what the “right” running shoe feels like. When I found it – I knew!

Then a relaxing manicure/pedicure – another birthday present!

An entire afternoon without cooking, cleaning or chasing children! What a treat!

Then when I came home my husband was getting ready to cook dinner for me (my birthday dinner). He made sure to make mine Whole30 style and it was delicious (I made him try mine and he said he couldn’t taste the difference) the big difference for him was that he didn’t eat as many veggies as I did.

So that was pretty much the sum of Day 16. Below is my Day 16 menu:

Breakfast: eggs, mushrooms, spinach

Lunch: Left-over chicken and roasted veggies.

Dinner: Broiled Grouper cheek, steamed crawfish, sauteed green beans with tomatoes and garlic.

It was a DELICIOUS day!

16 down, 14 to go!

Day 15–Half way through my Whole30

I made it to the half way mark in my Whole30. I honestly didn’t think I would make it to the other end of my first week before I started. But I was willing to try.

Now, I am not willing to fail. It’s just not an option.

Now, I am already planning what will happen next…after Day 30. How I will make sure that this life change is just that: a LIFE change, not a 30 day one.

Today felt good, because it was day 15 and that means the half-way mark. Because today is my birthday – I am 29. Because in February when I read “It Starts with Food” I decided I HAD to do a Whole30 and I showed my commitment to doing it whole-heartedly by asking to do it the month of my BIRTHDAY – voluntarily giving up any hope of Birthday cakes, cupcakes, treats, etc. I wanted this to be the BEGINNING OF AN ERA, not the end.

This may be the last year of my twenties, but I am now convinced that it is actually the first year of the rest of my life.

And I intend to make everyday count and to make everyday work at giving me the greatest chance of a long and healthy life (God-willing).

So Day 15 is a big deal for me.

It was also a BUSY day. I didn’t have lunches pre-done for the busyness that ended up swallowing us whole, but I still managed to get creative, think outside the box and pull together a healthy, Whole30 lunch.

I also tried a new recipe for dinner, more on that in a future post.

And although the Whole30 strongly recommends NOT having any “dessert-type” food, I decided that it is my birthday, and provided I follow the Whole30 rules I can indulge in something “sweet” so I made a Birthday Colada (pineapple juice with coconut milk).

So that was my day. A very happy birthday indeed!

Day 15 Menu:

Breakfast: Turkey Sausage crumble with left-over asparagus

Lunch: (Like I mentioned earlier it got WAY busier today than I planned for – so as we rolled into the garage at the same time lunch is meant to be on the table I knew I would need to get creative and figure out a way to pull off a QUICK but Whole30 acceptable lunch. I thought OUTSIDE the box and followed one of the tips that the book gives: Don’t think of each meal as Breakfast, lunch, dinner because it will limit what you put on your plate – just think of them as Meals 1, 2 and 3 and follow the template of protein, veggies, good fat.) Sooo… for lunch I had breakfast - Turkey sausage crumble, scrambled eggs, left-over asparagus and tomatoes with salt and red wine vinegar.

Dinner: Whole30 Pizza (recipe post coming soon) – Cauliflower crust, turkey sausage, tomatoes, green peppers, kalamata olives, mushrooms, basil, Italian seasonings and a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt.

15 days down…15 to go! Woo. Hoo.

A Whole30 workout is NOT the same!

II think it is probably an important observation/reflection to share that my workout (1st one in a WHILE) and definitely first one since starting my Whole30 is unlike any workout I have had before. Ever.

I have always targeted certain muscle groups and hoped to “feel it” a day later – only to be disappointed and only feel the soreness in the regular places. Those “hard to get” areas never seemed to get sore or worked.

Enter Day 14 (the day after my 1st Whole30 workout). I am telling you that EVERY muscle that I worked is currently sore. Sorry to get graphic here – but my butt cheeks are even sore. I know there ARE muscles there – I just had given up hope that mine would ever be reached again.

I have no idea if this is due to the Whole30 or only to the fact that I have  not truly worked out/trained in SO LONG, or both – but I have a feeling that the Whole30 has contributed to my bodies ability to zone in on specific areas and get them trained/worked more efficiently.

Honestly, it is AMAZING how much and how far reaching the food we eat can go. I had NO IDEA that what I ate would result in better “performance” in my activity and training/workouts… surprise for me!

It’s an amazing feeling I have right now. I am rocking this Whole30 (with 2 babies and a husband who stopped after week 1). I am working out again and FEELING the results in the areas I want to SEE results in down the line. I am feeling and seeing some of the results of the Whole30 already with increased energy and seemingly less body fat. I am accomplishing goals – small goals, but with each one accomplished I get closer to achieving my ultimate goal. Even if I stopped the Whole30 today (which I am not) I would be a changed person.

A sore, but changed person. Hallelujah!

Day 14

Day 14 was good. I had that burst of special energy that they refer to as Tigers Blood. I feel good and SORE from my workout yesterday (in places that I didn’t even know could get sore, people!). And I feel like I can totally pull this off for AT LEAST another two weeks.

There was really nothing more to report other than my energy elevation – which was VERY nice!

Day 14 meals:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, carrots (raw) and spinach

Lunch: Spinach & butter lettuce salad, 2 boiled eggs, kalamata olives, tomatoes, mushrooms and balsamic vinegar with olive oil (it is AMAZING what a different vinegar can do to spice up your salad!)

Dinner: Grilled steak and asparagus with a sweet potato and coconut aminos/manna (so yum!).

And that about wrapped up Day 14 for me.

16 to go!

Hello. Tigers Blood? Is that you?

I have never experienced the phenomena of “Tigers Blood” (an unrealistic amount of energy that you have because your body is working mega-efficiently) but if I had to imagine what it was… I would say today I am starting to be introduced to it.

And it ain’t too bad either, let me tell ya what!

Today has already been a LONG day.

Due to an unfortunate series of events, I woke up WAY earlier than planned (about 4:50am). But I couldn’t immediately get back to sleep (despite trying) and I felt pretty awake anyway so I just went ahead and started my day. I was showered, ready for the day and in the kitchen to cook breakfast before 6:00. In a way, it kind of felt good! (Alone. Quiet. Able to eat a bite of food (let alone an entire meal) without having to spoon or fork food into someone else’s mouth while I chew. Yes… it felt good, indeed).

I am in charge of a new ministry at church that I had to do today so I had to have my kids, up, fed, dressed and out the door by 9:15. We were ready to go AND had time to Skype with my mom! Efficient AND energetic… loving it!

Then it was setting up the event, leading it (with 15 children ranging in age from 1 month to 13 years old) and cleaning it up. Getting my kids home, fed lunch and to their beds for naptime. Again, done.

By this point on a non-Whole30 day I would have needed 2-liters of Pepsi, some maraschino cherries (because they always make you feel better, right?), a candy bar and probably a Big Mac (because who wants to MAKE lunch after running an event with 15 children?). I also would have taken my Pepsi, cherries and candy to the couch where I would lay down, eat up and then nap until someone else woke up.

Not today.

Today I went to the van to empty out the left-over supplies from the morning’s event. I put together an Excel Spreadsheet of what was used, what was left, how many came, our expenditures, etc. for the ministry and emailed them off.

I printed out a Return Shipping Label for a return item I have to send back to Amazon (not that you really needed to know that – but I had so much energy that I decided to even do THIS instead of nap… so you KNOW the energy was flowing.

I did a bunch more things on my To Do list… and then, get this, I still had not only ENERGY but creative juices flowing enough that I FINALLY decided to re-design and move my personal blog to a new space. And yes, that is done now too.

Now I should have about 15-30 more minutes of napping children… and I have no idea what to do with myself. But I know I won’t be napping..

So, the point of all this is, I don’t know exactly what Tigers Blood is, but I have a feeling this might be it.

Yay for progress. Bigger Yay for results!

See you later for my full Day 14 recap.

Day 13

The rest of the day post-workout was very good.

Today I felt “lighter” than I have. There really is no other way to explain the feeling other than to say “lighter”. Not thinner. Not less weight necessarily. Just lighter.

Despite my careful menu planning for this week, for some reason I haven’t followed it well. I am waking up earlier to just cook what I want (easier to do when I am the only one I am cooking for) and I am just pulling together lunches from left-overs or salads and dinners I piece together with what I have that needs to be used.

Last night I had ground turkey that I had originally taken out for sausage crumble, but hadn’t made it and the turkey needed to be used because it had finally thawed. So… I decided to take another stab at making a meatloaf. This was one of the first meals I made on the Whole30 and it was a bit dry. Tonight’s was MUCH better! I also just grabbed two veggies that I knew all parties (hubby & daughter) would like and steamed & sauteed those. Voila, a perfectly yummy, Whole30 dinner without much planning at all.

I guess I am getting better and more natural at this, after all!

Other than the lack of meal-preparation and feeling “lighter” there is really nothing to report. So here is the Day 13 Menu:

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, grapes, sweet potato with almond butter

Lunch: Left-over slow cooker ribs with onions and carrots, and a heaping bowl of left-over green beans & tomatoes with garlic.

Dinner: Turkey meatloaf, steamed cauliflower and sauteed spinach with garlic

17 days to go!

Wholly out of breath! I want to run again.

The last workout I had was giving birth to my youngest son – 4 months ago. My last REAL workout was about 8 months before that.

The thing is, I am actually quite active everyday. I have no choice. With a very active daughter a few weeks shy of turning 2 years old and a 4 month old – I keep busy. I wear yoga pants nearly everyday because the things I have to do require flexibility and movement (it’s certainly not a fashion statement, that’s for sure).

But a REAL workout? Well, it’s been too long.

I like circuit training (there is probably some new fancy word for this but it is a combination of both cardio and weight training done in timed intervals). I like it because it keeps you going, it requires you to push yourself and it works. I don’t like to be BORED when I workout.

I also trained to run the Marine Corps Marathon about 5 years ago. I made it to my 16 mile run and then got stress fractures. I should have listened and rested when my shin splints got so bad that they woke me up, but I had a goal and I wanted to achieve it. Thing is, my body knew better – if I didn’t stop me, it would and it did. But the thing about that training was that I LOVED running. I mean really, REALLY loved it. Don’t get me wrong, I think all runners have a love-hate relationship with the actual running, there were certainly times that I hated it because I would be tired and have 6 more miles to go and I would think – WHY??? But then I would finish a run (good or bad) I would finish and I would have this immense sense of accomplishment. (I also LOVED it because I could do most of it with my husband and that made it SO much better… even though he was a faster, better, trained runner – I still enjoyed warming up with him and finishing with him right there (usually looking at his watch wondering where I was…LOL)). The point is – I like running. I miss running. I want to start running again.

I probably won’t train for a marathon again unless miraculously my body is suddenly built for it. But I want to run. I set a goal for myself to run a 5k by the time my son turns 1 year old. I know that is not a BIG goal, but with my limited time availability to train and build up to RUNNING a 5k – I wanted to set myself up for success, not failure and I can always go early and beat my goal if I want to, right?

But I have to start somewhere… and that somewhere (for me) is getting my core and body back in shape and strong enough to support my running. I am basically starting from square one again, because like I said, it’s been years since I last ran.

So today, I started. In the name of all things “Wholly” I am keeping this journey to optimum health going strong and I am beginning to get my body back in running order.

I did Circuit Training for 45 minutes. And I was totally out of breath… before the end of the WARM-UP!? I have a ways to go before it will be time for me to hit the pavement again, but I am one day closer.

Since I haven’t trained in a while, I can’t really say one way or the other whether I performed better than I would have before the Whole30, but let’s put it this way – I made it through the complete 45 minutes and I am writing this blog post and not napping… so that might be something!?

Stay tuned for my full Day 13 update coming later tonight!